Happy Healthy Families

1. Always cook more than you need--then freeze the rest. Having a meal in the freezer ready to go should help curb those urges to order a pizza or fast food on nights you just don't feel like cooking!

2. Convenience is nice, but costly!  Check the prices on those tempting boil in bag rice packages. Chances are you will pay about 10 times more than if you just buy the regular old "boil it yourself" rice. Really--is that small convenience really worth the extra bucks?

3.Make your own salad dressing and save. Mix 1/2 cup of vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard, 1 minced garlic clove and 1 cup of salad oil. Voila! Delicious salad dressing at a fraction of the cost.

4. Grow your own! Next time you buy fresh garlic, save the four inner cloves. Plant them about 1/2 inch deep. In less than six months, you’ll be in garlic city! There are many other herbs and vegetables that you can grow yourself, so check ‘em out.

5. Don’t buy water. Ever.  Buy a  water filter and fill your own bottles.

6. Stretch that hamburger! Adding cottage cheese to hamburger will enhance the flavor, add protein, and allow you to increase servings from four to six per pound.

7. And speaking of meat: The simple proteins found in beans are better for you and obviously much cheaper than the complex ones in meat, fish and poultry. In other words, eat less meat!