You’re excited to hit the restart button this fall. You’re making healthy changes in your kitchen and you’re likely finding the sticker shock to be a bit painful. (By the way, what is up with the price of butter lately?)
I feel ya. Healthy food costs more than processed “food.” That’s because real food is…real. It’s whole and it’s good, and it is the result of hard work and careful practices. (Go farmers!) Chemicals and fillers in processed foods are cheap to make in factories. You get what you pay for. But ugh, must feeding our families eat up (literally) so much of the pay check?
Always remember that the food you buy is an investment in good health. It helps to keep this in mind when you’re tempted to save money by filling your cart with cheap processed foods that won’t nourish.
Be encouraged! There are so many great meals you can make that are real, completely nourishing, and still very inexpensive. Phew! You’re not going to go broke. You just have to learn a few tricks to making this work.
I’m here to help. I am feeding teenage boys, after all. I really would go broke if I didn’t work to keep our real food costs down. After all, some of the darling children can eat half a casserole each. (And you wonder why I have so much Pyrex.)
Here are ten real food meals that cost less than $1.00 per person. Not only are they super inexpensive, these are some of our favorite meals. Score!!!
10 Easy Real Food Meals for Less Than $1 Per Plate
- Spanish Rice
- Pasta Alfredo
- Cheeseburger Soup
- Hearty Chili
- Crock Pot Barbecue Chicken
- Crock Pot Beef Stew
- Easy Chicken Pot Pie
- Chili Mac
- Dark Chocolate Almond Granola
- Black Bean Salsa
Sure, several of my boys eat 3-4 plates full of these meals. But that’s still only $3-$4 for each of them. I’ll take it.
Anna @ Feminine Adventures says
I ran out of butter for the first time in ages this week. Normally I stock up when it’s on sale but it has been ages! Still worth it, but expensive!
A few of our cheap healthy favorites:
Creamed eggs on toast (hard-boiled eggs in a cream sauce over toast)
Lentil Rice Casserole (recipe: http://feminineadventures.com/2012/03/24/recipe-savory-lentil-rice-casserole/)
And SOUPS! There are so many delicious and frugal soup options!
Anna @ Feminine Adventures says
has *NOT* been
Kristin says
Per one of your previous suggestions I got “The Little house cookbook : frontier foods from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s classic stories” from the Library. Let me tell you it was a humbling experience and gives me new found respect for what it truly takes to grow, preserve, and make one’s own food before the advent of refrigeration and freezing. It shows how the Ingalls’ and Wilder’ families had to hunt or raise their meat and then butcher and preserve it, grow and forage and preserve their own produce and make many simple foods needed for everyday cooking like butter, lard, vinegar, etc. (The Pure Food & Drug Administration Act had yet to be law, so many store bought products could not be trusted) And the quantities of food it took to feed the Wilder farm family of 6 are staggering.
So, the next time I grumble about how much my kids eat or having to get up at 6:15 on Saturday to make it to the farmer’s market, I’ll try to remember at least I didn’t have raise the chickens for my eggs, raise the lambs, pigs or cows and think how lucky I am to be able to go home an put it in my refrigerator and freezer.
So thanks for the reading suggestion. I plan to buy the more kid friendly “My Little House Cookbook” for my girls.
Joey says
We do some form of Tacos/taco salad a lot (oftern served with Spanish Rice). I’ll use whatever ground meat I have (beef, venison, turkey), add in some black beans if needed to stretch it, then just put on the table whatever toppings we have (salsa, lettuce, cheese, plain yogurt or sour cream, along with tortilla chips or tortillas). It makes a very fast, frugal and filling meal. And my kids love it because they can pick and choose what toppings they eat, so even the picky ones can find something they love!
Heather @ My Overflowing Cup says
Thank you so much for this encouraging reminder, Laura. I am going major shopping tomorrow, and I needed the reminder that real food is an investment in our health. The cost of food is a huge concern for our family these days, but so is our health. This is the reminder I needed. We eat a lot of soups and Mexican dishes so that meat can be a component of our meals rather than the star. And, butter? Oh, my! I love my butter, but the cost is outrageous. I hope that this is a short-term thing. Thanks, again, for the post.
Jenn says
Homemade pizza! Thanks for your “easiest, tastiest, healthy pizza crust” recipe. I use toppings on hand, and it’s DIY pizza & green smoothie night.