Eating Healthy On A Budget?

[chely7425]

We are a family of 4... me, DH, DS1 (2 yrs) and DS2 (10 months). They both eat solids but not as much as an adult obviously. We live on a military base in a very small town so not a ton of options. Anyway... we currently budget 150 dollars every 2 weeks for groceries and we get WIC so that helps. I am trying to make our diet healthier, cooking more from scratch and more fresh fruits and veggies and all that. Any tips for how to do this on a budget? Any good cook books? Any thoughts in general?

[amber913]

Some healthy foods can be expensive--fresh produce--while some is not--beans, rice, grains, generally-speaking. I try to plan my meals around #1 what we already have, #2 these healthy options. I know, this sounds so obvious. Here are some specifics:
Have some meat-free meals every week.
Use up what you have before you shop again (i believe they call this the "pantry challenge" here on MDC).
Go for fresh veggies b/c they have more uses--raw, cooked, whatever. If they're getting old, preserve them (blanche and freeze is what i do). Grow some--they're virtually free and you can do it in little space.
Make your own snacks--crackers, cookies, etc.
Before you buy anything already made, ask yourself if you could make it at home.

Many people menu-plan and THEN shop. I shop the discount stores and plan from what i can find, which i find saves me LOTS.

I think, also, while i'm on my soapbox, that dinner expectations have become that of restaurants. My family doesn't like everything i make, but they eat it if they want to eat. Ex: I have a vegetable soup in the crock pot right now. No one but me particularly enjoys veggie soup in my house, but i had some stuff to use up. I figure i'll butter them up with some homemade biscuits or something.

[Alyantavid]

I shop sales and stock up on what we use. Then meal plan from that and what we already have.

I make almost everything from scratch.

Grow your own fruit and/or veggies if you can.

[chely7425]

I am currently attempting to grow some tomatoes and peppers in pots on our tiny patio... I have never really tried growing anything before so if this works I will try and do a bit more next year We have a lot of beans that I need to do something with.. but I am kind of at a lost of what to do with them!!

[amber913]

Search the web for recipes. I also like the cookbook: More with Less.

I've found beans are great with sauteed onions, garlic, bell pepper and spices over/with rice. We do that the most.

[caiesmommy]

-Grow whatever you can. Even if its just fresh herbs..they make the difference
-Eat some vegetarian, even vegan. Our grocery bill is insanely low being whole foods vegetarian(mostly vegan)
-Use up leftovers, either for lunch or one night a week a buffet of leftovers
-Never buy an ingredient for one meal. I always over lap my veg so they last multiple meals
--Substitute beans for meat whenever you can-bean chili, refried bean burritoes ect
-Make friends with your slow cooker, if you know yournot going to get home until dinner, make something that morning in the so\lowcooker, youll be less tempted to buy takeout
-Before you go shopping check out your produce thats rotting and make a soup w leftover produce, noodles, beans, rice whatever you have
-Make your own stock, adds flavor to whatever your cooking and costs pennies when you use your veg scrapes
-If you are going to buy meat, buy things like a whole chicken on sale. Around here you can buy a whole chicken for the cost of two breasts. Eat the chicken as a whole one meal, use scraps for a stirfry, boil the rest for soup. Same with ham or a roast...buy meat that covers multiple meals
-Learn to make your own salad dressings/stirfry dressings ect. Besides the cost savings the taste is better and the amount of sugar in those sauces is disgusting
-Take advantage of farmers markets/berry patches now that the weaher is coming

[chely7425]

How do you make your own stock? I have wanted to do it but I have NO idea how!

[Norasmomma]

I first would look at the basic items you are cooking.

What are your 10-20 things you like to have on hand? I then would start following sales fliers and making a note of the prices. Sales go in a cycle of about 12 weeks or so. I'm a big couponer, so I like to follow these patterns and buy accordingly. For our house I like canned tomatoes, marinara sauce, pastas, olives, salsa, canned beans, coffee-most bought with coupons on sale and not crap. Check out coupon resources, for me it has drastically reduced our food costs-and most is high quality healthful foods(we do have a small supply of junk-which is fine with me).

Here's a veggie stock recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Basic-V...ck/Detail.aspx

[Shakti77]

check out http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/ She's great in sharing really healthy but easy recipes and also takes the frugal approach.

[BetsyS]

I have the same budget ($150/2 weeks), and I think we eat fairly healthy stuff.

One of my biggest things is in season, in season, in season. Right now, we eat bananas and apples as fresh fruit, for instance. As more things come in season, we'll broaden our horizons.

I also have no problem supplementing with canned and frozen fruits and veggies. For instance, my kids will eat canned pineapple (and really, where I live, there is no "season" for pineapple ), jarred applesauce, frozen peaches, frozen berries, and the like. That stretches our money every week.

I do a lot of one-pot, soupy, stewy meals. Mainly cause we like them, but also, they are easy to add veggies to. I use a lot of frozen spinach and canned/jarred tomatoes. Those are my cheapest vegetables, and they'll go in tons of things. I also buy frozen pearl onions (for stew mostly), frozen mixed veggies (for veg soup or pot pie), frozen bell peppers (this time of year, they are much cheaper and look a lot better than fresh).

For produce, I buy what's cheap. Cabbage, beets, whatever. We are all pretty adventuresome, and will eat anything, so that helps.

But, changing my ideas of what makes a meal really helped. Sure, I like a meal of grilled chicken, roasted organic, local, broccoli, and a side of rice as much as the next person. But, a casserole of chicken, (frozen) broccoli, and rice stretches things a lot further. So, I make sure that one pot meals are the mainstay of our meals, and "separate" meals are more rare.

And beans. We love beans. It always helps to cultivate a love of beans.

[chely7425]

We have a lot of the same basic staples... I have been trying to figure out when things go on sale but there is no real website to look at because the only place we really have to grocery shop is the commisary on base. There is a walmart in town but they are WAY more expensive and a 20 minute drive.

[Usually Curious]

We tried a good veg. recipe from a free diabete magazine that was a big hit with the meat eaters around here. It was from Patti LaBelle's new cookbook. White Bean and Collard Green soup. White beans, bag of frozen collards, chicken broth, chopped carrots and onion and a can of diced tomatoes. Super easy and yummy. Cheap, too!

[Amys1st]

Originally Posted by chely7425

How do you make your own stock? I have wanted to do it but I have NO idea how!

EASY and once you did it, you will never go back, its so so yummy!
start w chicken stock:

Buy bone in chicken breasts or whole chickens. After cutting up chicken, save bones. Or after roasting a whole chicken, save the carcus.

get a huge pot, either borrow or get one!

Take skin off carcus, put in bowl. Add a cut up onion, old celery parts, a carrot, and any interesting herbs/spices such as oregano, leek, etc. I usually save stock making for when I have odds n ends like this to use up. Fill pot slowly with water so it dosent cloud.
Put on stove, bring to a slow boil and then simmer for several hours. it will reduce, you will have to skim the top. Several hours later, strain and keep in several sized containers.
I make a huge and I mean huge vat every few months. We keep it in the freezer in large contianers for soup, smaller for adding to a recipe and even little paper cups for when you just need a little bit- DH calll them stockcles.

[caiesmommy]

Originally Posted by Usually Curious

We tried a good veg. recipe from a free diabete magazine that was a big hit with the meat eaters around here. It was from Patti LaBelle's new cookbook. White Bean and Collard Green soup. White beans, bag of frozen collards, chicken broth, chopped carrots and onion and a can of diced tomatoes. Super easy and yummy. Cheap, too!

Sounds like a great recipe but its not vegetarian being chicken broth.

I save all my scraps in the freezer during the week then when Ive got enough I add water and bring to a boil then simmer. Drain and youve got broth. Some people dont use certain veggies saying it makes for a strong tasting broth, I use everything right down to onion peels b/c I think it gives it a nice color

I also make a big batch of soup out of homemade veg, leftover beans, rice, pasta, veg thats going a little blah and eat it for a couple days. Im not big on breakfast foods so I usually have a cup of soup mid morning. Or its our Sunday lunch with homemade flat bread

[Amys1st]

I have noticed some of our best tasting flavorful soups have been just throw whatever is leftover in the pot and simmer.

[Usually Curious]

Originally Posted by caiesmommy

Sounds like a great recipe but its not vegetarian being chicken broth.

I save all my scraps in the freezer during the week then when Ive got enough I add water and bring to a boil then simmer. Drain and youve got broth. Some people dont use certain veggies saying it makes for a strong tasting broth, I use everything right down to onion peels b/c I think it gives it a nice color

I also make a big batch of soup out of homemade veg, leftover beans, rice, pasta, veg thats going a little blah and eat it for a couple days. Im not big on breakfast foods so I usually have a cup of soup mid morning. Or its our Sunday lunch with homemade flat bread

I used parve 'chicken' broth so my version was!

[Norasmomma]

Originally Posted by chely7425

We have a lot of the same basic staples... I have been trying to figure out when things go on sale but there is no real website to look at because the only place we really have to grocery shop is the commisary on base. There is a walmart in town but they are WAY more expensive and a 20 minute drive.

Go over to Hot Coupon World and look at their Military commissary forum-there are bound to be some answers there, and also people who will help you get coupons. I'd go there, there's a world of advice on that site about cutting grocery budgets.

[Smithie]

My favorite moneysavers that are also healthsavers:

1. Don't buy bread. Make bread. I make French bread every other day (dough in the bread machine, form into baguettes, bake on a cookie sheet). Kids of all ages (including husband-age) enjoy this bread.

2. Don't buy processed food. Seriously, just stop. When somebody in your household is jonesing for a Twinkie or a potato chip, offer them a piece of your French bread.

3. I make broth out of chicken thighs. I boil them in a big pot of water for at least 24 hours or so, then debone them, break the meat into small pieces, boil it again with salt and pepper, add flour-and water to turn it into gravy, and serve it over rice as "feather stew." The broth, meanwhile, is frozen in Mason jars for future use.

4. I grow veggies. This is an ongoing process, but I had the best luck with spinach and tomatoes in my first year. Both of those can be frozen to great effect - but you are probably going to need to plant on a larger scale than you are currently considering if you want to preserve some of your harvest.

[chely7425]

I can't plant anything on a large scale... we have a patio and that is really it. So, a few containers is really all we can do. I will definitely try and make my own broth tho!! And I asked my mom for a bread maker for my birthday/xmas so hopefully that happens!

[caiesmommy]

Originally Posted by Usually Curious

I used parve 'chicken' broth so my version was!

Wicked