Help!! Favorite CHEAP healthy meal?

stephc0711
stephc0711 Posts: 1,022 Member
edited December 20 in Recipes
My hubby and I are on a TIGHT budget right now, so were' eating mostly what we have in the pantry and freezer. So, we have pasta, potatoes, venison and frozen veggies. Needless to say, that's a meal that will get old in a hurry, not to mention, it's not helping my diet much. What kind of meals do you guys like to fix when you're down to the bare essentials?

Replies

  • themommie
    themommie Posts: 5,033 Member
    I would dice the venison up into bite size pieces cook it in a pan with pam and some favorite spices maybe add terriyaki sauce and add veggies and a little bit of rice to it making the meal mostly vegetables.....i hope this helps, you could also cook the venison in the crockpot and shredd it for barbque sandwiches on bagel thins or open faced sandwich and also make burritos or soft tacos out of it
  • thetrishwarp
    thetrishwarp Posts: 838 Member
    The grocery store near me will sell near-due produce at ridiculously cheap prices ($.50 for a bag of 4-6 bell peppers, etc) - cut them up, put them into portions, stick them in the freezer, and then you can take them out to make stir-fry (rice is fairly cheap) and you can use different ones for different flavours.

    Also, soup.
  • Panda_1999
    Panda_1999 Posts: 191 Member
    There were some good Ideas in this thread

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/556548-how-to-survive-on-40-50-dollars-per-month-on-food

    Hang in there
    Panda_1999
  • Werglum
    Werglum Posts: 378 Member
    Self crusting quiche
    1/2 cup self raising flour
    1 tin whole kernel corn (drained)
    one small onion (chopped)
    2 eggs
    3/4 cup milk
    1/2 cup grated cheese (I use tasty cheddar - but I'm in NZ and I know American cheese is totally different to ours!)
    1 large tomato (sliced)
    paprika

    Put the corn, onion and cheese in the base of a pyrex dish or pie plate, lightly mix the eggs, flour and milk and pour over the top. Lay the tomato over and sprinkle with paprika (and extra cheese if you like). Bake at 180 degrees C for 20-25 minutes or until golden and set in the middle. It is very yummy and works out at about 255 calories if you cut it into 4.
  • GaiaGirl1992
    GaiaGirl1992 Posts: 459 Member
    one of my favorite filling meals is corn, beans and rice with a little hummus or margarine. a little high in carbs, but you have a very filling meal and it's cheap! where I am:
    16 oz frozen corn-$.49
    40.5 oz canned kidney beans-$1.69
    14 oz box boil-in-bag brown rice-$2.49 or white, $1.49

    another favorite is steamed broccoli, rice, and chicken or another protein. you can mix and match the veggies, fresh or cooked, and I bet chunks of venison would taste good too!

    hope I helped some, happy eating! ^-^
  • stephc0711
    stephc0711 Posts: 1,022 Member
    These are some really awesome ideas! I'll have to try them this week! My hubby and kids can be picky (til they try it), but they're just going to have to deal! ;)
  • amivox
    amivox Posts: 441 Member
    my favorite, which i eat almost everyday, is Greek Pizza.

    1 whole wheat or honey wheat pita
    1 cup spinach
    as much basil as you like for personal preference
    2 tbsp low fat ricotta cheese
    feta cheese (my fav is the Mediterranean spiced one or the tomato and basil)
    tomato

    preheat oven to 450
    spread ricotta cheese evenly over the pita
    sprinkle basil evenly over the ricotta layer
    chop spinach as fine as you'd like and spread this evenly over the ricotta/basil layer as if it was cheese on a normal pizza
    next, chop 4 thin tomato slices and space them in a square on top of the spinach layer
    then you sprinkle the feta cheese on top and, if you would like (which i do) add more basil on top

    add to oven and cook for 12-15 minutes, or until feta and crust are slightly browned.

    Sooooo delicious. I can make a whole week of these on one trip to the store.
  • Rach911
    Rach911 Posts: 72 Member
    I use chicken for this recipe, but I'm sure you can substitute venison.

    Toss 4 chicken breasts (approx 1 pound) into the crock pot. Season with whatever seasonings you might have. Pour a box of broth (chicken, beef, veggie, whatever), approx 4 cups, on top and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Serve with rice and veggies. Cheap, easy, healthy and yummy!
  • Crock Pot Potato Soup

    1 Medium Yellow Onion (can be disguised by using 1/2 TBSP Onion Powder)
    2 Stalks Celery
    2 Large Carrots
    1 TBSP Minced Garlic
    3 Pounds Potatoes
    2 TBSP Chicken Stock
    6 Cups of Water
    1/4 tsp. Black Pepper
    2 Cups Milk
    1/4 Cup Flour
    1 tsp. Salt
    (optional: Black Forrest ham tastes amazing and is a good source of protein)

    Finely dice celery and onion. Grate carrots and mince garlic. Cube potatoes (1 inch or less the smaller they are the faster they cook). Add all to crock pot. Add chicken stock and water. Cook on High for 8 hours. Wisk 1/4 cup Flour and 2 cups Milk into soup. Cook on High for 30 minutes.

    Then mash potatoes and serve. Enjoy :)

    Really tasty on a chilly day. Goes well with French bread for dipping.
  • ammatzner
    ammatzner Posts: 11
    Try this website: http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/ There are a bunch of healthy, dollar conscientious recipes on here. I could browse it for hours!
  • xxSjayxx
    xxSjayxx Posts: 56 Member
    Try this website: http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/ There are a bunch of healthy, dollar conscientious recipes on here. I could browse it for hours!

    UHHHMAYYYZING!
    Love the site, it looks funky and fresh, definitely want to try this out :)
    Thanks for sharing this!
  • Shellitz
    Shellitz Posts: 188
    I am building a house at the moment which as we know is a money vaccuum! It's like I get my pay and it just evaporates lol!

    I have halved our grocceries recently buy getting pretty basic staples and cooking in bulk and freeezing it in portions. My finace and his mother in law are horrendously fussy eaters too - so I've had to find healthy cheap foods in disguise! My faves are:

    - Spaghetti bolognaise. Minced meat is cheap (even the low fat stuff) and I use canned tomatoes and tomato soup for the base plus veggies. I make a big pot for about $15 and I get about 15 adult serves out of it. My own recipe is quite low cals too - I don't add cheese on mine and use minumum olive oil when cooking the mince

    - Home made burgers. Again - minced meat patties bound with egg and bread crumbs. Add grated onion/carrot and herbs/seasoning and serve on buns. Filling and cheap. Not bad for you as long as you steer clear of cheese and creamy dressings too. If chicken fillets are on sale I will get them and cook the whole fillet then slice to put on burgers. Lucky to cost me $10 to serve 3 adults.

    - Soup. Good old veggie soup. Use cheap meat (venison would be great, if not cheap cuts of beef or lamb) and cook slow and low with your favourite veggies and some stock. You can add barley, lentils or wheatgerm to bulk it up and make it more filling. I also freeze this or my fiance will eat it for lunch at work until it runs out.

    - Risotto. Aborio rice is cheap. And a litle bit of meat goes a loooong way in a risotto! I do a chicken and chorizo sausage one and I only use one chicken breast fillet and one sausage and it's filling enough. I get 4 adult serves for about $8

    - Eggs! If I am in a bind I will use eggs as my protein instead of meat. Frittata is super easy and filling. Whisk a few eggs, dice and stir through some veggies (or lean bacon or whatever you like with your eggs!) and cook in a low oven until set. If you get farmers eggs they are super cheap and who says eggs are just for breakfast!

    To be honest, for me the easiest way to reduce the groceries have been to only buy meat that is on special and build my meals from that. One day we will go back to eating steak!! Just not for a while lol.

    **actually - the steak is a lie, sometime we do eat steak, if it's on special! Paired with basic veggies it's not that pricey.
  • pdworkman
    pdworkman Posts: 1,342 Member
    - shepherd's pie
    - stir fry
    - pasta and veggies in a white sauce
    - potato pancakes
    - vegetable omelet
    - pasta and meat in a red sauce
    - roasted potatoes and veggies
    - baked potato
    - fried eggs and hash browns
    - scalloped potatoes
    - potato, meat, and veggie hash

    What else do you have or can get on the cheap? Rice and beans/lentils? Some produce on clearance? What sauces and canned stuff do you have around? What spices?
  • pdworkman
    pdworkman Posts: 1,342 Member
    Huh, just re-reading. For some reason I thought you said you had eggs. I must have picked that up from one of the other posters!
  • TriciaAllen7251
    TriciaAllen7251 Posts: 283 Member
    Pot of beans. They will last several days. That and some cornbread muffins. Can you tell I'm from the south?
  • rooster70460
    rooster70460 Posts: 206 Member
    www.brokeandhealthy.com
  • iloveseattle
    iloveseattle Posts: 40 Member
    :heart:
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