Budget Friendly Healthy Recipes?
vpeters28
Posts: 4
Hi everyone! I am just about to start grad school and my budget for groceries is going to be limited compared to how I was living before. I am trying to find recipes that are fairly healthy and don't involve any expensive ingredients. I'm definitely going to try out the breakfast burrito recipes that people have posted, but what about dinner and lunch recipes? Thanks!
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Replies
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Invest in a crock pot if you don't already have one.
Check out the Skinny Ms. & skinnytaste.com webistes.
Good luck!!0 -
Soy-Ginger Chicken w/ White Rice
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1/3 cup Lower Sodium Soy Sauce
2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
5 Cloves of Garlic, thinly sliced
2/3 cup Fresh Cilantro, chopped
1 2-inch piece of Fresh Ginger, peeled then thinly sliced
5 Scallions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 teaspoon Ground Coriander
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
4 Chicken Drumsticks and 4 bone-in Chicken Thighs, skin removed
2 medium Carrots, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon of Cornstarch
1 cup dry rice.
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. In a 5 quart dutch oven, combine soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, cilantro, ginger, scallions, balsamic vinegar, coriander and black pepper. Still to combine well. Add chicken and carrots and toss to coat. Bake in oven for 1 1/2 hours, or until chicken is tender.
3. Cook rice according to package directions or in rice cooker when chicken gets to about half way done.
4. In a 2 cup measuring cup, or medium bowl, combine the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water. Ladle one cup of the cooking liquid from the dutch oven into the measuring cup, whisk to combine. Pour into a small saucepan and bring to a boil for about 1 minute or until thickened. Serve chicken over rice with a small ladle of sauce over top. Garnish with extra cilantro and scallions if desired.
***Note: Recipe can be done in slow cooker if desired. Just sub in the slow cooker for the dutch oven and cook over low for 6 hrs.
Stats (including White Rice):
Calories: 429
Carbs: 36g
Fat: 11g
Protein: 43g
Potassium: 462g
Fiber: 2g
This is actually a fairly cheap recipe, with minimal fresh ingredients. I ended up only spending $15 on this, and that was at Whole Foods...so it will be even cheaper at a regular grocery store.
Everyday Food Light by Martha Stewart is a good buy, and she has a lot of her recipes from that book up on her website. With the book though, you can follow it seasonally (that is how it is laid out) which will help with saving money.0 -
Stir-fries, especially vegetarian ones, are tasty, low-cal and can be spiced to fit your preferences. They can be made with either fresh or frozen vegetables. A basic stir-fry is vegetables cooked with a little vegetable broth (or chicken, or beef, if you prefer) to keep it from sticking. Add Asian spice, cayenne pepper (to taste if you like spicy, leave it out if you don't) and two tablespoons of sweet and sour sauce or soy ginger sauce, and you have a wonderful Oriental stir fry. Take the same vegetables, add curry powder, jalepenos (once again, only if you like spicy!), take it off the heat, add 2 tablespoons of fat free greek yogurt and you have an Indian Korma.
If you don't want to serve the dishes over white rice, you can use brown rice, whole wheat spaghetti, lentils, or my personal favorites, couscous or quinoa. Or mix any of them together. The stir-fries can be made ahead, portioned out and frozen in bags or plastic tubs and re-heated, so can the lentils, and brown rice. Cooked couscous and quinoa don't freeze well, but the only take 5-7 minutes to cook, anyway.
If you're a meat eater, chicken breast and white meat turkey work great with just about any of the stir-fries. Beef and pork are a little trickier. The best way, I've found (I'm a vegetarian but my family isn't) is to buy a very cheap cut of beef or pork, (like stew meat), simmer them all day (a crock pot works wonders for this), drain and add it at the last minute to the stir fry. Of course, this will add fat and cholesterol to the dish but much of the fat from the beef or pork will be boiled away and thrown down the sink, but some will remain. It will add protein as well. If you're not a meat eater, stir-fried tofu added to the vegetables is awesome and freezes well.
Good luck and study hard! :happy:0 -
Roasted Cabbage
1 head of red or green cabbage, cut into wedges
1tsp olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
Coat wedges with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Roast for approximately 25-30 minutes, or until crispy
Enjoy!0 -
I have a lowcalorie, cheap breakfast/snack tip.
I found it on Blogilates and it's the easiest type of pancakes l have ever encountered.
1 normal banana
2 normal eggs.
Mix it and fry. Done
SInce I don't like bananaflavour on anything else than bananas I added some vanilla.0 -
This can be both a treat and a little cheat
1 slice whole wheat bread
Mozzarella cheese (enough to cover at least half of the toast)
Tomato
Onion
Pepper to taste
(Over a pan, 'toast' unbuttered bread, add the cheese, tomato slice, onion, on top of bread - cook until cheese is melted)
Add a nice cup of fruit and a little OJ to get ya pumpin' for the day!0 -
I recently discovered the wonders of Quiche (minus the crust) and love it. Yesterday I made this (in a large pan like a casserole) and it was both cheap (especially as most of the ingredients were lying about anyway) and quick. Also, it should keep for about 3-4 days if you refrigerate it and a few months if you store it in the freezer.
Here's the ingredient list I used:
http://www.fatsecret.com/recipes/quiche-muffins/Default.aspx
4 tbsps half and half *[you can make a substitute with milk and butter--just google it]
4 tbsps bacon bits, cooked *[not necessary]
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
8 extra large eggs
4 slices ham, chopped
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets, chopped
1/4 tbsp onion, chopped
1/4 cup spinach, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
1 dash pepper
1 dash salt
And another one:
http://www.fatsecret.com/recipes/egg-muffins-with-turkey-sausage/Default.aspx
12 lean turkey breakfast sausage links
12 large eggs
5 oz spinach
1 5" long sweet potato
(you can always halves the ingredients to make a smaller serving size).0 -
INGREDIENTS:
-1 small head of cauliflower
-1 and 1/4 cups of low fat mozzarella cheese
-1/4 tsp dried oregano
-1/4 tsp dried garlic powder
-1/4 tsp dried basil
-1/4 tsp salt
-1 egg
-small handful of fresh basil leaves sliced thinly
DIRECTIONS:
1. Shred the cauliflower in your food processor until it looks like rice – I call this “ricing”.
2. Place the rice in a bowl and microwave it for 5 minutes.
3. Squeeze all of the excess water out by placing the rice on a cheesecloth or thin piece of linen and pressing the liquid out. If you skip this, it’s not the end of the world.
4. Then mix in your dried ingredients, egg, cheese, and basil leaves. Be careful! It’s hot. Don’t do what I did in my first Cheap Clean Eats video. You can watch that disaster here. (No, seriously, watch it!)
5. Form your “dough” into little nugget sized pieces on a tray that’s been sprayed with EVOO, PAM, or coconut oil.
6. Bake at 425F for 15 min. (I actually left mine in a little longer to make sure they get a bit crunchy.)
*98 cals per serving = 6 nuggets
http://blogilates.tumblr.com/post/63133333936/ingredients-1-small-head-of-cauliflower-1-and
ALSO: I definitely recommend checking out tumblr. They have a great fitspo community and you can find a ton of awesome recipes there. Here are some I saved, but my list is pretty limited (not to mention outdated) compared to others: http://reinamy-fitspo.tumblr.com/tagged/foodivation0 -
The cauliflower one sounds delish. I love cheese0
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How about lettuce wraps? Use lettuce leaves like a tortilla and stuff it however you want. I like tuna cucumber and carrots or my favorite ground turkey sauteed with olive oil mushrooms scallions and garlic!0
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Low cal tortilla
spinkle cheese.
jimmy dean turkey sausage warmed in microwave.
salsa.
Add ingredients into tortilla so yummy.
if you have an egg may do egg whites or scrambled egg.0 -
I love gumbo, and if you have a crock pot it's so easy! You can find tons of different gumbo recipes online, just be careful of what you add to yours. Heavy on veggies, lean protein, and spices is key! The wonderful thing about gumbo is that you can really alter it to suit your tastes and the ingredients aren't very expensive. You cam even stock up on the essentials (frozen chopped okra, canned tomatoes, frozen chicken/shrimp/etc) and keep them on hand until the next time you make it!
I think I'm having gumbo this week...0 -
Great ideas!0
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Wanted to share this because not only is it budget friendly, but lower calorie and tastes amazing.
Baked Ziti and Summer Vegetables
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 ounces uncooked ziti
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 chopped medium yellow squash
1 chopped medium zucchini
1/2 chopped onion
1 28oz can Sun-dried diced tomatoes (Look for no salt added, if not available then reduced salt below to 1/4 tsp)**
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup (2 ounces) part-skim ricotta cheese
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain.
2. Preheat oven to 400°.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan. Add squash, zucchini, and onion; sauté 5 minutes. Add tomato and garlic; sauté 3 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in pasta, 1/2 cup mozzarella, herbs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper.
4. Combine ricotta, remaining salt, and egg. Stir into pasta mixture. Spoon into an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until bubbly and browned.
Nutritional Information
Based on brands I used, your numbers may be slightly different so all ways make sure you log your own recipe.
-Calories: 339
-Carbs: 37g
-Fat: 14g
-Protein: 17g
-Chol: 88g
-Sodium: 920mg (I didn't use no salt added tomatoes)
-Potassium: 462mg
-Fiber: 3g
-Sugar: 10g
**The original recipe calls for 2 cups fresh tomatoes diced.0
