January and February aren’t the easiest months to get through. Christmas is over (and often left us a little shorter on money for the month) and the weather is awful! At the end of a days work there’s nothing better than going home to something delicious and warming for dinner. But at this time of year especially it’s really important to keep those meals both satisfying, healthy and also cheap. The better you eat, the better you will feel even at this time of year. So here are 3 cheap healthy meal ideas to get you through winter.
Cheap healthy meal ideas to get you through winter
There are often lots of colds and flu flying about at this time of year meaning you want to keep your immune system in good condition. The lack of sun, miserable weather and the fact that you might be struggling for money after an expensive Christmas can also cause mental health to take a nose dive. So although you want to keep your meals tasty and delicious they also need to be healthy and cheap as well.
When I’m trying to keep our grocery shopping costs down and keep meals healthy I focus a lot on fruit and veg. Particularly veg in season. I also try to bulk out meals with tinned or dried beans and lentils.
Chicken or Vegetable Curry
A curry is the perfect way to warm up at the end of the day and it doesn’t need to take an age to cook. A simple curry made in the slow cooker with a few spices and some tinned tomatoes gives you delicious warming meal to come home to. Add in some chicken and/or a tin of chickpeas or lentils, and a selection of vegetables and you’ve got at least one of your five a day in too! Just add some boiled rice or some Flatbreads and you’ve got a full hearty meal. As a bonus, if you add in spices such as turmeric you get a good hit of curcumin. Curcumin is a powerful anti-inflammatory and is a very strong antioxidant.
Jacket Potatoes
Some days you may not feel like cooking anything and this is the perfect meal for just that day! The humble jacket spud offers a good dose of carbs and potassium and there is literally zero prep time. You can even cook jacket potatoes in the slow cooker if you want them ready for when you come in after work. Just add some grated cheese, or a tin of beans, or some tuna mayo… or whatever topping you love.
Vegan stew and dumplings
As I mentioned, January and February are often tight money months. So with this hearty vegan stew and dumplings recipe you don’t even need to fork out for the beef. Don’t worry though you really don’t miss the meat in this recipe and it definitely delivers on flavour. Not only that but you can choose root vegetables that you already have in meaning you’ll save some fridge gravel from going in the bin.
Here are just a few ideas to get you started. If you have any to add please let me know your favourite winter warmers in the comments below.
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