Meals for one on a budget

Hi all! I just recently came back to MFP after a few years absence. I've been tracking everything religiously. While just getting started again I am trying not to be too too concerned with the pie chart and such as with any other "map" in life you first have to determine where you are vs. where you want to be and then determine the route you wish to take. That being said I am 47yo 5' 4" and live alone so have only myself to cook for. Easy peasy, right? NOT! I am finding it very difficult (oh and need to add that I am on a very tight budget at the moment) to prepare meals for just myself. I find myself eating a lot of cheap (budget here) frozen dinners or a sandwich here and there. This of course shoots my sodium intake up. Add to that that my pie chart is made up of mostly carbs and fat with less than 20% being protein I am hoping for some suggestions. Thanks for taking the time

Replies

clicketykeys

Low Spoons Gourmet has a lot of simple ideas, though you may want to pre-log some of their recipes to get an idea of how they fit their macros.

Salads. I try to keep my mouth shut about how much I love spinach, because otherwise I tend to get funny looks. But it works great as a salad base and you can get fresh spinach pretty cheap if you don't mind snapping some of the stems off. Baby spinach has stems that aren't as stringy, but it's more expensive. Add in some chopped celery, tomatoes, and maybe yellow squash this time of year. Shredded cheese and sunflower seeds are my go-to toppings because they're tasty and cheap.

And you can get frozen spinach pretty cheaply, too. It's great in omelettes, soups, and casseroles. And as far as veggies go, spinach is relatively high in protein. Eggs are another cheap and relatively low-cal way of increasing your protein, too. Separating the white and the yolk and just using the white majorly reduces the fat, but you lose some of the richness, too.

cmriverside

I live alone and cook 90% of my meals. I have a lot of stuff in my freezer,

It's possible to eat well and inexpensively. Beans, rice are my friends. Chicken breasts bought in large packs and frozen - only take 15 minutes to cook. There are endless ways to prepare those three ingredients. Buy frozen bagged vegetables, like spinach, broccoli etc. They keep for long enough to use them. I buy a couple bags a month of each for $1 each. Same with frozen berries off-season. I fill in vegetables with lettuce, carrots, zucchini, squash, a few potatoes, etc.

Whole wheat bread - lasts me a couple weeks. Eggs, $.99. Whatever fresh fruit is on sale. Milk - half gallon on special at my store. Sausage or bacon. A big (30 serving) container of oatmeal, $3.50, as opposed to those expensive sugar-filled single-serve oatmeal packs. Salsa. I had to find the grocery stores where things I use go on sale regularly. I wait for sales on cheese and buy it in two pound chunks - MUCH cheaper that way. Go to the Dollar Store for spices.

I eat on about $5 a day, and I hit all my macros and vitamin needs. It did take me a while to settle in to food that was filling, nutritious and tasty (as well as 20 minute prep.)

Lots of people prep/cook a week's worth of meals on Sunday and freeze them. That's an option. I find eating my own delicious meals to be much less expensive and so much more tasty.

kommodevaran

Basing your intake on readymeals will not be cheap - maybe "cheap" taste-wise, but not money-wise. I live alone too and believed for years that I had to eat poorly just because I didn't have a family. Wrong!

Meal plan. Decide what you want to eat for all meals you will be preparing yourself. I build all my meals around protein, fat and vegetables and have fruit for all meals besides dinner. I have weekday dinner themes for structure and balance. Most dinners are protein+starch+veg. Soup or casserole once a week (plus leftovers two days later). I rotate ingredients to get variety. I match ingredients to use up everything and avoid waste. I look for sales and bargains, but also look at the price per kilo and what I get for my money. Most of the ingredients and foods I buy are cheap, then I can have occasional splurges. I shop categories and in season, I usually go for the cheapest item that both looks delicious and fills my needs. I don't use a lot of recipes, but when I do, I never use them 100%, just as inspirations - there are always ingredients I don't have, don't like or don't bother getting.

I use my fridge, freezer and pantry efficiently - I keep an updated list of the contents. I portion and freeze meat and fish. I buy frozen vegs (for dinner) and berries (for smoothies). I shop for persihables twice weekly, and whenever possible, buy just what I can manage to eat up until next time. Some foods are more perishable than others, but foods like apples, oranges, potatoes, sweet potatoes, eggs, nuts, keep for a long time. Beans, grains, pasta and noodles, canned goods keep for an eternity.

I avoid health foods, organic, precut, precooked, gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, low fat, low carb, reduced salt, and everything aimed at kids and hipsters. I don't buy juices, soda, junk food, ready meals, water, or supplements. I buy old fashioned tea bags, coffee, cocoa powder, sugar, flour, and butter.

My meals are simple, but tasty and delicious. I love to cook and I love to eat.

eluvscats

I'm a poor grad student living solo at the moment, and I'll second the suggestion above for rice, beans, and chicken for cost effective staples. Eggs and bananas are something I'd always have around too. I try to avoid bread because it's a slippery slope for me, but a loaf of bread kept in the fridge will last a while if you're not addicted to bread like I am... I also like to make a big pot of chili (bean and ground beef based) or soup (tomato or veggie based) and freeze portions for later so it lasts a while. Chili with cheese on top is one of my favorite things! Also, chicken thighs are totally underrated and inexpensive. I like to bake them with some kind of flavoring and they never get dry and are so tender and yummy! Veggies I try to keep around are baby carrots, cauliflower, onions, and whatever is in season and cheap. Lately I've eaten eggplant and zucchini a bit since it was cheap last time I checked. This winter, rutabagas and turnips will be my best-good friends.

There are definitely advantages to living alone and cooking for only yourself, namely no one else is bringing crap-trigger foods into your reach. But you're right, it creates additional challenges as well. But it's doable, I promise! And I'm happy to share any of my recipes anytime!

unknown

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kayfhoward1

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. I will def be implementing all of your ideas

firephoenix8

My biggest thing is making a menu plan, then using that to make a grocery list. If I don't have it planned out I will invariably buy stuff that doesn't work together well. Maybe if I was a top chef I could work with whatever I had but I'm not. Currently I use pepperplate.com for menu planning because it has a planner, allows you to save recipes and then you can make a shopping list from the recipes. I don't like that you can't share your recipes but it is free. I also make a point to look at the weekly ad and digital coupons from my local grocery store chain.

I agree on beans, rice, and chicken. Also you can get some grains like barley, wheatberry, etc to add to soups that add fiber (helps with satiety) and often protein. Because they aren't bread or pasta they aren't as tempting to overdo in my experience.

Sweet potatoes are good. Tofu seems expensive but if you take a $2.50 package and make 4 smoothies with banana, cocoa powder, and a little honey or maple syrup (milk or water for liquid), it comes out pretty cheap for a meal and is pretty refreshing for post workout.

jo_nz

Do you have a freezer? Making a larger batch of whatever you are eating can work well and then you have the convenience of frozen dinners without the sodium.

Adding lentils to casseroles and stews is cheap and filling.

Frozen veges are great - it's nice to buy fresh, but buying for one and then getting through it all while still fresh can be hard.

sarabeth120

I live alone as well; budget not as tight though... but just last year I was eating frozen and prepared meals before I discovered slow cooking a few months ago and got a crock pot. Spark recipes has some awesome slow cooker recipes. Here is the collection of items that I have found on there (I have tried about half of them and plan to try the others over the next few weeks). https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/cookbooks.asp?cookbook=1053748

They usually make enough to last me at least a week and I do freeze some of it to last even longer!

I also get a lot of my other recipes there as well and cook one of those every Sunday (while my slow cooker is doing its thing) and I end up with a ton of leftovers for the whole week (or two weeks!!).

I also always have eggs and bananas on hand and I buy meat in bulk and freeze it the minute I get home (it can last frozen up to six months from what I have read).

kayfhoward1

Awesome! Thanks for all of the input guys and gals, and the links. I've been reminded of things I had forgotten as well as learned some new tips and tricks

xvolution

If you can afford those budget dinners, then you should be able to afford to make a nice homemade stir fry/fried rice dish. The most basic of stir fries is just onions, garlic, some kind of meat, and whatever vegetables/fruits you want to add. Rice is also not that expensive. I usually make a stir fry/fried rice using chicken, lite soy sauce, hoisin/oyster sauce, hot chili paste, and whatever veggies I have on hand.

One batch usually costs me around $5, and it makes roughly 6 frozen meal-size portions [so that comes up to
$0.83/meal].

Lounmoun

Meal planning is key when you have a tight budget.
Cook, divide into portions, freeze. You have your own frozen dinners.
Soup often freezes and reheats well.
You can freeze cooked beans and lentils.
Beans and rice is cheap and easy.
I have dinner leftovers for lunches-or even breakfast- often.
Have breakfast for dinner- things like eggs or oatmeal are easy to cook for one person and not expensive
You can do a lot with the cooked meat from a whole chicken.
Buy frozen vegetables and just cook what you need.
Scale recipes in half.
http://www.budgetbytes.com
http://allrecipes.com/recipes/15050/everyday-cooking/cooking-for-one/