By Lisa Food can be expensive but you can eat healthy on a budget.
You’ve heard the Allstate commercial. “…just starting out and on a budget, like a ramen noodle every night budget…”. Bad part is, you can identify. It isn’t easy to see that long receipt from the Kroger when you are just leaving the parental nest and learning how much money it takes just to EAT.
While it IS easy and cheap to eat Ramen Noodles (I actually like to eat them uncooked), you also know from some science class you endured that there are some sort of other food groups you should try to eat as well.
Not that Ramen Noodles are actually a food group (BTW, Hot Pockets, Kraft Mac N Cheese and Bagel Bites aren’t food groups either). It’s perfectly OK to eat those sometimes, but not all the time. You only have one body, so you might as well take care of it so you can stay healthier, fight off illnesses (like colds) better and enjoy your life more. YOU ARE A GROWN UP NOW and mama ain’t going to be there to wipe your nose every time you sneeze anymore. Take responsibility for your health!
Here’s what the gov’ment says your plate should look like:
But, all that stuff can get pretty pricey, right? Here’s some ideas for each category that won’t break your budget:
1.Grains. A serving of grains should be about the size of your computer mouse. If you only use your Ipad and have no idea what a mouse is, call yo’ Mama and ask. For cereal, about the size of a baseball.
Grains are not expensive at all and you should always have a stash of them in your kitchen. They don’t spoil for quite a while, although please do keep them in a closed container so they will stay dry and away from yucky bugs.
Best ones to buy: brown rice, whole grain (or at least part whole grain) pasta, whole grain bread, potatoes (not fried EVERY night please), old fashioned oatmeal (seriously, it’s cheap and takes about 3 minutes to cook in the microwave! You can flavor it however you want and it doesn’t have all the preservatives and junk that the ones in the little envelopes have), whole grain cereal (you are a grown up, remember?). There are other grains too like quinoa, barley, etc. that can be pretty inexpensive if you have a grocery story that has these in bins, otherwise they are in teensy boxes that can get expensive.
2. Protein. This is your most costly item for sure, but a serving is actually only supposed to be about the size of a deck of cards. Definitely check out the ‘Manager Specials’ section of the meat aisle for sale items each week. They are usually close to expiration but if you either eat it within a day or two or freeze it, these are perfectly fine.
Turkey hot dogs are always cheap and not too bad for you in moderation. Also canned tuna or salmon, ground beef (get the whole fat and drain the darned thing. It’s cheaper!) There will also be specials on meats each week, like chicken thighs, legs, whole chickens, etc. Check them out and be sure to look at the price per pound.
Also consider what you are willing to do re cooking. A whole chicken will usually be much cheaper than filets, etc., but you will have to actually cook the thing, which can be a pain if you don’t like to do so. But, a whole chicken can go a long way. A big meal for friends, sandwiches for your lunch for the week, and soup stock can be made from the carcass, etc. Here’s some more info on that:
And if you are like me, the idea of something called a “carcass” can gross you out from time to time so here are some other good ideas for more ‘animal friendly’ protein:
Tofu. Don’t laugh, some folks, me included actually like it! It has a mild taste that basically takes on the taste of whatever sauce or marinade you care to use on it. You can grill it, bake it, fry it, put it in a smoothie, etc. Fair warning, the texture is different from actual meat. You can find this on sale quite often in the natural foods refrigerated aisle.
Eggs. Good protein, one egg is a serving. They have gone up in price recently, but you can usually find a carton on sale. Still a great bargain. BTW, brown or white, same insides, no difference except how it looks.
Beans. I know what you are thinking, but seriously, if you rinse them off before cooking (for canned) and rinse the cooking water off (for dried) you will not have to carry Beano around with you.
You can buy these canned (on sale very often, and many, many varieties), frozen or dried. Cheapest way to go is dried although it takes a while to cook them.
Cheese. This is actually a dairy food group, but good source of protein as well. For cheese, the serving size is a little different. A serving of cheese is the size of a pair of dice. Think of that when you make pasta and put parmesan cheese on top.
3. Vegetables. Yes, you are now an adult and you do need to start acting like one by eating something that was actually grown from the ground. You can buy these fresh, frozen or even canned. There are literally a bazillion kinds of vegetables, so I bet you can find several you would be able to stand in an ongoing rotation of meals. Salads are good (dressing, by the way, should only be about a couple of tablespoons, not half a bottle), tomatoes, squash, onions, green beans, kale, broccoli, carrots are all relatively inexpensive choices.
Homemade soup is a great way to make a ton of meals (you can freeze soup too, which will be a nice surprise to come home to when you are tired and hungry). Really inexpensive way to feed some buddies too with a nice (whole grain) slice of good bread.
And soup is a great way to clean out your frig and use up any vegetable you have in there:
(By the way, if you don’t have tomato paste, either skip it, use tomato sauce, tomato or V8 juice or even a squirt of ketchup if you want that tomato taste.)
4. Fruit. This one isn’t too hard. A serving is usually, well, a piece of fruit, although a large apple can be two or three servings in itself.
If you are like me you may want to eat fruit as a snack rather than a meal but you can also put some on a salad (like grapefruit, oranges, cranberries, etc.) or eat as a dessert. Fruit is definitely a bargain. Bananas are one of the best deals around, although you have to eat a bunch rather quickly as they do get brown, but you can just take tow or three home at a time for less than a dollar. A bag of apples will last a good while. Oranges are great for breakfast and much better for you (and cheaper) than orange juice. Fruit is great frozen or canned as well.
5. Dairy. Easy peasy. A serving of milk (or so, almond, coconut milk with calcium) is about a cup, cheeses are about the size of a pair of dice, yogurt, cottage cheese are about a half a cup.
Here’s a great resource for you with sample menus and a ton more info:
Happy healthy eating…on a budget!