The Cheapest Healthy Meal Ever!

Rowan9

Someone started a thread on here about healthy meals on a budget, maybe a month or so ago. Someone will be able to find it and do a link. It had great ideas in it.
W

Sambucus_Nigra

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

One of my resolutions for the new year I have tried Soya milk before and hated it on cereal etc and found it curdled in coffee (is that me?) but I'm certainly going to give it another try in cooking!:)

Coffee-mate is non-dairy. I was non-dairy for 10 years and got through the lack of milk and cheese by:
Soya milk on cereal
Coffee-mate in coffee
Mayo on pasta instead of cheese in the pasta

patchwork_cat

I have long had my concerns and voiced them about over bulking with carbs and stretching a chicken 15 times! I have been shouted down and told that we don't need as much protein as we eat, but I disagree. I would recommend bulking out meat with pulses, but always have an awareness of the fact that pulses are not a complete protein, so combining it with a small amount of the corresponding grain to make a complete protein.

Also eat the seasons with fruit and veg, shopping at a market, if you have a good one locally.

Waxy_Bean

We eat in a similar manner as our LO is allergic to milk, eggs and nuts - so we spend a lot on special soya milk for him, and eat a lot of meat and fish as part of meals. I do try and bulk out with beans and pulses and veg where I can (e.g. in chilli, currys and bolognaise), and also use cheaper cuts of meat - so chicken thighs, minced meat, stewing steak and often we find that pork is on offer. I tend to stock up on meat when I see it on special offer and freeze it.

kippers

I agree about the lactose free milk being really expensive. My dd has only recently been diagnosed with lactose intolerance but we have tried all sorts of milk eg soya, rice milk etc and she only likes the lactose free milk, but at least she will eat her cereal now. I keep the milk just for her and the rest of us have the normal milk.

I usually get 3 meals out of a chicken and this gives a decent portion of chicken each time. I think with other meals during the day we all get at least the recommended 45g of protein:

This website may help anyone who is worried about protein:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/treatments/healthy_living/nutrition/healthy_protein.shtml

patchwork_cat

kippers wrote: »

I agree about the lactose free milk being really expensive. My dd has only recently been diagnosed with lactose intolerance but we have tried all sorts of milk eg soya, rice milk etc and she only likes the lactose free milk, but at least she will eat her cereal now. I keep the milk just for her and the rest of us have the normal milk.

I usually get 3 meals out of a chicken and this gives a decent portion of chicken each time. I think with other meals during the day we all get at least the recommended 45g of protein:

This website may help anyone who is worried about protein:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/treatments/healthy_living/nutrition/healthy_protein.shtml

That link says that women should eat 45 g and men 55g. There are other schools of thought that say that that amount would only be suitable for a sedentary man of less than 10 stone. If you had an active 6 footer of 13 stone that did exercise even moderatley then they should eat more like 82g.

It is important to remember as well that that is not 55g of meat, but protein. As chicken , eg, is 22% raw (approx) protein that would be about 250g raw chicken per day.

Without knowing how many people Kipper is getting 3 meals out of a chicken for and without knowing the weight of the chicken or what else they eat, it would be hard to say whether there was adequate protein. For my family stretching an average chicken for 3 meals this would not be nearly enough protein.

~Chameleon~

patchwork_cat wrote: »

That link says that women should eat 45 g and men 55g. There are other schools of thought that say that that amount would only be suitable for a sedentary man of less than 10 stone. If you had an active 6 footer of 13 stone that did exercise even moderatley then they should eat more like 82g.

It is important to remember as well that that is not 55g of meat, but protein. As chicken , eg, is 22% raw (approx) protein that would be about 250g raw chicken per day.

I agree with you. Minimum protein intake should be 0.7g/kg of bodyweight for light sedentary work rising to double that for athletes/bodybuilders. Too much protein can actually be detrimental and affect calcium uptake so women in particular need to be aware.

rinabean

patchwork_cat wrote: »

That link says that women should eat 45 g and men 55g. There are other schools of thought that say that that amount would only be suitable for a sedentary man of less than 10 stone. If you had an active 6 footer of 13 stone that did exercise even moderatley then they should eat more like 82g.

Those "other schools of thought" have no serious evidence for their claims. It is not possible to be deficient in protein unless you are severely undernourished. If you prefer to eat lots of protein, that's your business, but it's not necessary for good health. This is an OS, moneysaving board, not a "spend lots of money on fad diets that probably actually harm health" board.

OP, nuts and seeds will add satiety to your meals. They are also useful for blending into creamy sauces when dairy cream is not an option. Not as cheap as some foods, I know, but they are not horribly expensive either (unless you buy in the snack aisle of the supermarket - I can't believe the prices they charge! If you find the baking or wholefoods section the exact same nuts will be cheaper.)

To stop soy milk and cream curdling, put it in the mug first and microwave it until it's close to or the same temperature as the coffee. It's a pain but it always works. Can't vouch for the taste as I'm not a coffee drinker, but my husband likes it

I've heard of "cauliflower rice" before and I've been meaning to try it. I find cauliflower unpleasantly bland most of the time but maybe that's why it works as a rice substitute.

I like the recipes on this site. Her focus is dairy-free and gluten-free more than low-carb, but a lot of it is low-carb too. Again, lots of nuts, which aren't the cheapest food in the world. Everything I've tried from her is very tasty.

patchwork_cat

rinabean wrote: »

Those "other schools of thought" have no serious evidence for their claims. It is not possible to be deficient in protein unless you are severely undernourished. If you prefer to eat lots of protein, that's your business, but it's not necessary for good health. This is an OS, moneysaving board, not a "spend lots of money on fad diets that probably actually harm health" board.

OP, nuts and seeds will add satiety to your meals. They are also useful for blending into creamy sauces when dairy cream is not an option. Not as cheap as some foods, I know, but they are not horribly expensive either (unless you buy in the snack aisle of the supermarket - I can't believe the prices they charge! If you find the baking or wholefoods section the exact same nuts will be cheaper.)

To stop soy milk and cream curdling, put it in the mug first and microwave it until it's close to or the same temperature as the coffee. It's a pain but it always works. Can't vouch for the taste as I'm not a coffee drinker, but my husband likes it

I've heard of "cauliflower rice" before and I've been meaning to try it. I find cauliflower unpleasantly bland most of the time but maybe that's why it works as a rice substitute.

I like the recipes on this site. Her focus is dairy-free and gluten-free more than low-carb, but a lot of it is low-carb too. Again, lots of nuts, which aren't the cheapest food in the world. Everything I've tried from her is very tasty.

0.8 g of protein per Kg body weight for a sedentary individual is not a fad diet! I find the tone of your post offensive, aggressive and unnecessary.

I would like to see evidence of you remark that they have no serious evidence for their claims and also evidence that eating 0.8g of protein is hazardous to health?

I hardly think that the University of Maryland would advocate a 'fad' diet without evidence http://www.healthcalculators.org/calculators/protein.asp

jpscloud

Soya milk is a bit of an acquired taste - I had to work at it a bit, but I really like it now and have switched over completely and even enjoy it as a glass of milk. I don't use milk in coffee or tea so I guess that helps but it's great on cereals and makes really good scrambled eggs!