Healthy Eating
The key to planning and creating healthy meals on a limited budget is planning ahead and basic nutrition information.
1. Shopping list: Anyone who has visited a supermarket lately knows how dangerous it is to enter the store without a shopping list in hand. Shopping without a sense of what you need- and don't need- opens you up to all manner of temptation, and most of those tempting goods are not nutritious.
2. Flyers: Most major food store chains publish weekly sales ads, usually as inserts in the local newspaper. Keeping track of these sales, and taking advantage of the low prices to stock up, is a great way to gather a cupboard full of food.
3. Stock up on staples: Essential food staples, such as flour, rice, and pasta, frequently go on sale at major grocery stores. Stocking up on these essentials when prices are low is a great way to stretch any food budget.
4. Never shop when you are hungry: Shopping when you are hungry is a sure way to give into temptation, bust the food budget, and stock up on all the wrong foods.
5. Become a label guru: Nutritional labels contain a wealth of information, but it is up to each shopper to read those labels and understand what they mean. Nutrition labels contain complete information on not just calories and fats, but the amounts of various essential vitamins and minerals as well.
6. Pay close attention to package sizes: Packaging can be deceptive, so get in the habit of comparing weights when shopping for canned fruits, vegetables, and other items.
7. Use coupons, but do it wisely: Manufacturers coupons can be a great deal when used on products you already buy. Buying something simply because you have a coupon, however, is typically not a good idea.
8. Replace meat with beans and other less costly subsitutes: Eating less meat and more beans and lentils is a great way to save money on your food budget while still getting the protein you and your family need. Try experimenting iwth some vegetarian recipes for interesting ways to use these non meat alternatives.
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