Wanted to share my post from another subreddit as well because this is how I eat healthy for cheap.
Edited to add, and edited below for formatting and ease of reading.
HCOL state, (NJ)
- obviously prices may not be available everywhere but this was what I bought on a budget of $10 this week:
Produce:
Sweet potato 0.47lb at .79c/lb = 0.37
Carrots 1lb 0.69
seedless cuc 0.99
yellow onion 0.38lb at 0.59 = 0.22
yellow zucchini 0.82 @ 0.79/lb = 0.65
orange pepper 0.49lb @ 1.29/lb = 0.63
banana = free from work $0
tomatoes = free (found container outside grocery store in a cart, picked out a couple bad ones) $0
produce total: $3.55
dry goods (walmart)
Navy bean 1lb: 1.28
White rice 2lb: 1.77
White flour 2lb 1.32
can diced tomatoes 0.96
Foraged foods
- 1 lb dandelion greens in my freezer
less than $9 for everything above!
stuff I have at home to round this out- 1 can beans, 1 lb dry black beans, 1lb dry pinto beans, 10 eggs, small tub of 2% plain greek yogurt, 1 pack of corn tortillas, 1 8oz package farro, 1 lb oatmeal, 1lb quinoa, sugar, oil, and spices.
I have 1 package coffee.
also received two apples free from work as well that i will be incorporating for my breakfast.
For breakfast this morning I had coffee (free from work) and a banana (free from work)
I had a protein bar for lunch $2.69 ( a splurge lol)
below is the recipe for my dinner tonight.
dinner tonight;
½ small onion $0.11
1 can habichuelas rinsed $0.99
3 small campari tomatoes (free)
a few cloves of garlic $0.30
spices (cumin, aleppo pepper, red pepper flakes, salt) free
4 corn tortillas $0.30
a few spoonfuls plain greek yogurt (counting as free bc i bought it two weeks ago lol!)
tiny bit of oil negligible idk
makes two servings $1.70 – $0.85 per serving
recipe: dice onion (reserve a few pieces for topping your tacos),
cook on medium heat til translucent. add garlic, tomatoes chopped.
add salt and spices and cook until tomatoes are breaking down.
add rinsed can of beans and mash half while cooking, leaving the other half more or less intact.
toast tortillas directly on the gas burner on low until appropriately warmed/charred.
add the bean mixture, top with your reserved diced onion and your hot sauce of choice (obv free from the sauce drawer)
I also topped this with an avocado that my roommate had that was about to go bad that she told me to use.
cheap, VERY filling and delicious dinner.
i ate it before i could take a picture but it was very good!
eating good this week!!!
by step2_throwaway
10 Comments
This is wonderfully detailed!
Amazing job!
I was just admiring how I bought a bag of 20 flour tortillas for $1.50. They are so cheap. Love your meals. Whole Foods are healthiest!
Impressively frugal!
This is an innocent question, but are your meals vegetarian by choice or necessity? Either way, I am superbly impressed with your menu and shopping skills.
10 dollars!? I’ll just be over here crying in Canadian.
My plans for the rest of the week:
Tuesday
* breakfast – oatmeal, banana and coffee (free)
* lunch leftovers from Monday dinner ($0.85)
* dinner – will throw ½ lb of pinto beans (started soaking them tonight) with spices, a few carrots, and a bullion cube in the crockpot, and add the rest of my free tomatoes, and a third of my washed dandelion greens. will eat this over rice. – beans $0.50, carrots $.20, onion $0.11 tomatoes, free, dandelion, free, rice $0.44 (this will make 2-3 servings). (~$1.25 total)
* snack may eat half of the pepper dipper in yogurt $0.30.
Weds:
* Breakfast – coffee, apple, yogurt, sachet of peanut butter from work – free
* lunch – leftovers from tuesday dinner
* dinner – I am on call so will eat free at work
Thursday (post 24 hour call)
* will likely sleep until at least 2 pm so skip breakfast. maybe I will get a free bagel or piece of fruit from work before I leave. before I go to sleep for my post call day I will cook the remaining half pound of dried pinto beans ($0.50) with the can of diced tomato ($0.93) in the crockpot on low.
* snack – remaining ½ pepper $0.30, remaining yogurt with a sachet of PB from work (free)
* dinner – pinto beans with two eggs over spiralized zuchinni ($1.00 for the eggs, $0.32 for half the zuchinni)
Friday
* breakfast remaining apple, oatmeal, and coffee (free)
* lunch leftovers plus the english cucumber ($0.99)
* dinner – egg tacos – two eggs with hot sauce, will add any remaining beans I have ($1.50)
Saturday
* breakfast – will probably have a protein bar ($2.69) and free coffee for breakfast as I am working am clinic. will bring the remaining carrots as a snack for work. ($0.45)
* lunch – probably egg tacos – two eggs with hot sauce on tortillas ($1.50) maybe will put the other half of the zuchinni as a topping ($0.32).
* dinner – will probably go out to eat. I will probably spend less than $50 and bring home leftovers.
Sunday
* breakfast – coffee (free)
* lunch – going out to brunch for mother’s day; will splurge on this and split it with my sister – budgeted in advance.
* dinner – leftovers, roasted sweet potato ($0.32)
Total (minus brunch cost)
65.83 for the week – this includes $50 (MAXIMUM) for going out to eat. Mother’s day brunch was budgeted in advance.
If I skipped going out, my cost would be around $16 for the week. (Edit, I think I messed up the math somewhere but I think this checks out… normally do this in a spreadsheet but wanted to show you my thought process on eating everything I bought).
I also recognize the privilege and benefit I have from getting free coffee and food from work, which really helps me keep my budget v lean 🙂
as an aside, I am also attempting to lose a bit of weight so the calories here would probably be way less than what others eat – could easily add more food or make portions larger but obviously cost would go up on that too.
Remaining food from above: 6 eggs, 3 cups white rice, 1lb dried black beans, 1lb dried navy beans, 2lb flour, prob around ~ 16 corn tortillas, 1 lb quinoa, 8oz farro, ½ lb dandelion greens. also in my pantry I forgot about – a tin of pizza sauce, a packet of yeast. so maybe pizza next week? need to buy cheese but it’s an idea!
Thank you for sharing! I was originally going to make stuffed bell peppers, but I saw your sweet potato and decided to use sweet potato instead of peppers. I’m excited now 😋
What do you use dandelion greens in?
Thank you for posting. I can remember being at a place where I was hungry all the time and I never wanted to ask for help. Seeing recipes like this is comforting and good.