How to Afford Healthy Food on a Budget Part 2
I had so much to say on my last post about how to afford healthy food on a budget that I had to split it into 2 posts. There are just so many ideas to help you save money but still be able to eat the kind of food we want too.
Homemade vs. Packaged
This one is huge. I think the biggest way to save money is to cook at home. It is also the healthiest because we can control what goes into our food so there isn't all the added salt, sugar, fat and preservatives that come in restaurant and prepackaged foods.
There are so many things that I could go into for this but lets just use one example. We love bread. My favorite bread is made by a company here in Utah called Prairie Grain Bread. The only ingredients are fresh stone ground wheat, water, salt, yeast and raisin juice concentrate. No preservatives, oil, eggs or dairy. It is delicious but it also costs $4.79 a loaf. I can make a loaf of organic bread for around $1 so that would save 3.80 a loaf. The average person eats 80 loafs a year x that by my family of 5 (not including the baby) and if I made my own bread all year I would save $1,520! That is a chunk of change that could really be spent on so many other things. Baking bread might not be your thing right now, but there are many things like that in your diet that you could make the switch from store-bought to homemade. Organic yogurt and bone broth, prepackaged salad or pancake mixes just to name a few.
Grow and Preserve Your Own Food
A subcategory of the homemade vs packaged cost savings is to actually grow and preserve your own food. You know I love preserving my own food. It is so satisfying to me and everything tastes so much better when you grow it in your own backyard. I can by a jar of organic spaghetti sauce for about 2 dollars. I can buy a whole organic tomato plant for about the same and over the course of the summer it would give me enough tomatoes to make at least 20 jars of tomato sauce! And let me put in a little plug for tomatoes being so easy to can. You could also freeze the jars if you don't want to can just yet. It is all about baby steps and slowly incorporating these cost saving things into your life.
Potatoes are pretty expensive if you want to buy them organic. But they are so easy to grow. You really don't even need a garden to grow them. You could grow them on a balcony or patio. I am going to be doing a post on that later in the spring to show you how easy it is so stay tuned. Once you have the potatoes, those are great things to shred and freeze to use later as hash browns. I love to put them in breakfast burritos to give a little more substance than just eggs.
Bulk up or Substitute Meat and Dairy
If you are trying to stay away from factory raised meat and dairy then pasture raised meat and dairy is going to be a huge expense in your food budget. One way I do this is by not using meat as a main dish. Very rarely do we every have chicken breasts or steak accompanied by sides. Instead, I try to use meat as a flavoring or accent to the main dish. Think chicken fajitas. There is definitely chicken in there but it is also surrounded by tons of onions, peppers, tomatoes, guacamole and beans and anything else I can think of to bulk it out and make them feel filling. The most common way I buy grass-fed beef is ground. That way I can put some in with chili made mostly with beans. Or use for tacos, but I will mix it half and half at least with refried beans. (that also makes it stick better to the taco shells while my kids are eating them). I like to add potatoes or other veggies to curry so it is not just chicken. This way we can still get the meat taste in our meals which is especially important to my husband, but it also makes the meals cost about 1/4 of what they would if we used meat in bigger portions. And it makes them more nutritious since we are getting more fiber and a variety of minerals and vitamins.
With dairy, it's kind of the same idea. I use it when we will taste it. Like drinking a glass of milk plain. But if I am cooking and it calls for milk, butter or eggs, there is no way I'm going to 'waste' my organic or pasture raised dairy in a recipe. I will use a plant-based milk and either chia or flax seed 'eggs'. These egg substitutes are awesome and so cheap compared to organic or pasture raised eggs.
I love having these little tricks to help keep our grocery budget down. That makes me feel more able to afford the more expensive items I like to include in our diet.
I hope these tips are helping and stay tuned for part 3. And here is part 1 if you missed it.
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