How to Transform Your Kitchen Into a Healthy Storehouse of Foods, One Week at a Time

File this under things I wish I had known when I was a very young adult, like 18.

RFK Jr. was recently criticized for a cooking show (aimed at cooking healthy on a budget) for using a cost per meal based on the actual price of ingredients used in preparation. The criticism came from a major news network, saying that the total grocery bill is much, much higher, because you have to buy full containers of each ingredient necessary for the recipe. 

Well, of course you have to buy the whole container. Dumb critique. Instead of simply trying to discredit the idea of cooking in a healthy way based on grocery cost to stock a kitchen, perhaps the news network could have detailed how a household could stock their kitchen with albeit pricey individual ingredients, while staying on a budget.

My Grocery Journey

I'll tell you how my family has done it. For the record, we spend well under the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, the lowest cost the USDA considers for a healthy diet. Their plans are based on the age and number of household members. The USDA plan would allow $631.20 for my household. Here, look up yours: USDA's Food Plans

My household spends about $350 to $375 per month. We have a large vegetable garden and fruit trees, in addition to the dollar amount spent. However, when we first began our journey, we were in a small apartment without a garden. So I know it's doable.

Here's how we transformed our diet to a healthier one while staying on a small budget. We began one item at a time. And we did not increase our spending. In fact, we cut our spending.  

In week one, we substituted more dried beans for meat meals. This freed up enough money to buy more produce and stockpile one item that we found on sale that week. In week two, we not only kept eating more beans and less meat, plus more produce, but we continued to stockpile a sale item or two. 

By about week eight of shopping and cooking this way, we had enough of a stockpile of sale items that I didn't need to buy as much in regular groceries. This allowed me to buy healthier versions of some pantry/fridge staples, such as more whole grains and some cold-pressed oils for cooking. 

As we were eating healthier, we became more discerning about restaurant offerings too. Prior to changing how we ate, my husband and I would grab a quick meal out at a fast food place once per week. Our son was too small to eat these meals, so the cost was for two adults. After a couple of months of eating healthier, we quit eating out weekly and reserved restaurant meals for special occasions. 

Eating almost exclusively at home saved us about $50/month (at that time). This allowed us even more money to spend on healthier groceries. This effect has continued to snowball, and keeps allowing us to improve our diet. I have some weeks where not only do I not need to go to the grocery store, but in looking in our fridge, I don't want to add anything else -- it is that full.

What the News Could've Done Differently

This is how I think the news network could have proceeded with their segment. They could have brought in an expert to help write a plan for struggling families. My family is not alone in overhauling a diet and grocery spending at the same time. Many other families have done just what mine has.

Here's my suggested week-by-week plan:

1. Scan the deals for your favorite 2 stores. The higher priced store will have more, but fewer great deals, and the lower priced store will have consistently well-priced items. In looking at the ads for both stores, choose the best deals on whole foods (proteins, produce, dairy, whole grains) and allocate the bulk of your grocery budget to those items. Incorporate naturally less expensive choices for the categories, such as some dried beans for some of the meat, and cheaper produce like cabbage and carrots for the pricier fruits and vegetables. For one week, tolerate some redundancy in your meals. This will improve with each passing week. If possible, buy extra of a sale priced meat item to freeze for the following week. The spending will need to be planned before purchase. Add up the cost for the items you want, see if you need to reduce or substitute or if you have enough to stockpile a sale-priced healthy item. If your household still wants some snack foods, switch to cheaper, less processed ones, such as popping corn instead of chips, or bake some muffins from scratch instead of buying commercial treats. Drink water, iced tea, hot tea/coffee, or lemonade in place of soda.
2. Continue with week one's plan, then stockpile healthy staples or whole food deals you can freeze with remaining budget.
3. Continue with plan.
4. Continue with plan.
5. Continue with plan.
6. The plan will eventually allow you to switch some standard products to more expensive healthier ones, such as olive and avocado oil to replace most of your use of all-purpose vegetable oil. This may take a couple of months. However making any positive steps toward healthier eating has health benefits, too.

Eating healthier doesn't guarantee a life free of disease, but it can improve a person's odds of healthier outcomes to challenging medical situations. 

Just thoughts I wish the news agency would have conveyed to their audience.