Comments on: Help, The Recession Is Making Me Fat

By: Healthy Diet Lets Woman Lose Thirty Pounds in Thirty Days

Healthy Diet Lets Woman Lose Thirty Pounds in Thirty Days — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:31:16 +0000

Hi, nice post. I have been pondering this issue,so thanks for writing. I’ll certainly be subscribing to your site.

By: vargas

vargas — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:36:26 +0000

Ramen noodles don’t have to be bad for you. I add bean sprouts, fresh basil, green peas and green onions with a dash of oyster sauce and a pickled egg (I pickle them myself) for extra nutrition. A very cheap and tasty meal!

By: Ishtar

Ishtar — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:19:26 +0000

I thought I was being clever when I bought the long-life milk. It’s awful. Well, it smells awful so I’m back to square one.

But freezing my bread helps.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 22:55:48 +0000

good tips, it is frustrating that the cheap stuff is so bad for you.

By: Donna Freedman

Donna Freedman — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:59:18 +0000

I agree that a slow cooker is one of the best investments you can make. (The thrift stores are full of them, by the way.)
Forage/glean: Some cities have organized urban gleaning programs. You can also just talk to neighbors whose fruit trees you have noticed going unharvested; one of my neighbors let me have all the plums I wanted, saying, “I’m glad SOMEONE wants them.” In return, I delivered a couple of jars of homemade jam. I also put an ad on Freecycle this year (”Got fruit? Want jam?”), and not only got enough ingredients for preserves but also to can plums, pears and applesauce. Since Seattle is drowning in blackberry vines, I picked enough to make jam for myself and for gifts, and also froze a ton of them for winter use.
Breakfast for supper: You won’t hear many complaints about pancakes or French toast and fruit. Make these things from scratch — they’re very easy. Serve with a little jam if you don’t have syrup on hand. (Buttermilk pancakes with homemade plum jam….mmmmmm….)
Bread outlets: They’re not just for “old” bread. I pay 79 cents for a 20-ounce package of tortillas at a nearby bread outlet, and some of the whole-grain bread they sell is a week away from its sell-by date — but less than half the supermarket price. (Freeze it if you’re worried about it going stale.)
Three easy “convenience” foods to keep in the fridge:
1. Hard-boiled eggs — For a protein snack or a brown-bag lunch sandwich. When they go on sale (I got them for 99 cents a dozen this week), buy an extra dozen and have omelets or scrambled-egg sandwiches for supper.
2. Grated cheese — Chunk cheese is a frequent loss leader; I paid $3.99 for two pounds last week. You use less if you grate it as opposed to slicing it. Sprinkle it on top of a meat or tuna sandwich and melt it in a toaster oven, or make quesadillas with those bread-outlet tortillas.
3. A bowl of plain cooked beans — Here’s where that slow cooker comes in handy. Cook a couple of cups of dry beans and have them ready to mash up as refried beans; to heat up with salsa and a little of that grated cheese (a side dish with a small piece of chicken or pork, a main dish if you add rice and/or a tortilla); or to roll up in a tortilla with shreds of leftover chicken (you can make a small amount go a long way) and salsa. If you make soup from scratch, add a few spoons of beans to make it heartier; if you’re heating up a can of soup, ditto.
Another voice for coupons: Read the ads each week and you can save money. Here’s a healthy example: This week at Albertsons, Quaker rolled oats are $1.50 for a 42-ounce box if you buy four Quaker products. I’ll buy four because I have coupons for them. I’ll wind up paying 90 cents to $1 for 42 ounces of oatmeal. Each box holds enough for about 30 breakfasts.
And if I didn’t buy four products and have four coupons? The oatmeal would be $2 a box, which is still a pretty good price for 30 breakfasts. At that price, stock up — another tip for stretching your food dollars. I don’t know what a 42-ounce bo of oats costs, but I know that an 18-ounce box costs $3.29. Yikes. (Some stores have bulk-buy or health-food sections with rolled oats by the pound — usually cheaper than buying them prepackaged.)
Finally, thanks to coupon/rebate combos at stores like Rite Aid and Walgreens, I frequently get paid to use toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, etc. What I can’t use I donate to shelters and a social service agency — both places are being hit hard by the economic downturn.

By: Small Business Startup Funding In Silicon Valley Dries Up

Small Business Startup Funding In Silicon Valley Dries Up — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:35:43 +0000

[...] Frugal Dad: Help, The Recession Is Making Me Fat! [...]

By: Ricky

Ricky — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:02:31 +0000

We gave away our microwave oven about 8 years ago which eliminated most of the frozen convenience foods and bags of microwave popcorn that we’d been eating. We don’t miss it at all. ( I can’t think of anything that tastes better cooked in a microwave oven.) By making foods that are cooked in a pot or baked in the toaster oven, we find we are making better choices and better able to control the calories and sodium levels of the food we eat.

By: Ishtar

Ishtar — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:02:40 +0000

This is not the solution to famine but I divide loaves of bread into 4 or 5 sections, which I then freeze. I’m a single gal and I can’t finish an entire loaf of bread in a week’s time.

I also buy long-life milk instead of ‘normal’ milk so that I do not feel forced to use the milk before it expires.

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 04:08:36 +0000

Consider baking (and then enjoying) a sweet potato before eating ramen noodles! You can usually get a large sweet potato very inexpensively (the last time I checked, I paid 25 cents apiece for them.) They are packed with nutrition and really tasty when buttered and salted. They are filling, stick with you and won’t make you fat (even with a little butter!)

By: Valerie @ Frugal Family Fun Blog

Valerie @ Frugal Family Fun Blog — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 04:08:35 +0000

I used to buy chewy granola bars, but now I make my own. They are so tasty! No preservatives or high fructose corn syrup in these bars!

Here is the recipe (with photos):

http://www.frugalfamilyfunblog.com/2009/01/homemade-chewy-granola-bars-and.html

Great post! I enjoy reading your blog!