We have heard this phrase before. It is true. However it is true only if you are able to make smart choices. If you are now able to select foods with real value you might pay a lot for something that does not worth it. If you have food knowledge and shop smart, you will avoid these traps and you will invest your food-cash wisely. Here are some things to remember.

I would like to personally thank the thousands of people around the world who showed their support and joined the “We are all Greeks!” movement. There have been protests all around the globe with people sending a message of unity. A message that stated “When one people is attacked, all people are attacked.” Thank you all around the world for your warm support. If you practically want to support Greece, here are three very simple things you can do:

Without doubt, we have been recently hearing more and more often the word “Occupation”. More and more people are talking about the difficult life that Greek people had to lead during World War II and many people characterize the current situation in our country as a new economic Occupation that day by day desolates the Greeks at all levels. Think positive and remember: In Greece there is everything we need in order to get by under any circumstances. We live in a blessed land. The only thing that we really need is to increase our alimentary intelligence. By reading this text, you have already made a very important step!

I have made a list with the 10 foods that are simultaneously nutritious, economical and healthy. From this list I have tried to decide which 3 foods are for a lot of reasons the best. These are wheat, lentils and olive oil. The reason is simple. These three foods have an important nutritional value, can be preserved for a long time and can be the basis of balanced diet. If you eat these three foods, you can survive for a long time. If I was told to choose 3 things that I could have in big quantities if I had to be isolated somewhere for a long time, e.g. on a deserted island, these foods would be my choice. Let’s see their advantages one by one.

We have been trained to believe that we can only live if we eat specific things. For example we have been made to believe that milk is necessary and without meat we can not live. Milk and Meat are excellent sources of calories and nutrients but you won’t die if you don’t eat them. The thing is that in case of starvation milk and meat are superfoods because they provide a great amount of necessary nutrients. On the other hand they are not essential. You can obtain the same nutrients from other sources. What I try to do here is not to argue whether or not is good to eat meat and dairy. Every person is free to make their own decision.

The winter of 41-42 was the worst period of modern Greek history. Around 100,000 people died of starvation. Although Greece is a food producing country, food was scarce because the Germans took over all the warehouses and stole all of the supplies. People in villages were much better off, especially in places with many natural sources of food. In many places people survived eating raisins, nuts, carobs, snails, olives and even fish, rabbits and chickens. What lessons can we take in order to survive the challenges we now face?

We are faced with a great challenge but also an amazing opportunity. The financial situation in Greece and worldwide help us return nutritionally to our roots. It forces us to forget what we falsely learned. Decades ago we started consuming processed food high sugars, and saturated or hydrogenated fats. The huge economic boom changed our [...]

Improving your nutrition is a matter of choice. It is about choosing to include healthy habits in our daily life and finding a practical action plan that can be used as a roadmap for improving our nutrition and enjoying a healthier lifestyle. These are my ten simple commandments that you can gradually make part of [...]

Did you know that gardening organically helps in the preservation of the top soil and therefore contributes to the health of the environment? Vegetables grown organically by you are a lot safer for you and your family. They are safer than the organic vegetables available in the market. Growing your own vegetables is not as difficult as it sounds. And the rewards are worth the efforts!

Portion control is a very important part of an effective diet plan. We need to retrain ourselves to learn the signals of our body when it tell us that we’ve had enough. There are many practical ways to help us control the amount of food we eat. Here is a list with 10 effective ways [...]

We all know we should eat our fruits and vegetables as they are beneficial for our health. Fruit and vegetables are an important part of a balanced diet. Health advisory organisations recommend we eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day to help reduce cancer risks and improve heart health. Numerous studies [...]

It is true that food shopping and cooking takes time. Time is the most valuable aspect we have and most of us can not afford to invest it in these activities. The results is that we end up eating poorly and spending too much money on ready meals and take-away.

If you want to improve the quality of your nutrition and at the same time reduce the amount of money spend on food, you can apply the following practical methods that will allow you to cook healthy nutritious meals fast and easy. The idea is to cook quick and easy recipes which a healthy and tasty at the same time. These following 5 steps can help you enjoy your own recipes even if your time is very limited.

There many ways to improve your nutrition and also reduce the money you spend for food. There are four basic principles that will have the greatest impact on your efforts. Start with those and then go deeper in the science of Cooking Economy. 1. Eat wisely 2. Eat healthy 3. Eat real 4. Eat less [...]

Walking down the street feeling hungry? In Greece we have a proverb that says that “Smart kids cook before they get hungry”. This idea applies to you and our whole discussion about frugal nutrition. If you expect to starve before you think about what to eat it is very possible that you will end up [...]

The biggest waste of money in the kitchen is discarded food. When you throw food away is the same as burning you money bills. The lost is double: You waste the amount of money you spent to buy the wasted food and you also waste the money that you need to spend in order to but something else instead. This does not mean that they will eat anything, even if it is burnt, spoiled or hazardous for your health just because you don’t want to throw it away. However, there are several tricks that you can do to rescue food that you would otherwise consider as garbage. If while cooking you completely destroyed something, at least learn from your mistake and take your precautions in order to avoid repeating it. This one lesson is worth much more than the food you throw away so, when you lose the food, don’t lose the lesson!

Everyone hates leftovers. If you waste food, you waste money and you feel bad because you know there are people starving. Eating more than you need to avoid wasting food is the worst kind of food waste. You gain weight, you feel drowsy and you miss the opportunity to use the food more creatively. There are for things you can do with leftovers to avoid wasting them:

There are 10 rules that summarize the whole Philosophy of Cooking Economy. By learning and applying these basic principles, everyone can cut down costs and improve the quality of their nutrition. Learn how to cook, eat at home and increase you Food IQ Plan your meals and organize you nutrition budget Cook economically and base [...]

Planning your nutrition and organizing your kitchen will bring major improvements in the overall family finances. You will know exactly what you need and so you will always preparing a list before you go for shopping. You will rarely throw away unused stuff and you will always have what you need available. You will never waste away food and you will always plan to consume the leftovers. Planning will also help you avoid multiple super market visits. In addition, you will eliminate the need to order take-away or eat ready meals. Planning also means having healthy snacks available at home or when you are away, so that you never rely on ready snacks and processed foods to serve your appetite.

The relationship between quality and quantity is also affected by psychological factors. When food costs more, we appreciate it more, we eat it slowly and we enjoy every mouthful. When you choose to dine at an expensive restaurant that is worth the money you give, you appreciate more what you are served than you would [...]

I’m a fan of the philosophy that food should be as much as possible! In other words, the quality is what counts, not quantity! The better the food is, the less we tend to eat because the taste satisfies us and its nutrition value fully feeds our body. When we eat good quality organic, wholefoods [...]

Nowadays, the methods of production, transportation, processing and packaging of our food have catastrophic effects on the environment. In addition, our eating habits and the way we cook at home also influence the situation. Cooking Economy apart from cost effective is also environment friendly. The truly economic food respects and protects the environment. Our goal [...]

Cooking Economy is not only about saving money but also about saving time, the most precious asset we have. Time, unlike money can not be saved, can not be bought or borrowed. If you run out of time, you can’t buy more. Time is therefore much more important than money and thus we should invest [...]

It is true that healthy food costs more in terms of money. If you want to eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, organic produce and other high quality products without additives you need to invest a bit more money on your food budget. However this seemingly more expensive food is [...]

I believe the eating smart is essential during tough economic times. When you have lots of money to spend there a lots of options to eat healthy food. However, most of them are very expensive. If your are on a tight budget you really need to eat smartly and make the best of your financial [...]