Here's some tips for tighten up the food budget while increasing your anti-oxidant level:

• Decrease eating out to one time a week. Most restaurants and fast food places do not serve foods high in anti-oxidants.
• To reduce meal preparation on weeknights pull out that crock pot that's collecting dust in the corner. Fill with potatoes, carrots, onions, a lean cut of meat and turn it on.  When you get home, it smells like the home we grew up in and the meal is ready.
• Limit servings. Most of us eat double servings of everything. Cut back on serving sizes and your food will last longer. Less trips to grocers, means more money in the pocket.
• Look at the number of servings on the container. Many of us will be surprise that a 20 oz pop is 2.5 servings - not one.
• When eating out, take home a doggy bag. While this might sound obvious to some of us, a lot of us don't do leftovers. Think about this! A dinner out can cost around $34.00, and 1 plate provides enough calories for 2 meals. If that $34.00 meal can now make 4 meals instead of 2 that's a huge savings. Plus, you don't have cook the next meal.
• Serve chili or some other bean soup. Whether the beans are canned or dried, they are rich in anti-oxidants. Which means they will help lower cholesterol and blood pressure, plus regulate your blood sugars while supporting your pocket book and immune system. One pot of bean soup will be less than $3.00. That's means about 50 cents a serving. That doesn't even compare with the manager's special at the local fast food restaurant.
• Does bean or homemade soup sound scary to you. As a society we are always looking for the next new thing. So walk on the wild side and try making your own 'scary version" of soup. It hard to go wrong with a pot of water, 1 onion, some garlic, a starch (like potatoes, corn, beans, rice, lima beans), green leafy vegetable (carrots, green beans, squash, bell pepper, cabbage). Meat is always optional. The pot of soup you dump together could be the next family favorite.
• Another one most of us don't realize what a serving is. Mashed potatoes, noodles, rice, beans, vegetables, fruit should be the size of half of a baseball or ½ cup. Butter or margarine is 1 dice. A piece of cornbread is a bar of soap. Meat, fish and chicken are the serving of a deck of card, a computer mouse, or mayonnaise lid. Are you saying "I’ll starve on that". If so chances are you’re eating more than your expend in energy. So you won't actually starve, but you will lose weight and your pocket book will be fatter. Remember the commercial of the with fat wallet. That'll be you!

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For specific recipes, please contact Kathy


Kathy Link, MBA, MS, RD LDN
Nutrition Makes Cents
www.nutritionmakescents.com

217-249-5881