Healthy food, yet cheap????

dawnmcneil10

Get yourself a crock pot first of all, let that do a lot of the work for you. There's just so much you can do here, I use mine to whip up pulled chicken or pork, make black or white beans. The pulled meat can be portioned out and frozen for later use, I personally puree some of the beans down then add meat back to it with frozen corn a little rice, add a bit more water and set the crockpot right back up the next day for a nice batch of bean soup.
Hit up discount stores like Aldi's, Big Lots, Ocean State or Christmas Tree shop all of those places have some great spices for cheap prices and that's going to help greatly.

Want grab and go take a tortilla shell, fill with beans, meat, cheese and your favorite veggies, corn, onion, peppers all work great here and these can be precooked and frozen in single serve portions.

shelleyrhoads

I have 4 kids and husband too. my grocery bill has gone down since eating healthy. remember popcorn is cheap and a satisfying snack. buy in season. and things like carrots celery, broccoli. are. pretty cheap year round.

jyogit

by the time i go to work and calling at the shops a lot of the fresh stuff has been reduced in price .. it all freezes and u can save loads if you shop at the right time of day

jgnatca

This is my favourite kind of thread. It takes me back to my days trying to feed me and my children on a budget. Eating healthy is cheaper than convenience foods with planning. I love the tons of suggestions above. I'm going to concentrate on portable snack foods you can carry with you because I suspect you are most tempted when you are working. Is it the salt and the deep fat fryer that is calling you? Then include some (healthier) fat and salt in your choices.

Someone mentioned popcorn. Cheap, filling, low-calorie, and portable.
Buy yourself snack size ziplocs to pre-portion snacks to take with you.
Vegetables, easy, buy in season. Turnips and rutabagas are nice sliced in to finger foods. Have them with a yogurt-based dip like ranch, or spicy like Chipolte.
Nuts.

CMcBryer

Hard boiled eggs - best snack food evar

aussie_girl_del_runner_5

Oh boy, I totally get you and to start with yes it can be more expensive because you're buying things you never had in your pantry before like flour, soy sauce, polenta, numerous spices, tomato paste etc. The thing is, once you have those things on hand it will become cheaper to throw a few vegies together (with some protein or not if you're a vego) and making your own sauce. Those staples will then need replacing over time but not all at once which is why you're feeling like it's more expensive.

If you need to, go steady and build up your staple items over time rather than doing it all in one go. I use a website called pepperplate.com in conjuction with MFP and it revolutionised how I planned out my meals because it's scalable. My husband works away from home alot so when he's there on Mon, Tues and Thurs, I have the recipes for 2 people but when he's not I can change it to 1 person; the shopping list then updates accordingly. Planning is key; put together some meals that use the same ingredients numerous times like 1 dozen eggs can be used in 5 different ways (frittatas, omelettes, quiche, boiled for salads or just plain sunny side up on toast).

The point is, once you have a few staples you can then build on it. As everyone said before frozen vegies are your friend and yes always buy in season for fresh but do yourself a favour and find a good local grocer. Do not buy from the big supermarkets; it will only last 2 days; produce from a good local grocer will last a week or more if stored correctly.

I hope that helps; good luck :-)

bccalling

I don't know if this will be of help or not, but one of my favorites right now is homemade tortilla chips. I buy a pack of the small flour tortillas (though corn would work, too, I'm sure), which come 20 to a pack, and cost between $2 and $3. They also last for quite a while on the counter, and they can be used for various purposes.

I make the chips by cutting 4 tortillas into 8 wedges each, toss with 1 Tbsp canola oil, plus a little course salt, black pepper, and grated parmesan. Then, I arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake at 400 for 5 minutes. You can change up the spices to flavor however you like, and they're super yummy. They have a great crunch around the edges and the middles are a little soft and flaky. I figure a serving is equal to one tortilla, so once they cool, I portion out into little snack baggies with 8 chips each. They're great on their own, but I love to dip them in egg salad, which is also pretty cheap to make and can be thrown together relatively quickly. And I imagine they'd also go well with hummus, tuna salad, chicken salad, and lots of other things.

When it comes to fresh fruits, I try to buy the ones that will last. Apples are great, and they'll last forever in the refrigerator drawer. They can get a little pricey, but for the length of time they keep, I often splurge on them. And a random tip for apples--if they're getting a little soft or mealy, and therefore aren't great for eating raw but aren't actually bad, they'll be perfect for homemade applesauce, which also makes a great snack.

With veggies, I always go carrots. Whole carrots, not the baby ones. They last a long time, and they're quick and easy to slice into sticks to have with a little ranch.

The key for me is to buy what I know I'll eat, so I don't end up tossing food that's gone bad. Meal planning in advance helps with this, especially if you keep your eye on ads, sales, and coupons. Buying items or planning meals you can freeze is also a good way to keep food longer and extend your budget. I'm still working on getting better at these things myself, but when I plan ahead and only buy the ingredients for those meals, I'm much better at sticking to the plan and eating up the food before it goes bad, which definitely helps my budget. I actually like to use pinterest to help me with this. I find the visual nature of pinterest gets me excited for trying new things, and browsing it also helps me to see what ingredients and flavor combinations would likely go well together so I can just wing it a lot of the time.

Sorry for the super long post. I hope something here might be of some use! Best of luck!

Mr_Knight

Rice. Lentils. Beans. Whatever veggies are in season, or frozen.

Super cheap, super nutritious, super easy to prepare.

Onwards and upwards...

midnight419

"So, eating healthy means eating better food, like fruits and vegetables..
But those are expensive, especially out of season.."

Stick to buying fruits and vegetables that are in season, and supplement with frozen vegetables and fruit if you like those. Personally, I am not a fan of frozen vegetables, but they're ok in soups and stews. Buying in season fruits and vegetables is way cheaper than buying convenience/processed foods.

What healthy snacks are not satisfying your hunger? Maybe you need to eat more protein and/or fat, or to eat bigger meals? If you make your food diary public, you'll likely get more helpful answers.