Low Cost Healthy Meals

chellynn27

We are a family of 4 on a tight budget. We have around $100 to spend on all groceries for a 2 week period. Any websites or other ideas for low cost meals besides pasta?

JenMc14

Dried beans are cheap. If you can get a small ham, you can have enough for a meal or two and lunches. Buy meat when it's on sale and freeze it. Eggs are fairly inexpensive, and egg casseroles make a nice dinner. Some chicken, rice, cream of X soup and frozen veg make a nice casserole, too.

corgicake

Dry beans, oatmeal by the tub, bags of chicken leg quarters, rice, flour (for yeast-based and quick breads), potatoes. Beyond that coupons, the sale sheet, and clearance bins are your friend.

m16shane

Beans, rice, and vegetables this time of the year can be pretty cheap depending on where you get them.

RubyRunner14

Bagged beans/rice, frozen veggies (50 cents a pound), oats (old fashioned rolled in tubs), canned tuna/chicken (70 cents a can), wheat bread ($1 a loaf), peanut butter (2$ a jar on sale), bananas (usually 18 cents each depending on size), carrots, eggs, sometimes apples and potatoes. What's in season will be cheap. Buy generic everything!

msarro

We feed two people on 60$ every other week, and still have enough left to stock up.

Our staples:
1) Milk (2 gallons), 1 is used for milk, the other is used to make yogurt (1 gallon milk yields around 2-3 quarts yogurt).
2) Natural PB (1lb is 4$ at the nutritional store)
3) Homemade jelly/jam (made from berries/fruits on discount racks or from the garden), about 10$ for 9-10 half-pints, including the cost of the jars.
4) TVP/tofu - TVP is usually around 2.75/lb (cheaper in bulk). Tofu we can get around 4lbs for 4$ at the asian market.
5) Catfish - super cheap at most fish markets, around 2$ a pound.
6) Beans - we stock up whenever they're on sale. Preference towards dry, obviously. They keep longer.
7) Oats/dry fruit/muesli for breakfasts, we buy these in bulk so our prices are lower than most folks
8) Flour/sugar/yeast for homemade bread (about 1-2$ per 5lb sack, yeast is a bit more expensive)
9) Carrots (great with lunches), around 99 cents a bag
10) One meat a week (usually whatever sounds good, but something that can be made into a meal which lasts several nights - 7-8$)
11) Whatever veggies are in season. Whatever is in season will cost less because it can be sourced locally, the grocers don't have to worry about getting it shipped in from asia or south america. Say, 10$?
12) Sweet potatoes (super cheap most of the time compared to their relatively nutrition-free cousins the normal potato). 99 cents for a 5pack at the farmer market.
13) Whatever fruit is currently in season or cheap (if you have the option, pick your own farms are a great way to load up on fruit) - 2-3$
14) Honey, 1gal for $45 about 1-2x a year
15) eggs, 2-3$

Our usual meals look like this:
Breakfast: Muesli, oatmal, bran flakes, or generic grape-nuts with some milk
Midmorning snack: Fruit (apple, plum, peach)
lunch: 1/2 PB and J sandwich, yogurt
Afternoon snack: carrots
Dinner: Catfish nuggets with corn and garden greens and a simple vinegrette
Dessert: Homemade frozen yogurt or ice cream

Don't be afraid to make things in your own. Most can be made with relatively little effort (making yogurt, for example, is super easy to do, all you need is a slow cooker or a thermometer, jam is also super easy). Make large meals that can be eaten for several days. If everyone likes cabbage soup, for example, you can make a 2 gallon batch of cabbage soup for around 6$ which will last for more than a week feeding 4 people. What doesn't get eaten by the time people are tired of it can be frozen and used later.

chellynn27

How do you make your own yogurt? My kids love yogurt and being able to make it would save us some money. Also, I have a terrible time making my own bread. Maybe it's me, maybe it's the recipes I've tried. Any recommendations there?