eating healthy-- more like eating expensive!

Eleanorjanethinner

I'm sure you can find a few 'cheap healthy food for students' recipe books - it definitely doesn't need to be expensive.

Frozen veges and berries are often cheaper than fresh and just as good for you.

Potatoes are cheap, filling and very good for you. A stuffed baked potato is a good meal.

As suggested, look up a few vegetarian meals to have once or twice a week -red kidney beans are great as a meat substitute i.e. in chili or lasagne etc. Eggs are good low fat protein too.

A bit of lean bacon, or cold sliced meat from the deli can cheaply add a bit of protein to fried rice and pasta dishes.

Avoid packaged foods as much as possible. It's actually pefectly easy to make a pasta sauce or season a meal without buying pre-prepared seasoning.

Have fun!

karenwill2

Look up Alton Brown's method for making brown rice. Comes out perfect every time!

bump! Is there anything he makes that doesn't?

kpal77

You need to look at this web page: www.poorgirleatswell.com You can also find her on facebook and twitter. I love her recipes and I think that she really understands where you are at right now. One quote from her blog is: "As I mentioned earlier, the recipes you will find on PGEW are mainly on the “good-for-you” side of things; I simply refuse to fall into the “It just costs too much to eat healthy” trap. I also make sure each dish features ingredients you can find practically anywhere and that you can actually afford. "
Great question and good luck!

76tech

Look up Alton Brown's method for making brown rice. Comes out perfect every time!

bump! Is there anything he makes that doesn't?

Yeah, that time he made, uh, no. Everything he makes is pretty much perfect. I miss Good Eats.

ascott048

I can honestly say I am getting to be a bit of a pro at cooking healthy on a budget. I have been exactly where you are...well not the college part but the 22 and eating on a budget because hamburger helper is not going to help me lose the weight.

Here are a few suggestions that may be mentioned already but to be honest I didn't take the time to read through everything.

Here is the Pacific Northwest we have a lovely place called WinCo that offers a fab bulk foods section. This is different from buying in bulk like shopping at Costco. This is the bulk foods section where everything is in a bin and you take out and measure how much you want.

I purchase all of our spices, oatmeal, beans for soup, baking ingredients, and some snack items from the bulk foods section. I can get steel cut oatmeal for 3/4's of the price I would pay at Trader Joe's for the exact same brand. Purchasing spices in the bulk foods section is great because most times you can just buy what you need at time rather than being committed to an entire jar.

I also shopped at Costco but I spent my money there on ground turkey, bread, and other items that I could freeze. Yes, you can freeze bread and then take it out either as you need it or thaw an entire loaf.

Best of luck to you!

ascott048

I don't know where you live, but a food coop might be an option. I joined bountiful baskets, every week you contribute $15 that is used to buy fresh produce. It works out cheaper than buying from the grocery store, and forces me to try new things. Here is the website www.bountifulbaskets.org

This is a great suggestion, even if you don't join the weekly option a food co-op is a great place to find low price items.

ascott048

I am also a college student who's going to school full time and working part time. Here is the way I can afford to eat healthy foods:
I have a low income card at my local food co-op. Maybe see if there is a store like this near you where you might be able to find this. Also, if they are accessible/suited to you - food stamps! Another trick - buy things in bulk and get comfy eating the same meal for maybe an entire week. For example, I will make a pot of brown rice at the beginning of the week and eat it with some salad greens and tofu for lunch for the rest of the week. Not buying too many things on impulse (a.k.a planning) is a good idea. Next - coupons! Always useful. Lastly, and this might totally gross you out, so take it with a grain of salt - dumpster diving. I have salvaged whole loaves of perfect bread, lemons, avocados, fresh bags of lettuce, fresh sealed apple slices, and more in the dumpsters at a couple of my local grocery stores. If you're up to it, you might at least consider it.

I also agree with someone else's suggestion, don't get too fixated on brand name. Sometimes I go to the discount grocery outlet and find some total scores that fit into my diet (the other day I found nonfat organic greek yogurt, 8 for $1). The point is, you can make it work if you want to! Good luck!

As someone who works for a Health Department I have to warn against this aside from the obvious issues folks may see with this, there could also be a food recall on those items. The last thing you want is to rack up hospital bills from salmonella poisoning. Recent items the FDA has recalled include peanut butter, eggs, cantaloupe, lettuce -including bagged lettuce.

If you are at this point of desperation for food please consider going to your local food bank or asking a charitable group including churches to see if they can help.

EliseEternity025427

Thats streange because last night I managed to get all the supplies I need to meals for the next week, and didnt even spend $50. But this is Australia, and I dont know how expensive things are where you are. I would reccomend hitting up local suppliers or some of the smaller fresh food markets around. And never waste anything. I have a vaccume sealer that my parents got me for christmas one year. It has saved me about four meals a fortnight that would normally be thrown away. (It vacummes the air from the bag and then seals it air tight and fresh for 50X longer than just in a bag or glad wrap.