Trying to stretch your food dollars? Who isn’t? It’s easier than you think: Cooking at home using seasonal, fresh foods is the number-onesecret to healthy eating and saving money. When you use items like beans, potatoes, whole grains, leafy greens, and seasonal produce—always the most economical foods in the store—food not only tastes good but stretches to feed more people. When you choose protein, select choices that reduce cost without sacrificing taste: cottage cheese, eggs, and beans (again), plus lower-food-chain fish and economical poultry or beef. Small changes like these will go a long way toward making family wellness a priority—and keeping money in your wallet.
Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Salad with Egg
Price per serving: $1.00
Serves 6–8 / A lovely summer dinner. Pound for pound, even organic eggs are far less expensive than chicken, and soy bacon is half the price of pork bacon. Get the recipe.
Roasted Vegetable Tostadas with Chipolte Cream
Price per serving: $1.30
Serves 6 / Hearty, beans, corn, and zucchini replace ground beef in this Tex-Mex favorite – and with so much flavor, you won't miss the expensive cheese. Get the recipe.
Green Bean and Pesto Pasta with Chicken
Price per serving: $1.30
Serves 6 / This pasta stretches two chicken breasts into six servings with a garden of fresh vegetables. Get the recipe.
Asian-Spiced Catfish with Carrot Slaw
Price per serving: $1.87
Serves 4 / When you want a versatile, tasty, sustainable and affordable fish, catfish is it. Get the recipe.
Rosemary Beef Hash
Price per serving: $1.41
Serves 6 / This stretches 1 pound of high-quality, grass-fed beef or bison into a hearty one-dish meal with the addition of fiber-rich mushrooms and potatoes. Get the recipe.
Creamy Yellow Squash and Corn Casserole
Price per serving: $0.85
Serves 6-8 / Cottage cheese, fresh corn, and yellow squash make an easy, healthy and economical summer dinner that kids will love. Get the recipe.
12 healthy, money-saving produce picks
Artichokes
Asparagus
Avocados
Blackberries
Blueberries
Cucumbers
Peas
Radishes
Rhubarb
Spinach
Strawberries
Zucchini
source: eattheseasons.com
Food and health writer Kimberly Lord Stewart is the author of Eating Between the Lines (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2007).
