View Full Version : Cheap and healthy?
Name your cheap and healthy foods....
Mine would be Spirulina and Chlorella which can be found in capsule form for like 120(1g each) caps $10 they are high in nutrition and are foods, not supplements. "Super Foods" if you will.
Of course there are also eggs(high quality protein), and low sodium trail mix as well which is high in poly unsaturated fats instead of saturated, good for your heart and helps keep you full... I enjoy me some good trail mix. The bag I have now helps calm my craving for fast food rather well, and has lasted me a week so far for $2.00, it's quite large.
I think this thread could be useful for everyone who is on a strict budget(like myself) who would like to eat healthy, so name your cheap health foods.
Mine would be Spirulina and Chlorella which can be found in capsule form for like 120(1g each) caps $10 they are high in nutrition and are foods, not supplements. "Super Foods" if you will.
What.
Anyway:
Milk
Chicken breasts
Tuna
Whole wheat pasta/wheat products
Eggs
Fruits
Cottage cheese
Peanut butter
Hamburger (preferably leaner cuts)
All together it costs about $45 a week for me to shop.
Oatmeal
Bananas
Rice
Beans
Kwitko
17 Sep 2007, 3:39pm
Yogurt, apples, bananas.
BetsyD
17 Sep 2007, 6:51pm
Bananas, whole wheat pitas and english muffins, Peanut butter (tastiest when you put all 3 together)
primesuspect
17 Sep 2007, 7:16pm
Hummous and labne (labne is homemade lebanese yogurt - although the Greek and Indian varieties are really good as well) Labne can be hard to find unless you have a lebanese community in your town, but the Greek variety - brand name is "Fage" can be found in regular grocery stores.
Hummous is super cheap and really good.
mmonnin
18 Sep 2007, 12:51am
Cereal is cheap. For a week of meals its like $6-7 or something with milk.
I know peanut butter is full of protein, but doesnt it also have a ton of fat as well. At least a lot higher % of its weight than anything else list in this thread?
Peanut butter is good fats.
Thrax
18 Sep 2007, 12:55am
Fats essential to living and heart health, I might add.
mmonnin
18 Sep 2007, 1:09am
Yes I know we all need some fat, it just seems to stick out. I checked my bottle and 1 serving is 25% of your DV, but then on that diet Nomad posted it would be a primary source.
Someone looking to earnestly build muscle replaces carbs (Mostly) with good fats and protein. 50% protein, 33% good fat, and about 15% carb.
mmonnin
18 Sep 2007, 1:20am
But its so much easier to eat carbs! :)
Yes I know we all need some fat, it just seems to stick out. I checked my bottle and 1 serving is 25% of your DV, but then on that diet Nomad posted it would be a primary source.
That wasn't really a diet I posted, just some cheaper foods. I do consume about two tablespoons of peanut butter on wheat toast daily though. The fat is very different than the fats you get in other food. Not reason to consume absurd amounts of it, but reason enough to eat it.
I found some uber cheap peanut butter, that's all natural. It uses flax oil and ground up flax seeds as well as the peanuts. I just had the best damned peanut butter sandwich ever. I never enjoyed a plain peanut butter sandwich, I always had to add some jelly or honey, both of which have too much sugar in them. Didn't need it one bit.
It's called..."Naturally More", nutrition wise it had the best of all of the others in Walmart. The nutrition label says: Serving Size about 2tbsp, Calories 169, Fat Cal. 98, Total Fat 11g, Sat. Fat 2g, Trans Fat 0g, Omega-1 4.1g, Omega-6 1.2g , Cholest. 0mg, Sodium 130mg, Total Carb. 8g, Dietary Fiber 4g, Sugars 2g, Protein 10g, Iron 4%, Folic Acid 58%, Riboflavin 1%, Niacin 11%, Vitamin E 5%
Ingredients: Roasted Peanuts, Wheat Germ, Flax Seed, Cane Sugar, Egg Whites, Honey, Flaxseed Oil.
Just noticed the honey part added, heh, maybe that's why I didn't need to add it lol. But anyways, it was cheaper per ounce than the rest; Natural, Organic, or Otherwise.
Kwitko
18 Sep 2007, 12:41pm
Hummous and labne
Man, you always have to trump people with your exotic foods, don't you?
"Look at me! I'm Brian! I eat hummus and labne and tabouleh and khlav kalash!"
Jokke
18 Sep 2007, 12:59pm
Fish is very good for you.
Trader Joes man, best place in the world. Lots of healthy stuff and very reasonable prices. There is one about an hour away from me so I make a road trip every 2-3 weeks for food. I am on a pretty strict diet and workout routine (getting into amateur bodybuilding) I go there and get tons of food and pay like half what I would at a normal grocery store.
Trader Joes man, best place in the world. Lots of healthy stuff and very reasonable prices. There is one about an hour away from me so I make a road trip every 2-3 weeks for food. I am on a pretty strict diet and workout routine (getting into amateur bodybuilding) I go there and get tons of food and pay like half what I would at a normal grocery store.
Notta single one in Texas... don't think I'll be doing any road trips myself :bigggrin:
Notta single one in Texas... don't think I'll be doing any road trips myself :bigggrin:
It's no Trader Joe's, but we do atleast have a plethora of Whole Foods, and Central Market to boot!
Hummous is super cheap and really good.
It's also very easy to make if you have a food processor. I make a mean roasted pepper hummous.
GHoosdum
20 Sep 2007, 3:20pm
I tend to favor several foods for "bang for the buck"
Banana
Cheerios or Joe's O's
Tuna
Yogurt
Oatmeal (real, not packets)
Eggs
Oatmeal (real, not packets)
What's so unreal about the packets?
primesuspect
20 Sep 2007, 4:55pm
Most of the packets have TONS of sugar in them. They's a little bit of oatmeal and a whole ton of powdered ... stuff.
GHoosdum
20 Sep 2007, 5:06pm
Right, the packets are both filled with non-oatmeal stuff, and more expensive.
Here's a recipe that's cheap and healthy:
1 cup oats
2 cups nonfat milk
1 teaspoon brown sugar
Microwave for 1 minute, stir, then microwave for 1 to 1.5 minutes more. Add cut fresh fruit or raisins.
If no trader joes around any "natural foods" stores are good. My main diet consists of:
oats (steel cut)
protein powder (gold standard)
chicken, lean red meat (buffalo, flank steaks) tuna
eazikeal 4:9 bread
Lots of greens (salads, green beans, broccoli)
brown rice
almond butter
Thats mostly what I eat throughout the day. Also a rice steamer is awesome for veggies and rice. I eat a lot though, 6 meals a day 3100 cals; 315g protein, 300g carbs, 71g fat. Just look at the ingredients and try not to buy pre made crap. I cook 2 times a week in bulk for all my meals I can.
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