How to eat right with little money

[Inspector]

As far as salt goes, I'm no expert, but I remember hearing that it is iodized (processes) salt that is bad for you. Natural sea salt is good for you and has all the correct nutritional stuff.

No, that's the hippies talking. Kosher salt will do fine. Sea salt just means it has random crap in it (not good). Alton Brown of the food network is a good source of info on salt. Probably way more than you want to know, lol!

[docjoycedc]

Check out the book "The China Study". That is a VERY well researched book on nutrition. I found it quite refreshing, if not a BIT heavy.

Whole foods will always be the way to go. Eat something that is green and leafy. Its cheaper in the long run then the high carbo bomb in a box crap that makes up most lanes at the grocier.

[kuuipo]

No, that's the hippies talking. Kosher salt will do fine. Sea salt just means it has random crap in it (not good). Alton Brown of the food network is a good source of info on salt. Probably way more than you want to know, lol!

Oops, I completely forgot about Kosher. I don't know about the hippie thing. Random crap like trace minerals? I guess I fell for that too, thinking our bodies needed those. This place really is a fount of information. Alton Brown is fabulous!

[Inspector]

Random crap like trace minerals?

Yeah, I actually prefer to know which minerals are going in there. If you don't, you could always suck on random pebbles.

Look up what Alton says on sea salt. That pretty much covers it.

[exaltron]

Are you willing to share it [chicken and black bean chili recipe] with others? I'm happy to share one with you if I have one you have been looking for, though I admit I'm not a Chef or anything.

Edited post due to some kind of glitch with the quotes and posting

Crap, I didn't see your response (was that really almost 5 months ago??) until today. I'll try to type up that recipe in the next few days and post it somewheres.. Of course it's not the best season for cooking chili, but hopefully you'll try it out at some point.

[woolcutt]

For a person who doesnt have much money to spend on expenses, it can be tough to find enough healthy choices at the grocery store. It seems like the majority of foods that are of low cost are unhealthy choices, either with high sodium, fat, or sugar. For a physically active person, it can be even harder to buy enough of the right foods because these people require more calories. What is the best solution to managing your diet with little money?

Basically my food policy the past couple months has been to only buy foods which I can identify all the parts of. This heuristic leads to buying simpler foods and ultimately cheaper foods. I have sort of "gone granola" which I realize may not be a popular choice here, but like other people have mentioned whole grains are cheap. I buy lot's of food bulk out of bins rather than packaged whenever possible which will ultimately saves me money.

I'm on a tight budget and so buying healthy food on the cheap is a big priority which originally led to me eating this way. The weight loss (with an added exercise routine) and extra energy will keep me eating this way for years to come.

[Moebius]

Try to eat as much non-processed food as you can. Which means fresh meat and vegetables, rice, and other grains. It also means you would probably have to cook. Generally my rule of thumb is to eat food that you could have conceivably made say, 100 years ago. I try to avoid modern processed food as much as I can.

I don't really know what your budget is. But right out of college and before finding my first job, I spent probably around $50 a week on average on groceries, and more or less got everything I needed. And this is given that I hit the weight room 3-4 times a weeks while playing pick up basketball virtually every single day.

I didn't mind the cooking because I had a lot of time on my hands. I know that a lot of people went with the cooking in bulk method -- great method, but personally I dislike eating leftovers that's more than 2-3 days old. Usually what I do is marinate raw meat in bulk (about 3-5 days worth) and either stir fry it with vegetables, pan fry it, or oven bake it. I actually consciously got the time it takes to prepare meals to under twenty minutes per meal -- which I don't think is too much to ask if you expect to eat healthy. I don't know of many people that are so busy that they couldn't take twenty minutes out per meal to cook (and those who actually are that busy are generally wealthy enough where they don't have to).

[DavidOdden]

Try to eat as much non-processed food as you can. Which means fresh meat and vegetables, rice, and other grains. It also means you would probably have to cook.

Don't you have to process rice first, like harvest it, separate the seeds from the plant, at least remove the outer indigestible cellulose husk, and then cook it? I'm not really sure what you mean by "processed" food. This may depend on location, but white rice is more processed than brown rice, but it's also cheaper at least everywhere I've lived. Flour is usually cheaper than whole kernels of wheat.

[Moebius]

Don't you have to process rice first, like harvest it, separate the seeds from the plant, at least remove the outer indigestible cellulose husk, and then cook it? I'm not really sure what you mean by "processed" food.

In this context, it means food that has been altered chemically, not mechanically. In other words, food with chemical preservatives, artificial flavoring or coloring, etc. If you need an even more concrete example, it means items such as frozen dinners, canned goods, candies, chips, and other junk foods. Refined starch isn't actually included, although theoretically it would be healthier if you were to eat whole grains and unrefined starch (however this is very difficult in practice, especially if you dine out often). But yes, chopping an onion or cutting up a pork chop would be literally "processing" food.

Note that this is just a rule of thumb , and there are certainly various exceptions. Iodized salt being a prime example of a culinary stable with chemical additives that provide an easy way of obtaining an essential nutrient.

[Moebius]

This may depend on location, but white rice is more processed than brown rice, but it's also cheaper at least everywhere I've lived. Flour is usually cheaper than whole kernels of wheat.

The objective is to eat healthy. Although as a whole it is my experience that you get more food/nutrients on a dollar per calorie basis from buying fresh ingredients than you would from buy pre-packaged processed foods. Case in point would be things like potato chips or bread. It is really just a matter of whether or not you'd want to put in the time and effort to make the food.

[MarkH]

I don't think these have been mentioned:

Oatmeal (one minute).

A variety of uncooked beans (cook them yourself).

Popcorn.

Vitamins (mailorder, say Puritans Pride)

Have a friend who belongs to Sam's Club.

(I don't mean eat the guy, ask him to buy stuff for you.)

Edited June 29, 2007 by MarkH

[Moebius]

Yeah Sam's Club is awesome. You can buy meat in bulk when it's cheap and then freeze them if you intend to save money.

Protein shakes are pretty convenient too -- I think someone else mentioned that somewhere in this thread. Shake + fruit + milk + ice, blend, and you have a small meal or snack in less than a minute.

[K-Mac]

If you don't mind clipping coupons and organizing them, this site has saved me a ton of money and we eat like kings...

http://www.thegrocerygame.com/

Basically, she tells you what coupons to use in conjunction with grocery store sales. (You enter your zip code and she customizes the grocery list to stores in your area.) You basically shop at the grocery store for their sale items, then buy everything else at Sam's or Walmart. We usually spend about $150 every few weeks and get about $300 worth of groceries, including otherwise pricey meat items. We BBQ almost every weekend and our friends are amazed at the pricey cuts of meat we pull out of our freezer. We even get stuff free sometimes. I don't think I've paid for a tube of toothpaste in over a year. It's so fun to look at our receipt and see that we spent $50 and saved $48.

[eudaemonist]

If I had to pick a "magic five" cheap foods to max out on, I'd choose tuna, bananas, oatmeal, broccoli, and eggs. Actually, that's exactly what I do: simple is best. Soy sauce over drained tuna; cinnamon and splenda on sliced bananas...good eating!

Ever had savory oatmeal stew? Toss in a little pesto and parmesan, it's delicious and incredibly filling! You can add meat, beans, vegetables, cajun spice, chicken bullion cubes, tuna and cheese, dill; whatever you have...the sky's the limit. A huge container of generic oats costs about two bucks for THIRTY servings. No matter how poor you are, with oats around you'll never go hungry!

Edited July 18, 2007 by eudaemonist

[Moebius]

If I had to pick a "magic five" cheap foods to max out on, I'd choose tuna, bananas, oatmeal, broccoli, and eggs. Actually, that's exactly what I do: simple is best. Soy sauce over drained tuna; cinnamon and splenda on sliced bananas...good eating!

Ever had savory oatmeal stew? Toss in a little pesto and parmesan, it's delicious and incredibly filling! You can add meat, beans, vegetables, cajun spice, chicken bullion cubes, tuna and cheese, dill; whatever you have...the sky's the limit. A huge container of generic oats costs about two bucks for THIRTY servings. No matter how poor you are, with oats around you'll never go hungry!

Actually that's a pretty good list. Those are the things I ate a lot right after college and before I got a job. For the tuna + soy sauce, you can try adding a little bit of sesame oil to kick up the flavor.

All in all though not really a culinary lifestyle that I'd go back to

[Liriodendron Tulipifera]

I try to eat on $100 a month or less - but that doesn't include alcohol! I recommend buying in bulk from places like Costco. Oatmeal ( not a personal favorite, I can barely stomach the stuff, but it is cheap), beans, rice, eggs, and other things that many above have already mentioned.

Ari Armstrong has some incidental suggestions in a variety of posts here related to a food stamp challenge he is running, I've written about the topic myself here, and depending on what state you live in, the SHARE program may also be an option for you. The SHARE program also occurs in other states outside Colorado.

Until reading some of the stuff on Ari's website, I wasn't aware at some of the very low prices you can find at some supermarkets.

[DavidOdden]

I try to eat on $100 a month or less - but that doesn't include alcohol!

Given your knowledge of saccharomyces cerevisiae, you could expand that to inclusion, for a few additional monthly bux.

[eudaemonist]

Oatmeal ( not a personal favorite, I can barely stomach the stuff, but it is cheap)

Cook it thick, toss in some shredded cheese and dill, and you'll barely notice the original flavor!

[Liriodendron Tulipifera]

Oatmeal, yucky...

You know, I have made beer before and it is fun. Homemade beer is quite tasty, too, often rivaling the so-called microbrews. Perhaps I need to start a brewery and get a liquor license so I can afford more money for food.

No, I just need to get back to work and away from this damn forum...

[~Sophia~]

Oatmeal, yucky...

Only the first 100 times you eat it then it gets better .

[John McVey]

Oatmeal, yucky...

Oi, there ain't nothing wrong with oats.

As a lad from a Scots family (born in Glasgow, naturalised as Australian), I grew up eating porridge - made the RIGHT way with salt rather than sugar. With some practice you soon learn to get it *just* right. Once cooked you then let it sit in your bowl for a minute or two to cool, blop in some full-cream milk, then eat it from the outside in going around and around until one finally gets to the hot centre!

And if you're too lazy to cook, there's always muesli (fresh or toasted, as is your wont). There you are permitted to have a light dusting of sugar, and cocoa or some other chocolate drink mix if you like (Milo is a common favourite down here for that purpose). Feel free to chuck in some sliced and diced fruit, both fresh and dried, too. Some mixed nuts wont go astray, either.

Yup, porridge in winter, muesli in summer. Yum!

JJM

[Tenure]

Does anyone hear like Indian? I love Indian food, and I'd love to hear some advice on making your own curries. Specifically, I love Chicken Tikka Masala, with egg fried rice and some naan bread on the side. Mmm.... the thought of it makes me hungry Or that may be that I haven't had breakfast yet.

Speaking of eating right with little money - Chilli Con Carne is an old favourite of mine. By a bunch of minced beef in bulk and toss it in the freezer, and buy a bunch of onion and some garlic (garlic can last for aaaages), some economy size big ol' boxes of rice, half a dozen tins of kidney beans and half a dozen tins of chopped tomatos. Finally, don't forget the chilli powder. With all these ingredients, you can be set for a good while. You probably aren't going to be eating it morning, noon and night, but if you're anything like me, you can easily get into the habit of getting lazy, and cooking up a huge bowl, and then spooning a bit out for lunch everyday from the fridge.

I can claim, with full objective authority, that the verdict is: yummy.

[RationalBiker]

I'm not big on Indian food, but I can eat Chili like nobodys business.

[DarkWaters]

I wasn't aware at some of the very low prices you can find at some supermarkets.

I should start posting some of my tricks here. As a Ph.D. student I need to pinch pennies when I shop for groceries. As a Ph.D. student in optimization, grocery shopping is an exciting application of mathematical programming. I am thoroughly disappointed that Kroger is dicontinuing its FMV (For Maximum Value) brand as it used to offer some amazing deals. However, some of the merchandise, including the mysterious frozen chicken pieces in the opaque FMV bag, were too sketchy to even try.

Does anyone hear like Indian?

I love Indian food, especially Punjabi! If anyone knows a mean recipe for carrot halwa, I am all ears.

but I can eat Chili like nobodys business.

Best quote ever.

Edited July 24, 2007 by DarkWaters

[eudaemonist]

I should start posting some of my tricks here. As a Ph.D. student I need to pinch pennies when I shop for groceries. As a Ph.D. student in optimization, grocery shopping is an exciting application of mathematical programming

LOL! Hey, I definitely know the feeling-- I used to work as a research analyst at a DoD think tank...now I can't even open a bag of M&Ms without sorting them into a rainbow-colored bar graph! haha

One manifestation of my frugality many people find annoying is my tendency to hoard large bags of beans, oats, and rice. But if you've ever faced real hunger, it doesn't seem quite as kooky. Nobody said it better than Steinbeck:

"When you have four hundred pounds of beans in the house, you need have no fear of starvation. Other things, delicacies such as sugar, tomatoes, peppers, coffee, fish, or meat may sometimes come miraculously, through the intercession of the Virgin, sometimes through industry or cleverness; but your beans are there, and you are safe. Beans are a roof over your stomach. Beans are a warm cloak against economic cold."

Edited July 26, 2007 by eudaemonist