Food Friday: Healthy Eating on a Shoestring

I am often told it is too expensive to eat healthy. It is hard to afford to feed your family,  especially when you have children who always seem to be saying, “I’m hungry!!” I get it, you can make a ramen noodle dinner for next to nothing and it costs a lot more to make a healthy meal. 

Eating Healthy on a shoestring - my top 6 money saving tips 

1. When it’s on sale - stock up. The only trick to this is you need to remember that you bought extra and know where you put it. 

2. Check what’s on sale at your local grocery store and plan your menus around that. If they have a great deal on broccoli,  use a few recipes that use broccoli. If it’s salmon think about doing a grilled salmon and follow it up the next day with salmon tacos. I often go to the store with just he word “vegetables” on my grocery list and I wait to see what is on sale before I finalize my menu plans
3. Check the “reduced for quick sale” areas of your store. Most grocery stores now have an area for discounted produce, meats or dairy. I always check these areas. Often, they are discounted because the store ordered too much of something or because it is close to the expiration date. Most foods can be eaten several days and even up to a week after their expiration date. I often buy bananas from this section and use them for banana bread of freeze them for smoothies. If you see a great deal on meat that is close to expiring you can bring it home, cook it up and freeze it for future meals.
4. Don’t buy packaged salad mixes. I know it’s tempting because it’s so much easier, but they are more expensive then just buying the heads of lettuce. Also, packaged salads tend to get slimy and old very quickly. 
5. Buy frozen vegetables and fruit. I love that my local store carries huge bags of organic vegetables and fruit for a great price. It’s so easy to pull out just what I need. Not only is it quick but I don’t cook more than I need. I use the frozen fruit in smoothies. I heat up the fruit and add it to yogurt, use as a sauce to french toast or put inside our crepes. I also freeze my fruit if it is close to being too ripe. Berries, watermelon, bananas, pears, peaches… you name it I’ll freeze it. Same with veggies I will cook them, let them cool and then freeze them for soups or stir-fries. 

6. This is the MOST IMPORTANT ONE -  Don’t spend money on food that offers little or no nutritional value. When making a decision on what we can afford we really shouldn’t look at just the cost of the food, we need to look at how many vitamins and nutrients are in the food we are buying.  

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