Atkins on a budget

[msnicksmom]

OWL, 30-35 carbs, berry rung

Not incuction, but I still think its important.

Flax Muffin (1/6 recipe)
$.75
Salad (1/6 bag of hearts), 2T ranch
.55
Packet s/f Cider
.30
Turkey/Broc/Cauli/cheese hot dish (1/8 recipe, very rich)
(all on sale over holidays)
1.00
Spagetti squash w/meat sauce, Parm and salad w/olives, italian dress (1/4 of all)
2.50
Homemade s/f egg nog
Earl Grey w/cream
.30
1.00
3 oz rasp w/whipped cream
1.8

Total for Today
$8.20

[Heidi3]

And nurselady, I am shopping for a new fornt door and back door too!!! I should start a fund, putting all the money we save on fast food, in a jar...[/quote]

I am absolutely stunned at the price of doors!!! thousands!!!....it is crazy ..we needed every door and window replaced.(and are only half way through this mess!) .do you believe I have one picture window made out of plate glass not tempered???? and another with a bullet hole in it!!!.....they are huge and both waiting to crash in ..thank god I do not have little kids here!!!...oh yeah lets do a door fund!!!

I have to say my food budget today is the same as yesterday but I am going to try origam's soup I love eggdrop and that would be awesome to make at work!!!...

[MotherOfGizmo]

And nurselady, I am shopping for a new fornt door and back door too!!! I should start a fund, putting all the money we save on fast food, in a jar...

I am absolutely stunned at the price of doors!!! thousands!!!....it is crazy ..we needed every door and window replaced.(and are only half way through this mess!) .do you believe I have one picture window made out of plate glass not tempered???? and another with a bullet hole in it!!!.....they are huge and both waiting to crash in ..thank god I do not have little kids here!!!...oh yeah lets do a door fund!!!

I have to say my food budget today is the same as yesterday but I am going to try origam's soup I love eggdrop and that would be awesome to make at work!!!...[/quote]

We have a really great outlet where the Habitat for Humanity organization sells things they cannot use that have been donated--the one in our area has tons of brand new doors, sinks, toilets etc and a fraction of the cost you would pay at a Home Depot or Lowe's, maybe you should look into that if there is one in your area. We just bought a new fireplace glass door insert for 10 bucks there a couple of weeks ago.

[Origam]

Nurselady, I love Cobalt blue! :yes Slate blue is ok.. it's not as boring as plain old white or gun metal gray! :joy

Etched glass can be pretty. I don't like when it looks like the etcher (is that what they are called) went on some bad acid trip when they did the glass though! To busy = not for me! :nono

I hope you get a really nice door that won't let monsters in and has pretty glass! :hug

(We're not off topic really.. because we're talking about budgets and how doing Atkins helps to get doors right?)


I like those big picture windows! We have one in mom's house, it faces the front yard. Darn thing was hit with baseballs, basketballs, ran into playing tag and such.. never broke until mom was moving the couch to sweep behind it and put her rear end through it. :yikes They got all new windows for the house, supposed to cut down on the heating bill and cooling bill and so forth.. it's still pretty dang cold inside if you ask me! I got some slippers for Christmas (I think they have down in them :sadblinky ) but they keep my feet nice and toasty! My poor Taz has slippers too.. but he thinks they are for eating. :nono

Eggdrop soup rocks. It's so easy too! :yes


Hey.. who let Cleo in here?! :wave

[Heidi3]

"We have a really great outlet where the Habitat for Humanity organization sells things they cannot use that have been donated--the one in our area has tons of brand new doors, sinks, toilets etc and a fraction of the cost you would pay at a Home Depot or Lowe's, maybe you should look into that if there is one in your area. We just bought a new fireplace glass door insert for 10 bucks there a couple of weeks ago.[/quote]


I know the ReStore I love it!!! We have one in Seattle, on in Tacoma and one in Olympia!!!!.....awesome deals!!!... but this is just too much work since we have to replace the frame ect as well...somethings we are paying to have done and the front door is one of them ...it is just too much for right now and if my kiddo gets me a deal...well win win!!!

[MotherOfGizmo]

"We have a really great outlet where the Habitat for Humanity organization sells things they cannot use that have been donated--the one in our area has tons of brand new doors, sinks, toilets etc and a fraction of the cost you would pay at a Home Depot or Lowe's, maybe you should look into that if there is one in your area. We just bought a new fireplace glass door insert for 10 bucks there a couple of weeks ago.

I know the ReStore I love it!!! We have one in Seattle, on in Tacoma and one in Olympia!!!!.....awesome deals!!!... but this is just too much work since we have to replace the frame ect as well...somethings we are paying to have done and the front door is one of them ...it is just too much for right now and if my kiddo gets me a deal...well win win!!![/quote]

Yea--if you can get someone else to do it that's great! doors can be unbelievably frustrating to put in especially when replacing the frame! Good deal!

[msnicksmom]

Homemade s/f egg nog
1
1/3 # hamburger w/one slice pepper jack cheese
1
Meat from sub sandwhich, extra lettuce leaves,tomato basil soup
6.5
1/2 piece TGIF low carb cheesecake
2
1 cup spag squash w/parm, butter and mushrooms
1.75
Salad (iceburg, green beans, 1 hb egg, 1 strip bacon, cucumber and ranch
1
Total for today w/lunch out: 13.25

[cleochatra]

Hey, origam! I'll have you know, not everything I eat comes out of a Wendy's bag! I sometimes pour stuff into a bowl, too. :joy

[Origam]

Hey, origam! I'll have you know, not everything I eat comes out of a Wendy's bag! I sometimes pour stuff into a bowl, too. :joy

:laughing
You sound like one of the guys I work with. :yes He called me the other day and told me he was making a recipe that called for 2 eggs and 2 tablespoons of butter.. he only had 1 tablespoon of butter and wanted to know if he could just throw in another egg. :nono

[cleochatra]

I'll bet you add the extra yolk and toss the albumin because the yolk is yellow, like the butter!

[Origam]

I'll bet you add the extra yolk and toss the albumin because the yolk is yellow, like the butter!

:yikes You sure you're not related to him? He likes them weird big words like you. :yes

[Heidi3]

well I am supposed to hear about the door next week so keep your fingers crossed!...how is our budget going today here is mine

2 eggs .20
tb parmesan cheese .10
one oz of pepper ham from this amazing butcher in Oregon! .35
coffee and cream .25

3 baked chicken wings .58
1 cup roasted mixed veggies .35

dinner
pumpking cheese cake (oh it is a meal in a cake!) and I have to work late! 1.40

check out this day at a grand total of 17 carbs (I will make it up I am sure in gum!)
and a cost of 3.20 is this right?????? I have to recheck but I think that is all I am spending today! whoo hoo...door here I come!!!.....
I love colbalt blue as well my car is that color...

[CalifGal]

Re: Atkins on a budget

[quote="nurselady"]

I see so many people from time to time coplaining about the cost of eating this way...I am not getting it?.....

Thanks for the infor on Atkins for $10 a day...I will look for that thread and use the suggestions there...

Just so you will understand: I get only $140 per month for food stamps...my income does not allow me to add much more to my grocery allowance...so maybe on a good month I might be able to do $200 per month. I don't know about where you live, but meats and produce are high here. My experience (and others agree) is that low budget meals are usually full of lots of carbs for taste...and healthy foods cost more. If I were feeding a family or even two I would definitely have a harder time with low carb meals on a budget of my size...

Thanks again for your help...I will look for the $10 a day thread.

[CalifGal]

[quote="not2late"]

I look for sales and for family packs. Eventhough I just feed me, family packs are terrific. When I get them home, I break the pack up into individual serving sizes, wrap and freeze.

Your ideas for low cost meals is the best I have seen so far. Thank You...I will incorporate them whenever I can. :yes

I am on a food stamp budget of $140 per month. I never buy roasts of any kind...I never buy legs of lamb or hams, etc. This year I could not even buy a turkey. Some months I can fill in with enough extra cash to make it $200...for the month. :nod

I do agree that whole chickens are better priced sometimes...and family packs of some meats are ok...Maybe if I shop for meats once a month and then fill in with the produce throughout the month I might be able to stretch it better. urplequ:

I like your idea of major cooking on weekends for reheating during the week. Do you plan your daily menu ideas when you make out your shopping list? I need to do whatever is the most simple way to plan.

Thanks again :hug

[not2late]

I like your idea of major cooking on weekends for reheating during the week. Do you plan your daily menu ideas when you make out your shopping list? I need to do whatever is the most simple way to plan.

Thanks again :hug

When I cook big on the weekends, if I cook a roast beef (which I rarely do), I eat it as a roast on the first day. Slice it for a roast beef salad for lunch on day 2. Cut it into chunks or strips and toss it in a veggie stir-fry on day 3 or 4. Whatever's left over, I grind up in my food processor, add an egg and form it into patties that I fry for breakfast on day 5 or 6.

If I grill chicken breasts, I usually cook them plain---just salt and pepper for seasoning. That way, I can flavor them as I want for other dishes: cut them into strips sprinkle on chili powder and a squeeze of lemon for a fajita type filling, finely chop it for a chicken salad, cut it into chunks for a veggie sautee, or throw it in the food processor add an egg and fry it as a chicken patty.

Seafood, like shrimp, I buy whenever they are on sale. So if I want to add a handful of shrimps to a stir fry I can. Fish, I try to buy fresh and I do freeze it so I have some on hand.

I'm really bad at advanced menu planning. I usually go to the store, look for the sales and form my menues from that. When I began this diet, I brought a copy of the acceptable foods list to the grocery store with me to double check what I could and couldn't buy.

Basically, for meats, I try to get a variety of it. There are 3 major grocery stores in my area and each competes with the other for sales. So I price compare on Sundays and Tuesdays when their sales circulars come out. This week, one store has boneless skin less chicken breasts on sale for $1.74 a pound. Each package has 4 HUGE chicken breasts. That's four to six meals for me for $5.30. Again the initial investment seems large, but if you break it down to individual meals, it's anywhere from a $1.30 to about 78 cents per meal.

But beware of sales. Sometimes the store brand is cheaper than the national brands, even when they are on sale!!!!!! Case in point, the national brand of ground turkey is on "sale"this week for $4.49 per pound. The ground turkey the store grinds is $2.65 per pound. This goes for frozen veggies too. The store brands are usually much cheaper than the national brands.

For fresh vegetables, it's a hit or miss. If it looks fresh and on sale, it goes into my cart. Sometimes I vegetable shop twice a week, once at the beginning of the sale and on the last day of the sale in order to take advantage of it.

Because my parents were little kids during WWII, they were raised to use every usuable scrap that they could. So, we were raised to do the same. Which means for vegetables, rotten or badly wilted parts are cut off and edible parts are cooked. All the "salad" vegetables can be cooked, including the lettuces! Chop them up and stir fry them.

Some veggies can be frozen. For example, if you bought some tomatoes and couldn't eat all of them and find a couple of them are too soft. Chop them up and toss them in the freezer. The next time you need chopped tomato in a recipe, you have it. And for these frozen tomatoes, if you're putting it into a stew, you don't need to defrost it. Just toss them with the rest of the vegetables and they will defrost as they cook.

If you have accidentally allowed a number of veggies to go past their prime. Chop them up, sautee them in butter or oil. Add water or chicken broth, simmer until soft, salt and pepper to taste and whatever herbs and spices you have and puree it in a blender for a creamy vegetable soup. What you can't eat, freeze and use for later or use it as a part of a recipe, like as a sauce for a meat based casserole.

Which reminds me about dried herbs and spices, a couple of the drugstores here sells dried herbs and spices in their pantry section. Sometimes they go on sale for 50 cents a bottle or 3 for a $1. Go ahead and buy them. I found the quality to be pretty good.