awesome tips and thank you for sharing – you have set a high bar for us to reach to!

From a seafood perspective you may wish to consider mussels for the occasional treat. They are one of my favorites, super easy to cook and can be had for between $1-$3 per pound (Toronto prices).

Love your approach and the ongoing dialogue that is being shared here – again further inspiration that good eating well can be done without blowing the bank.

J

For months now, I’ve been feeding myself (I live alone) for less than $50/week, and I think I eat an exceedingly healthy diet, as I’m diabetic, and thus eschew most sugar/carb laden processed foods. I do shop 3-4 times a week, stock up on specials, freeze often and carefully, and I’m not too proud to buy “last day of sale” meats. I eat very well, and very inexpensively.

For example, I recently bought boneless pork loins for $1.29/lb. I sliced these into 1 1/2″ chops, and froze them. Each chop weighs about 6 oz, so for $0.43, I have a nice protein for dinner or lunch. Add in some frozen mixed veg (California or Italian mix) – about $0.50/serving – some salad (mixed lettuce is $1.49/bag, which is usually good for three servings, so count it as another $0.50), some pearl barley as a starch (about $0.20/serving), and a sauce I make from chicken stock, fresh lemon juice, and cornstarch (the lemon is the most expensive ingredient – it’s about $0.66/lemon), and I have an excellent and healthy meal for less than $2.50 (which includes the dab of butter I put on the veg, seasonings, etc.).

Breakfast might be two poached eggs ($0.30) on a whole wheat tortilla ($0.20), with some shredded cheese and some salsa (call those $0.50 to be generous). That’s a whole $1 for breakfast.

I don’t get much fresh fish on this budget, but I bought fresh ribeye today for $3.99/lb, and cut the $10 worth into 8 portions. Yes, a 5-oz steak isn’t huge, but I’m trying to lose weight anyway, and a good quality steak with the right sides tastes just as good as 16-oz one.

I don’t see anything challenging at all with the price level you’ve set. If I were willing to spend at the levels you’ve set, I’d be able to treat myself to fresh lobster or crab, scallops, etc. Instead, I fortify tinned soups (usally $0.59-0.77/can) with tinned beans or pearl barley, and in some instances, stew beef, and still end up with filling, nutritious meals for less than $2.50 serving.

I think that’s totally fair. I understand that you are approaching this with a number of different objectives and that sometimes you will have to make difficult choices: local vs organic, time vs expense, etc. My comment wasn’t meant to discourage you in any way but only to help clarify what your main objectives are. Cost is obviously not the only factor that encourages people to eat fast food but if you give someone the option of choosing to feed their family fast food vs a healthy meal that costs the same or more and takes time to shop for and prepare, fast food is probably going to win out a good portion of the time.

I grew up as the eldest of 13 kids so I’ve had a lifetime of making my food dollar stretch but I also recognize that I have the luxury of time and I love to cook. I have no kids and only work part time so it’s easy for me to make meals from scratch that take hours of prep, or buy produce when it’s plentiful and inexpensive to preserve for later. For me to tell someone whose lifestyle is far more complicated than mine, that eating well cheaply is easy, that would be somewhat unrealistic.

That said, I think l you have set a wonderful goal and look forward to reading of your adventures. And if you want any recipe suggestions I’d be happy to send you some of my faves!

Heather

You are very valid.

We will try to address both – while I state that the max is $5, we don`t intend to max out all the time and will show ways that you can take a splurge and lower the cost for less than splurgy times as well. Next weeks recipe comes in at around $4 per portion and we will show how one can lower this first by decreasing or replacing certain ingredients and, second by adding a few extras to leftovers to create a totally different dish and plummet the cost.

At the end of the day, it is as much for discussion like our comment here so that we can share together our thoughts and ideas on how to practically make changes that we can all make a difference now to each of us.

When we do have splurges we will keep them around that $5 – the goal is to show we can eat fabulous for less than what we could merely survive on fast food for.

Keep us honest and keep sharing like this and together we will find solutions. We certainty don`t have all the answers and, to be honest, feeling a little scared on how we will handle this ourselves.

Crossing fingers,

J