So i've been doing really good sticking to a budget.. we only spent 109$ on grocery's last month (there's only two of us) We used up most of the food in our cupboards and freezer. We just got back from visiting my mom and she sent us home with two big boxes full of dryed food.. so our cupboards are full again. But today the doctor told me to eat protein every two hours :drop: because i've been having problems with my blood sugar. She said to just have a few slices of meat, or cheese, a yogurt, nuts ect. We bought some ham today but it is 6$ a pound, and we also got a big chunk of cheese, which will last for a while and was the cheapest way we could find it. Any suggestions on inexpensive snacks (protein) so we can still stick to a budget?
TIA

Lindsey

Eggs. Hardboil some. Also, beans.

beans.. great idea! im gonna make some three bean salad.. very cheap all you need is a few different canned beans .. some oil, vinegar and salt and pepper..
yumm thanks for the idea!

Quinoa is also a perfect protein by itself. It isn't "cheap" near me but you might have a better, possibly bulk, source.

eggs, nuts and seeds, peanut butter

I was going to say beans and quinoa also. A little quinoa goes a LONG way!

homemade yogurt. Or just the big container of generic.

We were suuuper broke when I had high blood pressure during my third pregnancy. I was told to eat protein every two hours, too. I could have up to three (or four?) hardboiled eggs a day. I hate them now, but it got me through it.

I also ate a lot of string cheese. You can get big packs of it pretty cheap and just eat one piece. Half an apple and a blob of peanut butter works well. Bean salads, like you mentioned. There is a recipe for a cold lentil salad that I made that wasn't bad. If you eat meat, you could do a little tuna once in a while or canned salmon. Sunflower seed kernels are really cheap, as are big bags of walnuts (especially if you get the pieces versus halves). Drinking milk, if you get WIC (you should, if you're pregnant and struggling) will help. I would sometimes have a cup of milk or a banana smoothie (made with milk) when I couldn't bear another egg.

Oh, gosh - cottage cheese!!! I lived on the stuff and it's honestly one of the highest protein values of foods that I found on the charts.

I love almonds to pop in my mouth every once in a while. Yes, the container is expensive, but you don't need many to count as a serving.

Also, peanut butter on a slice of whole grain toast, when you grill some chicken breasts (or steaks, if you eat them), make an extra one and slice it up. Every couple of hours just take a slice of it out of the fridge and eat it. Another idea, make a quiche (egg bake with meat, cheese, veggies) and just have a slice for a snack - easy to heat up.

It doesn't have to be a whole lot - just keeping protein in your body at regular intervals is very helpful.

yep cottage cheese, and eggs. Especially the egg whites.

We were suuuper broke when I had high blood pressure during my third pregnancy. I was told to eat protein every two hours, too. I could have up to three (or four?) hardboiled eggs a day. I hate them now, but it got me through it.

I also ate a lot of string cheese. You can get big packs of it pretty cheap and just eat one piece. Half an apple and a blob of peanut butter works well. Bean salads, like you mentioned. There is a recipe for a cold lentil salad that I made that wasn't bad. If you eat meat, you could do a little tuna once in a while or canned salmon. Sunflower seed kernels are really cheap, as are big bags of walnuts (especially if you get the pieces versus halves). Drinking milk, if you get WIC (you should, if you're pregnant and struggling) will help. I would sometimes have a cup of milk or a banana smoothie (made with milk) when I couldn't bear another egg.

Oh, gosh - cottage cheese!!! I lived on the stuff and it's honestly one of the highest protein values of foods that I found on the charts.

Great ideas! I used to eat so much cottage cheese. I ate it often with pineapple chunks, too - they help each other be digested better.

milkshakes... with some peanut butter in them - my favorite was peanut butter, chocolate banana.

Oh, nuts - look in the baking aisle instead of the snack aisle, they are often a lot cheaper there, too!

It's not terribly cheap, but I always have Spirutein on hand for instant protein needs. I use about 1/2 the recommended amount into a cup of soy milk or add it to your smoothie.

Chole

great ideas! thanks so much!

Cottage cheese has lots of protein but also TONS of sodium. If youa re worried about high blood pressure, try to ind the low sodium variety.

Costco sells nuts in big containers for pretty cheap.

When getting nuts from Costco, make sure you get the ones that are labeled "Raw" becuase the packaged Costco nuts are REALLY salty. I have taken back two containers and no longer buy them because they are so terribly salty we couldn't eat them.

Protien comes in many different forms. Raw almonds is my favorite source. I eat them with no sulfer apricots, and some dark chocolate chips. I mix it together like trail mix and munch on it. Other sources of protien:

Oatmeal: 1 cup is 6 grams of protien. The 10 minute "slow" cook stuff has the highest in fiber as well. A wonderful thing for a pregnant mama digestion. :)

Peanut butter: 1 Tbsp has 4 grams of protien. Eat it with whole wheat crackers or on top of some sharp cheddar cheese and you add even more protien. The way my kids like it best is on Gravinstien apple slices.

Whole wheat/cracked wheat toast: 2 slices have 5 grams protien. Eat that with your peanut butter, or your cheese. Once again... fiber and protien combined.

Lentils have TONS of protien. 2 cups of lentils has 36 grams of protien! (That is one large bowl of lentil soup).

Beans with brown rice topped with cheese and some plain yogurt. All three have some amino acids that produce complete protiens.

Top yogurt with flax powder.

Top granola with yogurt.

Buy two chickens to roast, have them for dinner and then de-bone the rest. For the next week, you will have roast chicken to snack on. You can have it as chicken salad, or as a snack with cheese and crackers, or even in a sandwich with lettuce, and perhaps some cheese as well.

Remember, you don't need to eat the combinations together to get complete protiens. You can have a bowl of brown rice with butter, milk, and maple syrup in the morning, and then some lentil soup for dinner and you have a complete protien. The amino acids will be bioavailable to your body for up to a week. So if you eat vegan protien sources (usually the least expensive) you will get the whole protien over the next few meals. You don't have to worry about having them all at the same time. Your body is smart about it. ;)

Also, you can add hamburger to your beans and have a small dose of protien. Like some taco salad. Just put some corn chips on a plate, add beans, rice, lettuce, tomato, plain yogurt or sour cream (pretty much the same thing, but plain yogurt has a tang to it), cheese, and perhaps tomato and avacado (another wonderful protien source)... yum!

And MUSHROOMS. Don't forget about mushrooms. If you like them, they can double your protien. They are mostly water though... so if you want the protien, you kinda have to eat a lot. But, they can be a great addition to most foods... lentil soup, satue'd mushrooms with chicken over brown rice, portabella mushroom bugers, button mushrooms sauted with onions on a burger. Oh gosh... I love the mushrooms. :)

Ok, I think that's all I can think of.

Val

You don't have to eat more food to eat more often.

Say you were having a chicken salad for lunch. One chicken breast. Instead of eating it all at 12:00, divide it into 3 pieces and have one piece at 12:00, one at 2:00, and one at 4:00.

Same with dinner...divide up the protein into smaller portions and snack on it until bedtime.

Breakfast...an egg here...a tablespoon of cottage cheese or a piece of string cheese spread throughout the morning.

15 almonds...a peanut jar lid filled with peanuts...as a snack.

Assuming you're awake 16hrs a day...that's 7-8 mini meals. Depending on your personal caloric needs you're day might look like this:

8am...egg and fruit

10am...string cheese

12noon...salad or 1/2 sandwich with meat

2pm...the rest of the sandwich or salad

4pm...nuts or a yogurt

6 pm...1/2 of dinner

8pm...rest of dinner

It shouldn't have too much effect on your budget as you're not so much adding in extra meals as splitting up the already existing meals.

eggs, nuts and seeds, peanut butter

Exactly what I was typing in..:)

All great suggestions and advice! Thanks! Dannielle, thats a great way of looking at it, instead of adding more food every two hours.. split it up, so I'm not eating a TON more, but eating more frequently. Thanks!

My chiropractor just did a whole bunch of blood work on me and I was told something very similar.

Only, he told me that under no circumstances did plant protein count. I eat a ton of beans, and my protein levels are very low, so I am assuming that I am not absorbing the protein from plants as well as he thinks I will animal tissue protein.

He told me to eat a breakfast of 100% protein for a while, veggie carbs plus another large helping of protein for lunch, and my larger carb portion (but still with animal protein) at dinner.

And then, to eat protein snacks.

Here is a sample day:
Breakfast: Two eggs and two slices of bacon (or sausage)
Snack: Canadian bacon cheese sandwich (a slice of cheese between two slices of canadian bacon)
Lunch: Slice of roast beef with carrots and yogurt
Snack: Apple slices with peanut butter and string cheese
Dinner: Salad with steak strips, and baked potato.