I am looking to start cooking more but I want to cook healthy meals for 2 people. My problem is everytime I set out to make a meal I easily spend $30 or $40 just for ingredients because I have to buy each ingredient and all that separately. Example, I bought fresh rosemary, fresh sage, and baby spinach the other day each coming to roughly $3 or $4 each. Thats $12 already for one meal and I haven't even added the normal stuff. I buy items and only use them once b/c I don't know how to put it to good use several times. We could eat out and actually save money instead of me cooking sometimes! Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions or ideas it would be great. I need to find a cook book of some sort that will give me a list of ingredients to use and 4 or 5 different ways to use them all for that week for different meals. ok sorry this is so long!

i think you`ve answered your own question there man. You really need to buy a cook book there are millions out there so it shouldnt be difficult to find one that fit your criteria

Thanks for the advice. I always think I have to follow a recipe to the T so I miss out on being able to use a lot of recipes. I guess I could start modifying them a bit and substituting with what I have.

If you're looking for a healthy buy cheap meal.. try making a mexican salad. I buy romaine lettuce, lots of veggies, fat free cheese, lean ground turkey, salsa and seasoning. As long as you have a healthy portion, this is a great dinner! I never get sick of it.

Heather

Great cheap healthy I meals I eat all the time consist of; Eggs, broccoli, brown rice or Turkey sandwich with lettuce, onion, and mustard or ground beef patties with mustard and broccoli or Chicken salad with the spring mix from fresh express. Those are all good cheap meals and easy to make.

Jared
TheFitnessVoice.com

natural peanut butter and whole wheat pita- you can fill the gullet for 3 days on 4 bucks!

Sweat Daily!

FF

I have a few ideas, although I'm feeding 6 not 2...maybe some would work for you too!

One great thing to do is buy meat at Sam's (large portions) cut into smaller meal size portions, wrap in freezer paper, label with the date and your meat based protein becomes MUCH cheaper. I just use within 2 months of wrapping to ensure freshness.

You can make healthy soups with vedgetables, beans, and brown rice that can be vedgetarian, or throw in leftover chicken/beef from night before and have a great healthy meal that uses leftovers as well. I often freeze 1 meal worth of soup for the next week too!

For healthy fresh vedgies if you want to go organic and cheapen it look into joining a co-op. Many organic farmers sell shares and you can get a box of produce delivered each week. Lots of these come with lists of healthy ways to use the vedgies they send you. This gives you very fresh produce at a reduced cost from the supermarket organic stuff. Sometimes these people can get you a line on cheaper organic eggs, cheese, and meat too.

I am big into fresh foods, but if not I prefer steaming, broiling, and grilling...but a crock pot sure can make a tough piece of beef, venison, or elk tender and cheapen the bill. Venison stew is healthy and cheap!

You may be able to eat out for less, but I doubt you can eat cheaper AND healthier many places then if you fix it yourself! At least you know exactly what you are eating and where it came from this way!

Bean salad is pretty cheap and really tasty.

Only two in our family, the need for budget meals came about after I was laid off work but we still make similar meals because they are healthy and economical.

Crock pots (not sure if it's called that in the US) are a really fantastic option. There are plenty of sites out there dedicated to crock pot recipes. One thing to look out for is that some use a tin or two of canned soups. Like with everything you buy at the store, you need to read the labels first. High salt is one thing to look out for.

We have two favorite dishes in our house using the crock pot. One is a beef and pepper recipe and the other is a chicken cacciatore. If you are interested, I'll be happy to post so just let me know

Good luck!

If you own a wok or orther good pan for it, stir fry can be extremely tasty, and you can manipulate it so many ways to maintain variety. I love mixing up some frozen veggies, such as peppers, carrots, and brocolli, with some steak or chicken cut into strips, seasoned with with ginger, sesame oil, and soy sauce, over some brown rice or noodles.

The best part is that you can usually make up a lot at once so you have plenty of leftovers for lunches and stuff.

Here is my contribution:

Chicken breasts tenders (frozen, raw) - I usually buy a big bag because it is so convenient for so many dishes.

Throw a bunch in a frying pan that has a cover. season with salt, garlic, pepper (whatever you like on chicken) and put it on a low heat- flip a couple of times.

(You can add frozen vegs, or cook fresh separately.)

Sweetpotato (not yam, sweetpotato). You can cook in an oven or micorwave. Add fat free chicken broth instead of butter and seasonings.

I like to have my chicken and sweetpotato with asparagus.

I place them on a cookie sheet. Drizzle them with a little olive oil (or you can use water and steam them) and seasoning (salt, pepper, garilc, whatever) at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes

For the more fattening version, you can wrap them in bunches of 3 or 4 stalks with bacon....lol


and you have a healthy balanced meal

cheers,
Diane

i make a lot of chillis, using ground turkey. pretty tasty, filling, and easy to make. you can thin it out with rice to make about 3meals/pound, ground turkey is only $4.50/lb here. so 6 meals for under $15.

--matt

I found this recipe that I like a lot buzz.prevention.com » Blog Archive » Grilled Buffalo “Wings” very easy to make, inexpensive and delicious...what a combo! You'll love it.