What are YOUR #1 cheap, healthy foods?

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2

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  • jangaard
    jangaard Posts: 32 Member
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    quinoa! raspberries! egg whites!
  • Rosa1213
    Rosa1213 Posts: 456 Member
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    Everywhere I go, the produce seems quite expensive, but the store-brand rice cakes are pretty cheap.
    They make great snacks :)
  • Topsking2010
    Topsking2010 Posts: 2,245 Member
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    When watching my budget, my menu is based on what is on sale that week. Build your menus that way.



    This
  • laura2270
    laura2270 Posts: 4
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    Apples (always some variety that is on sale) and eat what is in season. You can normally find it on sale. I set aside 50% of my weekly food budget for fresh items that must be replaced regularly, and use the other 50% to buy what is on sale that I will eat (I buy a ton of beans and canned tomatoes and spaghetti sauce in the fall because it is usually really cheap).

    For grains, we eat regular brown rice (no instant, that costs twice as much) and wheat berries.
  • Justacoffeenut
    Justacoffeenut Posts: 3,808 Member
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    bump
  • barbiecollins
    barbiecollins Posts: 7
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    eggs, quinoa, nutribiotic rice protein powder, avocado, blue berries
  • JennInMA
    JennInMA Posts: 33 Member
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    Frozen bags of veggies
    Pre-Bagged Apples
    Light Wheat Bread/Oatmeal Bread
    Bagged baby carrots
    Fat Free Cottage Cheese
    Store Brand Non-Fat Yogurt
  • jennaworksout
    jennaworksout Posts: 1,739 Member
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    eggs
    zucchini
    yogurt when its on sale
    sweet potatoes
    quinoa
  • squirmmonster
    squirmmonster Posts: 98 Member
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    >greens
    >too expensive

    Where the hell are you shopping, woman? Whole Payche--- I mean, Whole Foods?
  • Cat52169
    Cat52169 Posts: 277 Member
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    coupons.com is a great source for free printable coupons. I too watch sale ads. I buy what I want. I just try not to batter and deep fry it or cover it in gravy :laugh:
  • lizchristine
    lizchristine Posts: 42 Member
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    I make homemade pizza dough with wheat flour and flax meal -- it's way cheaper than takeout. Chili is a favorite inexpensive meal, as well. I also love eggs, onions, potatos, canned beans, canned tomatos and sauce, brown rice, pasta (just watch your portions), frozen veggies, etc. They are great cheap staples in my kitchen.
  • jabrussl
    jabrussl Posts: 13 Member
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    I agree Aldi is a great place for fruits and veggies. They also publish next weeks ad so you can plan ahead.
  • stephaniec78
    stephaniec78 Posts: 76 Member
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    Bell peppers are expensive here :/ A rainbow pack (only 3 peppers!) is usually about 6.99. Sometimes (not very often) It'll be on sale for 3.99. Sometimes green peppers go on sale for 99 cents a pound and I stock up, but usually I think it's around 2 dollars a pound, red, yellow or orange is 4 dollars a pound.
    Chicken is also CRAZY expensive, which sucks cuz I LOVE chicken lol.
    Also can't eat bread, gluten intolerant, but it's great for the kiddoes, they like PB sandwhiches, very cheap!

    You mentioned that fresh veggies are expensive. I suggest you try the frozen ones. They tend to be frozen as soon as they harvested so you aren't really loosing any nutrition.
  • handeye
    handeye Posts: 52 Member
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    apples and bananas
    SWEET POTATOES (talk about cheap and healthy)
    eggs
    soup (i like getting the soups at trader joe's, pretty reasonable price for 4 cups (about 2 servings) and flavors like carrot & ginger or butternut squash
    cauliflower
    blueberries when they're on sale for 99cents
  • angelicasmommy
    angelicasmommy Posts: 303 Member
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    Bell peppers are expensive here :/ A rainbow pack (only 3 peppers!) is usually about 6.99. Sometimes (not very often) It'll be on sale for 3.99. Sometimes green peppers go on sale for 99 cents a pound and I stock up, but usually I think it's around 2 dollars a pound, red, yellow or orange is 4 dollars a pound.
    Chicken is also CRAZY expensive, which sucks cuz I LOVE chicken lol.
    Also can't eat bread, gluten intolerant, but it's great for the kiddoes, they like PB sandwhiches, very cheap!

    You mentioned that fresh veggies are expensive. I suggest you try the frozen ones. They tend to be frozen as soon as they harvested so you aren't really loosing any nutrition.

    Yup, that's on my list. :)
  • tripod271
    tripod271 Posts: 112 Member
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    Chicken, oats (preferably the less processed steel cut) and eggs.
  • sujenwujen
    sujenwujen Posts: 43 Member
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    I notice people are posting "Eggs -- whites only!" The yolk is only bad for you if you have a *known* cholesterol *problem.* If you've had your cholesterol checked, and your *doctor* says that you're good to go, there's no reason you shouldn't eat the whole egg.

    My cholesterol has never been a problem for me, so my go-to (and cheap!) breakfast is a hard-boiled egg & a banana. When you look at it in front of you, you think, "That's never going to fill me up!" but all that protein combined with the (good) carbs from the banana make for a quite filling, low-cost breakfast. I boil a half-dozen eggs on Sunday & buy a bunch of bananas, and I'm good for the week! (don't keep cooked eggs longer than a week; they'll go bad).

    I'm also a fan of mushrooms. They bulk up a meal without adding calories. Of course, gourmet mushrooms can be expensive, but regular ol' white mushrooms work, too. You can also get them canned, but they're not nearly as good or as filling as fresh.

    So,
    Bananas
    Hard-boiled eggs
    Mushrooms
  • salcha76
    salcha76 Posts: 287 Member
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    lentils! with beef broth & hamburger, yum!
    eggs! add an egg to anything!
    salsa! and surprise, you can have that w/lentils or eggs!
  • tripod271
    tripod271 Posts: 112 Member
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    >greens
    >too expensive

    Where the hell are you shopping, woman? Whole Payche--- I mean, Whole Foods?
    It's expensive for her because where she lives (New Brunswick) there isn't a lot of land that can be farmed - mostly potatoes. So fresh vegetables are expensive.
  • angelicasmommy
    angelicasmommy Posts: 303 Member
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    >greens
    >too expensive

    Where the hell are you shopping, woman? Whole Payche--- I mean, Whole Foods?
    It's expensive for her because where she lives (New Brunswick) there isn't a lot of land that can be farmed - mostly potatoes. So fresh vegetables are expensive.

    I didn't know that was why lol but yea...broccoli is 3 for a small bunch, cauliflower is about 3.50, spinach is 3, which isn't bad actually because it'll last a few days. Cucumber is pretty expensive. I don't like field cukes, because of the soggy gross middle, and english ones and about 3 dollars per cucumber. Celery is 2.69 I believe. It doesn't sound expensive but when you add it all up, it can get expensive especially if it only lasts a few days. I don't know why produce doesn't last as long as it should in my fridge!

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