Back on track - looking for low budget ideas
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JessicaLCHF
Posts: 1,265 Member
Went from two incomes to one (and down one car) but money's still tight for now. Stopped tracking due to some life events but hopefully those and health issues are settling down. Kept my weight stable while eating lower carb (but not my normal under 40 a day) and even lost two pounds over the past few months but ready to get back to losing five pounds a month! Anyone have any low carb low budget ideas? I don't want to get bored of eggs, hotdogs, kielbasa and chicken legs.
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Oh, also friend me if you are a low carber who logs food. I do too, and I'm always reading others logs for menu ideas! I make all meals (I don't eat processed foods).0
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You can feel free to add me if you want. I work with a pretty low budget as well and am really loving it. My diary is open to friends. I usually look for what is on sale for the week and buy my meat based on that. I have noticed pork the majority of pork cuts are super cheap right now so I've been buying bacon and chops. Chicken thighs are also very cheap as well. I buy a package of ground beef and since I am on a budget for steak I usually get cubed (because it's insanely cheap in comparison to other steaks). I typically know what I am going to eat for Breakfast and Lunch every day and leave dinner a bit more open depending on what I bought for the week. Hope this helps.0
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jessicatroberts wrote: »I don't want to get bored of eggs...
6 months in, and I'm still eating 3+ eggs per day. Boredom doesn't seem to be an issue since eggs are pretty versatile, but food boredom isn't a Bad Thing. Boring food means you will eat less and lose weight.
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Ground beef and pork are normally reasonable in my area. I buy big trays of pork chops and pan fry them to eat later. Chicken thighs are cheap here as well.0
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Over a year in here. Been to the point where eggs make me retch. Cut them for a few months and thankfully I'm able to eat them again.0
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I like to marinade chunks of pork tenderloin in lemon juice, a bit of soy sauce, oregano and garlic for a souvlaki type dish. You can bake it in the sauce or I like to grill it on kabobs.0
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Someone told me about Pizza Dogs! Never heard of them and they look good! Hamburger here is five bucks a pound which is what a beef roast is! So I'll buy a roast before I buy burger. But chicken and hotdogs are around a dollar a pound, so we eat very little hamburger meat. I think it's way overpriced.
Anyway, to make the pizza dogs you halve hot dogs and top with pizza toppings. Then bake in a hot oven until heated through. I only found one recipe online and it didn't have baking instructions, so I'm guessing around 425 degrees. You want them to be really sizzling hot and the cheese all melty and golden! Yum.0 -
I'm not a huge fan of hot dogs because years ago when I was poor, that is about all I ate. So then after that I went years and years without eating a hot dog. Now I will eat them occasionally but still usually don't buy them for myself. However, the pizza dogs sound pretty good.
As for budget, don't know how it is where you live, but where I am, some stores are known for having better prices on meats than other stores. Watch the sales and coupon. If you can, stock up and freeze when it is a good buy. Also you probably know it is cheaper to buy a whole chicken rather than one cut up or boneless.0 -
Dieting on a budget is the worst. =[ I want to complain about it some days, but then I remember there are plenty of people who have it worse than I do. I don't have any children to feed, and I live alone so....I guess it could be worse! There were a few months this winter that were really, really rough though. Felt like all of my bills came in at once, and then I was left with twenty dollars for food =[. I ended up eating a lot of egg drop soup. Chicken broth, eggs, some soy sauce, and whatever I could find in the fridge. It's really really pathetic that in this day & age it's cheaper to buy frozen, packaged vegetables than fresh from the produce section. My mom came over to my house about 6 months ago and was nice enough to bring me like 15 pounds of portioned bags of chicken for the freezer. So that was a huge help.
I don't mind frozen food, so if I see something that's on a crazy sale cheap, I buy a decent amount of it, portion it out, and freeze it. If you don't have a food saver, double bag to help prevent freezer burn.0 -
Jessica I enjoy neck bones. I boil them to make a broth. I also render chicken skin and add the schmaltz to my broth to fatten it up. I buy mine from a poultry place for about a dollar a pound. You might be able to get it free near you, they just are going to throw it away usually. The remaining skin is crisp and I eat that as a snack. I tried to make pork rinds but messed up somewhere. Do you eat peanuts or nuts? They are relatively inexpensive per serving. I have not done it yet, but I plan to prepare my own nut butters as soon as I finish the jars I already purchased.0
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Thanks all! Making a chili tonight, well, made it last night. Kinda high carb but I made it as low as I could with ingredient we had in house. Carb count is 22 per cup, with 11 of that being fiber, so I didn't think it was too bad. Made navy beans from scratch, no sugar added tomato sauce, ground beef and an onion. Tons of roasted cumin. It's really good. Esp with a slice of provolone!!0
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Sales. Definitely look for sales. Check if your local stores have sale flyers and plan your shopping accordingly. When meats and bacon go on sale, pick them up and freeze them.
Frozen veg is good too because you can also buy that in large bags and freeze.
I found out that my grocery store marks down their meats in the evening, so sometimes I go shopping later at night.
Invest in freezer containers.
Buy in bulk.
Get good seasonings.
Pick up some different cheeses on sale to mix things up a bit.
Mayo is usually pretty cheap and is a tasty fat source.
Broth and salsa / hot sauce are good to have on hand for extra flavour. Fiance throws hot sauce on his eggs. I also make the I breathe I'm hungry cream cheese pancakes for something different with the eggs.
Hope this helps.
-T.
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At this time of year its an awesome idea to post on kijiji or Craigslist asking for surplus produce! When money was super tight a few years ago I did that and got pounds and pounds of Zucchini, squash, tomatoes. It was great. Thankfully now I have a huge garden and am able to be the giver to anyone who needs veggies I have in surplus.
On that note, are you able to garden? Spinach, chard, kale, lettuce is incredibly easy to grow and also appropriate for a low carb diet 0 -
Great idea! Thanks to all. Been able to stay around 30-40 carbs a day so far! Just one day at a time.0
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jessicatroberts wrote: »Thanks all! Making a chili tonight, well, made it last night. Kinda high carb but I made it as low as I could with ingredient we had in house. Carb count is 22 per cup, with 11 of that being fiber, so I didn't think it was too bad. Made navy beans from scratch, no sugar added tomato sauce, ground beef and an onion. Tons of roasted cumin. It's really good. Esp with a slice of provolone!!
I've made chili a few times without beans. Just loaded it with veggies. Pretty tasty.0
