posted
So*, I read this article, and it strikes me that even when our food budget has been really tight, we manage to eat pretty healthily. The difference, in my mind? Education.
I know how to serve a balanced diet that costs very little per person. I know that frozen veggies and fruits are almost as cheap as canned if you buy them on sale or off-brands, and are much healthier. If we are eating dried beans and rice as our main source of protein, we can afford a few fresh fruits and vegetables. It seems to me that teaching children young how to prepare their own healthy, balanced meals from scratch on a budget could help this problem. We often ate no meat for weeks at a time growing up, and the only vegetables we saw sometimes were frozen. But they were present on the table, and we always had whatever fresh fruits were in season that my mom could buy in bulk. And the ways she prepared it were so tasty and satisfying that even when our food budget is a little more lax, I find that we eat meatless meals at least 3 nights almost every week, often more.
Like I said when I was pregnant with Emma and read an article about eating habits being formed in the first two to three years of life, I'm glad my mom made it a priority for us to eat fruits and veggies and whole grains and healthy, balanced meals. (I actually called her up and thanked her. She said it's the first call she's had from any of us thanking her for being a good mother-- ever! And my sisters are 10 and 13 years older than me! I guess we need to do that more...)
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posted
I've had times when the budget was really tight and I had to eat cheap. Beans, brown rice, cabbage, squash. Boring, but nutritious. I got whatever produce was cheap. Wilted "reduced for quick sale" veggies made very good soup. Eggs are a lot of protein for the dollar, too, especially if you get smaller eggs.
You know what gets expensive? Spices and seasonings other than salt and pepper. I missed those.
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I've been trying to eat healthy on my college budget, which can be difficult at times. I can understand why poorer people find it easier to eat badly: if you go to Walmart there are tons of very cheap, very unhealthy foods availible - and they're easier to prepare than healthy foods.
$1 for a pizza sounds great - until you flip over the label and see that it delivers a ton of fat & saturated fat.
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I'm just curious, how cheap is cheap? On average, how much would you spend per meal for a family of four?
Posts: 11265 | Registered: Mar 2002
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It depends. For a meal with meat and fresh veggies-- Sunday dinner stuff-- probably $7. For fresh veggies but no meat, $3.50. For meat and frozen veggies, $4.25- $5.50. For meatless and frozen, grown-by-friends, or dirt-cheap veggies, $1.80.
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posted
(Jhai, if you need tips, I've got them galore...)
Tante, as for spices, I find really cheap sources and buy them, because that's what keeps beans and rice interesting.
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posted
I would love some tips - keeping in mind that I'm a student with very little time on her hands, and not much room in the fridge or freezer.
Spices rock my world - the right spices can turn any blah dish into something very good. I try to buy all kinds of base spices (not the pre-mixed stuff, which is much more expensive), and then follow my nose to the perfect mixture - if it smells good, then I'll toss it in.
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posted
Do you have a recipe for meatless red beans and rice, the ones I have found on the internet are not very good.
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Meatless recipes would be good - I live with a Hindu and a Muslim - so beef and pork are out. And chicken and seafood get tiring after awhile...
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posted
Okay, first of all: learn what non-meat foods make a complete protein when combined. Second: shop "ethnic" groceries for deals on dry beans and rice as well as often better prices on fresher produce. Watch for sales and take advantage. Try to stock up from the beginning on basic ingredients like flour, sugar, salt, dry milk (which you can sub for fresh in baking to save a lot of money or add to most stovetop dishes to add protein and calcium unnoticeably), soy sauce (adds color and salt to dishes AND contains 1 gr. of protein per Tbsp.), frozen peas and mixed veggies (buy the store brand or FMV, it's not going to kill you and it's much cheaper), lentils, dry beans and rice. Then add whatever you can get cheap that week-- fruits and vegetables in season (especially if you have a farmer's market around; go near the end and things are often reduced to get rid of them), small amounts of meat that are "loss leaders" that week (you can also buy larger packages, cheaper per ounce, and divide into portions and freeze for later use), canned beans and tomatoes or dry pasta (also preferably while they're the "loss leaders"), milk and eggs and tofu when you can get a good deal on them, etc. (Did you know you can also freeze milk?) Stir fries are always fast; lentils take less than half an hour to cook up from dry. So does rice. You can make a quick soup easily, and it will last a couple of meals. Save the ends of carrots, the peels of onions, the tops of leeks or green onions in the freezer, and you can make a big pot of veggie stock to add flavor to your soups without ever spending money on canned stock or broth. Buying in bulk, when doing it for one person, does not mean buying 40 lbs. Rather, it means buying a package that will last you a good few months rather than convenience packages that will be gone in a few days or even one meal. If you're stuck for what to cook wtih the ingredients you were able to get, try recipezaar's search features. Then get creative.
With a little practice, you can be saving a lot of money on convenience foods.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
I would check Recipezaar for red beans and rice, too; I don't usually cook them. (My personal favorite is Brazilian black beans. )
Oh, I forgot to add: the crockpot is your friend if you don't have much time. Check yard sales and you may find an incredible deal on one. Or ask if anyone in your family has one that they aren't using any more.
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I happened to have chicken broth because it had been on sale. But when I don't have it, I sub my home-made veggie stock. This is cheap and quick, and you can make stuff up like that easily.
Total cost of the meal: $4.86 for 6-8 servings. $3.78 if I had used home-made veggie stock instead of chicken broth.
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posted
I practically exist on Ramen Noodles, open-faced grilled cheese (made with olive-oil, havarti cheese and tomatos) and occasionally I splurge and buy some bratwursts.
Posts: 681 | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Getting rid of the meat in your diet saves money and your health (plus, if such things matter to you, it saves the lives of a lot of cute friendly animals who are just trying to live like the rest of us ). I'd say that's the number one way to eat cheaply and well. Just be positive to get enough protein.
I agree that eggs are a great cheap protein source, as is milk, particularly nonfat dry milk.
For good nutrition, (it varies from person to person and it's hard to get experts to specify) it seems that at a minimum everyone should get at least this.
1) At least 45g of protein a day from sources which supply all the essential amino acids. These include meat, milk, and eggs. If you're vegan it's much harder not to miss out on some of the essential amino acids, I think. I haven't tried to do that so I don't know anything about it.
2) A multivitamin. You can get this from fruits and vegetables but it's way more expensive that way.
3) At least 10g of fat a day of a good type of fat (canola oil, olive oil). This keeps your gall bladder healthy.
4) Enough calories to maintain a healthy weight.
5) Enough iron and calcium. I get 1000 mg of calcium a day because I don't want osteoporosis. For iron they recommend at least 18 mg a day.
If you exercise a lot or if you're trying to gain in muscle mass then you should be getting more protein than that, perhaps double.
If you don't eat at least 45g of carbohydrate a day then you need more protein, too, because you absorb less when you eat low carb. Double your protein in that case as well. (But since protein is way more expensive than carbs, it's much cheaper to eat some carbs to improve protein absorption. 45g is not much carb.)
Here is a great resource for finding out the nutritional contents of various foods. Spend some time summing up your nutrients for a given day. It's way more important than your financial budget. Every adult should do this from time to time.
posted
My favorite cheap healthy meal is black beans and rice. Black beans have lots of protein and are so delicious!
Starting with a pound of dried beans I wash them and soak them overnight. Then I chop up an onion and sautee it in olive oil. As the onion is cooking I add salt, pepper, garlic, and cilantro. When the onions are translucent I add the black beans along with the water they've been soaking in. Then I bring it back to a boil and simmer for about 4 hours.
I cover or uncover the pot depending on how much water there is. It cooks well covered on the very lowest setting of my stove. If there's a lot of water I want to cook down, though, I'll uncover them and turn them up a bit. Toward the end you need to stir frequently to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
They taste great over rice. 1/4 of the pot, eaten over rice makes a very hearty meal. Then I can apportion put the other 3 quarters to go in the freezer to eat on days when I don't have 4 hours free for cooking.
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I slow-cook my black beans with a clove-studded onion, a little bit of garlic, and some salt. They are sooooo delicious. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
kq, can you elaborate? How long do you cook them? Is slow-cooking something you do in a pot on the stove, or in a crock pot? Do you soak the beans overnight first? If you soak, do you wash off the soak water or cook them in the same water they've soaked in? How do you make a clove studded onion? Just press whole cloves into a raw onion? How many cloves?
Edit to add another question for kq. "Okay, first of all: learn what non-meat foods make a complete protein when combined" Can you give us several examples of this? I only know milk and eggs are complete. I don't know how to do this with plant protein sources. Is that what you mean?
posted
Buying spices is cheaper if you do it at a health food store like the one near me (HEB's Central Market) that sells spices by the pound. I can get four times more than what those little bottles in the grocery store have for less money. And my store has great spice mixes or you can make your own. I hate nutmeg but every pumpkin or apple pie blend has it so I can make my own and leave it out!
Also I rarely make my own stock since I never have time but when I do, I freeze it in ice cube trays. That way when I need some, I can just grab a few and throw them in a pot. It keeps forever and it easier than thawing a huge block of broth.
My favortie healthy ingredient is ground turkey. It is a little more expensive initially but since it is not as fatty as ground beef, less of it cooks away and you can use less of it. It tastes great in pasta dishes, tacos, soups, everything I've tried.
Posts: 1319 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Pinto beans and cornbread is a staple around our house, although we've recently switched to Anasazi beans (same taste, a little less gassy).
Always keep onions around and a bag of potatoes. They're cheap and the startings for many meals. Eggs are a good bang for the buck.
Also, I'm a firm believer in butter over margarine. Olive oil is still the best and believe it or not, the extra virgin oils aren't always the best for most dishes.
Salt while you are cooking but leave the shaker at the stove. Get a pepper grinder and leave the pre-ground stuff at the store. The flavor is better and I think the price works out better in the end.
Save your soy sauce packs from Chinese take-out. They make good pre-measured packs (for free). One pack is usually enough to flavor any dish.
Pork is usually a good, cheap protein. And nutrition-wise, it can be a bit healthier than beef.
Lastly, try those veggies that you hated as a kid. Many are inexpensive and more appealing to the adult palette. Lima beans, peas, asparagus (which is expensive unless you grow it yourself), and Brussels sprouts are good and good for you.
And frozen Brussel sprouts in the big bags can be mighty cheap, since most folks still see them and go "Yuck!"
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posted
I forgot to add: of all the canned foods out there, the best buy for quality and taste has to be tomatoes.
Most fresh tomatoes you buy have been chosen for durability and then chemically "ripened". They rarely have much flavor. The tomatoes that are canned, however, are allowed to ripen in the field and are grown for flavor rather than the ability to withstand being shipped.
Posts: 2848 | Registered: Feb 2003
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posted
My biggest problem is time. If I were a stay-at-home mom, I would have time to cook from scratch more than I do. But right now it's all I can do to spend 30 minutes making dinner and get it on the table before 8:00. And to do that, I buy a lot of canned foods and prepared seasoning packets and stuff. I know that I would be eating healthier if I had the time for it, but I don't.
I wonder if many poor people have this complication to add to their worries.
Posts: 537 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
I just bought frozen etamame the other day. They are soybeans I guess. I got them at Costco, so I don't know how truly expensive they are, if you couldn't afford the costco membership. But soaked in saltwater and a tad of balsamic vinegar they are delicious and I know they are a complete protein.
posted
I am down right unagreeable on an empty stomach, and I resent spending more than a half hour preparing meals and 15 minutes cleaning up. That and I like chicken and I exercise daily.
Spinach, chicken, plums, and pancakes(no syrup) is what I live off of, it's expensive-- ten to fifteen dollars a day-- but I burn a ton of calories and I don't drive, so I feel all right that food is by far my largest expense outside of rent.
Posts: 5600 | Registered: Jul 2001
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I get enough food to last me two weeks for about 30 dollars. Complete with meat. I get microwavable meats for a family, it'll last me about 5 days, averaging to a dollar a day. Potatoes. Cauliflower. I get the bagged salads because it's cheaper for one person than buying the lettuce and teh carrots and all that seperately and letting more of them go bad. 15 dollars for meat. 3 for potatoes. 1.50 for cauliflower 1.50 for parmesan. 1.50 for bag of salad, and the rest on yogurt. EVery now and then I go a bit over because I ran out of boullion, or flour or butter, but I still eat pretty cheap, averaging out to...2.somethingorother dollars a day. It may get repetitive, but I still enjoy my meals.
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posted
Black beans and rice is one of our favorite meals around here, too. I've made them homemade and when I've only got 30 minutes I've cheated and used the ones in the Zatarain's box.
I spend a ton on food, unfortunately - I feed 7 people every night, and with my kids as active as they are they eat a lot, and need to eat a lot.
The biggest suggestion I have for keeping costs down is lots of rice and potatoes. They're cheap, and they're filling, and go with just about everything. Naturally, if you're watching carbs too many is a bad thing, but in moderation they're a great thing to have.
I buy off-brand frozen vegetables almost exclusively, especially broccoli. My kids love broccoli, but they only like the florets, so I buy the frozen bags of florets only and serve them steamed with just a little bit of lemon pepper seasoning. I might do better cost-wise if I bought fresh broccoli but I'm so thrilled my kids love a leafy green vegetable so much I'll go along with them and buy the florets they prefer.
Oh, I forgot to add - this is probably not an option for most people stuggling with money because it involves large amounts of money up front plus a huge freezer, but if you can save up enough, buy cows directly from a rancher. We buy one about every 9 months or so from a local rancher, he has it butchered and all the meat quick frozen and then delivers it to us.
It works out to be cheaper than buying all that meat separately at the grocery store plus it's much, much better quality. The person we buy from free ranges his cows, bringing them in to corn feed them for one month just before slaughter to fatten them up, but even with that there is very little fat in the meat. Some people who've had our steaks were actually turned off because there was so little marbling, but the taste is unbelievable and the meat is so much healthier than grocery store meat that is full of hormones and preservatives.
Now if I can only find a source of free range chicken I can afford.
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posted
In my experience canned tuna can be really cheap. I can buy three tins for fifty cents and I use a tin each meal (for 3 people).
If you want to make your own meat stocks go to a "real" butcher. Frequently they will sell you bones for dirt cheap or give them to you for free. I buy mine at 5 cents a pound.
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posted
I was having a lot of tuna for a while, then a buddy told me that all of the mercury would make me go blind, so I stopped. I figured it wouldn't be worth the 20 year wait to see if she was right.
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"Oh, I forgot to add - this is probably not an option for most people stuggling with money because it involves large amounts of money up front plus a huge freezer, but if you can save up enough, buy cows directly from a rancher. We buy one about every 9 months or so from a local rancher, he has it butchered and all the meat quick frozen and then delivers it to us."
Majorly good advice. The one time I was in a position to do this, we got half a cow for 350 dollars, and it was something just a hair over 200 lbs of meat. Or under 2 dollars a pound for beef... which included the fancy steaks.
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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posted
Tuna in cans is younger, smaller and shorter lived then fresh tuna, shark, etc.
Health Canada states to eat -fresh- tuna only once a week, but canned tuna contains limited amounts of mercury and therefore can be eaten more often.
Dumbed down website for CFIA. I know I've read a better document from health Canada on this issue- I'm going to search for it after class.
However, I would not eat tuna every day of the week or anything like that. (The people most at risk are small children and pregnant woman... I would not serve tuna to these groups of people).
Posts: 944 | Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
I have a question. I'm very very anemic. As it is, I already take multivitamins and straight iron pills but sometimes its still not enough.
What healthy, cheap options do I have? The problem I always run into is a) I can't cook and b) I don't like any kind of beans besides green beans.
My suggestions for my fellow poor college students: sandwiches from oatmeal or wheat bread without all the dressing like mayo, omelettes cause you can make them a hundred different ways when you want something hot, soup is great, and tons of fruit like bananas. I also recommend yogurt for the women. I eat the stuff daily.
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posted
Spinach, kale, and other dark green leafies are high in iron. Meat is high in iron, and so are some nuts. Many grain products either contain iron or have iron added.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote: If I were a stay-at-home mom, I would have time to cook from scratch more than I do. But right now it's all I can do to spend 30 minutes making dinner and get it on the table before 8:00.
My best friend is a single, working mom. She makes a huge stew or soup on the weekend and leaves it unseasoned. One day she may add curry, another, hot sauce..etc. We also do "trades"; she buys a bag of bulk beans, for example, and I make refritos and give her about 1/3. Do you know a SAHM willing to do that with you?
I want to add:
Make your own bread. You can get a bread machine (often freecycle) that will do the work for you or if you have more time do it the old fashioned way. Use lots of oats as they are cheaper tham WW flour. I also use mine to make dough for naan and pitas.
Save your bones, too, for meat stock.
Eat lots of oatmeal. Again, cheapness!
Make EVERYTHING from scratch. (We would need to anyway due to mine and Livvie's sensitivity to preservatives). You can do brown rice SO many ways.
Grow all you can. Even if you live in an apt. try some herbs in a window box. Look into local U-picks.
I just made a huge pot of soup last night- I don't know how to calculate cost per person, but it cost me about $6 in ingredients and I'll get at least 3 meals out of it ( for a family of 5).
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posted
Beren: I like Hormel, but there's several brands. It's usually to be found next to normal meat, in boxes that say things like "Roast Beef au jus" It's not great, but it's not bad either. I'd be happier able to cook, but right now I'm pretty much limited to the microwave. I pour the jus or gravy into my mashed potatoes, so nothing goes to waste.
Romany- dyou have a recipe for naan?
Posts: 3493 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
Romany - Please, please, please share your recipe for naan with breadmachine-made dough!
I love using my breadmachine to make pizza dough - I think I use it for that more than anything else. Homemade pizza is a lot of fun and tastes a lot better than delivery or frozen. It just requires a little planning (the dough takes me an hour and a half in the bread machine, once it's done it takes me about half an hour before the pizza is done and ready to eat).
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3 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 1tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 1 3/4 cup yogurt
Turn off after first kneading cycle. Let set 1 1/2-2 hours.
Pat into a large round and cut into about a dozen equal parts ( more or less, depending on your size preference). Preheat a large griddle (preferred) or 2-3 cast iron skillets. Place as many as you can without touching on griddle. When it puffs up, turn. Cook 2-3 minutes to side until brown spots form. They will deflate as they cool.
Posts: 2711 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
Shanna: include extra B-12. I had the same problem, until a Red Cross nurse suggested I try this. Within a week, my iron was up 4 points. Now, it's never too low to donate blood, even during or right after a menstrual cycle when my iron was lowest, where before it was seldom high enough.
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Shanna, If you are very very anemic even though you are taking regular ion supplements you need to be checked for Celiac/Sprue (Gluten Intolerance). It is not normal to be anemic, even for women. If you are taking regular ion supplements and are still anemic, something is seriously wrong and you aren't going to change it simply by adding more iron to your diet.
I speak from personal experience here. I went without red blood cells for the first 35 years of my life and now that I have a normal compliment of them, I am able to do things I never thought I could do.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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I think there is a huge difference between a tight budget and being poor. There is poverty that no amount of education can fix, in the healthy eating department. There is just no food at all. No house. No job. No family or friends to turn to for help.
Edit: Sorry, I do not mean to be a wet blanket here.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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quote:kq, can you elaborate? How long do you cook them?
All day, if you want. At least several hours over low heat, until beans are soft.
quote:Is slow-cooking something you do in a pot on the stove, or in a crock pot?
Either/or.
quote:Do you soak the beans overnight first?
Yup.
quote:If you soak, do you wash off the soak water or cook them in the same water they've soaked in?
Cooking in the water you soaked in is not as attractive, but preserves more nutrients.
quote:How do you make a clove studded onion? Just press whole cloves into a raw onion? How many cloves?
Peel onion. Press whole cloves in in a pattern of your choosing; about one to every half inch is right. Enough to keep it from falling apart.
quote:Edit to add another question for kq. "Okay, first of all: learn what non-meat foods make a complete protein when combined" Can you give us several examples of this? I only know milk and eggs are complete. I don't know how to do this with plant protein sources. Is that what you mean?
Some common combinations from around the globe are:
legumes and rice legumes and corn legumes and squash legumes and any whole grains (like peanut butter on whole-wheat bread, or peanut sauce on rice noodles) nuts and whole grains (almond butter on whole wheat, cashews in a stir-fry over rice) nuts and oats legumes and nuts
You can also complement incomplete proteins with a small amount of a complete dairy or egg protein.
posted
Elizabeth, I know that. And I didn't mean this specific woman; I mean I've seen families with the same resources as us or more eat very unhealthily because no one ever taught them how to eat healthily.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
RIght now, this thread is floating directly above the Mormon's eat babies thread which is doing strange things to my brain.
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