The Chinese have a long history of eating healthy, despite scarcity. In America, most of us are one or two generations removed from family who survived the scarcity of the Great Depression and World War II. Our predecessors knew how to eat healthy on a budget, and we can all learn from their history.

There are three principles to eating healthy on a budget:

• Eating natural foods: meats, vegetables, fish, nuts, fruits
• Eliminating or reducing chemicals and ultra-processed ingredients
• Making meals that stretch the more costly ingredients

Many of our recipes, being authentic Chinese home recipes, incorporate these principles. For example, by combining an expensive protein with vegetables, it can be stretched to feed two to four people for a single meal. For those seeking special diets, such as low-carbohydrate, we offer several authentic recipes too. You can enjoy delicious Chinese cuisine and maintain a healthy diet.

The best results, for Chinese cuisine, come from using real condiments too, such as authentic soy sauce and oyster sauce instead of the chemical, mass manufactured variants. These cost more, but they are used in such small quantities in most dishes that the cost is nearly negligible and the flavor is sublime.