Thanks to our thrifty, smart, creative parents, we learned at a young age that eating healthy does not have to be expensive or time consuming. Some of our money saving, nutrition boosting tips below are a result of living those endless years of “student life” while others are secrets we can’t take full credit for, since they were stolen from mama Arora!
- Shop at stores with affordable canned and frozen foods. We typically pay $2 for 750g bags of frozen peas and carrots and throw these into rice, quinoa and ground meat dishes
- Keep canned no salt added pulses at home for quick, convenient additions to chili, soups, dips, burritos, and salads. We purchase these for $0.89 per can- that’s affordable and healthy protein!
- When we don’t want to use an entire can of beans, we label and freeze extras and use in soups or other cooked meals at a later date (no wasting in this house!)
- If a recipe calls for ground meat, replace a portion of it with lentils to add fiber and make your meat go further. Our 900g bag of lentils was only $2.49, and that lasts many meals
- Review grocery story flyers and weekly sales. Planning meals around sale items saves money. It’s gotten even easier with online flyers and Apps such as “Flipp” where you can review local flyers on your phone and “clip” sale items to create your own shopping list
- Waste less. If you know you’ve cooked too much and nobody will eat lasagna for 6 days, freeze half of it and eat it a few weeks later
- When you need an ingredient you don’t use often, buy it in bulk and only buy what you need
- Our family loves cheese. Cheese is expensive…unless you check the flyers every week and only buy it on sale. Enough said
- Keep canned tuna or salmon in the pantry for quick wraps, burgers and sandwiches
- Eggs. They’re cheap, delicious, a good source of protein, and who doesn’t like breakfast for supper?
- It sometimes saves money to purchase a larger size of more expensive foods that are used often, such as frozen berries and nuts (if price decreases as package size increases and if we don’t end up eating it faster because we have more of it in the home)
- Purchase chicken and ground turkey on sale and freeze for later use
- Purchase fresh berries and herbs such as dill, rosemary and mint when they’re on sale and in season, wash and freeze batches for later use
- Stay connected with us on twitter, instagram and facebook so you don’t miss our exclusive, affordable, nourishing recipes
We use these strategies every time we shop and cook. A great example of how affordable and mouthwatering home-made meals can be is our “Sloppy Lenny” we created for Alberta Milk. The per portion cost came to only $2.04! Get the recipe here and share your own unique tips with us below!
How Dietitians Save Money In the Kitchen