Howcast video on healthy meals on a budget

A friend passed this on to me and I thought I'd share it.

Spasagne

I thought this was such a fun word to say that I would blog it. My friend made lasagna yesterday, but he made it with spaghetti noodles instead, so we called it spasagne.

I am going to try and make a cheap and healthy recipe for this, but until then, I believe this is how he made it. I can't give exact amounts.

ground beef, cooked
bacon, diced and cooked
spaghetti sauce
spaghetti noodles
ricotta
mozzarella cheese

Cook the spaghetti noodles, but take them out when they're just slightly under done. Then layer the noodles, sauce, ricotta, and beef. Top it with the mozzarella and bacon. Bake it till the cheese is bubbly.

Mmmmmm

When I test out a cheap version, I'll re-post with amounts. It probably won't have meat.

Day 6

Breakfast
1 cup bran flakes ($0.20)
1 cup milk ($0.15)
2 tbls cranberries ($0.15)

Lunch
Leftover chicken & roll from Sunday dinner (free, from mom)

Dinner
Leftover spasagne (free, from friend, see next entry)
sauteed zucchini ($0.35)

Snacks
cinnamon roll ($1, I totally splurged at IKEA, they smelled so good and I knew dinner was free)

Chamomile tea (free, at a friends, we got caught running in the rain. It was lovely while we were running)

Total $1.85

Day 5

Breakfast
Leftover Chinese (free, see dinner day 4)

Lunch
cherries ($0.25)
Naan bread ($0.25)

Dinner
Family dinner (free)
chicken, rolls, pasta salad, brownies

Snacks
creamsicle (ate at friends house, free)

Total $0.50

Day 4

Breakfast
hashbrowns (Still at brother's house, free)
scrambled eggs (free)
pancakes (free)


Lunch
Nutty bar (free)


Dinner
Chinese take-out (paid for by my gentlemen friends I was hanging out with)

Snacks
yogurt (free, I'm cat-sitting and they told me to eat any of the food I wanted, trying to not be a total moocher though)
cherries ($0.25)

Total $0.25

This wasn't exactly a healthy meal day. My brother doesn't have a lot of food so I ate what I could scrounge up. I did cook breakfast again to kind of earn my keep.

Day Three Meals

Breakfast
Oatmeal ($0.06)
w/ 2 tbl cranberries ($0.15) and some agave nectar ($0.20)

Lunch
Hamburger (at mom's house, free)
Animal cookies (free)

Dinner
Pasta w/ alfredo sauce & chicken (at brother's house, found everything in cupboards, but used 1/4 jar of my sauce--$0.25)

Snacks
Wendy's Frosty (free, thanks to brother)

Total $0.66

I realized Oatmeal is probably one of the cheapest meals I'm going to get. It's loading it up with other yummy healthy things that will sink the cost. When my cranberries and agave nectar run out, they're probably off the grocery list. I've been using agave nectar as a sweetener but I'm going to have to switch back to non-organic plain old processes sugar.

Also, visiting family is a good way to cut costs. :) I don't feel bad about the brother cause I used to feed him all the time and I cooked it for him.

Day Two Meals

Breakfast
1 cup bran flakes ($0.20)
1 cup milk ($0.15)
2 tbls cranberries ($0.15)

Lunch
Ham & cheese sandwich & fries from Arctic Circle--my brother took me so it was free. Lucky me. (Would have been $2.25 if I had paid myself. A few weeks ago that would have seemed like a cheap meal to me.)

Dinner
Naan bread ($0.25)
4 oz chicken ($0.75)
homemade hummus ($0.35)
cucumber & tomato salad ($0.35)

Snacks
Apple ($0.25)

Total $2.20

So far sticking to around $1.66 a day has not happened. I will probably not be buying meat after I run out of what I already have stockpiled in the freezer.