Health and Diet Blog

Being on a tight budget and preparing delicious, healthy dishes on a daily basis sounds frightening, doesn’t it? With food prices soaring, not only you find yourself sucked in grocery debt, but you also fall into a mealtime pothole, eating the same foods over and over.

Your body needs a balance and a complete series of nutrients that can provide you with a wide variety of vitamins and minerals required for a healthy lifestyle. So, how can you afford to buy healthy food when your budget is constrained? The golden rule is to be in control of your kitchen. If you buy smart, store smart and cook smart, you can offer yourself the first-class meals you deserve.

Here are some tips for eating healthy on a budget:

Buy fresh produce on sale

Fruits and vegetables are vital to any healthy diet, but fresh produce is also expensive. Look for fresh fruits and vegetables on sale so that you stretch your dollar value while eating healthy. Fresh fruits and vegetables should be purchased at least once or twice a week, preferably in season, to ensure optimal nutrition and taste. You can often buy great seasoned produce for a fraction of the regular price.

Buy frozen vegetables

Frozen vegetables are cheaper than fresh produce and have great nutritional value intake. Frozen veggies keep longer in the freezer and give you time to decide on your diet rather than hurrying to cook before the vegetable is exposed to oxygen, heat, and light and loses its vitamins. Typically, big bags of frozen vegetables cost at a bargain price and make handy additions to last-minute meals.

Buy canned fish

Instead of going for fresh fish, buy canned tuna. The point is to get the all the benefits of Omega 3 that you can find in salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, nuts and flaxseed.

Eat lots of soups

Soups are highly nutritional and convenient snacks, particularly if you use canned of packed soups. Then, you can add your meat or veggie leftovers and have a delicious, healthy meal. Try also to experiment with your own spices and herbs.

Eat lots of snacks

Have a snack cabinet at home and fill it with low calorie snacks such as home made cookies, smoothies, sugar free puddings, granola bars, pretzels, sunflower seeds and olives that you can eat anytime of the day.

Eat brown rice

Brown rice is a whole grain that helps in weight loss, cancer prevention and heart disease prevention and stabilizes blood pressure. It is inexpensive, but totally healthy as its antioxidants, manganese and selenium, help in energy production. You may use brown rice to eat delicious meals with soup, stew, beans, and many salads. So, not only you have value in your pocket, but also variety of tastes while eating healthy.

Eat pasta

Pasta is quick and easy to prepare and can be matched with meat, salad and vegetables. You can always add muchrooms, herbs and spices to make it more delicious. For a healthier version, choose whole-wheat pasta.

Eat dry beans

Dry beans are low in calories and high in fiber, proteins and iron, and therefore are a great meat substitute. Fiber helps in lowering cholesterol levels in the blood and removes all toxins that may cause cancer. Eating dry beans twice a week helps you digesting better and reduces the risks of acquiring heart problems or cancer. Beans can be cooked with rice, burritos, quesadillas, soups, stews, or served as a side dish.

Eat smaller portions

America is the land of extra-large, but when it comes to eating huge portions, the value you get is outweighed by the money you spend on diets. Get informed from the restaurant menus and read all the nutritional information about salads, fruits and whole grain alternatives. However, when there are no such options watch your portions and get used to small portions.

10. Buy bulk quantities

Shopping large quantities of non-perishable food items will definitely save you money. For instance, spices, marinades, dried herbs, curry powder, vinegars, tomato, soy sauces, ketchup, brown rice and whole wheat flour are goods that you can store for a long time without worrying they will expire. With these foodstuffs you don’t have to pick up small quantities every time you go to the super market. In addition, having a variety of options will save you money from going out and saving both on calories and money.

11. Shop local

By shopping local, you can buy fresh vegetables that were picked the day before. Also, you pay a lower price because there is no intermediary charge and no shipping costs and you help local farmers establish their businesses and be profitable.

Some general money-saving tips

- When you cook a big meal, make extra food that you can keep in the freezer to use it some other time for a quick lunch or supper.

- You can make your own vegetable stock from your vegetable trimmings. In that way, not only you save money, but you have also a highly healthy base for soups, casseroles, and Crockpot cooking.

- Never go out shopping with an empty stomach. When we are hungry, we cannot resist buying delicious food, which is, often, expensive and fattening.

- Before going out, write down a shopping list and stick to it. Many people go to the super market or to the grocery store without a list and they lose control of their budget. Shop once a week and cut out coupons from the newspaper but skip those for processed foods because even with the coupon they are expensive.

In fact, eating healthy on a budget requires good planning, dedication and creativity. Maybe there will be days that you fall back to packaged food for reasons of convenience. However, if you think of the beneficial rewards of healthy eating and how easy you can derive them at a low cost, you will think twice before stopping at your local drive-thru to buy a burger again.

What constitutes a healthy breakfast?

Your sample breakfast might look a little like this: one ¾ cup serving of a wholegrain cereal such as All Bran, rolled oats, or 2 Weetbix with skim or low fat milk, followed by a hard boiled egg and an orange or apple. Try to steer clear of cereals with a high sugar content (i.e. some toasted muesli’s), syrupy based fruits, pastries and white breads, instead opt for wholegrain, rye or sourdough type breads. These are not only lower in kilojoules but have a low GI factor as well, which means that they satiate your hunger for longer. Foods such as white bread and pastries are high GI, this means that they might fill you up quickly but in a couple of hours you will start to feel hungry again. Protein and fibre go hand in hand in satiating your hunger for longer so you will only need a light snack

2 to 3 hours after your breakfast before your lunch; this not only keeps your hunger pangs under control but is a valuable tool in weight management and keeps your metabolic fire burning!!

For some people though, the thought of eating breakfast is too much.

 A good strategy is to have half of your breakfast i.e. just have a boiled egg or a piece of toast with a scraping of vegemite, jam or honey and have the rest later for morning tea, such as 200g of yogurt with a small to medium piece of fruit/ a small handful of nuts such as almonds, brazil nuts and walnuts.

Begin your day the right way, with a healthy breakfast every morning and by doing this you will be setting yourself up to get more out of your day, you will begin to feel and notice the difference throughout your morning, in fact for the entire day!

32 Tips and Ideas to Make Healthy Meals for the Family

Healthy, delicious meals can be made easily. This will reduce the temptations to go to fast food restaurants. These tips and ideas will help you prepare healthy food for your family. Keep healthy food staples such as these in your kitchen so you will be able to cook healthy meals anytime you want.

Eggs
Lean meat
Fresh or frozen vegetables – broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, peas, carrots, celery
Fresh of frozen fruits – apples, strawberries, banana
Onions, garlic, ginger
Olive oil
Whole wheat flour
Whole wheat pasta
Beans
Brown rice

1. Use cooking methods that require very little oil. Bake, grill, barbecue, broil, poach, steam, or stir-fry.

2. Use lean meat, and always trim off all visible fat before cooking.

3. Use herbs to give flavorful taste and aroma to your food. Add basil and oregano to your pasta dishes. Add herbs and lemon to fish, and bake it. It’s very delicious and healthy.

4. Use non-stick cookware to limit your fat intake.

5. Whenever possible, steam instead of boil. This is to prevent the water-soluble vitamins to get lost in the water, thus preserving more nutrients.

6. Chop vegetables ahead of time and keep them in containers in the fridge. Keep enough chopped vegetables to last a few days at least. This way when you come home from work you just need to take out the ready-chopped ingredients and add them to your favorite dish.

7. Broccoli, cabbage, carrots and mushrooms are examples of food that can keep longer in the fridge. When you’re in a hurry, you can mix and match different vegetables and make a very fast stir-fry. One of the fastest meals I make is Teriyaki. This is very quick and easy to make. First I saute some onions, then add in the meat (beef, chicken, shrimp, or salmon), then add teriyaki sauce just enough to coat the meat, and add toasted sesame seeds (you can buy sesame seeds that are toasted already). Then I serve with the stir-fried vegetables and hot cooked rice. This is very similar to the teriyaki stir fry in Costco, and it’s really delicious.

8. Replace meat with beans and lentils in recipes. These are also great sources of protein.

9. On recipes calling for white flour, substitute a part of it with whole wheat flour. Sometimes you will not even notice the difference in taste. Some examples are pancakes, muffins or cookies.

10. Replace sugar with yogurt when making smoothies.

11. Add vegetables anywhere possible. Vegetables are rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals. Add vegetables in sandwiches and soups. You can add vegetable in baking desserts too. Like for example, make carrot cupcakes instead of chocolate cupcakes.

12. If you’re in a hurry, buy a fresh rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. There are many delicious healthy meals you can make out of it. You can slice it up and serve with vegetables, or toss them into a nice salad. You can also make delicious sandwiches using rotisserie chicken, by adding tomatoes and lettuce on whole wheat bread or bun. Sliced rotisserie chicken is delicious on tortillas too.

13. Crock Pots are a great time saver. Put chicken or beef, add carrots, potatoes, onions and tomato sauce. Leave on low heat for about 7-8 hours, and by the time you get home from work you’ll have a delicious hot meal ready.

14. Wrap sweet potato in aluminum foil and bake it. It is simple, delicious, and healthy.

15. Instead of using salt, season food more with herbs, spices and lemon.

16. If possible, make your own broth instead of buying canned broth.

17. Add healthy ingredients like flax seeds and cranberries to your home-made muffins.

18. Add blueberries to your morning pancakes.

19. Avoid processed meats like salami, bologna, hot dog and bacon. These are loaded with sodium, fats and preservative.

20. Layer your lasagna with meat and vegetables instead of all meat. Examples of vegetables that are great on lasagna are spinach, zucchini, and mushrooms.

21. Limit using ingredients that are high in saturated fat. Saturated fats are fats that are solid at room temperature.

22. Whenever possible, put the soup, stews and gravy in the fridge overnight and skim the fat off the next day. Or use a gravy separator.

23. Revise recipes by using no-fat or low-fat products.

24. Cook fish more often. Substitute fish in place of meat in recipes.

25. Always read the labels at the back of food packages. Choose products with the least amount of salt, sugar, and fats.

26. If you want to use ground beef, use extra lean ground beef. It is a little bit more expensive but is much healthier.

27. Remove skin from chicken before serving.

28. Avoid prepackaged or “instant” food, which are loaded with sodium and fat.

29. Cook big batches and freeze them . This will save you lots of precious time.

30. Use kitchen tools to save you time, such as food chopper, griller, rice cooker, crock-pot, and food processor.

31. Salads are very easy to make. You can come up with a beautiful and very healthy salad in just a few minutes. Wash the vegetables, then use a salad spinner to quickly spin the vegetables dry. There are some salad spinners where you can even use the same bowl to serve the salad on. Then add chopped tomatoes, cucumber, chicken breast, or anything you desire. Top with shredded cheese. When the salad is colorful (red, green, orange) it looks very beautiful and appetizing.

32. Use left-overs to cook lunch or dinner the following day. Today’s left-over baked chicken can be tomorrow’s chicken pasta dish. Today’s left-over stir fry can be tomorrow’s omelette.

How to Make Healthy French Fries

5 Fast and Delicious Ways to Cook Leftover Rice

Top 10 Best Recipe Websites

How to Make California Roll Sushi

Easy and Delicious Deviled Eggs Recipe

How to Make Your Own Healthy and Delicious Popcorn

Delicious Potato Salad

Five Quick and Easy Filipino Desserts

How to Make Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

Creamy Chicken Carbonara Recipe

Delicious Beef Cordon Recipe

Free Online Cooking Classes and Tutorials

30 Fast and Easy Potluck Ideas

30 Fast and Easy Potluck Ideas: Part 2

Would you like to write articles like these and earn extra money?

Join me at Bukisa: http://www.bukisa.com/join/17553

Triond: http://www.triond.com/rw/174239

Eating healthier does not mean that you have to make drastic changes in your diet. To make such changes will increase stress levels and that is exactly what you do not want when you are trying to implement a healthy lifestyle. Most family recipes can easily be converted into healthy meals.

Whole grains and complex carbohydrates are a plus to any heart healthy diet. Substitute whole wheat pastas for the bleached pastas in meals. Try using whole grain breads, rolls and buns instead of ordinary white breads. Bland white rice can easily be exchanged with tasty brown rice. Cut down on the simple carbohydrates like the ones found in sugars.

Saturated and trans fats are defiantly something that you want to cut down. Butter and vegetable oils are the biggest culprits in most recipes. Fried foods should be restricted but making a slight change to use mono unsaturated fats, such as peanut and olive oils, would be better for your heart. Use olive oil in exchange for vegetable oil. Both add an enjoyable taste to your foods and can turn your favorite family recipe into a healthy meal.

Fruits and vegetables are a necessary part of a well balanced diet. They can make great snacks by themselves or add them to an existing meal plan. Shredded carrots and chopped zucchini are great in spaghetti sauce. You can add vegetables to any recipe so experiment with all of the different tastes. Serve steamed vegetables on the side of any entree and make fruit smoothies for dessert. Fruits like blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and bananas are great on cereal and oatmeal. The healthy meal possibilities are endless with these versatile ingredients.

Oatmeal is not only good for your heart but can be used in a variety of ways. Having it for breakfast is one way to add it to your diet. Make oatmeal raisin cookies for your sweet tooth or use it in your meatloaf recipe instead of crackers or bread crumbs. This is also a good ingredient to add when smaller portions are needed to stretch a meal.

Any recipe that calls for ground beef is an easy fix to make it a healthy meal. Buy ground beef that is leaner or has a lower fat by weight percentage. To cut out a bigger percentage of fat use ground turkey. Since turkey has a slightly different taste and texture start by using half ground turkey and half ground beef for some recipes.

Add a little more variety of proteins to your diet. Chicken breasts and pork chops, or tenderloins, are easily interchangeable in most recipes. Fish is a good alternative to get needed proteins. Salmon and tuna also contain the Omega-3 fatty acids needed for good heart health. They can be prepared in a variety of ways from grilling to poaching and added to salads and casseroles. Remember to balance out the type of proteins you consume between the animal, fish and vegetable proteins.

Experiment with all of the different tastes and textures. Take the time to enjoy your food. Your creations came from the heart and you are just trying to take care of yours.