Cheap Healthy Foods

Hi,

I am wondering if anyone can help me with some CHEAP recipes, which are low in calories. I am a stay at home mum on government payment, my partner works part-time and we have a 1year old daughter. We dont have a very big budget at all for food and end up Buy all sorts of processed junk. Im looking for some recipes which contain limited ingrediants, easy to access ingrediants and are low in calories?

Thank you in Advance!

Dry beans are very very healthy and very very cheap! 

Eggs, frozen vegetables, skim milk, brown rice, fresh fruits and vegetables

 

I agree w/ the ideas above + check the sale papers each week

With some dry lentils, a can of fat free chicken broth, some carrots, onions, and spices, you could make a delicious lentil soup that's extremely healthy and perfect for fall.  You could make a big batch and freeze it in portions for later.  (It freezes really well.)  Lentils are dirt cheap but one of the healthiest foods out there, and there's nothing like coming home to a big pot of soup on a chilly day.

someone else has said this on the forums somewhere, and it's very true so it's worth repeating. a lot of food budget waste (especially if you're trying to eat healthy) is from food that goes in the bin. an awesome idea, especially if you are in a  neighborhood or town where you can walk or bike to the market, is to go each day or every other day to pick up your meat and produce. you will reduce waste on food that goes bad, you'll get exercise, you can really work the sales by making what is cheap and fresh each day. you might even develop a relationship with your grocer and get cut a deal every once and a while.

if you have to drive it's not as awesome of an idea because the gas costs will eclipse the savings quickly.

besides produce, beans and rice are cheap and cheap, and a delicious, healthy meal. spice them up with some onion, black pepper, cumin, red pepper or hot sauce if you like, and serve it with a vegetable. protein, fiber, and not much money. use brown rice... it costs slightly more but is worth it for your health.

save your broccoli stalks and make soup out of them (cook in chicken or veg broth and whirl in a blender. add leftover dairy bits (hard cheese or a little cream would be best, but probably anything would add some nice taste and protein, whether it's yogurt, cottage cheese, regular milk, soy milk, you name it). salt and pepper and yum.

canned tuna is a cheap source of protein. you can rinse it to reduce the sodium if you want, and mix it with black beans, broccoli, and a little bit of low cal dressing (or a little oil and some vinegar) for a great meal.

I agree with planning ahead in terms of meals and only buying what you need.  The exception would be store-cupboard & freezer staples.... if the chicken is on special offer, buy a bit more than normal and put the rest in the freezer.... but plan to use it reasonably quickly rather than end up hoarding!

My favourite cheap recipes involve beans.  I buy dried beans in 500g packs for well under £1 ($2).  Soak them overnight and follow the cooking instructions the next day.  Then allow them to drain well and go completely cold before putting them in a freezer bag.  Then you've got about 1.3kgs of cooked beans ready to use when you need them.  It's as convenient as cans but cheaper

Favourite bean recipes...

Bean & Root Vegetable Casserole

Mixed Vegetable and Chickpea Curry

Spicy Beanburger Pittas

Soup for Free

Keep 3 plastic containers in your freezer - one for meat scraps and vegetable ends (onion, carrot and celery ends, parsley stems, anything that you might throw out) , one for meat bones, and one for leftover, cooked vegetables.

When the containers are full proceed like this:

Put 4 to 6 quarts of water in a soup pot.  Add the bones and vegetable scraps.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 2 hours, checking the liquid level now and then and adding water if it evaporates too fast.  Let it cool, then strain out the solids and discard. Skim off any fat. You now have home made soup stock.

Clean the pot and return the strained stock to the pot.  Add the meat and vegetables and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Add cooked rice or pasta as you like. 

You now have at least a gallon of home made soup and it cost you nothing.

Here are my cheap staples...

• Natural Peanut butter
• Oatmeal
• Dry beans, peas, lentils, and rice
• Bananas
• Onions
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Eggs
• Low Fat Dairy

 

There have been some great ideas. Here are a few more. Meat is alway the most expensive part of our grocery budget so instead of buying chicken breasts, buy a whole chicken and throw it in the slowcooker with a bit of onion, celery, salt & pepper and a cup or so of water. When its done you should have a nice broth (strain it and save it) then shred the chicken and try to use it for at least 3 meals. Bulk it up with some brown rice or whole wheat noodles, veggies and whatever sauce you like (example: make it Italian with the pasta & marinara sauce with a bit of parmesan, or mexican with salsa & rice, add some black beans and monterey jack). Chicken noodle soup is always good (use the saved broth) or chicken fried rice, add it to salads for some protein - you can use it in basically any recipe that calls for cooked chicken, but it's especially good in casserole type recipes since it stretches the meat out farther.

You can do the same basic thing with a large beef roast. Make beef & noodles, vegetable beef soup with barley, shredded bbq sandwiches, enchiladas, etc.

Egg salad, omelets and breakfast foods for dinner (pancakes, french toast) also saves money.

I work outside the home so I usually pack up any leftovers in tupperware containers immediately after dinner and use those for lunch for my husband and I the next day. That also saves money and makes sure we don't throw away food.

This is a great website for some cheap meal ideas (some of them are time-consuming so they aren't good for everyone): http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/index1.htm

Ok, so i am a college student and both my roomie and myself follow a really low calorie diet.  One of the first things we had to figure out was how we were going to be able to afford healthy food.  I read your question and immediatly felt your pain, but fear not... 

We manage to buy enough good food for both of us to eat healthy and we only spend about $37 at the grocery store per week.  The key, we have discovered, is to go only once a week and get what we will need for that week.  This is probably not the best way to do it in the long run, but we can not afford to buy anything in bulk because its just not possible on a weekly budget. 

If it's any consolation, budgeting and eating healthy is completely possible.  It takes some imagination and a little research but you can do it!  I have lost 65lbs since I started dieting, and my roommate has lost over 120lbs.  I maintain my weight loss and she continues to work to loose the last of her weight, and we both did it without expensive diet food or meal plans.    

The staples:

Lean Pockets- (most around 250 cal) I know that it is processed but its whole grain crust, tastes good, and you get two pockets per box.  A box is about $2.00 (Target or Safeway ect).  Thats $1 for a meal plus you can almost always get coupons for lean pockets online.  In addition, they have the breakfast lean pockets (140 cal) and they come four to a box for the same price. 

Fruits and Vegtables-  We are extreemly lucky to live next to a Sunflower Market.  They offer fresh produce at the absolute lowest prices.  Try to find a discount produce place, or maybe a farmers market in the area. [There are some tricks that will always help you save though, dont waste money on bags of lettus or salad mixes.  Just buy a plain old head of lettus and chop it up.  That can save you almost $3 alone.]

Seeds and Grains- I have found that most of the time, you can find seeds, grains, oats and flour for cheap if you buy them from the bulk dispensers.  This works well for us because we may find a recipe that calls for a certain type of grain that comes pre-packaged for a really high price.  If we only need 1 cup, we get it from the bulk dispencer and only pay for the 1 cup we actually need.

Yogurt- You can find Fat Free yogurt for a really good price, especially if you buy it in the large containers.  We buy one of the big containers of ff vanilla yogurt every other week or so.  It is good in smoothies, over fruit, and for a variety of different things.  We pay about $3.00 for a large tub.

Eggs=cheap...dont worry about buying all those fancy eggs if you cant afford them.  I read an article in New York Times the other day and basically, if you are on a budget, the beniffits of "organic ect..." eggs is minimal.

Pasta- We make a lot of pasta dishes using a whole wheat or whole grain pasta.  There are so many different varietys but, basically, all of the healthy ones are about 190 cals per serving.  We always manage to find at least one healthy version that is on sale.  This week we bought a couple diff kinds of whole wheat pastas that were $1.72.  A box of cooked pasta= a lot of meals.

       &nb sp;    Pasta Sauce- Dont waste money on pre made sauces!  It is sooo much less expensive to just buy the canned tomatoes ($1.00 for a can) and canned tomatoe sause (.20Cents for small can or $2.00 for a very large one.)  You will need to get some spices to make things like this.  Spices can be really expensive but one money saver I discovered is Walgreens.  Walgreens actually offers a variety of spices for $1.00 each.  It's a great deal! 

National Jewish 97% fat free hot dogs: They are only 45 cal and Target generally has a pack of 8 for $2.99.  They are a great fast lunch.  We also save money by buying a loaf of low cal sandwich bread, and using it for all of our bread needs.  ie: save money and just wrap your hot dog in a slice of bread.  Its healthier and you're not wasting money on buns.

Green Tea- you can usually find regular boxes of good old fashioned green tea bags.  Green tea is so good for you and for all the good they do, thier cost is worth it.  ($2.90 for off brand box)

Cereal- Bran flakes.  every grocery store will have its own brand but i know Kroger sells a very large box of healthy bran flakes cereal for $1.82

Canned beans-  You can put them in pasta, chilli, dips ect.  I use navy beans in pasta dishes instead of using meat because they are high in protien, add a sort of creamy richness to the dish, and are so much less expensive than meat.  If you have a small blender, black beans and a little olive oil plus salsa makes a wonderfull healthy dip.  You can use chickpeas to make hummus that will be healthy and cheap. We usually find canned beans for about .62Cents

Torillas-  We buy extra thin corn tortillas that come in just the big pack.  We use them to make bean tacos ect.  But, the best thing we have found is that we can stack 8-10 tortillas together and cut them into wedges, 8 per totilla.  We take all of the wedges and spread them out on a pan and then use whatever spices we want to flavor them.  This is a healthy alternative to potatoe chips and is so much less expensive than buying a big bag in the store.  One pack is about $2.20 and lasts a couple weeks for us.

Oatmeal- Look for the low sugar generic variety. Most stores will carry a generic version and Oatmeal is great because it is a quick complete meal.  You can find a box of 8 packets for about $2.00

I could keep going on and on but I will stop there.  I have a ton of little money saving diet tips though, so if you would like to hear more, let me know. 

 

 

 

STUFFED PEPPERS!

gut a green pepper, (I make 4 with 1.3 lbs meat)  

brown ground turkey (1.3lbs = $2.50 in MA)

open a jar of pizza sauce ($2 for store brand) and add 1/2 to the meat

few dashes worcestershire sauce

salt, pepper, garlic salt, to taste

* cover with foil and cook at 375 for 45min, add a bit of cheeze and melt! 

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmen u.htm

 

Home this helps :)

lentil or pea soup is cheap, easy to make, and super filling.  oats (for bfast or other cooking).  tofu is a cheap source of protein, as well as other beans.  what i do tho is check out the grocery store flyer every week and buy things on special, cut coupons, and buy my produce at a market.  way cheaper!  sometimes the quantities are big tho, but you can freeze, or go with a friend (which is what i do) and you can share.  last week i walked out with 6 tomatoes, 4 cucumbers, 4 eggplants, a basket of mixed pitted fruit (apricot, peaches, plums), a lettuce, a basket of mixed bell peppers for UNDER 10 bucks.

Here's a low calorie, high nutrition soup that is also a balanced meal.

2 cups cooked lentils or beans (any kind)
2 cups (or more) broth (any kind)
1/2 cup each chopped carrot, celery and onion
2 cups canned diced tomatoes with juice
2 cups chopped cabbage
dash of hot sauce if desired
salt and pepper to taste
garnish with fresh, minced parsley or chives if you have them

Add some leftover cooked meat or chicken if you have it.

Simmer everything together until the vegetables are soft.  Serve with crusty bread and some grated cheese on top. 

Original Post by moondropflower:

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmen u.htm

 

Home this helps :)

 Thank you for sharing this link.  I've always liked the Hillbilly Housewife.  But we need to notice that the prices are from 2006.  Things are so much more expensive now and there's no way around that.