Eating Healthy on a Budget

shaheerahs

So, I've got to "stretch" my paycheck for a couple of weeks, anyone got any healthy but wallet friendly recipes they can share?

Thanks for your help and support.

SJSchwartz

Brown Rice is really cheap and healthy for you. You could buy a bag of frozen veggies (cheap) and make a stir fry and top the rice with it.

Oh, and do you have a scratch and dent type of grocery store you can go to? We have one here, and literally save TONS of money each visit!

Elizabeth_C34

Plan your meals for the week and make a list. Buy only what you need.

Despite the individual items being more expensive, our grocery bills are half what they were before I started this journey mostly because I eat so much less.

Goal_Seeker_1988

Bump.

I've been tryin to eat clean and spent $55.00 on just two bags of groceries. I find myself eatin meal replacements and snacks instead of actual meals.

Healthy foods costs too much money. No wonder there are so many people over weight.

AmyJopp

yogurt......oatmeal......special k bars......egg whites......ummmm these are some of my cheaper items!

chillyrodent

A pound of dry beans to go with that brown rice and that's eating! Few foods satisfy and nourish as cheaply as beans.

melissa1977

Bags of frozen vegetables have been my godsends because often they are inexpensive [when compared to fresh, of course] but they are still just as good. If you have a grocery store that has a deli and you're able, start stalking the deli around 8 or 9pm. Sometimes they mark down things like rotisserie chickens that were made that day, but just hadn't sold. Scour the ads that come in your "junk" mail, too. Some stores have huge sales or in store coupons that they only promote through those ads that you could be missing out on.

xarrium

Pasta with frozen veggies! My current favorite is linguine with frozen peas and basil pesto (I just bought a jar of pesto since I'm too lazy to make my own)... I like to add shrimp to that if I have any, but tuna would probably work too.

jenpeaster

Here are a couple of things we do:

We always take left-overs for lunch the next day. Tuna is great for you and your budget. Change it up, One day make Tuna Salad as you would normaly and then the next time, just add lemon and pepper for Lemon-pepper tuna. It's great. You can do the same with chicken! Chicken and Tuna makes a great salad topper.

Eggs are great protein and not hard on your wallet. You can also cook them several different ways and make several differents meals with them.

Veggies soup is cheap and goes a long ways. Have veggie soup one evening and then have it over rice another evening. It also freezes great.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Sandikh

The best thing you can do is get the weekly sale ads and see what is on sale this week. From there, I agree that you need to plan out your week and get a game plan. Brown rice is an excellent bargain. Also, a loaf of whole grain bread can really go a long way. You can make panini's with low fat cheese and low fat lunch meat or if you have frozen chicken breast in your freezer you can use those for your meat. Most grocery stores now carry their own brand of low fat cheeses. A little of this can go a long way. You can use the bread also for toast with a Tablespoon of peanut butter for a quick and on the go breakfast starter. Buy fresh fruits and vegetables based on what's the weekly special. Frozen vegetables are usually a pretty good bargain as well. Eggs are still a great bargain even with the recent increase in prices. One package of low carb, low fat, wheat tortilla shells with scrambled egg whites and a few sprinkles of low fat cheese is a great on the go breakfast. Try not to get discouraged, eating healthy on a budget just takes a little more creativity and thinking ahead. Good Luck!

jessmomof3

A few staples to keep on hand:

Old fashioned oatmeal
Brown rice
Beans (buy them dry and soak them or buy the canned ones)
Eggs
Cottage cheese
Plain yogurt
Canned tuna
Nuts and peanut butter
All fruit spread (for an easy PB & J)
Whole grain bread or tortillas
Brick of cheese (cheaper than slices or shredded, just do it yourself)
Seasonal fruit and veggies (what is on sale)
Frozen veggies (get the store brand, same thing as the brand name)

Check your local ads and shop what is on sale for meat and other items (ie, chicken breasts, lean pork, lean beef) and clip coupons. Find the stores that double coupons (here it is Meijer, Kroger, and Schnuck's). A lot of stores also price-match ads. And if you have an Aldi's nearby, they are great for cheap but still healthier foods (they have a Fit & Active line, and their dairy, fruits, veggies, etc are usually cheap but still good). Or shop wholesale at Sam's Club/ Costco if you have a memberhip.

You can make stews or chili for pretty cheap w/ a lot of leftovers. Spaghetti (meatless if you want) or tacos are also cheap meals. You can use beans instead of meat for tacos or burritos (quesadillas also).

Ilovepeppers

1) bean dish;
Buy:
1 bell pepper
1 small onion
1 can kidney beans
Jar of salsa
Little bit of cilantro
1 tomato

How to cook:
Put beans in pan with 1/2 cup salsa
Cut up and add all veggies
Simmer 10 minutes or until veggies are cooked to your liking.

Veggie wrap;
Buy:
Same veggies as above + lettuce or spinach leaves
Whole wheat tortillas
Mustard

How:
Just assemble!

Oatmeal with apples and cinnamon

Pasta;
Buy:
Store brand grain pasta
Veggies you like
Healthy tomato sauce

How:
Boil noodles and make sauce!

Dencrossgirl

I eat each week according to what is on sale, especially produce. I bulk buy things I can freeze.

dlaplume2

I would start by looking in your local sales flyers and see what is on sale and build your recipes around that. You can go to allrecipes.com and put in the ingredients and come up with recipes.

I like to look for things I can use in multiple ways. If you can find a whole chicken for a couple of bucks. You can have the chicken roasted one night, use the leftovers for salad, sandwiches or stirfry's the next night.

Same with beef, or pork.

Rice and beans are pretty cheap and versatile for stirfry or even to rince and put on a salad.
You can make soup.
Eggs, yougurts, oatmeal
The other thing is stay away from the pre packages stuff. You can buy in bulk and break them into snack bags with your own individual servings. That helps strech things.

JulsDiane

A friend of mine has gotten into eating completely organic as well as vegan. here is an article she shared that might give you some suggestions.

http://www.doctoryourself.com/eatwellcheap.html

candorandson

A few staples to keep on hand:

Old fashioned oatmeal
Brown rice
Beans (buy them dry and soak them or buy the canned ones)
Eggs
Cottage cheese
Plain yogurt
Canned tuna
Nuts and peanut butter
All fruit spread (for an easy PB & J)
Whole grain bread or tortillas
Brick of cheese (cheaper than slices or shredded, just do it yourself)
Seasonal fruit and veggies (what is on sale)
Frozen veggies (get the store brand, same thing as the brand name)

Check your local ads and shop what is on sale for meat and other items (ie, chicken breasts, lean pork, lean beef) and clip coupons. Find the stores that double coupons (here it is Meijer, Kroger, and Schnuck's). A lot of stores also price-match ads. And if you have an Aldi's nearby, they are great for cheap but still healthier foods (they have a Fit & Active line, and their dairy, fruits, veggies, etc are usually cheap but still good). Or shop wholesale at Sam's Club/ Costco if you have a memberhip.

You can make stews or chili for pretty cheap w/ a lot of leftovers. Spaghetti (meatless if you want) or tacos are also cheap meals. You can use beans instead of meat for tacos or burritos (quesadillas also).

LOVE THIS!! Thanks for posting.

poisongirl6485

I price match what's on sale locally at Walmart and always try to use a coupon on top of it as well. If you hit a good sale, and add a coupon, you can get stuff for pretty cheap. For example (and I know these aren't exceptionally healthy, but my 3 year old likes them for a snack), I got 12 of the 4-pack Snack Pack pudding cups for 45 cents each by price matching and using a coupon...walmart prices them at a dollar. I also got Birds Eye steam fresh frozen veggies for 88 cents versus a dollar.

I only buy store brand when it's cheaper than if I were doing a sale plus coupon. A lot of the time, the name brand ends up being cheaper.

As for eating healthy on the cheap...I buy a LOT of tuna. I just got a bunch of Starkist chunk light for 50 cents a can (normally 70 cents a can). I'll be putting that on the Orowheat Sandwich Thins I got half price for $1.65 on sale.

Just watch the weekly ads and try to at least stick to what's on sale...once you really start paying attention to prices in the ads, you'll know when something is a really good deal and when something is on "sale" but not priced well (stores love to tell you something is on sale and the price be the same as their regular price). I tend to just price match everything I find locally in the ads at Walmart to condense my shopping into one trip.

Pebble321

I just don't get the "eating healthly is expensive" line, I think eating processed food is expensive. (Goalseeker, If you are buying meal replacements and prepackaged snacks, I'll bet you are paying lots for processed sugar and fat and not actually getting a lot of actual nutrition and fibre. If you make real food from scratch you can save heaps of money and its much better for you).
Off my soapbox, now to answer the actual question:

Some of my best budget ideas:
- Find out what veges are in season in your area, or buy frozen when they are on special.
- Keep your eye out for cheap dried herbs or spices - oregano, garlic, cumin and chilli make everything tasy without adding calories or salt. Pick them up one at a time, so it doesn't blow the budget.
- Lemon (or lime) juice makes lots of things taste better.
- In my area the chinese grocery store is the cheapest place to buy rice, spices, garlic and tinned (canned) goods.

Here are some of my favourite budget meals using pantry basics:
- Pasta with tuna, veges and canned tomatoes with a bit of chilli or herbs for flavour if you have them.
- Chop an onion, cook it with some minced meat (I think that's ground beef in the US) add some ground cumin or other spices if you have them, add water or stock then a cup of white rice and some fresh or frozen veges right at the end.
- Plain raw chicken drumsticks or wings baked in the oven. Serve with a rice salad (brown is better) and any veges you have (frozen is OK) with a splash of olive oil and lemon juice for dressing. Great with chilli sauce on the side if you have it, we make our own chilli relish.
- Vege soup (use whatever veges are in season and cheap where you are) with beans (and a rasher of bacon or one or two of those wings or drumsticks) if you like the flavour. Buy dry beans and soak them for a few hours, throw them in the soup at the start. Don't add salt til the beans are cooked. This is cheap if you can get local veges and use what is is season, this will vary depending on where you live - zuccini for me right now!
- Throw a whole chicken in the oven. Eat the breast meat with some veges and rice for one dinner, use the leftovers with pasta sauce for another. Use the carcass to make soup.

I'll be keeping an eye out here for more good ideas.

debruhf

I've also found that even though the healthier food costs more, now that I am watching.....they last longer. A box of cereal that used to last a few days now lasts over a week since I am following the suggested serving sizes!

Pandorian

Shop your regular stores with a list of the things you use on a regular basis, check the price per weight rather than price per package as some stores will sell a smaller package for the same price as a larger bag at another store.
This will take time but come to know the basic prices for the stuff that YOU like. Then because you know what the prices "are" for your stuff you know when you find a real good deal and can swoop in to do a bulk purchase.
I refuse to by canned soup at $1.29 a can locally but when they put a case of 12 on for $6 (50 cents a can) I'll buy the case so I don't have to buy at the higher regular price.
Buy produce locally and in season where you can, I bought a bushel of peaches this summer and canned them, bushel cost me $20, it made about 24 1L mason jars / 48 of the 500mL jars.
To go to the store and buy peaches? Here it's about $4 for a 1L container, so $80 worth of peaches... and it's nice in the dead of winter to be snacking on those tasty peaches that I worked on one late summer day.
You need to know what you like, purchase items that you and your family will eat, you're not saving anything if you're buying something that no-one will eat just because it's on sale.

fitbot

generally i feel that buying all fresh fruits and veggies is much cheaper than buying anything packaged , prechopped or frozen. it is also much more delicious and healthy for you. The other bang for the buck are beans. Canned is ok, but dried is much better.

i used to try and challenge myself on living off 20$ a week- it was for a e-zine article . and i totally could do it (plus all the dry ingredients I already had in the house- such as rice, millet, rice noodles etc). One of my cheapest delicious meals is a noodle free vegetarian lasagna. I used to make a big batch of this and eat it for lunches and dinners.

1- you use eggplant or zucchini, whatever you get cheaper at the time of the year (should be 99cents for a large eggplant, or 99cents for a kilo of zucchini), you slice those the long way to use instead of noodles.

2-a bag of spinach (a huge bag can also be bought for about 2$

3- a container of cottage cheese 2.50$

4. tomato sauce (i make my own but you can totally just get a premade one)

5. olive oil

instructions:
oil the lasagna pan
layer your 'noodles' / top with half the cottage cheese / top with spinach / top with tomato sauce / top with 'noodles'
continue till you are out of ingredients. (i like the top layer to be the sauce). season as you like.

bake for about 45 min.
let cool for 10 min

yum

LoViNlIFe0225

On of my favorite is Couscous, chicken and spinach. I go to an Aldi store to get a huge bag of chicken breast for only 5 bucks, frozen spinach for about a buck and then I go to and Amish store for the couscous. My recommendation would be to find an Amish store or Dutch Bakery near you. Often times you can buy things in bulk for much cheaper than anywhere else. I buy couscous by the pounds for only 3 or 4 bucks, same with rice and a ton of other things! The best part is most of it is homemade and better for you with less preservatives. Good Luck!

fitbot

agreed!!!!! all lebanese, turkish and asiany grocery stores are my gold mine.

poptastic

The best thing is to make big batches of things that you can then reheat for several days as either lunch or dinner.

You can make enough chilli for about 6 meals with this, and it's all really cheap:

2 medium onions
1 clove of garlic
olive oil
2 level teaspoons chilli powder
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin (or crushed cumin seeds)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
455gr/1 lb chuck steak, minced, or best minced beef
2 heaped teaspoons tomato puree
2 x 400gr/14oz tins of tomatoes
1/2 stick of cinnamon
2 x 400gr/14oz tins of red kidney beans, drained
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained
1 handful frozen peppers

holley71

This sounds delicious. I will use this one. Thanks!

aks1985

yummmmmmm good idea without the noodles!

kosterlund

I'm really keen on vegan food blogs for inspiration, although I am not actually vegan. Meat and cheese are expensive compared to vegetable, legume, and grain foods, and it is easier to watch fat & calories. My personal fave is at Fat Free Vegan Kitchen (just google). Healthy, wholesome, and made mostly from unprocessed (e.g. cheaper) sorts of things. And delicious!! She also includes detailed breakdowns of nutrition, which is handy. I'm on a tight budget, so I just skip the occasional recipes that use expensive items, but these are pretty rare.


Good luck!

shaheerahs

Cool Beans, thanks everybody for the great ideas and resources.