Planning meals for our families is more important than ever as we look at our budgets more closely. It’s not wise to let financial constraints force us into poor nutrition. Even if you buy less food, purchasing healthy food is the best decision. Quantity can go down, if we’re eating nutritionally. Eating foods rich in fiber, vitamins and nutrients will not only allow you to consume less calories, it will give you a full and satisfied feeling.

It’s better by far to cut out waist increasing snacks. Many times, you’re menu filled with fruits and vegetables will not cost you as much as you think. You can probably afford the broccoli, blueberries, and apricots if you give up the sodas, chips and dips.

Apricots

Great for both snacks and desserts, apricots are tasty, easy to digest, virtually fat-free, extremely nutritious, high in fiber, and low in calories, about 50 in three fresh apricots and 85 in 10 dried halves.

Apricots are good sources of beta-carotene, a substance that protects against the cell damage that occurs when the body burns oxygen. This damage is thought to accelerate the process of aging, and lead to the development of heart disease, cancer, and other illnesses.

Apricots are also high in iron as well as potassium, a mineral that is essential for proper nerve, kidney and muscle function, and also helps maintain normal blood pressure. And fresh apricots are rich in vitamin C, which helps your body absorb iron from plant sources.

Blueberries

Anthocyanins the pigments that give blueberries their color, may have potent immune-stimulating properties. Because they re antioxidants, anthocyanins protect the capillaries, which are tiny blood vessels, from damage by oxidation. In doing so, they promote brisk blood flow through the circulatory channels. Among other problems, damage to blood vessels contributes to the plaque buildup of atherosclerosis. When researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Center on Aging at Tufts university measured the levels of antioxidants in 40 different fruits and vegetables, blueberries came out near the top.

Moreover, blueberries are a rich source of concentrated tannins. According to Rutgers University research, these tannins prevent E-coli bacteria from sticking to the cells that line the urinary tract and causing infection. Tannins also contain compounds called catechins. Several studies suggest that catechins may shield us against some types of cancer.

Broccoli

Kids will often eat small amounts of this crunchy snack raw, rather than boiled. When boiled, broccoli can have a bad sulfur type odor. Learning to eat this vegetable is very important to our health. The National Cancer Institute values broccoli as a number one anticancer food, and with good reasons. The first is sulforaphance, a chemical in broccoli and other vegetables of the cruciferous family, including cabbage, cauliflower, bok choy, and turnip greens. Sulforaphane stimulates the body’s productions of substances called Phase II detoxification enzymes. These enzymes destroy cancer-causing substances known as carcinogens before they can attack healthy cells. When scientists fed rats hearty servings of broccoli for a few days, then exposed them to a potent compound that induces breast cancer, the broccoli eaters were half as likely to develop tumors as animals on standard feed.

And, the broccoli eaters that did develop cancer ended up with fewer and smaller tumors.

Why not start a small home garden, and let the kids help plant broccoli? Mom and Dads, help your family develop a taste for this crunchy, healthy veggie! It’s worth it! Raw, or quickly blanched is a great way to avoid that broccoli “stink” from which so many people turn.

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