“Found Object Meals” and Other Eating Tips for the Frugal

March 28th, 2008 • Related • Filed Under
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My grocery bill’s up, in spite of coupon fever. Time to pull out all the stops. I still enjoy a night out once in a while, but when eating in, I’m watching my dollars more than ever. Here’s how I’m doing it-

Only eat organic when necessary. Eating organic is important, but costly. It is especially important for children. See this post on “When Eating Organic Pays Off and Doesn’t.”

Try planning a few meals a week without meat. Protein is essential to your diet. You need thirty-five to fifty-five grams per day. Protein is made up of 21 different amino acids. Meat, Poultry, Dairy, and seafood, are good sources of complete proteins because they contain all of these amino acids. Grains, beans, and rice contain some of these amino acids, and when eaten in the right combinations, make a complete protein. And grain, beans, and rice are much less expensive.

Some examples, with a little dairy thrown in:

  • Beans and tortillas
  • Beans and rice
  • Peanut butter sandwich
  • Vegetable bean chili and cornbread
  • Vegetable Lasagna with whole wheat noodles
  • Whole grain cereals with milk
  • Vegetable strata with low fat cheese and whole grain bread

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    You just need to eat these over the course of the day, not in the same meal. And eating less meat and low fat dairy products lowers your cholesterol and blood pressure.Buy what’s on sale. Plan your menu around the weekly grocery adds. Stock up. Spending more now is spending less in the long run.

    Buy in bulk. Products generally cost less the larger the package size.

    Use what’s on your shelf. We have “found object night” once a week, usually the day before I go grocery shopping. We’ve come up with some imaginative food combinations. OK, sometimes they weren’t so tasty, but, with an inexpensive bottle of wine, who cares?

    Cook extra, and freeze it for later meals or for packed lunches. No brainer here.

    Eat less processed foods. Processed foods are more expensive, have higher salt levels and lower nutritional value. And, they don’t taste very good!

    Find International recipes. Other cultures have developed cuisines around locally abundant foods. Try expanding your repertoire with Mexican bean enchiladas, Mediteranean falafel in pita, or vegetable lasagna.

    Make a game out of eating healthy for less. Have some fun with it. Don’t just eat for less. Anyone can do that. But can you eat healthy for less?

    Watch for future posts with healthy frugal recipes. Does any one have any tips or recipes they’d like to tell us about?

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    1. Comment by no imageMisa (Who am I?) on 3 April 2008:

      Have you read the book “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan? While the book is meant to talk about how the more we diet and worry about nutrition, the less healthy we seem to become, but it works well talking about how to be frugal with food. The book can be summed up in seven words.

      Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

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    2. Comment by no imageLisa (Who am I?) on 4 April 2008:

      @Misa- I agree, there is so much written on “eating right” out there. We all need to practice the habits more, and read about them less.
      Nevertheless, I think I’ll add that book you suggested to my reading list. I liked your review of it. Thanks for the tip. Lisa

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