Posted on 07/05/2007 6:00:55 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
For students living on ramen noodles or people in low-wage, time-consuming jobs, folks who are down on their luck or living on fixed incomes, healthy eating may seem too expensive.
Nutritionists say, however, that's a false perception. Healthy eating, in fact, is cheaper. The cost of expensive eating often isn't the food, it's the bells and whistles of trendy packaging.
"You pay for convenience," says Amy Moore, a dietitian at St. Louis University. "What it takes is planning and sometimes a little investment."
That means eating more fresh food from low-cost stores and farmers markets, watching store sales and using store coupons. The nutrition gurus, from the United States Department of Agriculture to the American Dietetic Association, say healthy diets should be built around vegetables, grains and fruits, not meat and prepared foods — the biggest expense on grocery bills.
Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, lived on $3 a day (to prove a point about food stamps) for a week and ended up eating mostly salads and lentil soup. She repeated that planning was the key.
"I learned how to shop. It gives you great insight on what it is to live on a fixed budget for your food," she said. "Most people who get food stamps are working poor."
She spent 2 1/2 hours planning and shopping at one store for the food for a week, which included reading grocery store ads for bargains.
"As one who doesn't eat a lot of carbs, I found it difficult to live on $3 a day," she said. "You can buy fresh fruits and vegetables, but you have to know how to cook."
PUBLIC ASSISTANCE
Dorian Jones, dietitian and counselor for People's Health Centers, says low-income families must learn to use money wisely.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
“Instead of buying the Froot Loops or Lucky Charms...”
Forget ALL of the boxed, processed cereals - none of them are good for you! They are grains, they are loaded with sugar, and the worst are the puffed cereals. Go for the eggs. Eat them soft, whether boiled, poached or fried. If fried, fry in real butter, or coconut oil. A little bacon, ham, or sausage with the eggs makes a much healthier breakfast than any of the cereals. If you need toast with your breakfast, let it be a toasted slice of a sprouted grain bread. And add some fruit.
A very good option is to offer your neighbor that you will wok his dog for him (half for you, half for him).
Cook it in a slow cooker with plenty of spices after you burn the hair off and gut it.
Downright tasty with veggies and some beef gravy.
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Interesting thread
Have not seen the pancakes cooked with big squash flowers in them yet
A bit of Italy
You obviously spent too much time in Nam!
In more ways than one...
[Have not seen the pancakes cooked with big squash flowers in them yet]
I’ve never heard of such a thing, strange sounding!
“...and perhaps just a little bit of soy sauce on top...”
Soy sauce is one of the few things that come from the soybean that is edible. In general, soy is bad for man, woman and beast. Soy is not a viable substitute for milk or meat. Only the USDA and vegans promote soy with the argument that soy is the mainstay in the far east - nothing is farther from the truth. And what soy is used for food is fermented.
As far as sweeteners go, don’t forget the molasses!
Definately! And chile gets better too.
I got one too. Try this. INstead of rice, put plain old wheat or rye or barley grain in your cooker. You’ll have to experiment with cooking times. Dont use cracked grains.
“Confine your shopping to the produce, meat and dairy sections”
I call that “shopping the outside”. All the inner isles are packed with processed foods.
I understand your frustration. I used to judge what people bought with my hard earned money, when I used to be able to work. I collected foodstamps while working a 40 hr minimum wage job. Then people started watching what I bought. I made a point to turn those 1/2 price tags on meat so that my fellow citizens saw that I was thrifty. Day old bread, dented cans, coupons.
Raw sugar costs twice as much as processed. I got a 5lb sack of regular sugar for 1.68 at Food 4 Less, along with packs of Kool Aid(yes I did buy a couple of grape flavored ones lol!)at 10 for a buck.
My altitude and crappy oven probably wouldn't make bread. It would more than likely make bricks. You have to factor in the faulty appliances poor people must make do with. If I find a used bread machine, I will definitely make my own, because not only is it cheaper, it is better for us. The link I posted above has a manual for a basic bread maker, that can be printed out. After he retired, my dad made the best bread on earth. Hot out of the oven, slathered with REAL BUTTER! Oh yeah, he made fruit crisps from the peach and plums grown in the backyard :) He taught me that dented cans and day old bread would not kill us. My mom wouldn't touch the stuff for fear of food poisoning.
I have often thought about volunteering to teach young welfare mothers how to shop wisely, and to cook tasty, healthy, and inexpensive food. Of course along with shop classes, home ec classes are gone. I feel sorry for them and their children. Us old timers sit here and judge ignorant girls who really don't know any better :(
Have you ever tried to make decent fries from raw potatoes? Yuck! I bought a 1lb bag of shoestring fries for 58 cents at FFL. Oh and btw, I almost was able to quit smoking until my 8 day vacation at the hospital. Thanks to the smokers on FR, I discovered organic loose tobacco and cheap filter tubes. Cheap, and they don't stink!!
I thought it was racist?
No, honesty will get you screwed these days. My 19 yr old just got bit by the dog. Granted the kids were warned that Boo is not a family pet any longer. I won’t go into why the dog did guard dog duty for 5 yrs, but the shop owner promised to take care of it. Yesterday was way over 100, and the dog had no water.
My bf is past fed up with this. He scrounged for building materials, and he and my son built a secure pen. So, my kid thinks the dog is warming up to him. HA! Boo just bit clean through his knuckle. I know a couple of nurses, and I’ll call and have someone look at it. If they say he has to go see a doctor, we are royally screwed. No fake ID’s in my house.
It’s kind of creepy. The neighbor, one of the nurses I will call at a decent hour, was introduced to Boo from the chain link fence seperating the properties. I told her that he was dangerous, and if he had a chance he’d rip my arm off and beat me to death with it. You know, just in case he managed to escape. He is huge, with a sweet teddy bear face :(
Hey, I like milk, why is it deadly?
My eMachine was purchased 4 years ago. We have a package deal with Verizon. Phone, DSL, and cable for 77.00 per month. We don’t go see movies, amusement parks, etc., so this isn’t exactly a big luxury like you’re implying. Everyone has always needed some kind of cable or dish thing to even get Los Angeles channels up here. There simply is no reception because of the mountains. We do not own a stereo. We have one older model car. I hate most TV programs, so I’d rather sit here on FR.
We have a 40 dollar electric bill. We conserve like crazy.
Your turn. Ask me about all our “bling”.
We get free eggs, courtesy of our friends who raise chickens :)
A good way to cook an egg is to crack one into a little water, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then nuke it. Remove with slotted spoon onto a toasted, buttered slice of bread.
I usually have a can of store brand Ensure, and a piece of toast with generic strawberry jam. Half of a grapefruit if they are reasonably priced. That and iced tea with lemon juice carries me through until I have to fix dinner.
Shop at Costco.
25# washed and triple cleaned Pinto Beans = $12.50
8# Black Forrest Ham = $20.00
2 large jars of jalepenos = $3.00
36 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix = $16.00
Four dozen eggs = $4.68
Two Gallons of milk = $6.00
Total = $62.18
Prepare two pounds of beans (prepare per instructions and gas is not a problem), dice up 1/2 lb of ham to put into beans, dice and add jalepenos to taste. Make three boxes of cornbread. Put beans and ham over cornbread.
All the above will easily feed a family of 4 for 12 meals, with some leftovers.
That’s about $1.25/person/meal; and it tastes great We have this about one per week, and everyone likes it. It’s all healthy.
If not for deaths or serious illnesses requiring liver transplants from E-coli, I might agree.
“Confine your shopping to the produce, meat and dairy sections. You’ll eat healthily and cheaply.”
I’ll give you two out of three. I agree a healthy diet consists of most produce, specifically most vegetables (not too much of the legumes and the starchy vegies like potatoes) and a few fruits, and meat. But I would avoid dairy to the extent possible. We don’t need it after we are weaned, and the predominant protein in it is likely to activate carcinogenic factors contained in other foods and environmental toxins. Eat like our DNA wants us to eat.
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