Eating healthy on a budget..

rachso

I need tips for how to eat healthy on a budget. I lost my job about 3 weeks ago and so we've gone down to 1 income. I have a part time lined up to start in 2 weeks but thats only 20 hours a week. **I'm searching for a job now so dnt bash** Anyways, we need pointers on how to shop healthy on a budget. My youngest daughter has Celiac diese so is entirely GF (gluten free) which is NOT cheap. Her foods take first priority. My main issue is fruits and veggies. They completely add up fast! We hit the store this morning and in the end I had to put away 50% of the stuff..mainly the fruits and veggies. I ended up with apples, yogurt, and a couple of boxes of 100 calorie pack snacks to help my snacks and staying full--but I KNOW I am not eating enough fruits and veggies. But by the time I get my dghtr GF snacks and food (we all eat main meals GF but snacks are solely hers) we couldnt afford the needed fruits and veggies. HELP! I either need to knwo how to shop smart on a budget or what I can do in place of the fruits and veggies (if anything). It's for a family of four if that helps

XtyAnn17

1) make your own 100 calorie packs from bulk. Itll be cheaper.
2) buy frozen fruits & veggies

brower47

See if your area has a food coop program. In my area and several other states (US) there's an organization called bountiful baskets. For 15$, today I got:

1 head of lettuce
6 red peppers
1 butternut squash
1 clamshell of strawberries
1 clamshell of blueberries
7 bananas
6 anaheim peppers
1 fennel
10 plums
10 tomatoes
1 sack of red grapes

It's different every week and I've gotten artichokes, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, apples, mangos, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans etc... You can order multiple baskets if you want more. See if your area has this one or a program like it. My grocery bill has been drastically lower since I started.

simplynaturalfarm

This is a hard one because gluten free can be so costly (we have a lot of them in my extended family).
Don't do 100 calorie snacks? We don't buy any processed food anymore (made the change last year), so make all snacks and such and package ourselves. You save a good 75% that way.
In re. to gluten free, instead of buying the food substitutes made with rice flour, tapioca starch etc that are so costly, can you learn to just change the food to eat those things? I have adjusted so we don't eat breads, crackers etc like that.
We no longer eat lovely fruits like grapes etc because their prices keeps around the $3.00 per lb, so instead apples, oranges, bananas, and whatever else is on sale - the apples at $6.00 per bag still add up when you have 6 people eating them 1-2x a day!

Pixilox

Beans, rice, frozen veggies/fruit, potatoes, frozen fish, chicken thighs/legs, these things are usually cheaper, gluten-free and healthier. Do not buy things like pasta that are gluten-free as they are expensive! I eat rice noodles that I get at the small Asian specialty store for under a buck (compared to almost $3 at the regular store). Air-popped popcorn is a cheap snack and gluten-free.

JessiBelleW

You may have to change the style of what you eat (not that I know what you currently eat).

Rice is gluten free, potatoes are glutent free they should be your main staples for dinners. You can get gluten free breakfast ideas, many cereals are GF, corn flakes, bran flakes ect. Is Oatmeal GF? Because you can buy unprocessed oats very cheaply and make your own oatmeal for breakfast. The only thing you then need is gluten free bread - 1 loaf should last your daughter a weeks worth of sami's.

Buy frozen veges if you can. Not only do frozen veges lock in nutrients because they are flash frozen, but you reduce waste (they don't turn to slime if you don't eat them for two weeks). Buy in bulk and separate out into individual portions for the family, much cheaper than buying smaller individual portions. Plan a head. Use dried beans and lentils for proteins (check the web for recipes and ideas) some of my favourite ideas are to use beans and lentils to bulk out meat dishes as to save money.

There is a challenge out there called the $27 (I think?) or try google-ing pantry challenge. The idea being there is food in our pantries that we haven't used.

WalkingMermaid_

Brown rice - boil it in a pan

One chopped onion, half a can of red beans (or any beans) heat them up in a frying pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil.

When rice is cooked, add to frying pan, mix well and serve.

Takes 10-20 mins depending on rice.

Cheap, easy and will keep you full for HOURS!!

kimad

Sorry to hear about your job! As a single income family (single mom of 2) I understand the challenge to shop!

I personally find that junk/snacks/processed foods cost more than veggies and fruit. I am starting to phase it out of our home, but if I do buy it I try to do so at a Costco type place where it is cheaper for larger amounts.

Just some things I have been doing which aren't gluten free or maybe even what you are hoping to find... but I am on a money diet myself so will throw them out there.

1. frozen juice, not juice boxes for my kids lunch
2. buy in bulk and do my own portions (ie almonds)
3. buy 2 dozen eggs, and eat a hard boiled egg as a snack
4. buy what's on sale even if you don't want it (ie, I ditched greek yogurt this week for the 35cal stuff because it was cheaper)
5. lots of fruits and veggies
6. my kids love pizza, so I buy them $3 frozen pizza from walmart instead of ordering out
7. I look for the meat on sale. Last week I bought 1kg of ground chicken for $5 even though I wanted hamburger
8. I try no name over brand name (unless I know it's gross, ie ketchup)

I have an app on my phone where you plug in quantity and price for items A and B, and it tells you the better deal. I may spend more money today to buy bulk, but it lasts a lot longer.

Also, in my town they have the 'good food box' you pay like $20 for a huge amount of fruits/veggies. I wouldn't be able to eat it all before it spoils but a good deal. Not sure if your area has something similar.

kimad

There is a challenge out there called the $27 (I think?) or try google-ing pantry challenge. The idea being there is food in our pantries that we haven't used.

I don't know this challenge, but I have definitely started to eat up and use what is left in my pantry and my freezer. Lots of frozen meat I forgot about, etc.

HollisGrant

I'm sorry to hear about your job. My diet is very inexpensive and I'm never hungry. I'm not sure children or a family would care for it, but here goes.

My diet base is brown rice (which is gluten free) and lentils. The protein in 1 cup of lentils = the protein of 3 eggs. I don't buy canned food. A bag of lentils in the grocery store costs $1.20, even less if I go to the health food store and buy in bulk. Dried beans are a lot cheaper than canned, last forever on the shelf, are sodium free, etc. Lentils don't have to be soaked and cook in about 30 minutes. Other beans are great, too, but you have to soak most of them.

I add steamed, blanched, or stir-fried veggies... some of my favorites are broccoli (which will fill you up), butternut or acorn squash, vidalia onions, and everything else! Once in a while I will eat a boiled egg for a snack. 99 percent of the time I just buy apples for fruit.... they are lower in sugar than a lot of other fruit and more filling.

For breakfast, I eat steel cut oats (more filling and tastier than regular oatmeal) and a diced apple.

Condiments: tamari and toasted/dry roasted sesame seeds (I buy the sesame seeds in a health food store.... the grocery just has the small, expensive jars in the spice area).

brnidsusn

I am on a strict budget too. I look for "buy now" stickers. yesterday I got a nice lean steak, $2 off sticker came to ,50 lb. months ago I found same deal on smoked turkey legs which are very lean. bought like 6 packages and stashed them in the freezer for soup. speaking of which I can make a HUGE crockpot for under $5! make your own stock, save bones & chicken carcass after family eats. throw it in the crock with water, veggies : carrot, onion, celery ( can save peelings & ends for this) garlic and seasoning. eating clean! strain, skim, recover meat back in the pot to make soup. (use frozen or fresh) and legumes, lentils or barely to bulk it up, very nutritious and filling. I am single and always have a pot of soup in my frig. I freeze half for later. also... every supermarket has a discount produce rack...often you need to search for it. and inspect the goods. yesterday for $1-2 each package I got a very big package of grape tomato, 3 eggplants, 3 peppers. sure you need to use them in a day or two. great for soup or a sauce. I took all of this home chopped it up with onion, garlic and S&P sautéed with olive oil. froze half. will use with fish, eggs, chicken with beans etc. now that I think of it could have roasted in the oven! beans: buy dried and cook in crockpot. so much cheaper and no preservatives. lentils are very healthy and quick cooking. oh and carrots. ditch the baby carrots.. ewww they are whittled down ugly carrots dipped in chemicals to keep fresh and color ( that's why they turn white) and regular carrots taste way better (a secret to my soups & cooking is thoroughly scrubbed but unpeeled carrots, sweeter and keeps in all the good stuff) once you go whole carrots you never go back to tasteless baby. also I buy the big ol bags of store brand "ugly" carrots as I call them. these are kinda the rejects bc they are not aesthetically pleasing. what do I care? chop them up! lol I absolutely agree with everyone those prepackaged individual serving thingies are a complete rip off! make your own. plus it is nice to know what is going into your and your family's body. and portioning myself has really helped my relationship with food and learning portions what I should be eating. right now I am living by my measuring cups & spoons lol I am also cultivating my cooking & baking skills by making things from scratch! incredibly more economical and clean eating. and great family activity! get kids involved they will try new things. take them shopping, farmers markets are wonderful. food & farm shares are awesome. and garden great family activity I grew up doing it. such wonderful memories fresh herbs are amazing and easy to grow. save tons of money. hope this helps. good luck!

h9dlb

Fruit is expensive. Veggies are cheap. You don't really need fruit if you are getting plenty of veg. Try going to a market stall rather than the store. If you really need fruit, frozen such as berries etc work out much cheaper than fresh and have the benefit that there is no waste due to it going off.

As for cheap protein - fish, ham or pork, oats

girllovedcupcakes

Look at all your local stores ads online then price match at Wal-Mart

arac62

invest in a BJ's membership (or some other wholesale store). I get super cheap fruits and veggies as well as meat.

8lb. bag of grapefruit for $5,
huge bag of good-quality frozen green beans for like $6
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are always $1.99lb, and sometimes even less.

I have to pass up some of the good deals because I live alone and most of the produce would go bad way before I could finish it, but for a family I bet you could save a ton.

I think the memberships are about $50, but it will pay for itself in like 2 shopping trips.

Dejahvu04

If you have Mexican markets/ grocery stores in your area you should check out their produce. I NEVER buy my produce from big chain grocery stores because they are too expensive but the other day I bought 7 cucumbers for $1! They even had 3 heads of lettuce for a dollar. They may not be as pretty as the expensive ones but honestly they taste exactly the same. Hope this helps

Cutie_browneyes2004

I guess this depends on where you live but I know around me they have farmer's markets. The fruits and veggies are super cheap i struggle to spend over $10.00 (because they won't take my card unless i purchase more than that) the only problem is that this produce seems to spoil much quicker then grocery store food (i assume lack of preservatives?) even our local Kaiser medical office has a farmer's market day where people come and sell their produce and sometimes nuts and other goods in their parking lot. We also have 99 cents only stores and normally i would be weirded out getting produce there but I have actually seen the produce being delivered while i'm shopping there and it's pretty good. A six pack of tomatoes for 99cents or a three pack of bell peppers... I can't find those prices in my local grocery stores.

dakotawitch

Do you have an Aldi near you? It will save your life. We feed two people, one vegetarian and one flexitarian, on about $50 a week (we're in Dallas) and get most of our stuff at Aldi. We rarely spend more than $20 at Aldi and it is the bulk of our groceries. They have recently started carrying a number of gluten-free products, including a good baking mix -- we're not GF but have friends who are, so we are always on the look out for GF products.

We get almost all our veggies at Aldi or the farmer's market. We can't get tofu at Aldi, sadly, so we get that at Sprouts -- if you have a Sprouts near you, they're another great way to get natural foods cheaply. They even run something called a Gluten Free Jamboree a couple times a year when all GF products (even those naturally GF, not just the packaged stuff) are on sale.

Good luck!

hungryhobbit1

We have a pretty tight food budget these days, and I cope largely by making everything from scratch. Dried beans are great if you use the no-soak method that takes 90 minutes in the oven:

http://www.thepauperedchef.com/2009/06/90-minute-no-soak-beans.html

(2 pieces of bacon cooked in the pan before the beans go in makes them much better!)

Chicken thighs and drumsticks are usually much cheaper than chicken breasts, and really the nutritional difference isn't all that significant.

100 grams of chicken thigh: 209 calories, 11 grams of fat, 26 grams of protein, 7% RDA iron, 238 mg potassium
100 grams of chicken breast: 165 calories, 4 grams of fat, 31 grams of protein, 6% RDA iron, 256 mg potassium

Buy chicken thighs and drumsticks in bulk, split them up and freeze them in packs of 4 or 5 at a time.

Buy lower cost vegetables in their crudest form. The more they are cut up and prepared, the more expensive they will be. Carrots+onions+celery forms the base of most soups and stews and other savory dishes, and they are very affordable if you buy them in their whole form.

Use *all* of your fruit. If you have a couple of apples that have gone a little mushy and your family doesn't want to eat them any more, chop them up and throw them into a dessert. Same with bananas. Invest in some gluten free all purpose flour and xantham gum and you can make most recipes for baked goods, with some modifications. (I ate gluten free for about 4 years.)

Purchase fruits and veggies in season. Right now strawberries can be pretty inexpensive. In mid-summer, peaches and nectarines. In the fall, apples are a better deal. In the winter, oranges.

Pay attention to how much things weigh. For example, a pound of mushrooms can be pretty expensive ($2.99 or so) but a pound of mushrooms is a *lot* because they don't weigh anything. You can probably afford to buy enough to go with dinner.

Cottage cheese is usually pretty inexpensive and is an easy way to punch up the amount of protein in your meals. (Throw it into a pasta dish and it functions pretty much like ricotta.) Chunk light tuna is also an inexpensive way to get some lean protein. 1 cup gluten free pasta + 1 can drained chunk light tuna + 1/2 cup cottage cheese + 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms + 1 tbsp parmesan cheese = "tuna casserole."

Rice and potatoes are naturally gluten free and usually less expensive than buying gluten free pasta. Buy what you can afford (and what your family will eat) and don't sweat it if it's not brown rice.

Use what you have. If you've got a half a bag of tortilla chips that have gone a bit stale, crumble those up and use them as a coating for chicken, etc. Google is your best friend: you can find a recipe for just about any random ingredient you've got sitting around in your kitchen. I don't throw away much food these days, because there's always something that can be made from it.

Vansy

Farmer's Markets are awesome for cheaper produce.

Also, make a list of EXACTLY what you need and how much and stick to that list.

Maybe try shopping the deals -- in Florida Publix used to always put out their little paper (at the front of the store) with all their weekly deals in it. Maybe you could find a local grocery store that does something like that.

rachelwarner32

It's the season for farmers markets. I just bought 2 pounds of spinach and 2 pounds of asparagus for $5 and it's an organic local farmer :-)

primal7

Here is a link to a web site where they ate Paleo (grain/gluten free) on less than $20 per person a week.
http://www.koastrength.com/the-paleo-experiment.html
It also includes recipes for every meal.
Hope it helps!