I can't afford to buy the right food...

I spend about $2.20 per meal eating healthy. On the flip side, I spent $3.30 per meal eating "unhealthy."

Although it does depend on location, too.

aldi for vegetables - might not have as big a selection but so much cheaper

Another thing that has happened since we started meal planning, is that we pretty much do not buy any aisle food at the grocery store any more. It is all outer walls. (Dairy, Meat, Produce)

http://www.budgetbytes.com/

When I have rice, I basically put anything and everything with it. I've scrambled eggs, put ground beef, chicken, pork chop...usually it is some kind of meat. If you don't eat meat, I know you can put stir fried veggies or tofu with rice and it pairs pretty well.

jodi_fletch wrote: »

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

jodi_fletch wrote: »

I'm in a financial crisis at the moment. I have two children and a partner and it's easier for me to grab a cheap pizza or frozen fish fingers.....
It's not good for me but I just can't afford to buy more. Could I have my portions and work out more?

Yes. But where in the world is frozen pizza and fish cheaper than frozen vegetables, dried beans, pasta, eggs and rice?

We'll see I as a live in a TINY village in the middle of nowhere we have asda which to most people is wall mart. Pizza is a quid (about $2) frozen veg packs are a quid ($2), then you have to buy the extras so it doesn't taste like *kitten* and water like most frozen veg does so yes pizza is cheaper and more convenient in the one shop I have

Can you get online deliveries where you live? We do Sainsburys online shopping. I don't live in a tiny village though.

It's a British blog but you can get some inexpensive ideas here: http://agirlcalledjack.com/category/recipes-food/

She's a woman who learned how to feed herself and her child on next to nothing and still stay healthy.

Potatoes are quite cheap, you could do homemade potato wedges, or jacket potatoes, or make a shepherds pie with loads of veg in it, or sausage and mash and veg.

Also you could make a big stir fry with chicken and get cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts etc. You can get frozen stir fry veg in Sainsburys, but I'm not sure if it works out any cheaper.

We often do a chicken stew with kale, carrots, onions, sweet potato, parsnip etc. It lasts a few days and we also purée it for our baby. You could do soup too. I've made minestrone before, it's nice and filling.

Risotto is also nice, just add loads of veg again.

I personally don't think healthy eating is more expensive. Even when I was at university I didn't eat unhealthily and I didn't have loads of spare money to spend on food. Probably because I'd spent it in the bar lol.

I can't imagine any roast or pasta dish that would be higher calorie than a pizza slice. Unless you are going off on the portions somehow. Yeah, potatoes as someone else mentioned are inexpensive and easy to prepare. Smaller portions means more (cheaper) meals out of the same cut too. Small remote village means more planning when you go out of town for your big shopping trips. Small bargains adds up to more bulk buys as you go along.

Do you shop at co-op or spa by any chance? Totally over priced.

I would invest in some money and do 1 delivery from ASDA a month to stock up on store cupboard/frozen items then maybe do small weekly shops for essentials. 1kg bag of veg is £1, tinned veg starts at 15p. 5k rice is £13. It can be done with little budgeting

There's nothing terribly wrong with fish fingers, as long as you count the calories or use portion control. They do have fish in them, at least! Porridge oats are cheap and healthy - I buy the supermarket value ones, and use them for porridge, but you can use them in other ways too (for bulking out savoury dishes, as a coating for fish, toasted and mixed with yoghurt, flapjacks - if you can cope with the calories!, etc.).

If you're able to store potatoes for a few days, you can use them to make "healthy" oven chips. Just cut them into chip shapes and coat with a tiny bit of oil, seasoning to taste, herbs, etc. Onions, peppers, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers and mushrooms are quite cheap and low calorie, and you can use them to bulk out things like bolognaise sauce, curries, stirfries, etc. I find that if you make things like curries and stirfries, the meat seems to go a little further. I use a lot of tinned tomatoes - they used to be very cheap but not so much now, unfortunately. The same goes for tinned fish. I'm not a big fan of frozen veg, but some is better than others (frozen peas are great!).

Pork is often cheaper than other meat. Peanut butter is quite good value for the amount of nutrition, I think. So are eggs. When I was struggling with money years ago before I was dieting, I used to make a LOT of quiches with onion, bacon, cheese, veg, etc. The pastry was cheap and filling. But I wouldn't recommend if you're dieting! You can still use eggs to make omelettes, frittata, souffles, etc.

The suggestions about pulses are great, but I personally haven't had a lot of success with getting children to like them!

It is almost never cheaper to eat pre-packaged takeout than it is to cook healthy meals.

It is, however, easier, which is why I think your choice of phrasing in your original post is relevant.

There are lots of great suggestions on this thread. I'll just add that if you're using your financial situation as an excuse not to put in the extra effort, then that's on you.

You can bulk mince out with grated carrot, it makes the mince go further and cuts the calories.

Roast Chicken can be stretched for two to three days. Roast dinner on day one, chicken stir fry/risotto on day two and the carcass can be boiled up for soup.

Have you looked at A Girl called Jack's blog, she is very inspirational cooking on a budget, and most recipes could be adapted. There is also Frugal Queen's blog which cooks on a budget.

jodi_fletch wrote: »

DianaLovesCoffee wrote: »

In the fall many hunters clear out their freezers to make room for a new harvest. If you know any you may score some free/cheap deer burger. Also where I'm from, many hunters donate the meat to feed the hungry type programs. (Not wanting to start any PETA discussions here - just offering another source of good protein as an option.)

Also you could fish - good activity with your kids too!

Thanks for the advice hun but I live in England and hunting is very frowned upon by most people including myself I appreciate your comment though

Because that fish wasn't hunted before they froze it?