Eating Healthy on a budget!

Bulk oatmeal, rice, beans..

I too have a picky husband, but I finally had to have a chat with him about both of our unhealthy eating habits - I mean you BOTH do want to be around for your kids right?! Let him know that you will be changing to a healthier version of a old favorites once or twice a day until you all get used to new things. We swapped out whole wheat bread (store brand of course) for white, brown rice for white, cheap fresh veggies for a side dish with dip (carrot sticks with do it yourself light ranch dip to go with baked chicken nuggets and baked "fries"). Eggs are cheap and added to lettuce with light cheese and light ranch is is a tasty salad for almost everyone and a great side for any meal. On my budget which is the same as yours, I buy bone in chicken breast usually on sale for under $1 a pound, ground beef (regular 73% fat) which after browning and draining, I rinse under hot water to get rid of the rest of the fat, this makes it as healthy as very low fat ground beef - also very cheap and works for every taste. I use it in a taco casserole. Combine drained and rinsed ground beef with tomato sauce or diced tomatoes canned, whole wheat pasta elbows, do it yourself taco seasoning (chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano and a little cumin), add a can of corn and mix - put into casserole dish, top with light cheddar cheese and bake - everyone in my house loves it, it is healthy and no one knows I use light or healthy versions of each ingredient. Be sneaky if you have to! If you can't get hubby on board, then at least change your kids meals to reflect your own - let hubby cook his own meal once or twice and he may get on board. Eating healthy on a budget can be hard, but it is do-able! Check your local store for discounted, soon to expire veggies, cheese (freeze for longer life), milk (also freeze if expiring soon) and meat, my grocery store has bags of apples, oranges and bananas for $1.49 several times a week, we get them and use them first for fresh fruit. Also if your store has a salad bar, get lettuce there - our store charges $4.99 a pound for salad items - a pound of lettuce goes a long way and it is cheaper than buying bagged. Hope this helps some - good luck!

Great kids snacks - bananas, apple slices, carrot sticks and dip, pretzels, cheese cubes cut from bulk cheese - cheaper than string cheese snacks, rolled up sliced deli meat with cheese inside or veggies, PBJ cut into squares - cheap and fo some reason the squares make it more interesting! If you do not purchase fattening snacks then the only options for everybody will be healthy stuff. Can you start a small container garden? We are super busy and a large garden is just not do-able for us, hard to keep weeded, but we find 5 gallon buckets for cheap of for free and we grow tomatoes, lettuce, green beans ( bush kind is easier ), and squash. If this is an option for you, then a garden, however big or small can help with the cost and availability of fresh veggies.

Great ideas! I'm also on a budget, thanks so much for asking

Do you have an Aldi near you? That could help solve the budget issue...We are on a low budget also and for those weeks it has been super low it has helped.

I love making my own soups. You can freeze them in portion sizes for later, too, so they won't go bad. It's gazpacho season! Try buying stuff in bulk- buy peanuts (dry roasted, unsalted) stick them in a blender and pulverize, then use them to make peanut butter (you can reconstitute with water for a super low fat version at a 2(peanut):1(water) ratio - I usually do 2 Tbsp:1 Tbsp). Buy chickpeas and tahini and make your own hummus. Buy bread in bulk and freeze it, or make your own and freeze it (sliced). Thaw slices on the counter for 10 minutes. Pickle your hardboiled eggs (beet pickled eggs are actually fun for kids! They turn pink!) Canned tuna, canned chicken, canned sardines, canned salmon - all go a long way and are full of healthy fats. Frozen berries, frozen veggies, frozen fish, all can be stretched.

If you're the one in charge of shopping, tell the hubby that you'll be buying healthier options from now on. If he wants junk he can get a supplemental job to pay for the junk. Remind him that as the parents, you are both responsible for your kids' nutrition and responsible for providing them with good nutritional role models.

I looked at your food journal and one reason you feel hungry all day is you are not eating enough calories - Try whole grain bread to fill you up and add lettuce, tomato and veggies to your sandwiches. Try pretzels with it. snack on raw veggies all day, low calories and filling. Add another snack or just eat more at meals

If you don't have a garden or a place for one at least make your own salad bowl if you have a dollar store around this will cost you about $3.20 to buy new.Get a plastic strainer and a bowl that it fits in snugly.Grab some potting soil and a package of lettuce seeds while you are there. when you get home pore the potting soil into the strainer with the bowl under it what you are doing is making a self watering bowl you add the water to the bowl so the soil soaks the water from the bottom. Sprinkle the lettuce seeds on top it takes about two weeks to grow lettuce. youtube has some really great videos on self watering containers and if you want organic or heirloom seeds check out http://www.heirloomseedswap.com/ were you can get some for free.This is a great project to do with kids and if they are the ones who grow the veggies they are more likley to eat them.Also if you grow herbs like parsley and basil you can add it to your greens and you dont need the salad dressing for flavor.A lot of gourmet salad mixes do just that and then charge you $5 to $10 a pound.

You could get a bag of apples and a big tub of peanut butter and put a little on an apple slice. Also the celery as someone mentioned..

If you don't have a garden or a place for one at least make your own salad bowl if you have a dollar store around this will cost you about $3.20 to buy new.Get a plastic strainer and a bowl that it fits in snugly.Grab some potting soil and a package of lettuce seeds while you are there. when you get home pore the potting soil into the strainer with the bowl under it what you are doing is making a self watering bowl you add the water to the bowl so the soil soaks the water from the bottom. Sprinkle the lettuce seeds on top it takes about two weeks to grow lettuce. youtube has some really great videos on self watering containers and if you want organic or heirloom seeds check out http://www.heirloomseedswap.com/ were you can get some for free.This is a great project to do with kids and if they are the ones who grow the veggies they are more likley to eat them.Also if you grow herbs like parsley and basil you can add it to your greens and you dont need the salad dressing for flavor.A lot of gourmet salad mixes do just that and then charge you $5 to $10 a pound.

This! Yes. I have to say, unfortunately for myself, I could kill a fake houseplant. But if you've got the green thumb- go for it!