Any tips on eating lightly on the cheap?

[AZBlue]

It's not easy. I don't care what that recent survey said, fattening, high-bad-carb foods are soooooo much cheaper. I just recently suffered quite a financial set-back and therefore shop by the sales that match my coupons. Well, I gained 6 pounds doing that. No more.

So, I'm going to have to re-figure things here and just wondered if anyone had some tips. Unfortunately fruits and veges have sky-rocketed or I wouldn't have to post this!

Thanks! :hi:

[supernova]

1. Some tips

1) Lentils are very cheap and a good meat subsititute. Nutritionally, they are almost a complete protein. Good over rice or bread. In fact, most beans are good cheap nutrition but you usually have to mix them with another carb for a complete protein. Lentils can be eaten alone.

2) Frozen or canned veggies and fruit are good. Frozen are a bit more expensive. But the advantage is they both keep well. You don't have to worry about it spoiling before you get to eat it. Fresh greens are excellent and very cheap still. Greens (mustard, kale, collards, turnip greens) are usually cheap. They are good steamed and served w/ vinegar (the southern way) or lightly sauteed in sesame oil (kale and mustard greens) or olive oil, sprinkle w/ lemon juice, S&P.

* Frozen fruit is good in smoothies or compotes.

3) Canned salmon is really good. It's wild caught and canned soon after catch. Great in a casserole or with scrambled eggs. Or salmon burgers. You can eat the bones too. AT about $3/can or a little less on sale, it's still cheaper than fresh fish and just as good.

4) Make your own bread. You can control what goes in it and how much it costs.

5) Buy a whole chicken and cut it up. It's much cheaper than buying parts. A whole chicken is about $4. It will be about $7 if you get an organic one. Ouch!

6) Seriously look at the meat deals at Costco. You will get A LOT but apportion it out when you come home. Freeze a meal's worth at a time and it's very economical.

7) Eggs are still a good value... egg substitute not so much.

8) Take advantage of any local farmer's markets around. They appreciate the business and you won't pay as much since you're paying the farmer directly. If you don't have a farmer's market, check the flea market... there are usually produce stalls there too.


Hope these help. Good luck. I'm there myself. Seems I'm always looking for a job.

[AZBlue]

2. Thank you!!!

Excellent points, all of them.

I definitely need to learn how to cut up a chicken - I'm barely good at dealing with just the breasts, but it would be cheaper to learn the other. And baking bread is an excellent idea!

Thank you! :hug:

[lizerdbits]

7. The other advantage to cutting up your own chicken

is making stock. I use the wings and backbone chopped into 2" pieces for stock making, although if you like wings by all means don't chop them up, I rarely cook them otherwise. The only other things you need for stock are a bay leaf or 2, an onion, and a little salt (unless you're a low sodium person). I use an America's Test Kitchen recipe which is brown the chopped up parts, saute an onion, cover chicken + onion and let sweat for 20 minutes; add water, salt and bay leaf, simmer for 20 minutes and strain. It's quick, easy and tasty so I like telling people about it. :) Just make sure you get all the organs out (usually kidneys) that are still hanging on the backbone before cooking.

I don't eat much bread but that's also a great idea. It seems that most bread in stores and corn syrup or other sweeteners. I have a Lauren's Kitchen Bread Book that is mostly whole wheat recipes. Not 1/2 c whole wheat flour, but ALL whole wheat, as well as other grains. Sure it's more dense but I've enjoyed them.

Dried beans! Already mentioned I believe. I've soaked and sometimes cooked the beans ahead and then refrigerated until I'm ready to finish a dish. Canned beans are more expensive and can be high in sodium.

[malta blue]

5. On the canned salmon front - here is a recipe

I got from NPR - they were doing a series about doctors teaching doctors how to cook healthy....

http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2008/apr/budget_cooking/recipe1.pdf

[Diana Prince]

3. Try quinoa

Family recently changed eating habits for economical and health reasons. Quinoa is a grain high in protein and inexpensive, about $1.79lb bulk. One cup uncooked fed my family of 4 for 2 meals, we have paired it with bean soups and even used it as a substitute for a fried rice with frozen mixed veggies. It is a little bland tasting all by itself but spice it up. I shop sales only, I can definitely sympathize with the rising cost of food. Check out the clearance meat section, it is still good and can save lots of money.

[OnionPatch]

4. I used to have to make a dollar really stretch.

I had about $75 every two weeks to feed myself. Prices were lower then, but still, I knew how to get the most out of my food dollars.

First I would buy big bags of plain rice, not Minute Rice or Uncle Ben's or whatever, just plain dried rice in big bags wherever I found it cheapest. Brown rice is also cheaper this way if you're going for "healthy". Also, I would buy different kinds of dried beans in bulk. Rice and beans make a full protein and are good for you. Different kinds of beans and different spices makes a lot of variety.

The other thing I did was buy all my veggies at the produce stands instead of the grocery store. For some reason, it was much cheaper there. If you buy what's in season, you can usually get a better deal on it.

For meat, I would buy whole chickens wherever they were on sale and cut them up myself to make several different meals. I'd even boil the back and giblets for broth and soup to squeeze one last meal out of it. I ate it sparingly, not every night. I also ate canned tuna and salmon.

I actually ate pretty good in those days and was in great health. I guess since I made my own meals and couldn't afford fast food or restaurants, I wasn't eating a lot of processed stuff. :shrug: Making most of your own meals from scratch would probably turn some people off, but I never minded a little cooking and like simple stuff like stir-fry and rice and beans.

[murray hill farm]

6. I think these are good and not costly diet meals

I buy from winn dixie when they are on sale 2 for price of 1, the bags of frozen Talipia. There are 4 in a bag and each is individually wrapped. So on the 2 for 1 sale..which they do about every three weeks or so...I get 8 meals. They are small, but just the right (deck of cards size) portion. They are 100 calories. Add a small potato (another 100 calories) and a can of green beans and you have a nice supper under 300 cals. You can do the same with the bags of small sized chicken breasts. If you get the small cut pieces...one bag is good for about 15 to 20 meals. Start about 8 tomato plants....and you will have enough of them to eat all summer for every meal. And grow your own herbs...easy to do...and soooooooo much less costly than buying the dried jars. In the summer if you have access to vegtable stands, plan whole meals consisting of fresh vegtables. Filling and good. I agree with the rice...still cheap all things considered, for the bulk of it. Oatmeal..the regular not the instant...is good for ya, good bulk and so much less costly than any other boxed breakfast foods. Eggs are excellent...especially if you can get fresh from local markets of farmers...or get your own hens. Even on a city lot, you can keep 3 or 4 hens....and then you get fresh eggs every day. Lotsof backyard chicken sites to give you some ideas. Good luck.

[Broken_Hero]

8. Not really,

I cant' eat a good portion of veggies, or some fruits(especially ones I like like red/green apples), because of my blood clotting issues.

I usually am carb heavy, because my workouts are pretty...intense at times(and truth be told, I have to eat something), so I usually stick with low carb bagels, rice, and soups, like the Campbells low fat/low cal soups, which usually run 1.50 a piece...or the fat free ravioli's, which run a dollar a can...

But its certainly more expensive to eat right/better, than just buying a ton of junk food aka totino's pizzas, hot pockets, chips, soda, etc....

[elleng]

9. Whatever you eat,

eat it SLOWLY; goes MUCH FURTHER that way!

[Historic NY]

10. try some of these you can buy in bulk

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=nutrition&category=abs.diet&conitem=b72a99edbbbd201099edbbbd2010cfe793cd____

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=nutrition&category=food.for.fitness&conitem=0d4a99edbbbd201099edbbbd2010cfe793cd____

some of the recipes are a ton of food - beans, eggs are a good source of cheap protien if you shop with coupons. I find eggs for 99 cents some weeks.