Eating healthy on a budget.

[whm1974]

I've been eating a lot of meat and ramen noodles, along with junk food lately and I'm looking for ways to eat healthier and cheaper. One of the ways I'm thinking off is consuming more whole grains and legumes along with some veggies and fruit.

So I plan on eating more of:

Barley
Lentils
Brown Rice
Split Peas
Onions
Garlic
Chili Peppers
ETC...

Any thoughts or tips?

 

[Chaotic42]

I really enjoy black beans with some extra spicy seasoning. They're really cheap and have a lot of fiber. You can also buy a year's worth of lemongrass and kefir lime leaves on Amazon, both of which add a nice flavor to dishes. Celery is cheap and adds a lot of flavor as well.

 

[whm1974]

I really enjoy black beans with some extra spicy seasoning. They're really cheap and have a lot of fiber. You can also buy a year's worth of lemongrass and kefir lime leaves on Amazon, both of which add a nice flavor to dishes. Celery is cheap and adds a lot of flavor as well.

Now that you mention seasonings, I could check out other spices and herbs that I don't normally use.

 

[Chaotic42]

Now that you mention seasonings, I could check out other spices and herbs that I don't normally use.

This looks like a good recipe for frijoles negros:

https://icuban.com/food/frijoles_negros.html

 

[whm1974]

One dish that I'm planning on making more often, like daily is a pottage made with brown rice, pearled barley, lentils, split peas with onions and garlic. Those things are actually pretty cheap to buy.

 

[mindless1]

It depends on how cheap (vs labor) you want to get and what your digestive system, and daily schedule, can handle.

If you want to go bare bones labor vs cost, grow peppers and tomatoes and buy dried beans. That is very boring and I wouldn't want that meal more than twice a week, but some portions can be made into different meals.

Yes legumes. Every time you want them. The diet will fail if you end up disgusted that you are eating them when you want something else.

Spices are a great way to mitigate salt and fat in a diet, but on a budget, things get trickier because there are few healthy things cheaper than salt or fat, and you do need fat in a healthy diet. Don't fall victim to diet crazes that suggest otherwise. Fat can be cheap vegetable oil if that fits into what you're cooking.

Whole grains, absolutely. It depends on your finding recipes that you want to eat. One thing that I found to be fortunate was that I can eat Just About Anything if I put my homemade hot sauce on it, but that doesn't mean that I would be happy doing so.

The two meals that I find easiest to make that incorporate those ingredients are soup or burritos. I do eat a lot of both.

 

[whm1974]

It depends on how cheap (vs labor) you want to get and what your digestive system, and daily schedule, can handle.

If you want to go bare bones labor vs cost, grow peppers and tomatoes and buy dried beans. That is very boring and I wouldn't want that meal more than twice a week, but some portions can be made into different meals.

Yes legumes. Every time you want them. The diet will fail if you end up disgusted that you are eating them when you want something else.

Spices are a great way to mitigate salt and fat in a diet, but on a budget, things get trickier because there are few healthy things cheaper than salt or fat, and you do need fat in a healthy diet. Don't fall victim to diet crazes that suggest otherwise. Fat can be cheap vegetable oil if that fits into what you're cooking.

Whole grains, absolutely. It depends on your finding recipes that you want to eat. One thing that I found to be fortunate was that I can eat Just About Anything if I put my homemade hot sauce on it, but that doesn't mean that I would be happy doing so.

The two meals that I find easiest to make that incorporate those ingredients are soup or burritos. I do eat a lot of both.

Well I'm not giving up meat, just eating less of it. And I do own a slow cooker and prepare Corned beef stew with it once in awhile.

 

[Alpha One Seven]

I've been eating a lot of meat and ramen noodles, along with junk food lately and I'm looking for ways to eat healthier and cheaper. One of the ways I'm thinking off is consuming more whole grains and legumes along with some veggies and fruit.

So I plan on eating more of:

Barley
Lentils
Brown Rice
Split Peas
Onions
Garlic
Chili Peppers
ETC...

Any thoughts or tips?

Add some potassium and magnesium sources too.
If you want to do it cheaper and more controlled, grow your own foods.

 

[whm1974]

Anyone know which brands of peanut butter has the lowest amount of sugar?

 

[Chaotic42]

Add some potassium and magnesium sources too.
If you want to do it cheaper and more controlled, grow your own foods.

There's a salt substitute made with potassium chloride which provides a fairly large amount of potassium, which can be hard to come by in a normal diet. Squash and sweet potato are good sources.

 

[whm1974]

There's a salt substitute made with potassium chloride which provides a fairly large amount of potassium, which can be hard to come by in a normal diet. Squash and sweet potato are good sources.

I eat squash every now and then.

 

[Chaotic42]

Anyone know which brands of peanut butter has the lowest amount of sugar?

Smuckers Natural Peanut butter has 1g of natural sugar per serving and tastes so much better than stuff like Skippy and Jif.
https://www.smuckers.com/products/peanut-butter/natural-peanut-butter/natural-chunky-peanut-butter

 

[Alpha One Seven]

I eat squash every now and then.

Nothing beats a good butternut squash...mmmm

 

[Alpha One Seven]

Smuckers Natural Peanut butter has 1g of natural sugar per serving and tastes so much better than stuff like Skippy and Jif.
https://www.smuckers.com/products/peanut-butter/natural-peanut-butter/natural-chunky-peanut-butter

There is also sugar free peanut butter.
Adams no stir is good:
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
2 Tbsp (32g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories
180
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 16g
20%
Saturated Fat 2.5g
12%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
0%
Sodium 135mg
6%
Total Carbohydrate 5g
2%
Dietary Fiber 3g
9%
Total Sugars 1g
Incl 0g of Added Sugars
0%
Protein 8g
Vitamin D 0mcg
0%
Calcium 27mg
2%
Iron 1mg
8%
Potassium 217mg
4%
*The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

 

[Chaotic42]

Try Blue Hubbard squash. They're wonderful and cheap.

 

[whm1974]

Try Blue Hubbard squash. They're wonderful and cheap.

I will have to check that out.

 

[whm1974]

I've noticed that the fad diet known as Palo has become really popular over the last few years. And I'm thinking eating that much protein and fat can not be all that healthy long term, and not mention can be really expensive as well.

Personally from I read about prehistoric man, we ate anything that edible and available. Or could be made edible by what whatever primitive food processing methods we had back then. Especially once we discovered cooking.

 

[pauldun170]

Join wholesale club
Buy all the chickens. Shove all the chickens in the freezer. Big package of boneless chicken thighs is probably best bang for the buck.
Buy big bag of rice
Buy vegetable of choice. Fresh or frozen. Skip the canned stuff
Buy big bag of onions and a bag of garlic.
Magic is in the seasoning and prep.
Rotate the type of vegetable on occasion.
Stick to water for your beverages.

Get swole at the gym. Shed pudge.
save money

 

[whm1974]

What the deal with tuna? I've reading some advisory recommending limiting your tuna intake to no more the two cans a week.

 

[Chaotic42]

What the deal with tuna? I've reading some advisory recommending limiting your tuna intake to no more the two cans a week.

Mercury. Looks like there's a calculator for it:

https://www.ewg.org/research/ewgs-good-seafood-guide#.WqwDt-gbOuc

 

[shortylickens]

black beans.

cheaper than dirt and they're half protein & half fiber.

oh, potatoes.
Cheaper than black beans and they have LOADS of vitamins.

 

[whm1974]

black beans.

cheaper than dirt and they're half protein & half fiber.

oh, potatoes.
Cheaper than black beans and they have LOADS of vitamins.

While I was eating cans of refried black beans awhile back. I guess I got tired of it.

 

[HitAnyKey]

Actually this is an interesting thread.

My favorite cheap grocery items:

Broccoli
Carrots
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Onions
Zuccini
Big bags of Rice
Chicken in the big multi packs for the freezer
Red Vinegar
Table Salt
Butter (for cooking) - no oils needed for most cookware
Pasta noodles
Tuna in the can
Eggs (You can get 2.5 dozen for cheap) = scrambled or poached

Maybe not ideal but the above could handle my daily needs. I put Sriracha on everything

 

[whm1974]

Actually this is an interesting thread.

My favorite cheap grocery items:

Broccoli
Carrots
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Onions
Zuccini
Big bags of Rice
Chicken in the big multi packs for the freezer
Red Vinegar
Table Salt
Butter (for cooking) - no oils needed for most cookware
Pasta noodles
Tuna in the can
Eggs (You can get 2.5 dozen for cheap) = scrambled or poached

Maybe not ideal but the above could handle my daily needs. I put Sriracha on everything

Yeah I will probably start eating tuna and peanut butter again. More eggs maybe?

 

[balloonshark]

I've been buying Kroger brand natural creamy peanut butter 16oz. and it only has peanuts and salt as the ingredients. I think it is $1.59 normally which is about half the price of smuckers. You have to stir it really good when you open it and then store it in the fridge so it doesn't separate.

Oats are a cheap and good way to start the day. I've come to prefer overnight oats. Get anything but instant oats which means get steel cut, old fashioned or quick oats.