Does eating healthy foods really have to break the bank? Or can you still make healthy, nutritious, balanced meals on a budget?

When you hear the phrase ‘healthy foods’, what comes to mind? Leafy greens, well-balanced plates, or eye-watering price tags? According to new research from yfood, 41% of us Brits associate healthy food with unaffordable prices.

With the cost of food (and the cost of living) still firmly on the rise, it’s no wonder nearly half (47%) of us have turned to social media to find recipes. What better way to find fun, healthy, affordable recipes than seeing what others are already making? However, this has led to further confusion around what is and isn’t actually healthy to eat.

Previous research has shown that almost half of Brits have ‘no idea’ what they should be eating, while 49% of us don’t understand what a ‘correct’ portion size looks like. It’s no wonder that a third of adults don’t eat fruit each week, while nearly half (46%) consume no vegetables at all on a weekly basis.

Just a fifth of us cook meals from scratch – and, even then, we are only doing it up to twice a week. Yet home cooking is filled with benefits: it’s often healthier as you know exactly what is going into your food, it can be a fun activity to do together with friends and family, and it’s cheaper than eating out or ready meals. For many, it can even be a mindful form of self-care.

Here, we share seven quick tips to help you get started.

Quick wins for a healthier, affordable, balanced diet

Our average food bill is set to rise by £380 in 2022. For those of us on a budget, that seems like an insurmountable rise. But there are ways you can make small changes to help you save money without sacrificing food quality, variety, or nutritional benefits.

1. Planning is key

It can be tempting to just pick up what you need for a single meal on your way home each night, but planning ahead and doing a single ‘big shop’ can be more cost-effective. If you can, think ahead and plan out a week’s worth of meals: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This not only helps you to avoid impulse purchases when you’re at the tills multiple times each week, but can help you to plan around your ingredients, instead of just what you fancy (or what’s got a reduced sticker but may not be that healthy).

Angelika Cutuk-Short, MSc Nutritionist, shares her Read more

Steak bites are a weeknight mainstay of our meal planning rotation. Cajun Steak Bites have just enough kick to please both my spice lovers and less adventurous eaters.

Cajun Steak Bites

Steak bites are crispy bits of steak that cook up quickly and easily on the stovetop. I like to use a skirt steak cut into bite-sized pieces.

When making these bites be sure to not overcrowd your pan. You want to give each piece the chance to crisp up and get browned edges. Overcrowding the pan will result in the piece being steamed instead of browned.

The goal when cooking the meat is to create a crisply browned outside and a lovely pink and juicy center for each piece.

As the meat is cooking, if a piece is slightly larger and has a side that looks like it hasn’t browned, flip to that side again for 20-30 seconds. Take caution not to overcook the steak.

I am often asked if I use inside or outside skirt steak. The truth is you can use either in this recipe. However, if I have the choice I go with the outside skirt.

Outside skirt is usually a bit larger in size and is more flavorful and tender than the inside skirt. Sometimes you just have to go with what is available at your local market.

There isn’t always time to marinate a steak so these tasty bites with a flavorful dry rub are a perfect solution. The juicy bites cook up in minutes and make a complete meal, just add a vegetable.

I served the steak bites with a pan of Roasted Green Beans and Garlic Paprika Roasted Cauliflower, along with some Roasted Red Potatoes seasoned with the same Cajun spices I use on the steak bites.

Cajun Steak Bites Recipe

1. Cut the steak into bite-size pieces, about ½” – ¾” in size. Place the meat in a large b

Asian Cucumber Salad

This light and fresh Asian cucumber salad is our new favorite healthy side dish, complete with a sweet and tangy vinegar dressing.

Earlier this year I was working on an Asian steak marinade and I was playing around with the idea of using black vinegar in it. The final recipe was tested when Cade’s mom came into town and it was a total hit. Without even realizing it though, I’d added black vinegar to the cucumbers instead of the steak marinade that morning. It turned out both dishes needed something a little different than what I was doing and it was awesome!

You can read below for a substitute as we still love cucumber salad with just straight up rice or apple cider vinegar. In fact, we often use both. 

Ingredients for Asian Cucumber Salad

It only takes 7 ingredients to make this simple but refreshing salad recipe. Here is what you will need:

• English Cucumber – I just to just slice them thin by hand, but feel free to remove the seeds if you want
• Red Onion – totally optional but I love the zip it adds, do a fine slice on a mandolin
• Rice Vinegar – mild, sweet and sour flavor
• Chinese Black Vinegar – a dark mild vinegar with a slightly fruity flavor
• Honey – adds sweetness and balances the saltiness and tang
• Sesame Seeds – give them a little toast to enhance the nutty flavor
• Fine Sea Salt – dissolves easily into the dressing and adds flavor

Read more

The secret to this Better Italian Stuffed Peppers recipe isn’t anything crazy, so why does no one do it? I guess it took a hater of stuffed peppers to make the magic happen.

Motherhood with Joy

My friend recently had her little boy in the hospital with a bad case of pneumonia. Anytime a child, especially one that’s still a young toddler ends up in the hospital, my heart lurches into the reality of time and love. It seems only yesterday and somehow a million years ago that I was lying in a hospital fighting to survive along with an unborn baby doing the same thing, but at my own expense. I lack an awful lot in life, certainly when it comes to parenting, but times like these always remind me of one thing, and I hope it will make sense to say it, at least I’m here.

I may not make perfect decisions or respond to situations perfectly, but oh how I perfectly ache to be a good mother. To remember to love them and to strive a little more to extend that love to those outside of my home. As I honor the gift of motherhood I find myself wondering, what is the secret to motherhood with joy?

My friend’s son made it out of a much longer stay in the hospital than expected. She had so much on her plate and could have lost faith in tomorrow, in medicine, even in God, but she continued on, giving all she could muster each day for him.

I guess that’s it. All I can do it strive each day to begin again and remember that though tempted to lose faith in many things, myself, people and the world, God never loses faith in those things. Maybe I won’t end up with adult children that think I was the best mom, but maybe they will think I was trying to love them. Maybe that’s enough. Just to try to love.

When temperatures peak, our wellbeing can suffer. Here are five tips for taking care of your mental health during heatwaves

There are a lot of pros when it comes to hot, sunny weather. It’s a chance to get our vitamin D levels (a really good mood booster), to slow down, and to get outside. But, when the thermometer tips over a comfortable point, and we don’t have an easy way to cool off, we can find ourselves feeling flustered, sluggish, and irritable.

So, what can we do to make sure that we take care of our mental health during heat waves and hot weather? Try following these tips:

1. Consider your medication

Certain types of mental health medications – tricyclic antidepressants and antipsychotics, including amitriptyline, imipramine, doxepin, mianserin, and trazodone – can impair the part of the brain responsible for temperature regulation. This can mean that you’re more at risk of overheating, and so should take extra precautions in hot weather. If this applies to you, it’s always worth checking in with your GP or mental health team.

In the same vein, medication generally needs to be stored at room temperature – which is about 25°C – and can start to lose potency if the temperature drastically exceeds that. Generally, most medications will make it through heat waves without a problem, But watch out for changes in colour, taste, or structure, and if you’re in any doubt reach out to your pharmacist.

2. Stay hydrated

You probably didn’t need us to tell you that you need to drink more water when it’s hot, but did you know just how important staying hydrated is for our brain function? Drinking enough water has been linked to lower rates of anxiety and depression, but it can also help you stave off brain fog, and help you stay more alert – with studies showing that just being dehydrated by 2% impairs things like memory and focusing on your daily tasks.

3. Understand your feelings

You’ve probably experienced it yourself, but studies have shown a link between hot weather and heightened emotions, particularly anger and hostility. The heat can interfere with the processes that regulate our mood, and we may find that we respond to things in ways we wouldn’t do normally – such as snapping at loved ones, road rage, and quickly escalating disagreements.

If you’ve noticed this is happening, you’re well on your way to taking control. By identifying that we’re not behaving in a way we would normally do, we’re able to take a step back and really assess the situation and put it in perspective. Try to communicate with those around you, let them know that you might be more prickly than normal, and try to keep your cool if you notice others going through the same thing. This could be a good time to amp up your self-care practices or to vent in a journal.

4. Try to get some sleep

Trust us, we know it’s easier said than done, but when we’re not getting enough