When feeding a family, it can sometimes be challenging to balance expenses, nutrition, and simplicity.
Hassle-free foods are often high priced and not all that nutritious. They are often loaded with MSG (which is cleverly disguised as numerous factors such as “natural flavors”) and high fructose corn syrup, each of which is damaging to our bodies.
But nutritious foods take longer to cook and they may be also are they?
Not lengthy ago, I was watching a documentary where a family of four stated that it was “too expensive” to eat healthy, nutritious food. They claimed that eating in the “dollar menu” was much less high priced than cooking for themselves I’ll admit that I used to assume that cooking healthy food for my family members was going to imply spending far more money on groceries, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised!
It has been mentioned that the food spending budget for the “typical” American family members is about $100 monthly for every single household member. So, for my family of 7, my food budget would be about $700.
Let’s compare rapidly food against cooking your meals.
A month-to-month spending budget of a hundred dollars per person breaks down to about $1.11 per meal. An item of the “dollar menu” is significantly less, but honestly, who eats just 1 thing off the dollar menu? The family I saw on the food documentary was eating a meal which contained 3 items per particular person, a “burger”, fries, and a drink. That’s $3 per person. In the event you did that for each meal, you’d spend about $270 per person, per month…nearly TRIPLE the typical spending budget.
Sure, it is handy, but it is also expensive! Plus the nutritional worth of that food? OH MY! In case you had been to get a double cheeseburger, fries as well as a smaller drink (all in the dollar menu), you’d be consuming 820 calories and 34 grams of fat! Positive, you will find reduced-calorie options, however, the nutritional value is still lacking.
But are you able to consume nutritious foods for $1.11 per individual per meal?
One of our preferred meals is Tagliotti and it is very very affordable, even with fresh sourdough bread on the side. Oven-baked salmon with broccoli and rice is a reasonably priced dinner and it can be full of excellent nutrition.
Here are some suggestions for balancing convenience, expense, and nutrition for your family.
1. Watch for sales! I only have a look at the front and back of your ad flyer because it is where the healthiest foods are found. We’ve been able to find wild-caught salmon for $8.95 for 2 1/2 pounds. Purchase as a lot as you can afford once you uncover it at that price and freeze it so you will have a lot of food options.
2. Develop your menu around what is on sale. There are quite a few great recipe websites where it is possible to enter the ingredients you have got on hand and it will give you recipes that use these components. All Recipes is certainly one of my preferred web-sites.
3. Normally have some staples on hand. We often have complete grain/whole wheat pasta, brown rice, whole-grain bread, tomato sauce, soy milk, homemade “refried” beans (recipe on my site), and tortillas inside the pantry.
4. Experiment and have an enjoyable! Do not be afraid to try new points. We’ve produced some wonderful meals and our youngsters assume we’re the best cooks in the world!
Not simply are we eating healthier, we’re obtaining entertaining and we’re saving money. As a bonus, we never produce as much trash (haven’t figured that one out but!).
For us, it boils down to a commitment to feed our family extra nutritious meals. I know should you make the same commitment, you are going to uncover terrific meals that your household will love and you will even save some money!
