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Frozen vegetables have the same nutritional value as fresh. If you find fresh vegetables on sale for a great price, buy them and freeze them yourself.
When the writing is on the wall, you start eating like this to prevent yourself from becoming truly broke.
That is the truth.
If you are broke, you are NOT buying the $0.99 chicken breasts; you are buying the $0.59 chicken leg quarters and the like.
You are pounding the markdown racks at the produce section, meat section, dairy section, etc. to find the 2 overripe cantaloupes with the bad spot, the bag od mixed apples with blemishes and the like. You buy whatever baked products are $0.99 even though you don't really like that bread.
You learn to like leftovers as they stretch you to the next paycheck.
And offal is NOT awful.
That is a lesson that our grandparents and great grandparents lived by during two world wars and through a great depression. It is lacking these days.
Actually, these days, you can do quite well with little as there is so much salvage food out there.
Kraft products are the only items that increase in sales
during hard times. Kraft products: giving college students
early hardening of the arteries for 100 years.
I've been really broke before. When I was first married and didn't know how to cook much, it was harder. Then, we ate lots of generic macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles, fried rice, spaghetti without meat, beans, hot dogs and canned biscuits.
Once I was a decent cook and we were broke (a budget of $80 for two weeks for a family of four, to include toiletries, cleaning supplies and paper goods), it was a little easier. I'd make pinto beans with cornbread on the side, then mash the leftover beans the next day and make homemade tortillas for bean tacos, pancakes and eggs for dinner (eggs were cheaper back then), fried rice with chicken, cornbread casserole (like stuffing but without a turkey on the side ), potato soup with homemade rolls, grilled cheese sandwiches. The kids got oatmeal for breakfast and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a banana for lunch. When you're in survival mode like that, you don't worry about packing on the pounds, you figure you'll just get through the hard times and eat better later on.
I have to admit though that I stockpile some foods, rice, pasta, beans and canned veggies, I guess as a result of being broke a few times. I feel better knowing that I can feed us for a few weeks without going to the store. I use all that stuff up once a year and then replace it.
I always keep canned garbanzo beans, black beans, great northern, butter beans and others on hand. When they are on sale, I buy in quantity.
Flour tortilla (whole grain) and whole grain bread and pita are always in the freezer. My pantry always overflows with brown rice, salsa, tomato sauce and select veggies. Canned beets are dirt cheap and are much easier to deal with than fresh. In the winter, added to a green salad with cukes and dill, they are so much better (in my area) than what passes for tomatoes.
I'm a fan of frozen produce nutritionally is is equal to fresh and easier to store and purchase. But they are more expensive than fresh greens.
Fresh collards, kale, mustard greens, escarole and other greens make a filling dinner mixed with a whole grain (brown rice or pasta) and beans. This can be easily prepared in a slow cooker.
Fresh vegetables that are usually inexpensive all year and add so much to almost any meal! Carrots, celery, onions, cabbage, sweet potatoes, white potatoes build a soup, fill up a taco or burrito and stuff a bell pepper (another essential) or a cabbage leaf,
TVP is so inexpensive and readily available. I use it as a meat substitute mixed with brown rice, lentils, and quinoa, and simmered in some herbs spices and bouillon (another staple) it makes a sturdy addition to a tomato sauce, taco stuffing, stuffed cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, squash.
All of those veggies and potatoes make a filling vegetable soup, that can and should be slightly different every time.
Steel cut oats and frozen blueberries and oh so good! I love the addition of canned pumpkin to the oats. I'll second canned pumpkin as an inexpensive staple. It works beautifully as an egg substitute also, but those avoiding that item for allergies or other reasons.
Oranges have been good and inexpensive here in the Northern Midwest, so I have to think they're good everywhere.
Again. not much for canned anything, but pineapple is passable.
Frozen berries appear to be on sale everywhere, and a good deal.
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I am also a fan of TVP...I make chili with it. It is hard to tell it from ground beef in chili, taste is similar. It is a cheap but nutritious beef substitute. You can't go wrong with such a high protein, low fat substitute...and a little of it plus some canned beans and tomatoes and spices can make enough chili for days.
When I'm low on cash I make vegetable soup. It's really easy and inexpensive. I use those square boxes of frozen vegetables to cut down on the chopping and because in the end it's usually cheaper than buying fresh vegetables and there is no waste. The secret is not over-cooking this soup to maintain the nutrition in the vegetables. If you have/prefer fresh veg, that's fine, too.
Here's my recipe:
-Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat.
-Saute 2-3 cloves of garlic chopped (or buy it already chopped in a jar).
-Add one yellow onion chopped and continue sauteing (or you can use pearl onions frozen if you really hate to chop).
-When the garlic is fragrant and the onions translucent, add four cups of canned chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you want vegetarian soup).
-Add one 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes (I use Muir Glen ROASTED tomatoes for more flavor).
-Add three boxes of frozen vegetables of your choice (spinach; carrots; corn; green, wax, or lima beans; broccoli; peas; squash, etc.)
-Add 1 teaspoon each of dried basil and oregano, half a teaspoon of sea salt, red pepper flakes, and fresh-ground black pepper.
-Cook just until the vegetables are tender; don't boil away the nutrition.
Of course, adjust seasonings to your taste. If you like hot food, add salsa, chili powder, or shake in some hot sauce. If you like cabbage, you can substitute half a head of cabbage finely chopped for one of the vegetable boxes. It's good fiber, but a lot of people don't care for cabbage. (I, on the other hand have mixed Celtic and Eastern European heritage; both those cultures rely on cabbage in lean times, so I'm genetically disposed to liking it.)
If you want a more filling soup, noodles, rice, or cut-up potatoes can be added, of course. I cook them separately in salted water and add at the end because they have longer cooking times than the rest of the soup. Also, you will probably need more liquid if you use them. If you want to thicken up your soup, add some of the water you cooked the carbs in. Or add more broth or another can of tomatoes if you like them.
This soup can be totally customized to your taste. The most expensive thing about it is the canned broth and herbs/spices if you don't already have a stocked pantry. Those square boxes of frozen vegetables can often be had for less than $1 per box, especially of you buy the supermarket's generic brand.
For anyone needing to buy spices, I recommend buying them at an ethnic market, rather than buying jars at the supermarket, where you're paying for the jar. You can usually buy dried herbs and ground spices in cellophane envelopes at Mexican or Asian food stores, at about a quarter of the price you pay at the supermarket. Or grow your own herbs. That's easy, too, and you have fresh in the summer and in the fall you can cut a bunch, dry it, and have it all winter.
Looking pretty good maybe except for protein bars.
I'm going for the most nutritional bang for an item. Not cheapest thing to fill your tummy. Almonds are not necessarily "cheap" but every now and then is ok.
1. Dark leafy greens. Full of vitamin A, some Bs, K and C.
2. Beans. Decent amount of protein and carbs and differnt vitamins
3. Eggs. Vitamin B 12, protein, some fat and other vitamins.
4. Olive oil. Or plain olives. Healthy fat and vitamin e.
5. Avocado. Healthy fat and various vitamins.
6 Sardine in tins. The ones I buy are 75 cents a tin. Frozen ones are pretty cheap too. So healthy, cheap and filling. Protein, DMAE, Omega 3, low mercury and environmentally friendly compared to other fish.
7. Almonds. Vitamin E, protein and other fats.
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), potato soup with homemade rolls, grilled cheese sandwiches. The kids got oatmeal for breakfast and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a banana for lunch. When you're in survival mode like that, you don't worry about packing on the pounds, you figure you'll just get through the hard times and eat better later on.
