Healthy Kitchen, Small Budget

How can we eat healthy and still stay within our limited budget? I've put together a few tips that I hope will  help.

1. Buy in bulk. Become part of either a co-op or a group of people who share the same goal of buying big to save money.

2. Buy in season large quantities of vegetables and/or fruits. You can freeze, dehydrate, can and store lots of food for off season times to continue feeding your family.Write down seasons of fresh vegetables and fruits. Pay attention to sales, farmers markets and what's growing outside and when.

3. Use your money for only whole foods. Don't splurge on junk foods. They don't feed anyone and it's a waste of money . Our dollars and shekels go much farther when we use them to buy real whole foods to make meals at home . Shop around and find the best deals on good whole foods. I've found  Indian, Ethiopian stores or Asian markets have great prices on things that are way over priced at health food or chain stores. Write down the costs of things so you  can keep a tally of where your money is going. This way you can start to cut out things that you don't need and use it instead on what you do. 

4. Garden!  Growing our own food is the most healthy and inexpensive way to eat. Just a few seeds provide many ingredients for meals that will last all year. Gardening can be done anywhere. In place of a lawn, in boxes, bags, rooftops, kitchen windows and vertically on walls. 5. Find a guide book for wild foods. Many of our weeds are the most amazing sources of vitamins, minerals and proteins you can find.  

6. Plan ahead. It's all about timing. Keep a diary or a list of some sort that can help sort out the confusion for the next year. The more we practice to get it right the better we become at succeeding. Seasons, what grows, when and where to buy them,  Each year you will find yourself knowing more and more what to do in preparation for the coming months .

7. Reuse ingredients until there's nothing left. For example: Coconut. Buy a lot when it's in season. I like to grind it and freeze it so I have it available all year. You can make coconut milk , then save the coconut that's left to make dessicated coconut for use in baking or chocolates or grind the dried coconut to make coconut flour.  Same goes for nuts.