If you think that you have to increase your grocery budget in order to begin a healthier diet plan, think again. There’s no reason why a meal plan filled with fresh fruits and veggies should cost more than one filled with snacks and sweets, and these helpful tips will show you how to do it — even on a tight budget.

1. Buy in-season produce. You’ll often find better deals on fresh produce when it’s in season, so consider stocking up on large quantities of, say, apples in the fall or berries in the summertime. If you buy more than you can consume, freeze the fruit for future use.
2. Plan meals in advance. One of the best ways to make the most of what’s in season (and avoid throwing away produce that has gone bad) is by planning a week’s worth of meals in advance. You can even make a few meals over the weekend and freeze them to eat on busy weekdays.
3. Use sales to get adventurous. If you purchase only fruits and veggies that are on sale at the grocery store, it won’t just save you money, it will also give you an excuse to experiment with new foods that you wouldn’t normally try. Rhubarb, anyone?
4. Store produce properly. If you get frustrated about how quickly your fresh produce goes bad, create a more organized storage system to maximize its lifespan. Keep vegetables separate from fruits, as many fruits emit a gas that causes veggies to spoil more quickly.

Fruits and Vegetables on a Budget [Fruits and Vegetables More Matters]
10 Smart Tips for Eating Healthy on a Super Tight Budget [The Kitchn]

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr/Amelia Crook

With vibrant painted murals, a gleaming curved wooden bar, and walls stacked with wine bottles, Grotto Ristorante is a lively setting for a flavorful dinner.

Settle in by the fireplace indoors or out on the patio and get your party started with a glass or bottle of wine and an antipasto, like mussels marechiaro with white wine and fresh tomatoes, the scampi grotto with mushrooms, or the mozzarella in padella with tomatoes, garlic, and basil. Pizza and pasta are featured on the menu, along with entrees like shrimp paillard with jumbo lump crab, roasted bell peppers, and lemon sauce, and snapper Siciliano with Roma tomatoes, garlic, shrimp sauce, and lump crab.

Grotto Ristorante is open every day, and it serves brunch on the weekends.

Grotto Ristorante
9595 Six Pines Drive
The Woodlands, TX 77380
(281) 419-4252
www.grottorestaurants.com
www.yelp.com/biz/grotto-ristorante-the-woodlands-2

CC-BY-SA-2.0/Flickr/becre8tive

Saturated fats are some of the main things that you should watch out for when you’re trying to lose weight or improve your health, but unfortunately they’re very common in many of the foods on the market today. If you want to cut saturated fats from your diet, these three foods are some of the main ones to avoid.

1. Butters and margarines. This is a tricky subject, because butter and margarine have both positive and negative qualities. When choosing a spread, first compare both the trans fats and the saturated fat contents of each product. Whichever one has the lowest number of trans and saturated fats is the healthier option.
2. High-fat meats. Meats like steak, ground beef, pork, and sausage with visible, marbled fats are always very high in saturated fats. Dark meat poultry and poultry with skin on it also contains much more saturated fats than other types. Choose leaner cuts of meat, chicken, or fish instead, or you can substitute ground beef or sausage with ground turkey.
3. Dried coconut. While coconut is a common topping on many cakes, cookies, and candy bars, it contains about 57 grams of potentially harmful saturated fats per serving. This is an alarming 286% of your recommended daily intake, so be sure to limit the amount of dried coconut that you consume.

Top 10 Foods Highest in Saturated Fat [Healthaliciousness]
Saturated Fats Are Primarily Found in What Groups? [SF Gate]
Saturated Fat [CDC]
Fat and Oils [Better Health Channel]

CC-BY-SA-2.0/Flickr/cyclonebill