Healthy winter foods can save you money and boost your health

Eating seasonally is all the rage these days and when spring comes many will return to the farms markets for the first delicacies of the growing season like asparagus, baby lettuces, and ramps. Later in the summer we’ll find inexpensive pints of blueberries and by August giant zucchinis for a dollar apiece because farmers can’t get rid of them fast enough.

But what do we do now, in February, when Punxsutawney Phil has just promised us six more weeks of winter? If you preserved plenty of food in the summer, then you can skip the rest of this article and go spread some of that summer cherry jam on your homemade bread, you lucky dog, you.

If, like me, you didn’t preserve much or anything, then it’s a little tougher, but still fun. It’s time to embrace the onion, the carrot, the cellar apple, and the potato. In most cities, you’ll find at least one market open year round. In Pittsburgh, there’s the Farmer’s Market Cooperative of East Liberty. Indianapolis has the Indy Winter Farmer’s Market and DC has the Dupont Circle Market. With a little research, you can hunt one down in your area. If there’s not a farmer’s market, you can still save a little by choosing seasonal items at the grocery store.

In the northern U.S., you’ll be embracing warming foods like potato soup, beef stew with root vegetables, and squash in all it’s orange goodness. In the south (especially Florida), you’ll be able to find strawberries and citrus at the markets. This is good for us in the north, too, because it means oranges are priced a bit better for us, too.

The best part? These foods have all the nutrients in them that we need most in the winter when colds and flus strike like Vitamin C, beta carotene, and quercetin. So start your menu planning with a big bowl of Irish stew or a side of roasted carrots and onions with a favorite meat or mushroom main – yum!

With this method, you won’t be buying blueberries this month (they’re extremely expensive and shipped from afar), but when they do start to come into season in your area and you’re already in the habit of eating seasonally…the taste of those berries will reward your taste buds and your wallet.