Shopping and preparing food at home according to a tighter budget needn’t mean having to do without or having to buy low quality food or household items. What it does mean is living within your budget and eating more wholesome and less processed foods. The end result is better nutrition and bigger savings.
Families are very busy these days and picking up convenience food and take-away on the way home from work might seem like a good option. Unfortunately it costs a lot more to feed a family this way and is lacking in sound nutritional elements.
Expert Advice on Nutrition
Jon Gabriel in his book The Gabriel Method, says when we are constantly hungry our bodies are asking for better nutrients; people can eat until they are full, but their bodies may still lacking the essential nutirients that stop them craving fatty and sugar-laden foods.
Gabriel also says when bodies receive fresh live food on a regular basis, something changes in the brain that says, “It’s okay, I don’t feel like I’m starving anymore,” stopping the bingeing cycle in its tracks.
There is a growing slow food movement happening around the world. An growth in the understanding of the benefits to our bodies as well as the planet, that eating fresh live food, either grown at home or purchased locally will help people feel better, challenge the soaring rates of obesity and help local economies.
Time-Poor Parents
Time is always an issue for both working and stay-at-home parents. Some working parents might say that they have no time to prepare food from scratch and simply want to collapse at the end of the day. This often leads to making food choices that are not helping us to feel at our best.
There are ways to merge home cooking with busy lives. With some simple planning, preparation and development of new habits, singles, couples and families can eat better and save money easily.
The greatest benefit of all is that the cooking and eating of food as a family can bring you closer together, allowing for more family unity. Relaxing and laughing together around the table can only be a good thing.
Life is about getting together with good friends and family and enjoying the social aspect of coming
together over great food and conversation.
Some Thrifty Tips to Get You Started
Sit down and plan a week’s worth of meals. This may seem like another chore, but it will save you money in the long run.
- Buy a book or source information from the web on thrifty cooking.
- Ask family members for a list of their favourite home cooked foods.
- Check the pantry for food staples like flour, pasta, tinned tomatoes, condiments etc.
- Create a shopping list from the meal planner.
- Find out when the supermarket marks down products like bread, meat and fruit.
- Ask older family members for recipes that can save you money.
These are just a few ideas to help heat the oven, so to speak.
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