Yes, it can be
BUT
it can be done on a budget!
You don't have to break the bank to feed your family real food.
Healthy food. And it does not have to be difficult to make either.
I am going to be highlighting some of my favorite healthy and budget friendly recipes that are perfect for fall!
Cheap & Easy...
One of my favorite Cheap & Easy staples:
Old Fashioned Oatmeal
It costs a whopping $2.00 for a giant container of Old Fashioned Oatmeal which has 30 servings (1/2 cup of dry oats). Let's do the math here-$2 for 30 servings works out to $0.06 per serving.
You can opt for Quaker Oats at $2.49 for the same size container and the cost rises to
$0.906 per serving. Wanna call it 10 cents??
You can even up the ante to ORGANIC old fashioned oatmeal-Nature's Place (our local grocery store label organic line) is $3.29 for the same 30 servings-this works out to $0.11 per serving.
So the question is "why would you pay $2.50 to 3.50 for a box of sugared, processed quick oats?"
Most boxes of instant oatmeal come with 6 individual packages so let's do this math.
6 servings at $2.50 would be $0.416 and 6 servings at $3.50 is $0.583
Is your answer "because it's quick and easy" ???
Because, guess what!!?? Making old fashioned oatmeal is just as easy as the "quick" stuff.
It's cheap and easy.
My favorite oatmeal
1 3/4 cups of water
1 cup of old fashioned oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
a generous dash of cinnamon
a hand full of raisins or craisins
your favorite sweetener-honey, real maple syrup, stevia, etc.
Bring water to a boil.
Add oats, vanilla, cinnamon.
Turn heat down to med-low. Let simmer for just a few minutes. Turn off heat and cover.
Add raisins or craisins and your sweetener of choice. Top with a splash of milk.
Easy.
I like to add ground flax meal and even protein powder on occasion.
 |
| oats with almonds, apples & flax seed |
Other great combo's to throw in:
chopped apples & a scoop of almond butter. Top with chopped almonds & flax
blueberries and milk (frozen berries are the way to go! cheap & easy)
bananas & walnuts (banana bread!!)
PB and more PB :)
Do you like Oatmeal?
What is your favorite way to have oats?
What would you like to see next on Cheap & Easy?
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I eat oatmeal every day!! Basically the same way you do. :)
ReplyDeleteI love oatmeal - and buy the Hannaford stuff all the time! I actually use it quite a bit to make my own granola & I use maple syrup from our own trees to sweeten it!
ReplyDeleteI even like to do overnight oats with it. You got it - cheap and easy! :)
Hmm. I thought I left a comment. But it went away. Poof!
ReplyDeleteSO. I eat oatmeal every day. I like it with apples in it the best. Or I put frozen raspberries. Or blueberries. Or whatever. YUMMY. I will add a handful of walnuts if I have them
SO true! And if you look at the long-run costs of disease from eating like crap, well...
ReplyDeleteI do love oatmeal. I make it, add some soy milk and some almond butter and oila! The best.
Oatmeal is awesome! We love it in my house!!
ReplyDeleteI love oatmeal! I think I eat it about 5 mornings a week. It is so easy, filling and like you said CHEAP!
ReplyDeleteI like mine with grated carrot, raisins and cinnamon... mmm.
ReplyDeleteHow about other grains?
farro
quinoa
bulgur
?
good idea here, thanks!
I use those giant things of oats to make granola! A bag of the granola that I would buy (Nature's Place:Plain) costs close to $5. A tub of the oats (I actually use the Trader Joe's brand), a little sugar, cinnamon, random nuts and either honey or caramel all whipped together and toasted for a bit saves me almost $10/week. (I kinda eat a lot).
ReplyDeleteLove it. That is just a great post.
ReplyDeleteYou know I have the same feelings. Stop feeding me excuses and start feeding yourself real food instead of this garbage.
Just had a hankering and I bought a banana and covered it in nut butter, honey and nutmeg. Hunger pains gone and the cost: $1.00......find something that nutritious and delicious on the dollar menu at McDonald's.
I love oatmeal and it's getting to that time of the year where it's almost all we eat for breakfast at our house!
ReplyDeleteI make steel cut oats overnight (put them in a thermos with boiling water, and overnight they absorb the water so I can just stick them in the microwave for a minute--no long cooking time, plus awesome texture). I always add peanut butter, berries or seasonal fruit, and flax.
ReplyDelete