cost of healthy meals

[kidzcare]

I didn't want to hijack the other thread, but several people have said that making healthful meals with fresh raw ingredients is cheaper than buying convenient but unhealthy food.

Can someone please tell me how? I'd love to serve my kids (and myself) more healthful meals. I just don't see how buying the fresh meat, vegetables, and sides could be less expensive?

I am sincerley curious, so please do not think that I am using sarcasm to call anyone out.

[eroc]

This may insult many peoples' thoughts, but I am going to state facts.

Fresh vegetables are cheap and the healthiest choice for anyone. And even then it depends greatly on the supplier or how they are grown. Any food that lasts longer due to being frozen with chemicals put into them is a less healthy choice. Sodium and other preservatives that are added are not of any sort of health benefit.

"Healthy" has been used so freely that people use it in a misplaced manner.

But it is very easy to eat cheap and healthy. One small example would be 1 pound of sweet potatoes is approx. $0.99 to $1.50 a pound (fresh) and most people eat 4-6 oz. a serving….and struggle to eat that (I know, because as a bodybuilder I weighed all food on scales). Meat can be a struggle to find cheaper without sacrificing quality (cheaper cuts=less health benefits and more filler to add weight) But eating healthy is cheaper, you just cannot let the masses trick you into the accepted ignorance.

And the last thing people seem to blindly ignore, the condiments. Adding any additional flavor, with the exception of fresh food, definitely decreases how healthy meals are. So to start out with an actual healthy meal and then add several condiments full of empty calories (no beneficial nutrients) completely defeats the purpose.

There is simply no money in teaching people what healthy really is, and we live in a culture that thinks less taste = disgusting and cannot be eaten.

[Libby1987]

I don't think it's "very easy to eat cheap and healthy". It takes considerable more effort to plan and cook than to grab processed food off the shelf, especially on a tight budget.

But it is a good place to invest the time and effort.

I think where people get caught up on expensive is that what they want to eat or are in the mood for at that moment is more costly. Buying things on sale and in season affects choices.

[eroc]

I don't think it's "very easy to eat cheap and healthy". It takes considerable more effort to plan and cook than to grab processed food off the shelf, especially on a tight budget.

But it is a good place to invest the time and effort.

I think where people get caught up on expensive is that what they want to eat or are in the mood for at that moment is more costly. Buying things on sale and in season affects choices.

We have different realities then. I have done it.

Example. The sweet potatoes….poke holes in it, wrap it saran wrap, put it them in microwave for 6 minutes….peel and eat like a banana.

I have many more, but it is easy to me because of my time and effort= knowledge that made it easy. It has always been cheap no matter perception.

[Biscuits&Cheese]

Good for you for wanting to make a healthy change for you and your family! I have three teenage boys plus my husband and myself to feed, so here are a few practices I incorporate to make it more affordable.

1. We only eat meat once a week at most. Eating less meat has really helped our overall food bill. Mostly we eat fish, but once in a while I'll serve the men-folk something else.

2. I like to start with something filling - rice, quinoa, beans (LOTS of beans), sweet potatoes, chick peas, pasta, eggs. Something with protein and starch is good. Something cheap like rice or potatoes helps stretch a meal.

3. Veggies are expensive! Frozen veggies are great in soups or things that are cooked a bit longer. When using fresh veggies, use what is in season. All winter we have been eating root veggies because they are the only game in town! I'm so excited for spring and all the new veggies coming soon!!

4. Start switching over to raw fruits and veggies for snacks - no more boxes of chemicals for snacks.

5. Have a meal at the end of the week to use up all the random veggies in the crisper. Soup is awesome for this. Other ideas are everything quiche. Crazy Tacos. Crazy pizza.

[Libby1987]

We have different realities then. I have done it.

Example. The sweet potatoes….poke holes in it, wrap it saran wrap, put it them in microwave for 6 minutes….peel and eat like a banana.

I have many more, but it is easy to me because of my time and effort= knowledge that made it easy. It has always been cheap no matter perception.

*I* know how but I thought the affordable comment came from the other thread and was based on the general public.

[MunoRN, RN]

We have different realities then. I have done it.

Example. The sweet potatoes….poke holes in it, wrap it saran wrap, put it them in microwave for 6 minutes….peel and eat like a banana.

I have many more, but it is easy to me because of my time and effort= knowledge that made it easy. It has always been cheap no matter perception.

Simple starches such as sweet potatoes are very cheap which is why "cheap" diets are often less healthy; they tend to be largely based on simple starches and bad fats. Healthier complex starches, good fats and proteins tend to be more expensive.

[Libby1987]

I'm not meanimg to be a pill but sweet potatoes are nutritious. They are high in carbs but for someone who needs the energy they're a nutritious food. It isn't necessarily a weight loss food but for active growing kids, I think something like roasted sweet potatoes are a good choice.

[Earthmama]

It can be very difficult at first to eat healthy on a budget. A few things that have helped me

1. I cook a whole chicken in the crockpot every Sunday. They often have these on sale at bulk stores and they freeze well until they are ready to use. Then we have chicken for lunches and salads for the week. Also, after the chicken is cooked I make bone broth out of the carcass and vegetable scraps.

2. Dried beans and lentils are very cheap and pack a good protein punch.

3. I started freezing fresh herbs with olive oil in ice cube trays to save on waste.

4. Buy fruits and veggies in season, or in bulk and freeze some of them. I freeze berries that would otherwise go bad and use in smoothies.

5. Soups and stews are easy and convenient. You can freeze half a batch and they're great to pack in work lunches.

6. Look for co-ops in your area. I get a huge basket of produce once a week for $20 that would easily cost 3-4 x that much at a grocery store.

Hope this helps, good luck.

[MunoRN, RN]

I'm not meanimg to be a pill but sweet potatoes are nutritious. They are high in carbs but for someone who needs the energy they're a nutritious food. It isn't necessarily a weight loss food but for active growing kids, I think something like roasted sweet potatoes are a good choice.

They are so long as the meal also includes proteins, fats, and other sources of calories that will take longer for the body to process. In terms of caloric intake a "healthy" meal will contain foods that break down into glucose at varying rates. If the entire meal can be digested and become circulating glucose almost immediately then that is not as healthy as if part of the meal becomes glucose immediately, some of the meal in an hour, and some of the meal in a few hours. Of those different components a "healthy" meal should contain, it's the simple starches that tend to be the cheapest, so to save money sometimes that cheap portion of the meal replaces the more expensive portions, resulting in a less healthy meal (not to mention less amino acids, vitamins, proteins, etc)

In other words, a meal of sweet potatoes, meat, cheese and vegetables is good. Trading out the far more expensive meat, cheese and vegetables for just more of the cheap potatoes, not good.

[MunoRN, RN]

There is research on this that can help answer the question:

A healthy diet costs $2,000 a year more than an unhealthy one for average family of four: Harvard study | National Post

[mclennan, BSN, RN]

The long term return on the investment will offset the up front cost.

What you spend on spinach today, you will save on Metformin later.

Our poor species. It's so hopeless sometimes it's pitiful.

People spend thousands on cars with airbags, fancy brakes, rear cameras, and all kinds of crazy safety features, but whine like hysterical babies when faced with spending $2 more on a healthy lunch.

We spend millions on beauty products & services to make our faces and hair look pretty but are bloody OUTRAGED if it is suggested we invest the same amount in healthy food that will do far more to preserve youth and beauty than any cream or spray.

EVERYTHING in life can't be "the cheapest"!!!!! There are some things you should not cheap out on ALL the time. Healthy food (and the WORK out into preparing it) is a decent investment - period.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Precisely. Spending a little more money is much less costly in the long run for your health and well being.