Happy New Year’s! I only made a couple resolutions for this year, but one I do have in the back of my mind is to START EATING BETTER AGAIN! Ha! I was going to start calling 2009 the year that made my butt fat. The holidays were brutal – you know, with all that good food to eat. You can’t pass up the mashed sweet potatoes with all their marshmallow gooey-ness or the cookies that only come around once a year with their powdered sugar. But, I told myself, “Christine, lets eat now and we will work it off coming of the new year”. And that is what I intend to start doing by eating healthier for a great start to a New Year!
Can healthy eating be done frugally? Of course! First, plan your menu around the grocery sale’s ad. This is a huge saver for me. Right now, squash and asparagus are on sale. Yummy! I have squash to adorn my Thursday’s plate with that yummy teriyaki chicken.
Then, I make sure my plate is filled with 1/3rd veggies, 1/3rd grains, 1/3rd meat or meat alternative. Sometimes, I can even go 2/3rd veggies. I love my veggies! Many of times, I include a green salad with my meals. Top it with a simple vinegarette and cracked pepper.
Buy quality choice meats but slice them up at dinner instead of opting for a big cut on the plate. I did this in our family not only to save money, but to save on health. My family was consuming too much red meat. Not healthy. So now we will cook a couple steaks and slice them. Each person consumes about 1/2 a steak and doesn’t ever complain that there is not enough.
Healthy snacks – cut up those veggies when you come home and bag them to make them for easy grabs. Buy nuts and dried fruits at Trader Joes or Fresh & Easy (they are much cheaper at these places) then your local store. Put a bowl of fruit on the table. Kids love to go for what is available at a moments notice.
As you can see, it is easy to go healthy on a frugal budget. Give it a try. Not only can you save money but you can feel great at the same time from having better health!
This weeks Menu Plan Monday (graciously hosted by Orgjunkie.com):
(The underlined text are the healthy portions that I eat. The rest my family consumes.)
- Sunday: Baby back pork ribs, baked beans, and macaroni salad (um… ya, not tonight)
- Monday: Marinated steak, baked potato, and steamed broccoli with lemon pepper
- Tuesday: Homemade Macaroni & Cheese and a green salad full of veggies, cranberries, and toasted pumpkin seeds (and a small portion of that pasta)
- Wednesday: Tacos filled with black beans, lettuce, tomato, avocado, green onions, and olives
- Thursday: Teriyaki chicken, brown rice, and veggies (probably zucchini and yellow squash)
- Friday: Chili dogs and fries (I think I’m gonna have my self a salad and a couple of toasted baguettes)
You all have a great start to the week! 🙂
Can I come over for dinner? 🙂 I’ll be testing out my new Le Creuset this week. I bought it as a “second” for a fraction of the price. Now that’s frugal!
Well then, we need to make a roast or some posole (like that deliscious recipe I found in my Sunset magazine). That is a nice piece of equipment you purchase. And I know those suckers are expensive. Soto find it at a fraction of the price is sweet! Have fun cooking with it this week. Just let me know what time dinner is going to be. 😉
Sounds delicious! Especially the Monday, Wednesday and Thursday dinner menu. Will you be sharing recipes too?
Hi, Little House – this time I am not sharing recipes. The baby back pork ribs and the teriyaki chicken will be a store bought marinade/bbq sauce, the marinated steaks is my husband’s secret concoction, and the tacos are just what you see. I made this week simple since we are all trying to get back into our routines.
Well, here is THEE MAC n cheese recipe – its the only one I love that I add a hint of cayenne to the breadcrumb topping to spice it up. Really worth making. 😉
Looks like a fantastic menu and I can understand why Squarkfox wants to come over!
I’m vegeatrian so do struggle for variety at times but it has done my cooking skills wonders… If you wanna save a little extra calories you might want to try swapping out hard shell tacos for soft tortilla’s (I make my own http://frugalzeitgeist.com/cheap-healthy-recipes-wholemeal-curry-tortillas/). Also veggie hot dogs (or better veggie Linda McCartney sausages) have a hell of a lot less calories and don’t taste half bad… I know you were not planning on having the chilli dogs but it’s going to be tempting 🙂
Good luck sticking to the plan, looks easy to me as it’s pretty yummy!
A veggie tarian! 😉
Man after my own heart! I go through spouts of being a vegetarian, even did a raw food diet. I don’t like to eat a lot of meat and could actually do without. Although, I do like ground turkey.
i haven’t checked out your link yet, but curry tortillas…sounds yummy. Won’t eat veggie hot dogs or TVP. If I’m gonna be veggie than I am gonna be veggie. Speaking of, try these lentil tacos. They are a great comparision to ground beef. i think the spices do the trick!
Lentils are a great alternative to meat… Strangely after all these years of not having meat I think lentils taste like chicken!!
I don’t eat fake meat very often these days, just like my veggies really!
Thanks will definitely check out the lentil taco’s.
Cutting down on each portion can make a huge difference.
Glad to hear you are working on eating healthy.
I read in a book that an easy way to start a healthy diet is to throw out 1/3 of the food you are about to eat – yes its not frugal – but for those who can’t help themselves, it’s a great start.
I on the other hand agree with you…eat the veggies. Love broccoli lightly stir fried.
I try. I was doing a raw food diet for a while and felt great! Husband liked the look, too. 😉 But with mainstay America, it can be hard to maintain a raw food diet. I’d like to try at it again.
I like eating on a smaller plate. Plus when I eat 6 small meals a day I feel better, not bloated. Yet, my friend’s say I eat like a bird. I surely don’t look like it. lol.
Mmm… stir fry. haven’t had that for a while. I like to add tofu to mine. Thanks for stopping by!
I made a personal goal of eating healthier too. I had Chinese food for lunch. Not so healthy! 🙁
LOL. You make me laugh. My coworker brought me a red velvet cupcake for breakfast. Darn, dumped in the trash for good eating. I need to lose these holiday pounds. I feel so lethargic from these extra 5 pounds I gained from eating holiday cookies. ha!
Try, try again. You have tomorrow. 🙂