As this article has demonstrated, there is no need to spend large amounts of money to be able to follow a balanced diet. You are just about to find out it is actually possible to maintain a healthy diet even with a very limited budget when you know where to look. Here are some tips about how to get more and better food in a week while spending less money.
Meal Plan
Healthy eating is a key factor that can help you achieve all the above and planning out your meals is the first step towards affordable healthy eating. Set a weekly routine of sitting down and making a list of what is likely to be prepared for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Eating healthy means that you should avoid making reckless food purchases at the end of the day when you are too tired to prepare a meal. As we know it also saves you from aimlessly strolling in a grocery store, which makes you buy things you did not plan to and which again are expensive.
Take a head count before going out for a shopping mall grocery store.
If you intend to go shopping for the week’s supply of food you ought to do a quick scan through the kitchen and the pantry first. This way you shall not be making a repeat of buying more of the same ingredients that you had already bought. Make sure to look into your fridge, freezer, and pantry sections to find foods that are nearly expired and therefore needs consuming. Check what canned and frozen vegetables are available and use those veggies for several meals to come.
Make a Grocery List
With the meal plan in front of you and the list of items in the kitchen, you can now easily make a specific grocery list. If possible, arrange it based on the store layout so that you do not have to loop back as you continue with your shopping. Follow your list religiously do not fall pray to those fancy items that you would wish to buy.
Go Generic
This will entail buying items in the generic store brands as opposed to the brand names that are more expensive. As for the nutritional value, both contain the same ingredients but at SRP which is much cheaper compared to supermarket prices. This includes canned vegetables and beans, pasta and rice, hot cereals and cold cereals, spices and nuts, yogurt and olive oil, bread and tortillas, nut butters, broths, and stocks.
Shop Seasonally
Transportation of produce affects the prices of items in a way that makes it costly to produce and sell items that are out of season. To reduce expensive costs for fruits and vegetables, ensure you stick to the produced product at the right time of the year. Locally grown produce is usually expensive during the off-season, but in-season produce is usually cheaper, therefore one should buy them during this period. In the winter, berries are beyond expensive so it is best to go for cheaper oranges and apples.
Frozen is Friendly
Frozen foods provide an alternative source of fresh produce if fresh foods are not accessible at reasonable prices. Frozen fruits and vegetables are cheaper, have a longer shelf life and they have just as much nutrients as the fresh ones. Some of the top low-cost sources include spinach, broccoli, berries, mango, peppers, and green beans, which are also available in frozen options.
Canned Beans < Dried Beans
Note that buying dried beans in bulk saves a lot of money as compared to buying the beans in cans. Select dry lentils, black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, cannellini beans etc. Cook in batches to serve then pack the leftovers in portions to have in the freezer to enhance the availability of beans at any given time.
Cook Once, Eat Twice
If it is grains such as brown rice, quinoa or oatmeal, it is advised to cook in large portions to spread the servings over several servings. Raw grains take 3-5 days to spoil if refrigerated and reheat well to make quick meal supplements such as grains for salads, stir fry grains and the like without the need for further cooking. The same can be said about roasted vegetables and chicken too. Cook once, apply in many ways, at different stages, in different recipes.
Portion Control Saves
It is quite tempting to overeat as there are so many foods that we can take, and most probably freshly cooked by our loving mothers. However, it is important to watch how much of each item you consume so as not to exceed your spending limit. It is important to note that serving sizes may not always align with what you expect when you plate your food. Portion out proper serving sizes immediately after putting the groceries away so it is unlikely that much of those ingredients are used up that week.
Pack Your Lunch
In a effort to maintain a proper diet, one of the greatest challenges that people face is the consumption of foods from restaurants. Ensure that you take healthy lunch to take to work or school by preparing a habit of preparing and packing cheap but healthy meals. Large oven preparation then divide portions into small individual serving bowls for a ready to eat take out food lunch.
Recipes
Now that you’ve got some handy money saving tips under your belt, here are three nourishing, budget-conscious recipes to add to your healthy meal rotation:Now that you’ve got some handy money saving tips under your belt, here are three nourishing, budget-conscious recipes to add to your healthy meal rotation:
1. Quinoa Bowls
- 1 cup of quinoa before cooking (serving size is 2-3)
- Two cups of vegetable broth
- Chopped spinach which is freeze, broccoli, carrots.
- Canned black beans
- Chopped green onion
I prefer using the vegetable broth instead of water while preparing the quinoa as per the instruction on the packet. Spoon into bowls and garnish with selected frozen vegetables followed by black beans, green onion, avocado, olive oil and lemon juice or red wine vinegar.
Cost per serving: Bilions of dollars are spent annually, in which the United States will spend about $200-$300.
2. Veggie & Hummus Sandwich
- Hummus… homemade or store bought
- whole grain bread, pita breads, or whole grain tortillas
- Lettuce, tomato, cucumber
- Carrots, pimento
- Avocado, preferably, but not always, when the prices are not inflated.
Take about 2-3 spoons of hummus and spread it on your bread, pita or any type of wrap you chose. Top with required sliced vegetables like lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and bell peppers. Include avocado as well if you have a bigger budget for your meals.
Cost per serving: It can range from $1. 50-$3.
3. Burrito Bowls
- Cooked brown rice: 1 cup uncooked brown rice costs $0. 25 per serving.
- 1 can black or pinto beans ($0. 75 per serving).
- Frozen corn and peas
- 1 jar salsa for $2 containing approximately 4-6 servings.
- Shredded lettuce
- Sour cream replacement with Greek yogurt
Prepare brown rice for consumption You can make brown rice in large quantity in order to have it served for the following days. To prepare the beans, it is necessary to warm them together with frozen corn and peas until they are hot. Divide the rice on individual plates and garnish with black beans, vegetables, salsa, shredded lettuce and a spoonful of Greek yogurt.
Cost per serving: It is costs approximately $1. 50-$2.
Healthy eating and saving money are good objectives that people can easily achieve. By adopting certain strategies in meal planning, anyone can be able to have a meal that is rich in whole foods and at the same time cheap. Here are some ideas and meal plans that you could help reduce your food expenses without sacrificing your meal’s quality. That is right; your body together with your wallet will definitely be happy with such a meal.