Gone were the days when vegetables (and everything else) were cheaper. I didn’t realise the full impact of inflation and rising prices until I looked through our past grocery spending for the last couple of months.
Even as I was walking down the food aisles in Fairprice and Giant supermarkets, I was pretty shocked to see how some items had gone up in prices in a matter of days. Egg prices in particular had jumped by a whopping 50%.?
Ways to cut grocery bill and save money
In order to maximise our grocery savings, I’ve made some changes to my grocery-shopping habits –
- Buy frozen meats and seafood in 1kg or 2kg bulk packs instead of fresh ones.
- Choose house brands over other brands such as Redmart, Meadows, Fairprice, etc.
- Use dried herbs & spices instead of fresh ones. I like RedMan brand of rosemary, basil, thyme, oregano and paprika which are very affordably priced.
- Stock up when there are bundle deals and discounts. I tend to do so for pasta, canned food, coffee, sliced cheese, cooking sauces and household products – basically items that you can keep and use for a longer period of time.
Frozen veggies are as good as fresh ones
Besides the above, I’m also purchasing frozen vegetables more than before. I used to think frozen vegetables are inferior in quality compared to their fresh counterparts but after cooking with them for a while now, I’ve been quite impressed with their versatility, texture and taste. Some of my favourite frozen vegetables include cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, spinach and green beans.
Today, I am sharing a recipe which I’ve made with frozen spinach and frozen fish. This Creamed Spinach & Baked Fish dish is a low-carb, keto-friendly one. Incredibly easy to make. And it doesn’t take long to prepare too.
Choose a protein you like
Beside white fish fillets, you can also use salmon fillets, or change the protein to chicken or turkey breast – whatever you fancy.
Low fat alternative
As this recipe is meant to be low in carbs and high in fats, I’ve used heavy cream with 35% fat content to thicken the sauce and also butter to bake the fish. For a low fat option, just go for a light cooking cream with 18% fat content and extra light olive oil instead of butter.
The pollock fillet flakes beautifully in that fragrant garlic butter. And the spinach is oh-so-creamy with that rich, indulgent sauce. You can enjoy this Creamed Spinach & Baked Fish on its own or serve it with rice, pasta if you like.
Now, who says frozen fish and vegetables are not great? 😉
- 1kg frozen whole spinach
- 300ml heavy cream
- 500ml chicken stock
- 4 pieces frozen pollock fish fillets (approx. 800g in weight)
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
- 2 sprigs fresh parsley, chopped
- handful of cherry tomatoes
- pinch of sea salt