eating right on a budget need help?

ericapresson12

For the next month i will be the only one working so money is tight for the next few weeks, and i need help finding healthy cheap food thats good. Thank you!

vomckey

A few things I do to reduce grocery bill. I feed a family of 4 and cook at home most nights in addition to packing everyone lunch 5 days/week.

1. Buy fruits and veggies that are in season.
2. When buying meat, take advantage of larger size price cuts, then divide into correct portion size for your family, freeze.
3. Skip the can foods and packaged foods. A pot of beans is far less expensive than a can of beans.
4. Plan, plan, plan to reduce waste and take advantage of grocery sales.

HeidiCooksSupper

There are lots of folks out there cooking on a budget and the magic search word is "frugal." Google "frugal recipes" and "frugal meals" -- you'll find lots of good sites.

When talking healthy and cheap, beans leap to mind -- cheap in the can but even cheaper (and better tasting) cooked from scratch. A can of tuna + a can of white beans + some chopped celery + vinaigrette dressing = Fagioli con tonno -- a great, healthy, tasty dinner salad.

Start watching the weekly grocery ads for sales on chicken parts -- I stick to fresh not frozen because the big frozen bags often have water added. They are cheap per pound because you are paying for water. Cook all the chicken at once and divide it into meal-sized portions for the freezer. Then whip it out and incorporate it into quick meals.

Save chicken bones, scraps, skin, etc. in the freezer and use it to make a broth. Throw any limp celery, carrots, parsley, parsley stems, etc. in the freezer, too, to throw in with the chicken scraps to flavor the broth.

Look for cheap plain yogurt and drain it to save money on Greek yogurt -- the definition of which is drained yogurt. Here's a link to my instructions: http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/snack/other-snack/greek-yogurt-bargain.html

Take advantage of cheaper veggies, e.g. carrots, greens, sweet potatoes, etc. Bananas are often pretty cheap. Cabbage is often very cheap per pound and goes a long way.

Make your own granola bars. Here's my recipe: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/HeidiCooksSupper/view/easy-no-fuss-whole-grain-banana-granola-bars-697517

juditanne

MeganMoroz89 wrote: »

I plan out the meals that we're gonna eat during the week and then I go to Walmart. I know that a lot of people hate Walmart, and while I agree with their reasoning, I'm sorry - I don't make a lot of money so I have to do what's best for me and Walmart definitely saves me money.

i totally forgot Walmart sold food! In fact, there is a new SWM that just opened near me. nice! think i'll be hitting them up this weekend because i was wondering how i can grab all the things i need in one quick, non wallet breaking, spot.

HeidiCooksSupper

We're retired and have the time so we spread out shopping at different stores based on price. For example, Bi-Lo on senior discount day for most of the groceries, Walmart every few weeks for big blocks of cheddar, bird seed, etc., Trader Joe's every couple weeks for cheap feta, cheap unsweetened soy milk, etc. There are some things we order online because they're cheaper that way -- e.g. big boxes of Fancy Feast from Walmart and big cans of Colavita olive oil from Amazon, etc.

Watch for sales of things that keep. For example, I only buy pasta when it's on sale. We won't have lasagna again until the Barilla no-boil is $1 a box. I buy them four at a time and just used my last one.

DC_TheDrivah1

Can't go wrong with chicken breast, rice and broccoli. Some peanut butter, apples and other fruit and veggies as your budget allows.

thdmsulvt

Use healthy casseroles/one pan dishes when possible such as stews, chinese type meals, etc. They use much less meat. Also try to do at least one meatless meal. We try to do Meatless Mondays here. You could do rice and beans or some other vegetarian meal, or an egg type meal. Eggs are more expensive lately, but still a good value.

markja

Oatmeal is one of my faves, lots of food value for small price.

Ground turkey instead of hamburger or, buy hamburger in bulk then divide into 14 oz packs for freezing instead of 16 oz packs. The recipe doesn't know that you've used 2 oz less hamburger and neither will your family.

Also, I see hamburger for $5 per lb and boneless, skinless chicken breasts and thighs for $2 to $3 per lb. High quality protein for low cost.