Food ideas while on a budget
Thick_Chickk
Posts: 608 Member
What are some good foods to buy while on a budget? (Besides fruits and veggies) for breakfast and lunch?
I never know what to buy so I end up buying a lot of frozen crap.
I never know what to buy so I end up buying a lot of frozen crap.
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Replies
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Thick_Chickk wrote: »What are some good foods to buy while on a budget? (Besides fruits and veggies) for breakfast and lunch?
I never know what to buy so I end up buying a lot of frozen crap.
Define frozen crap. Everything I eat is frozen or shelfstable and ready to eat.4 -
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I like to buy these and add either baked chicken breast or a can of tuna and some frozen mixed veggies. You get at least two meals per bag and they are quick to make at work. So if you bought 1 bag of each of these, 1 large bag frozen mixed veggies, 4 cans of tuna and 3 chicken breast you've got lunch for 7 days for right around $20.00. It is healthier than burritos or fast food and you should still be able to keep within your days calories.
https://www.birdseye.com/product/zucchini-lentil-pasta-2/
https://www.birdseye.com/product/brussels-sprouts/
https://www.birdseye.com/product/rice-5/
https://www.birdseye.com/product/penne-with-spinach/9 -
rice and/or beans or pasta - add meat and/or veggies plus some kind of broth or sauce and you have a varied set of meals that will keep for the whole week.1
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Oats, eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.
Shop sales and read labels to ensure that you are getting a good bang for your buck, nutrition-wise.1 -
Thick_Chickk wrote: »Like frozen burritos, TV dinners, lean pockets
Those things aren't really all that budget friendly when compared with ready to eat frozen veg/meat or tinned as gearhead suggested.
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Frozen, prepackaged food isn't actually very budget friendly! For breakfast, I think eggs are about the most economical, healthy choice you can make. Oatmeal is also a great choice - it's cheap, easy to make, and you can flavor it with all kinds of things. For lunches, I usually eat leftovers from the night before. It's easier for me to just make a bit extra when I do our dinner menu. If I don't do leftovers, I either meal prep (chicken, rice, veggies, and sauce) or eat frozen/canned veggies with a chicken or salmon patty from Trader Joe's. They are still frozen, but they are pretty healthy. You could actually meal prep a big batch of healthy burritos for WAY cheaper than the frozen ones you can buy. They taste better, too!
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Dried beans. If you can afford a cheap crockpot or find one used at a thrift store, you can easily cook your beans in that. Cooked beans also freeze very well.1
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Dried beans, pasta, potatoes, oats, frozen vegetables, whatever seasonal vegetables are cheap in your area (right now I can get squash, cabbage, onions, and carrots for a really good price) and same for fruits (apples right now for me), rice, and canned tomatoes.0
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Thick_Chickk wrote: »What are some good foods to buy while on a budget? (Besides fruits and veggies) for breakfast and lunch?
I never know what to buy so I end up buying a lot of frozen crap.
Shop at the end of the day when meat etc is reduced.
Bulk buy meat/tinned veg/pasta/rice etc2 -
A bag of six bagels and a block of cream cheese is under $5 and will give you breakfast for the whole week.4
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I find meal planning really useful for helping stick to a budget, I only buy what I need for the week and most dishes I cook are freezable for mixing/matching later weeks. Apologies in advance for the long winded response....
For example this week:
Breakfast:
Weekdays: 1 pack of Blueberries (1.79), 1 pack of Blackberries (reduced to 1.49), 1 x 36 pack of store brand Weetabix (2.00) I only have 1 biscuit so that's 7 weeks worth of breakfasts plus a couple of euros for fruit each week, sometime I will have half a banana and some chocolate chips instead of berries.
Weekends: Omelette or Poached Eggs (20 pack of eggs 3.00 - lasts me around 3-4 weeks) I add a little Stevia and some fruit or some pancetta (1.00) for Brunch
So in all for the month that's less than 20 euros for Breakfasts
Lunch:
Weekdays:
Mon & Weds: Falafel & Halloumi Pittas 1 Tin of Chickpeas (1.00) Red Onion (Fridge staple so already had in) Fresh Chillis (Freezer Staple, prepped ready to add to meals) Spices & Tahini (already at home) Olive Oil (already at home) Halloumi (3.00) Pittas (1.00 pack of 6) Makes 22 Falafel balls at 5-6 per pitta, Halloumi is enough for 4 pittas and keeps well enough in the fridge for a week. So that's 3-4 meals from that for 5 euros. I froze the remaining Falafel for next week's lunches.
Tues & Thurs: Chicken, Quinoa & Lentil salad. 10 pack of large chicken breast from local butcher (12.00) Used 2 and rest frozen for use another time. Quinoa already in cupboard (around 2.50 for 10 portions) added Green Lentils (1.00 for 10 portions) keeps well in fridge, eaten cold with some natural yoghurt/herb homemade dressing (1.00)
Friday I am off work so will be having brunch same as weekend, see below.
So weekday lunches have set me back around 7 euros (1.20 per chicken breast and remainder for another week/dinner)
Weekends I have brunch rather than lunch so it's the weekend breakfast mentioned above (this is because I prefer to have only 2 meals on weekends to leave more calories for food/drinks).
Dinners
Mon & Weds: Sausages (from Butchers bought as part of 3 for 10.00 deal in previous weeks Sausages, Lamb Mince and Steak Mince) so equivalent to 1.00 for each meal for the meat, on Monday I had it with Butterbean Mash (1.00 for Butterbeans, Fresh Garlic is a fridge staple and olive oil which I always have) and steamed frozen veg mix (2.00 for 5 portions) on Wednesday I had it with just veg. Total for both 3.80
Tues & Thurs: Madras Yoghurt Baked Chicken, Turmeric Potatoes and Veg (2 of chicken breasts defrosted 2.40, Yoghurt (bought already for lunch dressing) 1kg Rooster Potatoes to do 3 meals 2.00, Indian Frozen Superfood Mix- leftover in freezer) Total for both 3.70
Fri: Fakeaway - Big Mac Fries (Remaining Potatoes (0.65), 1/3 Mince from 3 for 10 deal (1.10) Iceburg Lettuce (1.00) Pickles (fridge staple), Red Onion (fridge staple), Mustard (cupboard staple) and yoghurt (bought for lunch dressings) Total 2.75
Saturday - Eating out.
Sunday - Prawn Stirfry (Prawns already in freezer, fresh stirfry veg pack (2.00 does 2 portions) stock and spices already in) Total 1.00
Total for dinners (excluding eating out Sat) 11.25
Food for the week under 25 euros
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Buying prepared foods costs more. Make your meals, divide into individual portions and freeze for future use. Shop sales if possible. Use bulk items (beans, rice, oatmeal, popcorn and other grains etc).
I have found that it costs less preparing my own meals. It takes some planning and time, but if cost is an issue, it will save you money. An added bonus is that you control what is going into the food (ie: sodium, sugar). Ever read labels? Added sugar and sodium is in everything.3 -
Since I went off keto I've been pretty much eating only jasmine rice and cilantro and either tilapia, chicken breast or turkey breast. I also eat sandwiches using healthy life bread. Doing it that way I am not tempted to overdo it on calories, but it's also pretty cheap so that's a plus. I know most people wouldn't be interested in such little variety, but it does what it's supposed to do keeping me on track. When I was on keto I never got hungry because of all the fats. Carbs don't flip that full switch for me but keeping the taste buds without too much choice works okay.0
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Prepared in advance for the week (HB eggs and steamed potatoes with the skin on them) 2 HB eggs = 156 calories and 100 g steamed potatoes = 76 calories (total is 232 calories).
Even if you go "organic" everything it's under $8.00 for 6 servings (or $1.33 a day).
I cut everything up and sprinkle salt and sometimes I'll add Adobo (1/4 cup sweet paprika; 3 tablespoons ground black pepper; 2 tablespoons onion powder;2 tablespoons dried oregano (preferably Mexican); 2 tablespoons ground cumin; tablespoon chipotle chile powder;1 tablespoon garlic powder) or Sazon (1 tablespoon ground coriander; 1 tablespoon ground cumin; 1 tablespoon ground annatto seeds (or paprika); 1 tablespoon garlic powder)0 -
Meal prep! Meal prep! Meal prep!
Egg muffins with fruit for breakfast.
You just need 8 eggs, one bell pepper, one tomato, one cup of mushrooms and a little shredded cheese. This makes 12 muffins!! I will eat two with a side of fresh fruit for breakfast. Cheap and will last 6 days and healthy! (Egg muffins can be frozen) Each muffin is 100 cals so two plus a little fresh fruit puts breakfast under 250 cals!
Chicken, veggies and brown rice for lunch.
You just need two boneless skinless chicken breasts, one broccoli head, one purple onion, one small container of cherry tomatoes, two zuchinni, uncle ben’s instant brown rice, olive oil and seasoning of your choice. You cut the chicken and all veggies and place on a baking sheet lined with foil, drizzle a little olive oil all over and sprinkle seasoning all over and bake. While that’s baking, cook your brown rice. When all is done, divide into 4 containers. Lunch for 4 days and all ingredients are cheap as well. This meal is 466 cals!
We live on one income with two kids so I have to buy cheap as well. Meal prepping has helped a lot!! Sheet pan meals are amazing because it’s usually just a few ingredients and you bake it all on one sheet pan so it saves a lot of time too. If you google healthy sheet pan meals, there are lots of options! What I love about the sheet pan meals too is that you don’t need to be a good cook at all!! They are just THAT easy!!
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Try Budget Bytes! She has a lot of great recipes that are easy on the wallet and deliscious.0
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I eat a lot of hard boiled eggs because they are easy and cheap to buy.
Otherwise I will typically meal prep. It can get boring, but I’ll make a big batch of something and eat it all week. It helps save me money since I’m not buying a ton of different things. The downside is that if I don’t really love the food, I get bored and want to stop eating it!0 -
High fiber veggie pasta...not much more expensive than regular pasta but cheap and better for you especially for the carbs. Add some quality protein like some leftover meat or chicken or tilapia.2
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you can buy meat in quantity for less & freeze some -find a meat market- I have 3 turkeys in the freezer - bought them on a sale ate Thanksgiving for 59 cents per lb - I will cook them sometime - buy a pork roast & have the butcher slice it up - put some in the freezer. you get the idea - I also get large bags of frozen veggies at Wal Mart - Eastcoast Jim0
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If you like burritos. Make them yourself. It will take some time, but so worth it. Get some good seasoning. Goya has some flavor packs, but I use cumin & adobo seasoning, plus a little salt. If you don't want to do the dry beans, you can use a can of pinto or black beans and season them by sauteing some onion, jalapeno or serrano pepper, then add the beans and mash them. I also cut up a small amount of carrots and potato and boil them til tender. Use a protein of choice or none and mix the vegetables and beans, add a bit of cheese and wrap them up. Bake covered in the oven til heated. Add some great salsa make your own with a can of tomatoes drained, left over onion, hot pepper and cilantro. This will freeze well and taste so much better than the frozen ones.
I also make a lot of soup. Black bean soup is a favorite, red lentil with coconut milk, Italian wedding soup, butternut squash soup. The beauty of soup is it's great the second day and you can use up all the leftover vegetables in your fridge. Add a can of beans for fiber.
Once you make a big pot of chili or soup, be sure to throw a few containers in the freezer. Every time I do that I thank myself for thinking ahead.
Good luck - cooking is fun! If you're not sure how to prepare something, youtube or allrecipes or foodtv.com are all good resources. Or pick up a basic cookbook at the library.1 -
@RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
I just used a couple of teaspoons of Madras Paste with around 120g zero fat yoghurt, mixed it up marinated the chicken in it overnight. Pop it in a casserole dish to cook.
Cut up and parboil the potatoes, drained them, fluffed them up a bit and then added frylight spray and some turmeric/salt
Pop both in the oven for around 30 minutes on 180 degrees.1 -
I like making up “breakfast bowls” that I then freeze and can grab and go later. I cube potatoes, season, and bake and then scramble some eggs and put a little cheese and salsa on. Into freezer it goes. I got a 10 pound bag of potatoes for 1.39 and eggs are going for 99 cents a dozen around here. Cheese $4 a pound. That makes a lot of breakfasts! Depending on your macro goals that may or may not work for you but for me it’s been a lifesaver.1
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tinkerbellang83 wrote: »@RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
I just used a couple of teaspoons of Madras Paste with around 120g zero fat yoghurt, mixed it up marinated the chicken in it overnight. Pop it in a casserole dish to cook.
Cut up and parboil the potatoes, drained them, fluffed them up a bit and then added frylight spray and some turmeric/salt
Pop both in the oven for around 30 minutes on 180 degrees.
Thanks 0 -
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