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Originally Posted by Bestbirths
Does anyone have some more cheap food ideas? There are 8 of us, only 7 now because my mom is out of town...but I've got to get a handle on the food budget.
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Cheap and nutritious food? What's that?
Just kidding. It really is expensive to eat this way, and to eat healthy overall. We consider a healthcare expense -- something that makes us healthier and hopefully keeps us from needing more expensive treatments. Of course, the insurance company doesn't see it that way, so the money still comes out of our pockets. But, the kind of treatments we tend to get aren't generally covered by insurance, so we are saving money in that respect.
I do have a few ideas for you, though. Roasted chicken is a fairly inexpensive meal (compared to many other meat meals). And you get a wonderful stock out of it as a bonus.
Eggs are cheaper than meats, so maybe make some meals with those. Frittatas are yummy, and they're pretty easy. And you can grate some cheese to add to them (we can't anymore
). They're basically a quiche without the crust. And if you have a cast iron skillet, that's the perfect thing to make them in (there are other ways, but that's easiest, I think). Saute onions, garlic, and other veggies. Add several eggs beaten (probably a dozen given your crowd). Sprinkle the cheese in, and pop it in the oven. And, of course, there are good old scrambled eggs. And boiled eggs make a good snack.
For snacks, have fresh veggies available (usually cheaper than fruit), and you can make a dip to eat with them. Some dip ideas would be: a yogurt dip (if the yogurt is too tart, you could add a little honey along with the spices), guacamole, a hummus-like dip made with white beans instead of garbanzos (personally, I'd probably prefer a dip made out of black beans
). Anyway, you get the idea.
And this may not save you any money, but it might save you some frustration. Since your kids are used to being able to eat anything without asking, and that's been causing some problems for you, maybe you could make a deal with them that there is a certain cupboard and a certain place in the fridge where they can eat anything from there, but anything else, they need to check with you to make sure you don't have plans for it. And point out that sometimes you even make something yummier if given the chance!
And do you have a Costco where you can shop? They have some good deals on some good foods. Some of them are organic, and some aren't. They have big bags of baby carrots (organic), for example. And they have a good price on avocados. And they have pesticide-free tomatoes, and sometimes cucumbers. You can get a case of nine mangoes (not organic, but since ds has to get all of his carbs from fruit, and that means a lot of fruit to keep his ketones down, we cheat sometimes). And huge bunches of bananas. And they have big bags of frozen organic blueberries, and sometimes other fruits, too. Anyway, if it's an option, check it out.
It's got to be hard to feed such a crowd on this diet. Especially with several kids. We have it a lot easier, with only one 5 yo.
Christie
Super fun too!
And we only just started giving him a full dose at a meal today. We're excited!
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