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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 5:41:07 AM

servantforuse

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I'm sorry. I can't get over what I am hearing. 20 Tv dinners and you think that is eating healthy ?

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 5:44:41 AM

DarkSteven

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Toppingfrmbottom

this is an interesting question, to me that I thought I'd ask. So given prices for things in your grocery, how many meals from scratch,could you get supplies for at 200? things like TV dinners that you just have to add meat to like hamburger helper for example don't count.

When we buy TV dinners an things, you usually only get 15 to 20 items for 200 an it don't sound like a lot, but, keep in mind though that some of that comes with items that have 10 a pack, say like hot pockets. So overall you're getting more meals than just the 15 20 items would seem like.

The points not our shopping habits though, so please don't pick apart us buying mostly tv dinner products or our health or anything like that, please stick to my question, which is for you, should you buy only raw ingrediants or basic ingrediants, none of this prepaired microwavable packaged foods stuff, how many meals do you personally get out of it. that's with or with out cupons too.

I'm confused. On one hand, you state that you want to buy the basics so you can make meals from scratch, and then you say that you intend to keep buying TV dinners. I assume that you intended to say that you are trying to push the TV dinners out by buying healthier foods, but still intend to eat some TV dinners?

The other posters above me covered it well, and I'll have to take their suggestions. :)

The bitch of it is that you're pre-diabetic and should be biasing your purchases towards meats and veggies. Yeah, away from the cheap stuff like pasta and potatoes.

One suggestion, if you have the time - go for walks and get some greens there for adding to salads. Dandelions, etc. Free and very nutritious! Euell Gibbons has written several books on wild foods.

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 5:45:34 AM

rulemylife

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Toppingfrmbottom

...I at this point really don't care if they suck for you, I like em.

I know I really like whatever sucks for me.

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 5:53:37 AM

DarkSteven

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quote:

ORIGINAL: servantforuse

Processed foods such as TV dinners are probably the most un healthy things you can eat. Read the ingrediants. They are loaded with sugar, salt and many other additives. Cook from scratch. It's cheaper and much more healthy..

Servant, you don't know one other piece of info - she's prediabetic and should be fighting the onset of diabetes tooth and nail. Getting it at her young age is bad.

Topping, you should be trying to keep your total carb intake down to 45-60 grams of carbs per meal. It's a bitch to do (and I screwed up my A1c over the past few months and now have to tighten down myself), and there is no way you can do that with the processed meals. I was shocked that even the boutique, "healthy" meals like Amy's, are way over that. Also, high fructose corn syrup is supposed to be deadly for diabetics and it's very much used in the TV dinners.

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 5:54:47 AM

barelynangel

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TFTB, i know you said you like TV dinners, but do you really? I mean if you have a TV dinner and a meal someone made from fresh items, which one would you choose. I would be hard pressed to believe you would choose a TV dinner over a homemade meal. The problem is TV dinners are quick and easy, but they really aren't cheaper all around. As was stated above - if you really are pre-diabetic, TV dinners probably aren't the best because they are usually very high in bad type carbs and sugars. While the dinners are becoming a little more healthy --- i.e., lean cuisine etc are trying to use whole grains etc, its still not the best and 20 TV dinners would for 2 people be 1 meal a day for each person for 20 days. So it really isn't cheaper.

I am not coming down on you as to liking TV dinners, but unfortunately, processed food usually does appeal to many people because of the sugar content and the convenience.

I personally cannot believe you LIKE TV dinners over a homecooked meal -- could it be you like the convenience more so?

angel

< Message edited by barelynangel -- 1/12/2011 5:56:32 AM >

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 5:54:59 AM

allyC

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It depends on the season really but $200.00 will usually last us two weeks tops.

I do my best to shop the perimeter of the store (i.e. meats, produce, dairy) and shop less in the aisles if I can help it.

I love fresh vegetables. Love LOVE LOVE them :) Especially Asparagus. During the spring and early summer, we eat a LOT of asparagus as it is always on sale.

There are three of us in the home and I can stretch 200 over 2 weeks if I am cooking every day and from scratch (which I also try to do). My 12 year old is a bottomless pit though so sometimes it varies. :)

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 5:57:40 AM

Toppingfrmbottom

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no, no yous read it wrong, I ask , if you other shoppers bought only fresh items, how much do your groceries can you get from your store for 200., and how many meals do you get off that haul. To compared to if you bought prepackaged. That is disgussing how many items you get for 200 if you bought nothing pre prepaird, totally healthy. I'd be crazy to try n say tv dinners are healthy.

quote:

ORIGINAL: servantforuse
I'm sorry. I can't get over what I am hearing. 20 Tv dinners and you think that is eating healthy ?

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 5:58:17 AM

Aynne88

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Toppingfrmbottom

I know, still isn't gonna stop me from eating them, I at this point really don't care if they suck for you, I like em. I will continue to eat them. Though I will try to eat less because I wish to spend money on healthier things. How bad they are isn't the point, or how much better home cooked is. the point was compared to all fresh items how many meals/items can you get for 200. To compare We get around 15 -20items for 200
quote:

ORIGINAL: servantforuse

Processed foods such as TV dinners are probably the most un healthy things you can eat. Read the ingredients. They are loaded with sugar, salt and many other additives. Cook from scratch. It's cheaper and much more healthy..

This is why you frustrate some people TFB, me included. You are admittedly overwieght, have health issues, and your Daddy is pre-diabetic. Yet a crap tv dinner is worth it? Why? because you would rather have an immediate reward of a junk meal full of fat, sugar, salt and artificial ingredients then be healthy? That's your choice, but you really ought to learn to cook and develop a taste for ACTUAL real food before your taste buds are totally numb.

1. Plant some planters with fresh patio tomatoes nd herbs. Cheap, easy, delicous.
2. Buy meat in bulk, portion it out, freeze it.
3. Learn to cook. You have been told this a zillion times. Make homemade soups, easy, delicous, and healthy. Put the stock in ice cube trays ad freeze it, take out as needed for next batch.
4, Plan ahead. Roast a huge chicken, cheap, them make quesedillas loaded with fresh veggies and low fat cheese, then make a chicken stir fry with wheat pasta and chopped tomatoes and basil, etc. Add a can of low sodium stewed tomatoes with italian seasonings for added vitamin c. Cheap and tasty.
5. Beans are great. Learn how to make a great minestrone with some crusty bread and good olive oil. Freeze the leftovers.
6. Bananas. Slice them up lengthwise, grill them, on a scored grill pan if you have one, and drizzle with a bit of raw honey or greek yogurt and flax seed.
7. Salads salads salads. Not those overpriced cheese filled high fat dressing junk ones, I mean buy quality greens, veggies, and one thing you really love to it. Good quality olive oil and blasamic dressing make a great dressing.

Topping you have been asking these questions for years here, it seems like you just want an easy answer and there isn't one. You have to budget, meal plan, shop, and learn to cook some basics. if not, this is all just a waste of time. Those fast food junk meals are going to kill you and you are way too young to have these health issue and sometimes...you just gotta do the hard work.

Edited to add I spend about $450.00 to $500.00 a month not including cleaning or beauty products but that includes making dinner from scratch 6 nights a week, any wine included and we like wine with dinner, my Man's lunch daily, and it's a very nice and healthy one, and also feeding 5 pets quality and fresh food as well as high quality pet food. I do belong to the local co-op and grow a large vegetable garden in the summer so it is less costly then, also some years we have bought half cows and had them butchered or been lucky enough to get some local venison. I realize not everyone wants to hunt. I also am getting chickens this spring. You have to like I said do the work yourself. Start somewhere.

< Message edited by Aynne88 -- 1/12/2011 6:38:26 AM >

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 5:58:56 AM

Phoenixpower

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Toppingfrmbottom

I know, still isn't gonna stop me from eating them, I at this point really don't care if they suck for you, I like em. I will continue to eat them. Though I will try to eat less because I wish to spend money on healthier things. How bad they are isn't the point, or how much better home cooked is. the point was compared to all fresh items how many meals/items can you get for 200. To compare We get around 15 -20items for 200
quote:

ORIGINAL: servantforuse

Processed foods such as TV dinners are probably the most un healthy things you can eat. Read the ingrediants. They are loaded with sugar, salt and many other additives. Cook from scratch. It's cheaper and much more healthy..

I don't really want to go into the healty or unhealthy debate as such and agree to what others said. I guess it would last me about 6 weeks.

However, in regards on ready meals not being that healthy I was pretty shocked 6 years ago, when I temporarily lived on ready meals for about 2 months due to a crap kitchenette I had, in which cooking always ended up in a huge mess....and what was the result?

I woke up every 1-2 hours at night for no apparent reason. During that time I had 4 hours sleep at the week and 6 hours sleep at the weekend due to my working schedule from an agency where I worked 7 days a week. I then bought a chopping board as it caught my attention, when it was half price and that fitted nicely my 2 cooking plates which I had there...I cooked vegetable soup from scratch and gosh, did I sleep like a baby again

That was experience enough for me to keep my distance to ready meals and it is very rare that they enter my basket. Apart from that for me they tasted all pretty much the same and I way too much enjoy cooking to buy them much

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 5:59:25 AM

XXMystiqueXX

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While far from being a "health nut" I would much rather cook from scratch than buy prepared meals/tv dinners etc. I found tho, that eating only healthy foods can be quite costly if you go to the normal Supermakets. I do alot of shopping to spend My hard earned dollars and it pays off in the long run. I believe I could easily do very well w/ $200.00 for a month's worth of food by shopping at our local Aldi/SavALot/produce stands etc... Their own brands are comparable to the national big chains in 99% of the items. There are just a few things I buy that are name brands or from a certain store. Also, coupons are great especially if you know one of those "coupon nuts" to get you started saving BIG money. My neighbor went to a meeting to learn and on her first excursion her bill was $90something, but, with all her planning and coupons her out of pocket expense was like $37 or $38.00. Seems in todays economy we have to cut corners and be creative whenever we can.

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 6:04:34 AM

Toppingfrmbottom

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depends on the meal, if it was any number of foods I hated, or the food was otherwise unpalatable to me, ie it was a shank of lamb, and it was greasy an I could not stand to eat it an tomorow the left over lamb was going into a stew made from scratch, or you flavored the gravey for home made gravy with the lamb, an now I don't like the taste, yes I would and I have taken a tv dinner, and gladly over the homecooked meal.

quote:

ORIGINAL: barelynangel

TFTB, i know you said you like TV dinners, but do you really? I mean if you have a TV dinner and a meal someone made from fresh items, which one would you choose. I would be hard pressed to believe you would choose a TV dinner over a homemade meal. The problem is TV dinners are quick and easy, but they really aren't cheaper all around. As was stated above - if you really are pre-diabetic, TV dinners probably aren't the best because they are usually very high in bad type carbs and sugars. While the dinners are becoming a little more healthy --- i.e., lean cuisine etc are trying to use whole grains etc, its still not the best and 20 TV dinners would for 2 people be 1 meal a day for each person for 20 days. So it really isn't cheaper.

I am not coming down on you as to liking TV dinners, but unfortunately, processed food usually does appeal to many people because of the sugar content and the convenience.

I personally cannot believe you LIKE TV dinners over a homecooked meal -- could it be you like the convenience more so?

angel

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 6:06:31 AM

LadyPact

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Well over a month and that is with MP's expensive taste in meats. December we may have gone over that because we did some entertaining and bought some foods that are uncharacteristic of us. Also, it's fair to say that some of that has trickled over into January (bone for soup which was three dinners, cheeses that went into a baked dish, etc) so we may only spend around one fifty this month. If we didn't have our soda habit, we'd be well below a two hundred dollar a month allowance. That also includes us eating at the munch one time a month.

I don't really consider our diet as healthy. It's more middle of the road. I will use things like pasta-roni as a side dish. Also, I happen to like breakfast food, but I generally don't eat that at breakfast time. It's not unusual for us to decide that we want omlettes for dinner if the mood strikes Me. Of course, a pack of bacon lasts us for two meals. A pound of hamburger, same thing. Maybe once a month, we will eat a frozen pizza.

On the positive side, we'll eat a balanced meal of a meat, a starch, and a vegetable at least half of the time. That gets mixed with things like casserole that I make Myself. (No frozen versions or hamburger helper.) We stopped buying junk food. The last soup that I bought in a can was after MP's surgery. I have yogurt should I decide to eat in the mornings. Our vegetables are either fresh or frozen.

When it's just MP and Myself, I struggle to use up perishable food. Things like a loaf of bread, I'm more likely to feed half of it to the birds or end up tossing it in the trash. I have to get rid of milk regularly. Potatoes can be hit or miss, depending on if we buy five pounds or ten. If we buy sandwich meat, there's a 50/50 chance that we won't finish the package. Cheese makes it most of the time. Sour cream is almost a guarantee of going bad because I'm the only one who eats it.

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 6:06:45 AM

barelynangel

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I would love to be a coupon nut, lol i love seeing the total amount go down when i give over my little "savings" card without coupons. I always use my card at the end so i can see it go down lol.This year one of the things i want to do is cut way down on my food bill as i go out and eat out A LOT, which really does cost me a lot of money and i want to start doing coupons but really am at a loss as to what good places you can get them without buying a paper.

angel

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 6:06:47 AM

Toppingfrmbottom

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haha, yeah those bottomless pits do have quiet the affect on just how far a resource goes.

quote:

ORIGINAL: allyC

It depends on the season really but $200.00 will usually last us two weeks tops.

I do my best to shop the perimeter of the store (i.e. meats, produce, dairy) and shop less in the aisles if I can help it.

I love fresh vegetables. Love LOVE LOVE them :) Especially Asparagus. During the spring and early summer, we eat a LOT of asparagus as it is always on sale.

There are three of us in the home and I can stretch 200 over 2 weeks if I am cooking every day and from scratch (which I also try to do). My 12 year old is a bottomless pit though so sometimes it varies. :)

-Cav's ally

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 6:07:17 AM

allthatjaz

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Toppingfrmbottom, do you care about how you look? what you wear? how your hair looks and how your skin looks? Too many people look after the outside of their body and not the inside.
I am a firm believer that you are what you eat.
Is it because you don't like cooking that you eat tv dinners?
Its a well known fact that kids like junk food and most parents are aware enough of how bad it is for them and so modify how much of it they eat. As an adult only you can control how much junk you eat and so I hope your journey towards a healthier diet is a successful one. Regardless of expenses, where there's a will there's a way.

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 6:09:48 AM

barelynangel

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quote:

depends on the meal, if it was any number of foods I hated, or the food was otherwise unpalatable to me, ie it was a shank of lamb, and it was greasy an I could not stand to eat it an tomorow the left over lamb was going into a stew made from scratch, or you flavored the gravey for home made gravy with the lamb, an now I don't like the taste, yes I would and I have taken a tv dinner, and gladly over the homecooked meal.

Do you normally buy fresh and healthy food you DON'T like to eat? You are really reaching here TFTB, but that is your choice. However, i can tell you this, while you seem worried about what costs are about -- medical bills and pills are more expensive than simply investing in better ways of eating now instead of investing in medications and doctor bills in the near future.

angel

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 6:12:30 AM

Toppingfrmbottom

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The problem we find are that there's not really coupons for the items we buy, all the coupons are for like diapers, or hair dye or toothpaste brands we couldn't give 2 shits about. Or crest teeth whitening strips or herbal essence shampoo's ect. Every once in a while we do score an there's a coupon for items we need.

quote:

ORIGINAL: barelynangel

I would love to be a coupon nut, lol i love seeing the total amount go down when i give over my little "savings" card without coupons. I always use my card at the end so i can see it go down lol.This year one of the things i want to do is cut way down on my food bill as i go out and eat out A LOT, which really does cost me a lot of money and i want to start doing coupons but really am at a loss as to what good places you can get them without buying a paper.

angel

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 6:16:33 AM

Toppingfrmbottom

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Lp my parents waste grocery cart after grocery cart of perishables , because they struggle to eat it fast enough. My dad stopped getting big things of milk an started going with the half sizes or the individual hershy chocolate milk sizes an just buy 4 because it was cheap, an take half a loaf of bread, freeze half an eat half, and that right there keeps bread an milk waste non exsistant.

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 6:21:51 AM

XXMystiqueXX

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Topping........

Go online and check out the printable coupons the Manufacturer's offer. It is truly amazing what you can do IF you know some little secrets. For instance, I had NO idea when you do a buy one/get one free from our biggest, most expensive chain that you can actually use a coupon for each item. For instance... they offer pasta $1.00 a box, and the sale is BOGO.........you might have 2 coupons for .30 cents each for this product. So... now you can give them two coupons and only spend........40cents for two boxes of pasta! If you have Publix that is the store I know of that works that way. I am anxious to learn more about couponing and how to save $$$.

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RE: how much fresh healthy food could you buy for 200 d... - 1/12/2011 6:22:17 AM

barelynangel

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There is a lot more than that TFTB, you just have to look for it. I mean even with TV type food, they a lot of times have buy 10 for $10 etc or even 5 for $10 -- that's a lot of TV dinners lol and since they are frozen you can buy majorily in bulk -- i.e., 100 meals for $200 in the minimum. You just have to know where to look. For me, i am lazy -- admittedly so -- which is why i do spend a lot of money on food, i don't actively look for coupons, i don't buy generic, i shop at publix and Krogers which are on the high end of the scale price wise etc. But even i know with some planning -- i.e., looking at flyers, going to different stores, searching for coupons etc, they are around. You are a lot like me, i make excuses because i really don't want to do the work that would allow me to spend less on food -- i.e., stop eating out for 1, and finding the little things that would bring the bill down like coupons and flyers and going to different stores and buying generic when able.

But that's okay, you don't HAVE to do it -- however, it is doable and its doable with fresh and non-processed food if you plan. Some of us are just more lazy than others and we are willing to spend more money because of it and eat less healthy.

In the end, TFTB, if you want to do it, you will. It can be done.

angel

< Message edited by barelynangel -- 1/12/2011 6:30:23 AM >

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