Eating healthy on a tiny budget in Superior-Duluth
September 21, 2014 7:10 AM Subscribe
Need tips on how a household of 20-somethings can eat decently on a very small budget. Two large guys who eat like large guys, one average-size girl. They are trying to lose weight and get healthier. Difficulty: she needs to avoid gluten and dairy, and limit carbs somewhat (so they can't do rice and beans every night.)
They like fruits, veggies and salads but have trouble affording them. They get food stamps but not a ton and have a small amount of cash to spend.
I don't live in the area, so I don't know where the cheap groceries are. Here are a list of stores they DON'T have nearby, so far as I can tell:
No Aldi
No Costco
No Trader Joe's
No ethnic markets (at least as far as Google will tell me)
They DO have Super One, Cub Foods and Walmart. There's a Sam's Club 20 miles away. And maybe there are other cheap stores that Google is not showing me.
So where should they shop, what should they buy, and what can they make with it?
They like fruits, veggies and salads but have trouble affording them. They get food stamps but not a ton and have a small amount of cash to spend.
I don't live in the area, so I don't know where the cheap groceries are. Here are a list of stores they DON'T have nearby, so far as I can tell:
No Aldi
No Costco
No Trader Joe's
No ethnic markets (at least as far as Google will tell me)
They DO have Super One, Cub Foods and Walmart. There's a Sam's Club 20 miles away. And maybe there are other cheap stores that Google is not showing me.
So where should they shop, what should they buy, and what can they make with it?
Best answer: Frozen veggies are amazing. Easy to keep, cheap and very nutritious. Lots of variety.
They can do stir-fry with protein of their choice.
Shop the deals. Buy chicken when it's buy-one, get-one, or in the Managers Special (in my Kroger they have huge orange stickers on them.)
Or buy in bulk. You can get whole chickens for .69 per pound and you can roast them quite easily, or cut them up and freeze them.
Canned tuna is .69 on sale at Walgreens, CVS or the supermarket, keep a look out and stock up.
Ground turkey is often less expensive than ground beef.
You can make stews and hearty soups with frozen veggies, canned tomatoes and meat.
Oatmeal is good for breakfast, no gluten (typically)
Look for 'dented' cans, and bruised fruit. As a store worker where it is kept. You kind of have to look for it, but deals abound there.
Corn tortillas and beans make a lovely meal and it's hearty.
Bean, lentil Split Pea soups are so freaking yummy! Loaded with protein.
You can coupon for things like canned goods, and other household necessities that may not be eligible for SNAP.
Eating cheap and healthy is doable on a tight budget, but going totally no-carb is damn near impossible. I'm here to tell you.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:32 AM on September 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
They can do stir-fry with protein of their choice.
Shop the deals. Buy chicken when it's buy-one, get-one, or in the Managers Special (in my Kroger they have huge orange stickers on them.)
Or buy in bulk. You can get whole chickens for .69 per pound and you can roast them quite easily, or cut them up and freeze them.
Canned tuna is .69 on sale at Walgreens, CVS or the supermarket, keep a look out and stock up.
Ground turkey is often less expensive than ground beef.
You can make stews and hearty soups with frozen veggies, canned tomatoes and meat.
Oatmeal is good for breakfast, no gluten (typically)
Look for 'dented' cans, and bruised fruit. As a store worker where it is kept. You kind of have to look for it, but deals abound there.
Corn tortillas and beans make a lovely meal and it's hearty.
Bean, lentil Split Pea soups are so freaking yummy! Loaded with protein.
You can coupon for things like canned goods, and other household necessities that may not be eligible for SNAP.
Eating cheap and healthy is doable on a tight budget, but going totally no-carb is damn near impossible. I'm here to tell you.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:32 AM on September 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Best answer: It's probably not as much where you shop as how you shop. Look at the various articles such as 10 Strategies for Fat Loss and Healthy Eating on a Budget. (There are a ton of articles on how to shop on a budget out on the Intarweb.)
Expect you'll spend more time in food preparation in exchange for the cost. For example, boneless chicken breasts are four times more expensive than a whole chicken.
Get a crock pot (easily found used at thrift shops.) Stews and soups are filling and healthy.
posted by blob at 7:32 AM on September 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Expect you'll spend more time in food preparation in exchange for the cost. For example, boneless chicken breasts are four times more expensive than a whole chicken.
Get a crock pot (easily found used at thrift shops.) Stews and soups are filling and healthy.
posted by blob at 7:32 AM on September 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Best answer: The SNAP cookbook in this recent FPP looked great to me and there were other good links in the comments.
The bottom line is that cooking good meals from real ingredients takes more time and attention than does eating prepared food and unless they are up for that there is no magic solution.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:40 AM on September 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
The bottom line is that cooking good meals from real ingredients takes more time and attention than does eating prepared food and unless they are up for that there is no magic solution.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:40 AM on September 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Cabbage; see Eastern European cuisine for lots of recipes, but I also simply cut a cabbage head into eighths, spear the wedges through with toothpicks so that they stay together, and cook them at the same time I'm stewing meat or otherwise have broth handy and they come out incredibly tasty. Cooking in broth or stock is also a great secret for making dried beans taste nice.
Speaking of which, falafel is good stuff if it's to their taste - Middle Eastern chickpea croquettes. I make massive amounts at once and freeze batches of them.
Nthing the crock pot and once they have it there's Wikipedia: List of stews.
posted by XMLicious at 7:42 AM on September 21, 2014
Speaking of which, falafel is good stuff if it's to their taste - Middle Eastern chickpea croquettes. I make massive amounts at once and freeze batches of them.
Nthing the crock pot and once they have it there's Wikipedia: List of stews.
posted by XMLicious at 7:42 AM on September 21, 2014
Cabbage and gluten-free noodles is scrumptious.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:47 AM on September 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:47 AM on September 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Best answer: There are lots of great legume recipes, actually, beyond rice and beans. Tons of yummy black bean soup recipes (super cheap if cooked from dry beans, eat it with plain yogurt mmm). Also, lots of lentil recipes are great-- I love lentil curries made with coconut milk.
Frozen veggies are great value, and make everything super easy. I love those pre mixed bags of stir fry veggies, in particular.
Whole chickens or packages of just chicken legs or thighs tend to be cheaper.
Things I buy a lot of when trying to stick to a budget: oatmeal, bananas, whatever fresh fruits and veggies are on sale, sweet potatoes and squashes, eggs, frozen veggies, beans and lentils. Of course, I have the time/experience/inclination to turn those kind of boring foods into delicious foods, so ymmv.
Meal planning is also a big part of this: they need to make sure that they're thinking about how the things they're buying are going to go together. If they use half of a bag of spinach for one dinner, what recipe can they make to use up the other half of the bag before it goes bad? Thinking about the week's meals as a whole and making sure whatever you're buying can multitask and be used together is key.
I actually disagree with this: It's probably not as much where you shop as how you shop. (sorry, blob). You can look for deals at standard grocery stores, but if you go into to a discount place, everything is shockingly cheap. Some other discount chains they might have near them: PriceRite, Save a lot. Some of the food they sell is junk, but staples and sometimes produce (the PriceRite I shop at has an incredible produce section, but I've never seen an impressive Save a lot produce section) are fine and dirt cheap.
posted by geegollygosh at 7:55 AM on September 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Frozen veggies are great value, and make everything super easy. I love those pre mixed bags of stir fry veggies, in particular.
Whole chickens or packages of just chicken legs or thighs tend to be cheaper.
Things I buy a lot of when trying to stick to a budget: oatmeal, bananas, whatever fresh fruits and veggies are on sale, sweet potatoes and squashes, eggs, frozen veggies, beans and lentils. Of course, I have the time/experience/inclination to turn those kind of boring foods into delicious foods, so ymmv.
Meal planning is also a big part of this: they need to make sure that they're thinking about how the things they're buying are going to go together. If they use half of a bag of spinach for one dinner, what recipe can they make to use up the other half of the bag before it goes bad? Thinking about the week's meals as a whole and making sure whatever you're buying can multitask and be used together is key.
I actually disagree with this: It's probably not as much where you shop as how you shop. (sorry, blob). You can look for deals at standard grocery stores, but if you go into to a discount place, everything is shockingly cheap. Some other discount chains they might have near them: PriceRite, Save a lot. Some of the food they sell is junk, but staples and sometimes produce (the PriceRite I shop at has an incredible produce section, but I've never seen an impressive Save a lot produce section) are fine and dirt cheap.
posted by geegollygosh at 7:55 AM on September 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Meal planning is also a big part of this: they need to make sure that they're thinking about how the things they're buying are going to go together. If they use half of a bag of spinach for one dinner, what recipe can they make to use up the other half of the bag before it goes bad? Thinking about the week's meals as a whole and making sure whatever you're buying can multitask and be used together is key.
This is probably the most important factor but also the hardest to learn. Recipes are easy; putting together a pantry of basics plus weekly (or daily if you roll that way) shopping lists that come together as tasty and healthy meals with minimal wastage is a lot harder even without a tight budget situation or the limitations of SNAP.
The other useful skill that you can take for granted if you grew up with it but many people do not seem to have acquired is the reverse: where you look at what is in your cupboard and fridge and pull together good meals out of what just happens to be there. (It's the same idea as when you go to the store and see what cut of meat is on clearance sale and then quick figure out what to buy to go with it, as compared to going in with a list that you buy regardless of price, if that makes sense.)
You may have already done this, but something useful might be to buy them a couple of good cookbooks (used copies can be very cheap) to help give them the tools to work from. Personally I really like Bittman's How To Cook Everything cookbooks as solid references for a flexible general approach rather than hyperspecific recipes, but there are other great reference options that cover this and whatever you get has to work with their tastes anyway.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:26 AM on September 21, 2014
This is probably the most important factor but also the hardest to learn. Recipes are easy; putting together a pantry of basics plus weekly (or daily if you roll that way) shopping lists that come together as tasty and healthy meals with minimal wastage is a lot harder even without a tight budget situation or the limitations of SNAP.
The other useful skill that you can take for granted if you grew up with it but many people do not seem to have acquired is the reverse: where you look at what is in your cupboard and fridge and pull together good meals out of what just happens to be there. (It's the same idea as when you go to the store and see what cut of meat is on clearance sale and then quick figure out what to buy to go with it, as compared to going in with a list that you buy regardless of price, if that makes sense.)
You may have already done this, but something useful might be to buy them a couple of good cookbooks (used copies can be very cheap) to help give them the tools to work from. Personally I really like Bittman's How To Cook Everything cookbooks as solid references for a flexible general approach rather than hyperspecific recipes, but there are other great reference options that cover this and whatever you get has to work with their tastes anyway.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:26 AM on September 21, 2014
The season is passing now, but if you have some space for it, a vegetable garden might be an option. A friend in that area has produced prodigious amounts of vegies in a fairly small set of planters along the side of her house.
posted by dws at 8:47 AM on September 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by dws at 8:47 AM on September 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Ruby's pantry may be very helpful to you. I don't know how well they can manage the food sensitivities, but I've heard it's a great place.
posted by meese at 8:49 AM on September 21, 2014
posted by meese at 8:49 AM on September 21, 2014
This recent post from this subreddit might be helpful. While there are some carb-heavy recipes on that subreddit, there are enough recipes that are low-carb that I find the posts useful.
posted by gursky at 8:51 AM on September 21, 2014
posted by gursky at 8:51 AM on September 21, 2014
You are in Duluth Superior. It's deer season. Certainly one of you has a tag and you can all share the processing fees. You have meat for most of the semester.
posted by littlewater at 8:52 AM on September 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by littlewater at 8:52 AM on September 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
I'm a poor graduate student so here are my tips, with a $50 budget for monthly groceries.
If the grocery store has bruised produce for a discount, take advantage
Meal plan. Seriously. I tried to just keep basics stocked and make things up as I go but I was spending so much more money. When you have dollars to spend every week, meal planning will save you. It also means I rarely waste things, forgetting they are even in there.
If there's a kroger there, they often have manager's specials - items on clearance (bread and pastries that needs to go, canned items, and meat that is nearing is sell-by-time).
Eat the same thing for breakfast everyday that week. I save a lot of money by paring down the variety in my diet. I like to eat a whole bunch of different things, but it's hard to do that when every dollar is significant. So I may eat oatmeal every day this week.
Kroger also has a weekly free download. Getting a free yogurt or frozen individual meal or protein bar or whatever it is just adds a little luxury in my tight, tight budget.
posted by Aranquis at 8:53 AM on September 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
If the grocery store has bruised produce for a discount, take advantage
Meal plan. Seriously. I tried to just keep basics stocked and make things up as I go but I was spending so much more money. When you have dollars to spend every week, meal planning will save you. It also means I rarely waste things, forgetting they are even in there.
If there's a kroger there, they often have manager's specials - items on clearance (bread and pastries that needs to go, canned items, and meat that is nearing is sell-by-time).
Eat the same thing for breakfast everyday that week. I save a lot of money by paring down the variety in my diet. I like to eat a whole bunch of different things, but it's hard to do that when every dollar is significant. So I may eat oatmeal every day this week.
Kroger also has a weekly free download. Getting a free yogurt or frozen individual meal or protein bar or whatever it is just adds a little luxury in my tight, tight budget.
posted by Aranquis at 8:53 AM on September 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
It's deer season. Certainly one of you has a tag and you can all share the processing fees. You have meat for most of the semester.
This is a great point. If they're not so much into hunting, they can likely get a deer from someone who is. Lots of people hunt but don't actually want the meat afterward. Storage is an issue, though, assuming they don't have a deep freeze.
posted by geegollygosh at 9:15 AM on September 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
This is a great point. If they're not so much into hunting, they can likely get a deer from someone who is. Lots of people hunt but don't actually want the meat afterward. Storage is an issue, though, assuming they don't have a deep freeze.
posted by geegollygosh at 9:15 AM on September 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Lots of great suggestions, but if the girl has to watch carbohydrates in general, and not simply refined carbohydrates and wheat, some may be of limited utility. Most of the calories in vegetables and legumes come from complex carbohydrates. Just a point that might need to be taken into consideration. If "limit carbs somewhat" simply means "avoid foods with a high glycemic index," then never mind.
posted by brianogilvie at 9:36 AM on September 21, 2014
posted by brianogilvie at 9:36 AM on September 21, 2014
Response by poster: She does not need to eat super low carb I don't think, more a matter of needing to lose some weight combined with a strong family history of diabetes. So I think "avoid foods with a high glycemic index" is mostly what she needs, along with trying to keep her total carb intake lowish.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 1:25 PM on September 21, 2014
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 1:25 PM on September 21, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by zia at 7:19 AM on September 21, 2014 [1 favorite]