My problem

Junk food is not the right thing for you if you want to stay healthy and feel good. Juices and sodas are expensive and mostly empty calories. I suggest switching to water, home-brewed tea, milk and the occasional vegetable juices.

As for good protein, I recommend looking through the sales circulars from all of your local grocery stores. Every one of them will have some sort of protein on sale each week. For instance, in my local area, boneless skinless chicken breasts are on sale for $1.79 a pound. Pork sirloins are on sale for $1.99 a pound. Either of these, or any of the others, will make for much better calories and food.

Peanut butter is acceptable, jelly and white bread marginal at best. Little Debbies (I have to confess, a former guilty pleasure of empty calories for me as well) are worthless. If you must, spend your money on a good bar of chocolate (I like toblerones myself) that you can portion out when you need a sweet fix.

If you don't know how to prepare the real food, then use your computer and search for some recipes. Cooking is not that difficult- you just have to try. Even my 12 year old son can cook chicken breasts and pork chops on a grill or in a skillet.

If you just think about what you are eating, you will get in the right healthy number of calories that you need. Good luck.

i would check out www.hillbillyhousewife.com

they have great tips for meal planning on a fixed income ($45/week, it's pretty amazing)

i was in school for 6 years and often only had 20-30$ a week for food, but founf that if i made large batches of stews, soup, spagetti sauces or chili, i could eat well within my budget. add a nice whole grain dinner bun, and you have it made! good luck

if you're not eating any meat, you should be replacing it with meat substitutes such as nuts, eggs and lentils. The bottom line is snacking on carrots is fine, but your body needs a large supply of nutrients to function and you're certainly not getting them all from carrots.

There are 4 foods groups:

Fruits and veggies: if calories are your problem aim to eat fruits and veggies with higher caloric values such as avacados, bananas, grapes, potatos. That doesn't mean you can't have carrots and other lower cal options as well.

Dairy and Alts: you should be getting 3 (yes 3) servings of these each day. And as a bonus, as long as you aren't lactose intolerant, they're fairly inexpensive. Go for cheese, milk, yogurt, etc. If calorie intake is an issue, stick to regular products not light or fat free ones.

Grains and cereals: Whole grains are very good for you, and as a bonus, they tend to be high in calories. Bread, rice, pasta, and snacks like ricecakes and crackers are all fairly inexpensive, pack a huge nutritional punch and will boost your calories.

Meats: There are inexpensive meat options if you're willing to look for them. You don't have to buy boneless skinless chicken breasts to eat healthy. Buy a whole chicken, or buy the breasts and remove the bones and skin yourself, trust me it's easy! Ground hamburger is super cheap, and watch for sales on pork, steak and other meats. Stock up when they go on sale- all raw meats freeze well. There are other options STILL: tuna and canned meats. They go on sale all the time. Just be sure you're buying products packed in water, not oil. Eggs are a very inexpensive and healthy alternative to meats, and so are nuts.

Best of luck. :flowerforyou:

...one more thought on this subject: most grocery stores these days sell roasted, whole chickens for around $8 each. These are generally delicious and the meat can be used in a variety of ways (tacos, salads, plain with veggies, soups, sandwiches, mixed with rice, stir fry, with noodles, etc.) You can freeze what meat you don't use within a few days. For one person, there are at least 6 meals, maybe more, from one chicken. That's a little over $2 per meal. What a bargain! Good luck.

very true. in fact, my grocery store sells 3 packs of whole chickens for about 18$. which is a ridiculously good deal! My fiance and I get about 3 meals together out of each one. The first night we each have a roasted breast, the next morning I fix homemade soup with the dripping and the meat of the drumsticks, and that evening we have quesadillas made from the thigh meat. Meat is actually not very expensive at all. I actually find produce to be a bigger splurge than the meat I buy. I end up buying a lot of my produce frozen- which by the way it totally fine to do, and cheaper usually.

My only add to all the other great advise is instead of buying juice and soda use that money to buy meat that will last you a few days. I buy a roasted chicken that the grocer made and it's 5.99 and it will last about 3 days and I can use that for lunch and/or dinner. Also use a crock pot those type of recipes last days and casseroles. Meals like that last a couple of days.

try tvp you can look it on online froma heath food store good luck

Seems like living in Hawaii you would have access to a lot of fresh fish that would not be too expensive. Cooking fish can be a challenge, but with a little practice, you will get good at it.

I know where you're coming from, 50 us is just under 40 canadian. I used to be able to make do on 20 - 30 dollars for two weeks working on minimum wage.

Try this, buy a couple of things of ground beef. About seven - eight dollars together. Cut them up into individual proportions and freeze them in seperate freezer bags. Buy a bag of rice, (3 maybe 4 dollars) a couple cans of cheap tomato sauce. A couple of bags of frozen veggies. A box or two of cereal, with low fat milk and for lunch bread and lunch meat and maybe some lettuce and mayonaise.

Complete meals for two weeks on a fixed income, if I can do it, you can do it.