No one in modern America deserves more sympathy than the working parent on a limited budget. Finding the time, energy and means to prepare nutritious meals for a family poses a real challenge, especially as the temptation to opt for convenience foods is great.

The first step is to realize that fast foods are a terrible trap that lead to diminished vitality and even greater restrictions on one’s time, energy and budget. Plus, regular consumption leads to the onset of serious disease. Commit a little time to these suggestions, and you, your family and your bank account will be much healthier.

1. Plan Ahead - While it’s not necessary to spend long hours in the kitchen in order to eat properly, it is necessary to spend some time in the kitchen. Simple, wholesome menus require thoughtful planning. Much can be accomplished with advanced preparation by dedicating four or five hours per week which may include shopping, starting a large pot of stock to last the week, putting up a jar of fermented vegetables, making a batch of cookies for school lunches and preparing a large casserole of soup or stew that can last for several meals. Simple, nutritious meals can be prepared very quickly when you lay the groundwork ahead of time.

2. Oatmeal is the Best Cereal – Don’t buy boxed cold breakfast cereals, even those made of whole grains. They’re very expensive, poor in nutrients and difficult to digest. A serving of the best quality organic oatmeal costs half the amount of the average boxed breakfast cereal and is infinitely more nutritious. For optimum nourishment think ahead and soak your oatmeal overnight.

3. Make your own salad dressing – By using the finest ingredients for about the same cost as the average bottled dressings, most of which contain rancid vegetable oils, trans fatty acids and numerous additives, you’ll discover it takes just a few minutes to produce a delicious dressing for your salad.

4. Always Buy Butter - Margarine and shortening may cost less but it is a false economy, one that leads to numerous impoverishing diseases. If the cost of butter is prohibitive, use lard.

5. Make Stock – Meat stocks have formed the basis of nourishing peasant diets for millennia. They cost little to make, are very nourishing and have a protein-sparing effect. That means you can get by with very little meat in the diet when you use properly made stock for soups and stews. Use congealed fat from stocks for cooking and leftover meat for soups, meat salads and other dishes. Do this once a week and you’ll save a bundle.

6. Cod Liver Oil – It’s better to put your money into whole foods than vitamins. However, most benefit from a daily teaspoonful of cod liver oil, one of the least expensive supplements on the market, and from Azomite powder, a very inexpensive mineral supplement. Lacto-fermented beet kvass contains a large array of nutrients in easily assimilated form and is simple and inexpensive to make.

7. Use Dairy – Good quality dairy products are worth the price. If you live in the country, look into an arrangement for keeping a Jersey cow or goats. If not, spend the money on organic dairy products. Don’t forget eggs as a nourishing, low-cost alternative to meat. It pays to buy the best quality.

8. Vegetables – The less expensive organic vegetables include some of the most nourishing-potatoes, cabbage, carrots, zucchini, onions, broccoli, chard, beets and kale-and they are easy to prepare. Always prepare or serve vegetables with butter for best assimilation of the minerals they contain.

9. Fish Roe – If you can’t afford caviar (few can) buy different varieties of uncured fish roe from a good fish merchant. It can be purchased at a reasonable price-possibly even for free. Use it to make roe cakes, or in quantity and store in the freezer to sue throughout the year. Fish roe is just loaded with nutrients and has always been prized by healthy primitive peoples.

10. Make Soups Part of Your Repertoire - Blended soups can be put together in very little time and are extremely nourishing. Invest in a handheld blender, which costs about $25, and you can blend your soups right in the pot, thereby saving time and dishes to wash.

11. Eat Liver – It’s not expensive but is worth its weight in gold, nutritionally speaking.

12. Leftovers Turn into Delicious Meals – Leftover pureed vegetables can be made into pancakes, leftover oatmeal is delicious fried; tender meat reserved from making broth can be added to soups or used for meat salad and sandwiches.

13. Delicious Budget Stretchers – A judicious choice of recipes will make a little go a long way. Budget stretchers include stir-fry, stews, fish cakes, ground meat dishes, kidney-rice casseroles, chicken gumbo and lamb shanks. For special meals, consider leg of lamb which can provide several days of leftovers in the form of leg-of-lamb soup.

14. Buy in Bulk – Buy organic, whole grains in bulk and store them in 5-gallon covered plastic buckets, available at hardware stores.

15. Buy Good Grains – If you can’t afford a grain grinder, buy whole grain flours at your health food store or supermarket and store in the refrigerator. Use them to make easy and low-cost pancakes, muffins, gingerbread, brownies, crackers, etc. If you have time you can save money making your own bread. Otherwise, buy good quality sourdough or sprouted grain breads.

16. Learn to Make Basic Brown Rice - It’s delicious, economical and nutritious. Leftovers make wonderful salads, fillers or tacos or added in soups and stews.

17. Be a Cookie Monster - Children love cookies; adults do too. Make your own. Cookies are the most economical treats. Always use good ingredients. You’ll find that Arrowroot powder can be expensive. (Asian markets often carry it at a good price). Bulgur flour is more economical but takes time to prepare. Your family will treasure these wholesome treats.

18. Make Kombucha! – It costs less than 20 cents per quart; the taste is better than most expensive soft drinks, beer or wine.

19. Don’t Over-Economize – Rather, cut out junk food, prepared cookies and cakes, soft drinks, frozen foods, fast foods and use the saving to buy quality, whole foods.

20. Use Good Fats – Above all, use good quality fats-they keep you healthy during times of stress.

If you commit a little time to these suggestions, you’ll find that you and your family are eating better and feeling better. The best reward is you’ll have more time and money for the things that really matter.

Recipes for all these ideas can be found in the cookbook Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon with Mary G. Enig, PhD.

This article is courtesy of HealthKeepers magazine: www.HealthKeepersMagazine.com