Atkins on a BUDGET...

[goin2befit]

I know many times we like to make excusses for not sticking to plan, and one of the biggest is $$$$$$$ MONEY $$$$$$$

Of course we all know eggs are cheap protein... the next best... Chicken leg and thighs... I normally would get tired of them, but recently I came up with a couple of exciting ways to fix them.

I took 3 chicken legs and thighs with backing ( $0.79 a pound ) total was about 3.5 pounds with bone, skin, and backing...

Placed in a baking dish, salt, pepper, sprinkle of garlic powder, little bit of butter baked for 350 degrees for 40 mins covered with alumin foil then took it off and baked about 25 mins so the skin gets crunchy ( I Skin)

Let it cool and then took the meat off the bone and chopped like you would find a can of solid tuna... seperate and put into ziplock bag in the fridge or can be frozen at this point.

Chicken deviled eggs (fix deviled eggs as normal, for me that is usually eggs with a little pickle, mayo, salt, and pepper.. then add a little chopped chicken.. something totally different)

Chicken omlette.. ( fix your omlette with some chicken, red peppers, green peppers, mushrooms, cheddar cheese, salt, and pepper ) SO Yummy!

Chicken Salad (mixed with mayo and celery with salt and pepper) great instead of tuna salad!!!

So I always thought about so many things to do with chicken breast, but never thought about the legs and thighs like that. Also, I guess linda's site has some bbq recipes, again that would be great.

The pack of chicken was like $2.75 and it yielded more than 2 lbs of meat... yeap that is right... Now I'm in NYC so I believe you can get the legs and thighs even cheaper... btw... chicken breast is $2.99 a lb if I find it on sale, ground meat, I pay $3.29 a pound !!! YIKES!!!! and if I want just the thin slices of beef (not real steak) it is $5.49 a lb... so I'm very happy to have found a way to stretch the DOLLAR$$$

Another thing I realized peppers and mushrooms, you don't have to use a lot of them to give a nice flavor. Use to I would add a whole pack of mushrooms to the dish for the family, but now I just use half a pack and throw in another vegetable and then use my mushrooms for my omlette or other things.

I would love for anyone to share a couple more "budget" recipes or ideas that you have came up with to save money...

[JulieB]

Re: Atkins on a BUDGET...

Frozen veggies on sale are often cheaper than fresh, works well for cauliflower, broccoli, green beans. Canned tuna is often reasonable on sale. I buy the big "family size" packages of meat, then divide them up and freeze them.

I think, for me, the biggest savings are on not eating out so often, drinking water instead of pop and not buying chocolate, chips, cookies, etc.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Atkins on a BUDGET...

Budget Low-Carb Eating - How to Save Money While Eating Low-Carb

[ziggy]

Re: Atkins on a BUDGET...

becareful what frozen broccoli you buy i notice they have really gone down hill in short you buy a bag of it and its mostly all stems and hardly any flowers and the flowers are where all the vitamins are!

[cleochatra]

Re: Atkins on a BUDGET...

I feed a family of six for $800 a month. I've found that no matter how you slice it, prior to Atkins, it took much more processed foods to fill the same bellies that 1/2 of a steak and some green beans will.

Think about it this way: Fats and proteins are self limiting. Those processed carbs are not.

I have seen the same teen who plowed through five bowls of cereal and four pieces of toast completely full on 2 eggs and three slices of bacon--and he was so full by lunch, he'd enjoy cottage cheese and some more bacon prior to dinner.

Low carb is so much cheaper than eating things like cereal, corn dogs, frozen burritoes, macaroni and cheeses, because we're talking about a feeling of fullness that lasts all day and doesn't create crazy cravings and volumes and volumes of cereals and other grain/sugar-laden/gluten laden foods. And, come on. Cereal's expensive. Breads are expensive. Frozen foods are expensive. Eating out is expensive.

When you're avoiding glutens, upping fats (and upping proteins to a degree), you find that your kids aren't eating bags of rice cakes, top ramen, cereals and tacquitos every day.

The same kids who ate plates of cafeteria foods (at 3$ per day) are now stuffed with a banana, some nut crackers and peanut butter, water and celery for lunch.

I spend $800 a month to feed a family of six with lower-carb, healthy foods. And we have seen the difference in our food bills by far!

That said, we look to steaks, bacon, green beans, eggs, frozen chicken breasts, turkey, salads, nut crackers, cheese, olives, pickles, you name it! It's all more filling, so in the end it costs less.

Also figure in things like medications you no longer need due to weight loss. Within a month of starting Atkins in 2004, I was removed from antidepressants and high blood pressure medication AND acid reflux medication!

[brandywine1241]

Re: Atkins on a BUDGET...

I took 3 chicken legs and thighs with backing ( $0.79 a pound ) total was about 3.5 pounds with bone, skin, and backing...

Placed in a baking dish, salt, pepper, sprinkle of garlic powder, little bit of butter baked for 350 degrees for 40 mins covered with alumin foil then took it off and baked about 25 mins so the skin gets crunchy ( I Skin)

Let it cool and then took the meat off the bone and chopped like you would find a can of solid tuna... seperate and put into ziplock bag...

But wait...there's more!!!

Put the bones, fat, etc. in a large pot and cover with cold water. If desired, add some wilted veggies (chopped up), celery leaves - whatever you have on hand. Add 1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper. Bring to a boil and turn the heat to barely simmer. Simmer at least 4 hours, skimming any foam that forms. Strain out the bones and spent veggies, and voila, you have a killer broth for soup. You can store it either by freezing or putting in a large container in the fridge. If you store it in the fridge, let the fat rise to the top and form a cap. Just lift up the fat to use. Then, every 2-4 days simmer the remaining broth for 10 min or so and let it cool again. It will keep for a long time this way.

NOW your chicken has given its all.

[ThinSoon]

Re: Atkins on a BUDGET...

Great ideas! I do the same and cook and freeze individual items for lunches at work, take in - don't spend money. I get tuna on sale and make myself a tuna mixture with little mayo and cut up veggies, it fills me up. You can also use that mixture to put on salads. I look for the veggies that are on sale for the week and work them into my recipes.

Tracey