So you’ve decided you want to start eating healthy, huh?
Well, you’ve likely already hit two obstacles:
You can find healthy foods that won’t break your budget, but how can you make eating healthy take less time?
If we look at why healthy meals take longer to prepare, it’s typically due to the fact that healthy meals tend to be fresh. That means you have to clean, cut, peel, etc, then you have to actually cook the food (as opposed to simply heating it up).
Well, there are a handful of healthy ingredients, at least semi-healthy, that are nonperishable so you can stockpile them in your pantry. That means less trips to the grocery store, and since nonperishables tend to be pre-cooked, that also means less time preparing and cooking the food as well.
You might think, are canned and boxed foods necessarily “healthy”? After all, they aren’t fresh. While they may not be as healthy as their fresh counterparts, but when you’re on the run and you’re deciding between canned green beans or french fries from a fast food restaurant, I’d say the canned vegetables starts looking like health food in comparison.
The bottom line is, if you’re a busy parent or professional who doesn’t have time to stop and cook a fresh meal, consider stockpiling your cabinets with semi-healthy food that’s easy to make.
Here’s how you can stock your pantry with healthy food, so you can make healthier meals even when you’re busy, tired, or on a tight budget.
Before you can start bargain shopping for healthy foods to stock your kitchen with, you’ll need to know which foods to look out for. Here are # foods that are at least semi-healthy and nonperishable.
Canned green beans, green peas, brussel sprouts, asparagus, corn - you name it. You can find just about any vegetable available in a can.
They might have a little more sodium, but they’re still vegetables at their core, and they still provide health benefits.
Just like vegetables, many fruits you can find in the produce section are also available in a can. Canned peaches, pears, and oranges immediately come to mind, but you could also throw in some old fashioned applesauce with no sugar added and you have yourself a healthy to-go dessert.
Cereals, oatmeal, and rice, pasta are the primary nonperishable grains. Not only are these three items cheap, but they’re also usually very filling and quick to make.
Of course, if you’re getting pasta, you have to get some type of sauce to go with it. Canned tomato sauce, marinara, or some other spaghetti sauce in a can or jar, combined with canned chicken (next) will make a healthy, quick, inexpensive meal that’ll provide leftovers.
And speaking of complete meals, soups are perfect for those chilly months when you want something healthy and quick. Just read the labels, because not all soups are make equal. Some of them are loaded with too much sodium and sugar to necessarily call them “healthy”. When in doubt, stick to the ones with vegetables in them that have low sodium.
We’re not talking about Spam, but more along the lines of canned salmon, tuna, and chicken. You could even go the sardines route if you’re feeling brave, but that one’s not for me.
If you’re not a member of Sam’s Club, I highly advise becoming one. That’s where you’ll get the best deal when buying food in bulk, and that’s exactly what you’ll need to do to really stock up on healthy pantry foods.
Here’s a sample shopping trip to Sam’s Club where I was able to get about a month’s worth of food for in the neighborhood of $100 (and don't forget to use Sam's Club coupons from Dealspotr to save even more money on your groceries):
(Some quick math: 30 days x 3 meals per day = about 90 servings. Keep that in mind as I go through the serving sizes and the prices for those “servings”.)
Daily Chef Canned Chicken Breast - roughly 19 servings for around $12
StarKist Chunk Tuna - 12 servings for $9
Del Monte Cut Green Beans - about 36 servings for around $9
Del Monte Whole Kernel Corn - about 24 servings for around $4
Daily Chef Whole Artichoke Hearts - about 8 servings for around $7
Le Sueur Sweet Peas - about 24 servings for $10
Dole Mandarin Oranges - about 16 servings for $8
Healthy Choice Soup Variety Pack - about 10 servings for $10 (depending on how hungry you are)
Seeds of Change Organic Quinoa and Brown Rice with Garlic - 12 servings for around $11
Barilla Pasta Variety Pack (6 pk.) - about 48 servings for around $8
Hunt’s Tomato Sauce - 12/15oz cans - about 78 servings for around $8
Total number of servings: about 287
Now, taking into consideration that most of those “servings” are side items, we can’t actually count all 287 of those as full meals. So if you only look at the number of servings of main items (chicken, tuna, soup, and pasta), we’re looking at about 89 servings.
Now, admittedly, you’ll probably have to add a few items to that list if you want a little more selection.
The point is, it’s completely possible to eat healthy consistently without spending a ton of money on groceries or a ton of time prepping and cooking.
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