re: cost effective cooking on a diet - recipe thread

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well im my experience, healthier foods tend to be a 'cook fresh every night' sort of deal, where as i can make a pot of gumbo and we can eat on it for days. average $15-20 per night for a healthy dinner x7 nights adds up.

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Jesus, what are you making? If it cost $20 a night to cook healthy for you, youre doing it wrong. Fresh food such as produce and fatty meat are dirt cheap. There is so much misconception out there about what a healthy diet is that it's almost no use giving any suggestions to anyone because they have to first understand what healthy is. Carbs are ok. Not 300g a day, but 100-150 is no problem if youre using them. Bump the fat content up, especially animal fat.

If youre trying to lose weight, figure out your maintenance calories. Compensate for youre exercise routine and your activity level throughout the day, subtract approx 200-250 per day from that total to figure out your target calories for the day. Then divide those calories across your macros of fat/pro/carb. For example, I weigh 219.5lbs. Im consuming 40%fat/35%pro/25%carb (116g/227g/163g) at 2600 calories a day lifting weight very heavy 3 times a wk. Im just trying to maintain 218+ and have for almost a year now. If I want to lose I would eat the same but bump cals down to 2350 or so. If I want to gain, Im going 2900ish.

Dinner ideas for the entire wk -
Buy a sack of potatoes, a couple packs of chicken thighs, a few lbs of ground chuck or round, a few packs of frozen steamable veggies along with a fresh broccoli head, bundle of carrots, and a few onions/bells. This should cost you approx $30/5 nights equals $6 a night.

Meal 1 - Bake Chicken Thighs w/roasted potatoes
-preheat oven
-Season and bake your chicken in the oven (skin on is way better) as you typically would.
-put pot of salted water boiling
-Dice onions and bells
-Skin and quarter whole potatoes and blanch in boiling water for approx 10 mins.
-Drain and assemble potatoes in a casserole dish and mix with onions/bells/olive oil/whole butter/fresh herbs/etc. Season with whatever you like.
-Bake in oven without cover until theyre done to get a good crisp.
-Throw a bag of steamable veggies in the microwave
-Healthy, cheap, delicious dinner in less than 45 mins with minimal effort that can be stretched for days.

You can do this with any protein/carb/veg combo all for $5-$6 a night if you plan ahead.

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Me, too. But then again, I don't consider completely carbless meals to be ideal for health or weightloss. If you focus solely on animal protein, you're missing out on a world of very delicious, good-for-you foods. Cheapest, best-for-you meals are all legume-based. You can cook huge batches of beans in advance and freeze. A few healthy, bean-centric ideas for ya:

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Very good advice. Legumes are great as additive or as an alone protein base.

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Also, a huge pot of turkey chili is cheap and makes multiple meals for the week. Can also be frozen as well. You can make it with beans if you want more carbs for your kids.

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Chili is general is great. Why are you using turkey as opposed to beef/pork? Do you prefer the flavor? If so, then good for you. If youre trying to stay away from the fat, then eating turkey over beef isnt healthier. In fact, you want that beef fat and alot of it. I prefer beef, so I eat beef. If you prefer turkey, then awesome. Just dont want you to believe that the fat in beef and pork is bad.

I use ground turkey in place of ground beef because of the price. Ground turkey is significantly cheaper than ground beef, given you keep the same lean/fat ratio.

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I just find it easier to stay within my caloric range when I use turkey.

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+1

I have a large appetite. Always have, always will. If I can eat more volume of food but stay in my caloric limit, I typically will. I usually get 93/7 ground turkey, or 85/15 if I'm feeling cheap.

+1 on eating turkey because of price. title of thread was "cost effective cooking", after all. in my area, turkey is as much as $3/lb cheaper than ground beef.

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While they do have more flavor, they are also higher in fat. If you're watching those fat numbers, thighs will start to add up.

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Chicken breast-

Calories 110 Calories from Fat 22
Total Fat 2.5g
Saturated Fat 0.5g
Cholesterol 65mg
Sodium 180mg
Protein 23.0g

Chicken thigh-

Calories 110 Calories from Fat 36

Total Fat 4.0g
Saturated Fat 1.0g
Cholesterol 85mg
Sodium 250mg
Protein 20.0g



That extra gram of fat is gonna make you fat.

Add up to what?

Basically a negligible amount of fat? Yes.

That's a common misconception. But it's not.

I cook so much chicken that variety is important. If I'm not saucing, I will either go with a spicy (hot sauce, Tony's, red pepper flakes, cayenne) or mexican (olive oil, heavy on the cumin). If saucing, I'll go with a basic spicy rub and slather either sweet baby rays or some spicy garlic wing sauce on just before done, depending on mood. I use a meat thermometer both on the grill and in the oven.

As far as budget, I like to cook in batches and freeze in Mason jars. I'm on a quinoa kick lately, which can be great if done right (stock and rotel help). Done everything from stuffed bellpeppers to jambalaya with it, though a variation of a southwestern chicken and rice dish freezes the best. Quinoa can get a bit pricy so I stretch it out with plenty of bellpepper, onion, celery, and even zucchini.

Buy in bulk from a Samsclub type store. I load up on pounds of sliced turkey, bananas, eggs, baby carrots, hummus, etc. on the cheap every week or two. I only cook once or twice a week and have built quite the arsenal in the freezer. Grab a few jars out at the beginning of the week and I've got variety ready to eat.

Meals. Just find that jarring keeps them fresh and makes stacking easy.