eating healthy on a budget

[mhfrau]

For high protein meals using no meat, try quinoa. My husband is a diabetic, so I can't use a lot of brown rice, and we eat a lot of quinoa. It's not a grain, it's actually a seed, and it's a great protein source.

Our favorite meal is red quinoa cooked in chicken stock, then mix in a big bag of baby spinach (it will wilt from the heat), a carton of roasted grape tomatoes (i just toss them olive oil, sea salt and cracked pepper and cook at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes), some crumbled feta cheese, and i dress it with my own mix of a clove of smashed garlic, 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice with the zest from one lemon, and 1/3 cup of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Usually, i also roast some giant portobello mushroom caps and scoop the quinoa mix in them. Add some steamed asparagus w/lemon juice and zest and you've got a super filling, super healthy meal! Plus the quinoa salad keeps awesome in the fridge for leftovers and all the flavors really intensify.

 

[mombrontrent]

Hmmmmmmm, not sure most people know how to stir fry - is there a pan that's just for this?

Stir-frying is easy. Get the biggest wok or sautee pan you have, get a couple Tbsp. of oil really hot in the pan (med-high heat). Toss in any raw veg you want. Cook for about 5-10 min., stirring often. Do not over cook, the veggies should still be brightly colored and tender crisp. Serve over rice, rice noodles, or any Chinese noodle with a sauce. The Chinese brown sauce I wrote out above is a great quick one using pantry items, but I make a lot of different stir fry sauces, all quick and easy. I like to top stir frys with peanuts, cashews, green onion, fresh cilantro ect. whatever I have on hand.

I don't like frozen veg. in stir fry as I find the veggies get mushy. I like my veggies with a little crunch still in them.

 

[Kristina4109]

Cooking Light has a section in every issue about Budget Friendly cooking. I highly recommend it!

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

I love stir-frying. You can use pretty much any meats or veggies you have on hand and if you incorporate grains into your diet is very easy to stretch with rice.

I had started a thread asking about shopping at Aldi, I hope to make it this week. Many folks said that they find great cheap produce there especially if you're open to whichever veggies look good.

An eating healthy on a budget win for me is that I found a local farm that sells grass fed ground beef for 6.49. I did a happy dance cause around here that's cheap

 

[rani8600]

I think the biggest thing when trying to eat health on a budget is to meal plan. You can save a lot of money and keep from throwing things out at the end of the week. It seems annoying, but actually saves you time during the week. If you know that you are going to be using rice on Monday and Weds you can make twice as much on Monday. That can save you 30 minutes Weds.

now i only need to take my own advice...

 

[RookieLady]

The great thing about stir fry too is that I can make the meal and put it on the table faster than a Dominos or Papa Johns pizza can get there. We eat tons of stir fry at my house for that reason.

 

[mombrontrent]

The great thing about stir fry too is that I can make the meal and put it on the table faster than a Dominos or Papa Johns pizza can get there. We eat tons of stir fry at my house for that reason.

Yes that is true. The most time consuming thing for me is chopping the veggies. I try to do a lot of veg. prep on Sunday morning. For example yesterday (Sun) I made a big greek pasta salad to take for lunches for the beginning of the week. I also chopped veg for a garden salad for dinner as well as chopping veggies and marinating them for roasting for dinner. Than I took a large container and filled it with chopped veggies to be used in a stir-fry on Monday (tonight). I also filled about 10 small containers with chopped veggies that my kids can throw in their school lunches (they like celery, carrots, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and bell peppers). Finally I filled a small container with chopped onion and celery that I will use as a starter for a soup or pasta sauce sometime mid week. It usually take me 2-3 hours on Sun morning from start to clean up but it saves a ton of time during the week. If the veggies and ready to use when I get home from work it makes putting a healthy meal on the table a lot more manageable.