Eating Healthy On A Budget: Where’s The Beef?

“Where’s the Beef?”

Did you know that you can cut your weekly food bill in half and save money by increasing the portions of vegetables in your dishes?

For example, you can replace some of the meat in your favorite recipes with drained and rinsed canned beans in order to stretch portions, reducing your costs and boosting the nutrient quality of the dish. This can be done by adding black or pinto beans to enchiladas and meat tacos ;adding cannellini beans to lean ground turkey for pasta dishes; and adding a meat sauce and extra kidney beans to chili.
blackbeans                                     Black Beans

 

white beans

 

tuna andbeans                                                                       Tuna and Cannellini Bean Salad

 

You can also save by eliminating meat all together once a week by opting for for “Meatless Mondays”.

Even when you stretch a dollar, you can still eat healthy by having a full plate!

Chicken Crisps with Honey and Siracha Dipping Sauce

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Chicken Crisps with Honey and Siracha Dipping Sauce

In a Cook’s Kitchen, nothing is ever wasted or tossed aside, when it comes to food. Chicken skins can be used to make schmaltz. So what do you do with the skin after making schmaltz? Well, the skins can make a tasty snack, just like fried pork rinds. After they have been fried, sprinkle a little salt and cracked black pepper over them and then dip them in a sweet-spicy -salty sauce. The skins are an utterly addictive snack that’s especially good with a cherry coke or a good beer.