MSU Extension Nutrition

Michigan State University Extension is offering a free email series designed to help you build cooking skills, save money on groceries, and feel more confident preparing healthy meals at home.  

Cook Healthy, Spend Less is a beginner-friendly series for adults of all ages. It brings simple nutrition tips and basic cooking skills directly to your email inbox. Each lesson includes ways to eat nutritiously, stretch your food dollars, cook foods you enjoy, and add more movement to your day.  

How Cook Healthy, Spend Less works  

This free, 6-week series includes six email lessons, sent once per week. Each email includes a link to a lesson webpage that takes 15-30 minutes to complete. You do not need a username or password.  

All you need to participate is:  

• An email address  
  
• Internet access on a smart phone, tablet, or computer

Move through the lesson at your own pace and come back to it as you desire. There is no expiration to the lesson content. 

Who this is for 

This class can be for anyone who wants to learn healthy eating, cooking and physical activity skills. Cook Healthy, Spend Less is especially good for: 

• Older adults/senior centers 
• Parents  
• Young adults 
• College students 

What You will Learn 

The six Cook Healthy, Spend Less lessons are:  

Lesson 1: Learn how to build simple, balanced meals using foods you enjoy, stay better hydrated, practice safe knife skills and try a budget‑friendly Pulled Salmon BBQ recipe to get started cooking with confidence. 

Lesson 2: Learn how to handle and cook protein foods safely to protect your health, reduce food waste and choose protein options that support strong muscles. Then show off your kitchen skills with the Asian Mango Chicken Wrap recipe. 

Lesson 3: Learn how to plan meals, shop smarter, and use pantry staples to save money and reduce stress, while finding easy ways to add more vegetables with the fresh and flavorful Tabbouleh recipe. 

Lesson 4: Learn how to shop smarter, read food labels, and choose whole grains to support your health without spending more. Practice simple ingredient swaps with the Southwestern Brown Rice Bowl recipe. 

Lesson 5: Learn how to store food safely, understand food dates and use your freezer to reduce waste and save money. You’ll also find easy ways to eat more fruit with Fruit Yogurt Pops. 

Lesson 6: Learn how physical activity, dairy foods and basic cooking techniques work together to support your health. Bring it all together by making an easy, customizable pizza at home. 

Every lesson includes: 

• A nutrition topic 

• A short exercise video to help you fit fun physical activity into your day 

• Links to easy, low‑cost recipes 

• Ideas to use Michigan grown fruits and vegetables  

• Practical MSU Extension resources and articles to help you enhance your meal planning, budgeting, and kitchen confidence 

How Cook Healthy, Spend Less was developed 

This series is inspired by MSU Extension’s Cooking for One curriculum, an evidence‑based, hands‑on program created to help single adults build confidence in the kitchen while improving their nutrition, food safety habits, budgeting skills and physical activity routines. Drawing on that foundation, these introductory email lessons present the concepts in an accessible online format for anyone interested in preparing nutritious, budget‑friendly meals. 

How to sign up and what to expect 

Register for the series!

You will receive your first lesson right away. The remaining five lessons will arrive once each week for the next five weeks. 

You won’t receive extra emails unless you choose to sign up for more resources.