Monday, October 8, 2012

Healthy AND Frugal Possible?

This is an area I've struggled with for many years.  How can you eat healthy, AND live frugally?  Well, it can be done. Keep in mind that many healthy foods are very frugal, it might just be time to learn how to cook with said items.

In our house, some very frugal healthy items we use are:

-Brown rice
-Lentils
-Black Beans
-Chickpeas
-Oatmeal
-Eggs

I previously talked about getting rid of boxed cereal.  Not only is this a great option for eating a more healthy breakfast, but cereal can be expensive!!  If your kids are like mine who LOVE cereal, a box can last only 2-3 days.

When we buy beans, we buy them by the bag instead of the can.  We throw the whole bag in the crockpot, and then we divide them up into ziploc bags and freeze them for when we need some already cooked beans!

When shopping for produce I try to for the most part purchase what is in season.  Right now, for Autumn my fridge is full of winter vegetables - squash, pumpkin, potatoes, carrots, onions...etc.  In the Summer I love to eat all the types of berries that are in season.  

I think that many times, when we need to stock our cupboards with healthy foods, there may be a few things we decide are worth the money.  I think it's best to decide what you will spend the money on, and work on keeping the rest of the grocery bill down.    I am willing to spend more money on natural sweeteners such as maple syrup or honey, but I don't buy prepackaged gluten-free products (which, many are processed anyways.)

You can be healthy, and it won't burn a hole in your wallet!


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