Autumn food

10 tips to help keep food costs down

1. Think about Frozen vegetables. Ounce for ounce these are often better value then ‘fresh’, and contains more nutrirnts with no waste. Most ‘fresh’ fruit and veg. today are picked before they are ripe and left to ripen artificially.  Frozen veg. are picked when they are just right., at peak ripeness.
2. My go-to cheap meal is Baked Beans on Toast.  It contains fibre and protein, I eat them on wholegrain toast, but read the label and search for a low salt and sugar. option. :
3. Other less-expensive options are boiled eggs and soldiers, or scrambled eggs on toast.
4. Don’t forget DARK chocolate has surprising benefits, and ‘a little of what you fancy….’
5. Beware shiny apples.  This may be because they have been picked unripe, come halfway across the world in storage, and were sprayed with ethylene to chemically ripen them.  Then sprayed with wax coating to make them look shiny and ripe.  Search for labels like ‘English Coxes’ etc., now coming in to the shops;  better still if you go to a proper greengrocer who pride themselves in buying local produce.
6. When strawberries are in season, a white ‘ring’ around the green hull probably means they have been picked unripe.
7. Bread – nutritionists say beware of the term high-fibre.  Officially this only has to be 6 gms per 100 gms.  If you can, buy bread at a bakery where they bake their own (watch out for supermarkets that bake ready-frozen loaves with a dispenser that wafts out the ‘fresh baked’ smell).  If you like white bread a good baker can tell you which are healthy white loaves.
8. Watery bacon – if your bacon curls up and ‘leaks’ water when cooking, it’s all the nitrates, water and other additives leaking out. There is a theory that smoked bacon might have cancer warnings, so buy the best, unsmoked bacon you can afford.
9. Soya Beans are one of the best plant sources of high-quality protein, and if you like the taste you can swop them for peas in a recipe.  They are particularly useful if you are Vegan as there are concerns over sourcing an adequate daily  amount of protein.  These are sometimes called Edamame Beans, .
10. SPAM  – A recent news story said Waitrose (Waitrose!) had noticed an increase in customers buying Spam.  (Yes, they do sell it).  Before you rush to copy them, remember – although Spam is convenient, it’s also very high in fat, calories and sodium and low in nutrients such as protein, vitamins and minerals. Additionally, it’s highly processed and contains preservatives like sodium nitrite that may cause adverse health effects.

This tart is ideal for a special occasion, but doesn’t cost much to make,  Basic ingredients are a pack of Filo pastry, cheese, cream to bind it and a vegetable of your choice:  tomatoes, leeks, broccoli, spinach etc., anything that is cheap or going spare.