by S. Linda Jensen

Created on: January 18, 2009

Many of us don't enjoy shopping for groceries. We are not fond of dieting and well, the truth is, most of us love food. We are bombarded with flashy packaging, carefully worded lables and special prices that entice us to make purchases from impulse. This nasty habit not only sets us up for a lot of additional expense at the check out counter but we also gain weight from the unneccessary calories we felt compelled to purchase.

What works better for both the waistline and the budget is the proverbial list. One way to ensure that you have a sensible list for grocery shopping is to make a weekly menu for yourself or your family. Many cookbooks and magazines as well as online sites offer menus and receipes that are healthy and delicious choices for you and your family. Counting calories doesn't have to be such a chore or make you feel hungry and deprived all the time. There is power in knowledge! Knowing your tastes, your habits and lifestyle with the nutritional information available to us will certainly be a step in the right direction.

Choosing foods wisely and using a menu will help your budget and your weightloss program. You should plan for a breakfast meal, mid-morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner. Count the calories and keep portions as close to recommended sizes as possible. Eating several small meals is better for your body.

Purchase items such as small slices of cheeses to have on hand and fruits and vegetables should be eaten with each meal or snack. Develop a taste for whole grain healthy breads. Read labels and watch calories and fats when purchasing any pre-packaged food items.

Grocery shopping on a budget isn't easy but in hard times I personally have made meals that didn't make us fatter and tasted good but on a shoe string of less than $10.00 cash money. What did I purchase you ask? A loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, a bag of dry beans, a package of franks and, if most were on sale, I got a package of cheese slices as well. What can you do with these items? I cooked the beans and seasoned them with items already in the cupboard. I made grill cheese sandwiches for the grandsons and we had scrambled eggs and frank slices for breakfast, beans and franks for dinner. I made homemade cornbread with items in the pantry. For a special treat I made cinnamon toast for the grandsons. Milk can be added to the srambled eggs ( just a little) to make them go farther and be more moist. The meals were affordable and tasty maybe not the health concious best

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