by Angel Quinton

Created on: September 24, 2008   Last Updated: March 19, 2009

It is commonly believed that healthy eating is expensive. However, that is usually because many foods marketed as 'healthy' are pre-packed and labeled to say they are healthy. You pay for this packaging, marketing and advertising. The way to eat healthy and inexpensively is to buy the basic ingredients and cook from scratch, using fresh or frozen vegetables, fruit other unprocessed food. Simple foods home cooked are often the most inexpensive and also heathy.

When going shopping always take a list. Having preplanned your meals for the week, but be flexible, if you see bargains of bulk fresh foods that can be stored. Try to buy fresh produce rather than pre-packed as they are much cheaper, processed foods are also likely to be high in fat and sugars. When buying vegetables buy the 'loose' vegetables that you weigh out rather than those packed in plastic trays, you pay extra for this packaging and it is not environmentally friendly.

Where possible, if you do buy some packets and tins, buy supermarket own brands of produce, there is often little if any difference apart from price. Some products do vary so experiment and try different products of different brands to compare them to which suits your own taste.

Local markets are often inexpensive too, with farmers markets providing fresh locally produced produce at reasonable rates. A good tip is to visit these if possible at the end of the trading day as much of the produce may be reduced and you get your supplies for a fraction of the original price. This is also true of supermarkets, they often reduce stock at the end of the days, often on Saturdays and Sundays as they know the following days will be quieter, you can often pick up bread and fresh foods at vastly reduced rates.

When you get the your shopping home, consider storage carefully. Take fruit and vegetables out of their plastic bags and store in the fridge or containers which allow the air to circulate around them. Baskets or traditional 'potato sacks' are good for this will keep them fresher for longer. If you can buy cheap vegetables in bulk but feel you will not use them in time you can prepare them and blanche them by boiling for ten minutes and freezing them. These will keep for about 3 months in the freezer and is a much cheaper way than buying packs of frozen vegetables.

When cooking learning to estimate the amounts needed per person can save on waste. If you do cook too much consider saving it in the fridge or freezer for use anther day, there are

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>