Eating Healthy on a Budget By Cheryl Koch, M.S., R.D. - Posted Mon, Jun 04, 2007, 4:08 pm PDT

1. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Mon, Jun 04, 2007, 5:07 pm PDT

I'm sorry I thought this would have priced items that one could use to gage their spending for foods that are healthy and cheap.

Report Abuse

2. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Tue, Jun 05, 2007, 5:18 am PDT

I have one rule that I use so I do not overpay for healthy food. If the organic food costs more than 10$ more than the non-organic variety, then I just buy the regular variety. Also, the only reasonable grocery store for healthier items appears to be Trader Joes, especially for wild frozen salmon and most varieties of fresh nuts.

Report Abuse

3. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Tue, Jun 05, 2007, 7:56 am PDT

It's expensive to eat healthy. Prices are rising on a lot of items I buy every week. I guess that's a reflection on the high cost of gas to truck the food in from California and CHINA. (kidding about the China bit). I am so lucky to have a local farmer's market. My produce is fresh, tasty and lasts a long time. There is no middle man to contend with so the prices are low compared to the grocery stores. Here is an inexpensive veggie stir fry to try. I have it at least once a week. Starting with olive oil in your stir fry pan, using medium control on your burner, place a package of frozen Great Value (Wal Mart Brand) mixture of veggies with asparagus. Add fresh cut up summer squash and stir fry for about 4 minutes. Add sliced fresh pea pods. Add spices you like and a few shakes of soy sauce. I also add a partial package of stir fry seasoning. (To make it extra special I add super firm cubed tofu ) When I use the tofu I put that in the stir fry pan first with the olive oil and spices, but you can do whatever you like and use whatever you want.

Report Abuse

4. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Tue, Jun 05, 2007, 1:50 pm PDT

It's not expensive to eat healthy. Just time consuming. I often cook up a bag of red beans or black beans with a few medium onions, a few cloves of garlic, about half a stalk of celery, oregano, basil, garlic powder, onion powder, worcestershire sauce, parsley, crushed red pepper, cracked black pepper, and salt. (of course you don't have to get that detailed with the seasoning)Then just serve it over a plates of brown rice with hot sauce on the side. Vege trays are also a nice alternative to salads when you want to mix it up or to refrain from grabbing the bag of junk food. I've even roasted garbanzo beans in the oven before which came out pretty good. There's some ideas for eating healthy. It's really not rocket science.

Report Abuse

5. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Tue, Jun 05, 2007, 3:12 pm PDT

Dear Desirebystarlight, Thanks for the great tips. I never even thought of roasting barbanzo beans in the oven. I will try that tomorrow. I have popped a few on top of my pizza and that is really tasty with feta cheese.

Report Abuse

6. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Tue, Jun 05, 2007, 7:46 pm PDT

#5, No problem joanbev. Never had garbanzo beans on my pizza before. Sounds interesting. What kind of pizza was that on? A white pizza that you made? Frozen pizza that you fixed up? I like your suggestions about the stirfries too. I make them frequently. Not quite that way but I make them. Coleslaw always makes a nice substitute for lettuce whenever it gets too expensive to eat. You can just sprinkle in your own homemade salad dressing or vinagrette dressing (of the healthy variety from the store) over a bowl of cabbage and you've got another healthy dish. You can steam cabbage, broccoli, and/or cauliflower, and serve it over brown rice, wild rice, or kashi. That's also healthy, filling and inexpensive. Serve it with soy sauce or a little butter and dill. Pasta salads are cheap, filling, and easy to make on a hot day. I know a lot of people gripe that they are "unhealthy" but they are probably also the same people who are also stocking their shelves with bags of chips and oreo cookies too. It's better to eat a bowl of pasta salad than a bowl of cheezits, doritos or funyuns. I also like angel hair pasta with olive oil, sesame seeds, basil,black pepper, parsley, salt, and parmesan. Sometimes I top it with a tomato. Sometimes I top it with reheated chicken or turkey. It's very good.

Report Abuse

7. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Wed, Jun 06, 2007, 10:05 am PDT

Desireby starlight. I tried the roasted gabanzo beans with fresh basil and olive oil and parmesan and my husband is still raving about them. We have our own little blog going on - hope others will join in. I make my own pizza dough in my bread machine and combine unbleached white flour with wheat flour. Makes a nice crust. I treated myself to a pizza Deni machine that makes delicious thin crusted pizzas. Worth every cent. Thanks again for all your suggestions.

Report Abuse

8. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Wed, Jun 06, 2007, 1:16 pm PDT

#7, joanbev, I've never had too much luck trying to make a homemade pizza the few times that I've tried to make it. Thanks for letting me know what helps give you a good pizza crust. Nice to hear that the garbanzo beans turned out well. Hope the suggestions help. I guess others will join in when they think of something to say or have time to say it.

Report Abuse

9. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Wed, Jun 06, 2007, 1:28 pm PDT

I dont care what these tips are... all healthy foods are more expensive than poor foods.

Report Abuse

10. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Wed, Jun 06, 2007, 1:28 pm PDT

I dont care what these tips are... all healthy foods are more expensive than poor foods.

Report Abuse

11. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Wed, Jun 06, 2007, 5:32 pm PDT

#9, 10: It is easy to eat healthy food cheaply where I live. Where do you shop? Some stores are worse than others. What food are you selecting Soliz360? How many are you buying for? Maybe you could find a better store with more bargains in them or just look for the items when they go on sale. I think the tips by mkatz2m, joanbev13, and desirebystarlight are all good ones. Try another store where you live. It's possible you shop in the most overpriced one in your area.

Report Abuse

12. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Thu, Jun 07, 2007, 10:21 am PDT

Fruit is very expensive on a budget!

Report Abuse

13. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Thu, Jun 07, 2007, 10:46 am PDT

oh come on, most healthy foods are expensive!! fresh produce, fish, organic, cheese are expensive-there are no coupons for them. Any wholegrain bread is at least 2.50 up for a loaf. Unless you have someone to split produce/food with from a farmers market, most of the produce will spoil before you get to use it and there goes your savings This article did not really have any tips for healthy/cost effect shopping. as a professional shopper I tell my customers to try and stick with what is on sale this week, but that only helps if you can live with only what is onb sale and you like a variety of foods

Report Abuse

14. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Thu, Jun 07, 2007, 10:50 am PDT

We clip coupons and USE them every week! The part about the local farmer's market being cheap...is absolutely false! If anything the farmer's market(s) in and around the Chicagoland area are very expensive, and although the produce and fruit is very fresh and good, you can get burned [the cheap or sale products are sometimes just bruised and/or a few days old but still look pretty good!].

Report Abuse

15. Posted by A Yahoo! Health User on Thu, Jun 07, 2007, 11:31 am PDT

Go to the farmers market right before they close....that's when you get the good deals because they do not want to pack it up again

Report Abuse