This healthy fat can transform popcorn, garlic bread and even fried chicken, as these creative recipes from Sasha Seymour’s new book Coconut Every Day show.

By Lynn Andriani

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By Kali Geldis, Credit.com

I opened up my budget tracking tool last November and my jaw dropped — I had spent $1,200 on food that month. That’s when I knew I had to make a change.

Now, a few notes about that $1,200 total: That includes groceries, restaurants, bars and fast food. Also, November was a month I prepared Thanksgiving dinner, which meant I spent about $125 just to make a couple of pies and cook a turkey for six people — an out-of-the-norm expense for me. Also, I often buy groceries for both my fiance and myself. However, that $1,200 number stuck with me — I needed to make a change and cut the amount of money I was spending on food every month.

It’s no surprise that food was a big budget-breaker for me — it’s one of the most common expenses on which financial planners see clients spending too much money. I definitely felt like I was throwing money away. After all, if I could cut even just $300 (25 percent) off of that monthly balance, that would mean $3,600 a year. There are so many other ways I could use that money — paying for a vacation, investing more money in an individual retirement account, saving for a down payment on a home, paying for a wedding…

It was when my now-fiance proposed over Christmas that the reality struck me — I knew I needed to buckle down and cut my food spending by a lot. Weddings are expensive, and the money that was going toward nights out and nice dinners with friends was wrecking my budget. While I wasn’t going into debt, I realized it was just a matter of time. And debt is something I strenuously avoid. (I never carry a balance on my credit cards and am constantly monitoring my credit scores for free on Credit.com to make sure my credit utilization level is low.)

How I Cut My Food Spending in Half

If I was going to start cutting my food spending, I needed new rules for myself.

Rule #1: Pack lunch for work. A simple step, yes, but I realized that I don’t need to pack a lunch every day for work, just pack supplies for a lunch once a week. I realized I could get a big supply of baby spinach, some dried cranberries and some salad dressing and have enough to last me for lunches the entire week. It made packing a lunch less of a hassle, and helped me avoid ordering lunch to the office on Seamless on a daily basis. (I do let myself order every once in a while, though.)

Rule #2: Make grocery shopping a priority. I’m a New Yorker, so stocking up on groceries for the week is a bit more difficult than hopping in my car, filling up my cart and heading home. I have to carry all my groceries from the store to my apartment, and a week’s worth of food is shockingly heavy. I opted instead to use Fresh Direct to order groceries every week. Even though I know I’m not getting the best deal on every item I buy, I know that by regularly filling my fridge, I’m not ordering a $25 meal from an online food delivery service. The savings add up.

Rule #3: Just say no. Part of my food spending problem was that I would go out with friends and feel pressured to order another round of drinks, splurge on dessert or get a bunch of appetizers for the table. I deserved it, right? I had to learn some self-control and think about the bigger expenses I really wanted — owning a home in a few years, saving money for my upcoming wedding (and the awesome honeymoon we want), and planning for a fully-funded retirement (yes — I’m a millennial who is thinking about retirement, we do exist!).

I looked at my food spending in May — it’s down to about $600, a huge accomplishment for me. It took me about six months to really get into a groove with these new habits, but the payoff is big. My fiance and I are on track to save more than $1,000 a month for our wedding, and we’re hoping to have a little left over to save for the other big costs down the road.

This post originally appeared on Credit.com. Kali Geldis is Credit.com’s Editorial Director. She writes about a wide range of personal finance and credit topics. She previously ran MainStreet, the personal finance website powered by TheStreet. She has also worked for The Wall Street Journal as a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund intern and at The Huntington Herald-Dispatch as a reporter.

“Keeping it green” is the new black. Now that it’s hot out you may find that you are naturally incorporating more green produce and products into your diet. Check out some of our favorite celebrity tips for keeping it green this summer.

5 Simple Steps Towards a Greener Pantry.

1. Clean- Out with the old and in with the Green. It’s a great time to clean out your fridge and pantry to make more space for healthier foods. Wipe down surfaces and use baking soda to absorb any lingering odors. Erica Reid, author of The Thriving Child says, “Get familiar with non-toxic and eco-friendly cleaning lines to reduce toxin exposure in the kitchen: like- Honest Company, Seventh Generation, Ecover, Method, or Mrs. Meyers.”

2. Spice it Up- Part of creating delicious meals is having a range of spices and herbs to choose from. Pick fresh herbs at your local farmer’s market or grocery and use to season your dishes. Whatever you don’t use, dry out and save in a glass container for later. Spices tend to go stale after a few months so the key is purchasing in small amounts so you maintain the freshness and save a buck while you’re at it.

3. Get your Greens- Yes, to be more green you have to eat more greens. Embrace all the upward reaching leafy greens that are available. Greens provide an abundance of calcium and loads of antioxidants, help to keep the blood sugar stable, regulate the bowels, and balance out cravings. Try them raw in salads- arugula, mache, mesclun mix, mizuna, or cooked- Mustards, collards, kale, swiss chard, broccoli rabe. There’s a whole world of greens out there just waiting for you to explore.

Our girl, actress Gabrielle Union who’s a recent green juice advocate went from eating overcooked collard greens to juicing her greens for optional health and ultimate freshness!

Gabby’s Greens recipe

1 red beet

1 green apple

2 cups kale

1⁄2 lemon

1 inch piece of ginger

Run these ingredients through a juicer and enjoy.

4. Keep it fresh- I mean two things here: 1. eat the fresh seasonal foods that are available, and 2. introduce new and exciting dishes, and methods of preparation to your culinary repertoire. It gets boring eating the same old thing, prepared the same old way all the time. With the changing season try incorporating some new techniques and recipes that will inspire you to eat healthy and celebrate this new shift.

Check out fashion authority June Ambrose’s Kale & Brussels Sprouts Salad. Brussels Sprouts and kale have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and detoxification properties. It only takes 100 calories of kale to provide over 350 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acid (alpha-linolenic acid, or ALA). So a little goes a long way.

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 small garlic clove, finely grated
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt plus more for seasoning
Freshly ground black pepper
2 large bunches of Tuscan kale (about 1 1/2 lb. total), center stem discarded, leaves thinly sliced
12 ounces brussels sprouts, trimmed, finely grated or shredded with a knife
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/3 cup almonds with skins, coarsely chopped

Take the lemon juice, dijon, garlic and shallot, and part of the olive oil, sea salt and pepper and wisk until blended evenly or blend on high speed until emulsified.
Toss the remainder of the ingredients: kale, brussels sprouts, almonds in a mixing bowl. Then add the remainder of olive oil and toss. Add the dressing and toss when ready to serve.

5. Pack a Mobile Pantry- It can be challenging to eat well when you are constantly on the go. Places that serve healthy lunches and snacks are scarce compared to the plethora of fast food joints out there. One way to set yourself up for success is to pack a mobile pantry. Pack a selection of easily transportable foods that you can munch on throughout the day when you find yourself hungry. This will help keep you away from the vending machines, delis, and help to regulate cravings. Pack fruit, protein bars, nuts, seeds, crackers, a dip with sliced veggies.

Chef Bryant Terry, food activist and author of Afro- Vegan says “I keep coconut water in the fridge. Coconut water is one of my essential ingredients, especially during the summer when I’m really trying to stay hydrated. I also pack snacks for my daughter including rice crackers and nuts or granola.”

Click here to read more by Latham Thomas.

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