As bills from holiday spending or overspending start piling up, you may be looking at ways to save money.  Believe it or not, making healthier eating choices can help your bottom line.  Avoiding the “drive thru dinner trap” is a great way to keep you eating healthy and making smarter financial decisions.  No need to panic, with a little planning and preparation you will be successful.

As I mentioned last month, I love a good deal but in order to save money and make good eating choices you need to first, TOSS THE COUPONS.  You know the ones I am talking about, “Buy a large pizza and get free breadsticks” or “Get a free drink with your purchase of a burger and fries.”  When eating out, you and your family are more likely to overeat and overspend (those .99 add on items add up) when a healthier, less expensive meal can be found in your own kitchen.

Second, PLANNING.  The biggest contributor to successfully avoiding the drive thru lane is planning. Schedule meals for a week or month at a time.  If it’s going to be a busy day and not much time to prep your food, plan a slow cooker meal that you have frozen ahead of time or pack something to have on the go.  Time Saver: If cooking some protein, plan two meals to utilize it.  For example, lean ground beef for taco salad, season half, then use remaining for taco soup or lasagna roll ups. Grilled chicken can be used atop a salad, then added to stock for chicken noodle soup.  If lunch time is the culprit, try these 90 no heat lunch ideas here.  Keep in mind with drive thru meals, you typically don’t end up with left overs.  You either eat it all or toss it.  Planning makes your dollar stretch much farther.

Third, FREEZER MEALS.  Once you have planned out the weekly or monthly menu, identify meals that could be prepared, then frozen.  When cooking the meals, make a double batch and freeze in either single serving portions or enough for your family. Then when time is short or you’re too exhausted to cook, you’ll know you have a quick healthy meal ready for you at home. (Find 20 make ahead meals here, or unprocessed meals here.)

Fourth, keep an EMERGENCY “storage” in your car, bag or at your desk.  This can be something you replenish daily or food that could last for the week.  If you’re feeling really ravenous, grab a quality granola bar or fruit leather from the glove box.  This can satiate you enough to get home for dinner and make finding a drive thru less appealing, when you have a good snack to tide you over.

Lastly, keep some HEALTHY SNACKS and quick meals at home.  If it’s late at night, you don’t have to grab a Dollar Menu sandwich.  Keep your money in your wallet and come home for a smaller, yet nutritious meal.  This could be anything from nuts, low fat cheese, whole grain bread and of course fruits and vegetables.  Make sure to pair a protein with a fiber and you’ve got a meal that can sustain you until breakfast. Find some ideas here.

My kids devoured this, not even knowing it was squash and spinach.

Once you have the sauce prepared, it comes together quickly. You can make a large batch of the Butternut Garlic Sauce and freeze for future use.

Spinach Butternut Squash Lasagna

(Serves about 10-12)

Ingredients:

Olive oil for drizzling
1 ¼ lb ground turkey or lean ground beef
½ tsp Italian seasoning
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 tsp chopped, fresh sage leaves or 1/2 tsp dried
12 whole grain lasagna noodles, cooked
4 cups fresh, baby spinach leaves chopped
3-4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

-Preheat the oven to 350 and have a 12”x 10”x 2” (roughly) baking dish on hand.

-Place a large, non-stick saute pan over medium-high heat, add 2 Tbsp oil, add the meat into the pan next, add in the Italian seasoning, the salt, pepper and the garlic and stir to incorporate. Cook meat for a few minutes until cooked through and no longer pink. Remove from heat and stir in the fresh sage. Set aside to cool.

-To assemble the lasagna, add about 1 cup of the Butternut Sauce (recipe below) to the bottom of the baking dish. Next, add a row of cooked lasagna noodles over the sauce and then add another 1 cup of the sauce over top of the noodles. Next, add about half of the cooked meat, followed by 2 cups of the baby spinach leaves. Then sprinkle over about 1 cup worth of the mozzarella cheese, repeat the layering process. Finish the lasagna by adding the remaining lasagna noodles and the remaining sauce over top. Next, smooth sauce over the noodles and finish by sprinkling the remaining 1-2 cups of mozzarella cheese over the top. Add the remaining ½ tsp of Italian seasoning over the cheese. Place the lasagna into the oven and bake for roughy 30-35 minutes or until the cheese is melted and lightly golden. Serve while hot!

Creamy, Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Sauce

Ingredients:

(Can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated and/or frozen)

Olive oil for drizzling
3 heads garlic roasted
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
4 lbs butternut squash
1 tsp Italian seasoning
½ tsp black pepper
1 ½ cups low sodium chicken stock, warm
1 ½ cups low fat milk, warm
4 ounces low fat cream cheese, warm
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

Preparation:

-Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.

-Slice butternut squash in half, remove seeds and baste with olive oil and pinch of salt. Turn face down on baking sheet. Toss garlic heads in oil, pinch of salt, then wrap in foil and place along side butternut squash. Roast along side for about 30-35 minutes or until a fork can be inserted into the squash. Remove from the oven and allow squash and garlic to cool slightly. Peel skin from squash and discard skin. Place 1/3 of squash and 1/3 of garlic into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Place puree into a large pot. Repeat steps with remaining squash and garlic. *Note- you may need to add 1/2 cup of chicken stock to blender if puree is too thick.

-Place the pot with the puree on low heat, add in (remaining) chicken stock and milk, stir to incorporate. Next, add cream cheese, parmesan, the remaining 1 tsp of salt and stir to combine until cheese is melted. Remove from heat. Use immediately or refrigerate/freeze.