HELP!! Needing inexpensive healthy food ideas

A bag of black beans makes 12 servings and is around a dollar. A bag of long grain brown rice makes 24 servings and is around $2. The beans take about 2 hours to make. The rice takes about an hour to make, Mix a serving of each with salsa and top with shredded cheese or vegan cheese. Inexpensive and tasty, even without the cheese.

Oh my goodness- dont cry!! I went through the same thing- my boyfriend and I don't have a lot of money and healthy food is very expensive. I found that beans, lentil and other legumes often come in bulk and are packed with protein and fiber. Also- yogurt is often on sale, especially light n fit- which is my favorite. Chicken breasts are also fairly inexpensive and are a lean source of protein. Brown rice, you can also buy in bulk and it will last for a long time. I will look at my grocery list when I get home for more ideas!
Good luck to you!

Hi! I'm a [recently single] mom of five as well, so I know it's expensive. What stores do you have nearby? I would love to help. I have a coupon website, and I use a couple other sites, so I love saving money. :-D

Here are some things that you should consider:

1) only buy what's on sale.
2) try to use coupons
3) combine store coupons with manufacturer coupons
4) consider stockpiling items like toiletries, health and beauty products, dish soap, etc. These items are often free or nearly free-and that frees up money for you to use on your grocery budget.

LMK what store you have, and I may be able to help more specifically.

I'm in the same boat... trying to shop healty on a budget is not easy. I like sugar free jello, which is easy on the pocket if you buy the box not the pre-made. I also get bread from the bread store if there is one nearby you. Do you watch for coupons or go on site to find them? They may help too. Whole chicken or Turkey can be cheaper than deli meats or local veggies may be sold around the area. good luck. i look forward to some of the replies.

i have two kids and me and my fiancee are on a tight budget ourselves. Easy little switches would be turkey meat instead of actual meat, 100 calorie snacks for the whole family... Buy the big back of chips and seperate them out into little snack bags with the serving sizes. Switch to low fat milk, and give up all sodas and juices. There are just as many calories in juice as in soda. You can also go to www.allrecipes.com and at the top there is a healthy recipes section, you can look on there for healthy recipe ideas. You can also go to www.tasteofhome.com. Make sure when you go to the websites you read the comments cause people also edit the recipes. i hope I helped. Have a good day, and Good luck on your journey. I hope you can figure it out.

Bree

Wow 14 lbs in 3 weeks, thats awesome you are doing something right hon! Not sure what stores you have by you but Aldis is very cheap and has good fresh produce. Also what I have been doing is really watching sales and comparing prices at like Festival and Gordys, and Mega, whoever is cheaper wins. I use coupons also, and its summer time so the local farmers markets are open, they are really cheap for veggies and such, good luck to you!

Hi!

I live in the UK and can sympathise hugely with how expensive food is, I find it easiest to buy and cook in large quantities and freeze food. Healthy and cheap options which we go for are...

- Tuna, pasta bake (canned tuna, whole wheat pasta, tomato based sauce, I use whatever is on offer over here, reduced fat cheese, or cottage cheese for topping and maybe some whole wheat bread crumbs)

- Chinese style egg fried rice (Cooked brown rice with cooked chopped onions garlic, peppers, garden peas, add soy sauce, lemon juice and mix in a raw egg whilst it's hot so the egg cooks)

- I find turkey is cheaper to buy over here than chicken, and I use turkey mince a fair amount to make healthy chilli which you can pack full of baked beans and kidney beans which kids love and it bulks out a meal with healthy pulses.

- I buy a family stirfry ( costs £1 for 600g) so you would probably need 2 or 3 and I make a cheap sauce of chicken stock, soy, dash of honey, lemon juice and add cornflour to thicken, serve with egg noodles.

- Veggie lasagne (or with turkey mince) simple tomato based sauce layered between wholewheat lasagne sheet and any veggies will do, like onions, courgettes (zuchini) and carrots are fairly cheap. top with breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs to save money and calories on cheese.

Hope these help a little bit, message me if you want any more info, Good luck!!!

I also had another thought....when I first started on my trip to frugality, I started buying whole chicken. It is much cheaper per pound (if you watch for sales, it goes down to somewhere between 60 and 90 cents a pound, regularly it's 1.20 a pound here). I cook a whole chicken-either roasted in the oven or slow cooked in the crockpot (which is DELISH, btw).

Then, pick it apart, and separate the cooked chicken into freezer bags of equal portions. I usually do five per average 4-4.5# bird (that is only about 3-4 dollars, sometimes less). Then use those portions to make meals.

I do a chicken noodle soup with reduced sodium broth, sliced carrots, celery, and homemade yolk free, whole wheat egg noodles.

Chicken gravy and brown rice. Gravy is easy peasy-just mix a little corn starch with reduced sodium broth (I get boxes of 32 oz. broth at a store called Deal$ for 1.00 each, but there's usually BOGO deals on it at my regular stores, for Swanson or College Inn). Add the chicken, and then serve over rice alongside a veggie.

Chicken burritos. Drain and rinse pinto beans (or use the refried if you like those), add chicken, beans, cooked brown rice, and a can of rotel tomatoes or some salsa, add some cumin and mix. Eat in a whole wheat tortilla (I have a recipe for these too) with a little cheese (I like fat free).

Chicken quesadillas. Sautee onion in olive oil, place chicken in pan with onion. Add in about half a can of rotel tomatoes. Sprinkle overtop: 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp chili powder. Add a touch of water or juice from rotels if you have it, and mix. You want it pretty dry. Then put in half of a whole wheat tortilla, sprinkle a little cheese, and fold closed. Cook in another skillet (I like the cast iron for this) until slightly browned on the outside-flip after a couple minutes to get both sides cooked. Serve with reduced sodium black beans or make your own beans from dry.

Chicken ala king. I make a pepper gravy (flour, milk, spices), add the chicken, and add half a bag of frozen mixed veggies (peas, carrots, corn,etc.) Simmer. Serve over biscuits (again; I use whole wheat and make it from scratch).

The options are limitless with the whole chicken. A little goes a long way when paired up in a healthy meal including whole grains, beans, and/or veggies.



egg noodles:

3 egg whites (or about 1/3 c. of the egg replacer-egg beaters, better n eggs)
1 TBSP water
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
whole wheat flour (I don't measure)

Beat egg whites, water, and seasoning. Add flour until a firm dough forms. Roll out fairly thin on floured surface and let dry (at least a couple hours). Use pizza cutter to cut to desired size. Add to boiling water/broth and cook until tender (these are amazing with roast for beef n noodles too).


whole wheat tortillas

2 c. whole wheat flour
2 TBSP non-hydrogenated oil (melted smart balance, olive oil, canola oil, etc)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
lukewarm water

Mix flour, salt, and baking powder. Drizzle oil overtop of flour. Mix in. This will form little chunks of flour/oil and some just flour looking mix. Add a little water at a time until a pliable dough is formed. Knead for about five minutes. It should be very elastic in appearance. Separate into 1 1/2 inch balls. Keep covered. Let rest a few minutes, and then begin rolling out thin on floured surface. Place in a skillet over medium-low heat. Cook briefly on each side (there will maybe be a few bubbles and a few spots of brown, but NOT browned entirely). Put two paper towels inside of a gallon bag and place cooked tortillas between paper towels. They can be frozen or stored in fridge in the zipper bag.

You might look into Bountiful Baskets http://www.BountifulBaskets.org
Depending on where you live, you can get produce very inexpensively. They will also have special offerings in addition to the regular produce baskets.

I don't know if you have one of the dollar trees in your area that has a frozen section like the one down here does and this won't totally help you out however they have the TJ Farms 1lbs bags of frozen veggies for a $1 and they have less sodium then many of the other brands I've looked at labels on. Walmart for same size is almost 2 bucks.... so I save big time as I eat a ton of veggies.