Skip to main content

Tips To Healthy Eating On A Budget

Eating healthy on a strict budget has been challenging these past several months and I am always looking for new ideas to stretch our dollar.  We've always shopped clearance items, but more recently we've been stocking up on reduced perishables.  And to reduce wastage and get the most out of our bargain finds we use these steps:

  1. Decide what will be used in this week's meals and set aside.
  2. Wash chop, slice, and dice everything else.  Then package them up in reusable containers and zip lock freezer bags and toss them in the freezer.  We find it best to do them up in portion sizes.
  3. Pull them out of the freezer as needed.

Right now we have a good stock of Smoothie Fruits portioned and frozen, ready to make a quick 1-serving smoothie for Christian before school each morning.  There's pineapple, banana, peach, pear, and cantaloupe.  They freeze great and taste just as delicious in a smoothie. 

I'm very excited because I just read a new tip... "Yogurt close to expiration can be frozen to use in smoothies."   I always see the individual yogurts at 50% off.  They will be the perfect size for Christian's morning smoothie!!


Our newest food bargains came yesterday when we ran up on a clearance shelf.  We got 2 bags jalapeno peppers, zucchini, celery and ginger root all at 50% off.   Millard is going to make some stuffed jalapeno peppers and freeze them.  They're the perfect little side.  The fresh ginger I will peel and freeze so that when I need it I can pull it out, grate a little off, then stick it back in the freezer.  We like to make a lot of asian sauces from scratch and the stash of ginger in the freezer will work out perfectly.  The zucchini and celery will be used up in meals this week.  We also found shredded Asiago cheese in the cooler that was near expiration and also reduced to 50% off.  We stuffed that in the freezer and will be just fine when we need it later.  We've frozen cheese several times before and it tastes just fine in our meals.

I'm always on the hunt for new tips.  Please share any money-saving tips for healthy eating that you may have.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Grilled Buttermilk Chicken w/ Salad

I am always looking for new recipes and last month my cousin emailed me the link to Grilled Buttermilk Chicken. I've had fried chicken soaked in buttermilk before, but this was a leaner idea. It was very easy. Saturday morning I arranged the chicken in a shallow baking dish and marinaded them in the buttermilk mixture. I turned them occasionally until dinner time. Then Millard took care of the grilling. They turned out nice. I didn`t use as much garlic as was called for, but perhaps I could`ve. Grilled Buttermilk Chicken Serves 8 Hands-On Time: 10m Total Time: 1hr 50m Ingredients 1 1/2 cups buttermilk 8 cloves garlic, chopped 1 tablespoon paprika kosher salt and black pepper 6 pounds bone-in chicken pieces Directions In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, garlic, paprika, 1½ teaspoons salt, and ¾ teaspoon pepper. Divide the buttermilk mixture and chicken between 2 large resealable plastic bags. Let marinate in the refrigerator, turning the bags o

Chocolate Pudding with Strawberries

Today was grocery day.  I shopped the sales fliers and came home with some lovely looking strawberries.  I knew they would go great with the Fat Free Jello Pudding that we already had in the pantry.  I prepared the pudding with 1% milk and spooned 1/2 cup into each dessert dish.  I washed and sliced the strawberries and layered them on top and lastly added a heaping tablespoon of cool whip on top.  A very simple and low fat, low cal dessert and oh boy was it ever delicious!  For dinner we had Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Coleslaw.  We tried Renee's Salad Dressing for the first time tonight and it was very good.  Overall our meal was about 4 carbs which was perfect!  

Aztec Blend

I was at the Bulk Barn last week and decided to try out one of their rice blends. It is Aztec Blend #1656. It includes colusari red rice, long grain brown rice, split peas, and amaranth. I had no idea what some of those ingredients were but figured anything's worth a try, right? When I got home I looked up colusari rice & amaranth. Colusari rice is a burgundy-colored chewy rice that has a light nutty-popcorn-like flavor and amaranth is actually an herb. It was very simple to prepare & actually pretty good. The peas were a little crunchy which added nice texture. I was surprised that both kids really liked it.