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🍳 Cooking 🍳 Cheap Yet Healthy Food Options

Liver is both delectable and bon marche

liver-with-onions-FC5M0M.jpg
 
I try to snack on various nuts (Peanuts, Almonds, Pistachios if i feel like treating myself) as well as these delicious Sriracha flavored dried peas that I get in the Asian food aisle at the store. There are also dried chickpeas. Those are a great source of protein and fiber and when paired with fruit, makes a great breakfast. I wish fresh fruit was cheaper but at least bananas and apples and the likes are cheap enough. For a while my breakfast would be a small slice of cheese, small handful of almonds, small handful of peanuts, small handful of dried peas or chickpeas and some fresh fruit. Was always filling enough and I always felt great after eating it. I want to start making that a habit again but money is tight and fresh fruit is costly.

I've been doing chili quite a bit for dinner. Nutritious, tasty, filling and cheap. Great all around.
 
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Round steak is a pretty tough, cheap cut of beef. Long cooking and slicing the meat into thin strips help the meat be more tender.


Using a cast iron or other oven safe skillet you sear it in oil then add garlic (lots), a few sprigs of rosemary, and a can of beef broth and put it in a 350 F oven for an hour to an hour and a half. Slice the meat as thin as your knife can cut and toss in the reduced sauce. The meat will be almost falling apart in a wonderfully flavorful au jus. You can eat it on any starch or dip bread into the sauce/meat and just eat it out of the skillet.
 
Not much a fan of beans
but lentils are very tasty to me, black & green ones the best as orange yellow are soft and fall apart
best for soup

you can buy bulk seeds - fennel, celery, anise, cumin , are my favorite
...roast em up in the oven on 325° for an hour
morter & pestal them into powder, add a couple or all
after lentils cooked
plus some smoked paprika garlic, onions (Vidalias are out right now)! jalapenos, smoked ancho peppers, tomatoes ...


started making this dish to lose extra weight as a big bowl full can get me through most of a day
as a bonus its one of the cheapest, healthiest whole foods you can buy
 
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CFC said:
I once drew up a mega spreadsheet of food prices per gram of protein, good fats, fibre and other values lol.

I think corned beef was pretty high on the list.
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You wouldn’t happen to have that still? :) I know the pricing will probably be different but could give a good idea which foods are relatively the cheapest.

-GC
 
G_Chem said:
You wouldn’t happen to have that still? :) I know the pricing will probably be different but could give a good idea which foods are relatively the cheapest.

-GC
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Hmm, I'll have a look. It was from like 2006 so definitely isn't on this laptop lol
 
Bone marrow makes an excellent broth. Easy to make.

Bluelight Insider's Tip: Broth can be used to make excellent puddings.

Meanwhile if you're throwing your bones away, you're skipping both the broth and the puddings. So saving your bones to broth them is essentially free broth and pudding.
 
gordonliddy said:
Liver is both delectable and bon marche

liver-with-onions-FC5M0M.jpg
Click to expand...

Can I have a stupid question? Every time I talk with Americans, they act really surprised that in central Europe/balkan countries we still eat many types organs, and you can basically buy liver in every bigger shop selling meat (chicken/pig heart, brain, stomach etc. is maybe a bit harder to find). Is it only a regional thing, or organ meats are actually not really popular in America?
 
Salem_is_tired said:
Can I have a stupid question? Every time I talk with Americans, they act really surprised that in central Europe/balkan countries we still eat many types organs, and you can basically buy liver in every bigger shop selling meat (chicken/pig heart, brain, stomach etc. is maybe a bit harder to find). Is it only a regional thing, or organ meats are actually not really popular in America?
Click to expand...

You're right, Americans are finicky eaters. I think if they realised that organ meat is a sign of manners they'd be much more into it. Like basically that's the best part of the animal. Like if your host at a party offers you a choice of steak or organ meat, it's a sign of respect because they're allowing you for yourself to have the opinion on which part of the animal tastes best. Americans don't really look at it that way, and it's tough to get it skillfully prepared in the US. So it's tough to sell to people.
 
gordonliddy said:
You're right, Americans are finicky eaters. I think if they realised that organ meat is a sign of manners they'd be much more into it. Like basically that's the best part of the animal. Like if your host at a party offers you a choice of steak or organ meat, it's a sign of respect because they're allowing you for yourself to have the opinion on which part of the animal tastes best. Americans don't really look at it that way, and it's tough to get it skillfully prepared in the US. So it's tough to sell to people.
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Thank you! So it is really a nation-wide thing, not just the people I know. It is really interesting - there has to be some historical reasons why Americans don't like organ meat.
 
Well just go back from shopping at a really expensive store cuz it’s by far the closest one. I walked out with 5 bags fairly full of food for ~$60 US. Pretty damn good if you ask me.

It was literally just veggies and meat. All the meat I bought was on sale. Bacon for 50% off. Family sized ground beef (more expensive but need some red meat in my life). And the cheapest, pork loins for $2.50lb.

Cooking up some venison sausage I got from a buddy that hunts, along with green beans and onion right now.

I’ll continue to update this as I go :)

Saturday or maybe Sunday morning I’ll be trying the fried rice.

-GC
 
If lazy and want easy meals:

Eggs
Beans
Potatoes
Oatmeal
Rice
Canned salmon (salmon patties)
Gnocchi/pasta with good sauce like DeLallo vodka sauce, or if you're really stretching dollars then cheaper sauce like Classico
Chicken Thighs
Pork
Cheap cuts of beef/ground beef

That stuff with some cheese, bread/butter/oil, salt/pepper/spices, other veggies and broths can make good multi-meals/soups/stews in a crockpot, good sandwiches, and both with the leftovers

Probably not super healthy to eat that for a month or two but I doubt it's unhealthy unless 50% of your meals are the pasta
 
Electrum1 said:
If lazy and want easy meals:

Eggs
Beans
Potatoes
Oatmeal
Rice
Canned salmon (salmon patties)
Gnocchi/pasta with good sauce like DeLallo vodka sauce, or if you're really stretching dollars then cheaper sauce like Classico
Chicken Thighs
Pork
Cheap cuts of beef/ground beef
Click to expand...
All good choices.
I think salmon patties in particular are terribly underrated. They can be exquisite-- especially if you make a simple dill sauce or remoulade to go with them.
 
Electrum1 said:
If lazy and want easy meals:

Eggs
Beans
Potatoes
Oatmeal
Rice
Canned salmon (salmon patties)
Gnocchi/pasta with good sauce like DeLallo vodka sauce, or if you're really stretching dollars then cheaper sauce like Classico
Chicken Thighs
Pork
Cheap cuts of beef/ground beef

That stuff with some cheese, bread/butter/oil, salt/pepper/spices, other veggies and broths can make good multi-meals/soups/stews in a crockpot, good sandwiches, and both with the leftovers

Probably not super healthy to eat that for a month or two but I doubt it's unhealthy unless 50% of your meals are the pasta
Click to expand...

Honestly that sounds healthy enough.. I mean there’s only so much that can be done on a budget but I’m mainly looking for anything that’s whole fresh foods with minimal sugar. Your list meets that fairly well I’d say.

To me, unhealthy is processed foods and foods full of sugar. I eat probably eat 200-300% DV of fat easily a day and am pretty skinny. Fat gets demonized too often.

-GC
 
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