It’s no secret that grocery bill prices are soaring, and New Zealanders are struggling to keep up with the cost of living.
But according to Eat Well for Less host and chef Mike Van de Elzen, there’s one particular area he sees Kiwis putting the bulk of their grocery money, despite it usually lacking nutrition.
“What I’ve seen through the seasons is that a lot of money goes into snacks, not the actual meal itself.”
The chef notes that the issue starts in the supermarket when people spot treats and snack items that look tempting, but aren’t necessarily required. According to Van de Elzen, this is where shoppers start to go way over budget.
“They’re almost falling short because they’re spending so much money on this convenience. Then falling short on their money that they have to spend on the proper dinner and the proper meal itself, which will actually fill you up.”
And things that will fill you up come in the form of whole foods, says Van de Elzen, which he wishes Kiwis embraced even more of.
“Vegetables are amazing. But also I’m a huge fan of legumes, chickpeas, lentils, white beans, black beans - whether they’re in a can or whether they’re dried, pulses just fill you up.”
If you’ve got a can of legumes in the pantry, you’re already on your way to making a healthy meal, the chef says.
So what else can Kiwis do to help cut down that grocery bill? According to Van de Elzen, it all comes down to shopping a little smarter by focusing less on convenience.
“So you’re cooking a little bit more at home, you’re doing a little bit more prep at home, you’re buying less convenience foods and less processed foods. You’re buying more whole foods, vegetables, legumes, even pasta and rice. You are buying the food in a bit more of a basic format rather than it being a complete meal.”
But what about those who are time poor and looking for a healthy meal without slogging away in the kitchen?
According to Van de Elzen, those who are battling against the clock can beat it by doing a little forward planning in the morning. He often sees people coming home with no plan, a hungry tummy and making decisions in a panic.
“[They’re thinking], ‘I don’t have that capacity right now within my brain because I’m tired and I just want to eat something now and kids are screaming at me and I’m gonna order Uber Eats’,” he says.
“So what you need to do, as soon as you get up in the morning and you’re sitting here having a quick toast before you run off to work, is go, ‘I’m gonna pull out some chicken. I’m just gonna put it into the fridge and it’s gonna defrost over the day.”
The chef says if you’ve got something defrosting in the fridge while you are at work, you are already halfway there.
“Then when you come home, things like stir-fries are super fast, easy to get lots of vegetables into some egg noodles, rice. It’s pretty fast to make a chicken curry with a can of chickpeas. You could probably do that faster than you could order Uber Eats and get it delivered to you.”
Van de Elzen is passionate about making sure Kiwis are eating wholefood meals, which is why he and Ganesh Raj are back for season 5 of Eat Well for Less New Zealand.
With rising pressure on families’ wallets, Van de Elzen says this season of the show is the most emotional yet.
“We immerse ourselves in these families for an entire week, and I think the programme itself has never been more relevant than it is right now,” he says.
“The families themselves were incredibly loving. They welcomed us into their homes, but they had massive challenges. They had fussy kids, and they had a lack of cooking abilities. Some of the families had no cooking abilities at all.
“I think if you look at one of these families, that one episode could blow out to a thousand families throughout New Zealand.”
New episodes of Eat Well for Less season 5 air every Monday, 7.30pm on TVNZ1 and TVNZ+
Jenni Mortimer is the NZ Herald’s chief lifestyle and entertainment reporter. Jenni started at the Herald in 2017 and has previously worked as lifestyle, entertainment and travel editor.