Why It’s a Must Have: Low sodium chicken broth makes a great substitute for oil when sautéing, butter in mashed potatoes and to help retain moisture when roasting meats. And going low-sodium can save you an unnecessary 800mg of sodium per cup! “One item that I’m always stocking in my pantry is chicken broth,” says Stella Metsovas, a clinical nutritionist and diet expert in Los Angeles, California. “Not only are you getting minerals from the veggies used to make the stock—it also makes perfect use when roasting meats. Adding chicken broth when baking meats allows for better moisture-retention.”

Budget Bonus: Thankfully this isn’t a big-ticket item, but you can save even more by stocking up when you have coupons, or during store specials since unopened broth can be stored for a long time in your cupboard.

Recipes to Try:

Wild Rice Risotto

Bean and Rosemary Soup

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• SUPER FOODS

No matter how many times we’re told otherwise, Americans’ obsession with get-healthy-quick schemes will likely never die.   Too bad most of these fads aren’t worth their weight in salt – or your hard-earned dollars.  We’ve put together a list of some of the worst budget-sucking health trends that still persist today. 

There are literally no clinical studies that support claims that antioxidants in Acai berries will make you live longer, help you fly, smooth your crow’s feet or anything else. 

“We’ve had waves of costly ‘super juices’ in the marketplace that were nothing more than fruit juice,” says clinical nutritionist Stella Metsovas. “Testing chemical properties in a laboratory is completely different once the product is pasteurized. There is no possibility of processing a super-fruit to compete with the natural form (i.e.: a handful of berries).”

The Acai berry’s popularity in the U.S. spawned a new wave of consumer scams involving “free trial offers” for smoothies, juices and other products. (See: “Free Trials” Aren’t Always Free, Miracle Health Claims: Add a Dose of Skepticism, and Weight Loss Promises, by the FTC).