Best Lowcost Healthy Meal Ideas

cooking
Written By Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII

By planning meals around rice, pasta and potatoes you will use lower-cost ingredients. Use vegetables in season and store-brand frozen veggies in season. Think of meat as a condiment. Best of all, cook more and you can use it the next day or freeze for days when you are too busy to cook.• Beans and rice• Chili• Bean soup• Split pea soup• Lentils with rice• Chicken and rice• Stirfry over rice• Pasta and lentils• Paella• Risotto• Lasagna• Tuna and macaroni• Pasta with veggies• Vegetable soup• Stew with potatoes and chicken• Baked potato stuffed with broccoli

Compare cost per ounce:
Rice .03
Potatoes .03
Bananas .04
Cabbage .04
Carrots .05
Dried beans .06
Apples .06
Oranges .07
Oatmeal, grits .07
Pasta .08
Yogurt .09
Frozen veggies .09
Peanut butter .09
Soup .09
Broccoli .12
Tuna, canned .15
Chicken breast .18
Egg white .20
Cereal .25
Beef .25
Frozen meal .29
Bread .30
Chips .34
Cookies .38
Fish (frozen) .39
Cheese .46
Crackers .47
Cake, bakery .50
Deli meat .65

 

Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII

Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII discovered her love of cooking at her grandmother's side, stirring raisin oatmeal on a Saturday morning. By 15 she had her first food service job. At 18 she was accepted to the Culinary Institute of America, where she graduated second in her class, then went on to the Fachschule Richemont in Switzerland to study pastry arts and baking. A decade with Hyatt Hotels followed before she founded Food and Health Communications with a single conviction: food that is good for you should taste extraordinary.

Judy holds a Master of Professional Studies in Food Business from the Culinary Institute of America, a Bachelor of Science in Culinary Arts from Johnson and Wales University (Summa Cum Laude), two art certificates from UC Berkeley Extension, and the CIA's Pro Chef II certification. She has earned the American Culinary Federation Bronze Medal, Gold Medal, and ACF Chef of the Year award.

Today she develops every recipe on this site, shoots and styles food through her food photography and motion studio, and publishes nutrition education materials for dietitians, schools, extension offices, and health professionals through nutritioneducationstore.com. She uses the latest nutritional science and Dietary Guidelines to drive her creativity — whether that means a new twist on fajitas or Italian brownies made with toasted nuts and cooked honey. Her mission has never changed: help everyone make food that tastes as good as it is for them.

https://nutritioneducationstore.com
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