A girlfriend of mine asked me the other day what some healthy protein options would be for those on a budget. And this question, I of course, brought directly to Jake, my beau. I had my basic options but I wanted to address this question to him as well. I am of course a mom of 3 and understand that budgets are important and even more than that sometimes tight....eeeek. So how do we eat "clean" on a tight budget??? I think this may be the question of the decade. As we see America's waste line growing we do not see our healthy food options getting cheaper :( It is a sad reality.
So we need to fight the bulge and the empty caloric intake of the cheap food and seek out a healthy, cheap lifestyle. After all feeding 3 kids, two of which are boys, through their teen years is going to pinch the pennies for sure!
And so I bring you my ideas:
*First buy one tub of vanilla protein powder for baking and keeping healthy protein snack options on hand. I understand that the initial upfront cost is great, but the return and the time it takes to use those 70 servings is great. Here is what I use and you can go down and get it right at your local GNC.
*Turkey bacon....great protein and cheap. To make it crispy to dump over salads and seep away the grease place it inbetween 2 paper towls and microwave it for 2 minutes per 2 slices.
*Chicken, your local produce store generally will have some great sale prices on the fresh and frozen bird watch it and stock up on it when its there.
*Gardens-Now I know that most of us don't live out in the country these days, but most of us have a 4ft by 4ft area in our small "lawn". I urge you to check out square foot gardening, its a great way to plant a small garden in any area and get the most out of it!
*Buy in season-If strawberries are in season and cheap buy them and freeze them, bananas are always cheap and what some people don't realize even cheaper at their local Kwik Trip(however banans are a quick carb and should be eaten prior to or directly after a workout). I guess the point here is if it's not in season, try to buy minimal amounts.
*TUNA-yes the good old meat in a can, it is high in mercury so we don't want to eat it frequently, but is definitely great on the budget.
*And hey its summer time, who doesn't love to fish!!! Go catch your own dinner :) Barely any carbs and fat and a great meal and omega 3's and something we should aim to eat at least 3 times a week!
*Top Round....the leanest cut of meat on the beef, so actually pretty cheap. I like to buy "slices" of it as if a steak and cut and cook it in a pan with just some salt pepper and garlic powder on it and cook it to medium so it's pink in the middle. This helps to keep it tender and juicy due to the lack of fat for flavoring in this cut. I only flip it once to keep the juice in the meat as well.
*Eggs Eggs and more Eggs......almost made ya gag didn't it? :p Yes eggs are the cheapest source of protein we can find and we can use them everywhere. Hard boil them and dice up the white and put it on your salad, or in your tuna. The ideas for these are endless.
And so there are a few of my ideas for healthy cheaper eating. I guess when it ultimately comes down to it, "clean" eating is not necessarily the cheapest way to eat. But in the long run when you consider medical bills and other issues that come from eating the other junk, the cost upfront far outweighs the potential cost for not doing it. So it's a lifestyle choice and sometmes makes us look for the dime in the middle of our eggs, sadly we probably won't find it......but hopefully with these options we might find a few pennies every other egg :)
~ The recipe for the day is a yummy favorite of myself and my kids.....Jamie's Monster Meatloaf Recipe! YUMM :) And you cannot beat the nutrition facts. When you cut this into 24 pieces in a 9x13 you look and think they are tiny, but 2 pieces is about 6 oz and all you need for your protein for dinner! And the best part is, it tastes delicious!
Nutrition Facts:
Makes 24 servings
Single serving = 83 calories, .7 g fat, 3 g carbs, 15 g protein
Ingredients:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees and prep a 9-by-13 Pyrex dish with non-stick spray. In a large sauté pan, cook the onions and peppers with salt, pepper and thyme until onions are translucent (about 5 minutes). Next, add garlic, soy sauce, chicken broth and tomato paste, mixing until heated through. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, egg whites, oats and sautéed mixture (cooled). Mix by hand until all incorporated and press flat into the 9-by-13 prepared Pyrex dish.
Spread ketchup in an even layer on top of the prepared turkey and place in the oven to bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Makes 24 servings
So we need to fight the bulge and the empty caloric intake of the cheap food and seek out a healthy, cheap lifestyle. After all feeding 3 kids, two of which are boys, through their teen years is going to pinch the pennies for sure!
And so I bring you my ideas:
*First buy one tub of vanilla protein powder for baking and keeping healthy protein snack options on hand. I understand that the initial upfront cost is great, but the return and the time it takes to use those 70 servings is great. Here is what I use and you can go down and get it right at your local GNC.
*Turkey bacon....great protein and cheap. To make it crispy to dump over salads and seep away the grease place it inbetween 2 paper towls and microwave it for 2 minutes per 2 slices.
*Chicken, your local produce store generally will have some great sale prices on the fresh and frozen bird watch it and stock up on it when its there.
*Gardens-Now I know that most of us don't live out in the country these days, but most of us have a 4ft by 4ft area in our small "lawn". I urge you to check out square foot gardening, its a great way to plant a small garden in any area and get the most out of it!
*Buy in season-If strawberries are in season and cheap buy them and freeze them, bananas are always cheap and what some people don't realize even cheaper at their local Kwik Trip(however banans are a quick carb and should be eaten prior to or directly after a workout). I guess the point here is if it's not in season, try to buy minimal amounts.
*TUNA-yes the good old meat in a can, it is high in mercury so we don't want to eat it frequently, but is definitely great on the budget.
*And hey its summer time, who doesn't love to fish!!! Go catch your own dinner :) Barely any carbs and fat and a great meal and omega 3's and something we should aim to eat at least 3 times a week!
*Top Round....the leanest cut of meat on the beef, so actually pretty cheap. I like to buy "slices" of it as if a steak and cut and cook it in a pan with just some salt pepper and garlic powder on it and cook it to medium so it's pink in the middle. This helps to keep it tender and juicy due to the lack of fat for flavoring in this cut. I only flip it once to keep the juice in the meat as well.
*Eggs Eggs and more Eggs......almost made ya gag didn't it? :p Yes eggs are the cheapest source of protein we can find and we can use them everywhere. Hard boil them and dice up the white and put it on your salad, or in your tuna. The ideas for these are endless.
And so there are a few of my ideas for healthy cheaper eating. I guess when it ultimately comes down to it, "clean" eating is not necessarily the cheapest way to eat. But in the long run when you consider medical bills and other issues that come from eating the other junk, the cost upfront far outweighs the potential cost for not doing it. So it's a lifestyle choice and sometmes makes us look for the dime in the middle of our eggs, sadly we probably won't find it......but hopefully with these options we might find a few pennies every other egg :)
~ The recipe for the day is a yummy favorite of myself and my kids.....Jamie's Monster Meatloaf Recipe! YUMM :) And you cannot beat the nutrition facts. When you cut this into 24 pieces in a 9x13 you look and think they are tiny, but 2 pieces is about 6 oz and all you need for your protein for dinner! And the best part is, it tastes delicious!
Nutrition Facts:
Makes 24 servings
Single serving = 83 calories, .7 g fat, 3 g carbs, 15 g protein
Ingredients:
- 1 12-oz package chopped onions and peppers, thawed (or 1 - 1 1/2 cup fresh)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp minced garlic (or paste)
- 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 tsp tomato paste (no salt added)
- 3 lbs extra-lean ground turkey (or chicken breast)
- 1 cup quick cooking oats
- 4 egg whites
- 1 cup reduced sugar ketchup (no high fructose corn syrup)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees and prep a 9-by-13 Pyrex dish with non-stick spray. In a large sauté pan, cook the onions and peppers with salt, pepper and thyme until onions are translucent (about 5 minutes). Next, add garlic, soy sauce, chicken broth and tomato paste, mixing until heated through. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, egg whites, oats and sautéed mixture (cooled). Mix by hand until all incorporated and press flat into the 9-by-13 prepared Pyrex dish.
Spread ketchup in an even layer on top of the prepared turkey and place in the oven to bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Makes 24 servings
This isn't necessarily on the budget topic, but I was wondering...
ReplyDeleteIs there a place for whole grains when you "eat clean"? What about healthy "whole" things like rolled oats or brown rice??
Yup there is!!! Yay for grains. Actually I have a small "grain" or starch serving at every "meal". For breakfast my starch will be either a serving of whole wheat cream of wheat, or a serving of rolled oats or quick oats (just not the prepackaged instant stuff) or 3 rice cakes. I eat that along with my egg whites for breakfast and a piece of fruit. Remember we want carbs in the morning if we are going to be taking them in. Then I have a protein shake for a mid morning meal or 4 protein bars (my homemade ones), then lunch I will have 6 oz of lean meat and veggies and options like 3/4 c brown rice or 4oz sweet potatoe. Then afternoon snack I ususally have protein bars, since I have my protein shake in the morning, or a cup of cottage cheese. Then dinner is the same choice as lunch. 6oz meat small whole grain options like tortillas and other than all the veggies you can eat. Then around 8 after the kids go to bed I'll have a protein snack that's lo carb. I posted 2 different recipes on the earlier posts. One is a flan which is much tastier than the egg white protein cake. So yup thankfully there is a place for our whole grains!
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