| Author |
Message |
Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 7:37 am 
It's almost an oxymoron, but do you have any healthy AND budget friendly recipes? Fresh fruits and veggies are so expensive. I don't mind canned, but frozen never seem to come out anything but mushy for me. I have been buying cheaper cuts of meats and cooking them in the crockpot but one of the reasons they are cheaper is that they are fattier.
I need to really cut my food budget, but don't want to live on mac and cheese and spaghetti (although my daughter would be happy!)
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 7:42 am
Annie, you know just how "good" I am in the kitchen, but my neighbor sent me a link to this website. I have not even checked it out much, but it seems to fit your bill:
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/healthy_hurry/cheap_eats.html
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 8:41 am
LOL Julie, thanks i will check it out!
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 8:58 am
Julie, that's a really great site!!!
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 9:53 am
Good to hear Annie!! Glad that I was able to help you. In the kitchen no less!!!
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 10:48 am
LOL!
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 11:09 am
Winter is great cuz I love to make soups probably more than almost anything. And they are cheap and healthy to make. And if you use meat in soups, you can almost always use cheaper cuts (chicken thighs, cheaper cuts of beef) and, really, they're a meal in themselves.
But I think the best healthy and budget friendly thing to make is just to roast a whole chicken. And then you have bones to make homemade stock with, too. And roasting a chicken isn't only healthy and inexpensive...it also takes little kitchen time.
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 11:26 am
'My name is MB and I am a Soupaholic'! Grin. Actually I really prefer stews. I call them stews cuz I add a lot of rice - at least 50 percent is rice, which is cheap and filling. My fave is beef stew with the big, meaty, osso bucco bones, and/or rib bones, with lots of chunky veggies like carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, too. I use beef broth as my base, and to jazz it up sometimes I add Cambells tomato soup for flavour and sweetness.
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Y2krazy
Member
09-17-2002
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 11:29 am
One little tip....when making that homemade stock, try to cool it in the 'fridge overnight...the fat will rise and harden on top, making it easy and simple to pull it off in chunks and dump it..before continuing to make your, by now, much healthier soup...
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 11:51 am
well, now i am frustrated. i am doing all of your suggestions. guess i am more budget minded than i thought.
i am the crockpot queen especially with soups and stews. i buy whole chickens and either cook them in the crockpot or roast them. i always get at least two meals from my beef or pork roasts.
i feel like we aren't getting enough veggies and fruits; that's where it really seems to add up.
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 12:02 pm
Well, what about roasting root vegetables? That's always good and cheap. I make carrots SO often because they're so cheap. And potatoes. And parsnips (Martha Stewart has a really good recipe for mashed potatoes and parsnips that I love).
I have to admit, though, that I'm terrible about veggies because I eat most of them in soups or in salads and I do the least economical thing possible: I buy the boxes of organic baby greens that have been washed already because I really hate to do that.
I went to the store last week and got grapefruit and I have to admit I was amazed how expensive they were--not organic or anything. This time of year usually has such good stuff (citrus fruits, pears, apples) but the prices were just out of this world.
But yeah, I've been eating more rice and pasta than ever before.
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Hukdonreality
Member
09-29-2003
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 12:09 pm
Texannie, make some homemade fried rice and add a ton of vegetables! It's totally different than a soup, stew, or casserole.
During the winter, I eat a lot of chili, Spanish rice, grilled cheese sandwiches (usually with sliced tomatoes OR ham inside them), and breakfast for dinner. Pancakes or eggs with sausage or bacon and toast is a great dinner! In fact, I just made my Mom and I egg mcmuffins last night. I get canadian bacon in bulk and freeze probably 6 together for just such occasions.
For a good amount of cheap veggies, have you ever made what my family has always called "boiled dinner"? It's just a chunk of ham, cabbage cut into wedges, potatoes, and carrots. Use a can of chicken broth to make it yummier. Super cheap, super filling, and really good for you.
Can't help you much on fruit, I'm not a fruit person, but I do eat quite a bit of warmed applesauce that I've added cinnamon to.
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 1:00 pm
Not sure how much this'll help, but might be worth a look:
http://www.cheapcooking.com/recipes-vegetarian.htm
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 1:03 pm
i do lots of stir fries. i finally found a semi decent frozen vegetable. costco's stir fry veggie mix. i don't add any water just some soy sauce and sesame seeds.
we have been having alot of avocado/tomato/corn salads cause avocados are 59 cents each right now!!! (which kind of confuses me, thought they were summer fruits.)
i guess i have just been lazy lately and gotten in a rut.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 1:06 pm
thanks julie!
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 4:48 pm
I'm a huge soup fanatic too - we did white chili tonight...cheap w/only white beans, green chilies, turkey/chicken/ham, chix stock and seasonings. We actually had 18 lb. bags of grapefruit for $5 here, so my mom and I split one. I can't eat the whole thing (and DH isn't allowed to eat them b/c of medication), but DS and I love them. I'm getting another bag this week if the price is the same!
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Abbynormal
Member
08-04-2001
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 6:28 pm
I wanted to add that I love grapefruit and know that a lot of people put sugar on it. I personally use a pinch of salt. Don't know if anyone else does this but if not you should try it. It's really good.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 7:06 pm
I take my grapefruit straight - no sugar - but then, I only eat Rio Star grapefruit that are so sweet they don't need anything. I put salt on my watermelon - does that count? 
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Abbynormal
Member
08-04-2001
| Friday, January 02, 2009 - 8:32 pm
Yum, I love them sweet. I just found that if they are not naturally sweet that salt takes out the bitterness. I like to eat them like an orange. About the salt and watermelon, that is just wrong! No seriously, I can't eat them but my DH is a freak about them so we always have one when in season. He uses salt, so to each his own. But yeah, y'all are weird.
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Boberg
Member
10-04-2002
| Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 9:19 am
I have been trying to get more raw food into my diet and found this recipe. I tried it yesterday and it was delicious. Thought I would share it.
Easy Raw Pad THai Salad Recipe:
2 zucchinis, sliced into strips with a vegetable peeler
2 large handfuls of bean sprouts
3/4 cup chopped nuts (raw, not salted or dried)
1 red or yellow bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
4 green onions , diced
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
Juice from one lime
1 tablespoon raw olive oil
1/4 tsp sea salt
(I added a little Thai fish sauce and red pepper flakes)
Preparation: Toss all ingredients together in a bowl until well coated. Add a dash more salt if desired and enjoy!
I love Thai food and this was a delicious healthy version.
You could add some chicken(not raw of course) if you liked.
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