LiveWell Chiropractic

Wholesome Food for the Frugal Family

A nourishing home-cooked menu for your family and a balanced budget – two desirable things that sometimes seem impossible to attain together. But you don’t have to compromise either one. Even with the commonly high prices of natural products and organic produce, you can have a healthy family and a healthy wallet.

This is the fourth in a four-part series that offers ways to incorporating more natural and whole foods into your grocery shopping while staying responsible to your budget. Three weeks ago we discussed some worthwhile reasons to shift toward a diet of more fresh, wholesome foods. Two weeks ago we covered some beginners’ steps for fitting healthy groceries into a budget. Last week we explored intermediate ideas for saving on healthy food, and this week we’ll go pro with a few advanced methods for making nutritious meals affordable.

Plan your meals.

Planning ahead allows you to prevent waste by using what you have. Take inventory of your pantry, fridge, and freezer and prioritize meals that use the ingredients that will expire or go bad the soonest. How many of us have thrown out perfectly good food because we forgot it was in the back of the shelf?
When shopping, always go to the store with a list of needed items based on the recipes that you planned, and stick to the list as much as possible. The average consumer tends to be somewhat compulsive, adding things to the grocery cart almost without thinking about it. This leads to the purchase of unnecessary and often unhealthy items that can result in a higher than necessary grocery bill. The more prepared you are when you get to the store the less impulse purchases you will make, and the more money you will save.

Avoid processed foods.

Processed foods are anything that comes in a box, bag, can, bottle, or other container. These foods have a lower nutritional value than whole, unprocessed foods, and tend to cost more per serving. Even the natural versions of prepared foods – the ones that use better ingredients - are less expensive to make from scratch. Many processed foods can be duplicated in the home kitchen for much cheaper. Things like waffles, baked goods, and kids’ lunches can be easily assembled in your kitchen for less than their prepackaged versions. Unhealthy processed foods like candy, chips, and soda are simply fillers that can be weaned away.

Processed foods are anything that comes in a box, bag, can, bottle, or other container. These foods have a lower nutritional value than whole, unprocessed foods, and tend to cost more per serving. Even the natural versions of prepared foods – the ones that use better ingredients - are less expensive to make from scratch. Many processed foods can be duplicated in the home kitchen for much cheaper. Things like waffles, baked goods, and kids’ lunches can be easily assembled in your kitchen for less than their prepackaged versions. Unhealthy processed foods like candy, chips, and soda are simply fillers that can be weaned away.

Preserve it when it’s cheap.

Depending on your storage capacity, canning, drying, and freezing fresh fruits and vegetables is an excellent way to cash in on seasonal foods that are lower in cost but higher in taste and nutrition. In the summer when produce is plentiful, freeze fruits like fresh picked berries, nectarines, and peaches, or can tomatoes. This web site offers a thorough guide to preserving your own produce.
You can also stock up on frozen produce sold at the grocery store when it’s on sale. Fresh fruits and vegetables tend to cost more than their frozen counterparts, and frozen fruits and veggies have a longer shelf life, so you don't have to worry about them rotting if you do not eat them in time. Most vegetables are flash frozen just after harvesting, which helps to preserve their nutrients, often making them more nutritious than fresh produce that has lost many of its nutrients from being shipped long distances.

Grow your own.

If you have more time than money, and you really want garden-fresh organic produce, why not plant your own? Even though growing your own fruits and vegetables might take some effort, the reward is that you get to eat healthy, fresh, and for free anytime you wish. Organic seeds are available at your local nursery or home improvement store, the time and effort you invest in a home garden is well worth the significant amount of money you save.
Start small with plants that are easy to grow and use like spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuces, strawberries and herbs like basil and cilantro. You can also grow many things in containers if you don’t have any yard space. Starting a family garden is a fantastic way to engage the whole family in prioritizing healthy foods. You’ll also get exercise, fresh air, and sunshine, which will promote healthy living as much as the organic produce. Simple Organic has a post with excellent information on getting started with a garden.