Low Carb - On a budget??

[mciangel]

I have a medical concern (PCOS) - I should be following a fairly low carb diet. Not "no carb" just... Lower in carbs than most people allow themselves.

Are there any tips that anyone can give me on shopping on a budget and not being able to buy the "cheap carb foods" ie. Rice, Pasta etc?

ANY and ALL help anyone has to offer -- will be greatly appreciated!

My go-to's when budget is strict are pastas and rices and etc... bummer!

[lrjohnson]

Bulgur is a great lower carb rice "substitute." It is a very nutty whole grain, I buy in bulk, and use it many times rice is asked for. One site shows "regular" rice at 21 grams carbs per serving compared to 18.5 less 4.5 fiber = net 14 grams carbs. That's a lot less.

The cheaper fruits and veggies-since you are low not no carb-like cabbage, carrots, oranges, apples. Broccoli, canned tomatoes, canned green beans. The carbs are the "good ones" I guess.

I feel silly responding first, since I know there are others much more versed in this!

I wish you great luck.

[sweeps]

Wraps are a good choice. Buy a package of the soft, medium to large tortilla shells (the spinach or tomato ones are even better for you). You can use them for fajitas, tuna/chicken/egg salad, a bread-alternative for dipping in soup or chili, breakfast burritos, and a lot more.

You can even use them to make pizza. Brush the tortilla with a thin layer of olive oil, bake it for about 5 minutes, take it out, put on all the toppings you want, and then bake it for another 10-15 minutes. There's often a recipe for this on the tortilla package.

[Ima saver]

I eat a lot of hamburger and cheese!

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Even though I recommended on another thread that the carbohydrate foods can serve as a really helpful part of eating inexpensively, I have had to cut back on carbohydrates greatly myself. In my case it is because of type 2 diabetes which started earlier in my life than it usually does for adults. I don't know if that is your concern, but it is increasingly common so maybe someone else can benefit from hearing what carbohydrate food helps me: Beans. And they are really cheap.

Fortunately I already liked all kinds of beans, peas, lentils, etc. These are very high carbohydrate, but for me, the carbohydrate iof beans digests in a way that sugar releases into the bloodstream more slowly over a longer period of time than if I ate the equivalent amount of carbohydrates in rice, potatoes, or pasta. This helps my blood glucose level to not spike highly, and it also helps keep my blood glucose level from dropping too low, an event which can ruin about six hours of my day. I am on medication, so too low blood glucose can happen, and I have to watch for it. The closer I am to ideal control, the more likely I am to get a disabling low.

And the bean that is the very best in terms of keeping my blood sugar level in a good range is garbanzos, aslo known as chick peas. They are the same legume that is mashed to make hummus, which I happen to love. Ethnic cookbooks are a good source for recipes for cooking garbanzo beans. Also for lentils, and other beans. Mexican cooks know a lot to do with beans, and it is not all bean burritos, either! There are entire cookbooks out there devoted to beans.

I garden extensively and this year have six new types of mexican beans to try. I'm quite excited about this. But we also have an international foods market nearby where I can try all sort of new-to-me beans and grains which are sold in bulk, usually for about 80 cents a pound.

If I had to scrape by on almost no food budget, I would spend the little bit on beans, and it would fit in my dietarty restrictions, too.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Oh, sorry, I see you did say your concern is PCOS. Well, I believe that a low glycemic diet is recommended for that, a diet just like what diabetics are recommended to follow. You can look up "glycemic index charts" on your favorite search engine and get info on which foods cause the least spike in blood glucose levels. Use those charts to become aware of the lower ones, as well as the ones that more generally you would want to avoid or eat only in small quantities. Some of these charts may actually introduce you to some new foods to try, as some of them are made to be helpful to people of many different cultures.

Once you have in mind a list of low glycemic foods, you can price them at the market to find which will fit your budget most easily. I really think it would help to spend sometime looking through cookbooks for diabetics/PCOS/low carb. You don't want to feel punished by your food; you'll want to enjoy it as much or more than ever.

[mciangel]

Thank you so much for the responses all!

I didn't think of beans. That is a great idea!

I just run into this: I *want* to eat more fruits - lettuce - fresh veggies ... then I get to the store and see that they might take up my entire food budget... urgh. I need to do more comparison shopping

Thanks for all of the ideas!!!!!

Angel

[Ima saver]

There is a chocolate milk drink made by Hood, that gives me a boost on my diet. Only 2 net carbs and it helps fill me up. It is about $3.50 for a half gallon, but I have a small glass everyday.

[Ima saver]

The low carb ice cream by Breyers is good too!

[shengmei]

I just brought the family size Stoffers meat loaf. I was shocked to see the first ingredient on the list was beef!!!

I eat a lot of canned sweet corn instead of rice and wheat. Corn is significanty higher in protein than most of the grain crops.

[kealina]

i second the garbanzo beans and hummus... yummy.... beans are always good frugal food...

also, for the fruits and veggies, watch the sales and get what's cheap... and maybe check out farmers markets? we have one 5 mins down the road and you can find things cheaper sometimes... most bags of produce are $1....
and sometimes you just gotta keep your eyes peeled... usually the 3 lb bags of salad are $3-4 but day before yesterday they were .97 cents so FIL picked up 2... we're still eating them and they're still crispy and fresh but they were close to the sell-by date so they clearanced it... and once, we bought the precut "party size" veggie tray for $3 because it seemed cheap to us... took it home and it turned out the tomatoes were overripe... some of them were good so we ate those and tossed the rest.... we still came out ahead with all the other veggies... when we went back the trays were back to their normal price of $12....
funny thing is SAMs didn't put up a sale sign or anything... it was just a normal sign with a different price... if we hadn't been paying attention we would have missed it...
also, buy meat right after the weekend when it's most likely to be marked down along with the dairy.... or even look for a wholesale source... my friends mom used to go to a meat warehouse and get meat cheap...
that's all i can think of... good luck...

[lrjohnson]

Fresh spinach can be cheaper and more versatile than lettuce: you can have salads, steamed, etc. I find our Costco to have great prices on huge bags of fresh spinach-it's usually the ONLY food item I get there.

Sometimes I worry that fresh veggies are higher end, but then I realize I'm chubby and fresh fruits and veggies are things I should buy. And then I realize that the veggies go farther than I thought: a 1.99 huge bunch of broccoli makes 6 or more servings, the bunch of grapes was a snack for the whole week, etc. It's not rock bottom dirt cheap, but I can stay well within paying less than a 100 a month for groceries.

[pyotr]

I would recommend to you to avoid the low-carb fad diets. Polycystic ovary syndrome is not an indication to go on low-carb diets despite what you may have heard from your friends/networks etc. You need to lose weight with low calorie diet with heavy doses of exercise and raise your intake of fiber, fresh fruits, vegetables, along with high quality multi-grain foods. You should absolutely not be raising your intake of fats which I assume you are planning to do with your "low-carb" diet. I would recommend counting calories for the rest of your life by getting some calorie listing books, and look up the nutritional info inclucing calories for every fast food place you visit - you should ideally avoid fast foods if possible. Definitely stop all sweetened drinks, expecially sodas including diet sodas (which are spiked with appetite stimulants). I'd stay away from TV and other outlets for advertisers as they are laced with hypnotic commercials designed to make you want to purchase and consume food.

[Zuleika]

I'm new here, but not new to eating a healthier lower carb diet. I'm also single, so keeping my food budget in control is tricky. Here are some things I do:

- Watch for the sales! Every week there is some kind of meat on sale, often in a bulk pack. Buy meat and fish when they're inexpensive and stock your freezer. Since I cook in smaller amounts, I open the bulk pack and repackage in baggies, so I can just defrost what I need.

- Stick to the cheaper types of meat: Ground beef, chicken thighs (or better whole chickens), etc.

- Check your area to see if there's a wholesale market where you can buy meat.

- AVOID WASTE. I buy lots of frozen veggies. Otherwise, I can't eat a whole head of broccoli before it goes bad. The quart of milk is more per ounce, but less overall than a half gallon.

- Make enough to pack a whole extra meal for lunch. Bringing lunch will keep your food budget down.

- Don't buy "Frankenfoods". You know all that processed low-carb stuff pretending to be real bread or potato chips. They're just expensive junk.

- Look up recipes for inexpensive proteins (like on Epicurious which has all the recipes from Gourmet for free). Cottage cheese, unsweetened whole milk yogurt, eggs, TVC.

- If you're in the moderate carb range you can probably eat oatmeal which is a really inexpensive breakfast.

Hope that helps!

[Tree0164]

I also have pcos and my Dr recommended following South Beach. I follow it loosely.

It has made my grocery bill a bit higher but not really all that much. I don't buy much pasta except for whole wheat pasta which is more expensive. Lots more veggies which are canned fresh or frozen.

Here is a typical meal plan

Breakfast Oatmeal or veggie quiche cup, usually a banana with it.

Lunch Canned tuna or grilled chicken on a bed of salad or a 3 bean salad with green beans, kidney beans and chickpeas and onion mixed with red vingrette dressing.

Dinner This is the hardest for me. Sometimes I will have what the family is having. Sometimes the meat portion over salad. If we are having pizza I make my own on a whole wheat pita bread or english muffin.

Good recipe source is http://users3.ev1.net/~fontlady/index.html

http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/sh...d.php?t=169867 thread about low carb on a budget

[Homebody]

I find that I eat less on low-carb because I am not starving every three hours! I figure that makes up for the meat we buy.

My typical day:
Low carb toasted bread with peanut butter (peanuts and salt only).
1/2 cup skim milk with a calcium pill.

Lunch is salad greens, tomatoes and avocados from Costco with assorted other stuff, garbanzo's, cubed cheese, leftover meat from dinner or a can of tuna or salmon from Costo, olives, bell peppers, whatever is in the frig.

Dinner is grilled meat usually with veges like broccoli, asparagus or more salad.
1/2 cup of skim milk with another calcium pill.

For snacks I eat raw almonds chopped up over strawberries, either fresh or frozen.

My dad and older brother both have type 2 diabetes and I eat low carb both for weight control and because otherwise I am doing nothing but thinking about food because I am starving every three hours.

On low carb I rarely get more than just slightly hungy and can go up to 5 hours easily without eating.

[Ima saver]

I am on low carb too and I find I am less hungry also. For breakfast, I eat two sausage. I have some choc. low carb milk as a snack. For lunch I eat cheese or left over chicken. For supper at night, I have a hamburger and a small amount of pasta. I have the low carb ice cream and sugar free candy for snacks.

[4TimesCharmed]

Eggs! Or egg substitute. Can be made into salads, deviled, quiche, scrambled, omelets, add lots of yummy veggies and it is a meal.

Tuna is a great source of protein and low carb, and low cost.

Less expensive cuts of meat cooked in the crockpot.

When you buy chicken, cook it up and keep it in the fridge. Make a big salad at top it with cooked chicken or tuna. Great low-carb yummy meal. Add chick peas for extra protein.

Ground turkey is a cheaper, lower fat option than ground beef. Brown it up with a little worscheshire and garlic and saute it with cabbage.

[Happily]

Low carb diets sure do the trick. I've been low carbing for three years, and the only money-saving tip I have is to get meat when it's on special and freeze it for later. It's always funny around Thanksgiving when my freezer is full of free-with-purchase turkeys. But you can get good deals all year 'round.

[flash]

Diabetes runs heavily in my family (everyone but me), so I tend to eat mostly produce and proteins, with a balanced carb. You might be surprised...I eat Fresh Express and Earthbound veggies, fresh meat, chicken, and I don't pay much for it. Between sales and coupons, I've been surprised that I'm eating HEALTHIER this year. And wasting far less than I did last year, when I started just buying up expensive produce and dumping it if I didn't "get around to it".

The "O" organic coupons...can of garbanzos, black beans, kidney beans...less than $0.05 after coupon. I prefer fresh, which are cheap, but take time. One can is enough to add to a huge salad.