What are the healthiest, inexpensive foods?
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Organic eggs are 5 bucks a dozen. Read the book The Skinny Bit**. You'll go organic or vegetarian. Ignorance is bliss. I try to eat organic when I can. With a family of five our food bill is crazy. But that's off topic. Just had to post the egg price.0
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bump for later!0
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I think the biggest thing is being a smart shopper. If chicken breasts are a great deal this week - buy as much as you can. As soon as you get home trim off the fat and freeze them individually in zip lock bags that you toss into a gallon freezer bag to keep them free of frost bite. Whole wheat bread can be stored in the freezer. Buy veggies at a local farmers market for super cheap. Chop/blanch/freeze!
Don't buy "instant" foods. Instead of microwave popcorn you just get regular popcorn kernels and put them in a brown paper bag and microwave them! No more nasty fat & additives and so much cheaper. Usually when things are instant convenient foods you can do it yourself so much cheaper. Don't buy 100 calorie packs. Instead buy a large value size and split it into snack size baggies at home. Get the most bang for your buck!
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Black Beans
Eggs
Tuna
Carrots
Oatmeal
Romaine Lettuce
Popcorn (not the microwave pop super buttery variety though)
Brown Rice
Frozen Fruits and Veggies
Bananas
Imitation Crab Meat (rich in omega 3s and protein/low fat)
Whole Wheat pasta
Good advice aisgreen:)0 -
bump0
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if you are a sams club member, go online and search emergency. It brings up stuff from a company called augason farms.
Once you get past the food for a year or the other large pallets, there are single 5 gallon buckets of various things. beans, whole wheat, oatmeal. I am sure there are better options for retaining nutrients than freezedried, but if you are looking to make sure you have options when you are dead broke besides falling into the typical americal poverty diet, then having a few of these pails put away somewhere in a closet is not a bad idea.
All prices include shipping. So, in my family of 7, I am starting to shop like this for my staples. It is about the same or cheaper than the grocery store and it comes to my door. My lower cupboards have no shelves, so I can fit them in my kitchen just fine. A smaller family or a single person might have storage issues, though. If you are into preparing for future problems, or for some stuff for camping that is lightweight, they also have stews and meats, fruit, and a lot of interesting things for water storage.
38 pound pail of cornmeal $28.48
43 pound pail of brown rice $37.68
$68.88 this veg assortment:
Up to 20 year shelf life*
222 total servings (plus 24 bonus servings)
4 lbs., 6.4 oz. net weight
Re-sealable pouches
6 vegetable items, plus one bonus item (Dehydrated Chopped Onions)
Easy to prepare: just add water and cook
Packaged in pouches, packed in a 6-gallon pail
Easily storable with a handle for carrying
The Augason Farms Freeze Dried Vegetable Variety Pack contains the following items in pouches, packed in a 6-gallon pail:
Freeze Dried Diced Potatoes (22 servings)
Freeze Dried Peas (30 servings)
Freeze Dried Cauliflower (60 servings)
Freeze Dried Broccoli Florets & Stems (30 servings)
Freeze Dried Sweet Corn (40 servings)
Freeze Dried Green Beans (40 servings)
Dehydrated Chopped Onions (24 servings)0 -
Avocados.
It took me awhile to get out of the mindset of healthy=expensive, because it just isn't that way. I've finally gotten to the point where the majority of my shopping is at the perimeter of the store and I rarely venture into the aisle down the middle. The outer areas have veggies, meats, dairy, fruits. Hit the middle rows and you get foods with additives and preservatives and TONS of unfilling calories.0 -
Dried beans
Brown rice
Oats
canned tuna
White fish - pollock, tilapia, haddock, perch
cottage cheese
eggs
frozen vegetables/fruit
whole grain bread/pasta
These are probably regional but where I live these are always fairly inexpensive:
carrots
apples
onions
green cabbage
butternut squash
radishes
And when in season:
sweet potatoes
broccoli
collard greens
kale
cauliflower
peppers
green beans
zucchini
summer (yellow) squash
Winner!!!!:drinker: Only two items on this list that I do not purchase weekly and they are radishes and butternut Squash. The rest are in the housz!:flowerforyou:0 -
WOW!! Thank you every single person here!!
This is some awesome info for all of us!! I so appreciate you all and how you jumped right in! I think of the family of 8, or even more and how can they eat healthy! These ideas should help anyone!!
Thank you sooooooooooooooooo much!! Denise:drinker: :drinker:
PS More replies welcome!! Keep them coming!!0 -
bumpity bump... lots of great ideas0
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Brown rice, lentils, and oats stay stocked.
Canned tuna
Frozen veggies
Eggs, frozen bags of fish and chicken when we find a great deal and can afford them (rarely)
Otherwise, mostly fresh produce, whatever is cheap/in season/on sale, mostly:
Celery
Bananas
Cucumbers
Spinach
Green Onions
My husband and I spend $60 or less each week on groceries, though sometimes it's hard because the produce runs out quickly.0 -
Quinoa
Brown Rice (not the instant kind)
Natural Peanut Butter
Fresh vegetables in season. Grow your own if lucky enough to have room for a garden0 -
Also if you visit a farmers market, try visiting at the end of the day. Often you will get extras.0
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bump0
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GRITS and Eggs!!! Keeps me full all morning
We do this for dinner. Nummy.0 -
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Avocados.
It took me awhile to get out of the mindset of healthy=expensive, because it just isn't that way. I've finally gotten to the point where the majority of my shopping is at the perimeter of the store and I rarely venture into the aisle down the middle. The outer areas have veggies, meats, dairy, fruits. Hit the middle rows and you get foods with additives and preservatives and TONS of unfilling calories.
Just learning this for myself, too. It's getting better over time preparing for two (what we'll actually eat) vs. a whole package only because that's what I was used to.0 -
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I like to buy frozen fruit for smoothies.. I tend to let fresh fruit go bad before I eat it all, so it saves me money in the long run because it lasts longer!0
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Compare prices on frozen meat, like boneless, skinless chicken breasts. In may cases, the fresh boneless, skinless variety IN THE BUTCHER CASE is cheaper. You can freeze it yourself..... especially in the summer when they push them for grilling.
Also, skinning a thigh or breast is a snap, and the multi-packs in the fresh section are cheaper than paying someone to skin them for you. And the bones add flavor....0 -
I like to eat simple because if I try to get too creative making meals, I tend to really mess up my calorie allotment. I know fruits and veggies raw are high nutrition, but sometimes I sure would like some reasonably healthy and inexpensive COMFORT FOOD.
I like peanut butter on celery...as long as I dont PILE ON the peanut butter, you can squeak 3 ribs of celery out of 1 Tablespoon of peanut butter. OH, also, my sister-in-law often uses cabbage leaves for the "bread" of a sandwich. You'd be surprised what all you can make a "sandwich" out of that is reasonably healthy.
Another food that is more like comfort food to me is homemade soup. It doesn't really take much money to make a very large batch of soup and you can freeze it in portion sizes so it's ready when you are. I have major trouble staying out of the fast food drive-thrus. But when I get my butt in gear and have soup or chicken breasts already cooked and ready at home, it helps my discipline.
Hope this helps ya'll too.0 -
take advantage of your local farmers market!0
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Tofu. You get a lot of good nutrition for your money. I mix tofu with fat free or part skim ricotta to make eggplant lasagna (no noodles). I also include it in my smoothies and in blended vegetable soups to increase protein content.
Jars of spaghetti sauce. It can be high in sodium or sugar, so you have to watch out for those, but it is versatile and affordable. It makes a nice topping for grilled chicken, turkey, added in to ground chicken or turkey for meatloaf or meatballs (also, add tofu for leaner recipes) and a good condiment for steamed veggies (like broccoli or zucchini) . It is also good with shellfish like shrimp, clams, calimari, scallops or the shellfish blends you can buy in the freezer section. Cut the sauce with a little chicken broth for a lighter flavor. Add store bought spaghetti sauce to chicken or vegetable broth for a quick soup base.0 -
bump for later0
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Organic eggs are 5 bucks a dozen. Read the book The Skinny Bit**. You'll go organic or vegetarian. Ignorance is bliss. I try to eat organic when I can. With a family of five our food bill is crazy. But that's off topic. Just had to post the egg price.
Organic eggs where I live are $2.99 for a dozen large.0 -
Organic eggs just means the hens are fed organic grains. All those cheap eggs are from hens kept in cruel, unhealthy and disgusting conditions and have had their beaks chopped off with no painkillers (which is the equivalent of chopping a finger off a human baby) Chickens are meant to eat bugs, outside. Where I live, a dozen pasture-raised eggs is $7-8. So you'll find my awesome vegan butt over in the bulk section buying lentils.0
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