Eating Healthy On A Budget

Today I have a guest post from Molly Green of www.Econobusters.com

If you have the mindset that eating healthy is expensive and beyond your means, then please read this post. Molly has sound advice for homeschool moms who wish to change their families meals to fit, healthy fare. Enjoy!

EATING HEALTHY ON A BUDGET
Molly Green, www.Econobusters.com

I have to admit that sometimes it seems like it would be much easier, and possibly cheaper, to grab a “meal in a box” out of the freezer section of the grocery store, warm it up in the stove or microwave, add some side veggies and call dinner “done.” However, over the years I have found that this is not the healthiest or the cheapest route to take when feeding my family. I have always shopped as frugally as possible at the grocery store, but I have made a conscious decision to try and provide mostly healthy, whole foods for my family. You probably have heard the advice to shop the perimeter of the store – this means you’ll be buying mostly fresh produce, meat and dairy items. To save money and still provide whole food meals, I buy items that are on sale and/or in season and create my weekly menus around them. I also use my “superfoods list” to help me determine which foods I want to buy each week.

Another way to save on food is to grow your own fruit and vegetables! The February edition of my Money-Saving Digest details the basics of starting a garden and sharing seeds or plants with friends by hosting a garden party. If you can encourage your friends to garden, then all of the families can share the bounty that is produced. I have two neighbors that garden. One friend has a cherry tree and it always produces more than she can deal with, so she invites me over to pick as much as I want. I usually make freezer jam or fruit topping for our pancakes and waffles. She has one tree which produces enough fruit for two families! My other neighbor always shares her tomatoes, squash and zucchini with us. We’ll be planting our garden within the next two weeks and my husband wants to try strawberries, beans and potatoes. These are items that my neighbors do not grow, so we hope to share with them this year the produce from our garden. I am interested in planting some blueberry bushes, too, but I need to research this a little more.

Now, this is not to say that I never buy food in the aisles. I do, but I try to keep with the healthiest choices if possible – whole grain items, frozen vegetables without sauces, canned tuna and salmon, etc. Of course, there are some processed foods that we do buy – potato chips, canned spaghetti sauce, and salad dressing are examples. However, I only buy these items when they are on sale and I stock up so that we make it until the next sale. If I am going to buy items that are processed, I have to buy them on sale. I do not buy cookies or crackers to snack on. We eat fruit, yogurt, light popcorn, cheese or nuts instead. It scares me sometimes to see the expiration dates on processed foods like cookies and crackers. I try to choose items that will expire in weeks instead of years! One experience that has shown me processed foods cost more money is when I buy food to take along on vacations. The lack of a refrigerator often dictates what we can take along, so I often opt for easy choices and I end up spending a lot more than I normally do week after week.

One thing that I have learned is that providing healthier food for my family sometimes takes more time. I have learned how to bake bread from freshly ground grains. I have also taught myself to make yogurt and kefir. I love knowing that these items are made from whole foods with no preservatives. Cooking meals from scratch instead of popping a “meal in a box” into the oven also takes a little more time, but not as much as I thought it would. In the last year, I have had to begin eating gluten-free, so I now spend more time with planning menus, reading labels and preparing meals. However, I know that I need to do this to continue providing healthy meals for all of us.

Most meals that I cook usually include a meat, a starch or carb and vegetables. Examples include:

:: roast, potatoes, carrots – cooked in the crockpot covered with Rachel Ray’s beef stock and water

:: salmon patties, sweet potato or carrots and salad

:: chicken and rice bake – made with brown rice and added veggies and covered in Rachel Ray’s chicken stock

:: tacos – we use whole grain, high fiber tortillas and lots of veggies

:: meatloaf, macaroni & cheese, peas

:: stirfry – usually made with chicken and frozen vegetables and sprinkled with gluten-free soy sauce

:: baked fish sprinkled with lemon-pepper seasoning, baked potatoes or brown rice, salad

I hope this encourages you to believe that you can provide whole food eating for your family while sticking to a budget. For more money-saving tips, visit my blog, www.Econobusters.com. I’d love to help you break free from this economy!

Molly Green

www.Econobusters.com

Molly’s Money-Saving Digests