posted
I guess less sugar, not necessarily all carbs.
My friend used to eat plain yogurt with some granola and/or fruit for breakfast... but that sounds more expensive than a $2 box of cereal and whatever milk.
Something that doesn't taste terrible, fills you up, and is cheap and easy to make.
I am not sure if such a breakfast exists.
Posts: 468 | Registered: Mar 2008
| IP: Logged |
Whole wheat toast Soft-boiled eggs* Instant oatmeal (unflavored with salt, sugar, fruit, and milk added) A piece of fruit Yogurt A fruit smoothie Last night's dinner leftovers
*Place egg in pot of cool water. Heat water until boiling. Boil about 4 minutes longer or until whites are completely cooked (trial and error will tell you how long this is). Crack the shell with a knife and remove the edible part with a spoon.
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
$2 box of cereal? Where are you paying that little?
And yeah, there are a lot of non-sugary cereals out there. Also, you could probably do yogurt and fresh fruit for just as cheap, when fresh fruits are in season.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Shoprite has cereal on sale sometimes or other times I use coupons. It gets a little dangerous when you combine them!
Posts: 468 | Registered: Mar 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
Nothing you switch to will be an adequate substitute for cereal. =(
I substituted oatmeal in the little pre-measured packages. Comes out to about half a cup. It's not much but sometimes it's hard to put it in my mouth.
But I'm losing weight... A big bowl of cereal, even something "good" for you like cheerios, is a ton of calories. Especially once you add in the %2.
Posts: 7085 | Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
There's always miso soup. That's what people in Japan eat for breakfast. With fish and rice and stuff.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
If I have the numbers right, I pay about $4 for a 13.5 oz bag of plain granola. A little less ($2-3 maybe) for a 16 oz carton of store-brand raspberry yogurt. Sometimes, I'll pay the 1-2 dollars for a little bag of sliced almonds, which I add to the granola. I bring it to work, and mix it myself whenever I need to eat something, and one rendition of this can feed me at least 5 times (exact number eludes me), with the granola lasting slightly longer than the yogurt (and I enjoy a fairly high granola:yogurt ratio). Average price is a little over a dollar, but one small bowlful can fill me pretty well, as opposed to a $5 bag of cereal that, after one bowl, makes me hungry again after an hour (nutritional fluff, basically).
If you *really* wanted to go cheap, you can make your own granola (rolled oats are embarrasingly cheap, and very healthy) but I have not yet found a granola recipe that I really fell in love with.
Posts: 4089 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
In all honesty, it costs more to eat healthy. It's a fact. I have gradually given into this idea because there's not much cheaper than a bowl of cereal and milk -- especially sugary cereal and milk, which often goes on sale or has coupons.
I now eat a wide variety of foods at breakfast, some of which are cheap, some of which aren't. I NEVER eat sugary cereals. If I do cereal, I do raisin bran or Basic 4 (I love Basic 4). I would rather do pancakes than sugary cereal.
Oatmeal is a terrific option. Regular oatmeal (not instant) is cheaper than cereal and healthier. You can actually make up a breakfast with quick oats in a couple of minutes in the microwave or you can do my preference, which is to put milk and oats (2:1 ratio) in the fridge overnight with some dried fruit (raisins or cherries or whatever) and heat it up in the morning. It gets nice and soft and the fruit plumps.
Eggs are very healthy, and a bit of protein in the morning is proven to jump start your brain. They're also not very expensive.
Don't forget the fruit -- fresh fruit is coming into season as we speak. Farmer's markets can often have good deals.
I try to mix it up. I usually have pancakes once a week, oatmeal once a week, something egg based once a week, etc. I try for fun things on the weekend.
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Yeah, I forgot about pancakes/waffles. You can make a whole bunch over the weekend, and then freeze them to reheat in the morning. Super easy and much yummier than cereal. Not a whole lot more nutritious, though.
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Brinestone: Yeah, I forgot about pancakes/waffles. You can make a whole bunch over the weekend, and then freeze them to reheat in the morning. Super easy and much yummier than cereal. Not a whole lot more nutritious, though.
This is one reason I never freeze them...they can be part of a healthy variety of breakfast foods but not if eaten every day. The other reason is that they don't taste very good reheated and I can mix up a new batch in less than 5 minutes. Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
My favorite breakfast is plain, non-fat yogurt, frozen blueberries, and grape nuts or some granola mixture. If you buy the store-brand of all it's no more expensive for a bowl than a fancy brand of cereal & milk, and it's far more filling & healthy. You can add a little sugar or honey too, if the blueberries don't sweeten it enough for you. It's a particularly good meal in the summer, since the frozen blueberries keep the whole bowl chilled. Like sarcasticmuppet, I bring all three things to work and combine at my leisure for a quick breakfast, snack, or lunch.
Posts: 2409 | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I have 3/4 cup oatmeal and a glass of orange juice every day. It does the job, and oatmeal is less than $1 a pound, so I spend about $5 every 2-3 months on that. I only buy Tropicana OJ, because it's the cheapest without being Minute Maid (which is disgusting), the large 2 gallon jug is about $7 and lasts me 2 weeks or so.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Christine: In all honesty, it costs more to eat healthy. It's a fact.
Yes, when it comes to food, there's cheap, easy, and good. You can have any combination of two, but you can't have all three. I like to cook, so I usually forego easy.
Posts: 101 | Registered: May 2009
| IP: Logged |
posted
I honestly can't think of a more expensive thing to eat daily than packaged cold cereal. Or anything less satisying, but I suppose that's an individual taste thing.
I usually drink a glass of soy milk, then fix a quick breakfast and take it along to eat at my desk once I get settled at work... I'm not much for eating too early in the morning.
My standard breakfast consists of one or more of the following: a toasted bagel with cream cheese a hard boiled egg Fresh fruit Toast Low fat Muffins (I make my own on weekends and eat for 2-3 days) Cottage cheese Scrambled egg and cheese wrapped in a flour tortilla yogurt and granola (I make my own granola) leftover rice with a bit of diced spam vegetable frittata (make ahead and eat for 3-4 days)
I usually save leftover dinners for lunch, but they can be good for breakfast too.
Posts: 2069 | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I admit, I eat cold cereal almost every morning. I hate to cook and I hate oatmeal. I usually eat Kashi Heart to Heart or Trader Joe's Organic Morning Light.
Posts: 1021 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Christine: In all honesty, it costs more to eat healthy. It's a fact.
Yes, when it comes to food, there's cheap, easy, and good. You can have any combination of two, but you can't have all three.
Complete and total myth. I can eat healthy on less than $200 a month, easily, with less than 30 minutes total meal prep time per day.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Me too. I often don't, but I can. It seems more expensive to eat healthily because you are often paying out more up front at the grocery store, when if you eat out (or unhealthily) you seem to be paying less. However, since you have to eat more unhealthy food than healthy food to keep from feeling hungry, you often spend more on unhealthy food over time.
I've fallen back into bad eating habits recently. When I realized I was going to be buying a new car and have to incorporate a car payment into my monthly expenses, I started wondering where all my money was going. I figured it out pretty quickly. Because I've been too lazy to make a grocery list I've been eating out a LOT. I've also been paying a huge amount of money for food that is much less healthy. I've also been eating snacks out of the machine at work, rather than bringing my own (one of the key factors in my previous weight loss). I probably doubled what I need to spend on food. So, at least that monthly car payment (it's so sad, 'cause I've been payment free for several years) is going to have more benefit than just a new car. I won't be able to afford to keep eating the way I have been. I'll have to go back to eating healthier and spending less on food.
Posts: 1214 | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
If you just want to move to something a little healthier, frosted shredded wheat retains some of the sweetness of kids' cereals but also packs in some fiber and whole grain. Also there are usually generic varieties available, so one can get economy-sized bags for as cheap or cheaper than name-brand cereals on sale.
Failing that, instant oatmeal is pretty cheap, and it's one of the few cereals I still appreciate (twelve years or so of eating cereal for breakfast every day, I found I badly needed to get away from the stuff.) Mix with a little diced canned peaches and milk, and it even tastes pretty good.
If you have a toaster oven, english muffins with melted cheese are quick and tasty, though a bit high on fat.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Christine: In all honesty, it costs more to eat healthy. It's a fact.
Yes, when it comes to food, there's cheap, easy, and good. You can have any combination of two, but you can't have all three.
Complete and total myth. I can eat healthy on less than $200 a month, easily, with less than 30 minutes total meal prep time per day.
As a matter of fact, I completely agree with you that you can find TIME to eat healthy. I don't always need to prepare meals quickly since I stay at home, but I know how and could.
You may be able to do it for less than $200 a month but multiply that out for a family to see what happens. I have a family of four. We spend nearly $800 a month on groceries when I choose fresh fruits and vegetables and that seems high. When I go with canned, frozen, or processed I can feed the family or closer to $500 a month.
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
It's so expensive. When I was young and lots of expendable income, I had muesli for breakfast with honey, toast, and quality orange juice.
Posts: 14554 | Registered: Dec 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
Fiber One and Almond Milk. Really, it's much better than you could possibly imagine --- and VERY good for you.
Posts: 688 | Registered: Nov 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
Wow. We spend about $350 a month or even less for a family of four. Of course, my children are pretty young and don't eat much yet.
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Brinestone: Wow. We spend about $350 a month or even less for a family of four. Of course, my children are pretty young and don't eat much yet.
Mine are 1 and 3, and don't eat much yet. Even before I switched to the level of fresh fruit and veggies we do now, I couldn't get it below $500 a month....I've heard of people doing it, but I'm not sure what they eat or if they eat out a lot or if they eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day. Coupons tend to be for processed foods rather than fresh, so I don't bother with them.
About a year ago I put myself on a strict $500 a month budget and would scrounge at the end of the month with whatever was left in the house to make it work. I did make it work, but our meals became boring, repetitive, and usually involved frozen or canned produce.
Then a few months ago I tried a new meal planning service that helped me create a more varied menu, with more fresh produce. Two things happened. First, my grocery bills shot up by about $250 a month. Second, my family loves it. My 3-year-old is a naturally picky eater but since we've started offering more variety and more fresh ingredients, he's doing much better. I was fretting about the money after the first month, but my husband said he was enjoying meals much more and that we should just redo the budget to make healthy eating a priority. So we did.
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
For breakfast today, I had a peanut butter sandwich. That's a fine breakfast. So is fruit and yogurt or fruit and cottage cheese or sliced cheese. And cooked cereal is a good choice, too.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged |
Boon
unregistered
posted
quote:Originally posted by Christine: Then a few months ago I tried a new meal planning service that helped me create a more varied menu, with more fresh produce.
posted
A lot of these amounts seem very high to me. I'm pretty happy on a $200/month food budget for a family of three. That doesn't count eating out, since that is a separate budget item and it generally only gets funded from gifts. Now, we produce most of our own protein from meat and eggs, so that does help a bit, but even when we had to buy those things that only added about $50/month to the budget. So $200/month for a single person is definitely not cheap to me.
One way to get a lot of produce without spending too much money is to have a cut-off price. For the most part, we only buy fruits and vegetables that are $1/pound or less, but then we buy a lot of them. Most of the time something meets that requirement, and it's always changing, so there is variety. Some things are exempt from the rule, like salad greens and lightweight things (mushrooms, garlic, etc). We buy what we can in bulk, if it's something that will last and we know we will eat it.
quote:Originally posted by theCrowsWife: For the most part, we only buy fruits and vegetables that are $1/pound or less, but then we buy a lot of them. --Mel
You can find fruits and vegetables that are $1 a pound or less? Please, do tell me how! I promise you, I snap up produce that gets that low when it does, but it almost never does around here. We're typically doing morel like $2 a pound.
Also, how many servings of fresh fruits and veggies are you doing? $200 a month for FOUR people and you're eating fresh? I'm a numbers girl, so if anyone is willing, I'd love to hash out some numbers.
Ok, let's assume you live out in the country where my in-laws do (I drool over their grocery stores when we visit) and can get fruit at $1 a pound. The surgeon general recommends AT LEAST 5 servings a day per person (a recommendation that is going up, if it hasn't already).
SO let's say you can get the following produce on sale this week:
Apples ($1 per pound) Green beans ($1 per pound) Strawberries ($1 per pound) Salad greens ($1.5o per head)\ peaches ($1 per pound)
To feed a family of four for 7 days on that particular variety, you need:
28 apples (lets say 3 per pound): $9 28 peaches (3 per pound): $9 14 cups of strawberries (this is about 10 pounds): $10 7 pounds of green beans: $7 7 heads of lettuces: $10.50
And for that, you didn't even get sliced carrots in your salads. That's $45.50 per week in JUST fresh fruits and veggies for a family of 4. And in a city (where I live), it's hard to find fruits and veggies that low.
So let's wander over to the freezer and canned sections instead. A bag of frozen veggies is about $2 and can (tolerably) feed a family of 4 just 1 of their veggie servings. A can of fruit is about $1.50, and has about 3 servings in it. So to get your 5 a day on bags and cans, it still pretty steep.
And that's just produce. Dairy is hugely expensive. A gallon of milk is nearly $4 anymore and we typically go through 2 a week. A thing of butter is about $3. Even the cheaper bulk yogurts are pricey, though I can't think what that price is off the top of my head. Eggs are cheap, but those are about the only things that are.
Bread costs about $2 a loaf on a good day. I've made my own bread before, but even that isn't cheap because flour and yeast add up.
I buy my meats in bulk from Sam's and meat is, on average, $2-$3 a pound and my family of four can go through 2 pounds a day. (We also enjoy fish, which is more.) But let's say we just went down to 1 pound of meat a day for $2 a pound....that is still $60 a month in JUST meat.
Oh and cheese! Let's talk about cheese. We buy the big blocks from Sam's because otherwise we can't afford it, but we probably spend $30-$40 a month on cheese.
The reason I'm getting so specific here is that I am really and truly curious how you eat on $200 a month. What are you eating and where do you get it? These are the types of things I eat on a daily basis and they cost me. At the moment, I budget $740 a month for groceries and consumables (toothpaste, shampoo, paper towels, aluminum foil, household cleaners...all that gets wrapped up in our grocery bill).
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Christine: Then a few months ago I tried a new meal planning service that helped me create a more varied menu, with more fresh produce.
You can't tease like that.
More info, please?
Didn't want to spam anyone.
I use a site called meal mixer (www.mealmixer.com). They have a lot of recipes or you can import your own...they make meal suggestions for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and you can print recipes and lists. I find it useful, given the way I cook and eat. It's not perfect, but they are very friendly and open to site suggestions. There's a free two week trial. (One of those where you have to give them your credit card and remember to cancel in time if you don't want to sign up.)
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Looking at your prices for frozen/canned fruits and vegetables, you are buying brand name, and not using coupons at least based on where I live. Go to a store like Aldi for canned/frozen fruits and vegetables or buy store brand, not name brand. Store brand canned fruits and veg often run less than a dollar a can, and I don't taste any difference from brand name. Be careful shopping for food at somewhere like Sam's/Costco/BJ's/Price Club also. It seems cheaper, but except for meat products, it's often not. Check the per ounce price v. regular grocery stores. Also, you said you don't bother with coupons, but they can save you a ton of money, if you're willing to sort through or go online to find ones that will work for what you are buying.
Edit: Your family eats 1/2 lb of meat per person per day? (I assume you're a family of 4.) Really? That seems like a LOT of meat to me, and I'm a serious carnivore.
Posts: 1214 | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by andi330: Looking at your prices for frozen/canned fruits and vegetables, you are buying brand name, and not using coupons at least based on where I live. Go to a store like Aldi for canned/frozen fruits and vegetables or buy store brand, not name brand. Store brand canned fruits and veg often run less than a dollar a can, and I don't taste any difference from brand name. Be careful shopping for food at somewhere like Sam's/Costco/BJ's/Price Club also. It seems cheaper, but except for meat products, it's often not. Check the per ounce price v. regular grocery stores. Also, you said you don't bother with coupons, but they can save you a ton of money, if you're willing to sort through or go online to find ones that will work for what you are buying.
A couple of things:
First, I know Sam's can be deceptive sometimes, but I know which things are cheaper there and which aren't. I've done the cost comparisons and continue to re-check from time to time. I mostly buy meat, cheese, and a few canned items there. Cheese is a HUGE savings. We got feta cheese there at 1/3 the price we found at the grocery store. Cheddar is about 1/2, and so is mozzarella. (We like to make our own pizzas from scratch.)
Second, when I've tried looking for coupons, spending HOURS looking for coupons, I have not found coupons for things that I actually eat. They are always for processed, canned, frozen, pre-packaged, etc. types of foods. As often as I find a coupon for fresh carrots or strawberries, it just isn't worth the time. I could definitely save MONEY by shopping with coupons, but at too high a cost, IMO. I just don't want to eat those types of foods. If you know where to find coupons for fresh, raw ingredients, please let me know, because I just don't buy much else.
Third, I don't use frozen of canned often anymore, because it's not as good, but when I do there is a HUGE difference between name brand and off brand. Let's take green beans -- if I get them from Aldi it will be half full of stems. Off brand peaches usually have bits of pit in them. Off brand frozen veggies are useful, but even the off brand isn't often less than $2 a bag here and, as I say, I prefer fresh.
This really is an academic exercise for me since I'm not willing to significantly change my diet. It's just that $200 a month for four people seems really low to me even if you do go mostly pre-packaged and with coupons.
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Canned fruit and veggies are nutritionally (and taste-wise) seriously inferior to frozen. Assuming freezer space is not at a premium (which is not true for everyone -- it's only recently true for me), frozen is also considerably more convenient.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by andi330: Edit: Your family eats 1/2 lb of meat per person per day? (I assume you're a family of 4.) Really? That seems like a LOT of meat to me, and I'm a serious carnivore.
It's hard to say, because we have a varied diet, but why can't you believe that? The recommendation is 2-3 servings of meat per day. A serving of meat is, depending upon the meat 3-4 ounces. A half a pound is 8 ounces. So that is not at all high. It's not all for dinner...it will usually be some lunch meat (which is very high priced but we eat a lot of Ham...Black Forest ham from Sam's it the best nutritionally, tastewise, and pricewise...great stuff), maybe a piece of bacon, and a serving of chicken or whatever at dinner. Some days we go vegetarian, others we have a big hunk of steak, but definitely on average the four of us will eat 1-2 pounds of meat a day. That's 16-32 ounces or 4-8 ounces per day per person.
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Christine: The recommendation is 2-3 servings of meat per day.
No. Of protein, maybe.
Not really, because meat and dairy are separated out and both are sources of protein. The "meat" group does include nuts and eggs, though. ETA: Specifically, the 2-3 servings is of meat, fish, nuts, beans, and seeds. Mostly, we do meat and fish, though today at lunch it was beans and at breakfast it was an egg. The only actual meat today will be chicken at dinner -- 4 oz per person.
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
As well as fish and legumes, both of which are healthier than that much meat. Poultry (which I'm not sure if you're including when you say meat) is also healthier. Red meat should be eaten sparingly -- for the sake of your wallet as well as your health.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Why on earth did you assume I meant red meat? I eat a VARIED diet. I eat everything. Red meat is on the menu 2-3 times a week, as is poultry, chicken, fish, nuts, beans, eggs, etc. I never said I ate half a pound of beef every day.
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Christine: Red meat is on the menu 2-3 times a week
From everything I've read, that's still too often. Especially if you're worried about heart disease -- or your budget.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Ah, ok. Well, a lot of American do the red meat thing, so it's an easy assumption to make at any rate. But I actually pride myself in providing a healthy diet for my family. Heck, I pay through the nose for it! Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Christine: Red meat is on the menu 2-3 times a week
From everything I've read, that's still too often. Especially if you're worried about heart disease -- or your budget.
From what I've read, red meat is demonized more than it deserves to be. It's a very good source of iron (granted, so it a lot of fish). The trick is to pick lean cuts of meat. We only buy 92% lean ground beef, for example. The 80/20 or the 70/30 goes on sale all the time but I won't touch it.
The trouble with red meat is not eating a 3-4 ounce portion 2-3 times a week, it's eating an 8-16 oz steak several times a week, or a double quarter pounder...um...ever. Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Sorry, I think my explanation of why people were reacting to the amount of meat y'all eat turned into a lecture. Not my intent. Which is good, because I'd have to blatantly ignore the fact that while we eat very little meat, there are definitely nights like last night, where it's frozen pizza. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
The only non-frozen vegetables we use are items for salad, carrots for munching, and those few vegetables that don't freeze well, like onions, celery, mushrooms, and the like. That helps our budget tremendously on produce, and there's very little quality difference if you're cooking 'em via stir fry or casserole. Plus, with only two people in the house, frozen vegetables tend to be much healthier, since most fruits & vegis lose nutrients within a few days of being purchased.
Indian dishes feature a lot of different beans and lentils - that's the majority of what my MIL cooks for dinners when they're on an extended visit here. They're very quick dishes to make, very cheap, and, along with brown rice/roti, and a vegetable side dish, about as healthy a meal as you could wish.
Posts: 2409 | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
