A few things we do...

...concerning food! (See previous post first) We don't want to deprive ourselves of pleasurable eating, we just want to combine pleasure with value!

Drinks:
I never buy soda to keep in the house. We also rarely drink straight fruit juice. (Straight fruit juice has all the sugar and none of the fiber of several pieces of fruit squeezed into a little glass! Regular fruit is much better for you.)

We drink lots of water throughout the day, but I also keep iced tea in the fridge most of the time so that we have different choices. I make different flavors of tea, mixing a large bag of (decaf) regular with a couple small bags of (decaf) peach or rasberry. Tea is great, because there are so many different flavors to experiment with! I drink mine unsweetened, but Micah likes to add a little sugar to his. Still, it's nothing compared to the 8-10 teaspoons of sugar in every can of soda!

Sometimes we add lemon juice to our water for a little zest. Lime is an interesting variation as well. If you like soda (as we do) try adding some fruit juice to plain soda water for a treat now and then. You can also buy fruit-flavored sparkling waters very inexpensively at the store! My favorites are peach and cranberry.

For the Crunchy-Munchies:
We love homemade popcorn! It may not be as healthy as, say, carrot sticks, but it's a good deal healthier (and cheaper) than the fake stuff you buy at the store. Speaking of carrot sticks, we like those too. I bought a container of Soy nuts at the store the other day (something new for us) and was surprised that my husband actually liked them! (Maybe he doesn't realize it's the same ingredient that the "dreaded tofu" comes from-hehe!;o). A handful of sunflower seeds or nuts is also plenty crunchiful.

Sometimes it's fun to trespass into the world of less than healthful foods, but don't let the supermarket be your source! If you get used to pulling bags of things off the shelf, the ease of it will be habit-forming. We never buy store-bought cakes or cookies. While the ones I make at home are still full of sugar and butter and the like (if you're going to have sweets once in a while, it should be the real thing! Just practice moderation!), they're often cheaper, and they don't contain all the unhealthy preservatives. My homemade goodies take a bit of effort, so I don't get locked into the habit of making them all the time. Most importantly, they taste ten-times better than store-bought! Far from feeling deprived, I feel like we are getting the best available. Don't waste your calories on less-than-wonderful:o)

It's easy--and boring--to grab a bag of potato chips. Micah and I had a wonderful time one evening making homemade plantain chips together. All it took was a fresh plantain and some oil and salt.

Meals:
I'm very much still working on this one, and will have to post more on it soon!

Please--if you have tips or ideas for quality and delicious drinks/snacks/other foods (keeping the budget in mind), chime in!