• Participate in Meatless Monday: forgoing meat once a week not only reduces saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet, it also reduces the water, fuel, and grain needed to produce meat and the pollutants and byproducts created by large-scale meat farming.  In addition, meatless options like beans and lentils are very budget-friendly.

• Make healthy swaps: Substitute almond milk, vegan cheeses and vegetable margarine for butter and full fat-dairy products in recipes. Swapping one serving of each saves approximately 75mg of cholesterol and 7 grams of saturated fat each day.  Raising dairy cows also has a high water and energy cost, so even a small reduction has a major positive impact on the planet.

• Commit to organic whenever possible: if an all-organic diet seems out of reach, consider going organic for at least breakfast and snacks.  Switching to organic fruit and cereal won’t overwhelm the food budget, and it will spare families and the planet a lot of pesticides!

• Consider portion control:  Face it, many of us just eat too much.  Serve a sensible amount and refrigerate or freeze leftovers immediately. Something as simple as portion control will help save on the budget, the waistline and resources.

• Clean green: Use eco-friendly cleaning products that don’t contain phosphates or chlorine to clean the kitchen and home. This will keep harmful chemicals away from the family and out of the water supply.

Let's Make this a Happy Healthy New Year!

You can now see videos of Gen's recipes on YouTube here!