As the year wraps up, have you started thinking about your New Year’s resolutions? Like many people, you might be aiming to eat healthier and save some cash. You can hit both these goals by making a few changes to your grocery habits. Here are five grocery resolutions to consider:
1. Instead of buying frozen meals from the store, I plan to make and freeze my own. Sure, TV dinners like Lean Cuisine and Marie Calendar meals are convenient, but they’re often packed with sodium and are expensive for what you get. Making the same amount of food at home can be cheaper and healthier.
It’s easier than you think to prepare your own freezer-friendly meals. Just cook a big meal like chicken breasts, mashed potatoes, and green beans, then divide it into lunch-sized portions. Using Tupperware, especially the ones with dividers like Bento boxes, is great for this.
You can also make things like French bread pizzas and burritos ahead of time. For the pizza, just slice up some French bread, add your favorite pizza or spaghetti sauce, cheese, and toppings. Burritos are simple too—just cook beans, rice, cheese, and meat (or skip the meat for extra savings), roll it in a tortilla, and wrap it in foil.
These homemade versions are cheaper and healthier since they don’t have hidden sodium or unknown ingredients. You could even freeze peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a quick snack on the go.
2. I’m also going to have two meat-free days each week. Some people skip meat for just one meal a week, but it’s pretty easy to go two whole days without it. This small change can save you up to $100 a month, depending on the size of your family and how much meat you usually eat.
You don’t need to be a vegetarian chef to make tasty meatless meals. Try dishes like pasta, quiche, veggie pizza, bean, rice, and cheese burritos, baked potatoes, salads, quesadillas, soups, vegetarian chili, and veggie stir-fries. You might be surprised how easy it is to leave out the meat a couple of times a week.
Skipping meat not only saves money but can also help you stay fit by cutting down on protein.
Stay tuned for three more grocery savings resolutions in Part 2.