We’ve talked before around here about how eating healthy food doesn’t have to be expensive. I mean, it can be, if you’re eating grass fed steak every single day. And yes, some “real food” ingredients are more expensive than their lesser quality food counterparts. But hey, I’ve seen a lot of junk food that is rather expensive, and if you’re eating out frequently then you are likely spending quite a bit of money that you could be saving…
Oh good grief. Why am I even going there? ;)
The point:
Real food can be expensive, but so can junk food, and I’m here to prove to you that eating a whole foods, healthy diet can be done without freaking out your pocketbook. That is all.
I’ve spent some time recently adding up the cost of many of the meals I feed my family, then dividing the amount by the number of people that particular meal feeds. Am I doing this because I have lots of extra time on my hands? (Do you really want me to answer that?)
No, I am doing this because I am excited to see that there are many, many healthy meals that can be prepared for around a $1 per plate! And I want to encourage you – if money is what is holding you back from beginning your real food diet – to take heart and know that really…healthy eating does not have to be expensive.
During the next few weeks and months, I am excited to share posts detailing full meals – with recipes – that cost around $1.00 per plate. This is what I feed my family – and trust me – we aren’t light eaters at our house.
Stay tuned. You will be amazed at how many meals you can feed your family that are healthy, real, delicious – and cost you a buck!
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What are your favorite, low cost, real food meals?
Beans and cornbread:)
Ooh! I’m super excited about this series! We have 5 boys. Our oldest is almost 11 and he already eats a lot…they all do! I could really use some help with making healthier meals!
What a great idea, Laura! I am always grateful for new menu ideas that can keep our food budget in control.
We eat beans fairly often. We love the variety and flavors- and the cost is unbeatable. They also work great in the crock pot!
Woohoo!! I am so excited to see your ideas! Always need more cheap healthy meal ideas.
This is so timely! I was thinking today about how much it sometimes costs for my family to eat our dinners…the other night I estimated about 3.50 per person!! OUCH!! I know that is less than eating out but man, I need to get that down just a little bit. We have two little girls and sometimes our almost 6 year old eats more than my husband!!! :) And our 7 month old has already expressed her love of mom’s cooking…so thank you Laura of Heavenly Homemakers!! Thank you! Thank you!
I too am excited about this feature Laura. I’ve been buying organic free range eggs from our produce co-op at $7.75 per dozen we go through about 3 dozen a week. Organic milk at $6.89 per gallon at 3 per week and organic butter at $6-$8 per pound. I tell you this organic food is eating us out of house and home! It will be nice to use meals that can possibly stretch my organic food dollars.
Wow. I don’t know where you live, but $7.75 seems a bit much for free-range organic eggs (especially when “free-range” may not really mean the chickens are foraging freely for their food but are rather fed feed from a bag). Have you checked Craigslist? We raise chickens, and my boys sell the eggs from our foraging chickens for $2/dozen. We do not buy feed for them except for in the depths of winter (here in South Carolina) when they cannot find enough food. We do feed them our food scraps, and that is almost completely organic. If I were to buy eggs from Whole Food, they would be $6/dozen for local “free-range” eggs.
If you have an Earth Fare near by there “free range eggs” (not organic)
are about 2.20 a dozen…not the greatest quality, but better
then walmart!
I live in Southern CA (2 hours South of Los Angeles). And you’re right, that is high in my opinion. I’ve purchase at my local grocery store $3.18. I was so excited to find a lower price, but they were not as deep golden in color as the eggs we buy for $7.75. They actually looked like the regular non organic eggs. They even said “cage free” which I know can be a slippery term, but wishful thinking on my part to not have to pay so much for them.
That’s craziness. We actually have chickens and eat lots of eggs because they are FREE!! They are pretty easy to keep and we live in the middle of a city. And we pay $5 per gallon of raw milk. But even if I bought cage free/free range eggs I would only pay about $2-$3 a dozen. We have a lot of people around us that sell their eggs.
$7.75? Yikes and I thought I was paying a lot at $4.00 from my local farmer’s market. Though it is nice knowing the chickens laying my eggs get actual pasture time. For reference humane certified, cage free eggs are around $3 at my local grocery store. Cheapest price around for organic milk is $5.99 a gallon. Organic butter is something like $4.69 at Trader Joe’s. I am excited to see how I can feed my family of 5 on $5. I am guessing the meal won’t be able to include any organic meat, cheese or much fresh produce.
Thank you for sharing. It had not crossed my mind check my local trader joes for organic butter,milk and eggs. I will definitely look into it on my next trip to purchase trader joes nut.
I am excited about this too! I love to know what things cost. I went crazy with computing when you did the what real food costs thread last year… My favorite really cheap meal is beans and rice. When I tell everyone we are having it, no one is particularly excited, but we all love it while we are eating it, especially with some delicious hot sauce!
My husband has a LOT of allergies & intolerances, so the typical beans & rice dinner is, sadly, not an option for us. My favorite inexpensive, meat-free, as well as make-ahead, there’s-nothing-in-to-eat dinner is a Spanish omelet. Mine is just potatoes, eggs, salt, pepper and fresh rosemary. The best part is that it tastes best at room temperature, so I can make it early in the day and it’s ready to go later.
Excellent Kate. Thank you =>
Sounds great to me!
That’s great! And the dollar menu at the fast food places doesn’t even give you a whole plate- you get one item per dollar. So if you get a main dish and a side, that’s at least 2 dollars. You’re even cheaper than the dollar menu!
So excited for these ideas. Hubby will be starting med school this upcoming year and with 3 kids with food sensitivities this will help give some inexpensive AND healthy meal ideas.
Is there any end to your terrific ideas?! I am looking forward to seeing your $1/plate menus. Thank you for doing all those calculations as it is a benefit to all of us. You are a continual source of inspiration to me.
Im excited about this new feature! Thanks!
excited to see this series! I am always trying to figure out the cost of our meals. I am convinced that eating real food can and should be less expensive that eating fake food. Our family of 2 adults and 6 kids spend less per month on groceries than our friends with 2 adults and 5 kids. Much less. They eat a lot of junk, and their kids “need” to snack a lot. My kids rarely snack, but when they do it is often something wholesome and filling, not empty calories that cost a lot. Soup made from home-made broth, left-over meat and veggies is a good cheap meal. Chili with a lot of beans and little ground meat is a favorite in our home. Crockpot refried beans served with “taco” toppings is a favorite too.
Wonderful Amy. Thank you=>
Thank you Laura! Your posts are getting better and better!! I had to leave another because it was becoming “doom and gloom”=> Keep your “funnies” coming, you brighten my day. Blessings to you.
P.S. and to you who post here =)
Looking forward to this. I have started changing the way we eat because our health was getting out of control and we needed to do something different. All this time I thought we were eating healthy and didn’t know the difference about processed foods until recently. But I am finding it a bit hard because of the expense, but it is necessary for me to keep trying, and I am looking forward to your posts to help me understand better. Thank you for doing this. Have a great day!
I’m excited to see what you have come up with!! Our grocery bill is really insane I’ll admit it…but it’s like an above poster commented if you are a “snacker” and you are buying premade snacks it gets costly! Especially if you can’t control your portions! I really feel the portions are what makes it costly! Most of us have just grown up to have HUGE portions! I’m working on it, but it is very hard! Also people have to remember organic junk for is still junk food! Anywho I can’t wait to see what you have figured out my husband pocket book will appreciate it ;)
we eat a lot of beans and bean variety foods. :)1
Okay, now you’re speaking more my language. :) I want to feed my family as well as possible without resorting to beans, lentils and rice seven days a week. Thankfully, my family does love those things, but still… I’m looking forward to this series. Every dime counts in this house these days.
Quinoa broccoli cheese casserole!
http://www.annies-eats.com/2012/09/17/cheesy-broccoli-quinoa-casserole/
A roasted chicken (with leftover meat to use in something else) and a salad with lots of extra veggies is an 8 dollar meal. Homemade rolls count as a free food because we always have those ingredients. Meatloaf and mashed cauliflower or potatoes is a 6 dollar meal. There are lots of possibilities and I am anxious to read what you have for 5 dollars.
A free-range chicken is $10 for us, and that is directly from a farmer friend. Still, a chicken roasted in the crockpot with organic potatoes (approx. $3) and organic carrots (approx $1), served with sliced organic apples (approx. $2) is $17, all organic, and not bad for a family of 8. We drink water and do without bread. We have very little meat leftover, but I make broth out of the bones for soup, setting the basis for a really cheap meal!
I’m so excited. Working on becoming totally debt free and still eating healthy. Can’t wait.
I am going to love these posts! What a great idea. Thank you for all the work you do to help us feed our families.
I will be following this closely. Our 3 boys eat us out of house and home! I especially want to do better at stretching meat further.
Some of our favorite inexpensive meals are:
Red beans and cabbage. Slice cabbage and cook in a bit of butter with onions and garlic. Add in cooked (and drained) red beans and taco or cajun seasoning. Simmer about half an hour. Melt in a handful of cheese.
Cabbage and potatoes. Cook cabbage and potatoes (and onions if desired) in butter, add water and simmer until done. Season with salt and pepper.
Add mashed black beans to hambuger meat to stretch it out, about half and half, amd make black bean burgers. Or you could make them with no meat and all beans. Their delicious either way.
Black bean and butternut squash tacos. Dice up butternut squash, sautee it in some coconut oil until tender. Add in cooked black beans and season with taco seasoning. Serve with tortillas and toppings of choice.
Another meal I’ve been making for years doesn’t really have a name. I cook ground beef with a diced up onion, add it to green beans and simmer it all in a slightly sweet tomato sauce (tomato sauce, sweetner of choice, garlic and onion powder) and serve it over cheddar cheese mashed potatoes. Sounds weird but it’s delicious.
Those are our go-to meals. Can’t wait to learn more!
I love your site and look forward to this.
I hope you don’t plan on featuring any rice dishes though considering the arsenic levels.
I have researched this issue and don’t feel concerned about eating rice as long as it is organic.
Well if you’ve researched it you know it makes no difference. I’m not keen on feeding my family those levels of arsenic. Unless you’re counting on antioxidemts to counterbalance the cancer risks? Curious. I know the FDA recommends consumption in moderation but many doctors are recommending none at all for children — especially not brown rice.
I am probably more concerned bc my children are quite small still.
Scary.
I agree Laura. One will consume more arsenic in their lives through water than through eating rice, unless you are eating at least 200g of rice a day. As with most things in life, moderation is the key. I have four small children and allow them rice in moderation for their diets as well. To each their own and I’m sure Laura will include a variety of meals for everyone’s taste and convictions. Thank you for putting this series together, Laura!
What about locally grown and harvested rice? I hadn’t heard anything about this, ugh!, until reading the post on here. The rice we’ve been eating is grown about 50 miles from wehre I live. Thanks!
I cant wait to see your ideas! It seems like feeding my family (of 7) a healthy low cost, tasty meal, has been a constant struggle!
I have been trying to eliminate more and more of the preservatives and colors in our home. I have two boys with adhd and the research I have done shows that many of the preservatives and food colors can cause/aggravate the disorder. However, I too, feel it is much more expensive. Being a single income family, I look forward to your $1 menu. Thank you!
I like the idea of $1 per plate but if I add it up it’s still more than we spend/can afford (we are really struggling to keep the grocery budget down right now and I’m probably eating less than I should for a breastfeeding mom), so I’m not sure how that would work. (Obviously cost varies depending on where you live.) $1 per person for dinner = $121 per month for a family of 4 for dinner. Assuming you can do breakfast and lunch for less(Say $.50 for breakfast and $.75 for lunch), I come up with $272 a month. Our budget says we can only afford $200 a month (Though usually it’s more like $215 or $220). So I guess there are those of us out here who need to figure out some healthy meals that cost less than $1 for dinner and even less for breakfast and lunch. Anyone have any ideas?
Appreciate all your efforts and experience to share with us.
One problem we have in saving on food costs is that my kids and I dislike beans (black, red, etc). They really upset our stomaches so if you have some recipes that don’t call for beans or suggest alternate ingredients, we’d be extra grateful.
We also have a variety of allergies, so I seem to have to cook 3 versions of a meal. Kids can’t have tomato products, I cant have many spices etc. Hard to find something we all can eat let alone all like. Husband needs low cholesterol.
Thanks.
We don’t eat beans either. My cheapest meal is chili, made with hamburger and shredded zucchini that I shredded and froze from my garden last summer. The zucchini cannot be tasted once it soaks up the tomato flavor. Add some home made bread and it is a pretty cheap meal—I make a huge amount and freeze it for two or three future meals.
Ooopppppps, sorry that I just reread your comment Picky Family and realized tomatoes are not an option for you. Sorry I didn’t realize that when I started blabbing about chili.
I do make a meal with hamburger fried up with onions and more of that shredded zucchini. On top of that I put shredded potatoes mixed with some cheese and then bake. If you have cream of mushroom soup, you can throw that in the meat, but we like it plain. You can make shredded potatoes much cheaper than store bought—put a bunch in the slow cooker for 4 hours on high. When they are fork tender, remove and cool. Shred and freeze in premeasured packets.
i fed 10 last week for a meal on
1 chicken 6.50
greens from the garden
sweet potatoes (currently about .25 a lb)
so 10 people for well under $10 a person. and we had leftovers (the chicken was huge and on sale). you just have to look for the deals. when i see them on sale, i buy several.
Yay, love those “free” garden veggies!!
Yes! Finally something about best overall diet.
I seriously never do this, but here I am leaving a comment. I just have to say that I really don’t believe that your family eats much. If your family eats a lot, we eat copious tons of food and are all underweight. I appreciate your efforts, but I’m afraid that with your portions I will end up spending $5 per plate instead of your suggested $1. I’m now going off to eat my third dinner. (I am pregnant, but still…)