“...healthy diets should be built around vegetables, grains and fruits, not meat and prepared foods...”
A couple of problems with this advise - contrary to what dieticians (a lot of old paradygm in what they advocate) and the USDA say, grains should be minimised in our diets. Grains are bad for several reasons - phytates and polyunsaturated fats. Refined grains (bread, pasta, etc) are the worst kind, although sprouted grain breads are healthy in moderation. Fresh vegetables and fresh fruits are good. Eggs should be included in all diets. Eggs are the lowest cost source of protein, and eggs are the standard by which all protein foods are measured - a near perfect protein food (forget the cholesterol myth - eggs are not a problem). Raw or minimal cooking is best for most of these foods, including eggs.
Red meat (beef, venison, buffalo, beefalo) can be healthy, but the “poorer” cuts are healthiest. Have these ground, or grind them yourself, and add organ meats to the grind for a super health treat. Rare is healthy.
Cut out the sugar and sugar sources. Use honey for sweetener, or maple syrup, or stevia. Fructose (not high fructose corn syrup) is ok in moderation - low glycemic and nearly twice as sweet as sugar. Minimise white potatoes (white flesh) and eat with the skin. Fried is good, but it must be fried in coconut oil.
Polyunsaturated oils are bad (corn, soybean, canola, peanut etc). Olive oil is “neutral”, but do not heat it - use it for your salads. Coconut oil, a saturated, medium chain fatty acid (mostly lauric acid) is the only oil that should ever be used for cooking or frying. We get a naturally refined coconut oil that does not smell or taste like coconut, and it is reasonably priced.
Trans fats come from polyunsaturated fats. I think that although trans fats are not good for us, they are no worse than any of the polyunsaturated fats - it is all bad.
So, back to eating well for less - fresh fruits and vegetables are easy to find at reasonable prices in season. And if you can find a market that specializes in these items in a bulk food, market type atmosphere, you can probably get good stuff for less year round. Again, eggs are a cheap source of the best protein out there - eat as many as you want, but eat at least four eggs a day. And go for the lower cost cuts of beef. Chicken is ok, but you need chicken that has never seen hormones or antibiotics. Stay away from store-bought milk. Pastuerization and homogenization make milk deadly. If you know a dairy farmer...well, get it straight from the cow.
Well, guess I got a bit long-winded with my comments, but you get the gist. We eat well, and we do it for less - routinely. We do not buy prepared foods. We do not buy dry breakfast cereals. If we occasionally have oatmeal, the oats get soaked over night or longer so that they have a chance to begin fermenting - much healthier, and the oatmeal tastes better. We eat eggs, good, fresh, free-range Amish eggs, and they cost less than the supermarket eggs. We use real butter, real milk, lots of leafy green stuff, and we like and eat fresh fruit. We get beef, occasional chicken, occasional fish (wild caught only, not farm raised). Last but not least, we drink lots of water. Not city water, however, with its chlorine and fluorine. We know where to get good, fresh spring water, and it is free, right from the spring.
I love a breakfast that includes eggs, a veggie like a few stalks of asparagus and fried RED tomatoes. Fried red tomatoes are a regular breakfast food in Scotland.
I simply fry without any coating...not much longer than to heat and soften. The outer skin then comes off easily - one should never eat tomato skins...they will plaster themselves to the lining of your gut and stay there for eons, collecting toxic waste under them. Cooked or warmed, they are tougher than plastic.
For any other recipe, even for salads, I skin them first - by simply dipping them for about 30 seconds in boiling water and then plunging them into cold water. The skin all but falls off.
Fried while grain rice with scrambled egg, onion and mushrooms mixed in is delicious for breakfast to - with a side of fried red tomatoes, of course.
For meats, especially red meat, I get organic and it is NOT more expensive if you eat healthy. For example, I have red meat only 2-3 times a month and I eat it in the healthy portion size of ‘palm of hand’.
Also, by chewing slowly and thoroughly, something most of us have gotten out of the habit of due to our rush-a-day world, has enormous benefits. If you chew each bite of food until it’s the consistency, almost, of water, you digestive system has a much easier time of digesting. In addition, but eating slowly, your brain will get the message that you aren’t starving long before you have gulped down more food than you should = We are an overeating nation largely because we eat so fast that the brain still things we’re at risk of starving - long after we’ve actually eaten enough.
for lunch today, I had a good big bowl of beet greens, flavored with organic vinegar, a dab of my own ghee mix (clarified butter halved with olive oil) s & p. and that was it. Perked me right up and was ready to go for the afternoon. We do not have to have meat, potatoes and veggies to make a meal.
Honest to God, I don’t see how anyone can go hungry in this country. The grocery stores are full of cheap, healthy food: canned and fresh vegetables are super cheap, beans of every kind are practically free, and eggs can be had for not much more. (I do insist on fresh-baked tortillas, but the mass-produced kind are just as nutritious and a little cheaper.) Hominy, tuna fish, noodles —all are inexpensive and good for you if you choose with care, and properly spiced are delicious as well. As long as you don’t buy luxury foods (lobster, caviar, etc.) or packaged junk food, it’s possible to eat well for very little in the good old USA.
My own diet is very simple. Since I work from home, I eat at home: locally-produced yogurt for breakfast (or instant grits, in wintertime); a plain cheese taco (cheese+tortilla) or leftovers for lunch; then a big salad or a bowl of homemade soup for supper. If I have to pull a late-nighter at the desk I sometimes have a light snack (cup noodles or something) at two a.m., but other than that I don’t eat after sundown. On Saturdays the Chan Clan gets up late and goes to our local mom-and-pop diner for brunch, then we plan our menu for the following week. On Sundays after mass, Mrs Chan, the baby and I go to another local mom-and-pop diner for a big, juicy burger (which mommy and I split) and some fries, then do the shopping for the week. (By planning your menus, you can shop for seasonal vegetables and other items that are cheaper, thus cutting food costs.) I drink two pints of beer on Sunday nights at our local bar along with my business partner. And that’s it.
(NB: My dad is an avid gardener, and we are blessed to be on the receiving end of his harvest bounty each season. He and my mom "put up" quart after quart of the most delicious fresh garden vegetables year-'round, and you better believe we eat 'em. His Noonday onions are particularly superb.)
Good food is good for you. Fast food is what will kill you. I try never to eat at any place that has a drive-thru (unless we’re traveling or otherwise have no real alternative). As a treat every now and then a fast-food burger is fine, but eating that rich, greasy schieße every day will ruin your health. We are not going to allow Baby Chan to ever get addicted to the stuff like his mother and I were. Fresh, locally-grown food in season — that’s for us.
As far as sweeteners go, don’t forget the molasses!
Hey, I like milk, why is it deadly?
If not for deaths or serious illnesses requiring liver transplants from E-coli, I might agree.