Why broke people stay fat.

So, I WANT to eat healthy....I have learned the lesson that fruits, veggies and good proteins will fill me up, and I will end the day with LOW calories. I'll be full and happy and know the scale will be nice in the morning. Here is the problem:

Eating healthy is expensive! I can't afford all the fresh fruits and veggies, and unprocessed stuff. And if I DO end up scrounging up the money, it's never eaten fast enough and it spoils.....

what do you do? How can I eat healthy unprocessed foods when they cost so much? Mac and cheese in a box is WAY cheaper than whole grain noodles and low fat brick of cheese....

anyone have any cost saving ideas to eat healthy??

A good way to save is to shop at a local out-door market. They have good selections of fresh fruits and veggies, much cheaper than the supermarket.

Also try making home-made soup. With just a few ingredients like chicken broth, noodles, carrots, onions and celery (maybe $10) you get a low-cal yummy meal that can last a week.

First tip... plan ahead so that you only buy what you need.   That helps with the waste problem.   And then shop smart.  Eat seasonally, for example.  Imported fruit and vegetables will always be 10 x more expensive than locally/domestically produced ones.  Your diet may not be quite so exciting without air-freight blueberries etc., but it'll still be healthy with seasonal apples and cabbages.  Check labels to see where things come from.

Eat less meat and more vegetable proteins..... Beans, lentils, chickpeas etc are practically given away and are an excellent source of protein.  A 500g packet of dried kidney beans which costs about 70p ($1.40) cooks up to 1.3kgs (3lbs), for example.  (Cheaper than Mac & Cheese?)  Soak, cook and freeze beans for convenience and you save lots of money.

Cheaper cuts of meat like braising steak might need longer, slower cooking but they're generally much tastier than expensive cuts.  Spin out a casserole with chunky-cut root vegetables and potatoes. 

Oatmeal is cheaper than fancy breakfast cereals and also makes a good 'stretcher' in things like burgers.  Eggs are versatile and don't cost the earth.  Things like pasta and rice are pretty reasonably priced.  Make soups with leftover vegetables rather than throwing them away.  Plant herbs on your windowledge to make cheaper foods taste better.  Make use of your freezer..... Buy extra when things are cheap and freeze them.

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nbensel
Apr 23 2008 07:54
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If it spoils before it gets eaten just buy less :)  Maybe stop eating Mac and Cheese and just have the whole grain pasta. 

Most importantly, go to your local farmers market.  Cheap, local, and fresh!

Eating heathly foods can be very cost efficient but you have to learn to cook. I agree that packaged/processed heathly foods are expensive but raw ingredients isn't. It can go along way. Try cooking dishes and freezing the left- overs. My food budget is very low and I never eat fast food or processed food. Typical meals include:

- fresh tomato pasta sauce with pasta

- homemade soup

- chicken and courgette with creme fraiche and pasta

- rice with grilled chicken or salmon with green beans

There are SO many fresh, heathly cheap meals...look for recipes on the internet. I often strip recipes right down so that i'm only using the main ingredients and saving money by leaving out some of the unnessary extras - usually cheese! And it's great because you have full control over what you're eating - no added salts, perseratives, etc. I love cooking now!

And for lunch, make your own sandwiches - it's so much cheaper than packaged sandwiches. Use cheap ingredients though like tomatoes, cucumber, tuna, sweetcorn, beetroot and eggs.

Also, fruit is very cheap - espcially compared to a chocolate and crisps, etc. A banana costs around 15p. There are some fruits that are expensive but don't buy them. Apples, bananas and grapes are dead cheap.

one tactic you might try until you get the hang of it is to shop every other day for a while

like, say i go to the store and buy what I need to make dinner that night

because i am only cooking for one or two - I pretty much always have leftovers

so the second day, I take the leftovers and spiffy it up and have that

then the next day, go to the store again

planning for leftovers is one thing that really helps prevent waste - because you won't feel pressure to make the next new dish before the ingredients go bad because you haven't bought them yet, meanwhile you might accumulate leftovers that don't get eaten and have to throw all that out

if you live far away from the store, this won't be feasible because of the time spent going to the store - although when you're just shopping for one meal, you'll only spend 10-15 minutes in the store each time anyway

also, try not to go to the store when you're hungry, since that can sabotage your intentions

:)

This is really tough for me, actually.  Produce, like vegetables, is actually pretty cheap--you just have to prepare everything yourself.  However, it spoils quickly...so I have to go to the store a lot.  Also, because I'm shopping for one, I freeze my extra meat when I buy it.  I have a freezer full of frozen chicken breast and boneless pork chop.  I also freeze ground beef (on the rare occasion I buy it).

The biggest thing about eating healthy and freezing all this stuff is that you have to plan for your meals in advance.  It gets easier after a while, though!

If you are forced to buy cheap processed foods - like mac and cheese- follow the guidelines on the package and watch portion control. Eat only the 1/2 cup or 1 cup serving, and refridgerate the rest for the following day/meal.

calories are calories, you just have to pay attention, is all. :)

wasted food comes from not eating it. buy less, freeze when possible (many websites explain the best way to freeze fresh fruits and veggies)

If you're trying to make food just for yourself, try buying some loose produce in very small portions. I like snap peas, but they're so expensive! (3.29 lb). However, if I go to the one store, they sell them loose so I can get just enough for one serving and spend only 50 cents. Have to plan, though, of course.

I also like eating yams. Relatively cheap and the larger ones will feed you for two or three servings.

I buy a lot of frozen veggies especially in the off-season.  Quick-frozen veggies are actually better for you than elderly "fresh" ones, as long as you have a decent freezer and they stay frozen :)  The other advantage is that you can stock up on big bags of whatever's on sale.

Beans, chick peas, lentils, etc. are cheap and great sources of protein and fibre.

Other than that, I agree with the "buy local, buy often" mentality.

Frozen vegetables have just as much nutrients in them as the fresh ones if you prepare them right (steam them or cook them in the microwave or cook them in the liquid you're going to eat so that the nutrients don't all disappear down the drain... and there's no need to worry about them spoiling before you can eat them! I buy a couple of bags of store-brand frozen vegetables each week and have half a bag and some protein for lunch. If possible, wait for them to go sale and stock up... Look for meat on sale and then freeze it as soon as you get home so that it stays fresh. Lean chicken is the best quality protein and you're not paying good money for fat and bone (but if it's cheap enough, ANY chicken is a good buy...) And for starch there is absolutely nothing wrong with potatoes as long as you don't eat too much or slather them in butter and oil. Microwave one large potato and cut it in half and make it last two meals... if you must have condiments on it, skip the butter and use low-fat sour cream or low-fat cheese.

I use alternatives that others have listed here.  One of my favorite condiments, its great for soups, taters, even just snack.  PLAIN Yogurt. YOu can get a huge container for plain yogurt for a few dollars.  You can use it to replace sour cream.

You can even take the yogurt and put it in cheese cloth and squeeze the extra liquid out.  What left behind is smooth creamy "cheese". YOu can use this as cream cheese without all of the fat.

 

Denise

Frozen veggies are awesome for saving money and keep forever. i buy a lot of fresh veggies too, but they can be expensive.

Freeze em! I'm single so I'm the only person eating healthy and the only person in the home.

I freeze my left over veggies, I freeze some fruits (cant do too many). I freeze bread! I freeze my cheese even. Meats stay frozen for a good long while, and pastas stay good for a long time.

Only buy fruit as you use it (weekly) and veggies keep frozen.

I also focus on lean proteins and fruits/veggies for the base of my diet, with lesser amounts of starches, only in the form of whole grains. I too am on a very limited budget - but I refuse to compromise on the quality of my food.

Re: meats: A box of good freezer bags is a great investment. Just watch the sales, and when a kind of meat you like goes on sale (boneless skinless chicken breasts and sirloin pork chops are my faves) buy a whole bunch and freeze them into individual portions. It only takes like 15 minutes to portion it all out, and if you have good freezer bags, the frozen portions will last several months. Last month I bought several pork tenderloins when they were on sale, about $4 each and one tenderloin is about 3 generous portions! Cheap like borsch, and an excellent cut of meat. It's possible to eat very well, you just have to watch the sales.

Re: produce: buy more often. Make it your habit to stop at the grocery store or market, if not every day than every few days. Buy fruits and veggies that hold up well in the fridge for a week or two, like root vegetables, zuchinni and other squashes, cabbage family, apples, oranges, and grapefruits. If you buy something more perishable eat it first. It's all a matter of planning.

Re: Grains: I buy only whole grains, which are only slightly more expensive and are real food that ultimately keeps you fuller longer and has actual nutrition in it. One portion of wild/brown rice is 1/4C!! That means you get a LOT more meals out of a bag of this rice, than if you bought a bag of white rice and had to eat 1C servings to be satisfied. White rice, white bread, and white pasta are not even real food as far as I am concerned.

It CAN be done, vicki, it just takes a little more planning and effort. I am in Canada where the food is a little more expensive that the US, I think, but I still make it work by making it a priority. I buy cheap soap, no-name cleaners, use reusable rags instead of papertowels, etc etc...I cut back in other areas so that I can splurge and buy the occasional Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches...hey I am not made of stone!

Oh my god, I was just talking about this yesterday, it will definately be more expensive to eat healthy no matter what (because we live in a capitalistic society where big businesses like fast-food chains want to get you hooked and take your money, but don't even get me started about that...), but there are ways to make it better financially.  Buy dry goods that keep like brown rice, low sodium canned beans, oatmeal, nuts and dried fruit.  As far as fruits and vegetables you will have to basically shop more often and buy them in smaller amounts so they don't go bad.  This is what I do because I am a student and have to budget.  It takes more time, but it's less wasteful and more cost effective.  I agree with victoriagirl - utilize the freezer, and never compromise on the quality of what you put into your body.

It seems like every time someone complains about the cost of fresh fruits and vegetables, the suggested answer is "local farmer's market".  That's not always a possibility.  If you live in an urban area, that can be a lot MORE expensive.   For us, the farmer's market is farmers driving in from hours away with produce that's fully ripened, "picked the last 24 hours" and they are aimed at the high income professionals who work downtown and for whom paying twice the price for better quality is nothing--they'll spend more than that 10 minutes later for a double espresso and muffin.  If you live in a large urban area, fresh is flat out expensive, and there's no way around it.

Find ways to make your processed foods healthier, too. I have never used butter or margarine in Mac & Cheese. My kids (17 & 26) don't even like it made with fats. I never use fats in any recipes, either, and use a Buttery spray (lightly) instead of butter on my toast on the rare occassion that I eat it.

Chicken broth is cheap, though high in Sodium. So is popcorn, air-popped and just lightly sprayed with the buttery spray.

Saltines are cheaper than the more expensive, fancy, more caloric crackers. Soup is low calorie, relatively cheap and fills you up!

Think of high priced proteins as the side dishes and veggies as the main dish, which is the opposite of how we were raised. It is much healthier.

Good luck!

Just some thoughts about Urban produce. While Now I live in a very rural area of the country and fresh produce is just a few miles down the road, I am doing a container garden this summer.  I don't hae a lot of land for a garden, and might be moving during the growing season.

It is perfectly feasiable to do a small square foot garden in some of the patio space of any apartment or a few small containers.

For example, You can grow both Cherry Tomatoes, and Strawberries in a hanging basket.  You can also grow Slicing Tomatoes, squash, and Beans in a container. You will need a trellis so the vines can grow and containers need more water and fertilizer, but its still not that difficult. 

Some of my friends have had lots of success with growing peppers in there garden.

Also, take a drive out to the country during growing season.  It might be worth your time and gas to get a few bushels of produce and preserve it in various ways.  Preserving food is an excellent art that is almost lost in our society because of "time" or "Resources". 

I make my own chicken stock.  I usually get whole chickens on sale.  I first bake the whole chicken. After we have eat all of the meat I boil the carcass for a few hours. There's lots of nutrients in the marrow found in the bones.  Also, I don't add any more salt than I used to originally cook the chicken.  YOu can get the equivalent of 4 cans of broth from one chicken and you can season it the way you would like.

Look for "manager specials" at the grocery store. I never leave the grocery store without looking for produce that is marked down.  Sometimes you can get over rippened fruit and veggies very very cheap (under a dollar a pound).  You can freeze most of the stuff before it gets too bad, or use it right away. 

Denise

Check out ALDI if you have one in your area; I love that place.

We eat a LOT of frozen vegetables as others have mentioned and beans are very very good - may take your body some time to adjust to them but you do.

Some places have salvage food stores - slightly damaged goods, but food not damaged. 

For cheeses, we are eating very small portions and using the sharpest varieties we can get to add more flavor with less calories.  Try brown rice and sharp cheese instead of mac and cheese.  I like to cook a lot of rice and freeze it. If it gets sticky you can rinse it in a colander.

Quinoa. This grain is so cheap, and it has tons of protein. It's like 2 dollars a box at Whole Foods.  And very filling.

Pair it with some beans, maybe garbanzos (also cheap), a little olive oil and lemon juice, and a veggie of your choice and you have a delicious meal.