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The Poor Man's Diet

Misty_Mountain_Rose

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Every time I try to start eating healthier I wind up standing at the cash register gasping for breath while I fork out the dough for my new endeavor.

If you were to create a diet/menu of HEALTHY, GOOD tasting food that doesn't cost an arm and a leg... what would it include?
 

Jack Flak

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Cheap=Eggs, Potatoes, and Vegetable soup. I'm pretty sure you can live on it.
 

ptgatsby

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If you were to create a diet/menu of HEALTHY, GOOD tasting food that doesn't cost an arm and a leg... what would it include?

Cooking for yourself.... ;) It's not that difficult to do cheaply... if you cook at home and don't get into the 'whole foods' stuff.

It's the retraining part that is really hard, IMO. The body tends to crave the good stuff during this period and trying to get the good stuff when eating healthy is very expensive. Also, avoid a lot of the 'healthy' places - simply buy at the normal market, but change what you buy. In general, organic and the like is a rip off (I make some exceptions here for chicken/eggs and 'picked green fruits') and will inflate your cost without benefit.

The process is:

1) Buy staples only
2) Buy seasoning
3) ???
4) Profit

It's the seasoning part that is important. Curry is my favorite now, since I have an in to an excellent chinese (more similar to thai yellow curries) one. But peppercorn gravy (gravy does not have to be unhealthy!) to Ms Dash/Five spice all can work as well. The problem with eating healthy + eating tasty is that we still identify fat/calories with tasty. It's not easy to break that, and if you go with staples, you don't get much of the old 'tasty' stuff.

Otherwise, same old stuff - make sure you eat vegetables and fruits. Cheap for me was apples (apples got grilled into sandwhiches, eaten whole, made into applesauce) and spinach (which got eaten raw, cooked with garlic/etc, shredded into curry/pasta/whatever).

But the direct answer is... Buy staples (rice, pasta, potatoes), add support (vegetables/meat) and then add vegetables (frozen, normally)... keep fruit and the like around instead of snacks. That's about it!
 

miss fortune

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If you have an ethnic grociery store nearby you can buy spices a lot cheaper there than you can at a conventional grociery store- and spices are what makes a food interesting and delicious a lot of time :drool:

Learn to use less meat, or catch sales like chunks of fish for $0.99 like I occasionally run across at Kroger (or a bag of boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $5, which is awesome, because they can last forever if you don't insist on eating tons of chicken at every meal!)

Rice is delicious, rice stick noodles are beyond awesome (again, if you have an ethnic grociery in the area that's even cheaper!) and I learned in Brazil that black beans and rice can very well be a meal if you're short on rent money :doh:

As for vegetables and fruits, I learned from my family to freeze a ton of them while they're on sale at the farmer's market in the summer- much cheaper than buying them at the grociery in the winter.

You'll usually have a bit of extra money left over for something fun to add to your meals ;)
 

Metamorphosis

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If you have an ethnic grociery store nearby you can buy spices a lot cheaper there than you can at a conventional grociery store- and spices are what makes a food interesting and delicious a lot of time :drool:

Yeah, I don't know where you are or how it is there, but there are a lot of places in Little Mexico areas of town where food is a lot cheaper and there are fresh meat markets, etc. I don't know the feasibility of this if you don't speak Spanish, though, because I've always been with someone who did.
 

miss fortune

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I live in my town's Little Mexico and speak spanish, to it's easy for me here.

Where I used to live I was near an Asian grociery store that also had a great selection of everything for really cheap! :drool:
 

Sean O

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Legumes, oatmeal, certain fruits and vegetables, cereal, milk, yogurt, etc.
 

Ardea

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Don't forget generic organics!!!

Also, try ethnic vegetarian frozen dishes - they are wonderful!

Um... in season veggies and fruits... bulks... anything Healthy Choice?
 

mlittrell

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fruit veggies beans and whole grains

in a healthy combination of course

they are actually quite cheap

and if you want you can throw some chicken or fish in there
 

Geoff

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Every time I try to start eating healthier I wind up standing at the cash register gasping for breath while I fork out the dough for my new endeavor.

If you were to create a diet/menu of HEALTHY, GOOD tasting food that doesn't cost an arm and a leg... what would it include?

Buy a big pack of cheap but good quality chicken thighs and drumsticks. Skin them to remove fat, and casserole or curry them, and get about 3 decent sized healthy meals (one with rice, once with bread or potatoes etc) for about $5.
 

Jack Flak

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I like simple food for the most part (whether cheap or not), and I've come up with a solution & bought the stuff, but I haven't tried it yet.

Flour tortillas + a dash of olive oil
sliced salami
romaine lettuce
sliced swiss cheese

layered flat and rolled up tightly. I hope it's tasty.
 

Geoff

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I like simple food for the most part (whether cheap or not), and I've come up with a solution & bought the stuff, but I haven't tried it yet.

Flour tortillas + a dash of olive oil
sliced salami
romaine lettuce
sliced swiss cheese

layered flat and rolled up tightly. I hope it's tasty.

Yeah, that works well. Also try sliced cured chorizo and feta cheese for a good variant :)
 

faith

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Oh, yes. I wind up eating healthy simply because I'm poor.

For breakfast you can make muffins with pieces of whatever fruit is in season (blueberries, peaches, bananas, apples, etc.). Or you can have oatmeal (rolled oats, not instant) cooked with apple, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, and cinnamon. Walnuts are expensive, but you only need 1/4 cup to give it good flavor. If you toast the walnuts first, the flavor is better. Raisins are healthier than dried cranberries, but I don't care for raisins.

You can make vegetable soup with whatever veggies are handy (potatoes, carrots, onion, a can of diced tomatoes, etc.) and a little chicken broth or bullion. Add spices to taste (bay leaf, oregano, thyme, garlic...); simmer until veggies are tender; serve with a dollop of lowfat sour cream and homemade cornbread.

Black-eyed peas (purchase dry, simmer 30-60 min. until soft enough to eat) are inexpensive tasty served with cornbread, sliced tomato and sliced red onion.

I adore white chili made in the crock pot. You can buy chicken thighs for much cheaper than chicken breasts, and they taste just as good in the chili. I get them already boned and skinned. Boil the chicken and cut it into pieces. Put 2 cans Rotel tomatoes, 2-3 cans Great Northern Beans, a chopped onion, 2-3 chicken thighs (chopped), some garlic, and some cayenne pepper (if you like it hot) in the crock pot. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or so. Drain the beans first to make it thicker, or omit one can of beans if you don't like so many in your chili. I like to substitute one can of black beans (drained) for a can of the GN Beans.

An easy soup called "Late Night Chicken Soup" from a college cookbook is satisfying and inexpensive. Take one can of chicken broth (costs about 50 cents around here) and simmer two Tbsp. rice in it for about 20 min. or until rice is tender. Mix one raw egg with a tsp. of lemon juice. Remove the soup from the heat for a moment or so, then stir in the egg mixture with a fork. Keep stirring for a minute or two while the egg cooks/thickens. You can tailor it with your own seasonings. I like it with a dash of garlic and za'atar. It's very good with chopped red bell pepper and basil, too, but red bell pepper is pricey.

Baked potatoes are inexpensive, filling, and very healthy if you don't load them down with butter and sour cream. Try a can of baked beans (75 cents) and some broccoli on the potato, with a sprinkling of cheese over top. I like to buy a bag of frozen broccoli pieces and cook just what I need as I go.
 
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I was out of steady work for over a year, so I know how to eat cheap. These were some of the things I found to be cheap and nutritious:

Corn tortillas
Oatmeal
Yogurt
Fresh vegetables (not much more expensive than frozen, and good nutrition/price ratio)
Ground beef and chicken that are marked down because it will soon expire (that's what your freezer is for)
Canned soup (cheap and nutritious, but high in sodium if you have to watch that)
Rice
Pasta
Canned tuna
Eggs
Rice-A-Roni, Lipton noodles, etc. (these side dishes are dirt cheap, and when augmented with chopped veggies and maybe some chicken, they can be nutritious and stretch far)
Peanut butter
Beans
Potatoes (I have an oven-baked french fries recipe that is both healthy and will make you never want a real french fry again...feel free to ask)

In addition, when you're eating cheap, seasoning can mean a lot. Lots of spices look expensive but go a long way. Certain cooking oils can impart a satisfying flavor too, especially olive oil and sesame oil. One of the easiest and cheapest nutritious meals can be some chicken and vegetables stir-fried in sesame oil and served over rice or noodles.
 

CzeCze

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I live in a formerly vegan now vegetarian house and we're all cheap and/or broke bastards so we know how to save money!

1) Avoid any processed food -- especially if it's "healthy" -- that stuff if pricey!! No gluten free chips, no gourmet soy puffs, etc.

2) Find the unfancy markets for your vegetables. That usually means ethnic or in more economically depressed neighborhoods. There's a chain of supermarkets only in DC that specializes in frozen meat and breakfast products (not kidding) and poor people food -- $1 liters of grape and orange soda, little debbie snacks, generic cookies and candies, etc. However, they have the cheapest vegetables I have ever stumbled upon. I stock up when I can.

3) Buy in bulk. Not as practical when shopping for 1 person but you can cook your meals in bulk (at once) and freeze for the week.

4) Lentils, beans, rice, pasta -- starch is your friend!

5) Frozen veggies and fruits in family packs

5a) Yes, stir fry is a GREAT way to save money and make a fast, simple, healthy, and tasty meal.

5b) Pasta is ditto ^^

6) What everyone else was saying about spices -- so true!

7) Eggs are your friends

8) I don't like dealing with meat. It's more expensive but also more of a chore to cook and take care of and clean up.

9) For quick meals, get a big case of spinach, some goat or feta cheese, and some nuts or dried cranberries (or both). This makes a quick and healthy salad and doesn't cost so much when you buy in bigger sizes.
 

Wild horses

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I think I would add quark and flak oil to any endeavour of health and luckily both are pretty inexpensive :)
 

Kasper

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I believe it is possible to live on weetbix and peanut butter for several years if necessary.

Many Uni students have tried it and most are still alive and healthy today.
 

Wild horses

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I actually lived on blended oat cereal for two weeks... I made it with extra sugar and little milk to make it chewy so that it filled me up... fabulous!!!!!!!!!!!
 

LostInNerSpace

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I actually lived on blended oat cereal for two weeks... I made it with extra sugar and little milk to make it chewy so that it filled me up... fabulous!!!!!!!!!!!

I pretty much lived on Proat meal for a while. Oal meal with Protean powder. It was sometimes pretty good, sometimes disgusting. It tended to cake up in the Microwave. I was trying to build muscle. It seemed like a fast easy way to get carbs and protean.
 
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