Shopping and cooking on a budget
By Cara Rosenbloom, RD

The market may be fluctuating, but your appetite isn’t. Recession or not, you still need to keep yourself well nourished with healthy foods. The good news is that healthy eating doesn’t need to be expensive.

Eating economically can be healthy because you’ll be relying more on fresh food and less on expensive packaged and processed foods. In general, fresh foods cost less when they are in season. The key to finding fresh food is to shop the perimeter of the store – that’s where fresh meat, cheese, fruit, vegetables and breads are found.

To cut your monthly food bill, eat at home more often. The same dinner prepared at home costs about four times less than it does in a restaurant, plus you control the amount of added salt and fat that goes into each dish. Read on to learn how to shop wisely and still savour the riches of healthy food.

Look high and low
Most packaged foods are found on the inside aisles. Did you know that the most expensive products are often placed at eye level? No-name and store brands and other less expensive items are either placed above or below the centre shelf.

Make the grade
You can find better buys in the grocery store by choosing ‘B’ grades instead of ‘A’ grades for foods such as meat, chicken and frozen or canned produce. B grades will have the same taste and nutritional value, but may vary in appearance.

Bulk up
Buying non-perishable food in bulk is also a good way to save. Bulk bins and club packs can cost less, but only buy as much as you can use before the product reaches its expiry date. Wasting food is never economical!

Go for the basics
Purchasing food in its close-to-natural state will always save you money. Consider that a one kilogram bag of whole, unpeeled carrots costs about three times less than the same size bag of pre-cut and peeled baby carrots.

Look for these basic ingredients, which are frugal finds all year round:

• Vegetables and fruit: apples, bananas, oranges, potatoes, canned tomatoes, carrots, cabbage
• Grains: oats, barley, whole grain pasta, rice and cereals
• Milk and alternatives: store-brand yogurt or cheese, evaporated skim milk
• Meat and alternatives: eggs, peanut butter, beans, chicken thighs, meat (round, sirloin, flank), plain frozen fish, canned light tuna or salmon

Use a slow cooker
Cooking inexpensive meat or chicken in a crock-pot (at a low temperature for a longer time) will produce moist and delicious dishes. Inexpensive meats that are great for the crock pot include flank, round or sirloin. Chicken drumsticks, wings and thighs are less expensive than breast meat. Try our Crock-pot Hungarian chicken, and for even more cost savings, double or triple the recipe and freeze the extra portions for future meals.

These recipes contain lower-cost, nutritious ingredients:

Colourful coleslaw 
Crock-pot mushroom and navy bean soup
Barley pilaf with squash  
Fibreful pasta sauce
Cereal-topped apple crisp 

Using these tips at the grocery market will help your bottom line…until the financial market is back on track! 

Look for the Heart&Stroke Health Check™ symbol on food products when shopping and on menus when dining out.  Every item in the Health Check food information program has been reviewed by the Foundation’s registered dietitians to ensure it meets specific nutrient criteria based on the recommendations in Canada’s Food Guide.  Health Check is one important way the Foundation is helping Canadians eat well. 

Cara Rosenbloom, RD, is filling in for Alyssa Rolnick while she is on maternity leave. Alyssa will return in 2010.

Posted March 2009