Stretch Your Food Dollar: Making a Meal Plan
I recently had dinner with a friend who asked me if I could teach her how to cook. She and her husband eat out every night because neither one of them knows how to cook, and it’s really taking its toll on their budget. “I need to know how to cook cheap, healthy food, and it has to be easy.” I think it’s great that she has specific goals in mind, and I’m really excited to help her achieve them.
One of the first things to consider when you are learning how to cook is making a meal plan. A healthy meal has three components: protein, starch (aka “carbs”), and fruits/vegetables. If you think of your dinner plate as a map, half of your plate should consist of fruits/vegetables, and the other half is equally divided between protein and starch.
I know that many of us are avoiding carbs like the plague, but complex carbohydrates really are the cornerstone of a healthy diet. The key to carbs in picking whole grains. For instance, brown rice is healthy than white rice. Sweet potatoes are better for you than white potatoes. And wheat bread is healthier than white bread.
Protein is a really important component of healthy eating, because your body processes proteins slower than it processes carbohydrates. Fruits, vegetables, and grains are processed really efficiently by the body, and if you don’t consume any protein with your meal, you’re going to be hungry again in a short amount of time. Protein serving sizes vary depending on the type of protein being consumed, but if you are eating meat, an appropriate serving is typically about 4 ounces, which is about the size of a deck of cards. Nuts, cheese, tofu, and other soy products all count as protein, too.
There are many excellent resources out there to help you find cheap and easy meals. I highly recommend the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, because it is a very basic cookbook that will serve you well for years to come. Although I loathe her personality, Rachel Ray is also a tremendous resource. Her monthly magazine provides shopping lists and meal planners for the entire month, and most of her cookbooks have recipes that can be made in under thirty minutes.
If you’ve been a longtime follower of the Stretch Your Food Dollar series, you’ve probably already seen most of the recipes that I’ve shared. If you’re new to Queercents, go through the Stretch Your Food Dollar archives, because there’s lots of helpful tips and easy recipes there. Bon appetit!
I’d recommend buying a crock pot. Throw meat, veggies, spices and water in it in the morning, come back to a meal at night. Plus, there are cookbooks that have lots of different recipes for them.
I’m with Kelly! Check out the A Year of Slow-Cooking (http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/), where a blogger documented her daily slow-cooking for all of 2009. Great recipes, with lots of reviews!
Also, as much as I have some issues with Jamie Oliver’s whole persona thing, I like his Ministry of Food cookbook (http://www.jamieoliver.com/books/ministry-of-food-book) because it’s all about getting regular people cooking healthy meals on a regular basis.
I’m pretty much at the point where I’d rather always eat at home, not only because I’m frugal but because I know my partner and I can make food that is more delicious than most restaurants. Special occasions still see us dining at a couple favourite places, but usually we’re content puttering around our kitchen.
FG and Kelly – crock pots are the best! They’re such a lifesaver for busy people. Thanks for sharing the link to the crock pot blog!
You should also consider the order in which you eat. Since fruits and veges digest faster eat them first then the carbs and last the protein. This way the vege and fruit don’t rot in your gut by being stuck behind the protein.
SK
SK, I’ve never heard of that. So what if I’m eating a sandwhich with lettuce, tomato, and cheese? Does all of that “rot” while the cheese is digesting? Where is your information coming from? Because I didn’t learn anything like that in any of my nutrition classes in culinary school.
Kelly’s Idea for a crock-pot was great! I love mine. I will have to try some of those recipes.
From what I understand (remember from k-12 PE classes), the stomach churns all that food around, contracting and expanding, while excreting acids that break down the food. So the order in which you eat the various types of food on your plate really doesn’t matter. I have, however, read in at least one source that you should drink water a few minutes before you eat, and not again until a couple of hours afterwards b/c too much water dilutes the stomach acids and your food does not digest properly, while the water consumed before your meal paves the way for your digested stomach contents to glide smoothly through your intestines. Makes sense, but is a little much imo. Bon appetit!