Fresh or Frozen?

Courtesy of Beachbody

9 Ways to Eat Healthier for CHEAPER!

'Tis the season. Eating seasonally is the best way to get the most delicious fresh fruits and vegetables. When harvest time comes around for your favorite fruit or veggie, the market is usually glutted, and following the time-honored supply-and-demand curve, the prices of those fruits and veggies plummet. And not only is it cheap to eat fruits and veggies that are in season, it's the best time to get the most flavor for your money. Most fresh fruits and veggies sold in the off-season are either shipped from faraway lands or produced in greenhouse factories and don't have nearly the rich flavors produced by Mother Nature. It's a good time to stock up, eat what you can, and freeze or can the rest for a rainy day. If you're fortunate enough to live in a community with a decent farmers' market, it pays to get to know the men and women who are selling the produce. They can let you know when the best time to buy the best stuff is and give you a preview of what's coming up harvest-wise so you can plan your menu accordingly.

The big freeze. Speaking of freezing and canning, these are great ways to save money and still have your nutritional needs met. Not only are frozen and canned foods way cheaper than fresh foods, in many cases, they're more nutritious. Fruits and vegetables are usually preserved within hours of harvest, when they have their maximum vitamins and minerals. Fresh fruits and vegetables can take days, or even weeks, to make the journey from the field to your table. Add to that any time spent lingering on supermarket shelves and in your fridge's crisper drawer, and suddenly fresh doesn't seem so fresh anymore. And in many recipes, frozen or canned might even be better than fresh. A pint of fresh off-season blueberries can cost more than $5.00 while a one-pound bag of frozen blueberries can cost less than $3.00. And the frozen berries will be a lot better in your morning smoothie. Any chef will tell you about the virtues of canned tomatoes over fresh ones when making your favorite pasta sauce. The only thing to be wary of is the sodium and sugar content in many canned goods, or frozen veggies that come with high-calorie sauces or other not-so-healthy ingredients in not-so-healthy amounts.

Shop around.  Check out the supermarket circulars that keep getting stuffed into your mailbox. Every week, your supermarket advertises "loss leaders," including fruits, veggies, lean meats, and fish. Their hope is to lure you into the store with these bargains that they don't make so much money on and tempt you to buy extra high-profit stuff while you're there. But if you stick to your list, you can fill your cart with the loss leaders and save a ton of money. Plus they'll usually be items that are in season, because these are cheaper for the store to buy. Also, signing up for your supermarket's club or rewards cards can help save you money. It's better to monitor sales and promotions rather than clipping coupons, because coupons generally apply to processed, less healthy foods, although you can sometimes find good coupons for canned and frozen produce (like the tomatoes and berries we just talked about).