Healthy Recipes for poor people? lol

Give us a little info --- what kinds of foods do you like? Not like? Allergies? Time available? Enjoy cooking? Novice or experienced cook? Do you have a crock pot?

dried beans, rice, eggs, frozen veggies, fresh produce that is in season and on sale.

Just made a pseudo dish i called Not Pasta Primavera:
favorite tomato based pasta sauce (I used Barilla Spicy Marinara),
frozen veggies (mushrooms, carrots, green beans, cauliflower hold up well),
favorite meat (shrimp, leftover beef, chicken, pork).
Cook veggies in sauce til done. Add cooked meat and simmer for a few minutes until warm.
Serve alone or over pasta or rice

Sugar-free cheesecake pudding (made with skim/soy/almond milk) + 1/2 serving granola = easy cheap desert!

Bob's Red Mill granola: $3.00 a bag, 14 half servings per bag for $0.21 above.
Jell-o Pudding Mix: $0.98 per box, 4 servings per box for 0.24 per serving
2 cups skim milk: Average price for gallon near me is $3.55, 2 cups used...$0.44 used in recipe, $0.11 per serving.

Total for dessert: $0.56 per serving.

For slightly more you can add berries, bananas, cranberries, etc.....

Oats for porridge - I make it with water and your can add whatever you want really
Ham slices - big pack
Pasta/tomato sauces
canned beans

Shop at different grocery stores and look for the best sales. I spend about 150 to 200 a month for 2 people. You can add me and browse my diary if you'd like. .

Awesome site thanx!

I usually spend even less than that on groceries a month. I buy stuff like:

-Whole Wheat Pasta; Super cheap, can be made into an endless amount of dishes, and is a great way to add fiber)

-Dried Beans; Usually garbanzos; I cook a large amount at a time and freeze some for adding to dishes later and use some for making hummus. Great for protein and fiber.

-Almonds or other raw, unsalted nuts; These aren't the cheapest item I buy, but one bag of them goes a long way and is great for making almond milk, almond "cookies" (I just throw raw almonds, cocoa, agave/honey, and sometimes a tablespoon of milk in the food processor, and I basically have yummy, chocolatey energy balls!) I also grind/chop the almonds up and top soups with them, throw them in rice, etc.

-Raw Produce; I try to only buy stuff on sale; there are always sales on bags of spinach. Spinach, kale, button mushrooms, tomatoes, etc., are all delicious, versatile, and often on sale. Kale is especially valuable for all the nutrients just one serving can offer.

-Frozen peas

-Frozen hash browns; I love hashbrowns lately, and you can get a 2-pound bag for less than $2. Good cooked in bacon grease in the skillet, can add anything to them)

-Potatoes; I try to buy sweet potatoes, because they offer more nutrition, but russet potatoes are always cheaper and are great for a budget. The skins are full of potassium!

-Frozen chicken or fish for protein, depending on what's on sale

-Canned black beans

-EGGS!! These are my life-saving item while on a budget. They are so cheap, and a great source of protein and other nutrients. I have them boiled, poached, in egg drop soups, fried, scrambled, in omelettes, and more!

I could go on, but you get the idea. As you shop more, you'll realize which items you prefer fresh and which are not worth the extra money. There are certain veggies I will never eat canned or frozen, and others that I almost prefer that way! Try not to shop when you're hungry, and you'll end up with lots of nutritious options. I always choose whole grain options in pasta, rice, etc., for example, because it's never more expensive to do so. Having a tight budget has actually forced me to eat healthier, in a way. While I'd love to splurge on everything in the organic section and try every exotic fruit the grocery store offers, I do find that just forcing myself to only buy the healthiest options I CAN afford still goes a long way.

I often make what I call "poor man's chili" and I throw in whatever veggies I have and tomato soup and canned tomatoes, regular canned beans, etc....if you have a food processor you can use it for greens and cauliflower to add...if you have meat, add that too....chicken or turkey preferably....

Is this for one person, or two people? I spend about 150 - 250 a month for two people.

Meal planning will help you a lot. I shop at 1 - 3 stores, and see what's on sale and figure it out from there. Most of the time it's just chicken, and veggies. We buy fresh, but only plan for a week or so ahead, and only buy what's on sale.

If you can, and it's on sale buy fresh chicken breasts, and cut them up yourself. Most of the time the breasts they portion out are a lot bigger than a serving size. You can easy cut up, and make 1 breast into 2 - 3 portions. Packs typically come with 6, so you can make 12 - 18 portions of chicken.

Canned tuna for lunches, or to top salads with. You can also just cook it up with veggies, and add it to rice.

If you watch portion sizes, you can make a box of pasta last for 5 - 7 meals, and it's typically about $1 a box.


If you have a Sprouts near you, check them out. Usually their produce, and meat is a really, really good deal.

Tuna/chicken salad on romaine lettuce
Frozen veggies
Bulk chicken breast
Oatmeal
Beans
Whole wheat rice
Soups (make homemade- it tastes better and lasts the whole week)
Turkey meatballs (1lb makes 16 meatballs for me- last a couple of days)
Spaghetti squash ( cheaper than pasta and healthier)
Water water water
Canned low sugar fruits


My poor man's meal happens to be my family's favorite- black beans cabbage and brown rice.

I don't spend too much on food, either - well, I don't like to, anyway - these are my go to staples for base "survival"

-Eggs
-Bacon
-Potatoes
-Bananas
-Offal

On that list, I believe bacon is the most expensive - but with the bacon, you can successfully fry all the other food on the list in it's grease. Alternatively, you could get butter, if it's cheap.

Why offal? Well, it's dirt cheap. Seriously. Over here, Ox heart is $5 a KG. And it's pretty much a freaking steak - I kid you not, once you get around the whole "ooh, yucky, a heart, I could never eat that..." mantra, you can be frying up gourmet steaks on a budget in no time. Also, offal meats offer vitamins that your body could be lacking from the lack of slightly more expensive veggies, so you could quite easily live off this stuff on the list alone. That said, I'd invest a little in buying some veggies (mushrooms/carrots/broccoli/PUMPKIN!).
Bananas? They're decently cheap, and are a great dessert when frozen. Trick is to let them brown for a bit, first.

With the stuff on this list, you can create a ridiculously variety of things. Most recent pic on my profile is of what I made for dinner last night - only took ten minutes and was fantastic: giant *kitten* omelette with bacon and a grate hash brown. You an also make nachos, casseroles, fry ups and - hell, cakes with these ingredients, if you get a bit creative. I could literally live of this stuff without feeling the slightest bit deprived...

...okay, well, also put a few bucks aside to get yourself some quality chocolate and coffee.

My kids love when I make my version of 'soupa'. It's easy, inexpensive, and can feed a lot or a little. It also keeps well for leftovers.

2 bricks ramen, we use beef or oriental
1 bag frozen mixed veggies
1/2 - 1 lb. ground beef or turkey
Cook each ingredient separately
Combine into large bowl and mix well
Use the water from the ramen for soup or drain the water if you would rather add a topping like tomato sauce or cheese for a pasta casserole dish.

Serves 2

A site I like to use is
http://www.supercook.com/

it has a "my kitchen" frame on the left where you add items (ingredients) you have on hand one at a time and it suggest recipes using those ingredients.
Great way to find various tasty ways to try those pinto or kidney beans that you bought 25lbs of because it was $1/lb instead of $2.50 buying it in smaller packs.
It will take your first ingredient added and then ask you for related items IE enter ground beef it asks you if you have chili powder, tomato paste etc, you can click those items from the suggestions on the right to add them to "your kitchen" and you should see the number of recipes using at least one of your ingredients increasing with each item you add.

Bump.