Eating value for your dollar

 Eating a healthy diet doesn’t have to cost a fortune.  In fact you can eat delicious healthy food and save money!  By following these tips you will save money while enjoying all the taste that healthy food offers.

 Plan meals for the next few days or weeks and write out a grocery list.  Not having a list can result in missed items last-minute menu changes and extra shopping trips.  This can cost you time, gas, and money.

 To be sure that your family is getting a well-balanced diet check your menu with USDA Food Guide recommendations.  Enjoy a variety of foods from the four food groups.  Pay attention to serving sizes

 When buying food be sure you dont allocate too much of your budget to meat products.  Three food guide servings of meat and alternatives per day is all a healthy male needs. Women need two food guide servings per day.  A serving is about the size of a deck of cards (90 g or 3 ounces).

 Here are some meal ideas for reducing your meat budget  vegetable beef stew with dumplings  chicken and vegetable stir-fry with rice  tomato and meat spaghetti sauce with pasta  chili with vegetables and kidney beans  ethnic dishes that are light on meat such as Chinese Mexican Indian Italian Middle Eastern and Spanish dishes

 Beans legumes nuts and peanut butter all contain protein.  These alternatives are much less expensive than meat poultry or fish.  Try corn tortillas and beans vegetarian pizza or a rice and bean casserole.

 Compare the time and effort spent cooking from scratch against the cost food value and taste of convenience foods. It costs you more to have someone else do the prep work for you. Think about which foods you will buy and which ones you can make for yourself. For example: shredded cheese vs. block cheese orange juice made from concentrate vs. frozen concentrated orange juice and chicken pieces vs. a whole chicken.

 Check out flyers and if possible go to two different stores.  Try store brand products and compare the ingredients and nutrient content.  Try frozen or canned vegetables or fruit instead of fresh. These are usually just as nutritious as fresh produce.