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If you can get a rotisserie chicken, you'd get away cheap. And you could go to the grocery store and load up on cheap vegetables that don't spoil, like a bag of carrots, a bag of potatoes, a butternut squash. You could make a run to the grocery store every two weeks--or less--to get things like that. The potato is so easy to nuke, the carrots are simple to slice and steam. And you can eat off that chicken for days.
(I made meatballs tonight and it was not fun. I do not like to cook. Anyway, I make about a million of them and will freeze some too. I also made a meatloaf for the freezer. It just took a lot of ground beef, an onion, an egg and not that much more.
Trouble with those cheap frozen meals is that they contains loads of chemical additives that aren't good for you. They might be okay once a week but no one knows that those chemical additives do to people in the long run. Better to try to make a grocery store run every so often and make some food for yourself. Just a few hours of actual cooking, then it goes into the freezer and you have a frozen meal that's good for you.
I wish I could get rotisserie chicken here. I used to practically live off of rotisserie chicken. The closest thing to rotisserie chicken here is roasted chicken in a bag from Fred Myers. It has absolutely zero flavor and is so dry, you might as well eat sawdust. At least the sawdust would have more flavor.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarisaMay
Yes, I find American food so sweet. ...DH loves American style pancakes with lots of maple syrup! Or toast with very thick Nutella. He will probably have the audacity to outlive me anyway.
Grandfather lived (and farmed) to age 95
Eggs fried in Lard nearly every morning...THICK bacon,
LOTS of potatoes and creamed veggies..
Pancakes fried in butter, and PLENTY of Ice Cream (homemade)
I attribute his longevity to the 'farming' activities, yet sitting directly in the fog of a diesel tractor smokestack 12 - 15 hrs / day while baking in the HOT sun is not good for the body!
I'm thankful for him! (and his stamina) and teaching me to cook and enjoy EXCELLENT frugal meals!
Like many Americans, I was raised on sweetened grains (hot cereal, cold cereal, french toast, pancakes, waffles...) and fruit for breakfast. It has taken me years to largely (not completely) wean myself from this pattern. Over the long term, it's really not that healthy, especially if, like me, metabolic syndrome or type II diabetes runs in your family.
My most frequent breakfast these days is two eggs scrambled with red peppers and kale and a veggie salad. In place of the scrambled eggs, I also like tomato soup with eggs (poached or sautéed) or hard-boiled eggs with salsa. I am going to experiment with quinoa and amaranth to replace the eggs, as they have the most complete protein profiles of any grain, but I'll be looking for savory recipes, not sweetened.
In the past, i've also eaten huevos rancheros for breakfast, but for some reason, that's fallen off the radar the last couple years. Now having written this, suddenly I feel a craving...
All sounds yummy. I went through a grains phase some years ago. I'd take quinoa, amaranth, red rice and I forget what else and cook it in a crockpot with plenty of dried fruit added. It would last me over a week and was very filling. Not sure why I stopped doing that, but I've been eating veggies for breakfast for years now.
Eggs fried in Lard nearly every morning...THICK bacon,
LOTS of potatoes and creamed veggies..
Pancakes fried in butter, and PLENTY of Ice Cream (homemade)
I attribute his longevity to the 'farming' activities, yet sitting directly in the fog of a diesel tractor smokestack 12 - 15 hrs / day while baking in the HOT sun is not good for the body!
I'm thankful for him! (and his stamina) and teaching me to cook and enjoy EXCELLENT frugal meals!
Mother-in-law is 95, these days lives on sweet biscuits and not much more except some sweet soft drinks. So I expect my sweet tooth DH will be like her, enjoying his sweet food guiltlessly.
I will probably expire from my love of salty food. But, unlike DH, I do make a bit of an effort to be aware of what I am eating. My father was actually diabetic and my grandfather died of diabetes so I think it is better not to eat too much sweet food when it is not my preference anyway.
Eggs seem to be back on the approved food lists here. So they make a great frugal easy meal.
I buy a rotisserie chicken, marked down to $3.35 @ Wally world frequently. It makes 5 meals ( eat 3 times) for two of us. First 2 meals are the leg quarters ( eat one time). The next meal is the two breast halves( second time eating). Then i pick the bones clean, boil them for broth and make either noodle soup or stew or use the meat for chicken salad, and have the broth for later. ( 3rd ,times eating). I can combine the last two, and actually get 2 or 3 meals if i use half the meat for salad and half for soup, for example. Or stretch it for shredded chicken rollups, soup and the chicken salad.
I buy the very cheap 5 lb bag of cook-for-45- minutes rice for healthy side dish. Ill often use broth for the rice water or cheap bullion cubes to flavor the rice water( bullion adds a lot of salt though).
I use the leftover "heals" of the bread to make french toast. An egg, a little milk, the bread may get thrown away, and voila, a meal. Real maple syrup is more expensive, but the taste is so much better and it requires less to use.
It may not be the healthiest, but it uses wasted resources....instead of garbage. If you have it add a bit of orange or vanilla flavoring to egg/milk mixture!!
There are plenty of ideas for healthy meals, just google them, sift out the frugal ones, or search for "frugal healthy meals"...see what you come up with.
I'm almost down to take suggestions from fellow frugalers. It's hard to try being frugal and eat healthy. I eat alot of sandwiches on wheat bread, like tuna with lettuce tomatos etc.
What do you guys eat? Only the healthy eaters.
I firmly believe that eating healthy is going to save you so much in the future that it's foolish to do otherwise. Therefore, I'm not trying to be frugal if it gets in the way of eating healthy.
I firmly believe that eating healthy is going to save you so much in the future that it's foolish to do otherwise. Therefore, I'm not trying to be frugal if it gets in the way of eating healthy.
Actually, when i turned diabetic. I was 300 lbs. Ive lost 75 lbs just by changing my diet.
I found a bag of premixed salad gave us 3 servings each, so 2 bags fir $1.29 each.
I also, when I wanted something sweet. Switched to tangerines ( cuties) a $3.97 bag lasted a week. Bananas also cost $0.49 /pound here and became another friend if mine.
Chicken bone in and skin on comes cheap if you dont get the rotisserie chicken. It can be fixed many ways.
Remove bones and skin of course.
Pizza ( not diabetic friendly so much, but im allowed 2-3 slices depending on size, according to my dietitian), and a thin crust pizza frozen can be had at Wally world or aldi for $2.25, i add veggies, some diced tomatoes, sliced black olives, onions. AND i add some sliced mushrooms, a little extra cheese and its not a plain pizza anymore, itsfar healthier.
One can of each will work, i keep leftovers in the fridge and the canned leftovers will easily do 2-3 pizzas, with a pizza a week.
I also buy zucchini and yellow squash, and broccoli crowns and steam them. Buy in season can or freeze. Cheap.
A rotisserie chicken has less fat than fried chicken!
I use only olive oil unless i need just plain cheap vegetable oil.
In short i found eating healthier cost the same or less than buying the prepared junk or packaged junk foods.
Actually, when i turned diabetic. I was 300 lbs. Ive lost 75 lbs just by changing my diet.
I found a bag of premixed salad gave us 3 servings each, so 2 bags fir $1.29 each.
I also, when I wanted something sweet. Switched to tangerines ( cuties) a $3.97 bag lasted a week. Bananas also cost $0.49 /pound here and became another friend if mine.
Chicken bone in and skin on comes cheap if you dont get the rotisserie chicken. It can be fixed many ways.
Remove bones and skin of course.
Pizza ( not diabetic friendly so much, but im allowed 2-3 slices depending on size, according to my dietitian), and a thin crust pizza frozen can be had at Wally world or aldi for $2.25, i add veggies, some diced tomatoes, sliced black olives, onions. AND i add some sliced mushrooms, a little extra cheese and its not a plain pizza anymore, itsfar healthier.
One can of each will work, i keep leftovers in the fridge and the canned leftovers will easily do 2-3 pizzas, with a pizza a week.
I also buy zucchini and yellow squash, and broccoli crowns and steam them. Buy in season can or freeze. Cheap.
A rotisserie chicken has less fat than fried chicken!
I use only olive oil unless i need just plain cheap vegetable oil.
In short i found eating healthier cost the same or less than buying the prepared junk or packaged junk foods.
So it needn't cost more to eat healthier.
All excellent ideas.
I read the book "The Plant Paradox" and changed my diet as per the recommendations and lost all of my fat (40 lbs in my gut) and away went my diabetes, high cholesterol, high BP, and all my numbers became great. My Doctor was so impressed that she read the book, implemented the recommendations and is now recommending the book to her patients.
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I went through a grains phase some years ago. I'd take quinoa, amaranth, red rice and I forget what else and cook it in a crockpot with plenty of dried fruit added. It would last me over a week and was very filling. Not sure why I stopped doing that, but I've been eating veggies for breakfast for years now.
