1. Buy fresh produce that is in season; it will be more affordable and will taste better!
2, Frozen veggies and fruit can be a healthy and more affordable way to bulk up on your veggies without over-spending. My favorites are frozen broccoli, spinach, peas, red and yellow bell pepper, strawberries, blueberries, and mango.
3. Buy organic when you can afford it, but don't stop eating veggies just because you can't afford organic. Eating a non-organic apple is still healthier than eating an entire bag of organic cookies (although you know you'd like to convince yourself that those cookies are healthier...) I always buy organic eggs and milk, but I can't afford to go 100% organic right now. I do what I can.
4. Beans and rice are nice. Beans and rice are cheap, healthy (especially brown rice) and can be mixed with a variety of different veggies and even fruit. You can stock up on a a variety of different beans and rices and switch out the veggies to get a completely different meal. Some of my favorites are black beans and brown rice with mango and cilantro, garbanzo beans and basmati rice with curried spinach and carrots, and white beans and rice with tomato and basil. See? It doesn't have to be boring.
5. Grow your own herbs. Fresh herbs make me happy. I seriously thought I would kill all of them, but I haven't yet. In fact, I have more oregano that I know what to do with! Fresh herbs are a great way to dress up a thrifty meal, and by growing them yourself you can do it the thrifty way!
6. Don't buy the pre-packaged or pre-chopped food unless you are really crunched for time. Although pre-chopped onions are really appealing, chopping an onion takes, at most, 30 seconds. However, making homemade vegetarian 'meat'balls from scratch can take 30 minutes to an hour. Buying the prepackaged version costs a bit more, but if I am really short on time, it can be worth it. Really think about the amount of time you are saving when you're tempted to get those easy quick fix solutions.
I hope these ideas are inspirational! I leave you
with some whole wheat blueberry pancakes to salivate over. Mmmm.
