EATING HEALTHY ON A BUDGET

WHAT IS HEALTHY EATING?

I am certainly not an expert when it comes to healthy eating. For purposes of this episode, healthy eating can mean whatever it means to you. That might be eating only organic vegetables and grass-fed beef. Or it might mean putting a partial leaf of spinach in your smoothie! Regardless of what you consider to be healthy eating for your family, there are things we can do to save money in this area. It just takes a little bit of thought and planning to eat in a way that makes you feel good without spending a fortune on food. Or depending on the foods you choose to eat, spending less of a fortune.

PLAN YOUR MEALS

I am a big advocate for meal planning. Even if you don’t like to stick to specifically what you will eat every night, it can still be helpful to have an idea of what you will make during the week. This allows you to ensure you have the ingredients to make the meals you will be eating. Having a plan for meals makes it less likely that you will eat something less healthy. When you don’t know what to cook it can be tempting to cook up a frozen meal or order out. When you meal plan, you can decide on the types of meals you want to be eating ahead of time. Planning ahead usually leads to healthier choices. Last minute decision when you are already hungry and out of time are not always the best decisions.

BE MINDFUL OF WHEN YOU PLAN TO EAT FRESH PRODUCE

One of the most important things to consider when including fresh produce in your meals for the week is to plan when you will use it. It’s best to plan to make meals that include fresh produce as close to the time when you go food shopping as possible. Also, take into consideration which produce goes bad quicker. For example, a head of cauliflower lasts pretty long.  So, that could be made later in the week. Something like fresh corn you would want to use sooner.  It takes the best when it is freshly picked. Fruits that will be used as snacks should be placed where people can see them and prepped if needed. There is nothing worse than finding fruit rotting in the fridge because no one could see it there.

PREP YOUR FOOD

The more work that has been done to a food before you purchase it, the more expensive it will be. Doing the work yourself will allow you to buy more food for less cost. Chop up the butternut squash yourself, instead of purchasing the cut-up chunks. Cut up a watermelon when you are ready to eat it, instead of buying the precut container. In addition to being more expensive, pre-cut fruits and vegetables will go bad quicker. Purchase a regular bag of rice, rather than a package of the instant microwavable rice pouch. Consider buying a block of cheese and shredding it as needed.

FREEZE PRODUCE TO USE LATER

There are many types of produce that can be saved from being wasted by freezing them. One of my favorite thing to freeze is bananas.  They are so easy to throw in a smoothie or use in a recipe. Fresh spinach freezes well and can be used for the same things as bananas.  It’s great to add to a smoothie or to use in a recipe that calls for spinach. You would not want to use frozen spinach in a salad. But it is great in a soup, a pasta dish, or any recipe that it will be cooked in.

Grapes also freeze well and can be eaten like a dessert straight from the freezer. Some fruits and vegetables need to be blanched first before freezing. Blanching putting a fruit or vegetable in boiling water for a few minutes and then rinsing under cold water. Before freezing fresh produce, you can do a quick search to see if it requires blanching first.

HAVE SOME QUICK MEALS YOU CAN MAKE WHEN TIME IS TIGHT

When we have a really busy day, it can be very tempting to order in For the most part, the food we cook at home will be healthier than the food ordered from a restaurant. Of course, this depends on what it is that you are ordering. If you find that you are ordering out for a quick meal more often than you would like to consider having some things available that are quick to prepare. This can be something like a meal that was cooked and then frozen in portions.

Some examples of things that freeze well are chili, pasta sauce, pulled pork, pulled chicken, french dip, cooked rice (can be used in a quick stir fry with frozen vegetables), meatballs, taco meat, prepared uncooked meatloaf (just defrost and bake in a pan), marinated chicken or steak to grill. These are just a few examples, but there are many foods that can be frozen that can be used for a quick meal when time is tight. These might not work if your busy night is unexpected.  But, if you have time to think ahead and defrost something you can prepare a quick meal and avoid ordering in. Even without freezing food in advance, there are many quick meals you can prepare instead of ordering out. Some examples might be breakfast for dinner, soup and grilled cheese, tacos, pasta with jarred sauce, fried rice, and hamburgers.

STOCK UP ON FROZEN OR CANNED VEGETABLES WHEN ON SALE

Frozen and canned vegetables are packaged at their peak of ripeness Plus, they don’t go bad unless you have them for a really long time. You can use them any time, any day of the week. They often go on sale too, so you can stock up a little bit and always have some on hand. My favorite frozen vegetables to have on hand are those steam-fresh kinds that you can just put in the microwave real quick without much planning. I usually just open the freezer while I’m cooking the rest of the meal and see what vegetables will go ok with what we are having.

DON’T COOK TOO MUCH FOOD

While it’s great to have leftovers, you want to make sure they will be eaten. It takes time to figure out the right balance of having enough leftovers to be used for a quick lunch or leftover night, without having food that won’t get eaten. When we make too much food, especially if it’s every time we cook, we can end up with too much food in the fridge. Leftovers only last for so long, so if you are accumulating them too quickly, you can end up with more than can be eaten. If you find that you have too many leftovers, consider having a leftover night to use them up. Limiting food waste as much as possible is important to eating healthy on a budget. Throwing out food that you paid for is like throwing away money.

DON’T FEEL PRESSURED TO MAKE NEW RECIPES

Sometimes it can feel discouraging to cook meals at home if you feel like you need to be cooking different recipes all the time. There is nothing wrong with cooking what you like and what you know how to cook on a frequent basis. Some people make new recipes all the time, and some of us just cook the basics that we know how to cook. If you like what you are eating, there is no need to feel like you need to be always trying new things. Consider having a basic plan for what you will make in place. Then if you choose to you can swap out one of your standards for something new you can go ahead and do that!

Thanks so much for checking in! If you would like to hear the podcast version of this topic to check out Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast! Also, be sure to check out my other blog posts on this site!

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