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The Moms' Guide to Meal Makeovers

Liz Weiss, MS, RD, and Janice Newell Bissex, MS, RD, are authors of The Moms' Guide to Meal Makeovers: Improving the Way Your Family Eats, One Meal at a Time! (Broadway Books) and founders of the Meal Makeover Moms' Club. Together, they write the monthly column, "Smart Suppers," for Nick JR Family Magazine and contribute regularly to other publications including Babytalk and Better Homes and Gardens. Liz and Janice (AKA "The Meal Makeover Moms") conduct cooking classes and lectures for busy parents nationwide.

If you're working with a tight budget, you're in luck because shopping for healthy foods can actually help you save money at the supermarket. A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association back in 2002 found that consumers were able to cut their weekly food bill when they purchased fewer extras such as soft drinks, chips, baked goods, and other high-calorie items.

But buying fewer sugary, salty snacks isn't the only way to stretch your food dollar. Try some of these other cost-cutting strategies:

• Plan Meals Around Weekly Specials — Peruse the food section of your newspaper each week to spot the best buys and then plan your family dinners around them. By going to the supermarket with a well-organized grocery list based on the ingredients you'll need for your recipes that week, you're more likely to fill your cart with the sale items you know you'll use while avoiding impulse items such as prepared foods, which tend to be more pricey.

• Buy Produce in Season — Produce at its peak is a smart buy. Take corn for example. Purchased in the summertime, corn costs a lot less than buying out of season — it tastes a lot better too. Other ways to save on fruits and veggies include buying only the amount you know you'll use (there's nothing worse than throwing away spoiled produce) and comparing the price between frozen, canned and fresh produce to spot the best buy.

• Be Picky About Protein — Besides the usual protein foods of chicken, beef, pork, and seafood, try some less expensive vegetarian sources of protein, which includes tofu and legumes such as lentils and beans. A can of protein-rich beans can cost as little as fifty cents, and their versatility can't be beat. They can also add value to the meat you may already have on hand. A pound of ground beef, for instance, will yield four 4-ounce hamburgers. Mix in a can of mashed black beans (mash the beans until smooth with a potato masher) and you'll get eight juicy burgers!

• Turn to Generic — Generic brands are often a lot less expensive than brand-name products. If, for example, a brand-name cereal has the same nutritional value as the generic one and your family likes them both, it's often a better bet to go with the generic. Even if you have a coupon for the well-known brand, chances are the generic cereal will still be cheaper.

• Cook From Scratch — It's often tempting to pick up a pizza or drive by your local fast food joint when it's 6 p.m. and your cupboards are bare. By planning ahead though, you can avoid those costly traps. While it's a common misconception that nutritious, home-cooked meals cost more than takeout, a simple calculation proves otherwise.

Take, for example, a fast food chicken burrito. The cost is about $3.00 per serving. Besides the cost to your pocketbook, you'll also pay a nutritional price. That one small burrito has more than 400 calories, 6 grams of saturated fat, and 1,270 milligrams of sodium (and we didn't even count the beverage or the sides). On the other hand, if you cook up our recipe for Confetti Chicken Wraps (made with chicken, bell peppers, frozen corn, reduced-fat cheese and salsa), the cost is just $1.30 per serving. As for the nutrition, our recipe has 330 calories, 1.5 grams saturated fat, and just 500 milligrams of sodium.

Confetti Chicken Wraps

Makes 6 to 8 Servings

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large orange bell pepper, finely diced
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 to 1 teaspoon chili powder
One 15 1/2-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
One cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 cup pre-shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
3/4 cup salsa
Six to eight 8-inch flour tortillas
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream, optional

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken, cumin, and chili powder and cook until the chicken is no longer pink, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the beans, corn, cheese, and salsa and cook until the mixture is heated through and the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes. Meanwhile, stack the tortillas on a microwave-safe plate, uncovered, and heat in the microwave until warmed through, 30 to 45 seconds. Assemble by placing the chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla. Wrap burrito style and serve with sour cream as desired.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:
330 calories, 8g fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 510mg sodium, 41g carbohydrates, 8g fiber, 24g protein

Copyright 2006 Liz Weiss and Janice Newell Bissex

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