TUNE IN: Today’s Liz's Healthy Table is all about tips and tricks for eating healthy when you’re on a budget. My guest is Lisa Leake, author of the new book, 100 Days of Real Food on a Budget. Lisa is a mom, founder of 100 Days of Real Food, and she’s here with practical advice for cutting processed foods out of your diet and cooking up tasty recipes without breaking the bank. You'll hear Lisa’s story about her family’s diet makeover ... and her real world secrets for eating well when budgets are tight. Together, we'll share a few recipes from Lisa’s new book including, My Favorite Summer Salad, Zucchini Egg Scramble, and Oatmeal Cookie Energy Bites.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• 100 Days of Real Food: The backstory!
• The subjectivity of the terms, “clean eating” and “real food,” which Lisa defines as foods with five or fewer whole ingredients.
• Lisa wrote the cookbook, in part, to combat the belief that ...“it’s too expensive to eat a healthy diet!” and she stuck with a budget of $125/weekly for a family of four.
• Some of Lisa’s top tips for eating real food on a budget:
  • Plan ahead with a menu
  • Don’t toss leftovers, but be creative with them
  • Understand expiration dates
  • Utilize inexpensive foods and staples
  • Identify your “nice to haves” vs. your “need to haves”
• A few favorites from the cookbook: Portobello Tartine, Chicken Burrito Bowls, and a terrific tomato/mozzarella salad.
• How she priced out the meals for the new cookbook
• Lisa’s meal plans available on her website. Prepear.
• My interview with Super Healthy Kids. We gave them a shoutout on the show.
• Using affordable eggs as a staple for your family. Don't toss those yolks! The whole egg is nutritious.
• Lisa’s Oatmeal Cookie Energy Bites: a delicious blend of oats, peanut butter, raisins, maple syrup, and cinnamon.
• An important tip from Lisa: To manage portions, stop eating when you feel full!
• Find out where Lisa gets her recipe inspiration. And get my recipe for Parmesan Fish Sticks.
• Lisa’s biggest aha moment was when she added up meal plan costs and realized the budget could stay around $100/week for a family of four.
• What’s next for Lisa? Being more proactive about redesigning her online programs and school lunch programs.
• How YOU can get started: “Don’t be overwhelmed with big changes in cutting processed foods. Start small so you can stick with it like start and don’t give up.

Resources:

100 Days of Real Food: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com  /

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/100daysofrealfood/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/100daysrealfood/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/100daysofrealfood/ 

Cookbook Giveaway: 

Enter for a chance to win a copy of 100 Days of Real Food on a Budget: Simple Tips and Tasty Recipes to help you CUT OUT PROCESSED FOOD Without Breaking the Bank by Lisa Leake. (This giveaway is U.S. only, please.) To enter, post a comment at the end of this post and tell me about YOUR best tip for eating healthy on a budget. Giveaway ends October 10, 2018 at noon EST. Good luck!