Simple, cheap, easy healthy recipes ideas?

Slimmasaurus

Hi gang,

I'm a recent graduate and I've just come back to family home. I'm working really hard to lose weight but I've found I'm actually putting it on because all the food in my parents home is either cheese, white bread, chocolate or cake.
There are a few salady bits but otherwise it's all sugar and fat.

I really need some really cheap, easy meals that I can whip up subtly and quickly so not to offend my parents, and that I can keep my calorie count up with - I find myself eating ALL the cake and cheese because I got so hungry eating salad!

Any ideas? I'd be super grateful! x

sweetlyybroken

fajita style quesadillas maybe? Just takes a package of tortillas, some bell peppers, chicken (optional) and some shredded Mexican cheese.

baked Sweet (or white) potatoes with healthy toppings (cinnamon, greek yogurt, salt, pepper, even chicken or beef, salsa, pesto, onions, broccoli, avocado)

Slimmasaurus

fajita style quesadillas maybe? Just takes a package of tortillas, some bell peppers, chicken (optional) and some shredded Mexican cheese.

baked Sweet (or white) potatoes with healthy toppings (cinnamon, greek yogurt, salt, pepper, even chicken or beef, salsa, pesto, onions, broccoli, avocado)

Thanks, great suggestions! I love sweet potato, and I think I could easily sneak that into a few meals.

squimkin

Oatmeal is my go-to meal It's very versatile! In the mornings I like it with homemade applesauce (just Google "make your own applesauce", INCREDIBLY easy, very cheap, and you don't need to add any sugar like the shop-bought applesauce variety), with a spoonful of stevia sprinkled on top. Sometimes I'll also add a pinch of salt for flavour. I add boiling water to my oatmeal rather than heating it up, which cuts the calorie count by almost a third.

You can also turn oatmeal into an evening meal. Boil 0.5 cups water and add to 0.33 cups oatmeal. While it's soaking up the water, chop up 0.25 of an onion plus a couple of veggies of your choice (I like mushrooms, bell peppers, sweet potato, tomatoes... etc) and sautee together until the onion is softening and the vegetable is cooked through. While the veggies are cooking, beat an egg. Add the now-cooked oatmeal to the pan and mix well; lastly add the egg. Once cooked through (like a giant oatmeal-omelette) turn out into the bowl you used to cook the oatmeal. Make sure you use a non-stick pan or you'll be stuck scraping off bits of oatmeal from the pan :P

Oatmeal really fills you up for less that 200 - 300 calories. Other times, you can make soups - really easy, fast, and fills you right up. Sautee a garlic clove, add chopped veggie (I LOVE mushroom), cook until golden, add 2 cups cold water plus 0.5 stock cube, some paprika, pepper, salt. Once it's boiled, reduce the heat and cover so it simmers for a good 10 - 20 minutes. Turn the heat off and if you want to add extra protein crack an egg into the hot soup (while still on the stove but the heat off) so you have a poached egg in your soup

These are all my go-to recipes that I love to make. I have the same, or a similar, problem as you do - I have 3 younger brothers who LOVE fatty, sugary foods (Nutella, cakes, cookies, breads, butter, pure sugar that they sprinkle on stuff, full-fat milk, drinking chocolate.... etc etc) so I make my own meals so I don't fall into the trap of eating tons of crap along with them. I'm looking for more recipes too!

dmarien

have you spoke to your parents about how you are changing your eating habits. It is also important for their health as well. Try a different spin on the conversation maybe?

grimendale

Check out the Hungry Girl blog. There are a lot of simple, easy and relatively healthy recipes there. A lot of them are designed with one person in mind, so it's great when you're making something just for yourself.

dmarien

Maybe grill up some chicken breast, or steak throw it in the freezer add it on top of your salad. Boiled eggs are my go to when I get really hungry easy to make and easy to keep in the fridge. Keep extra fruit in the house. Hopefully your parents will join in..:)

dmarien

Maybe grill up some chicken breast, or steak throw it in the freezer add it on top of your salad. Boiled eggs are my go to when I get really hungry easy to make and easy to keep in the fridge. Keep extra fruit in the house. Hopefully your parents will join in..:)

taso42

hunk of protein, hunk of carbs, pile of veggies.

oliviaboston

May not be the healthiest recipe ever, but oil free chips are really good and they stop the cravings for fried food!

Basically cut up a large jacket potato (peeled) in to chip shapes. you can get about 24 out of one large potato so thats all you need. Par boil them for about 4-5 minutes then drain. then add to a baking tray and spray some fry light on covering the chips then add salt pepper and paprika and bake for 20 minutes. they taste really good and are millions of times better for you than regular chips!

changemymind

A vegetable soup can be really healthy if you don't add salt but if you want salt it's still healthier than cake

Annie120484

I posted this as a reply to a different message topic, but it might help you too! --


I am a college student on a VERY fixed income and YES it is possible- with creativity and planning! My tips:

1. Buy a slow cooker! Major hassle-saver... I make tons of easy meals with my slow cooker and totally inexpensive to boot. You can throw in chicken and salsa and frozen veggies and eat for a week. Lots and lots of easy recipes online.

2. I usually buy chicken thighs because they are cheapest- then I remove the skin at home. I also keep a box of veggie burgers in the freezer for protein emergencies- You can pop em in the toaster!

3. Pasta salads are great meals on the cheap. I like using whole wheat or brown rice pasta. Throw a couple sliced yellow peppers in the oven for ten minutes or so, toss with cooked pasta, some cherry tomatoes, and crumbled feta cheese. This tastes good hot OR cold; I take it to school with me ALL the time. You can totally vary this recipe- roast a head of broccoli and toss with pasta and parmesan (sometimes I add chopped ham for protein).

4. I hard-boil a dozen eggs every Sunday. Inexpensive and easy to eat on the go! I bring one to school ALL the time.

5. Making casseroles is also easy and will feed you for days. I literally dump the most random stuff into a casserole sometimes! You really just need the basics: some kind of vegetable, some kind of cheese, a grain, maybe a protein, and a couple eggs to bring it all together. Seriously, it's error-proof.

6. I buy LOTS of things in bulk, even spices. You can buy a bunch of grains, chickpeas, beans, pasta, almonds (which I use to make my own almond milk- so easy). It's far cheaper and once you get the hang of the prep, you'll never look back!

7. But, if you DO like buying things pre-made, I recommend getting a bag/box of frozen pre-cooked brown rice- I sometimes use this for a quick meal when I'm in a rush! Saute a cup of rice with a little oil or chicken broth, throw in an egg and scramble it, top with some cheese and sliced avocado and PRESTO delicious, takes five minutes and costs pennies.

Hope this helps!

Cinloykko

I posted this as a reply to a different message topic, but it might help you too! --


I am a college student on a VERY fixed income and YES it is possible- with creativity and planning! My tips:

1. Buy a slow cooker! Major hassle-saver... I make tons of easy meals with my slow cooker and totally inexpensive to boot. You can throw in chicken and salsa and frozen veggies and eat for a week. Lots and lots of easy recipes online.

2. I usually buy chicken thighs because they are cheapest- then I remove the skin at home. I also keep a box of veggie burgers in the freezer for protein emergencies- You can pop em in the toaster!

3. Pasta salads are great meals on the cheap. I like using whole wheat or brown rice pasta. Throw a couple sliced yellow peppers in the oven for ten minutes or so, toss with cooked pasta, some cherry tomatoes, and crumbled feta cheese. This tastes good hot OR cold; I take it to school with me ALL the time. You can totally vary this recipe- roast a head of broccoli and toss with pasta and parmesan (sometimes I add chopped ham for protein).

4. I hard-boil a dozen eggs every Sunday. Inexpensive and easy to eat on the go! I bring one to school ALL the time.

5. Making casseroles is also easy and will feed you for days. I literally dump the most random stuff into a casserole sometimes! You really just need the basics: some kind of vegetable, some kind of cheese, a grain, maybe a protein, and a couple eggs to bring it all together. Seriously, it's error-proof.

6. I buy LOTS of things in bulk, even spices. You can buy a bunch of grains, chickpeas, beans, pasta, almonds (which I use to make my own almond milk- so easy). It's far cheaper and once you get the hang of the prep, you'll never look back!

7. But, if you DO like buying things pre-made, I recommend getting a bag/box of frozen pre-cooked brown rice- I sometimes use this for a quick meal when I'm in a rush! Saute a cup of rice with a little oil or chicken broth, throw in an egg and scramble it, top with some cheese and sliced avocado and PRESTO delicious, takes five minutes and costs pennies.

Hope this helps!

your tips are AMAZING!!!
i had to email this to myself for future ref... im a student too and im constantly battling with food choices and expense. i'll try out some of your tips and see how far this gets me :-)

MyJourney1960

I posted this as a reply to a different message topic, but it might help you too! --


I am a college student on a VERY fixed income and YES it is possible- with creativity and planning! My tips:

1. Buy a slow cooker! Major hassle-saver... I make tons of easy meals with my slow cooker and totally inexpensive to boot. You can throw in chicken and salsa and frozen veggies and eat for a week. Lots and lots of easy recipes online.

2. I usually buy chicken thighs because they are cheapest- then I remove the skin at home. I also keep a box of veggie burgers in the freezer for protein emergencies- You can pop em in the toaster!

3. Pasta salads are great meals on the cheap. I like using whole wheat or brown rice pasta. Throw a couple sliced yellow peppers in the oven for ten minutes or so, toss with cooked pasta, some cherry tomatoes, and crumbled feta cheese. This tastes good hot OR cold; I take it to school with me ALL the time. You can totally vary this recipe- roast a head of broccoli and toss with pasta and parmesan (sometimes I add chopped ham for protein).

4. I hard-boil a dozen eggs every Sunday. Inexpensive and easy to eat on the go! I bring one to school ALL the time.

5. Making casseroles is also easy and will feed you for days. I literally dump the most random stuff into a casserole sometimes! You really just need the basics: some kind of vegetable, some kind of cheese, a grain, maybe a protein, and a couple eggs to bring it all together. Seriously, it's error-proof.

6. I buy LOTS of things in bulk, even spices. You can buy a bunch of grains, chickpeas, beans, pasta, almonds (which I use to make my own almond milk- so easy). It's far cheaper and once you get the hang of the prep, you'll never look back!

7. But, if you DO like buying things pre-made, I recommend getting a bag/box of frozen pre-cooked brown rice- I sometimes use this for a quick meal when I'm in a rush! Saute a cup of rice with a little oil or chicken broth, throw in an egg and scramble it, top with some cheese and sliced avocado and PRESTO delicious, takes five minutes and costs pennies.

Hope this helps!

great tips!

I'll add:

1. I usually make a pile of chicken breast and/or whole chicken (i remove the skin) and then shred/slice and freeze. I stick it in a ziploc, let it almost freeze, break it up and then put it back in. I take a portion of chicken to work for lunch, add a salad , and there's my meal. I don't even bother refrigerating - i keep the frozen chicken (wrapped) IN the salad box, keep it in my A/C office (read: freezing cold), and at lunch time either eat it cold or zap in the micorwave. also great in sandwiches.

2. if your parents are buying bread, ask them if they/you can buy whole grain brread/wraps. then at least you will make healthier sandwiches. bread can keep in the freezer - if you taking the sandwich with you for the day, you don't even have to bother defrosting.

3. invest in a few good leak-proof boxes (different sizes) for taking lunch with you.

4. soups are easy, healhty and cheap - stick with in-season vegetables, add lentils/beans, and you have a healthy and filling meal.

5. and on that note - beans are healthy, cheap and super easy. I pick over and soak 1 lb at a time. then i put in the slow cooker (e.g., chickpeas i just leave plain, white beans i make into veg baked beans, etc, really depends on what you want to do with them). after they cook, cool, then bag and freeze. you will always have beans ready for soups, stews, or to sprinkle on salad. if you eat the beans with a whole grain - you also get a whole protein (e.g., couscous with chickpea stew, brown rice and lentils [google "Mujaderrah", if you can't find it i'll find a recipe for you], mexican beans and rice, etc)

jaimrlx

One my favorites is to buy a rotisserie chicken (usually available at any 'superstore', I get Costco's because its amazing) and take the skin off at home. Boil (if you can't steam) some veggies in 1/2 inch of water w/ lid on - 5 minutes on the stovetop. For a sweet element, add some blueberries/raspberries or maybe some yogurts - usually you can buy for around a buck each and it's an awesome meal.

Also, crock pot for sure. Mine was $16 at Walmart if you have one. It's awesome! I bought a roast for $8, some bbq sauce, diet dr pepper and let it sit for 8 hours. So good and sweet!

Love fajitas. I buy 10/$10 pork chops or some stew meat, you can use chicken too and love to grill my own veggies. I buy Wholly Guacamole and mix it in there - it's phenomenal.

SusanHeinous

My student daughter is home for the summer and she has completely taken over the menus and food preparation.
I still buy the stuff but otherwise she'sin charge.
It's been a lovely break for me and she really enjoys cooking. She seems to find most of her recipes on-line. Being in the UK, the BBC website has some great ideas.
I also have biscuits/sweets etc in the house (bought for her, it's what Mums do!) but she just seems to ignore them.
I'm not offended that she does all this, like I say it's a treat for me to have a break and there's the bonus that she eats much more healthily than me. I've never seen so many veggies in our fridge.
I politely suggest that if you don't like what your parents are providing then maybe you could be a little more proactive and do something similar. I'm sure your parents would enjoy the break as well :flowerforyou: