Eating healthy on a very tight budget

If you don’t already know about protein complements, read some about them, and mix in more vegetarian meals:

http://www.vegetarian-and-low-calorie-recipes.com/protein-complementation.html


There’s an easy protein-complement chart in this one:

http://www.nutrition.org/asn-blog/2011/03/protein-complementation/

Frances Lappé’s Diet for a Small Planet (oughta be in the public library) has a good and useful discussion, although I always thought the recipes were mostly dogs.

Hunt up vegetarian cookbooks in the public library to browse for ideas; fetch recipes from the Internet.

All of these recipes do not begin with “Harvest the wheat”:

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/series/recipes_for_health/index.html


Grow your own bean and seed sprouts in jars in the kitchen. This takes mere tablespoons and a few days. :

http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/food_and_drink/503137/how_to_grow_sprouts_at_home.html

(Cheesecloth, to cover the jars, is wildly cheaper in auto stores than supermarkets. Dried mung beans, for example, are available at many food coops, health-food stores and Asian markets. I get alfalfa seeds cheaper at agricultural –supply stores. Food coops tend to have the widest variety of whole grains, and the best prices on those, too. Coops and/or farmers markets for veggies and fruits. Couscous, which is actually a pasta, requires just boiling liquid to cover and left to stand for a few minutes.

(As an aside, Mexicans use epazote both to flavor cooked, non-sprouted beans and to cut down on the gas; it should NOT, however, be consumed by expectant mothers: http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/epazote.html There are really very, very tasty bean recipes that are NOT flavored with meat; I find that onion, bay leaf, garlic, peppercorns, a few whole cloves and a few allspice berries are great. You probably know not to add salt to beans until they’re almost done, or they’ll be hard.

(The word for the property of herbs and spices that reduce gas is “carminative.” You may find one with a Wiki or other Web search that’s more to your taste, budget or availability. )

Make a lot of stir-fry and curry dishes, with relatively little meat and a variety of vegetables of different textures. A big cast-iron skillet can work about as well as a wok.

Make your own yogurt, overnight in the oven. Experiment with the unflavored gelatin in the classic Whole Earth Catalog recipe to get the consistency you like. Unfortunately, I can’t find a link to it at the moment, but it’s out there on the Internet. I find it works best with a gas oven that has an oven light.

You can invent recipes, and figure out what’s in them nutrition-wise using the “Track Food” feature of this Web site (which is what brought me here) and save them on the Web site.

I think spices are the key to making vegetarian, and indeed any, meals appetizing. You can grow those at home, too, in pots, if need be. They can be sun- or air-dried on the kitchen counter.

In the interests of time management and being able to turn out tasty things right quick, devote a morning or afternoon or whatever once a week to things like getting sprouts going, making your own chicken and vegetable broth. (I love the chicken-broth recipe in James Beard’s American Cookery, which also oughta be in the public library. Having refrigerated it overnight and scooped the fat off the top, I freeze it in ice-cube trays, pop ‘em out into Zip-Loc bags, and pluck what I need at the moment. Great as the liquid for cooking rice, barley and other grains. Can be diluted with water.)

I myself am an omnivore, but have my mother’s habit on a limited budget of buying what’s in season and on sale. The only difference now is I do that with more of an eye to lower fat and cholesterol, and not just to balanced meals.

Those are my first quick thoughts. Good luck, and happy eating!

see if you have a produce co op in your area called Bountiful Baskets www.bountifulbaskets.org you can get lots of produce (usually every other week) for $15 + processing fee of $1.50 you don't get to pick what you get but we have never been disappointed. Runs on volunteers so if you volunteer at the site you get even more stuff

Sorry, also forgot to mention to check your area for food pantries. In Texas we have Mobile Food Pantries that have drop off locations that will go to a community once per month, no minimum income requirements. Some of these mobile food pantries will close down if not enough clients participate so they want people to come out. I stayed with my parents (social security income) for 6 weeks and when they went they asked me to go so they could get more, so I did...there was lots of food given out and always TONS of food left over so they always asked everyone to tell there friends. *And before you all blast me, yes of course I pitched in to help with bills and food during the six weeks I was there and I also do lots of other things for my parents during the year*

Crockpot Lemon Rosemary Chicken

1 Whole Chicken $9 (depends on where you live- cheaper in Tx, more expensive in Ca.)
1 pk Fresh Rosemary $3 Produce section (or jar)
3 Fresh Lemon $2
Salt, Pepper, any seasonings you like


Place whole thawed chicken (guts removed) breast sided up in lined or sprayed crock pot
Cut Lemons in Half and squeeze Lemon juice around chicken and place in cavity or around chicken
Place Rosemary in cavity or around chicken
Salt, Pepper and sprinkle with seasoning (we love Tony Cacheres) and salt makes the lemon really pop

Cook on High 6 hours or Low 8 hours or until done
Serve with Salad or Green Veggie
This is really really really good

A lot of communities have a food pantry where you can take home a bag of groceries once a month. Granted, it will be canned goods and staples like pasta and rice, some of it not that greatest food, but it should help stretch your budget. If you're not sure if your area has a food pantry, call the local churches or Google "food pantry" and your town, city or county.

One cup of lentils has the protein of 3 eggs. Lentils have some of the highest protein in beans, plus you don't have to soak them. They cook in about 30 minutes. Boil and then cover and simmer until done. Lentils cost $1.20 a bag here in my grocery store, less in bulk at the health food store. Add some brown rice and vegetables and you have a complete meal. Lentils are especially good with onions, winter squash like butternut and acorn, tomatoes, and anything else. Add leafy green vegetables like collard greens, one of the cheapest greens.

I read on MFP that Mexican/Latino grocery stores often sell produce at lower prices than chain grocery stores. Curious, I went to the local Mexican grocery store and was surprised to find tomatoes, avocados, onions, lettuce, and some fruit at half the prices. Check the stores in your area.

Frozen veggies are really inexpensive - and healthy. Same with frozen fruit. I spend about $100 per month on groceries...and it's all fresh fruits and veggies, frozen veggies, and lean meats (and I eat a lot of protein). Sometimes I'll have yogurt or some granola bars but for the most part - no processed foods.

Get familiar with the cycle of loss leaders at the local set of grocery stores. Around here, we've got three of them (though I swear they sit at the same dinner table cuz the SAME DARN THINGS are on sale at each of them and they take turns being the cheapest game in town). I figure having to at least feign competition keeps the prices a tad lower lol. College kid staples take well to being veggied up. Exhibit A: ramen noodles. Also, learn to love your plastic wrap. Chicken thighs come in big bags and can be individually wrapped and shoved in a freezer. Also, don't be afraid to show up when the bargain basement cuts go on sale and ask them to thin slice it - the thinner it is, the easier it is to tenderize the crap out of it and yes, that can be frozen too.

My only really specific piece of advice would be to get sale-priced bags of frozen veggies and stack 'em like cordwood in the remainder of your freezer as they are the laziest way to do veggies ever (plus they keep nutrition better than stuff that's been sitting out post-pick for a week or more).

If you can, learn to butcher up a whole chicken. Whole chickens are usually pretty cheap per pound (cheaper than parts) and are often on sale. One chicken will give you two breasts, two tenderloins, two legs, two thighs, 4 wings, and the carcass for stock (then save clean vege scraps to add to them). If you bought three of them (usually for under $5.00 a chicken), think about how many meals that is.