Healthy and Inexpensive Meal Ideas

sll1083

Looking for some suggestions for healthy yet inexpensive meal ideas. I'm a single mom with a approximately a $55.00 meal budget for 2.5 weeks. In addition to calories I'm trying to watch sodium and unfortunately cheap = sodium lol and there are only so many iceberg based salads one can eat a month

Any ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

seanwebster

I get pretty far on basic staples... canned tomatoes, beans, rice, and whatever vegetables and fruits are in season and thus cheap. Winter squash and pears are coming in right now, russet potatoes have been cheap but before long sweet potatoes should be too.

While trying to avoid starting a carnivore/herbivore holy war, I will suggest that the more a person gets away from thinking of meat as the center of a meal and toward use as an accent, flavoring, or just dropping it altogether the cheaper meals get. I don't mean veggie burgers and soy bacon, either. If you don't want to give up your meat altogether look for larger and more intact pieces to save a little money. Whole chickens are usually cheaper than pieces, etc.

And I wouldn't rely too heavily on anything processed, both for sodium reasons and the fact that you're paying for processing rather than food value.

Some good ideas here too... I'm not associated with the site, just happened to find it in some other research and kept it bookmarked. http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmenu.htm

LoraF83

I made a nice meal last night from this recipe:

http://www.wholeliving.com/144899/zucchini-patty-sandwiches?center=183822&gallery=136433&slide=144899

You can use dry chickpeas instead of canned. Zucchini and onions are pretty cheap.

Other pantry staples:

Rice
Dried beans
Potatoes (10lb bags are pretty cheap.....you can make a gazillion things out of potatoes)
Onions
Frozen veggies (on sale)
In season fruit & veggies
Tortillas
*try shopping for fruits & veggies and tortillas at an ethnic market....they are generally cheaper
Oatmeal
Eggs
Salsa

I like to put a bunch of beans, canned tomatoes, and some frozen corn in the crockpot and let it cook for 4 hours. Then, put it on tortillas. Yum!

I cook rice with diced onion for added flavor.

I buy cheap cuts of meat and cook them in the crockpot - makes them very tender! Get some low sodium beef and chicken stock when it's on sale (should be soon with Thanksgiving coming up) and add that instead of water for more flavor.

Add frozen fruit to oatmeal.

I cook scrambled eggs with some onion and put it in a tortilla with cheese and salsa - great for breakfast or dinner.

sll1083

Thanks for the suggestions

pinkyleigh83

Dried beans & brown rice bowl with salsa/avocado.
Pb you can find low sodium.
A chicken rotisserie isn't super low sodium but if the portion is right it would be fine. And they can be stretched out over a few meals. I buy ours for $5 at Costco. I'm no expert on this but could you take the bones to make your own chicken stock? You could make a potato or veggie soup that way. You get to control the sodium vs a premade stock. Cheaper too!
I roast a bunch of veggies with cumin etc & put those in corn tortillas. Or make a roasted veggie rice bowl.

WeekndOVOXO

Canned black bean
2 cups of wild rice
cup of salsa
chili powder
lemon
4 boneless skinless chicken breast
oil spray
low fat sour cream

Cook wild rice.
Cook chicken breast.
Cook canned black beans in a pot with chili powder and lemon.
Mix it all together with salsa

Put it in the oven for 30 mins at 350.

put some more salsa on top, and a dab of sour cream.

One serving is about 1 and 1/2 cup, pour it into zip lock bags and freeze. They should last you a while. Affordable, and taste great. You can make about 8-10 servings.

Hope this helps.