By Rosa Lin, Apr 21, 2009

The dollar value of being healthy is certainly one that adds up fast.

From experience, the way to become a "healthy'n' cheap gourmet" is to become MUCH more active with food preparation.

You may choose to home-make more of your food, which means more upfront investment in kitchenware, various apparatus and utensils and cleaning, but your grocery bills will be lower. (Think of it as a business investment that will return for years)

Some have even started growing commonly used produce like tomatoes and herbs. My mother used to grow super sweet french beans in our backyard and share her harvest with more than a dozen families of friends. Nature is abundant and generous!

Next, I shall encourage all of us spinning EVEN MORE brain-juice when shopping for groceries, i.e. planning your menus, be aware of possible variations and dishes, and mapping out economic and delicious combos in your head as you scan and familiarize yourself with more and more of the goods offered at grocery stores.

Action plan:

1) Pick up in-season fruits, produce and seafood.

2) Choose and purchase bulk gourmet goods online, from farms, from manufacturers or at the farmer's market, such as fresh olive oils, nuts and seeds, preserves, butters, and dried fruit.

3) Reference ethnic recipes and familiarize yourself with ethnic markets. Depending on how active your local ethnic population is, you can find ultra fresh groceries, meats and seafood at incredibly low prices from Mexican, Vietnamese, some Chinese and some Japanese markets. Bring a friend who is knowledgeable to minimize trial and error costs.

4) Price compare and quality compare across all grocery stores, retails, and outlets and have a good idea of where you could get the best value for common kitchen food supplies! I get beverages from Costco, fruit and greens from local farmer's market, etc.