Meal planning help?

pretentiouskate

So I've be tracking my calories since the first of March ( I started on Livestrong and migrated over to MPF a few days ago ) and I've just sort of been eating whatever we have in the house.

My bf and I share a kitchen (and groceries) with his parents, and they eat a high fat, highly processed diet. We have a small "dorm" fridge and storage space for canned goods or things that don't need to be refrigerated, but I do need to limit what I'm buying that needs to be kept cold - frozen items are also hard to fit.

We have some staples, namely boneless skinless chicken breast and some frozen berries, as well as eggs, canned light tuna in water, and lots of white pasta and rice (I know it isn't the best!).

I'm looking at grocery shopping but we don't have a ton of money to spend - I'm unemployed at the moment and he's a full time student who's income comes from his GI bill and his National Guard pay - we don't have a lot of spare income.

I live fairly close to a Trader Joe's and a Whole Foods, as well as a conventional grocery store. I have allergies to shellfish and most nuts.

Ideas?! I'm a good cook - I'm just blanking on what to make/what to buy - ideally I don't want to spend more than like, $40 a week for the two of us (with the staples above NOT coming out of that money)!

Justin741

Pick up the local grocery store ads or look them up online. Base your meal plan based on what is healthy & on sale. We were basing our meal plan just what was on sale and ended up with 77% lean angus beef which is loaded with calories & fat. You can save a bunch of money! My wife and I buy all our groceries for 2 weeks including staples for about $65 a week. We eat 6 times a day, 3 meals & 3 snacks. Now that I am wanting some lower carb snacks (she needs the carbs because she is pregnant) I imagine that will go out about $10 dollars a week.

So my advice? Take the time to shop the grocery ads, buy the Sunday paper for coupons, & use coupons.com. Save money and feed your family well! Otherwise I am too new at healthy meal planning to give you any more advice. Keep at it!

JennLifts

I wouldnt suggest whole foods. Your money will go farther somewhere else. That being said, they have like $1 canned beans and such that have no salt added, which is MUCH better than like the walmart or kroger with the salt. If possible, I'd suggest whole grains, but if not.. it's not the end of the world. Bags of fruit, like apples are cheaper than A apple, i'd def stay away from organic.. (for the price)

BrianJLamb

Beans, canned or dried. Lentils, dried. Nuts, dried. Cabbage, can stay outside of the fridge. Apples, oranges, bananas, all can stay outside of the fridge. I would consume less meats, only because they are harder to store and easier to spoil. Peanut butter, oatmeal, granola bars, etc. Brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole grain breads, the latter in moderation.

Lowfat to nonfat cottage cheese. Light yogurt, whatever is healthiest and on sale. Only drink water, it can be free.

NoExcuseTina

I find frozen veggies are less expensive than fresh veggies...you can prepare a whole bag for one meal...or prepare 2 bags and keep the leftovers in the fridge for the next day (since you said you are limited on freezer space).

Also...cook larger meals and keep the leftovers in the fridge for the next day...that way you only have to go to the store every 2-3 days (maybe even just twice a week) instead of everyday! I have 2 fridges and still go at least 2 times a week for fresh veggies and meat.

Try really hard to limit the processed foods...it has really helped me over the past month to loose 12 pounds by avoiding it as much as possible!

Hope this helps...good luck!

BrianJLamb

I find frozen veggies are less expensive than fresh veggies...you can prepare a whole bag for one meal...or prepare 2 bags and keep the leftovers in the fridge for the next day (since you said you are limited on freezer space).

Also...cook larger meals and keep the leftovers in the fridge for the next day...that way you only have to go to the store every 2-3 days (maybe even just twice a week) instead of everyday! I have 2 fridges and still go at least 2 times a week for fresh veggies and meat.

Try really hard to limit the processed foods...it has really helped me over the past month to loose 12 pounds by avoiding it as much as possible!

Hope this helps...good luck!

But Tina, it seems as though your suggestions would take up more fridge and freezer space which she says she doesn't really have.

pretentiouskate

I find frozen veggies are less expensive than fresh veggies...you can prepare a whole bag for one meal...or prepare 2 bags and keep the leftovers in the fridge for the next day (since you said you are limited on freezer space).

Also...cook larger meals and keep the leftovers in the fridge for the next day...that way you only have to go to the store every 2-3 days (maybe even just twice a week) instead of everyday! I have 2 fridges and still go at least 2 times a week for fresh veggies and meat.

Try really hard to limit the processed foods...it has really helped me over the past month to loose 12 pounds by avoiding it as much as possible!

Hope this helps...good luck!

We have a little room for frozen veggies, I do buy the steamer bags and we'll usually cook an entire bag for each of us - The problem being that at the moment I don't have more than 8 inches of freezer space. Also, I do love leftovers any anything I cook will be designed to last a couple of meals - the problem being that I can't bulk cook - if I had my own kitchen I'd probably be making a LOT of food and freezing it in portion sized containers.

I'm only looking to go to the store once a week - I live in Maine, where by close I mean 30-ish miles away one way. :laugh:

Beans, canned or dried. Lentils, dried. Nuts, dried. Cabbage, can stay outside of the fridge. Apples, oranges, bananas, all can stay outside of the fridge. I would consume less meats, only because they are harder to store and easier to spoil. Peanut butter, oatmeal, granola bars, etc. Brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole grain breads, the latter in moderation.

Lowfat to nonfat cottage cheese. Light yogurt, whatever is healthiest and on sale. Only drink water, it can be free.

Beans, how I love them. I'm in a black bean rut, any other suggestions?

Shamrock40

Things I make (even though not limited on space) are a 3-bean chili. I dice and saute an onion in about a tbsp of canola oil (reserve a little raw to put on top if you like) use ground chicken or ground turkey (whatever is on sale when I'm planning to make it) and I use 1 can each of light red kidney beans, cannellini beans and Bush's chili beans with a mild chili sauce. I usually rinse and drain the kidney and cannellini beans to get rid of some of the sodium, but not the chili beans. Get a seasoning pack of your choice (I use mild because my kids eat it, too) and you have a relatively low-fat, low-cal, high protein meal. Even with reduced fat sour cream and little sprinkle of 2% cheese, you're right around 400 calories. For storage in the fridge, you can portion it out in smaller containers for the next day or two.

One of my favorite things to eat is success brown rice with veggies (steam them first, but leave about 1 minute off the cooking time,) mushrooms and diced up chicken, a little soy sauce or stir-fry sauce, and it makes a nice little chicken fried rice-stir fry. I am absolutely in love with (if you have a Target near you) Archer Farms General Tso's stir fry sauce. It is SO good! Success rice makes pretty small bags that you can each eat a portion and there might be a little left over for the next day.

Something else my husband loves is fresh spinach sauteed with onions and garlic , and then I add a can of cannellini beans and we serve it with grilled steak or chicken, or you could probably eat it as a vegetarian dish over pasta or rice. If you buy your spinach and cook it the same day, it won't take up your whole fridge space.

I also do eggs in purgatory - basically eggs cooked in tomato sauce. If it's something you're interested in, I could give you the recipe.

We also make ground turkey/ground chicken tacos (again, I use whatever is on sale.) Ortega makes whole grain corn taco shells, 55 calories per shell. I don't eat them a lot, but they're good to mix things up. Most of that gets eaten for dinner and is gone the next day at lunchtime.

The other thing you could do is, when cooking pasta, rather than cooking a whole pound, just cook up what you need.

I would agree with staying away from Whole Foods. They are rather on the expensive side.

Anyway, I also like to cook, so if I really racked my brain, I could probably come up with some other ideas for things you could cook and eat the same and/or the next day.

BrianJLamb

Seriously, depending on how much time you have to prepare food and what you are willing to do as well as what things you view as mandatory in your diet, you could seriously tackle this pretty easily. I make a mung bean dahl. Nice indian style lentils with spices and I eat it with brown rice and barley. It is delicious, filling, and nutritious. Cauliflower and cabbage stay good in moderate temps, if you are in Maine, then you have plenty of cold outside, so you should be able to store things no problem, at least for the time being. Cauliflower, cut into sections, roasted with a little olive oil and spices is amazing. I make a stew pot of cabbage, beans, carrots, tempeh, onions, that is awesome and most of those ingredients come in pretty cheap. The tempeh is the only higher ticket item and you might not like that part of it anyway.

I would discard meats, if you are not overly attached to them. Good meats are generally more expensive. You can get more dried beans for your buck than you would meat, and it stores for much longer.

Tell me what your dietary needs are, not your restrictions, and I can tell you a bunch of stuff.

pretentiouskate

if you are in Maine, then you have plenty of cold outside, so you should be able to store things no problem, at least for the time being.

I would discard meats, if you are not overly attached to them. Good meats are generally more expensive. You can get more dried beans for your buck than you would meat, and it stores for much longer.

Tell me what your dietary needs are, not your restrictions, and I can tell you a bunch of stuff.

I don't store things outside for cleanliness/health reasons, although we do have cooler places in the house.

My boyfriend does insist on eating meat - although I'm getting him to prefer things like lean ground turkey instead of full-fat ground beef. Some of the things that we enjoy are tacos, casseroles, and pasta or rice with sauce. We both enjoy mild-spiced texmex cooking.

As far as needs go I'm trying to keep under 1500 calories a day, ideally low fat/low cholesterol. He works out 3 - 5 times a week, and doesn't count calories but seems to eat about 2 - 3 times as much food as I do.

BrianJLamb

Thanks for the input. I don't know that I can be of any help. Most of the food types you listed are food types that I stay away from. In my mind, and I could be very wrong, they are generally unhealthy options. I would most likely only list options for you that were not really things you would consider. Good luck.

pretentiouskate

For a casserole, for example, I'd do something like beans,brown rice, veggies, with pureed tomato and stock as a broth/binder.

Tacos for us consist of black beans mixed with spices, salsa, lowfat sour cream (optional)/lowfat cheese (optional), lettuce/tomatto/spinach/whatever fresh veggies I have.

I can't eat fried foods as they make me very ill, same goes for high fat meats or large amounts of dairy. I'm unfamiliar with the idea of "low carb" but I also prefer to eat whole wheat or whole grain versions of pasta or rice.