Eat, Save, and Be Healthy

It may be hard to eat healthy if you do not have time to cook or your children want fast
food.  Try the following tips to eat better, save time, and stretch your food budget.

• Eat breakfast everyday.  Try a whole-grain cereal like raisin bran with skim or 1% milk.  Or, whole-wheat toast spread with jam.
• Teach kids that healthy foods taste good.  Make macaroni and cheese with skim milk and low-fat cheese.
• Choose whole-grain foods like whole-wheat bread, oatmeal, brown rice, or whole-wheat pasta more often than refined-grain foods like white bread, white rice and white pasta.
• Snack on fruits and vegetables.  Keep a bowl of fruit on the table, bags of mini carrots in the refrigerator, and boxes of raisins in the cupboard.
• Don’t keep a lot of sweets like cookies, candy or soda in the house.  Too many sweets can crowd out healthier foods.

Crispy Sweet Potato Sticks

2 pounds sweet potatoes

1 ½ teaspoons vegetable oil

Cut sweet potatoes into sticks.  Toss with oil in a bowl.  Spread out onto baking sheet.  Bake about ½ hour at 375 degrees F. or until browned and tender.  Sprinkle with a little lemon juice if desired.

Makes 8 servings.  The oil adds approximately 1 gram of fat per serving.

Author:  Linnette Goard, Extension Educator, Ohio State University Extension.