A better diet can lower grocery bills, too. It’s true that ready-to-eat meals and packaged foods save time, but they can cost more, and some have too much salt and fat.
Follow these tips to get the most nutrition bang for your buck.
Stock Up With Pantry Basics
Start with these smart choices.
Fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruits and vegetables
- Canned: Look for low-sodium vegetables and low-sugar or no-added-sugar fruits.
- Frozen: Use what you need for a meal, then put the rest of the bag back in the freezer.
- Dried: Check the label for and avoid added sugar, especially on fruits.
Whole grains, such as whole wheat bread, brown rice, and non-instant oatmeal
- Steel-cut oatmeal costs just pennies per ounce, and they help you get fiber.
Beans, lentils, and peas
- Packed with protein and other nutrients, they’re a great way to stretch your food dollar. Use them in everything from soups to chili to burritos. Packaged dried beans cost less, but they take some planning to cook. Low-sodium canned beans are another option. You can rinse them to lower their salt even more.
Nuts like almonds, pecans, pistachios, and walnuts
- They’re great for snacks or as a topping for salads, cereal, or oatmeal.
Lean meats, poultry, fish, and eggs
Low-fat or nonfat milk, yogurt, cheese, and other dairy products
Buy Healthy Snacks
How can you keep your kids from going overboard on chips, cookies, and other junk food? Don’t buy it. Instead, make it easy for them to find and nosh on the healthy stuff.
Keep these snacks on the center shelf of the fridge:
- Cut-up fruit
- Baby carrots and low-fat ranch dip
- String cheese
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Low-fat yogurt
And these on the counter:
- Dried fruit and nut mix
- Pretzels
- Whole-grain crackers and peanut butter
3 Rules for Healthy Shopping
Follow these basics as you cruise the supermarket aisles.
Don’t shop hungry. Ever notice what winds up in your cart when you shop with hunger pangs? Eat a nutritious snack beforehand so the munchies don’t take control.
Make a list. Even if you know what you need, a list saves time and keeps you from making impulse buys. Organize your list into sections according to the store’s layout: dairy, produce, meats, canned and packaged items, frozen foods. Shop for the healthy items first, and pick up the treats last.
Hug the walls — most of the time. Avoid parts of your grocery store with the unhealthy choices. The outer edges of the store tend to have the healthiest choices. Detour down center aisles for beans, whole-grain pastas and cereals, and canned and frozen vegetables and fruit. When you’re grocery shoppingwith kids, the temptations can be extra distracting. So skip the aisles with chips, pastries, and candy.
(WebMD)
Website Link: www.webmd.com
Article Link: https://www.webmd.com/parenting/raising-fit-kids/food/family-grocery-shopping-tips#2
