Prepare Nutritious Meals on a Budget
Some tips to help you plan and prepare nutritious meals on a limited budget:
- Build main dishes around pasta or grains, such as noodles or rice, and combine them with a smaller amount of meat, poultry, fish, or meat alternates such as eggs. For example, prepare a main dish by combining rice, vegetables, and ham.
- Create variety by including a new, low-cost nutritious food occasionally, along with old favorites. For example, if potatoes are always mashed, try baked or a potato-vegetable combination such as a Potato Crust Vegetable Pizza.
- Involve other family members in planning and preparing meals. This creates interest, teaches others basic food preparation skills, and lessens the workload for the food preparer.
- Make meals easier to prepare by varying the methods used to cook foods. For example, if a slow cooker or pressure cooker is available, use either of these appliances to cook dry beans. The slow cooker does not require constant watching, and the pressure cooker requires much less time than the conventional stove top method.
- Go easy on fat, sugars, and sodium in preparing food items. For example, bake rather than deep-fat-fry chicken or fish. This does not mean eliminating all fat, sugars, and sodium -- only limiting the amount.
- Use herbs and spices, and/or other lower fat flavorings rather than rich sauces and gravies.
- Take advantage of planned leftovers to cut preparation time and save food dollars. For example, prepare a roast, serve half of it, and freeze the remaining half to use later with vegetables for a quick soup or in other dishes.
- Do "batch cooking" when the food budget and time allow. Cook a large batch of spaghetti sauce, divide it into family-size portions, and freeze promptly for meals later in the month.
- Make one pot meals such as stews or hearty soups. These type of meals reduce the number of pots, pans, and other utensils that have to be washed.
