Healthy foods are expensive, there’s no doubt. With some careful planning and some inspirational recipes, though, you can feed your family nutritious meals on a budget.
Follow these tips to save money, prepare some delicious meals, and enjoy many healthy benefits.
Plan your meals for the week. Write out a menu. After you have decided what you’ll have each day, make a grocery list based on what you’ll need to purchase or pick up from Share the Table that week. Be sure to include breakfast and lunch as well as dinner on your plan.
Stick to your list. Items at the end of the aisle of the grocery store are put there to entice you to impulse buy. Take your written list with you to the store and mark off items as you put them in your cart.
Use leftovers for lunches. Prepare larger portions than you may need for one dinner and use the leftovers for school or work lunches. They may also prove useful as additives for other dinners, such as leftover chicken for a stew served later in the week.
Don’t go to the grocery store hungry. Did you know that when you’re hungry, you’ll be more likely to reach for unhealthy convenience foods such as packaged cookies? If you don’t have time to eat a meal before shopping, grab a quick snack that will hold you until you get back home.
Follow some simple, budget-minded recipes for nutritious meals for your family. Check out these recipes!
- Mini Meat Loaves, Green Beans, and Potatoes. This one is easy, too, as it’s all prepared in one pan in the oven! The meal easily feeds a family of four for less than $3 a person.
- Pesto Prosciutto Flatbread. A healthy and less expensive version of delivery pizza, this vegetarian flatbread meal feeds six for less than $2 a person.
- Tomato Soup with Roasted Chickpeas. On a cold winter night, there’s nothing like a hot bowl of soup! Use the leftover ham for sandwiches or another dinner in the coming week.
- Fettucine with Olive Oil, Garlic, and Red Pepper. Sometimes simpler is better. Add zucchini to the pasta or serve as a side dish for a nutritionally balanced meal.
- Modern Tuna Casserole. Even if your family says they’re tired of tuna, you can surprise them with this nutritious, veggie-filled dish for dinner.
- Tropical Chicken Patties. Rice, peas, and a surprising bit of pineapple add to ground chicken in this nutritious dish that can feed a family of four for less than $2 a person.
- Skillet Pork Chops with Peas, Carrots, and Pearl Onions. Use bone-in pork chops that are less expensive but just as good for this classic dish.
At Share the Table, we understand that it can be challenging to feed a family a nutritious meal when your budget is tight. We plan to offer more tips in future posts. Let us know if you have questions that you’d like addressed.
The most exciting news is that, once we are in our new facility, we will have the space to conduct cooking classes and classes on how to shop and plan meals on a budget. Thanks to our Hunger Heroes for making it happen!
