Cheap healthy groceries?

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  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    Shop sales for sure, stick w/ frozen veggies over canned b/c canned can be high in sodium. My best advice is to take note of proper portions. For example, most that say to use 4 chicken breasts means (4) 4 ounce chicken breasts, not (4) 9.5 ounce chicken breasts like they sell at the grocery store. So I usually buy a pack w/ 6 gigantor breasts and use only 2 to feed my family of 3. Even with things like frozen veggies...if you don't eat leftovers, only cook the two portions you need. Check out the blog 100 days of Real Food, though she grows a lot of her own veggies, there's a lot of good info on there. You can add me if you'd like. I am always on a relatively low budget but buy very little packaged junk food!
  • sarahw181990
    sarahw181990 Posts: 7
    Buy things you know will stretch will satisfy you and still not be horrible to eat. Read the nutrition label because some things you think are better for you are actually worse. And don't plan your menu around stuff you want but what is on sale. Most stores have an online ad so you can look at one and then make a shopping list around what is on sale. Right now at my local store squash is still on sale and I make a mean soup out of squash water and a few chicken bouillon. All cheap to buy about two bucks for a good size squash water is free and a dollar at the dollar store for bouillon that makes more than 12 servings of soup and you feel satisfied when eating it. I like to add brown rice and a little bit of chicken. That is another thing when buying ground meat chicken is the least expensive then turkey then beef. So whenever something calls for ground beef we buy ground chicken. If you can get something like ground beef on sale then go ahead.
  • agthorn
    agthorn Posts: 1,844 Member
    Depends what you consider "healthy." I cook with a lot of cheap hamburger (80/20 ground beef), and people who are avoiding fat consider that to be unhealthy. But I am avoiding carbs, not fat, and trying to get plenty of protein, so I think hamburger is great.
    If you are concerned about fat or calories you can buy the cheaper packages of ground beef (80/20 or 75/25), drain it in a colander after cooking, and then rinse the meat off with hot water and pat it dry with a paper towel. The fat content ends up being similar to the more expensive 95/5 ground beef.

    Really?? That's so good to know!
    Yep! Obviously it only works for recipes where you brown the meat first, like tacos and meat sauces rather than hamburgers and meatloaf, but it's a pretty neat trick for saving money and calories.
  • Karlaki
    Karlaki Posts: 74
    Produce at an Asian grocery store is MUCH cheaper than the regular store. Also, if you're into cooking asian foods the typical ingredients cost less as well. I've found that to be true for other markets as well (middle eastern foods, indian, etc)..
  • kemeko
    kemeko Posts: 158 Member
    Have you shopped at Aldi? I see there's one in your city on Fort Street. I stock up on the essentials there and save a ton. Milk is usually $1 less per gallon than anywhere else, eggs are about $0.50 less, and it goes on and on. They even have a small meat section with some decent prices from time to time.

    If you have not checked out Aldi, I would highly recommend it. It's no frills, off label (but great tasting) and you have to bring your own bags to carry your purchases... but it's a great place for those of us on a budget.
  • megz4987
    megz4987 Posts: 1,008 Member
    Bump :)
  • firesoforion
    firesoforion Posts: 1,017 Member
    Everyone's pretty much covered what I'd say, sales, in-season, bulk, but I can't emphasize frozen vegetables enough. They've got all the nutrients intact, taste great, and are so versatile (frozen spinach, is there anything you can't do with it? It's even great for adding healthy, cheap, vitamin filled bulk to almost whatever else you're eating). Another thing I do (I like to use a lot of spices) is to buy spices in bulk online; it's so, so much cheaper, not even affordable any other way.
  • housegirl2
    housegirl2 Posts: 79 Member
    It's always better to shop the outside ring of the store where fresh produce and meat is rather than buy as much canned pre-packaged foods are. Some stores mark down meat/ poultry when its near its pull date. You can buy packages and freeze. I often buy the family size and repackage for the freezer to take advantage of the cheaper price. Also consider checking out the bulk section of a store. You can buy everything from cereals, pastas rice beans spices, flours and more depending on what the store sells. Also beware of packaging tricks! sometimes the smaller package of a food item is less when you look at the price per lb or oz.

    You could also get a friend to go shopping where you can split larger items to take advantage of lower prices in larger quantities,

    Your most expensive way to buy food is to buy nutritionally deficient packaged foods that do not meet your body's needs.
  • nolachick
    nolachick Posts: 3,278 Member
    Bump,
  • oceanrose78
    oceanrose78 Posts: 133 Member
    I buy fresh veggies, and 50% fresh fruts/50% frozen. The only frozen veggies I buy are corn and peas.

    Stay away from prepackaged anything.

    My pantry consists of a wide variety of spices, canned tomatoes to make into sauces and soups, brown rice, beans, and barley, I buy all of those in bulk. I buy whole wheat pasta when on sale and store that as well. To add to the base of this, I buy about 25.00 of veggies a week, everything from lettuce, to eggplant and whatever else is fresh, and on sale. I keep apples, oranges, and bananas on hand. During the winter I buy frozen berries to use in smoothies.

    I spend about 200.00/month on groceries, feeding 3 adults, 3 meals a day, and 2 kids 50% of the time (my nephews). The most expensive thing by far is the junk they ask for if we take them shopping. I don't bargain shop, and we eat very, very well, only cook with olive oil, eat fresh whole foods, and have treats too. We have gone Vegan, which did make our meat cost disappear, I now buy 2 blocks of tofu a week (around 5.00 total), and it probably saves us 100.00/month.
  • firesoforion
    firesoforion Posts: 1,017 Member
    Your most expensive way to buy food is to buy nutritionally deficient packaged foods that do not meet your body's needs.

    So true.
  • babbassi
    babbassi Posts: 27 Member
    Something that is really easy to make, and not really costly is Hummus. The ingredients are chickpeas, garlic, parsley (optional), olive oil, lemon juice and tahini (sesame) paste.

    The only odd thing is the tahini, but once you buy that you just have it in your cabinet for months (I think I just threw a jar out that was from my new years party of 2011).

    Boil the chickpeas with a clove of garlic until they get pretty soft. Blend with everything else to taste. So easy, and once you have the tahini, all you'll need to buy really are chickpeas. I usually have some garlic and olive oil around. You can leave out parsley if your out. You can make a lot and keep it in the fridge all week.
  • rico1923
    rico1923 Posts: 32
    I see you live in MI. I don't know what kind of stores you have locally BUT you should check out the CSA(Community Supported Agriculture) site at the link posted below. The basic program(organized by the USDA) is you sign up for a season w/the farmer, either pay up front or as the food is harvested(up to the farmer), and get your produce either delivered to your area or available for farm pick-up. Some of the CSA farms also sell produce out of their farms; in my home state it isn't worth it but the CA, UT and AZ farms that advertise on the site have very low cost produce that is mostly organic. In NV we do have a local Sunflower Market (a local chain based in CO) that has incredible selection of fresh and organic produce for very low prices- and really low compared to Whole Foods Market, Trader Joes and other supermarkets in the same niche.

    http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
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