Meals on a Budget

Shop smart - eat smart! That's our motto at home. My partner and I are constantly looking for new ways to reduce our impact on the environment ON A BUDGET. Food has to be one of our favourite topics (and past-times) and I love introducing my man to new recipes and tastes; whether we're dining out or staying in.

Eating healthy and sustainably is important too; equally it's good to encorporate your actions towards change within your means. That definitely doesn't mean dropping everything you currently use and replacing them with the most sustainable options you can find. For starters we'd be broke if I was allowed (EDIT: my partner has never stopped me from buying anything) to buy everything I saw online. In fact sometimes using up your plastics and ensuring they are correctly disposed of (or upcycled) at the end of their life cycle is the most ethical and responsible action forward.

I plan our meals and shop each Sunday. For the most part we only purchase fresh produce (fruit, veg, milk and bread) each week and for these we aim to find a balance between the freshest, most local and most affordable products.

Our first stop is usually Spudshed or our local fresh produce store 5 Seasons. Here we buy the usual onions, leaf mix, carrots, celery, tomatoes, potatoes, and fruit we need each week for my partner's daily salad and our joint evening meals. We always keep an eye out for what's in season and what's on special. This might mean I cook up a pumpkin soup or we're having strawberries for our daily fruit portions instead of bananas.

Either way we're always looking for Australian (if not Western Australian) grown produce and we try to stick to only buying what is in season.

Milk and bread are staples in our house (coffee and toast) but otherwise we try to limit dry goods and canned products as much as possible.

My partners eats tuna with his salad each day; this is a huge lifesaver when it comes to meal prep (although not so much on cleanup and recycling when his oily tuna cans hit the washing up bowl) because it means I don't have to cook up chicken breast in advance and risk it going off in the fridge because we forgot about it.

Additionally, tuna (farmed fish) has one of the lowest environmental impacts per ton protein consumed of animal-based proteins.

We consume chicken 2-3 times per week and aim for plant-based meals 3-4 times per week. We rarely have beef (in fact I can barely remember the last time I cooked beef at home) which is great both for the environment AND for our pockets.

THREE Take Home Tips:

1. Buy fresh, local produce first and make your meal plans fit what's in season

2. Try cut meat out a few days a week or at least reduce your portion size (and increase your carbs and veggies)

3. If you're buying meat, only buy what's on special. If you're buying for tonight or tomorrow, then don't hesitate to buy up those reduced price items (so long as you plan on cooking them straight away).

Obligatory Plea for Comments: what are your budgeting tips?