Cheap, budget friendly and HEALTHY breakfast/lunch/dinner suggestions?

I'm the same as you, I prefer smaller breakfasts, mid-size lunch, and a larger dinner. Eggs are a great suggestion, as Andyluvv has already pointed out they help you feel full and are also pretty cost effective.

Scrambled eggs with a bit of ham (or cured sliced meats like chorizo) chopped up and added in are great! 3 eggs and a bit of ham usually comes in at under 300 cals
Another idea if you're in a hurry in the morning is scrambled egg muffins. (link here). You can add pretty much anything you like to them, batch bake, keep in the fridge and just pop under the grill whenever you want them (or eat them cold if you'd prefer). I love them, and the ones I make come in at about 90 cals each, so I usually have a few

Other ideas are poached eggs on toast (really good with ham and a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce). Honey on toast (with the low-cal bread I have, about 200 cals for 2 slices + honey).

Also baked beans on toast can be a really filling breakfast, it depends on how much time you have and is a bit more brunch-y but they're great for cold winter mornings!

Crock pot dinners tend to have a low price per serving. There was just an article on the MFP blog on some lower calorie fall recipes for the crock pot.
Egg based dinners are low cost too. Make an Italian frittata or an Asian egg fu yung patty loaded with vegetables.
Soups are budget conscious. Especially if you start by making your own bone broth as the base. And beans are my favorite. Whenever there's one of those stupid federal government shut downs & I know we won't get paid for a while, I stock up on dried beans to cook from scratch.
For lunches I like tuna or egg salad, or peanut butter when I want to eat cheaply. I either eat a very brown bread or a low carb tortilla wrap, both high fiber & protein.
Even when I'm eating cheaply I try to remain conscious of getting as much protein, fiber & micronutrients from my choices as possible.
Best wishes!

MFP calculates your calories bases on your height and how fast you want to lose your weight. It appears that you are trying to lose 3 lbs per week. For me, 5'4.5" and 1 lb loss per week, I am allowed 1370 calories per day. It really doesn't matter if you are active or not. I calculated a 2.5 mile walk burns only 200 calories. My husband who weighs as much as you was given 2200 calories and he rarely reaches it so he's lost 43 lbs during the same period with 17 lbs to go. He lost his entire gut and looks skinny.

During the week, I have 1 boiled egg with a packet of hot sauce and 2 cups of tea for breakfast. I also drink a half a beverage made with water, 1/2 teaspoon of moringa, true lemon-brand lemonade packet (10 calories sweetened by stevia), aloe vera juice ( and sometimes Braggs apple cider vinegar), and together with the other half in the afternoon, I got lots of energy. Lunch is usually 400-500 calories --pasta or rice based with or without a small salad with chicken, leaving nearly 800 calories for dinner and snack.

I lost 17 lbs in 3.5 months. 3 lbs to go to hit my goal but may keep going. I am already within normal BMI but may shoot for being inthe middle of that BMI--maybe another 7 lbs.

Eggs. I eat 2 eggs every morning. They're satisfying and help me reach my protein and fast macros.

I do feel like you should be eating more though. I'm 5'9" and I've lost the majority of my weight eating 1800 a day.

Lots of good ideas here. I see you want to incorporate more fruits and vegetables as well as more interesting cold lunches.

Get frozen fruit and veggies on sale so you always have some on hand, even at the end of the month. I try and buy my fruits and veggies weekly in season and on sale. If they are at their peak I am more likely to eat them. The sturdy vegetables include cabbage, carrots, and winter squash. You can make your own carrot sticks. I put frozen fruit in with yogurt and oatmeal overnight, or defrost them for my cooked oatmeal.

To add variety at lunch try crackers and wraps. Tuna and crackers are nice. Or tuna and hummus and crackers. I make a home made hummus from dried chickpeas and store it in the freezer. Taken for lunch it is defrosted by noon.

Leftover chilies, beans, and stews can be wrapped for lunch with a little shredded cheese.

You can add veggies to the eggs. Frozen spinach is cheap. Frozen pepper and onion mixes. Look and see what you like. I find that eggs bulked with veggies are even more filling than plain ones.

Baked potatoes topped with all kinds of stews and chilis also make for a very warm, filling and nutritious dinner. You can load veggies into stews and chilis and then you don't have to make separate dishes to get your veg.

Could you take hot lunch in a thermos? I send lentil soup to school with my kids in a thermos. Probably not as hot as it could be, but it works.

jgnatca wrote: »

This is how I portion out my hummus and refried beans in to tablespoon size cubes.

http://lunchinabox.net/2008/04/speed-tip-make-individual-portions-in-freezer-bags/

I snap off a couple and put in a snack size plastic bowl for my lunch.

Thank u for reminding me that I have hummus in my house that I haven't touch *_*. And was trying to open the link you posted from my cell and didn't work

jadelyndsey wrote: »

Thanks everyone!

Eggs seems doable, I like the idea of batch baking and then there is literally no prep on a morning!

Or I could do eggs maybe with a slice of multigrain bread/toast or something? I also like the sound of the cereal bar thing too! Hopefully will work out pretty cheap.

Is there any other cold meal suggestions for lunch people can think of? The only other thing I'm aware of is maybe something like a pasta salad like tuna?

I'm spending my saturday night thinking of meals I like that I can make really healthy and hopefully I can form a monthly meal plan so I know how much I may be spending. My downfall when I eat healthy (on a budget) is I buy lots of salads and fruits at the beginning of the month, then I run out of money so buy bread and cheap rubbish instead!

Thanks for all the ideas!!!

I've only just re-read this thread, and realised I didn't respond to the lunch/dinner suggestions!

As someone above suggested, crockpot dinners are great!

If you're a fan of batch cooking, left overs can be great for lunches the next day. Risotto, pasta, even stir fry (if you can reheat it during lunch anyway) are great meals you can batch cook. Dinners which you can bulk out with frozen veg are always good too if you're looking at cost-effective meals. Things like chilli (beef or turkey mince, beans, chopped tomatoes and whatever veggies you want to add) can make huge amounts from not a lot of meat.

Cold lunches wise apart from leftovers, I like trying out different dips and things with celery, cucumber or carrots. Broad bean, asparagus and mint style humous is really great (either as a snack or along with whatever else you have for lunch).

Crackers and cheese are a good cold lunch idea with maybe some grapes and things. Or salads; mixed leaf, low fat dressing and chopped bell peppers go well with almost anything- smoked mackerel or grilled chicken are always good. If you wanted to change things up a bit you could always add in some couscous or coleslaw.

If you're struggling for meal inspirations, I'd really recommend looking on Pinterest. Just pop 'low calorie packed lunches' and it'll throw a ton of good results at you

If you have a freezer (mine is only the size of a letterbox ) frozen spinach is my saviour, buy one bag and it lasts about a month worth of smoothies mix with banana and almond milk and whatever else in reality each week for that I just buy bananas and a carton of milk