Cheap healthy meals

Fighting4Healthy
Fighting4Healthy Posts: 336 Member
edited October 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Healthy food is so expensive! I am on a major budget and need so help finding some cheap healthy meals. I need help with this because every time I go to buy healthy food, it is way too expensive for me to buy.

Replies

  • mamamc03
    mamamc03 Posts: 1,067 Member
    Fat free refried beans
    a bag of Jasmine rice
    low cal tortillas
    cilantro
    onions
    salsa

    YUMMY cheap lunch for a week..the rice will last you longer.
  • strongnotskinny121
    strongnotskinny121 Posts: 329 Member
    I'm right there with on the budget, girl! I don't know what stores you have where you live, but I shop at Aldi's. They have cheap produce, and decently priced low fat meals, like hot pockets and frozen lunches. For fruits, go by what's in season. Right now apples are cheap. Good Luck!
  • Jolenebib
    Jolenebib Posts: 142 Member
    I found that if you buy what's in season, you'll have better luck. I also watch sales on meat and stock up when it is cheap then freeze. Make your own meals - not the premade ones and it'll be cheaper. Also, if you make the full amount in a recipe and freeze the rest, it'll go a long way. Frozen veggies are good. Rice is relatively cheap. Costco has some great prices on bulk foods that can be easily frozen to save for later.
  • Fighting4Healthy
    Fighting4Healthy Posts: 336 Member
    Fat free refried beans
    a bag of Jasmine rice
    low cal tortillas
    cilantro
    onions
    salsa

    YUMMY cheap lunch for a week..the rice will last you longer.

    What is Jasmine rice? Is it good?
  • TrishJimenez
    TrishJimenez Posts: 561 Member
    Where I live in Vegas a banana is only 22 cents. Eggs are pretty cheap too and yummy on one slice of toast and high in protein. Old fashioned oatmeal is about the cheapest cereal you can buy these days and has no added sugar or other crap. Boil it with almond milk and you wont need butter and very little sugar. You can also cook it the night before with some dried fruit in it or even fresh apples and let it chill over night for a cold breakfast (maybe I am weird but I like cold oatmeal left over from the day before. It is almost like pudding or a cake or something idk) Thats if you dont want a hot breakfast. I buy brown rice and pinto beans in bulk. They dont go back (by bulk I mean the bag of rice is the size of a 5 year old child, but I am feeding 3 kids) Rice goes with everything and me and my kids only eat brown rice. You can cook it so many ways, One of their favorites is cook it then add a little bit of milk sugar and pumpkin pie spice and it is a nice hot (or cold, see oatmeal above) breakfast and sometimes if we feel lazy we eat it for dinner. So when we cook rice we cook a lot, so we have left overs. Beans you can do so many things. First I make Chili, a HUGE pot. Then the left overs get frozen in freezer ziplock bags. Different sizes some small some large. The small ones for individual heat ups for an after school snack. The larger portions for dinners as chili dogs, chili fries (obviously for the kids) I just have mine as a bowl of chili and have a bigger portion of the veggies that the kids are having as a size. On Veggies, I buy HUGE bags of frozen veggies. Add them to soups, even good in the chili, serve on the side. If you make a pasta dish for the kids and family server yourself a SMALL portion but stir in a big portion of the veggies and it will fill you up and be yummy and is full of fiber. CHICKEN, buy whole chicken or the quarters, what ever is on sale I usually find chicken in family packs for under a dollar a lb and I buy ALOT and freeze it in ziplocks. You can do so many things with it. Boil it with herbs and seasoning in a big pot. Pull out the chicken let it cool then debone it and take the skin and fat off. Put the broth in the fridge until it chills and again scrape off the fat. Now save it in the freezer, you now have chicken stock for soups and cooking rice etc. You can use the chicken for sandwiches (yummy) as casseroles, to make chicken stew, enchiladas, tacos oh well you get the point :) Oh forgot, something my kids love you can make with beans chili mac, basically mac and cheese with chili stired in.
  • kg1058
    kg1058 Posts: 26
    Check and see if there are any local food co-ops in your area. Two of my adult children take advantage of farmer's market co-ops - local grown and for about $10-$15 you literally get a laundry basket full of fruits and vegetables.

    If you're going to add rice to stretch your meals, buy a bag of raw brown or Basmati or Jasmine rice as mamamc03 listed in her post. It takes a little longer to cook, but it's much lower in glycemic value than instant rice, which means you won't get those blood sugar spikes that make you tired and even more hungry a couple of hours later!

    Vegetarian refried beans are high in protein, as is quinoa. Dense proteins like turkey and chicken can be stretched a long way if you're sticking to the right portion sizes - and Thanksgiving is coming up, so stock up if you have the room! I'm not a huge fan of eating a lot of starchy or high glycemic foods, so it's hard for me to comment on things like bread or oatmeal or most snacky foods.

    Also, check with your local grocery store manager to find out what days their new stock comes in on items like meat and dairy. Many stores will mark items down that morning to make room for fresh goods. It might be close to the "last sale" date, but most of that food freezes really well! Make sure you're getting price matching if it's available where you shop most often too!

    Good luck to you!
  • 99Tinkerbell
    99Tinkerbell Posts: 384
    I buy many lean meats whatever I can find on sale. I cook as many ways as possible. Chicken, Turkey, Fish, and even lean red meat. Buy fruit in season it's cheapest then. I love the bag salad goes for many meals. Costco has a 3 lb. bag for $2.79. I use it for salad, in a wrap, on a taco salad(if the kids are having tacos I make mine a salad), tuna or chicken salad make my own with low fat mayo,etc. I hope you get some ideas. Also it's about the portion control.
  • lee3978
    lee3978 Posts: 274
    Google cheap healthy family meals and write down the ones on here. I eat eggs, tuna in a can, bags of lettuce, catch veggies on sale and I found it's not that much more expensive. Gotta get creative.
  • dez_yaoichan
    dez_yaoichan Posts: 454
    michelinas (lean and regular) are only about $1

    healthy choice are pretty good- about $3 a meal, at walmart here they go one sale a lot for 2/$5

    lean pockets are also fairly priced. this past week my walmart had them on sale 5/$10

    not sure how you feel about the "tv dinner" style but all of these are actually nice on cals.

    i have a regualr michelinas: tuscan-inspired garlic chicken 320 cals
    and a michelinas lean: creamy rigatoni with broccoli & chicken 270 cals
    also- banquet meals: mexican style chicken enchilada 280 cals for $0.88
  • lee3978
    lee3978 Posts: 274
    As a former Weight Watcher I was all about the TV dinners but now watching my sodium I have to be careful. I notice I'm hardly ever swollen now that I eat less processed foods.
  • mandylooo
    mandylooo Posts: 456 Member
    Lentils and chickpeas are your friends. High in protein, low in fat and dirt cheap. Use them to make curries and mediterranean stews.
  • hello77kitty
    hello77kitty Posts: 260 Member
    Do you have any ethnic markets in your area? I find produce dirt cheap at my Hispanic and Korean markets, plus they have so many exotic fruits and veggies!
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Beans and brown rice. There are hundreds of dishes you can make beginning with these cheap ingredients. Frozen vegetables and fruit are just as nutritious as fresh and cost much less. You can greatly reduce your grocery budget buy planning meals around foods that are most affordable (on sale and/or in season) rather than planning a menu and buying to fit it.
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