Healthy meals on a budget

Today people are running around trying to accomplish all their daily goals, and it always seems there are not enough hours in the day to do everything. At the meal times, it can be difficult to stay inventive, within budget, healthy and nutritious all at the same time and more often than not, we tend to slip in one or more of these areas. Most people use the excuse that junk food is cheaper than cooking a healthy meal from home but that is just not the case. If you are careful and prepare your meals with thought you can make those wonderful meals on a budget.

Healthy Eating

Firstly you need to try to set boundaries for your junk food consumption and your alcohol intake. You will also need to make yourself drink six to eight glasses of water each day and this can be built up to, just always have a full glass next to you and you will be surprised at how many you go through. To stay healthy you need to think about limiting your salt intake and the amount of sugar you take in. You will also need to stay away from the foods which contain saturated fats. It would be wise to set some time aside each week for writing your food shopping list and the planning of the meals. Spend a little time looking at cook books and going through the internet to find the budget meals with the directions for cooking. Fill up your kitchen cupboards with food that is easy to cook and that is still relatively cheap.

Types of Food to Use for Cheap, Healthy Meals

If you have any leftover meats or some vegetables from yesterday’s dinner you can use brown rice to bulk it up for today’s dinner. You can use lentils and beans in a soup as they are very nutritious and you can use them as a main dinner as well. Pasta is always a good option as it is cheap and very easy and can be combined with just about anything.

Hints to Help You Save Money

Always make extra food so you can freeze some for another meal and try to save your vegetable trimmings so you can make your very own stock. When you go to the shop you should buy the food in bulk as this will save you some pennies as well. If you are cooking with a slow cooker it is fine to use the less expensive cuts of meat.