Eating Well for Less

Cinzia Cuneo April 5, 2016 Save Money

Is it possible to eat healthily and save money? The answer is YES, but you have to monitor prices closely and avoid buying any processed foods—which implies cooking from scratch—and avoid buying fruits and vegetables that are out of season or pre-prepared.

Grocery Shopping: An Important Expense

Did you know that in western countries, grocery shopping represents the third highest budgetary spend for families, after housing and transport? In Canada, it was 12% of the family budget until recently, but it’s now on average 15%, and even higher for families on lower incomes. It is therefore important to mention some basic principles:

Meat, Fish and Substitutes

The cost of animal products has much increased these last few years. Buy only cheaper cuts, for example beef blade or pork shoulder, and cook them longer to obtain a more tender meat. You can mix minced beef to other foods to increase the number of portions from the recipe. With beans, lentils, chickpeas and tofu (much cheaper than meat), your chillis, spaghetti sauces, casseroles and stir-fries will become almost vegetarian.

Buy a whole turkey or chicken. Once cooked, cut into pieces and freeze the leftovers for another meal.

Cook eggs, a nutritious, economical and versatile food.

Forget fresh fish, but monitor the offers on frozen fish and go for canned light tuna (less expensive and less contaminated with mercury than white tuna) and salmon for their precious omega-3’s.

Buy dry legumes rather than canned, as they are even more economical.

Here are some great examples of recipes that save money:

• Beer Can Chicken
• Shrimp, Eggs, and Potato Salad
• Tuna and Navy Bean Salad
• Barley and Lentil Soup

Barley and Lentil Soup

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Author

Cinzia Cuneo

Cinzia Cuneo, founder of SOSCuisine.com, never wanted to neglect the quality of her food. She shares her special expertise to make good food quickly and without complications!