Need help w/frugal meal ideas!

[quiet-me]

Hi.

I'm finding that sticking to a low carb way of eating is not as cheap as I first thought it would be. If anyone has some inexpensive meals they would like to share it sure would help me out....I don't want to give up this way of eating!! Right now I spend close to 500.00 a month (family of 4, DH, myself, 15 year old teen who eats like a horse :lol: , and a 13 month old). DH and I are on Atkins.

Thanks!!
quiet- me: Christa :)

[LindaBC]

Ground beef and chicken, extended with low carb veggies.

Have you checked our recipe section? There are lots of great ideas there for healthy family dishes.

You can make a sort of ground beef stew that you and your dh could eat on its own but for your teenager, you could cook up some pasta to stretch it out and fill him up.

Chicken can be cooked in a broth to which you add low carb veggies like tomatoes,cabbage and onion and seasonings.

You can make soups using chicken broth, chicken chunks, vegetables like onions, zucchini, mushrooms, cauliflower, etc and add a bit of cream to make it luscious. YOu don't need a lot of cream to give it richness. You can cook up noodles separately for your son to mix with his soup.

[nikkic]

This is one of the hardest parts. Protein is so expensive.
Here are some ideas-
Eggs, really cheap. Make frittata's, omelets- add small amounts of seafood, chicken, ground beef and coordinating veggies. Make egg drop soup-chicken broth, eggs, soy sauce, a few veggies if you like and salt and pepper to taste. Also, there's egg salad, deviled eggs and boiled eggs to your tuna salad to extent it.
Raise your own herbs on the windowsil. If you like and use them a lot. Like basil, chives, mint, rosemary. They are so expensive in the stores. If you have too many, freeze them in individual ice cube sections with water for later use in soups.
Check out your local farmers market. There are always good buys there and the produce is a lot fresher than the stores.
I mostly grill or broil my meats. I know you can have cream sauces and fancy dishes, but that adds expense and time. I've found we like things that are a lot simpler. We eat a lot of hamburger.
Veggies-stick with the cheaper things, cabbage for slaw or stirfried, cucumbers for salads. Buy frozen veggies. They are often cheaper and since they are frozen at their peak of ripeness, probably taste better than something that has been sitting on the store shelf for awhile.
I make my own chicken broth from the chicken bones. Just water, bones and a few stalks of celery, 1 onion, pepper corns. I leave out the salt and add that with the recipe I use the broth for. I cook the whole thing around 3 hours in a big pot, strain and freeze in individual bags for later use.
I always keep a big container of decaf tea in the fridge for drinking. Diet pop is just too expensive and doesn't taste good anyway.
Good luck to you!
Nikki

[Ruthxxx]

A crockpot would be a good investment as you can cook cheaper cuts of meat until they are fork tender. I also use mine to make soup stock - I throw everything in at bedtime and have stock by morning. I strain it, boil it way down, chill to get rid of the fat and then reheat the reduced stock and freeze in ice cube trays. Very handy!
By the way, you can make noodles for your soup with thinly sliced strips of zucchini (when it's cheap) or shredded cabbage.

[nikkic]

Ruth,
I never knew how good zucchini "noodles" were till I tried them. I've got a mandolin, so I cut them up like long narrow french fries and sauted them in olive oil with some salt and pepper. Then put spaghettie sauce or an alfredo sauce over them. I don't know why I thought they wouldn't be good. They're so mild, they really can take the place of noodles and cut the carbs.

[quiet-me]

A big thank you to everyone- you all have such wonderful ideas!

:)

[Ruthxxx]

I use the potato peeler to make zuke pasta as I never can find my mandolin. My husband cooks and seldom puts stuff back in the same place! :shrug:

Quiet-me, spaghetti squash is reasonable this time of year and is an excellent pasta substitute. I cup cooked has 40 calories, 10 grams of carb and 2 grams of fiber! Nummy! You may not want it on induction but it sure is great when you start adding carbs.

[nasus40]

some of my favorite meals are the meatloaf, hamburgers grilled (so no fat) i love my crock pot. you can get some really cheep cuts of meat and wow add a ton of onions and bay leaf and viola wonderful then you have a bunche of meals

[Jennifer 3FC]

Some great ideas! The only things I can think of to add are:

Chicken Leg Quarters. I find these things all over the place for 29 cents a pound. Poke butter under the skin and sprinkle with lemon-pepper or your favorite seasoning (Emeril's line is good) and roast on a foil lined pan for about 45 minutes, or until skin is crunchy. Mmmm!

Spices...you can get them cheap at health food stores. I buy a little at a time in baggies. Maybe comes to a quarter a bag and a little goes a long way.

Stock up on deli meat when on sale, and roll them up with cream cheese middles.

Homemade chicken salad from boiled bone-in chicken breasts. Cheaper than canned, better texture, and you have stock for a low carb chicken/veggie soup.

Print out the Low Carb Induction Idea guide (we're still working on the 'shopping list')and bring it to the store. Look for anything on sale and come home and search out recipes. Just post your need here and we'll smother ya!

http://www.3fatchicks.com/lowcarb/archives/cat_induction_guide.php