Save Money on Groceries

Remember the days when you didn't wince at the cost of milk? When buying a box of blueberry waffles didn't feel like a splurge? When you could plunk down $50 and walk away with more than a single bag of groceries? With today's supersize food prices, filling your cart without busting your budget has never been trickier.

So when Parents asked me to try to feed my family for a week on less than $100, I didn't exactly jump at the challenge. As a professional dietitian and a busy mom of two boys, a 4-year-old and a 5-month-old, I'm committed to preparing meals that are not only healthy and nutritious, but that are super-easy too. Doing all that on such a tight budget seemed tough, especially when I learned that the average American family of four spends as much as $164 a week on food. But my editor persisted ("Oh, come on, you'll learn a thing or two!"), so I ultimately agreed to give it a shot.