Healthy Yet Budget Friendly Recipes

[Adalira]

Hi Everyone,

I am looking for healthy yet budget friendly recipes for lunch and dinner mainly but breakfast recipes are welcome as well :-)
We love this little organic supermarket in the city but it is sooooo expensive that we simply can not afford it.
Before my hubby moved from America to be with me he always ate organic foods.
I feel guilty that he gave that all up for me.
Building up a life and business together has not been easy and we have been struggling financially a lot.
This has caused for me to have a very tight grocery budget.
We are doing a lot better financially compared to 2 years ago but we still have a very tight budget since we have the upcoming move/ build of a new house.
We feel we need to save as much money as possible right now, but we do not want to sacrifice our health much longer.
We can both feel we have been eating poorly the past months, apart from us having gained a few pounds we also do not have as much energy and don't feel energetic.
The problem is that healthy foods like fresh fruit and veggies are expensive compared to the unhealthy crap they sell.
My question is, do any of you mers have great budget recipes that are also very healthy?
Even budgetting ideas with foods are most welcome as well.
The one thing we do in the summer is pock blueberries at a berry farm ourselves.
This saves us A LOT of money and we freeze them so we have blueberries all year.

[Ciriun]

Not a recipe persay, but beans are basically the best food ever when it comes to cheap and healthy. Dry tends to be cheaper for the same volume, canned is more convenient since you don't have to soak them. Either way, throw some beans into any soup, casserole, chili, or other ground meat dish. If you season them and get them nice and soft and maybe puree them or something they'll also work great as a spread or in any Mexican style cuisine.

Similarly, chickpeas are great for making your own hummus or baking with some salt and garlic powder or whatever other flavorings you like for an easy and addictive crunchy snack.

[Adalira]

Thank you for the tip.
We actually bought some chickpeas, they have been soaking in water for hours :-)

[SeaGlass Siren]

Vietnamese rice rolls(aka fresh spring rolls; aka summer rolls)
No cooking involved just mostly prepwork. You can add fruits, meats (cooked), vegan "meat", lettuce, noodles of choice, and eat it with peanut sauce. Plenty of recipes online and the ingredients stay fresh. Great for dinner*

[Ciriun]

Okay, now that I can sit down and really look through my digital collection, here are a few recipes I think might fit what you are looking for. I don't know the exact nutrient density or price for ingredients, but at a glance they look cheap and relatively healthy.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/vegetable-shepherds-pie/detail.aspx (I can't recall if I used this as is or as a jumping off point.)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/torta-di-pasta-recipe.html (I actually use Colby Jack for the cheese :p)
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/double-crust-bean-pie/detail.aspx (Untested by me but looks interesting.)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/squash-soup-recipe.html (Great in fall. I have made it without the ginger and skim milk instead of cream.)
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/luscious-lima-bean-soup/detail.aspx (I sub in regular onions for the leeks. Sooo good! Seriously, if you try any of these, make it this one!)

For a (slightly) healthier dessert:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/oatmeal-raisin-cookies-ix/detail.aspx (Great with nuts/dark chocolate chips if the batter doesn't shove them out.)

[Adalira]

Thank to you both, i love the ideas!
My hubby is currently on a very very strict diet for his health for the next week or so, after that he can eat more variety and we can test some of these recipes.
It does look like there are not many ingredients that i need to buy from what i see. I mean the seasonings are things i all have at home and the rest seems relatively cheap to buy :-)

[Ciriun]

Great! Let me know when/if you do try them, I'm interested to hear what you think.

[Adalira]

I bought spring rolls, veggies and sweet chili sauce today and made some spring rolls for lunch...omg that was soooo tasty!!
Definitely a great lunch for me!
Will definitely let you know when we try the recipes you shared Ciriun :-)
Thank you again!

[SeaGlass Siren]

I usually do grilled beef and apples or pineapples, rice noodle, and a ton of lettuce and other veggies for dinner.

for lunches, shrimp, crushed peanuts or cashews mixed with hoisin sauce and lime juice, with rice noodle and any veggies.

sometimes I do some sort of mango salad but put it into the roll instead

[Adalira]

I bought a mango the other day and it is ripe so it will be used in spring rolls tomorrow YAY!
Thank you for the recipes, they already helped a lot in finding some healthier alternatives to what we've been eating so far and i am loving it.
We are cutting back on bread A LOT and noodles, spring rolls and such are great healthy alternatives for lunches in stead of bread.
In the morning i eat rice waffles or spelt waffles, one with egg and the other 2 can vary. At the moment i put pesto on one with avocado slices, tomato slices and some basil leaves which is very tasty and healthy.

[SeaGlass Siren]

No problem :) best part is you can combine any flavours you want !

you should also do hot pot!! It's kind if like fondue but with soup and you use veggies and different cuts of meat or seafood instead!

[Azurin Luna]

I have a lot of Paleo recipies at home, some can be made cheaper too and they are tasty. I will look through them and see if I can find some nice ones

[Adalira]

Thank you Azurin! Looking forward to them! :hug:

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