The expense of dieting has come to my attention several times at the 3fc forums lately. And thanks to a slow down at work ... it's come to my attention at home as well
But some really good food is not expensive. Would some of you post the frugal things you eat?
I'll start with tuna (much cheaper than red meat), frozen and canned vegetables.
Tinned chick peas. Often made into hummous with a little bit of tahini (creamed sesame seeds), lemon juice, olive oil and salt. Or with leftover bits of chicken, a bit of lemon and brown rice. Eaten with flat bread.
Low-fat cottage cheese is a great protein. I eat it with almost everything: with muesli, with porage (oat groats), with salad, with fruit. It doesn't go very well with chocolate so I don't eat it with that ...
Yogurt, oatmeal, eggs, lettuce (that you cut up yourself, not in the bags)
Pretty much anything that is in season (if you're lucky you have a neighbor who is a gardener and will share some of his/her harvest with you -- mine gives me zucchini and tomatoes)
If you have a local farmer's market in your area - that's a GREAT place to go for delicious fresh veggies and fruits at moderate prices. And it's fun
I don't care for the frozen bags of chicken breasts but Safeway and Albertsons' often has fresh chicken breast value packs on sale for $1.99 - 2.99/lb. When I see those sales, I stock up big time, then I use Ziploc bags and freeze them - maybe one or two breasts per bag.
Eggs are always way cheap (I used to buy Egg Beaters but figured out that even when I toss the yolk, it's still much cheaper to use regular eggs and extract the white, and they taste better too!). Safeway usually has them for $1.20 a dozen.
As far as frozen veggies - I'll use them in a pinch, but I don't care for many of them. Canned veggies I stay away from altogether - not only are they usually loaded with sodium, they taste terrible to me (I'm convinced at this point that one of the reasons that many people don't care for veggies is that they were raised on canned/frozen ones and don't know what good fresh produce REALLY tastes like!). Frozen veggies that I use regularly are chopped onions, and when I'm making soup I use frozen veggies sometimes as well.
Oatmeal - old-fashioned oats - are very, very cheap. I usually buy the store brand, or from the bulk section.
Dried lentils and dried beans are very cheap. Green lentils are less than $1 per pound (dried) and make healthy and satisfying meals. I also get red lentils and yellow split peas at a small local store - try an indian or middle eastern market. Also, lentils (green/red/purple/yellow) don't require soaking overnight (though some require more cooking than others - depends on the size). Most other dried beans require soaking overnight, but are also quite cheap hovering at around $1/pound. Lentils, beans and rice, and veggie chile are staples @ my house. I also have a local store that sells bulger wheat in bulk, very cheap - at around $1 per pound. I'm sure in larger cities there are more inexpensive bulk foods (brown rice, quinoa) available at certain stores, but quinoa, especially is a bit expensive around here. I do pick up big jars of brown basmati rice that last me for six months or more for about $6.00, though I'm not sure of the size.
I know that my current diet is actually saving me money, because I used to go out to eat for at least one, if not two, of my meals each day. That was easily $20 a day. Now, I'm cooking more at home and packing my lunch, and I can't possibly be spending more than $10/day, even if I do get a latte! (12 oz, nonfat).
For cheap stuff: eggs, bulk chicken breasts, generic frozen veggies (even the mix with asparagus I found in it recently was $2.25/bag, and you get six servings out of that!), bulk rice, store yogurt (routinely on sale here for 50 cents for an 8oz container - great for taking for lunch!).
Hi, I'm Chaps, I'm a new 'un. I wanted to tell you that I *totally* agree with what you said about why people don't like vegetables. They think that the salty, metallic, chemical flavor is going to pervade all their vegetable. And taste aversion is one of the strongest behavior modifications that we know! A memory from childhood will shape you forever, if you let it.
For me personally, my mom didn't know how to cook fresh vegetables, either. It wasn't until college that I knew steamed broccoli could be bright green instead of olive green!
All these things are good, and I use them all. I'm lucky enough to have a garden and so have my own fresh-frozen veggies to use all winter. Also fresh tomatoes in the summer. Fresh veggies are very expensive here. I always have canned beans on hand (either buy sodium free or rinse) and add them to veggie soups, or make chili, or sometimes I get the preseasoned ones and add them, warm, to a salad. I also cruise the store's marked down meat section. Got a 1/2# NY steak for my DH's birthday the other day. 1/2# is all ever plan for the 2 of us, and mostly we eat chicken and fish (I'm lucky to live where you can catch salmon!)
The old standby crockpot can turn the cheapest (which are also the leanest) cuts of meat into tender stews. I use mine to cook dried chick peas overnight, to make stews from eye of round roast (generally the cheapest beef available here), turkey chili with black beans, above mentioned chickpeas and kidney beans.
Lots of tuna, egg whites, shredded cabbage, whatever fruit is in season or least expensive, oatmeal, farmed salmon and tilapia are cheap here (lets not get into the pros and cons of farmed vs. caught- I know the issues, can't afford $15.99/lb!)
Do you have a freezer? After big holidays I usually buy 2-3 turkeys when they are on sale. That's good for 20 or so meals!
I second the crockpot suggestion - it really can turn cheap cuts of meat into tender deliciousness (I'd know, being a college student .) Added bonus: the cheap cuts of meat are usually the leanest as well, saving a few fat grams and calories.
but yea, agreed in general with most of what others have already suggested: frozen veggies (SUPER GREAT for singles like me, since fresh veggies tend to rot before I can finish it and canned are hard to store once opened) and yogurt (esp. enjoyed the whipped kinds at the moment). Gardenburgers (also freezable to last a while) are also very yummy too (and can be cheap when on sale or if you have coupon). Canned soups (the brothy kind) are quite filling too and can be cheap as well.
also, a good source of omega-3 other than the somewhat-pricey salmon are walnuts! (in fact, most nuts area also a rich source of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats as well... just be sure to limit portion to about an ounce or two and get the unsalted or lightly salted if possible to control the sodium.)
Did anyone mention the garden? I'm having Ilene's pancake, fat free cottage cheese, spinach and cherry tomatoes worth about 75 cents! 300 cals and 40 gms of protein. If my math is right.
I canned black beans yesterday. I can't seem to get my behind in gear in time to start with dried beans for supper so this is what I did ....
I threw 2 lbs of beans in the crockpot with lots of water and put it on high for 3 or 4 hours before I went to bed on Saturday. On Sunday I rinced them a couple of times and half filled 2 cup sized jars. Added 1/2 tsp salt and filled them with boiling water. I then hot water processed them for 30 minutes.
For $2.07 I made bean dip yesterday, we'll have chili tonight and I got 9 jars of beans.
Frugal Good Eats
Fresh veggies are very expensive here. I always have canned beans on hand (either buy sodium free or rinse) and add them to veggie soups, or make chili, or sometimes I get the preseasoned ones and add them, warm, to a salad. I also cruise the store's marked down meat section. Got a 1/2# NY steak for my DH's birthday the other day. 1/2# is all ever plan for the 2 of us, and mostly we eat chicken and fish (I'm lucky to live where you can catch salmon!)
Not to worry Mel, I'm totally not going there! I couldn't afford to buy it either.
