My dh's health needs to improve and I think it needs to start with the types of foods he eats. When it comes to eating healthy he is a little picky because he is not a big vegetable fan. I have found buying chicken and fresh vegetables etc. has dramatically increased our grocery bill. We have 4 children and another on the way so they do eat some junky food (hot dogs etc.) but I have made them start eating more healthy too. If you eat really healthy what is your grocery bill like? I would love any suggestions from people who buy healthy food cheap. Maybe I need more healthy recipes that call for cheaper ingredients? Thanks for any help. Amy

What a Great post! :)

I could do with LOTS more help in this area and it is hard for me to get motivated to go looking for it as I hate cooking, food shopping and eating!

My mother could keep her and my father (when he was alive) on just £20 a week housekeeping!!! (I don't know what that is in dollars maybe approx $35??) Anyway it's ridiculously LOW! :eek:

I spend LOADS of money on food (and I hardly eat!) It's because I have five kids and because I hate cooking I get easy, convenience, junk food! Crisps, burgers, pizza, biscuits etc etc.

I worry about our health constantly and I would really like to conquer this problem this year.

Thanks for starting the post :smball:

I agree...fresh veggies are expensive.I try buying them on sale and freezing. Wal-Mart often has corn on the cob 10/$1 and I stock up. Other than that I mostly buy already frozen or can veggies. Expect tomatoes,lettuce,onions,and potatoes.
I spend about $100/week on groceries for a family of 5.
And my kids eat hot dogs and junk food to lol

Sorry I'm not much help Amy!

I found eating healthy is more expensive, fresh veg. and chicken vs. ground beef is more but a few things to help are beans, tofo, and spices.

And think of the medical costs you are saving, which will more than off set the food cost.

If you can't get fresh veggies, frozen are the next best thing. Since being diagnosed with Crohn's/colitis a few months ago, my Dr advised no red meat. Instead of hamburger, I use ground turkey in chili, lasagna and other casseroles. No one has noticed the difference. It is a little more expensive, but a lot healthier and the taste difference is very minimal. Actually it tastes better.

Thanks for the suggestions. I am a total beginner on cooking no meat meals. I thought about getting some vegetarian cook books. I would love to learn what the heck do you do with tofu?? I have no clue how to cook it or what is it? I always hear good things about it but is it fresh or packaged? I know there has to be some tofu cooking geniuses out there somewhere lol.
Amy

I buy my treats like ice cream- low fat..(healthy choice) and only on sale with a coupon, either that or haagendaaz sorbet or frozen yogurt. I actually don't like regular ice cream now

I have a small store near me that always has rock bottom prices on produce, i can always walk out paying very little for a whole lot.

I always buy loss leader fruits at the regular market chains too...especially when apples or oranges are 69cents/lb or less.

I try to get the healthier whole wheat/grain breads when they are B1G1F at albertsons (or around 1.19 a loaf)

And i stock up on the chicken breast and steak my dh likes when it's 1.69/lb

Then rice is super cheap, and is so versatile.
Cornbread is another thing that we like that's cheap and not too unhealthy, refried beans is also pretty cheap when I use a coupon, and even my dh likes it :D

Frozen spinach I get at 1.50 or less per 32oz frozen
Same with other frozen veggies like peas (for some reason frozen peas are better than canned to me) I always mix spinach in with eggs, or just eat a bowl for breakfast.

Canned veggies i stock up when they are 25 cents each or less
Canned pineapple ( i like dole, in it's own juice) i get when it's about .59 a can or less.

I also love oatmeal...for breakfast lunch or dinner ;) I like to make oatmeal patties, oatmeal cookies (using applesuace instead of oil), and of course regular ol' oatmeal ;)

Gardenburgers I found are super easy/cheap for me to make..I cook up rice, and whatever fresh veggies i have on hand (that would make sense) to put in the burgers..I mix rice, eggs, some cheese, then whatever I chopped up and put it on the griddle using some pam..

vegetable stew is also easy cheap for me, I get eggplant when they are 89 cents each, and that can go a long ways with the carrots celery and potato's..then when it's done i add in some tomato sauce (10 cents a can when it's a loss leader) and some chili powder, and serve it with some 33 cent a box jiffy cornbread :)

Also with eggplant I love to slice it up, grill it with Pam, and have it in a sandwhich with lettuce onions and sliced cucumbers. mushrooms would be good too if I can ever get them cheap :D

Tofu I like to stirfry with veggies and add some terriaki sauce to it. I think that's about all I can do with tofu, but my grandma makes tofu scramble which looks and tastes almost like real eggs..But tofu is still fairly high in fat ..I think there might be low fat versions?

The cheapest place i've found applesauce though is either Big Lots or Costco..otherwise the grocery store seems to be making a killing on applesauce :eek:

check your sales flyers and stock up when things go on sale. here ground beef rarely goes on sale so i don't serve it a whole lot. buy chicken when it is on sale. roasting chickens were on sale this week for 69 cents. here that is pretty cheap. i bought one and boiled it to make stock and pulled the meat off and froze to use later in casseroles and soup. then i boiled the bones skin and odds and end to make more stock. use up every possible bit you can. i now have to batches of stock from one bird.

as far as serving more meatless meals, leave out the meat in some things like lasagna. just do the ricotta and spinach and skip the ground beef or sausage.

make breakfast for dinner once a week. either eggs or pancakes.

if you must have meat, use less of it. add more rice or noodles.

make as much from scratch as you can. if you aren't used to cooking from scratch, start slow with just a couple of recipes, then as you master them, try a couple more.
i buy frozen pizzas in stead of making my own because i just can't get he crust right, but i stock up on them when they go on sale. if they are BOGO or 2 for $5 i buy the limit if there is one or atleast 8 of them. we eat more pizza than i like to admit but at least buying htem on sale saves some money. check the reduced shelves or bins in the store. sometimes it is something that will expire soon or it can be something they aren't going to carry anymore.

Don't forget a pot of beans! Get out your Crock Pot and a little bit of meat and cook them all day long. It's a no-brainer as far as cooking is concerned and you can make severalthings form the beans besides beans and cornbread. Make burritos, red beans and rice, refriend beans...well, you get the idea!

Tofu is available in a low fat verson. I use it regularly. Around here, ground turkey is usually CHEAPER than hamburger. we us eat in everything but meatloaf. I can use about half a pound to feed four of us when it's in spaghetti sauce or as a condiment on baked potatos.

We eat a lot of hot cereal here too. I buy farina (cream of wheat) in bulk for .51/lb and oatmeal is .46/lb. Cook it in the microwave--cereal that used to take ten minutes is really instant at 1 min 30 secs!

All I can say is Farmers Market, Farmers Market, Farmers Market! We ate SOOO healthy this summer because I discovered the Farmers Market. I looked up Certified Farmers Markets online and found several in my area. I then went to them religiously this summer. We ate great! I even tried out recipes with a lot of new vegies my family had never tried before because we have a large asian population here so there were a lot of asian vegetables. The only problem is I'm a big dummy!!! I didn't think about the fact that they would only be available through the summer. Now everything is out of season. I'm now looking for canning supplies and stocking up on Tupperware freezer containers because next summer I'm stocking up for the whole year! I found corn 7 ears for $1, I got beautiful tomatoes for .40 cents a pound instead of store prices of 2.99/lb, I got onions, potatos, cucumbers, lettuce, garlic, pomegrantes, grapes, mushrooms, strawberrys, even bread and fish. Our farmers markets were amazing. Now I'm hating life because I have to pay store prices again. Definitely stocking up next summer by freezing and canning. We ate healthier this summer than we ever have and our food bills were even lower than buying the processed food with coupons!

Wow rhiana, where do you go? I'm about 20 min. away from san jose, but prices at our farmers market are never cheaper than the grocery store prices :(