Can your diet be filled with nutritious food while still keeping your food bills low? Yes, it certainly can! Learning how to eat healthy while keeping your budget in check may take some know-how and effort, but it’s absolutely doable.
The Perks of Preparing at Home
One of the best ways to eat healthy on a budget is to make the vast majority of your meals at home. It’s cheaper than dining out or picking up already-prepared food, and it’s easier to eat healthy meals and keep your daily consumption of salt, sugar, saturated fat, and more in check when you know exactly which ingredients are included.
For instance, if we look at sodium consumption, 9 out of 10 Americans eat too much sodium. In fact, on average, American adults eat more than double the recommended amount of sodium. Excessive sodium intake is linked to an increased risk of high blood pressure, and the vast majority of salt consumed comes from packaged and prepared foods—not from salt added to food while cooking at home. By preparing nutritious food yourself, you can both save money and avoid eating an excessive amount of salt, sugar, fat, and calories in general—and improve your health in the long run.
Getting More Bang for Your Buck
A surefire way to get the most nutritional bang for your buck is by concentrating on making whole foods like beans, fruits, and whole grains the star ingredients of your home-cooked meals—but which of these foods are the least expensive? Here are some examples of the most affordable produce:
- Watermelon
- Bananas
- Canned and dried beans
- Cantaloupe
- Potatoes
- Apples
- Pineapple
- Lettuce
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
Additional produce options that cost 50 cents or less per cup are cucumbers, celery, and canned corn. Other nutritious foods that typically cost about $2 per package include whole grains such as brown rice, multigrain pasta, oats, and whole-wheat bread, as well as Greek yogurt and canned tuna. Additionally, here are some tips for getting the most out of your time and money at the grocery store and in the kitchen:
- Make a budget-based shopping list and stick to it at the store.
- Meal prep at the beginning of every week so you’re prepared for the week ahead.
- Cook once, but make enough to eat twice or more.
- Stock up on inexpensive, healthy canned goods and integrate them into your meal plan.
When you’re ready to get creative in the kitchen, try out some of our these nutritious, filling, and delicious recipes:
Eggplant Tacos
Hello Taco Tuesday with a healthy boost! Eggplant is a low-calorie and low-carb food that is packed with antioxidants. The anti-inflammatory benefits of the eggplant may even help protect against premature aging, neurodegenerative diseases, and heart disease.
For this recipe, we sautéed diced eggplant with flavorful ingredients, including cilantro, lemon juice, taco seasoning, and onion, and then spooned the mixture into taco shells for a healthy dinner in a jif.
See how to make eggplant tacos.
Mango Salsa
This colorful mango salsa uses fresh mango, bell pepper, jalapeño pepper, lime, and cilantro. For more than 4,000 years, mangoes have been a healthy favorite in diets around the world. Low in calories and packed with plenty of fiber, which can help with digestion and battle heart disease, mangoes are also a good source of vitamins A and C, as well as calcium, iron, magnesium, and other essential nutrients.
Whether you make your own tortilla chips for dipping or use the salsa as a fresh topping for a brown rice and black bean bowl, mangoes can be a delicious, healthy addition to your menu.
See how to make mango salsa.
Banana Pancakes
Make a healthy weekend brunch for the whole family by whipping up these three-ingredient banana pancakes. All you need are bananas, eggs, and cinnamon!
At roughly 19 cents apiece, bananas are an inexpensive source of depression-battling and mood-boosting B9. And, thanks to a hefty dose of potassium and low levels of sodium, bananas can actually help lower blood pressure, according to the FDA. But the benefits of these three-ingredient banana pancakes don’t stop there. One of the best things about cinnamon—beyond that it's packed with antioxidants—is that it's a sugar-free way of adding a natural sweetness to just about any dish.
See how to make banana pancakes.
At Feeding Westchester, we offer resources, education and more to foster a lifetime of healthier eating. To learn more about how we tackle hunger from all angles, read about our educational initiatives.
