Low Cost Healthy Eating
Is it possible to eat healthily on a low budget? Marsha Hilgeford from Courier Journal thinks so
Many of us don’t have time to cook from scratch anymore, and the demands of modern life mean that we reach for convenience foods instead of ingredients. But this is an expensive way to eat. If you look at the cost of these convenience foods, and compare them with the cost of the ingredients used to make them, you will find that these ready made meals cost double, sometimes triple or more of what it would cost you to make them.
Even when we buy low-cost fast food, it is ridden with hidden (or not so hidden) fats and calories. Marsha notes that a side order of fries can cost less than a dollar, while a garden salad might cost you three times that much and grilled chicken sandwich is usually more costly than its higher-fat breaded and fried counterpart.
Why is that?
I know that since switching from convenience foods to really basic food cooked from scratch, I have saved over 30% on my grocery bills. Sure, it takes me a little longer to prepare my meals, but at least I know exactly what is in the food I’m eating.
Marsha concludes that:
“Small changes make a big difference. It is unlikely that many of us will return to home-cooked meals as our mainstay any time soon. Small investments of time and resources, however, can produce big improvements in our health and food costs.
In fact, food costs can be reduced by as much as 50 percent when we follow a simple meal plan.
Start with a few simple changes like eating at home one more meal each week, or planning for three or four meals with a grocery list.
You’ll not only save money but eat better too.”
Someone should make a recipe book of meals you can make in 20 minutes from scratch. I’d be the first one to buy it!