We've all been there. Caught between wanting to be healthier, not wanting to spend an arm and a leg in doing so, and trying to balance all of that with the million other things you have to do in your day.
There's plenty of advice on how to be healthier, but it usually goes directly against any penny pinching ambitions you may have. I'm still in a constant battle between cheap convenience and health, and it's a tough fight, let me tell you. But I have a few tips on how to be healthier and not pay buku bucks, all while keeping up with your busy pants-dropping schedule.
1. Substitute real for fake
One of the easiest ways to market food products to the general populace is to cater to our society's constant need for everything on earth to be done at lightning speed. But that generally compromises the quality of the product. One of the best examples I can give for this is minute rice versus actual rice.
Five Minute Rice
Properly cooked rice
Now the top picture actually looks decent for five minute rice, but I've noticed that the consistency is much tougher than regular rice, and it looks almost flaky before being cooked, rather than looking like solid grains of rice.
The reason for the difference in appearance is because in order to make five minute rice, the companies pre cook it, then dehydrate it and package it, so when you buy it, you're basically just rehydrating it. What it lacks, however, is the flavor quality and all nutrients. As such, sometimes they'll add nutrients and flavoring in to the rice. So, to sum it up, they get the rice, suck the nutrients and flavor out, then add artificial nutrients and flavor instead, and give it to consumers...
Also, what are those boil bags made out of??
This process is used in several boxed foods and we all know it's unnatural. So yes, cooking real rice will take longer, but in the long run it is much healthier than the boxed junk. Plus, if you're cooking a whole meal, the cooking time allows you to prepare the rest, or catch up on Walking Dead while you wait! Also, you tend to get more servings with one cheap bag of rice than with a boxed variety.
This same principal goes for several other boxed foods, and another one to easily adjust to is from packaged potatoes to real potatoes. This is one thing I've done in the past year, and even though those packaged potatoes are only a dollar, so are actual baking potatoes. Just chop one up (leave the skin on for more convenience) and boil it for ten, fifteen minutes, add a little butter and/or milk and mash on! It doesn't take too long and you can mash out some of your frustrations while you're at it.
Honestly. Which one looks better? The flakes should be saved for dire circumstances, like a worldwide shortage of potatoes
2. Substitute frozen for canned fruits and veggies.
I've seen plenty of blogs and articles suggesting that people prepare their vegetables, or even their meals for the entire week on Sunday. And I wish I could find the ambition to do that. I really do. But when I work 60 - 80 hours in a week, the last thing you're going to find me doing on Sunday night is hanging out in my kitchen chopping broccoli and putting it into a rubbermaid tub.
You'd be hard pressed to not find me ordering a pizza in a half zombie mode on my couch. As such, frozen vegetables are my saving grace. Honestly, canned fruit and veggies have always alarmed me; the corn is harder and tastes oilier, the green beans are a different consistency of mushy altogether, and the fruit is filled with a sweetened and unhealthy syrup. On top of that, most nutritional value is removed from those vegetables when they're put in to that preserving liquid. Frozen will last much longer than fresh produce and maintains the nutrients because they're frozen shortly after being harvested. Plus you can make a mean smoothie with a package of frozen berries and some non fat yogurt!
Nomnomnom...
Check out Jamie Oliver's website to see how he makes his smoothies, though let's be honest, it's a pretty easy process.
Also check out this article about why going frozen is a great option.
3. Check the labels for HFCS
I know this seems like common sense, but those sneaky corporate buggers try to shove High Fructose Corn Syrup into all sorts of products you would never expect to have or need the stuff. For example, I sent my husband grocery shopping the other day and he bought the cheapest italian dressing he could find, as I requested. The dressing had HFCS. Seriously? I had an amazing salad over thanksgiving with a homemade dressing of three ingredients (recipe here, minus the honey), and I didn't have to worry about the fake sugar!
...But what about the stuffing....
Health awareness is on the rise so it's becoming easier to find products that don't have as much processing or preservatives at an affordable price. But this leads to my next suggestion...
4. Don't buy in to the "health" foods
Large companies have caught on to the health craze, and they didn't just jump on the bandwagon, they punched the driver, threw him off and ran away with it.
Hey look! There goes Nestle, Coca Cola and General Mills.
In the past few years, more and more stories have been pouring out about supposed "natural" foods being anything but. One of the most horrendous stories I read was about Naked Brand smoothies.
I saw these little bottles of health as a saving grace for a rushed day. It served as a great quick breakfast and tasted like a dream. Plus it was 100% juice, right?
My my the marketers were smart in their labeling of the product. Naked suggests that it's raw, unprocessed, and you will therefore look better naked for drinking this...WRONG. Turns out Naked is actually owned by Pepsico, and was sued last year for hiding GMO's "and synthetic ingredients, including zinc oxide, ascorbic acid, and calcium pantothenate, which is produced from formaldehyde." (read the rest of the article here).
Formaldehyde, y'all. And yet they were charging $4 for these wonderful drinks. Oy. The corruption! This is just the icing on a very unfortunate cake, a cake that continues to add layers almost daily with new revelries of falsely advertised "natural" and healthy food. Actually, eating an entire cake from a small bakery is probably healthier than most of the "healthy" products we find in the grocery store. Okay, I exaggerate, but still. See below for what large companies own what brands that claim to be natural.
That's right, Nature Valley is owned by General Mills. Nestle owns Skinny Cow. Coca Cola owns Honest Tea. Kellogg's owns Nutri Grain. All of these brands mark up their products because they're the better choice health-wise, but it's all a facade. You might as well buy the cheaper off brand and save a few bucks, or better yet, opt for something else altogether. Check out some alternate snack options here.
5. Invest in a counter top grill
George Forman, you slick sonuvagun. Your grill has been my saving grace. This thing is the best $30 you can spend, I tell ya. Especially if you have a store close by like Fresh Market that sells pre made stuffed chicken breasts. Throw some chicken on to this baby, sautee up some asparagus and BOOM. You have a pretty healthy meal!
I use the daylights out of this thing, and there are so many recipes to choose from - kababs, and grilled sandwiches, and burgers, oh my! Check out this entire Pinterest board of easy George Forman grill recipes and prepare to be amazed. This is probably the best shortcut for being healthy I can recommend. It's helped my husband and I significantly when we're both working long days and are exhausted.
As you can see, there are so many ways you can be more spend savvy with groceries, but not spend the entire day preparing something. It can seem really overwhelming, but if you take a few proactive steps at a time you can make a huge change for the better in your life.
