I tend to get bored with the foods I buy because there just aren't many new options, especially on a budget. So I was thinking a small thread for ideas on how to stick to a budget and to share foods we like would be nice.
Currently, I'm all about Fiber One stuff, bars, yogurt and cereal, and I've wanted to try the muffin mix. There are always coupons online and in the Sunday paper. I buy kashi when I can, fresh fruits and fresh and frozen veggies...other than that, I get the light yogurt, 2% milk cheeses when I can, and I always use lean beef and pork and lots of chicken breasts.
What are some things I can get? I'm especially lacking in the snack department.
I don't know how to do it without a food dehydrator (I think that's what it's called) but for snacks you could use that with banana slices or apple slices to make a snack.
you could make your own trail mix too...even put it in ziplock bags so you can just grab one and it's already perfectly portioned.
The easiest way I find to have good food at a low price is to make most things from scratch. It does take a bit more time, but not as much as most people think. I cook my beans from dry and freeze them for other recipes. Stuff like that.
As far as snacks, we are primarily fruit and cheese or fruit and pb people. We also like veggie sticks with hummus for dipping. I make granola for DH to snack on, but that's not exactly low cal. Really, anything you've had as a meal can be a snack in a smaller portions.
I read the flyers every week. I buy apples, onions, oranges etc. by the bag, not individually from those bins. I do most of my shopping at a No Frills (canada)...very good produce, not always the biggest or best, but red peppers for 1.27 when everywhere else they are 2.97 for example. I have a freezer so when meat is on sale I buy it in large packages and then re-package. Yogurts have a long shelf-life so if multi-packs are on sale, I can buy two and usually have finished them before the "expiry date" (btw how do you know if yogurt has gone bad LOL) I used to think that bulk food stores were a bargain, until I started comparing prices. Surprisingly beans, lentils, nuts etc are sometimes cheaper in a package in a store, particularly if you are willing to buy a bigger size and have the room to store it. I look for generic brands..to me a raisin is a raisin..it doesn't have to have a pretty package.
I like hard-boiled eggs as a snack..and eggs are about 2$ a dozen here. I have a pantry so that when something is a good sale i.e. canned salmon, I have a place to stock up. I have been single for a long time so I am used to eating the same thing for a few days, or I will make soup or stews or spaghetti sauce etc. and freeze portions. I check the prices religiously, because strangely lately, the largest size isn't always the cheapest. I make my own hummus, which is usually far lower fat and better tasting than pre-made. I can make about three batches for what one pre-made carton is costing.
I LOVE Mini-Wheats cereal as a snack. I count out my "biscuits" first though.
For me a snack has to a) be a lot for the calories b) be crunchy. Snack size bags of Smart Choice popcorn are good too.
There are a few country markets out here that sell dried fruit, so I'll try some of that sometime. I've thought about trail mix, I just never know what to put in it haha.
I do almost everything from scratch. I admit, I have a few quick meals and some Warm Delights cakes, but with a husband that works odd hours I have to have quick stuff. The only bread I buy is english muffins, I make the rest.
I'm also the smart shopper that reads every add, cuts coupons and looks for more, has the bonus cards and all that. I've saved more than I've spent on many occasion. And I do love yogurt...if I can't use mine before it expires, I put it in the freezer. You can either thaw it a few seconds in the microwave and it's like ice cream, or use it for smoothies.
I saw a lot about babybel cheese...what's that like? Miniwheats is a great idea. I forgot I had 100cal bags of popcorn too...if nothing else you guys are reminding me of stuff I already have
Mollymom...would you be willing to share your hummus recipe?
Another question. My husband is weird, he doesn't like beans except green and lima, and doesn't like rice. What are some other grains I could make? I'm always afraid to buy and try other grains because I don't know anyone else that makes them. I hear about bulgur and quinoa, but I'm lost when it comes to making it.
Are Smart Ones foods any good? Or are there any other "diet" frozen foods anyone would recommend? I like the South Beach ones, especially pizzas, and their wraps. I just have issues with the fake taste some of those foods have. Something about being southern, you know the joyous flavor of fat.
Quinoa, you cook like rice (often their are directions on the bag). I like wheat berries too. I simmer them in water until soft (the cooking time varies tremendously, depending on the variety of wheat I think), or cook them in a crockpot overnight (2 1/2 cups of water for every 1 cup of wheat berries), and drain any extra water.
I don't really know how to describe the texture, a little bit like a cross between oatmeal and young corn kernels. It's chewy and nutty flavored, really good. It can be used like rice, with a bit of butter or seasonings. Or as a hot breakfast cereal.
Yoplait yogurt years and years ago had a "breakfast yogurt," that had fruit, nuts, and wheat berries in it, and I just loved it. So I make my own, stirring wheat berries, craisins and sunflower seeds into low fat yogurt (fruit, vanilla or plain).
My mothers quite good in so far as she limits all meals to be healthy....
even when she mates chips she know i wont eat them so doesnt put me any....
it helps me a great deal as i dont really have too much time what with work and exercise....
and extra work in the evenings....
One thing I don't have to worry about is portion control since I handle all the food. I'm also in the habit of serving my husband now to try to control his, but then he gets more himself and drinks a ton of calories. I hate that, I absolutely do. He works out once a week, can drink over 1,000 calories in a night, loses weight. And I'm not exaggerating, he drank an entire 2 liter bottle of cream soda Saturday night. It's great that your mom helps you in that area, sh3l5.
Kaplods, thanks for the grain info. I'll have to look into some of those things when I make room in the pantry. We have about 12 boxes of cereal right now...what can I say, it was a great sale And a bunch of pasta...whole wheat and whole grain, of course.
I feel you on the 1-billion-calories-a-day-and-still-loses-weight thing. My husband is Army S.F. and when he's home I have to buy groceries and cook enough for a family of six and it's just the two of us! At dinner he could easily put away at least 2 and a half pounds of food (HEAVY food. We're talking an entire bowl of mashed potato's, two large heads of steamed broccoli with butter and cheese, four 1/2lb steaks, and an entire skillet of corn bread with butter and honey) and eat snacks right after up until he goes to bed at 10. Did you see the Micheal Phelps diet? That's about what my husband eats EVERY day. He's deployed so you can imagine the extra money we've got right now. So much extra, in fact, that we've practically paid off our car note a year and a half early.
Then he actually gripes at me for eating like a normal person and tells me I don't eat enough and he's worried about me starving myself. WHAT!???!
He's as cut, muscular and in-shape as ever. He's Mr. I-think-i'm-getting-a-pooch-at-6%-body fat. Ridiculous! I hate him, I hate him...
As for new foods to try, if your store has an international aisle those are sometimes the best places to look for new snacks and such. I love wasabi peas, sweet cous cous, NUTELLA (try it! Same cals and protein as PB, but it's swiss chocolate and hazelnut) with fruit, shrimp chips (asian shrimp flavored chips that puff up like cheetos when you microwave them) and if you can find a place that sells fresh figs, go for it! I also like to shop the foreign groceries and pick up stuff that looks neat and ask them for recipes. That's how I figured out that you can bake falafel instead of frying it and it's just as good.
I haven't had nutella since I was like 7. I'll have to get some. I'm not a seafood person, so I'll skip the shrimp. My grandma had a fig tree, amazing. I don't think there are any places that sell them here though.
What do you put the nutella on?
My husband actually told me about Phelps' diet, and I swear he's trying to get as close to it as possible. He's a snacker too. He'll eat, have a snack, ask what's for dessert, then snack again. Then he has to nerve to tell me last night that he's lost weight...
Last edited by TracyFAdams; 09-08-2008 at 11:44 AM.
You can put Nutella on anything you put PB on. I eat it on every fruit imaginable, on crepes or those nasty whole grain breakfast muffins for breakfast, or just spread on bread with a glass of milk as a snack.
The one my husband likes best is when I slice plantains, coat them with cinnamon, bake them, and serve them with hot nutella. It's also really good stirred into cous cous with berries and sliced almonds then frozen so it's sort of like ice cream. That's the dessert my grandma always made us back in Morocco.
Aldis has a Nutella like spread (one exactly like it, all chocolate, and another is the chocolate swirled with a vanilla spread), that's about 2/3 the price of Nutella. It's so good, but I have a very hard time controlling portions, because it's so good - whereas with peanut butter and even almond and cashew butters I can control myself.
Are Smart Ones foods any good? Or are there any other "diet" frozen foods anyone would recommend? I like the South Beach ones, especially pizzas, and their wraps. I just have issues with the fake taste some of those foods have. Something about being southern, you know the joyous flavor of fat.
I love Smart Ones. When I did WW last year and lost 25 pounds, I did use Smart Ones as a way to help me stay on track on nights that I couldn't cook. I think I'm going to reincorporate them into my diet. A lot of times I could catch them on sale at SuperTarget or Publix.
I buy a lot of things in bulk from BJ's, and I also belong to an organic food delivery service, which is cheaper than going to the grocery store or even the farmers market (because I don't have to drive way across town).
Good Food and a Budget
And a bunch of pasta...whole wheat and whole grain, of course.
I hate him, I hate him...
