[strangerthanfiction]

Hey chicks!

Today was my first day on Phase II (I lost 8 pounds total in Phase I, which I'm very pleased with). My boyfriend and I are both participating and we've been doing really well.

I would like to know if any of you have tips for reducing the cost of SB-friendly foods. Phase I turned out to be more expensive than I imagined it would be (with things like cheesesticks, prepackaged Jell-O, and $6 hummus; we weren't big snackers before, so these were added expenses).

I went out yesterday and bought a loaf of Ezekiel Sprouted Grain bread for Phase II, and was dismayed to see it cost over $5. (Thankfully, though, I just discovered the sticky regarding bread, and I saw some more affordable options there).

Anyway, what do you eat to keep the cost of the diet down? Granted, we don't eat out NEARLY as much as we did pre-SBD, so it probably evens out, but those trips to the grocery store are getting painful.

Thanks!

[zestfest]

Veggies are cheap, especially in season, so I eat a lot of those. Canned beans. Frozen blueberries.

Make your own hummus! Just grind up some chickpeas, add garlic, lemon, and tahini and you're set - lots cheaper too.

Cut slices of cheese from a chunk rather than buying string cheese.

Good luck! And congrats on your success in P1!

[murphmitch]

Stock up on beans when they are on sale. The dried kinds are really cheap. My hummus is $1.99 at Walmart. The Ezekial bread is way too expensive I think. Trader Joe's Greek yogurt in the large containers is much cheaper too. Aldi's veggies are a lot cheaper than my regular stores. Eggs used to be cheap until lately. I load up on chicken breasts when my local stores have them on sale, same with lean ground beef and pork tenderloin.

[EmmaD]

I have two strategies. One is to make everything I can. I got a breadmaker from Goodwill for $10 or $15, and although I don't eat a lot of bread, I have converted my husband to a 100% whole wheat walnut bread. You can buy grains in bulk and make all kinds of whole grain breads for way cheaper (although the initial investment - esp. the yeast - makes it seem expensive)... We make our own yogurt, and even using organic milk, it comes out to less than $7.00 for 16 servings of 1 cup each, or about 43 cents/serving (using 1 gallon organic milk + ~ 1/2 cup Trader Joe's Greek Yogurt as the "starter" culture). It's ridiculously easy and it ends up really thick... I make hummus, refried beans, baked tofu, sundried tomatoes (buy them in the early fall when the Romas are cheap), vegetable stock (from leftover veggie bits) for soups, granola bars, pudding, sauerkraut (stinky but fun), infused oils, mayonnaise.... But I love doing this kind of stuff - and I'm cheap.

The second is to shop around. Costco/Sam's is good for a few things, including bags of nuts, bulk Laughing Cow light (and other) cheese, olive oil, refried beans etc. Then there are the off-brand stores/grocery outlets, if you have one around. You never know what you will find there, but I have found lots of organic produce, cheese, olives, 100% whole wheat bread... for like half the price of everywhere else. I've only seen an Aldi's once but if I lived near one, I'd probably buy a lot of stuff there. And of course Trader Joe's, if you have one around, can be good for many things. That's where we find the organic milk & peanut butter the cheapest.

For any of the more processed stuff I use - salsa, nsa ketchup, sugar-free syrups, etc - I check the weekly flyers and buy it on sale.

Then I step in Whole Foods and blow all the money I saved, haha. But seriously, even there, buying from the bulk bins - brown rice, quinoa, etc - can be cheaper than packaged.

I found a lot of ideas in this forum of 3fc...