Is it possible to eat ~healthy~ on the cheap?

[Eli]

Originally posted by: cheapgoose
well, first of all, you gotta stop shopping at safeway or albertsons.

go find some asian stores like ranch 99 and you'll save some money.

I don't shop at Safeway and Albertsons, they're a ripoff compared to WinCo, even with club card.. lol

Just spent 70$. Did pretty good, I think.

See, some of you seem to be forgetting the "healthy" part of it. I could just buy the cheapest ground beef they have(30% fat), but it's practically white, that's disgusting. Got 1.75lbs of extra lean(7% fat) for $5.64. Picked up some hamburger helper to go with it, also some taco shells for tacos.

Also picked up 6.75lbs of boneless skinless chickenbreast with rib meat, $16.62. Pretty spendy, but we've gotten them before, it should last about a week.

We usually buy french fries, so we bougth more. Also bought a few boxes of pasta w/ herb sauce, they're good to mix the chicken into.

3.5lbs of granola - $5
3lbs of trail mix - $5.40
1.25lbs of cornflakes - $1.25

Picked up some applesauce($1.68), 2 loaves of whole grain bread($1.96), canned pineapple, mixed fruit, mandarin oranges to snack on($2.11), some raw red beans & rice($1.67), couple of boxes of wheat crackers($2.96), 2 cans of sardines($1.01) and saltines to go with them($1.03), 2 cans of chili($1.36)....

As for the bad stuff.. bought a can of powdered french vanilla coffee mix($3.27), a 12 pack of Mt. Dew Pitch Black($2.98+dep).

Didn't have enough on me(and the ATM at the store costs 2$ to use), so we have to go back tomorrow for Milk, olives, cheese, yogurt, lettuce and some other things.. should bring us to 80 - 90$.

Definately healthier than these last 2 weeks.



We still need to learn how to cook better for ourselves, though.

 

[0roo0roo]

buy in bulk, cook in bulk, freeze/fridge

 

[DWW]

Eating healthy is costly and time consuming. The food on my diet averages about $12/day :Q Then again I'm on a higher protein sort of diet...

 

[TwoMix]

Buy fruits/vegies from a Chinatown/Ethnic type town if you have one near you. They have much better quality/incredibly cheap.

 

[badmouse]

Think of every ethnic food: starch plus a little something (protein - egg, meat, cheese) plus sauce for flavor. That covers everything from tacos to chinese cuisine to pasta to country French food.

Examples: rice plus a can of tuna plus onion sauce, or mashed potatoes with a little hamburger on top with a little worcester sauce, or pasta plus sauce plus sausage. Rice plus beans plus cheese. Noodles with peanut butter. Potatoes plus leeks (onions if you're cheap) plus water is potage bonne femme - a great soup and a great soup base, you can throw leftover anything in with it and have a great meal.

Eat carrots every day, they're about the cheapest veggie. Not the expensive little ones, learn to cut big ones. Carrot slices sauteed in butter with a little brown sugar are awesome, and make a great healthy breakfast.

Tea is the cheapest thing you can drink (after water). Not the fancy stuff.

Store brand cookies are awesome. They don't taste very good, so you can only eat one or two, but they hit the spot when you really want a cookie. Plus, your kids or your friends won't eat them, so they last a long time.

Learn to buy starch by the ounce, when you're buying cereal. Oatmeal is cheap, good, & healthy. Also, The cheapest breakfast starch is actually those little muffins in the boxes that you make. I highly recommend them.

 

[torpid]

Many of the things mentioned here aren't healthy. I know because I eat them. Pasta sauce from a jar is generally not healthy at all. Nor is pasta itself unless you get some kind I don't know about. I guess it depends on your definition of healthy. Do you mean low calorie and good for you, or merely ok for cholesterol?

Having made 3 or 4 chicken recipes, it seems to me that you probably would be fine if you just chose a random spice, lemon or lime juice, maybe some mustard or other random condiment, and then baked the chicken. Somehow that turns out well. Also, if you are adventurous you can make some sort of crust easily, like by crushing crackers or using bread crumbs.

I would recommend brown or wild rice if you can get it cheaply.

I have tried the buy a lot and freeze trick but I guess my freezer sucks. I always get excessive frost on the stuff, and I've tried lots of different temperature settings.

 

[Chunkee]

Originally posted by: bockchow
tortillas beans rice and cheese, cheap healthy cereal and skim milk, drink water instead of soda, beer and juice with high suger. bread for samwiches and toast. lots of chicken and vegis. you can eat cheap as long as you make everything yourself and don't eat junkfood.

agreed.

think LEGUMES,

beans and rice, esp black beans, on a tortilla is great...lots of vegetables and your are pretty much set.

that is cheap.

i have done it

jC

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: badmouse
Think of every ethnic food: starch plus a little something (protein - egg, meat, cheese) plus sauce for flavor. That covers everything from tacos to chinese cuisine to pasta to country French food.

Examples: rice plus a can of tuna plus onion sauce, or mashed potatoes with a little hamburger on top with a little worcester sauce, or pasta plus sauce plus sausage. Rice plus beans plus cheese. Noodles with peanut butter. Potatoes plus leeks (onions if you're cheap) plus water is potage bonne femme - a great soup and a great soup base, you can throw leftover anything in with it and have a great meal.

Eat carrots every day, they're about the cheapest veggie. Not the expensive little ones, learn to cut big ones. Carrot slices sauteed in butter with a little brown sugar are awesome, and make a great healthy breakfast.

Tea is the cheapest thing you can drink (after water). Not the fancy stuff.

Store brand cookies are awesome. They don't taste very good, so you can only eat one or two, but they hit the spot when you really want a cookie. Plus, your kids or your friends won't eat them, so they last a long time.

Learn to buy starch by the ounce, when you're buying cereal. Oatmeal is cheap, good, & healthy. Also, The cheapest breakfast starch is actually those little muffins in the boxes that you make. I highly recommend them.

Hmmm... That really sounds good, the carrots sauteed in butter w/ a little brown sugar. Will have to try that.

We have plenty of oatmeal in the house. We also use 10-grain pancake batter, and have some 10-grain cereal(ends up kinda a mix between oatmeal and cream of wheat)...

We also have lots of instant potatos, so it's tempting to use those instead of buying more, even though real potatos are cheap.

Yeah, we used to buy bulk mini-cookies(mini-oreos, mini-chocolate chip) for munchies, from WinCo(1.28/lb.. ).. but they're horrible for you I'm sure, so I've been getting the trail mix instead. It's quite a bit more expensive(like 2 to 3$/lb depending on which kind you get), but I like trail mix and it should be fairly good for you.

Yes... tea... thanks for reminding me.

It's really hard not to drink pop. It's really addicting, it's crazy. :Q Uninhibited, my body will crave like 5 or 6 a day, lol... It almost feels like I'm running on corn syrup. After drinking one, you get this surge of energy that wears off after a few hours, and you want another.

Caffeine, too. I don't buy uncaffeinated pop, and we drink lots of powdered flavored instant coffees, yuck. This time we got the fat free version of French Vanilla.. lol... Only 80 calories/serving instead of 110. :Q

Blech.. It would probably be worth it from a health standpoint to just find an actual coffee that we like.

But yeah, tea.. tea is really good for you. And it has caffeine!

 

[rgwalt]

One of my new favorite meals is to cook some rice, stirfry some zucchini, and then dump a package of tuna on top. The sweet/spicy style tuna makes a good addition, and it is still cheaper than chicken/beef/pork.

One key to eating cheap is to plan what you are going to cook for the week ahead of time!!! Make a database of recipes, and think about what you are going to cook every night. Make a meal schedule. Then buy stuff for breakfast (cereal, milk, oatmeal, fruits, coffee/tea, juice if you must) and stuff for lunch (sandwich bread, tuna, deli meat, tomato, cheese, mayo/mustard, pretzels, fruit, canned soup). Think about how many people you need to feed every day, and then think about the correct number of servings of each food group, and that will help you plan your menus.

Try to cut out "snacks". Drink either water, tea, or milk (skim) at every meal. Try not to buy soda, juice, beer, wine, soft drink mixes (koolaid, lemonade) except for special occasions. Serve the granola at breakfast with yogurt. Serve the trailmix at lunch with a sandwich or bowl of soup. Go to Food Network to get recipes for dinner. There is a wealth of information on that site, and you can do searches many different ways.

Another thing I do is watch the Sunday ads and wait for chicken to go on-sale for $2/lb for boneless, skinless breasts. Then I buy as many packages as I can fit into my freezer. Fortunately, that sale rolls around once a month or so. I hardly ever eat beef or pork at home. I live on chicken, turkey, and tuna.

Get the whole family involved in cooking. It sounds like everyone could use a cooking lesson. My final suggestion is to find a good meatloaf recipe. One where you use lots of vegetables (shreaded carrots, peppers, zucchini). A good meatloaf recipe is worth its weight in gold.

R

 

[PricklyPete]

It's not that hard. For instance, I whip up some tasty veggie burritos on the cheap:

Can of Black Beans: $0.87
Can of Pinto Beans: $0.87
Can of diced tomatoes with Jalepenos: $0.67
Can of mixed veggies: $0.53
4 servings of Brown Rice ~ $0.50
Salsa needed ~ $1.00
Habenero Cheddar Cheese ~ $2.00
Pack of 10 flour tortillas $1.49

Cook all of the Beans and Veggies (minus the salsa) in one pot and the rice in the other. Season the bean mixture with Habenero sauce, Cilantro, Salt, Pepper, etc. to please tastes. Once the rice is finished and the bean mixture is warm enough, drain bean mixture and pour over rice. Mix thoroughly.

Prepare one Tortilla at a time with mixture and a line of salsa and some grated cheese. Roll tortilla and wrap in aluminum foil. These will easily keep for a week in the frig. I like them hot or cold and normally eat them cold.

That is up to 10 meals for just under $7.00...and that is at normal prices at the local supermarket...no bulk purchasing.

Obviously this is only one recipe, but it is very easy and very cheap. I'm sure if you look around, you can find/figure out a lot of similar recipes that can save you a lot of money.

 

[Fausto]

You can save a lot of money by purchasing bone-in or whole chicken as opposed to buying boneless breasts.

For example; buy a whole bird (you want a roaster, not a fryer......fryers are older and tougher) and bake it in the oven (20 min per lb at 350). The breast meat should be plenty for a meal that night, then pick off the rest of the meat and use it in a few days for soups, stews, etc (I usually make jambalaya). If you're really industrious you can also make stock from the bones (takes a while, but it pretty easy). In the end, you can stretch one bird into 2-4 meals.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: rgwalt
One of my new favorite meals is to cook some rice, stirfry some zucchini, and then dump a package of tuna on top. The sweet/spicy style tuna makes a good addition, and it is still cheaper than chicken/beef/pork.

One key to eating cheap is to plan what you are going to cook for the week ahead of time!!! Make a database of recipes, and think about what you are going to cook every night. Make a meal schedule. Then buy stuff for breakfast (cereal, milk, oatmeal, fruits, coffee/tea, juice if you must) and stuff for lunch (sandwich bread, tuna, deli meat, tomato, cheese, mayo/mustard, pretzels, fruit, canned soup). Think about how many people you need to feed every day, and then think about the correct number of servings of each food group, and that will help you plan your menus.

Try to cut out "snacks". Drink either water, tea, or milk (skim) at every meal. Try not to buy soda, juice, beer, wine, soft drink mixes (koolaid, lemonade) except for special occasions. Serve the granola at breakfast with yogurt. Serve the trailmix at lunch with a sandwich or bowl of soup. Go to Food Network to get recipes for dinner. There is a wealth of information on that site, and you can do searches many different ways.

Another thing I do is watch the Sunday ads and wait for chicken to go on-sale for $2/lb for boneless, skinless breasts. Then I buy as many packages as I can fit into my freezer. Fortunately, that sale rolls around once a month or so. I hardly ever eat beef or pork at home. I live on chicken, turkey, and tuna.

Get the whole family involved in cooking. It sounds like everyone could use a cooking lesson. My final suggestion is to find a good meatloaf recipe. One where you use lots of vegetables (shreaded carrots, peppers, zucchini). A good meatloaf recipe is worth its weight in gold.

R

Thanks for the advice.

It's just my girlfriend and I. No family to speak of yet.. LOL

I have a problem because I don't like most "dinner" vegetables. I'm a meat and potato kinda guy at heart.

 

[Fausto]

Another thing: learn to braise or slow-cook meats. The cuts you use for stuff like this are usually pretty tough and therefore really cheap relative to something like filet or tenderloin. Braising will not only make them fork-tender, but you can get pretty creative with the braising sauces for variety.

 

[rgwalt]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: rgwalt
One of my new favorite meals is to cook some rice, stirfry some zucchini, and then dump a package of tuna on top. The sweet/spicy style tuna makes a good addition, and it is still cheaper than chicken/beef/pork.

One key to eating cheap is to plan what you are going to cook for the week ahead of time!!! Make a database of recipes, and think about what you are going to cook every night. Make a meal schedule. Then buy stuff for breakfast (cereal, milk, oatmeal, fruits, coffee/tea, juice if you must) and stuff for lunch (sandwich bread, tuna, deli meat, tomato, cheese, mayo/mustard, pretzels, fruit, canned soup). Think about how many people you need to feed every day, and then think about the correct number of servings of each food group, and that will help you plan your menus.

Try to cut out "snacks". Drink either water, tea, or milk (skim) at every meal. Try not to buy soda, juice, beer, wine, soft drink mixes (koolaid, lemonade) except for special occasions. Serve the granola at breakfast with yogurt. Serve the trailmix at lunch with a sandwich or bowl of soup. Go to Food Network to get recipes for dinner. There is a wealth of information on that site, and you can do searches many different ways.

Another thing I do is watch the Sunday ads and wait for chicken to go on-sale for $2/lb for boneless, skinless breasts. Then I buy as many packages as I can fit into my freezer. Fortunately, that sale rolls around once a month or so. I hardly ever eat beef or pork at home. I live on chicken, turkey, and tuna.

Get the whole family involved in cooking. It sounds like everyone could use a cooking lesson. My final suggestion is to find a good meatloaf recipe. One where you use lots of vegetables (shreaded carrots, peppers, zucchini). A good meatloaf recipe is worth its weight in gold.

R

Thanks for the advice.

It's just my girlfriend and I. No family to speak of yet.. LOL

I have a problem because I don't like most "dinner" vegetables. I'm a meat and potato kinda guy at heart.

No problem! The best way to get your veggies is to hide them in other things. That is why I'm a fan of veggie meatloaf.

Good luck!

R

 

[konakona]

Originally posted by: Fausto
Another thing: learn to braise or slow-cook meats. The cuts you use for stuff like this are usually pretty tough and therefore really cheap relative to something like filet or tenderloin. Braising will not only make them fork-tender, but you can get pretty creative with the braising sauces for variety.

dunno, sounds like too much trouble to go through to me. legumes + grains + soy milk gives me enough complete protein for me anyway.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Rkonster
Costco is your friend.

Not really.

We don't have the freezer space, nor do we have a FoodSaver. Too much food would end up being thrown out.

Sometime, we do want to get a big chest freezer and a foodsaver and start shopping at Costco. Doesen't it cost like 35$/year for membership?

That's why you buy the Foodsaver vacuum sealer at CostCo B&M.

Of course that will set you back $170 or so (including membership costs).

 

[Ninjja]

good and informative thread, thanks!

 

[phreakah]

i'll also have to agree with the person who suggested buying fruits and veggies at a 99ranch or similar store..

one good dish that my gf makes for me and is really cheap is from 99 ranch she gets: udon noodles, which are always on sale and are like a buck for 2 packs, some chinese style sausage which is like $2 for about 8 links, and bean sprouts, which are like 20c/pound (ends up being like 5 cents when you get what you need) ... basically she just cooks the pork, then stir fries the noodles in with them and the bean sprouts.. really yummy you can also sub in some cheap shrimp as well... good meal w/ enough to last you 2 days of the week for under 5 bucks

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

Sweet Jesus, you only budget $3/day on food?!?!? You really need to restructure your budget, unless you have the worst paying job ever.

 

[Peetoeng]

$3/day is doable.

I spend about $12-14 at Aldis for rice, chicken, egg, vegetables, fruits. But vegetables and fruits are limited at Aldi, so I'd spend up to $8 for more veggies, fruits, & juices at Kroger's.

I don't drink sodas. I don't buy canned vegetables (I am supa-cheap, but I still want crispy and fresh vegetables, dammit!) except for red/black beans (cuz, it takes too long to cook raw beans).

 

[Tiamat]

Cereal is perhaps the most cost effect way of getting most of your daily requirements. Basic 4 and even those sweet cereals have a bunch of almost every vitamin/minerals that you need.

Bananas are usually really cheap

Peanut Butter has a bit of protein ~ and last pretty much forever.

Canned/Frozen Veggies are usually not very expensive and can be stored for a while.

A 20lb sack of rice will last you a long time.

Meats are expensive, there is no getting outta paying for meats. Just buy when onsale and store in your freezer.

 

[Kenazo]

my wife and I eat for about that. We eat a lot of rice and pasta, frozen veggies, hamburger helper, etc. One recommendation is stretching your macaroni and cheese by adding my noodles.

Beeing a poor student sucks rocks.

 

[gigapet]

Originally posted by: RaynorWolfcastle
Sweet Jesus, you only budget $3/day on food?!?!? You really need to restructure your budget, unless you have the worst paying job ever.

seriously!

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: VanillaH

Originally posted by: Fausto
Another thing: learn to braise or slow-cook meats. The cuts you use for stuff like this are usually pretty tough and therefore really cheap relative to something like filet or tenderloin. Braising will not only make them fork-tender, but you can get pretty creative with the braising sauces for variety.

dunno, sounds like too much trouble to go through to me. legumes + grains + soy milk gives me enough complete protein for me anyway.

It's really not that hard. Basically, you brown the meat on a skillet and then plunk it in the oven half-covered in the braising liquid for a few hours. Takes a while, but it's very easy and mostly idiot-proof since almost can't overcook the meat.

 

[phreakah]

another way to cut back on meats is to look for the ones that are near the "sell by" date. they're usually MUCH cheaper, more than 50% most of the time, and all you have to do is throw them in the freezer. i've gotten some lean beef for really cheap this way