Food Glorious Food.

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Im beyond excited to have this week’s guest food-rambler be none other than Monica Reinagel, M.S., C.N.S.

If you’re one of the few who arent yet aware of Monica’s foodwisdom I shall give you the short version (the long version? get thee to her blog–pronto!):

Monica is NutritionData.com‘s chief nutritionist & author of The ND Blog: Notes From the Nutritionista (I love that name!). She holds a master’s degree in human nutrition and is a board-certified nutrition specialist. She has written and edited numerous books, articles, and other publications on health, nutrition, and diet, including the Amazon.com best-seller The Inflammation Free Diet Plan, as well as The Life Extension Revolution: The New Science of Growing Older Without Aging.

Monica is also a professionally trained chef (!) & a member of the American College of Nutrition and the International Association of Culinary Professionals. (I guess the *true* shorter version would simply to have deemed her my Renaissance Woman).

Grocery prices in the United States increased about 5 percent in the last year, the largest increase in 17 years. Some essential items like eggs, milk, wheat, corn and soybeans have jumped even higher and projections for 2008 show that prices can increase an additional 7.5 percent in 2008 alone. With almost everyone tightening their financial belts lately, eating well on a budget is no easy task. Here are some ways which can help you focus on getting the most nutritious foods for the least amount of money. Use these tips to know what to look for in the supermarket and how to stretch your food dollar.

Key items to look for in the supermarket:

  • Beans: This staple item is filling and a good source of protein and fiber. They are the cheapest (and tastiest) when you buy them dried and cook them yourself, but canned beans also are very inexpensive. Beans are extremely versatile and can be served in a variety of dishes such as chili, red beans and rice, soups, etc.
  • Whole grains like Quinoa: Higher in unsaturated fats and lower in carbs than most grains, quinoa provides a rich source of protein and nutrients.
  • Greens such as Kale, Collards Mustard Greens and Chard: They are inexpensive, easy to prepare and very nutritious (Good source of vitamin K, calcium, and folate).
  • Pasta: An inexpensive basis for a wide variety of healthy meals. Up the nutrition ante and control the carbs by combining pasta with vegetables for a quick and inexpensive dish. For example: Pasta with sautéed greens and cannellini beans.
  • Green beans: These keep well and contain A, C, B-vitamins.
  • Cabbage: A versatile item to cook with and a great source of vitamin C and cancer fighting compounds.
  • Canned tomatoes: Great time for saving time in the kitchen, canned tomatoes are versatile and nutrients like lycopene are more available in this cooked version.

Tips on how to stretch your food dollar without sacrificing nutrition:

    1. Don’t pay premium for convenience: Save money by washing your own lettuce, peeling your own carrots, slicing your own cheese, and chopping your own onions.
    2. Skip the junk food aisle: Chips, sodas, and sweets are costly and don’t contribute any real nutrition. Spend that money on nutritious treats like dried or fresh fruit, nuts, sunflower seeds.
    3. Don’t pay extra for individual serving sizes: The cost of one large yogurt container is significantly less than individual size containers.
    4. Skip the Kits: Pass on the meal kits or already prepared drinks (iced tea, lemonade). Make your own and save.
    5. When fresh veggies are expensive – opt for frozen: Frozen vegetables are just as nutritious and don’t go bad.
    6. Go meatless once or twice a week: Meat is one of the costliest items so save money (and boost your health) by enjoying a vegetarian meal.
    7. Fruit bargains: whatever’s in season is going to be cheapest and most nutritious. Shop at a farmer’s market for great prices and quality.

Thanks so much, Monica. I wont drag you into the Bumbling Band (unless you insist!) but we do appreciate you dropping by.

(If you enjoyed Monica’s musings please let her know by leaving a message at the end of a Nutritionista blog post)

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Comments

  2. Some really great tips! I always have dried beans and canned tomatoes on hand. I think it comes from growing up in Texas, where we ate a lot of beans with tomatoes.

  4. I loves me some beans, too, but they doens’t always loves me…I eats ’em anyway, much to my son’s dismay…That gas-passing potential is impressive.

    Great tips. I feel smart this morning, because this is how I’ve been shopping of late.

  5. This is just wonderful. Between the price of gas and the price of food, any little bit you can save helps. And sometimes I need reminding that if I want to save money, I am probably going to have to get off my keester and do a little more home-prep. 🙂

    V.

  6. Great suggestions!

    I always struggle between the lure of convenience and the insane prices that often get charged for it. Sometimes laziness wins; sometimes common sense takes over and I chop stuff up myself.

  8. Dear G-d,

    MizFit here.

    Please to forget world peace & all of those piddly other requests Ive made & help IzzyBeth to win the lottery.

    Im confident she would put the money to good use.

    Love & lottsa protein,

    M.

  9. Food prices have risen in the UK as well. Sometimes it is very annoying that fresh fruit and veg, or salads when eating out, are more expensive than a junk food option.

    For instance in several eateries, I can get a burger and chips for around £3.50 but a nice, freshly prepared salad will cost £6.95 or some such ridiculous price.

  10. Lovin’ these tips! All very helpful ways to reduce the grocery bill – for any day, but especially these times.

  11. To me, it’s worth the price. I hit the local market on Saturday and pick up stuff. I picked up quite a few things for less than 10 dollars.

    The produce guy at our local store told us that they aren’t going to raise the prices on some of the produce because it keeps people from buying it. He said that when they did raise it, more went bad than was sold. Keep that in mind!

  12. Great tips! My favorites:

    1. skip the junk and put the money towards healthier more nutritious items!
    2. Don’t pay extra for individual serving sizes. I find it easiest to get larger items home and divide them up into Tupperware containers or snack sized plastic bags. This way you have those snack sized/individual sized servings ready to go and you don’t eat more than you need to!

  14. Great tips! The Bag Lady loves making home-made beans, and has a terrific recipe for them (somewhere on her blog…)

    Hughsmom – if you are preparing dried beans yourself, add a teaspoon of baking soda when you are cooking them – helps with the gas problem…..

  15. Awesome information. Thanks again Mizfit and Monica.
    Just went to her site. Great great info.

  21. BagLady-Thanks for the beans tip! I’ll be trying that for sure.

    I love the part about avoiding single serving sizes. Those things drive me nuts, both for the excess packaging trash, and the ridiculous prices. Plus I think it can inhibit peoples’ ability to gauge a proper portion when they have to dish it out for themselves.

  22. I LOVE these tips. I think we can all remember these. Single-servings, pre-cut fruit and junk food- huge money suckers!

  24. (*goes straight into the cabbage patch in excitement that the HILARIOUS Type (little) a is in the house*)

    I HEART the quinoa!

    Although it has been known to get the Renaissance Man’s gag reflex going.

    back in the day I WON a tofurkey from PETA for writing an award winning (silly rhyming) poem for them about Thanksgiving.

    ahh memories.

    gave the ‘furkey to a veggie friend so I cant weigh in on that one.

    M.

  25. I love that site! These are very useful tips. It’s SO much cheaper to make things yourself rather than buy everything pre-made and all that. The nutrients and great taste you get and the money you save are DEFINITELY worth the time and effort involved.

  26. we see more and more that time is money, and these tips are great for saving cash! Now if only we could get some more hours in the day too! Anyone else “need” 8 hours sleep?

  27. Dude, awesome post. You basically justed summarized my grocery list. I’ve been pushing the bean boat to even cheaper levels by BUYING IN BULK. Same goes for grains and nuts.

  28. Some excellent tips here. Sadly, I don’t cook, so I don’t shop. I keep fit by wrestling with the guilt of what to do with all the plastic containers that my trainer uses.

  29. Ok, here’s a recipe for Type little a. I used to hate the stuff, too, but this makes it darn near tasty!

    Kidney Beans & Quinoa

    1 tbs olive oil
    1/2 cup onion, chopped
    1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
    1/4 cup celery stalk, diced
    3 garlic cloves, minced
    1/4 tsp dried thyme,crumbled
    1 tbs paprika
    1/2 tbs dried oregano
    1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
    15 ozs canned kidney beans, rinsed and drained
    2 cups vegetable broth
    1 cup quinoa

    Bring vegetable broth and quinoa to a boil, then cover and simmer 15 minutes.
    In a medium skillet, saute the onion, bell pepper and celery until soft.
    Stir in the garlic, thyme and spices and cook until fragrant.
    Add the beans and simmer until the quinoa is done.
    Plate the quinoa and top with beans.

  30. great tips!
    we eat lots of beans around here. veg dishes not only can save money but also can be easier on the enviroment.
    as far as the gasiness…try cooking with a little bit of cumin. seems to help me!:)

  31. had our first tofurky-giving this past november. while not what i’d call a real turkey tasting replacement, it was darn good in its own right.

    question…..when wanting to build and keep muscle mass do plant proteins not work the same as animal proteins?? curious to know.

  33. dude, tofurkey is DELICIOUS. I’m kind of embarassed to admit that – I mean it doesn’t really LOOK like food. But it’s sooo good. Especially if you cook it with the recommended glaze recipe posted on the box.

    don’t know about plant protein vs. animal protein as i only eat plant protein. I don’t think it works “the same”, but it does work. At least it did for me.

  34. Short thumbtyped answer? Yes. It does appear animal proteins are more easily converted to muscle tissue although other types *totally* work as well.

    More when I’ve removed my BabyMama bandanna and donned the MizFit one.

    M.

  36. OK, MamaRuns, all Ive read is that the cholesterol content of animal products *or* certain growth factors found in these foods might make animal proteins more quickly/easily morph into muscle mass (ANYONE JUMP IN HERE AND ADD TO OR ENTIRELY CORRECT ME).

    definitely eating more good fats helps the conversion of any kind of protein to muscle as it makes the cell membranes, in general, more pliable.

    M.

  37. Those are some great tips. We noticed such a HUGE difference in our grocery bills by cutting out meat products. They really are incredibly expensive. I will have to try that yogurt tip! I just noticed friend of mine doing exactly what you described 🙂

  38. Great article and great tips…. I just bookmarked the blog and the website. Thanks for bringing this one to my attention. I have a feeling I know where I am going to be spending a lot of my free time;)

  42. Great tips! Throw together some canned tomatoes, whole wheat pasta with a zucchini and yellow squash from the farmer’s market and there’s dinner. Yum!

  43. Nice list.

    One thing I have been trying is the principle behind the bool “Eat Stop Eat”. I forget the author, and I haven’t read the book, but the concept behind it is to fast on a regular basis. I have been trying this weekly, taking one 24-hr period where I will fast. Sometimes it’s a little less than 24 hours. I do it for the health benefits, plus to loose a little of the extra weight I am carrying. But, a side benefit would be reduced food costs. For one day, I am not eating. I usually eat a meal at dinner and then will fast until dinner the next evening. In the end, I don’t eat that much extra at the dinner meal after my fast is over. I have lost about 5 pounds over the course of the last 1 – 2 months, and without really altering my diet in any other way. I do eat fairly healthy most of the time anyway. So, this is my tip on how to save at the grocery store … and improve your health.

  44. Love the food suggestions! Things I’ve been doing.. and remembering that I used to do in the “old days” before a lot of convenience foods, etc.

    I tried quinoa about 20 years ago, and couldn’t abide it. The stuff tasted like grass. But I’ve a Trader’s Joe’s mix with red quinoa in it that tasted OK. Now I can’t FIND quinoa anywhere to try it again.

    With summer here, pick up a whole lot of veggies and marinate them in Italian or Greek salad dressing, then throw them on the grill. About 5 minutes a side, until they are nicely cooked. Toss in a bowl with some balsamic vinegar. Eat immediately.. and keep the left-overs in the fridge. They warm up quickly as a filling for sandwiches, etc.

    Black beans and canned tomatoes are almost the only foods I buy from the center of the grocery store. Can’t live without them.

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