| So you want to eat healthy food on a low budget? | | | | next day, I change the water put them on the cooker |
| Well who wouldn't? - But in these hard times that's not | | | | to boil and they're ready to incorporate into my meal |
| so easy is it? If money is tight and time to prepare | | | | by the time I'm ready to start the main preparation. |
| nutritious family meals is limited, it's all too easy to get | | | | Really easy, but just needs a little forethought. |
| drawn into buying unhealthy high fat pre-packaged | | | | Aside from their inherently healthy properties, pulses |
| foods. These often look like the cheapest option - but | | | | also improve our diet in other more subtle ways. |
| is that really the case, and what is their true cost in | | | | Pulses are generally very filling, so to balance that out |
| terms of our overall health and well-being? | | | | we are usually inclined to need less meat in the dishes |
| Pulses are an excellent way to improve the quality of | | | | we create with pulses. This can reduce the overall |
| our diet, and the great thing is they also allow us to | | | | bad-cholesterol quantity in the meal, but also by bulking |
| save money into the bargain. Pulses are the family of | | | | out stews, soups and casseroles, pulses can also |
| foods that include dried beans, dried peas and lentils. | | | | make the same amount of expensive meat fill more |
| They are high in fiber, high in protein, low in calories and | | | | plates which is again no bad thing. Taking this a stage |
| can help to lower cholesterol, so all in all they are | | | | further, pulses have traditionally formed the basis of |
| simply a great health food which is also satisfying and | | | | some of the very best of vegetarian dishes, so if |
| cheap. | | | | you've been looking for a way to cut down on, or cut |
| But surely dried beans take an age to prepare with all | | | | out meat completely, pulses are the way to go to |
| that soaking and boiling? - That's certainly true, but | | | | achieve this. |
| these days all good supermarkets stock a wide range | | | | If like many of us you are currently struggling to make |
| of tinned pulses which are equally nutritious, still very | | | | ends meet, and the weekly shopping budget never |
| cheap and also very quick to prepare. For example, | | | | quite seems to fill the shopping cart, then why not let |
| my own Easy Bean Stew Recipe from preparation to | | | | pulses help you out a little? Your family probably |
| on the table takes me no more than half an hour (see | | | | already loves a good chilli con-carne full of nutritious |
| link below). | | | | red beans, so you're half way there. Why not try out |
| It would be quite wrong however to discount dried | | | | my Easy Bean Stew Recipe or get experimenting |
| beans and pulses just because of the preparation time, | | | | with some different types of beans and lentils and a |
| after all they are so cheap that I always keep a stock | | | | few herbs and spices? With a little effort you could |
| of various types in my store cupboard for when I've | | | | easily add a whole new repertoire of tasty dishes to |
| had the time to plan meals ahead. Planning is the key | | | | the family menu. They don't even have to know that |
| point here, if I know I'm going to make a bean dish | | | | you saved a bundle whilst providing them with healthy |
| tomorrow, I just put the beans in a bowl of water | | | | food on a low budget! |
| before I go to bed. As soon as I get in from work the | | | | |