CHEAP and Healthy HELP!!!

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2

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  • LizzieBee17
    LizzieBee17 Posts: 123 Member
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    :flowerforyou: Thank you, thank you, thank you.... awesome advice
  • btor
    btor Posts: 144 Member
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    bump!
  • thedreamhazer
    thedreamhazer Posts: 1,156 Member
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    I just started blogging my recipes, all of which are relatively healthy, filling, and cheap. Mind, the portions on all of them are for two people since that's all I cook for!

    Bulk up on healthy staples, is my main advice, and cook A LOT. Don't buy pre-prepared foods whenever possible. I make all of my dough for cooking from scratch --- homemade pie crusts, tortillas, biscuits, dumplings, etc. It barely adds any time to my cooking/prep --- twenty minutes tops, during which time I just catch up on my favorite tv shows!

    That's all I can recommend. I'm really into small replacements vs. dietary restrictions. ie -- I buy low fat dairy, use egg whites (yes, even in baking), cut out oil and butter in all my cooking (and everything still tastes good!), use ground turkey instead of ground beef (I don't eat beef anyway, so this one is a bit of a cop out), etc. I also buy a mix of frozen and fresh veggies --- delicate veggies that go bad quickly? Buy them frozen. Longer lasting ones (potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbage, etc) I buy fresh as needed, since this is a cheaper and healthier option for me most of the time.


    Hope this helps!
  • mandie26
    mandie26 Posts: 59
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    Some suggestions: Frozen veggies (corn, peas, beans), rice & pasta in bulk, canned soup...etc.

    To be honest, to lose weight, your best bet is definitely fresh fruits and vegetables...the ones that are in season should be the cheapest :).

    Good luck!
  • peacehawk
    peacehawk Posts: 421 Member
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    I was the youngest of 11 kids, with one parent working full time and the other part ime. Here are some of the things my mom did and we did as a family:
    Soup, stew & chili are all cheap ad easy
    The freezer was our friend
    We had a huge garden and we were all responsible to do our part in prepping the soil, planting, weeding, harvesting, canning, freezing and cooking the vegies
    Save ham bones and turkey carcasses for soup (they freeze well),
    Ground beef (today, ground turkey or sirloin) was frequently seen
    We got healthy stuff for a god price through a food co-op
    Bean soup, refried beans, chili with beans (we were a musical bunch)
    We took turns helping mom in the kitchen, this is a precious memory for most of us. We learned how to cook, we got special and rare one on one time with mom, we got to choose what to make for part of the meal and we got to see where food comes from.
    She had special "hands off" food that were hers and hers alone (to this day, I love cottage cheese, probably because it was one of those special treats for her)
    We watched movies together at home on Sunday night. That was the only day we got pop or cool aide. We made homemade popcorn so mom couold control how much salt and butter went on it.
    Very rarely were premade things or boxed mixes brought in to the house. We learned that overly sweet or overly salty stuff tasted bad and other, better flavors were hidden by too much
    If we wanted chips or candy, we used our own money for it
    We made our gifts for each other, no buying expected.

    Things she did that I do NOT recommend:
    Adding soybeans and too much breadding to meatloaf to stretch the money (totally gross. I. Was in my late 20s before I realized I liked meatloaf)
    Ditto with hamburger patties (age12)
    Use powdered milk to drink (it's gross). It's okay to cook with though (although it may save on your milk bill)
  • weeze_h
    weeze_h Posts: 72
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    What I've found is I'm an 'almost veggie' ;-) just don't like an awful amount of any kind of meat but my other half does so I'll buy maybe £10 of veg a week, anything on offer but a good mix this week (of both frozen and fresh)was peas, carrots, peppers, brocolli, mushrooms, onions, spinach and tomatoes. also buy butchers chicken in bulk and freeze (20 breasts for £20)
    Then one night we may have Chicken stir fry but later in the week we'll have Egg stir fry. We may have chicken fajitas with lots of veg also then later in the week fajitas made with veggies, couscous and canned mixed beans. By not always having meat every night and just watching my portion sizes I have lost 10lbs in about 4 weeks.

    Chicken or egg stir fry with all the veggies listed above and 1/2 jar Sharwoods stir fry sauce was 595 cals.
    Fajitas with couscous was 523 cals (i only had one wrap though plus the rest of the couscous and veg in a bowl as we ran out of wraps!)

    I would recommend couscous its 160 cal for half a pack (I use Tescos own make and im sure its under £1) and added to veggies or stuffed peppers is really nice and i find quite filling although even a whole pack at 320cals if you can manage it, add that to some veggies and theres a low cal, low price meal.

    Hope this helps :-)
  • BattyMama
    BattyMama Posts: 136 Member
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    I add re-fried black beans in to our ground beef and we use a lot of frozen veggies and fruit also we hit the farmers markets in our area on average I send about 100 feeding a family of 5 for a week and no one walks away hungry I also keep home-made fruit salad in the fridge all summer its a great breakfast and snack and if i want something sweet home-made whipped cream. I also plan our meals around the fliers for the stores i shop. Good luck
  • CraftyGirl4
    CraftyGirl4 Posts: 571 Member
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    First things first, you may want to check into your local SNAP (formerly food stamps) program. In your situation, you may qualify for assistance. It's supplemental help when buying food, so it's worth checking into.

    Second, all of these other suggestions have been awesome. I think my suggestions would be quite simple as well. Canned beans (dried are even cheaper) are fantastic. Eggs are about 15 cents a piece. Milk or soymilk are cheap. In season veggies (frozen for out of season that you really want and want to taste as good as if they were in season). Canned tuna for lean protein.
  • dot513
    dot513 Posts: 38
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    bump:happy:
  • newbeautifulme
    newbeautifulme Posts: 112
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    Hillbilly Housewife is an awesome resource for frugal home cooking.

    http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/
  • cobarlo14
    cobarlo14 Posts: 582 Member
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    look for the chicken breast and lower calories meats to go on sale ad then buy a few of them to freeze. Bulk packs of cereals, and buying the big bags of brown rice will save you soo much. the other day i made a sidekicks noodle pack, (:s) but what i did was add a cup of raw shredded cabbage to the mix and an extra cup of water and it made more and cut the sodium and calories. I just look for the sales, look for the non processed stuff to go on sale. Oh yah COUPONS are fantastic. there are lots of coupon sites check them out. :)

    Go to supermarkets that double and even triple coupons.
  • Schwiggity
    Schwiggity Posts: 1,449 Member
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    I'd definitely look for a good farmer's market or produce store near you. It amazes me how much the price difference is at my local produce store as opposed to the grocery store. And as someone else said, buying dry non-perishables in large quantities and being willing to cook the less convenient way (with grains and legumes for example) tends to save A LOT.
  • plt55
    plt55 Posts: 111 Member
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    sounds exactly like I like
  • sassylilmama
    sassylilmama Posts: 1,495 Member
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    A lot of really great ideas here :) Anything I could post is already here.
  • jules_02
    jules_02 Posts: 46 Member
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    bump
  • granneybec
    granneybec Posts: 10
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    Use black beans to substitute for 1/3 of hamburger meat in all recipes.
  • koolkat92
    koolkat92 Posts: 16 Member
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    I don't know how much time or space you have but you could start a small garden? Seeds are pretty cheap and you can get good deals on plants. Then you have fresh veggies in the fall. In the mean time you look for local truckload fruit and veggie sales and stock up and freeze them. Clip coupons? Hope it helps.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    My partner eats constantly, as well, so we have been experimenting, keeping in mind that fiber and protein are the most filling:

    Nuts: they don't look that cheap by the pound, but you can get deals if you keep your eyes open. Anyone in the house who is concerned about calorie intake needs to be aware of how many they are eating, but those with a high metabolism can really fill up.

    Beans: In some cases, we use beans instead of meat (lentils seasoned like taco meat or falafel, being our two favorites), but mostly I add beans to meals. I bake chicken, pinto beans and salsa, topped with cheddar cheese. I serve pinto beans and turkey sausage. And I make a bean salad (one can green beans, one can garbanzo beans, one can kidney beans, finely chopped onions and red pepper, a bit of olive oil and vinegar) every few days. Just be careful not to use too many baked beans, which are really high in sugar.

    Fruits and Veggies: That is usually how they are listed on the grocery list, then we see which ones are on sale when we get there. You could also try your local farmer's market - a real farmer's market that only happens once a week: the "farmer's market" stores are usually really expensive.

    Meat: We get most of our meat at Costco and freeze it. Bizarrely, we often find boneless, skinless tenderloins to be the cheapest kind of chicken (usually the most expensive in stores). But you do have to shop around - we have found that individually wrapped, frozen tilapia is about the same price in the grocery store and much better quality.

    Cheese: We literally buy cheese by the pound.

    Eggs: Not that cheap any more, but still better than most meats. My partner uses frozen spinach and eggs every morning, with our one splurge - Morning Star Breakfast Sausage.
  • tgaul
    tgaul Posts: 123
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    bump
  • amcmillan730
    amcmillan730 Posts: 591 Member
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    bump for later!

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