I was wondering where y'all "nutritionistas" buy your food.

I have a really hard time trying to eat healthy on a budget. Junk food is always cheap, but prices on produce seem like they've at least tripled in the last few years. And now the buzz is all about the organic or farmer's market stuff, which costs even more!

Fresh meat from the butcher counter is out of my price range as well, which is a reason I eat canned tuna --a shame, since I happen to love fresh fish-- and I'm hearing tuna is unsafe as well? Sigh.

The other problem is time. I like to cook, but I really can't do it that often in the week, so if I'm preparing my own meals (as opposed to eating out) I need timesavers like canned meat and prepackaged veggies. Sure, I could eat Lean Cuisines or whatever (again, pricy) but I find that those frozen dinners tend to have a lot of "goop" and usually, way too much saturated fat.

I accept that in trying to lose weight, calorie-counting and exercising (with all the set-up and breakdown involved) involves a big time commitment. And I recognize that if I prepared all my meals from scratch, cooked my own beans, etc., I could be nutritious on the cheap. The problem is I really don't have time for everything.

So what's the solution? How do you eat healthy and still save time and money? Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

the farmers markets in chicago just reopened last weekend so I'm hoping to check them out this weekend - paying 3 dollars for a lb of tomatoes is killing me...

for fruits I buy what's on sale - and just enough to last the week.

Ill also get frozen fruits -that are just the fruit, not packed with sugar or syrup - though only when tehy're on sale - they tend to be expensive..

Chicken breasts I will buy in bulk then stick them in freezer bags with marinade and store in frezer til I'm ready to use them.... Fresh fish i iwill do the same thing with - as long as it's fresh and not previously frozen fish...

I've been told my pic is in the dictionary beside the word cheap. I seriously cringe when I think about how much money I now spend on food. Four things help: 1. I have a friend with a decent garden and am shameless about visting her and leaving with bags of tomatos and such. 2. I make a point 2-3 times a week to pop into the grocery store that's halfway between my house and work and grabbing fruit from the "sale" rack. 3) whenever normally expensive (i.e. organic canned beans) is on sale I buy A LOT. 4) whenever any produce is on sale that can be cooked and frozen I buy A LOT.

As far as time, 99% of anything I eat is measured...but that only works if I accept the fact that I'm going to spend about 3 straight hours one day week pre-measuring stuff out and packaging it. A major pain when you're doing it but you then have the luxury of going the rest of the week just randomly grabbing whatever you want without having to give it much thought or time.

Do you sit there and watch the beans cook or something? Beans don't take any time at all. You pour them into a pot of water and let them soak all night. Then you turn the burner on and let them simmer for awhile. Then they're magically done. It takes me longer to open up the cans.

Cook on the weekends then. On Sunday cook several chicken breasts, beans, etc. Make enough to last throughout the week... at least during lunch.

I don't know where you are from, but as long as you don't live smack dab in the middle of New York, Chicago or LA, go out in the country and buy straight from the source. Many small family farms will sell direct as it saves them from having to ship their product and if you ask nicely, the will clean and quarter the meats. Now of course I am not talikng about a whole cow because most of us don't have a big enough freezer. But if you go in as a group, say 4 or 5 people, the price and work load go down as long as they all help in the butchering process.

As far as poultry, if the farmer guts and skins the bird, all you have to do is dissassemble it into quarters and debone if you want to.

I grew up in the country and was raised in the tradition of hunting and fishing. It didn't take long for me to learn how to butcher a deer or clean a duck.

Best part is, if you butcher your own meats, you are in charge of the quality control.

Rocky

Seriously, buy frozen veggies. It doesnt loose any nutriton through freezing. I know this becuase back in 10th grade we watched a video with a nutritionalist that said it's more cost efficient, and it still has the same nutrients (none is damaged with the freezing, or it was very minimal)
Also, I pick my own blackberries when theyre in season. I dont know if you live near anything that has that available, but I live near a lotttt of woods and we come back with two buckets full of blackberries...mmm =)
haha

Other than that, some things you just have to have sparingly, which stinks....but veggies are always cheap when theyre frozen, or canned, and as well as *some* fruits that are in theyre natural juice packaged.
I dont know if I helped any ...but hopefully something helped!! haha