Cheap, Filling, and Healthy Meals

What are some meals that you make at home with those attributes?

Personally, I cannot speak higher of lentil soup. It's not your average soup full of broth that doesn't fill you up. I'm talking about the high protein, nutrient packed lentil beans. I use one package (1lb for ~$1.25), carrots, celery, and an onion. It also calls for chicken broth and goes very well when mixed with cheese upon serving. Bacon is a wonderful topper as well.

It produces a very large quantity which can be stored for later. I can scarf down a giant bowl and then be stuffed for the rest of the night. I can give instructions if you want to do it. It's super easy and will taste delicious.

Are there any of you that have a healthy go to meal when you're saving money?

 

I find High Nutrient foods to be the key. The top 20 or so superfoods

Cheap, filling and healthy. The "filling" is the most important part. Then you are not going through as much so covers the cheap, or mix them in with cheaper foods, and also covers the healthy

Flaxseeds a big one, thats relatively cheap, put that shit in everything that either has or can hide a nutty taste

Coconut Oil is expensive, but seafood cooked in it, OMG, so use it too zing up cheap fish

1 lemon cotains your daily Vit C, so that in a blender as a sauce to cover up boring fish

Apples are another cheap superfood, in a stew with chicken

Homemade french onion soup with lentils Mmmmm

Oats are boring, but stick em in a blender, make a smoothie - I do perculated coffee, oats, flaxseed, honey in a blender

And broccoli, with I always resort to soy sauce.

Or any japanese recipe for anything, but no rice or processed noodles or flour, use beans or lentils instead

Or any bean made up hummous style, pureed with lemon and garlic, maybe chilli, that will fill you up quick

 

you can throw a handful of fresh spinach into your lentil soup too...:2thumbsup:
that is if you like spinach

 

Pancakes.

 

Steamed broccoli and boiled potatoes sprinkled with a quality fish sauce instead of butter.

A bottle of fish sauce lasts a long time and can be used for a lot savory vegetable dishes when you can't afford butter. Three crabs brand is my favorite

 

Black bean soup, potatoes (especially sweet potatoes), avocados, lentil soup (like OP said), any sort of rice and bean concoction, anything high in good fats...

 

Pea soup and oatmeal (not mixed together!)

Avocadoes aren't cheap here. I wish they were, I love them. It's one of my splurge foods.

 

Avocados aren't cheap anywhere, even where they grow them

 

Dollar a pop where I live. Not too bad. And very filling.

 

Well they are wham packed with calories, not a bad food value at a buck

 

props to lentil soup! i agree that it's not like other soups, full of broth - lentils actually fill you up.

 

lentil soup is awesome.

I also make a lot of curries and use lentils and an assortment of vegetables (practically any vegetable will work in a curry). to make a curry I put tomatoes in a blender and then add spices to the tomato sauce and heat it up, although I'm sure there's a more authentic way to do a curry.

sometimes I just sautee or steam a bunch of vegetables.

I try to eat a diet heavy in "superfoods" - kale, blueberries, mushrooms, avocado etc. these all go quite nicely together in a salad also.

 

Sounds good but blueberry's and mushrooms aren't exactly cheap foods either.

 

I was just reading that and thinking the same thing. It may be a matter of location, but here in our harsh winters, vegetables and fruits are expensive in winter, especially now with the freaky weather around the world. It costs to have them imported because yields are so low because of all the storms. It's better in the summer with local crops and farmer's markets but even so, it's weather dependent.

 

here i am. my advice is- fill house with foods that are good for you. then say. "what the fuck am i supposed to make with this?"

i always have plenty of rice, oatmeal, and flour. yeast too, for fast pizzas. well supplied on beans, split peas and lentils.
to construct a meal- protein. starch. vegetable(s) turkey, potatoes, spinach. sausage, pasta, tomato sauce, salad.

to keep it cheap, buy in bulk, plan ahead for things you like to make. buy a ham shank when they are cheap, break it down into meal sized chunks, freeze. you can defrost and slice for sandwiches, dice for breakfast scrambles or for mixing into mac and cheese. apparently you can pressure can a pot roast, whole. i havent tried that yet.

i just know how to cook, thats how i save money. sometimes i come home from the grocery store and have no idea what food is in my kitchen. so thats my dirty secret. im not nearly as put together as i appear. buy what you use, use what you buy. keep track of what things cost, when prices rise wait it out. and i try not to buy meat unless its $2 or less a pound. it has to be worth it. sometimes i get one or those rotisserie chickens, have it with potatoes and gravy the first night, strip the meat and make stock overnight from the bones, have soup the second day, and save some meat for chicken sandwiches on day 3. thats protein for 3 meals, and i didnt have to roast it in the first place.

oh, sometimes i make a shit ton of lasagna. i use old bread pans, lined with freezerpaper, and build 3-6 lasagnasall at the same time. one gets cooked that night, the others get frozen into freezer-wrapped bricks, popped out of the pans and into large labelled ziplocs. then all you have to do is pull one out, unwrap it, pop it into the pan it fits and cook. i defrost a little bit first, but lots of people just cook them from frozen. i use regular lasagna noodles, dipped in hot water just to soften a little. dealing with boiled noodles is a pain in the ass, and the no-boil ones i tried were gross. regular noodles, dipped not cooked. and increase the moisture in your sauce a little bit, you need it for cooking the noodles when it gets baked.

im rambling. hope that helps.

 

bro drop some sardines in a pot with some leafy stuff and spices, broil them for 5 minutes, throw 4 eggs on top, broil for 7 minutes, salt and pepper the shit out of it, and put the result in a sandwich (or not)

theres some delicious breakfast right there

 

That's impressive ML. You're on top of your expenses. Do you really find meat for $2/lb?

I also really like mixing up quinoa with cheese and broccoli.
Also you can make a bed of kale leaves sautéed in coconut oil and sprinkled with garlic salt. Then throw the quinoa on top and garnish with avocados, almonds, and olive oil.

Quinoa is cheap and provides plenty of servings and clips very versatile (I recently made a breakfast bake with it and eggs milk cinnamon and berries) . I also like organic microwaveable rice pouches. They are a nice filling snack.

 

yes, it was easier to do a few years ago, and i dont buy regular supermarket meat anymore, makes me nauseous to cook it. ive been going to Sprouts, and this week they had boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.99/lb we bought 2 packages, and i broke them all down, 1 per ziploc bag. one feeds my family of 3. they are so rich in flavor, i couldnt eat more. and when i cook it i dont want to be sick. much higher quality meat.

you just have to make sure its worth it when you buy it. and you dont have to eat it every night. if something is cheaper than you have seen it in a long time, buy some. buy a whole loin. thats a lot of meat! i like to cut them down into 2 pound roasts, and if theres an odd end i can stuff it, or make a couple of chops. cut to my needs.


i have some quinoa. i throw some in soups. ill be growing amaranth, which is similar, but is not coated in saponins. quinoa has to be rinsed of those before they can be used.

 

Costco, bulk chicken breasts, peanut butter, eggs, oats. Stuff like that..

I also make alot of shakes with like raw spinache blended with almonds and protein powder, easy way to get in good veggies and you cant even taste them.


I practically live on organic grass fed beef, my dad owns a ranch and raises cattle. So Im always stocked on that stuff.

 

Unless your a viking and you're eating amanitas what makes mushrooms a superfood? Just wondering!