On a budget...

JessikaSeagle
JessikaSeagle Posts: 9 Member
in Recipes
On a budget what are some good foods to stock up on? I'm trying to cut out eating out all together and that can sometimes be hard working retail when everything is RIGHT THERE and so easy to get. Wanting to get some easy to prepare lunches and dinners going! :D

Replies

  • HappyHope0123
    HappyHope0123 Posts: 101 Member
    How about catching Chicken breast on sale, cooking it and portioning it out into individual servings (I LOVE it grilled with salt and pepper, or pan 'fried' with cooking spray and a package of taco seasoning mixed in). It would be a great go to.

    Buy the fruits and veggies which are on sale, and buy canned items that are store brands, since these are often less costly. Shop around. I buy cans of Dole Pineaple Chunks at Save A Lot for 99c a can, while it can be onwards of $1.50 at other stores. Stock up. It'll cost more in the beginning to stock up, but make a list and stick to it. When frozen fruits go on sale, buy a few extra bags for the freezer. Just be sure to ALWAYS read your labels cause I've found frozen strawberries with added sugar.
  • JessikaSeagle
    JessikaSeagle Posts: 9 Member
    How do you portion meat out once it's cooked? See I've never learned how to count the calories in that type of things so it always seems so hard to me when it's really not!! Do I need a scale of some sort? Thankyou for the tips!!
  • st0rmagedd0n
    st0rmagedd0n Posts: 417 Member
    Rice, beans, and in-season/on sale produce are your best friends. With the fruit and veg, definitely cut and freeze anything you can't use yourself, and definitely, definitely skip the pre-cut options unless they work out to be cheaper than the lowest price fresh alternative. My freezer right now is packed with strawberries and bananas from the last time I caught them on sale at the farmer's market, so my fiber and vitamin c counts are gonna be awesome for the foreseeable future!

    Also, be sure to check the bulk section for oatmeal, nuts, etc. Most of the time, they're way better priced there than in the main aisles, and you can't beat oatmeal + mix-ins for a cheap, healthy breakfast!
  • st0rmagedd0n
    st0rmagedd0n Posts: 417 Member
    How do you portion meat out once it's cooked? See I've never learned how to count the calories in that type of things so it always seems so hard to me when it's really not!! Do I need a scale of some sort? Thankyou for the tips!!

    Definitely invest in a food scale. They only run about $10 or so, and gram weights are one of the most, if not the most, accurate ways to measure solid foods, simply because of the amount of variance you can get with cups/tablespoons/small/medium/large/etc.
  • AsaThorsWoman
    AsaThorsWoman Posts: 2,303 Member
    It's really a matter of how far you will push yourself.

    You could literally spend $20 and eat all week if you will go through and cook and chop and eat the exact same thing over and over most the time.

    How much time are you willing to put in?

    How low of budget?

    I prefer what to me is middle-budget.

    I couldn't eat rice, beans, lentils and eggs everyday.

    But if I could, I could probably eat for $5-$10 a week.
  • AsaThorsWoman
    AsaThorsWoman Posts: 2,303 Member
    Personally, since I work, and you do too, I like to put in about middle effort.

    There's no way possible, nor would I try to imply there is, a way for me to cook three meals a day.

    I can re-heat leftovers, and I love my leftovers.

    Try cooking like double recipes and eating leftovers for lunch at work to start with.

    But when you're working 8-5 day in day out, reality kicks in.

    I'm lucky if I can get my coffee brewed before I walk out the door.

    I make big dinners and eat left overs in the day time for lunch, or reheat a meat patty with cheese, or eggs.

    But the bulk of my intake generally comes from dinner.

    That's when I have the veggies and all the good stuff your body needs.
  • HellyFaye
    HellyFaye Posts: 202 Member
    Wal Mart has food scales for sale at about $18.
  • PunkyRachel
    PunkyRachel Posts: 1,959 Member
    Here is my poor girl Cheesy Chicken and Egg Noodles recipe: feeds 5 - 1 cup servings

    2 chicken breast or about 10 ounces diced (I buy 3lbs bag frozen for about $6, last about 2 weeks)
    3 cups egg noodles (generic brands $1 each, makes this recipe twice)
    2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (generic brand cost about $8, it last 2-3 months)
    1tsp lemon pepper seasoning
    1tbsp Italian seasoning
    2 cups frozen mixed vegetables ($1 for generic brand, 16 oz bag)
    2 cups Colby jack cheese or any cheese you prefer, shredded (I'll buy several bags when its on sell, usually $2 or less per bag)

    Boil the mixed veggies for 15-20 minutes.
    Boil noodles as directed, set to the side
    In a skillet, add oil and spices. Saute the diced chicken at a medium heat.
    Add the noodles and veggies, stir and get the noodle coated in the chickens seasonings.
    Add the cheese, turn off the heat and cover immediately.
    In about 5 minutes the cheese is melted and you can enjoy!

    This is super healthy, and yummy.

    Calories Carbs Protein Fat Sodium Sugar
    190 23 9 7 325 3
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    How do you portion meat out once it's cooked? See I've never learned how to count the calories in that type of things so it always seems so hard to me when it's really not!! Do I need a scale of some sort? Thankyou for the tips!!

    Yes. A scale is a good idea. You can cut it up and put it into baggies to cook later.
  • katmix
    katmix Posts: 296 Member
    Personally, since I work, and you do too, I like to put in about middle effort.

    There's no way possible, nor would I try to imply there is, a way for me to cook three meals a day.

    I can re-heat leftovers, and I love my leftovers.

    Try cooking like double recipes and eating leftovers for lunch at work to start with.

    But when you're working 8-5 day in day out, reality kicks in.

    I'm lucky if I can get my coffee brewed before I walk out the door.

    I make big dinners and eat left overs in the day time for lunch, or reheat a meat patty with cheese, or eggs.

    But the bulk of my intake generally comes from dinner.

    That's when I have the veggies and all the good stuff your body needs.

    /\ This!

    Learn to cook extra and freeze in small lunch-size Rubbermaid or Tupperware. (Freeze or refrigerate leftovers) Find a store that sells in bulk... I find I can buy as much or as little of rice, barley, peas, all manner of beans and pasta-even seasonings (in addition to cereal and all kinds of flours and sugars) at our local Winco. Do you have a similar store?

    If you have room to store food, I would buy enough of your dried staples to last you a couple of weeks or more (I only go to Winco once a month or so) and hit the local Fred Meyers to buy fresh milk, yogurt and cheese. Same with meats...find out when your store marks their meat down-and if you have room to freeze meat-don't be afraid to stock up.

    In early April, I spent a couple hundred bucks buying marked down meats (Angus and other low-fat meats-sometimes I even luck out with organic) told hubby we were set until the first of June...Here it is early July and we are just finishing it up from the freezer. I do like to cook the meat and freeze it in individual freezer bags...not a bad bargain (I'm feeding 2 hungry young adult guys besides hubby and me)...

    As far as cooking big meals, I cook a lovely meal on Sundays and turn the leftovers into our lunches for the week. Not bad for $12-15. Other meals I always try to freeze a lunch container or three from the leftovers...perfect for those nights when you get home late and nobody wants to cook.

    Buy fruit and veggies that are in season. You'll find that you're saving so much money-that the odd splurge won't bother you so much! :flowerforyou:

    I keep editing to add... :) Do you have a crockpot (or slowcooker)?? Another easy way to have your dinner waiting for you when you get home! I have picked up specific slowcooker cookbooks (you could get one on Amazon, or check one out from your local library) but there are lots of free recipes online...

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  • HappyHope0123
    HappyHope0123 Posts: 101 Member
    I have some Rubbermaid food containers I use. They are in various sizes. I also use snack bags. I measure out my food, put it in a snack bag, then put the snack bags in a gallon freezer bag with a date and label so they don't get lost in the freezer.
  • Topsking2010
    Topsking2010 Posts: 2,245 Member
    Bump
  • shaddowstorm
    shaddowstorm Posts: 155 Member
    I have everything pre cut up for my stir fry. Saves a lot of time since I only have to prepare it one day a week.

    I have chicken breast which I buy about 1kg at a time which once a week I portion it out to correct weights and freeze it.

    If you make 2 serves measure it out raw and once it cooked roughly divide it up. You'll end up eating the same about over the course of the day.
  • rlmassman84
    rlmassman84 Posts: 91 Member
    Check out the website http://www.budgetbytes.com/. It has a lot of really healthy recipes that use a lot of inexpensive ingredients.
  • Sarahpdx
    Sarahpdx Posts: 2
    You can also use visual cues for portion control. Not as precise but you don't need to buy a scale.

    Depending on how much you like to/have time to cook, you can save money by purchasing whole foods as using ever part as much as possible. A whole chicken can be broken down into its parts then the carcass can be used to make stock (which can be frozen). Onion peels, celery ends, carrot peels, etc can be thrown in the freezer then added to the stock pot when you have a good sized bag of them.

    Buying dried beans and cooking them instead of canned is also a great money saver. You can cook in bulk and freeze the beans in one or two cup portions until you are ready to use them.
  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
    oats are an awesome healthy complex carb, and they're cheap, too. cook them with non-fat milk or soy milk, sweeten with stevia or sweet and low and they make a terrific sweet breakfast, lunch or dinner. best, it's easy to alter the portion size to fit your calorie needs. servings store well in plasticware, and cold each serving travels pretty well, too, with a hint of extra milk poured in.

    fage 0% greek yogurt in the large sized containers offers a bunch of high protein servings. easy to carry a serving with you, and if you add pepper, dill and a hint of newman light italian, it makes a great high protein dip you can enjoy with tortilla chips, which are easy to stick in a ziplock bag or plastic container and can also be had on the cheap.

    pasta and rice are always inexpensive, and if you make sure to measure so you're getting the serving size you need, both are good complex carbs and mix well with a variety of sauces and ingredients. my favorite is galeo's ginger wasabe, which is low in fat, calories and sodium compared to most other dressings, and is delish. i use 1 to 1.5 Tb for most servings. while it's not inexpensive, if you use only 1 to 2 Tb per serving, there's a lot of servings in a bottle, which makes it a good (and tasy!) value.

    broccoli is fairly inexpensive fresh, and can be streamed or added to a variety of other foods, and is high in vitamins A and C. you can throw some streamed broccoli, rice or pasta, half a chicken breast or some tempeh and galeo's together, stick it in a container and eat it whenever you want.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    Dry rice ans beans in bulk. You can make some really delicious and filling meals for just pennies.
  • vcdfw
    vcdfw Posts: 49
    How do you portion meat out once it's cooked? See I've never learned how to count the calories in that type of things so it always seems so hard to me when it's really not!! Do I need a scale of some sort? Thankyou for the tips!!

    I forgot exactly where I learned this so sorry to whomever I'm not giving credit to but, for meats and fish a good measure is to approximate the size and thickness of your hand (minus fingers and thumb) is approx. 6 ounces.

    Hope this helps :)
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    One of the best investments I think I ever made was a sleeve of 40 deli-style 1-cup food containers from Amazon for $15 tho' I'm sure you can get them elsewhere. They hold a cup of food. They go through the dishwasher, and they stack compactly both empty on the shelf and in the fridge. And the 40 of them are basically a lifetime supply. I also got the two-cup size.

    So, if you were to look in my freezer right now, you'd find a bunch of these containers with stock, beans, pasta sauce, pre-cooked bacon, etc. -- neatly stacked instead of flying out of the freezer as I open the door and dig around.

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007V2W3VO/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    Also, you can buy bigger amounts of meat when it's on sale and freeze it in single servings. Just last night, we had beef fajitas using a chunk of bottom round I bought on sale a few weeks ago. When you get the meat home from the store, cut it into serving-sized chunks. Wrap each chunk in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil and shove them in a gallon zipper bag. Write which meat it is on the outside of the bag because when they are wrapped an 8-oz. portion of beef looks just like an 8-ounce portion of pork. (I tend to to 8-oz. because there are two of us.) The double-wrapping in plastic wrap and then foil prevents freezer burn like nothing else I've ever tried.

    To divide the meat, you can figure out how many ounces meat is in the whole package and then divide by how many ounces you want to have in each serving. Then just cut it into that many pieces. It may not come out even but probably quite close enough for a large piece. For example, I think that most recent chunk of bottom round was 3 lb. 7 oz. or (3*16)+7 = 55 oz. Fifty-five divided by 8 is 6.85 -- so I had a choice of cutting 7 pieces that were 7.85 oz each or 6 pieces that were 9.16 oz each. Since it is easier to cut it into an even number of pieces, I did six.

    Now, this is close enough for me to consider each piece two four-ounce servings.
    7.85/2 = 3.925 ounces @ 36 cal./oz. for ground round = 141.3 calories
    9.16/2 = 4.53 ounces @ 36 cal./oz. for ground round = 163 calories

    20 calories is close enough for me. Besides, you are eyeballing your "equal pieces" anyway.
  • katmix
    katmix Posts: 296 Member
    I just picked up (new) at a library used book sale... Taste of Homes' "The Busy Family Cookbook", "Dinner on a Dime", "Freezer Pleasers" and "Guilt-Free Cooking"... Amazing how many recipe books are at these sales-and look like they've never been opened. :wink: There is always the internet for free recipes, too...

    If money is truly an issue, don't be afraid to beg from your family and friends. At one point in my life (while working/going to school) I was creating meals once a quarter-and "borrowed" and found at thrift stores, enough pyrex casserole dishes to fill two upright freezers in my garage, so that my hubby and children had meals while I was at school.

    You are definitely more limited on what/how much you can prep ahead, if you don't have a freezer or space for one. (Yep, got my freezers secondhand-check Craigslist or your local secondhand appliance dealer) When I was visiting friends in Scotland, picked up a bag of groceries on my way, and was slightly dismayed to realize that their fridge/freezer was what we (in the US) would consider dorm size. So planning/prepping would look very different for those in other countries, quite possibly.
  • janatarnhem
    janatarnhem Posts: 669 Member
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007V2W3VO/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    The double-wrapping in plastic wrap and then foil prevents freezer burn like nothing else........

    Thanks for the link...and the tip! The amount of stuff I've chucked out 'cause of burn...not thought about using foil :flowerforyou:

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