Cheap eating.

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girlholiday
girlholiday Posts: 73
in Food and Nutrition
Help!

My boyfriend and I are tight on money and we only have around $30 to spend on groceries for the week.

what we have
- 6 frozen chicken breasts.
- 2 cans of black beans.
- 2 boxes of whole wheat pasta.
- 1 can of tomatoes.
- 12 eggs.
- 2 small containers of yogurt.
- 1 big bag of brown rice.

I need ideas of cheapish, healthy stuff for us for the week. Ideas?

Replies

  • IvoryParchment
    IvoryParchment Posts: 651 Member
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    Soup.
  • swilk627
    swilk627 Posts: 245 Member
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    Hmm.....You could buy a bag of shredded cheese, jar of salsa, frozen corn, an onion, 2 green bell peppers, and a package of tortillas. You're going to need some more protein though - see what's on sale and work with that. Get some frozen veggies - they're usually cheaper than fresh. Get some fruit - I know apples are cheap here now.

    One night have chicken fajitas.

    One day throw two chicken breasts, the salsa, corn, and black beans in the crockpot. Cook until chicken shreds. For one meal, serve over rice. Another meal would be to serve in tortillas.

    With the eggs, you could make omelettes.

    Another day, put two more chicken breasts, the can of tomatoes, and the other green bell pepper in the crockpot. Cook on low until chicken shreds. Serve over pasta.
  • Aerohead21
    Aerohead21 Posts: 333 Member
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    I'd recommend off brand and bulk items. Go for bagged fruit instead of by the pound. The hard part is $30 doesn't stretch far for 2 people, especially fresh foods. Meats are always most expensive, and boxed/junk foods tend to be cheapest. Even though canned veggies aren't as good as fresh, this might be a good alternative for a while too. And coupons! Lots and lots of coupons :)

    Walmart (though not the best) offers price matching too so read your ads becore you go in and have a plan.

    Some stores (not Walmart) also double coupons so go on a double coupon day.

    What kinds of foods do you like on your diet and what are no-no's for you? Pasta and rice are cheap, but they are high in carbs/calories. You might get bagged potatoes. Still carb loaded but a good alternative to pasta's and rice, and again - you can usually get a big bag of the store brand for cheap.

    Add me as a friend if you want :)
  • mattdm6969
    mattdm6969 Posts: 9
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    I'd spend the $30 on meat, whatever is on sale. I'd probably go with 93/7 hamburger because its super cheap right now. But if you can get something fairly lean for under $3/lb, I'd go for that and just get used to the idea of having meat, rice, and salsa for the rest of the week.
  • girlholiday
    girlholiday Posts: 73
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    I'd recommend off brand and bulk items. Go for bagged fruit instead of by the pound. The hard part is $30 doesn't stretch far for 2 people, especially fresh foods. Meats are always most expensive, and boxed/junk foods tend to be cheapest. Even though canned veggies aren't as good as fresh, this might be a good alternative for a while too. And coupons! Lots and lots of coupons :)

    Walmart (though not the best) offers price matching too so read your ads becore you go in and have a plan.

    Some stores (not Walmart) also double coupons so go on a double coupon day.

    What kinds of foods do you like on your diet and what are no-no's for you? Pasta and rice are cheap, but they are high in carbs/calories. You might get bagged potatoes. Still carb loaded but a good alternative to pasta's and rice, and again - you can usually get a big bag of the store brand for cheap.

    Add me as a friend if you want :)



    I work at a grocery store and get 10% off of our store brand so that helps. I have rice, and pasta. We're both trying to avoid carbs because they are our weakness, but we've gotten better about sticking to portion sizes, instead of eating the whole box between the two of us.

    Right now we kind of are leaning towards bagged apples, 2 bags of spinach, canned tuna or chicken, canned or frozen veggies, canned tomatoes.
  • girlholiday
    girlholiday Posts: 73
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    I'd spend the $30 on meat, whatever is on sale. I'd probably go with 93/7 hamburger because its super cheap right now. But if you can get something fairly lean for under $3/lb, I'd go for that and just get used to the idea of having meat, rice, and salsa for the rest of the week.

    I do have a giant jug of salsa now that I think of it. I don't eat beef or pork so it makes it a bit harder to choose cheaper meats.
  • rdmchugh
    rdmchugh Posts: 76
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    Black beans and rice (serves dinner for 2 plus 2 lunches for later):
    1 lb chicken sausage
    1.5 cups frozen corn
    1 can black beans
    1 cup brown rice
    2 cups water

    Cut sausage into circles and warm in pan 1-2 minutes
    Add remaining ingredients
    Stir and bring to a boil
    Cover and simmer on low until rice is cooked (45-50 minutes)
  • Aerohead21
    Aerohead21 Posts: 333 Member
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    Meat is expensive so stick with what's on sale if you go that route. You can get your protein from other sources too, so don't focus too hard on thinking your protein has to come from an animal source. Bagged beans are cheaper than canned and you can do A LOT with black beans or even a mixed bean chili. Get a bottle of tomato juice, your canned tomatoes, chili spices - which some canned beans and tomatoes already have, and make a big pot of bean chili. It may be meatless, but it's fairly inexpensive and the beans will keep you fuller longer.

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