About eating healthy and feeling better?

Question

i keep hearing for so long now that people that are stopping eating boxed ,canned and all the processed foods are really feeling much better. i would love to do that too. how ever there are 6 people in our house and to eat healthy seems so expensive. does anyone have any great ideas on eating healthy yet not having to spend a fortune? and when we are on the go its so easy to just GRAB something. (please no mean answers and yes my family is worth the money, but times are hard now a days) thanks

Answer 1

a great way to eat healthy is to buy organic food but that is quite expensive

some super markets have their own store brand organic food which is way cheaper

for fruits and veggies i usually go to the farmers markets

they have fresh veggies daily

Answer 2

boxed or canned food is , in general,  healthy because the vegetables are picked when they are in prime

Answer 3

If you have a produce stand or farmers market close by, they can be much cheaper than the grocery store.

I only buy meat when it's on sale then stock up and put it in the freezer.

If you don't have a crock pot, get one. You can throw ingredients in in the morning and come home to dinner done.

Sometimes I'll take a Sunday afternoon and make a pot of soup, a pot of chili, and a huge pan of lasagna. Then divide it up into smaller containers, label and put it in the freezer. I can take a few hours and have many nights worth of dinners done.

If I fire up the grill, I'll make a bunch of burgers and grilled chicken and  freeze for later use.

That's a few tips, hope it helps.

Oh, yeah - go to about.com. Click on the "home and garden" channel then click on "frugal living". They have thousand of tips for folks on a budget.

Answer 4

Canned food is actually not really unhealthy for you, if you want, you can rinse the food straight from the can before cooking it which would get rid of some of the extra saltiness they add for preservation.  

Also you can cook with frozen fruits and vegis, as they have been less processed, and they still taste great.  Now they have mixed vegis in the frozen isle, which helps when preparing certain dishes, and they are less expensive.

Look for boxed foods that have more protein per serving and less carbs, or sodium when you have to buy those.  In general you should buy things that have those guidelines.  Look for things like 'made with whole grain' on the packaging.  

Hope this helps

Answer 5

Try to not make very many casseroles, since they tend to have those cream soups in them (very fatty & loaded with sodium);   just serve meat, starch & veggies separately.  If you must use a cream sauce, make your own and stop using canned cream soups.   Frozen veggies are very nutritious and you can get giant bags of them inexpensively.  Go to your local grocery's website and download their store coupons - these can be used WITH manufacturer's coupons.   Kroger always has fresh bagged salads, and other produce reduced to 1/2 price; and they have a section for discounted meat too.   Walmart Neighborhood Mart has a section for discounted items, and they had cans of Amy's Organic Chili on sale for $.75 the other day;  also,their whole, fresh roasted chickens are sometimes 1/2 price later in the afternoon.....

Answer 6

Wow!  I could have wrote this myself about 3 months ago.  I too, changed the way I shop and prepare meals for the better of my family's health.  My husband and I have two daughters, ages 11 and 13.  We are by no means well off, either and I did it without noticing a difference with our weekly grocery bill.  Here is what I did:  I now buy ground turkey instead of ground beef whenever possible.  You can make great tasting turkey burgers, turkey meatballs and turkey meatloaf with ground turkey.  My father, who hates turkey, came over for Sunday dinner one evening.  To his surprise I had prepared a wonderful turkey meatloaf.  I wasn't until he cleaned his plate that I told him that it was made from turkey.  He was none the wiser.  I also buy turkey hot dogs instead of beef.  I also buy turkey breast and turkey bologna for sandwiches which is much healthier than ham or regular bologna.  In place of white bread, I now buy 100% whole grain white bread.  We are not fans of whole wheat bread so this was a nice alternative to regular white bread.  I also prepare rice in place of potatoes or pasta whenever I can.  Brown rice  and whole grain pasta is the best option but after trying it my family just would not eat it.  I have also cut out soda.  I now drink more water than I ever did.  I used to hate water but now I have actually grown a thirst for it.  I try it drink it during all my meals, so I will drink plenty of it.  In place of regular chips I now buy multi grain chips like Sun Chips or Tostitos.

Well, now you know my little secrets.  It is really not as hard as I thought it would be. I just wish I would have done it sooner.  It has changed my health for the better.  I do not suffer daily from all the IB Syndrome systems that I used to.  I do feel like a happier person now which makes everyone happy!

Hope this helps :0)

Answer 7

I know what you mean!  I've found that prep work is key, especially for having healthy things to grab at a moment's notice.  There are a lot of other great tips here:

http://buzz.prevention.com/community/lol...