help me cook healthy? :/

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Shoots4Stars
Shoots4Stars Posts: 3
in Food and Nutrition
for a family of EIGHT! Between my husband and i there are 6 children. That's 5 boys and 1 girl between the ages of 3 and 9. Everyone knows that the less expensive food is the stuff that's bad for you, but I have to shop cheap. Can anyone offer any simple but HEALTHY recipes, that will feed a family my size? :ohwell:

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  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    Wow, that's a big family to cook for :)
    I don't have the answers for you but I know I've seen a bunch of threads on "healthy budget recipes". Try the MFP search function and you should find heaps of ideas on older threads.
  • MaryD4900
    MaryD4900 Posts: 135 Member
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    Beans are as cheap as it gets! Made this lentil soup tonight: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/lentil-soup-recipe/index.html

    Didn't have grains of paradise, so I subbed in regular black pepper, garlic, cinnamon, ginger, chili and cayenne. Just a few shakes of each and it was soooo good, healthy, filling, and super cheap!

    You can also make black bean quesadillas, baked potatoes w/ beans, bean/veggie burgers.... tuna patties (recipe on database), I make lots of vegetable soup. Broth as the base, canned tomatoes, beans, and whatever veggies you have. Roasted whole chickens are usually a cheap meal. You can put it in the crockpot with potatoes and carrots. yummy
  • kleighsamboer
    kleighsamboer Posts: 250
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    soups are always a really good and cheap option. another thing to check out would be if you have any asian or hispanic markets near where you live. we have a huge asian market where I live and I can get about 5 bags of produce for $35-$40. It is a great way to save money. Not only that but most of the produce is organic. Salads are also healthy and cheap and there are many combinations you can make. yams are pretty cheap and filling and tilapia is pretty cheap as well.
  • simples88
    simples88 Posts: 51
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    I always feel like I'm having a treat when I make homemade pizza. The base is cheap to make, flour and yeast and top with passata, and then anything else low fat...mushrooms, toms, anchovies etc plus I never use normal cheese..always a low fat mozzarella -not sure about the us but here in the uk you can usually pick up a ball for 50p ish and that covers off two adult sized pizzas.
    Jamie Oliver and gino d'campo (uk chefs) both have thin base recipes on their sites.
    For the gino recipe with bits on its approx 600cals for the full pizza.

    Just a few i can think of...Homemade Spanish omelette, fish cakes with potato, fish and 'chips' made with light potato wedges, homemade burgers -great with few chopped onions and sundried toms from a jar and low fat feta crumbled in to make them tasty-always grilled! Low fat sausage stew -you can make this Italian tasting with some dried oregano and tinned toms (good slow cooker option for the manic days) pasta dished with homemade sauce bulked with mushrooms, fresh toms onion etc, always nice with roasted Vegs thrown in

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