EAT MORE OF | EAT LESS OF |
MEATS |
LEAN CUTS - beef, pork, veal, venison | Ground beef (mince; excluding extra lean mince), sausage, hot dogs, viennas, bacon, polony, luncheon meats (cold meats), lamb, fried meats, fish or poultry ANIMAL ORGAN MEATS - liver, heart, kidneys, lungs, brains |
POULTRY |
Chicken, turkey, duck, guinea fowl | Any poultry cooked in fat or oil |
SEAFOOD |
Fish, Choose fresh or canned fish from the green list. Go to http://www.wwfsassi.co.za/?m=5&s=8 | Any seafood cooked in fat or oil |
LEGUMES |
Dried Beans, dried split peas, lentils Soya and Soya products Peanuts | Any legumes cooked in fat or oil |
NUTS |
Almonds, Brazil nuts, cashew nuts, chestnuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, peanuts, pecan nuts, pistachio, walnut | Any nuts covered with coatings (chocolate etc.) |
OTHER ALTERNATES |
Eggs, Peanut Butter | Fried eggs |
Although this list is COMPREHENSIVE, it is by no means COMPLETE. | |
RECOMMENDATIONS | CHOICES FOR A RESTRICTED BUDGET |
- Give preference to fish, poultry (without skin), and legumes (dry beans, lentils, soya and soya products, split peas), as these are the choices lowest in fat.
- Try to eat fatty fish (tuna, salmon or snoekl) two times a week as these are rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which is protective against heart disease.
- Choose lean meats, look for unmarbled cuts i.e. meat cuts not speckled with fat.
- Decrease fat during meat preparation:
- Trim all the fat you can see.
- Remove skin from poultry.
- Broil, roast, grill, stew, braise or boil these foods instead of frying them.
- Use a non-stick pan or a vegetable spray to fry and to avoid adding oil.
- If you do fry, use vegetable or olive oil instead of saturated fats such as lard or shortening. Stir-fry the food rather than deep-fry.
- Place meat on a rack when cooking so that fat can drip off.
- Nuts, seeds, and peanut butter are high in fat, so eat them in moderation.
- Preferably choose fish, which is water-packed; oil-packed, only adds fat.
| MEATS - Compare meat prices at the butcher and the supermarkets.
- Choose meat that has less bones and fat. Soup bones are therefore a bad buy. It is better to buy a packet of dried beans.
- Buy less tinned meat, polony and other cold meats and sausage, as processed meat is usually expensive, and often contain fillings like fat, gravy, vegetables and/or cereals in large quantities.
CHICKEN - Buying a bigger chicken usually yields more meat and less bone proportionally than a smaller chicken.
- Compare the price per kilogram for whole chicken and chicken portions as there is more bone in whole chicken.
- Chicken liver is one of the cheapest and most nutritious forms of meat.
FISH - Tinned fish like pilchards is the cheapest form of fish. Other forms of canned fish are expensive.
- Fresh fish is usually more expensive than frozen, except at the coast.
- Whole fish is usually cheaper than fish without bones. The head and fins can be used for fish soup. However compare the price per portion and not per kilogram.
LEGUMES - Dried legumes are not only good substitutes for meat, fish, eggs or cheese, but can be used to make foods go further (meat extenders).
- It is not necessary to eat meat everyday. Meat alternatives, which are cheaper can be used as substitutes or used to bulk up meals.
- o Add cooked dried beans to stewed meat.
- o Mix mashed, cooked dried beans with mince or fish to make meat loaf or fish cakes or meatballs.
- o Soya beans have been processed to form textured soya proteins that resemble meat in taste and look, and can therefore be used as meat substitutes.
- o Textured soya protein products can be used to stretch mince in bobotie, fricadels and other meat or chicken dishes.
- One kilogram of dried beans yields 33 portions, while 1 kilogram meat yields 9 portions (1 cup dried beans, raw yields ± 8 cups cooked).
PEANUT BUTTER - Peanut Butter can be used as a sandwich filling and can be stirred into porridge.
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