Feeding Your Family Healthy Meals On The Cheap

Did you make a New Year's Resolution to eat healthier in the upcoming year? Has it been a shock to your grocery budget? It doesn't have to be! Here are three things to do that are a MUST if you want to feed your family healthy meals on a tight budget. Click this post, to find a weekly menu and grocery list that ended up being about $100 for a week of meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and snacks for my family of five!

1) Do your own food prep.
Forget "diet foods," and just stick with what God has given for us. Ditch whichever trendy diet book you're reading, and just focus on whole foods that come from the earth, and all natural animal proteins (if you eat meat). One easy way to do this is to almost completely avoid isles in the grocery store. With the exception of whole grains, nuts and seeds, really there isn't a whole lot within the inside isles of a typical grocery store that fits a whole foods diet. Stick with the produce section, and foods you find in the perimeter of the store (dairy, meats, frozen veggies and fruits, etc.).
When you get home, you may have quite a bit of food prep to do, and that can seem overwhelming if you're new to cooking from scratch. My suggestion is to learn to love to be in the kitchen. :) Block out a two hour window on your weekend (maybe even just twice a month) turn on some tunes or a fun podcast, put on a cute apron and go to town! Chop your own carrot sticks, shred your own cheese, make your own convenience freezer meals, and prep your own snack foods. When you prep your food in one block of time, it makes dinner for the whole week a snap. The savings may seems minimal to you at first, but believe me... they add up! For instance, on sale at the store I can purchase a 1 lb. bag of organic baby carrots for $1.50. At Costco I can buy a 10 lb. bag of Organic whole carrots for $5.50 ($.95 a lb, which for 10 lb. equates to a savings of $9.50).

2) Cut back on meats and dairy.
Meats and dairy will be some of the most expensive things on your grocery list, but a little can go a long way.
It may require that you re-think how your family does dinner. Maybe instead of serving a chicken breast and steamed veggies (a really healthy choice, by the way), try fancying up your veggies, and making them the focal point. Serve chicken on the side. A great way to do this is in casseroles, skillet meals and soups and salads. Our family only eats meat a couple of times a week, so meat is not a huge expense for our grocery budget.

3) Start a stockpile of food.

Start simple with dry goods for your pantry. Stock it with whole grains, seeds, nuts and things that are shelf-stable. In the beginning, budget a little extra for your weekly grocery spending and purchase in bulk when foods are at their lowest prices. I have had great luck with finding natural and organic foods at Costco, and buy staples there every week. Bread, Cheese, frozen fruit and some fresh produce are some of the things I can find for a great price at Costco.
Veggies and fruits are at their best price in the summer. If you stock your freezer in the summer months, it can pay off tremendously in the Fall and Winter.
Having a vegetable garden helps you easily stock your freezer with home grown, organic vegetables. It's fun for the whole family, and holds tremendous value for instilling healthy habits in your children.
When you have a nice stockpile in your own kitchen, you can shop in your own pantry before even heading to the store. Plan your weekly menu with items you already have on hand.


4) Learn to Coupon and Ad Match.
Disclaimer: Most coupons are for junk food and toiletries. There are, however, great resources that you can use weekly that make using coupons much easier. If you are in the Denver area, use DenverBargains.com. This site will match up coupons with current deals for our area grocery stores, as well as give you links to printable coupons online. MoneySavingMom.com also has this feature, and you can have them email you weekly match up deals for stores where you frequently shop.
Check with your local grocery stores to see if they will ad match. Wal-Mart does, and I know some busy moms who would prefer to not shop at multiple stores, and this is a great option for them. I like Shopping at Sprouts on Wednesdays, because you can take advantage of the previous week's advertised deals as well as shop the current sales. It's always really busy on "Double Ad Wednesdays," but usually it's worth it to stand in line a little longer. Spouts usually has really good quality produce at a fantastic price.
King Soopers (Kroger) and Safeway both have mobile apps that allow you to download coupons to your store card. Keep in mind that these coupons usually won't double, so having the paper coupon is usually to your advantage. Currently, Post is doing a sale I have taken advantage of at both King Soopers and Safeway. The coupon is loadable from both of the store websites or mobile ap. Purchase two boxes of select Post cereal, and receive $4 towards milk of any kind. King Soopers had Raisin Bran for $2 ea. I had a $1 off coupon for Silk Almond milk which brought the price per 1/2 gallon to $2 ea. So.... For $4, I went home with two boxes of cereal and two 1/2 gallons of almond milk. NOT BAD! (I'm not going to lie - I high fived the clerk). Stores will often times have their own coupons that you can stack with manufacturer coupons (Whole Foods and Sprouts also do this pretty frequently) which really maximizes your savings.
You don't have to be an extreme couponer to save BIG!

What extraordinary deals do you know of going on right now? Please share them in the comments below.