In an ongoing effort to live within our means and allow me to stay home the majority of the time with our daughter, Conroy and I make a consistent effort to trim and tweak our grocery budget since that's one of the few areas that we can control (as opposed to rent and other set bills). Summers especially call for a little budget-tightening since we temporarily lose some of our "cushion" income during these months. Our conversation just yesterday combined with seeing yet another post on money saving tips for living frugally prompted me to this post.
Contrary to some who protest that eating healthy is more expensive, I've found it to be quite the contrary. Perhaps this post may lead to its own page or series, we'll see. Over eight years of marriage and, in recent years, the additional process of eliminating processed foods from our diet, I've found several tried and true meal plans and shortcuts that make it possible for us to eat on about $50-$60 a week, even with 2 international students, making 5 of us total. I'm still and ever on the hunt to perfect and improve, so I'd love to hear interaction and feedback on this subject!
Last night's meal:
Tuna patties -- eggs, tuna, oatmeal, salt, pepper and whatever sauce you have on hand (I used soy sauce)
Sweet potato fries -- cut one large sweet potato into thin strips and pan-fried in butter or coconut oil, sprinkled with nutmeg and cinnamon. (YUM!)
Instant brown rice
Commentary: My family raves about the tuna patties, and they are so cheap! Even my picky three-year-old eats them (with a dollop of ranch)! At 68 cents a tin (I used 4), you can't beat this price for dinner! The sweet potato costs a dollar, and it fed all of us with leftovers. I used half a box of the rice ($1.50 a box), and we had leftovers of that, as well. So the 4 of us ate for $5.50 altogether! Can't beat that!
What's your best tried-and-true, healthy, cheap meal?
3 comments:
Good for you! I agree. Eliminating processed foods leaves us with that much more money to spend on the real stuff!
One of my favorite healthy, energy-filled and economic breakfasts is Greek Yogurt, granola (homemade is easy and custom designed), chia seeds (omega 3 and 1 bag lasts for months) and the fruit of choice. When fruits are on sale (like strawberries, blueberries, etc.)I just buy bulk and freeze in small portions. There you have it!
Great breakfast idea! Thanks for sharing!
our go-to breakfast is typically eggs and toast for Conroy, eggs and veggies for me.... still cheaper and healthier than cereal!
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