im on a Super Low Budget! we have a 25yr old Disabled Son that lives at home with us and Money is T-I-G-H-T! so i TRY to eat WELL but i really need Direction on Cheap Foods and Snacks... like Quaker Oatmeal Squares --- is this something GOOD to eat for a Snack? not when im at home BUT when im on the run or at work... something i could keep in my purse or pocket or drawer...? If Not - what would be Better? but truthfully ANY ADVICE on Cheap Foods and Snacks would really help me! Anyone???

I love dried vegetables. It does require a little investment upfront to purchase a dehydrator. I honestly can't recally what we paid for ours, but it isn't anything fancy. We use it all the time.

My favourites are dried tomatoes. (I eat these in place of potato chips) Just slice tomatoes as you would for a sandwich. Lay them in the dehydrator before you go to bed at night. Sprinkle them with whatever seasoning you like (I vary mine), and let the machine do its thing.

You can put them in serving size baggies for a snack on the go. They're great crumbled on top of a salad or baked potato. Very versatile. Also, healthy and lowfat. Buy what's in season so it costs less AND so you don't get tired of anything.

One other tip to prevent waste. We buy fruit but sometimes buy too much or it ripens too quickly. A lot of fruits freeze well either for snacks or toppings. Bananas, grapes and berries all work well in the freezer.

Best wishes, Girleeee!

Half a peanut butter sandwhich and a piece of fruit is a great snack.

A serving of oatmeal is only 150 calories and very filling.

If you want something quick, you can try making your own granola bars.

Anything that's prepackaged is going to be expensive. You can make your own oatmeal squares for pennies instead. Keep them in small baggies or wrapped in plastic in your purse.

A whole fruits are also a good idea and not terribly expensive.

1/2 a pb sandwich is also a good healthy snack.

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This might be a dumb question, but how do you make oatmail squares?

There are tons of recipes online if you do a search. The ones I make are pretty simple:

1 cup rolled oatmeal
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
nuts or dried fruit or chocolate chips or whatever you want to put in.

Bake 'em in a 9x9 baking pan and cut into squares.

One of my favorite things to put into oatmeal squares is flaked unsweetened coconut. Or sometimes I"ll mix in a few T of peanut butter. Adding pb and chocolate chips is yummy, but then you get into too many calories for me. But they make good dessert bars that way, though.

The recipe can be doubled or tripled if you want. Just keep the proportions the same - 1 cup oats, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 egg.

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Here's a recipe from the Quaker Oatmeal site:

http://www.quakeroatmeal.com/qo_quak...tTdGFydFJvdz0x

Nuts bought in bulk are a good snack. I get nuts from Costco for pretty cheap, keep them on hand at work for when I have a snack attack. Also, individually packaged string cheese bought in bulk is pretty cheap and a good carry along snack. Hot tea (especially a a spicy herb tea) makes you feel like you've had something and can allay the hungries for a while. I make my own frappachinos with frozen, left over coffee, non-fat, non-sweetened condensed milk and splenda. You whir up the coffee and milk and splenda and the milk gets real fluffy and you have a pretty good low-cal frappacino. You can add vanilla or chocolate flavoring to it, too. You can also make your own hummus...there are mixes, bulk mixes and you can make it with canned beans, too. It is great to take in a little tub with fresh, cut up veggies. One of my favorite snacks though is a yogurt smoothie that I make with lots of good-for-you ingredients. I take it to work in a shaker cup, keep it in the refrigerator until I am hungry and enjoy. Often, I will have this recipe in place of breakfast or lunch. It is truly filling. I will warn you, though, the flavor of brewer's yeast takes some getting used to.

Protien smoothie
1 cup plain lowfat or non-fat yogurt
1/2 cup frozen or fresh berries or other fruit
2 T. soy protien powder
1T. brewer's yeast
1 T. flax seed
2 T. wheat germ
1/2 cup soy milk, almond milk or regular milk, non-fat, sugar free
You can also add I-2 T. tahini or other nut butters, but they increase the fat and carbs.

Blend all together and enjoy then or drink when hungry later.

There is a thread over at the 100 pound forum about dealing with high food prices. Check this out....might be a few ideas for you.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=153396

There are tons of books web articles and websites on thrift and saving money. You can get a good start with google, using terms alone or in combination such as thrift, tightwad, penny pinching, saving money, budgeting, inexpensive... recipes, nutrition, dieting, weight loss, health....

A good starter book is any of the Tightwad Gazette books.

Many of the tips will seem crazy to you, but there are tips you will want to use and tips you won't.

I think the best advice for budgeting is that you usually can save more money by making a lot of little changes rather than a few big ones.

Tightwad is good... the best book I've found is Frugal Living for Dummies. LOTS of great ideas.

I'd also say no to the quaker bars, making them yourself is cheaper and healthier. My snacks are nuts, fruit, or yogurt - all very cheap.

Can't get cheaper than taking an apple along -- or half a peanut butter sandwich on whole grain bread. How about hard boiled eggs?

Hi, I too am on a tight budget but it is not impossible to eat well and eat right and not break the bank. I blog daily since starting in Jan and I usually list my meals for any given day and I also post recipes up and most if not all of them are budget friendly, take a look and browse around and you will find lots of ideas heres a link to my blog, http://zeusmeatball.blogspot.com/

As Ever
Me

Are you near a store with a bulk food section? It's much cheaper and you can get baked snacks and dried fruits and healthy things to fill you up much cheaper than packaged things. Also, kudos to dehydrating! I have one and love it.

I completely agree!! Prepackaged stuff costs more and tends to be full of processed stuff. Eating more natural stuff is cheaper and healthier as well!


Not to get off on another Alton Brown tangent, BUT he has an excellent episode on dehydrating stuff...he uses furnace filters and a box fan instead of a dehydrator!! He totally rocks!!!