Inexpensive moderate-carb recipes/money-saving tips?

[Avicenna]

So... I need to spend less on food (taking a pay cut). Fortunately, JUDDD is cheap. However, any suggestions for saving money, or recipe suggestions for inexpensive low to moderate carb recipes? (I still prefer some aspects of the LC plan as opposed to eating a plate of rice or something, even though the rice is a lot cheaper)

Regarding myself, I:
* have a mini-refrigerator with almost no freezer space (can fit about 1 small box) and live in a small place so can't buy anything in bulk
* don't live in the US so no US products or stores
* can't eat dairy products (so no recipes with cheese, yogurt, etc)

However, other people might benefit from some tips which don't have those restrictions so I don't want to discourage them!

[Dottie]

Any types of fresh produce markets locally? You may be able to get fresh vegetables and low-sugar fruits (berries, apples, peaches, etc). If you can get greens (spinach, kale, cabbage, mustard/collard/turnip greens, etc) they're very nutritious and filling.

[sunday]

Hello Avicenna,

I know of a blog that you may find some good budget meals on. I will not post it here because she has a book for sale on her site, but if you google "budget savvy diva", you can find her. She has some yummy sounding dishes and hopefully some of them would work in your living accomodations.

[Deen73]

Oh, I'm gonna check out "Budget Savvy Diva" myself -- thanks, Sunday! I would also suggest googling the blog "$5 dinner mom" -- lots of good stuff there (mostly appropriate for UD, but some could be easily worked into a DD as well).

[Zib]

Thanks, Sunday. I'm off to have a look at that blog and from my first glance, I'll be there quite a while. Another good blog is Poor Girl Eats Well.

Avicenna, I always think Low Carb and budget shopping go together as you concentrate on the vegetables, fresh meats/chicken/fish, and whole grains. My mom raised 5 kids on a tight budget and I remember her telling me to do most of the grocery shopping on the outer aisles - where the produce and meat departments were.

Personally I think the shredded cabbage with a protein added is very budget conscious. I vary it by adding another vegetable, finely chopped, some salsa, seasonings, etc.

Good luck

[piratejenny]

Do you live in a town or city where you can shop freqently, or do shop like only once a week or so?

I'm in the US so not sure what is available over there...
However, do you have an Indian market nearby?
I get ready-to-eat boxed curries (Swad or MTR brand) for my vegetarian son.
They are quite cheap and often on sale.
Some, like the palak paneer (spinach) and baingan bharta (eggplant), are pretty low calorie.

I'll sometimes add chicken to my portion and eat it with a tiny bit of rice, 1/4 of a naan bread or some poppadam (pretty low cal/low carb compared to rice or bread), and a scoop of yogurt.

[piratejenny]

Oh, geez!!! I already forgot you can't eat dairy!
Well, *if* you even like curries, skip the palak paneer, but there are many others without dairy.

C̶a̶n̶n̶e̶d̶ Tinned tuna & chicken are good to have on hand.

Aldi's is a great place to shop...I know they are a European chain!
Here in the US, their prices on many staples foods are about 1/2 of what "regular" grocery stores charge, even on generic brands, and even generic brands on sale!

Do you have a stove & oven, or just a hot plate & microwave, or...?

[Whitlin']

Happy little breakfast without fridge needed:
The instant type of oatmeal is good one-at-a-time, nothing to store after cooking, made with water. I use the plain and add stevia (I use truvia brand, if you know it - convenient packets). For a bit of fruit addition if you don't have fresh, add diced dried fruit like prunes or cherries that are fine kept in the cabinet. I stir in coconut oil instead of butter, also a happy resident of the cabinet, no refrigeration required. Comfort food! 5 grams protein.

Btw, smart thread! Lots of good ideas here for lots of folks.

[piratejenny]

Also...eggs, eggs, eggs!
They are the cheapest protein I know of.
A frittata or quiche w/lots of veggies is economical & makes good leftovers.

Is peanut butter cheap in the UK?
It's good on celery & apple slices.
Also can make stir-fried veggies more interesting & filling.

Ethnic markets--around here, anyway--often have much cheaper produce, as well as a very interesting variety. And they offer cheap cuts of meat that may be a bit unusual but are very nutritious.

[Mssarge]

A couple of favored memories are having small storage space and living in cramped spaces. Never visited the UK but have always wanted to and probably too old to do it now...but I hope you, too, will have good memories of this time. One of my memories is living in the dorm in Japan and Korea and not having a kitchen in which to cook, or a fridge to store stuff...I'd stop by the market on the way home and pick up something to fix in the electric skillet or microwave. Also, when my parents moved to California when I was 15 and we lived in a motel for months until they bought a house. There, too, we'd stop at the market daily and pick up our meals for the day.

Do you have a greengrocer nearby? I'd check for the bags of older stuff which here is usually much lower than the other stock. Eggs don't really need refrigeration for a couple of days, so you can buy a few and keep them in a dish on the counter if you have space. Have you space under or over furniture where you can store containers...even flat ones can sometimes do the trick. I used a desk drawer for some staples in my dorm room for cereals and such which I would put into a bag to lessen storage. I would try to include some type of flax seed meal, oat bran, and other high fiber foods as we can sure use the extra fiber.

Hope these suggestions help and if you give us a bit more info, we may have some other suggestions....

[pooticus]

Well, sorry to toot my own horn, but my recipes are ridiculously cheap to make and I give step-by-step instructions. All things are almost always under $2.00 per serving and many are around $1.00 or $1.25 or $1.50 per serving. Heck, some are under $1.00!

I do about 99% scratch cooking and give ideas for saving money.

End of advertisement! Oh my blog addy is in my siggy line. Oh and you can see my JUDDD menus too on my menu blog (that's also in my siggy).

[Mssarge]

Pooti, I'm ashamed to say that I've read your posts for years and never saw your blogs and menus...now I know what my reading is for the night....thanks for calling my attention to them...

[pooticus]

Originally Posted by Mssarge

Pooti, I'm ashamed to say that I've read your posts for years and never saw your blogs and menus...now I know what my reading is for the night....thanks for calling my attention to them...

MUAH! I'm so sorry to t/j this thread! Apologies to all!

[Garden]

Thanks Pooticus! Love your sites !!!

[Avicenna]

Thanks for the suggestions! I guess I just need to stop being lazy/spoiled and buy cheaper foods. And maybe go back to cooking rice - I haven't cooked rice for myself since I started Atkins last year.

The blogs look nice. I like copycat recipes since I figure if a restaurant serves it it's probably good.

Will have to look into boxed curry! Never thought about that, it might be cheaper than cooking from scratch.

Your blog is very extensive Pooticus! Although I think it would cost more than $1-2 to cook some of those here because produce is more expensive due to the fact that most of it is imported (and, also, no dairy!), and some of the ingredients in the recipes aren't available here (such as the Tex-Mex ingredients). Still I will definitely have a look through it more.

Eggs are great, but the past couple months I've eaten eggs on every single DD so I have become very resistent to eating eggs on UD's!

PS Regarding myself I have 2 burners and last year got a toaster oven, which was a big help with Atkins. I've really come appreciate roasted vegetables and sometimes on DD's roast vegetables like green beans with a very small amount of oil or cooking spray and they come out quite well.

[piratejenny]

Originally Posted by Avicenna

Will have to look into boxed curry! Never thought about that, it might be cheaper than cooking from scratch.

It really is! I *love* cooking from scratch, but the curries are $1.99/box and are usually on a "Buy 2, Get 1 Free" sale. Some of them are just 99cents. For me to buy all the different veggies--not to mention all the spices--would cost a lot more, and of course it's so convenient.

This is what they look like; the curry itself is in a plastic pouch.
(The Indian market is an hour away from our house, so I used to stock up quite a lot! )