Nutrition Expert Shares her Tips to Eat Healthy on the Cheap

Cheryl Reining knows firsthand the challenges of feeding a family on a budget.

Now married, the Bartlett resident spent 17 years as a single mom and was forced to rely on coupons and creative meals to ensure she and her now 32-year-old daughter got the nutrition they needed.

"Money was always tight," she said, adding that she made clipping coupons into a game to see how much she could save with each trip down the aisles. "There were times I was going through the bins at the grocery store that were filled with cans with no labels on them. They were about a quarter of the normal price … So you took your chances and got inventive."

Reining is now a dietetic intern in the masters of science in nutrition wellness at Benedictine University. She is holding a talk at April 5. It's among hundreds of events scheduled throughout the Chicagoland area during Money Smart Week, April 2-9, that will help teach residents to "pinch" their pennies.

Ann Pitcher, spokeswoman for 61 Money Smart Week events in DuPage County, said there are about 30 area nonprofits, libraries and businesses teaming up to keep the community nutritionally informed.

"They all kind of come on board and everybody tries to do something that kind of educates kids and adults about what really is financial literacy," she said. "A lot of people do their shopping at food pantries. It can be hard to get nutrition into your family meals."

Knowing this, Reining offered simple tips this week that will stretch the family dollar while still fulfilling basic dietary needs.

Let the coupons be your guide

"The first thing that I tell everybody—and this is the way I live—is that you have to make a plan," Reining said. "Don't just go into the grocery store hungry."

Let the sales papers guide you on what to buy for a given week, she said. If chicken and pork is on sale, build your meals around those proteins. Rather than relying on the short-term coupons and offers that are stuffed in the mailbox, spend $1 each Sunday on a newspaper. Those coupons typically don't expire for months, she said.

"A lot of them are online now but honestly, I really suggest to everyone that if you're going to try to save money the Sunday paper is a fantastic investment," she said.

If chicken tenders are on sale, consider marinating them in Italian dressing or making a Baja chicken meal, she suggested. The key question to ask yourself is, "What kinds of meals can I make from this?"

Always shop the sales, use the coupons and only get extras, like sweets or snacks, if you have leftover money. Needs first, wants second, Reining said. Another cardinal rule is to shop your cupboards before the store. Reining keeps a running list of the inventory that's behind her cabinets. When she uses an item from her stock, she crosses it off the list.

"If you know what you have, you will know your options," she said. "It's about making a plan. Take an initial hour or two. Say, 'This is my goal. I'm going to stick to it.'"

Freeze your meals, divide your plate

Reining uses her Sunday afternoons to fill the freezer with ready-to-eat meals that will last her family through the week.

She organizes herself with a color-coded calendar of a menu for each night and a recipe box that's arranged by food category.

"Time is tight, people are busy," she said. "… If you spend four hours in your kitchen, turn your music on and get it done, you can cook a couple of weeks worth of meals."

The key to proper nutrition is simple—divide your plate into quarters. One quarter should be a protein, another quarter should be a carbohydrate and half should be vegetables, according to the American Dietetic Association.

"We call it the plate method," she said. "It gives you a balance and that way, when you're shopping you know that for each meal you need a carbohydrate, a protein and two vegetables."

Jane Macdonald, program director for Loaves & Fishes, said the food pantry is set up to help people identify their nutritional needs. Families are allowed to take certain amounts of items in a given food group based on the traditional food pyramid.

"We really have put in place several things that are targeted at helping people in the difficult area of nutrition," she said. "We try to balance choices while at the same time giving clients an opportunity to choose the foods that they like in each category."

She said the pantry also has special distributions of products for infants and babies younger than 1 year. A separate initiative is geared toward school-aged children and certain selections cater to special diets like those of people who are diabetic or lactose intolerant.

"Low income households are often the very households that experience hurdles like obesity at a young age in an above average way," Macdonald said. "If we can't look at our clients decisions and address their low-income situations, we're going to miss a large part of the problem. … A lot of people don't think they can make healthy food purchases if they don't have a lot of money. We know that's not true."

Reining stresses that creativity is often the most important in guiding a family's healthy diet.

"I think we need to show people how to think outside the box," she said. "If you're organized, good nutrition is attainable for people at every economic level."

Reining will be speaking at Loaves & Fishes Community Pantry, 1871 High Grove Lane, Naperville, April 5 from noon to 2 p.m.