Great tips on
homesteading,
frugal living,
and self reliance.

Healthy Cheap Recipes
For Long Life and a Healthy Homestead Budget

Healthy cheap recipes are the best of both worlds. These delicious, healthy recipes strengthen your body and your budget. Cooking frugal and healthy is not only a great way to give you the energy you need for a successful homestead, it also gives a boost to your budget. Cutting back on food expenses is the easiest way to save money and get out of debt.

But limiting yourself to cooking boxed macaroni or other unhealthy cheap foods isn't the wisest of choices. Many cheap foods have been highly processed. They're full of chemicals and low on nutrition. It may seem like a good deal at the time, but such choices are costly in the long run. Deprived of the proper nutrients it needs, your body becomes less resistant to disease.

Also, studies have shown that highly processed food is a significant contributor to obesity. If you have a weight problem, it may not be because you over eat. Rather, you are eating the wrong types of food.

Healthy Cheap Recipes
Does High Quality Mean High Cost?

This 13 Bean Soup Mix takes extra time to cook, but is well worth it. The good news is, you don't have to spend a lot of money to obtain high quality food. But you do have to make a time commitment. Cooking things like brown rice, beans and grains aren't "instant foods." They take time to fix. Cooking such meals will generally take about an hour or even an hour and a half, unlike the "fast foods" that you can pull out of the microwave in just a couple of minutes.

But once you taste the difference, I'm sure you'll agree, these delicious foods are worth the extra time.

Healthy Cheap Recipes
Rethink Ground Beef

Many people consider hamburger meat to be a staple of the American diet. The problem with this is, unless you're raising a steer on your back 40 acres, you're going to be consuming a lot of extra things that aren't good for you.

Recently, I watched a documentary called King Corn in which two young men had a DNA sample taken of their hair. They were shocked to discover that despite their fast-food diet, they were made primarily of corn. They decided to rent a corn patch, grow some feed corn and trace where it ends up.

The documentary King Corn graphically demonstrates that you are what you eat. It turns out that most farmers in the farm belt are raising feed corn. Feed corn tastes awful and has little nutritional value. But that doesn't matter because it's fed to cattle anyway. Problem with this is, cattle aren't meant to eat corn. They're designed to eat grass. If they're given a strict corn diet, and no grass, a cow will die within six months. They just can't digest the corn. It makes them sick. Yet, that's all these cattle eat.

Healthy Cheap Recipes
and the Problem with Beef

Furthermore, they're crammed into feedlots where they can barely move. If a cow gets sick, he gets trampled on by the other cattle, and when he dies, the other cattle can't get away from him. Nor can they get away from their own waste. Naturally, they get sick, so they're pumped full of antibiotics to keep them from dying prematurely.

So when you're cooking meals with ground beef you bought at the store, you're usually consuming the meat of an animal that was likely sick, stressed out and crammed with steroids. Suddenly, that burger you're cooking is not looking too good, is it?

Easy to prepare canned lentils are the ultimate, healthy fast food.

Healthy Cheap Recipes and
Lentils, Wonderful Lentils

Fortunately, there is a wonderful, healthy, low-cost substitute for that ground beef. Try cooking with the lentil, an often overlooked, under-appreciated member of the legume family. This wonderful little bean can be cooked quickly without pre-soaking (20 minutes generally) and can be used as a substitute for ground beef in tacos, chile and any casserole calling for beef. And canned lentils are a healthy and wonderful fast food.

Healthy Cheap Recipes
Brown Rice - And We're Not Talking Instant

Another important staple that should be on your shelf is brown rice. Not the processed stuff that can be prepared in ten minutes, but real whole grain brown rice.

It takes 45 minutes to prepare and is worth every second of cooking time. One of the main reasons people get colon cancer is because they don't have enough fiber in their diet.

White rice is nothing but starch. Brown rice on the other hand provides not only fiber, but wonderful nutrients your body needs. Brown rice with butter and sugar makes a delicious breakfast food. Plus, brown rice can be added to any casserole for both texture and flavor.

Fresh bread made with your own freshly ground flour is the best source of whole grains.

Healthy Cheap Recipes and Whole Grains

Buying a loaf of whole wheat bread at the store isn't really the answer to including whole grains in your diet. Unfortunately, several brands of commercially prepared bread has a chemical called potassium bromate.

Sometimes it is called "dough enhancer." This chemical is used to give the flour a finer texture and kill bugs. It's the "kill bugs" part that should have you alarmed. Researchers found a link between consuming bromate and developing cancer. Want a really radical way to include whole grains in your diet?

This was the grain mill I bought.

Healthy Cheap Recipes and
The Miracle of the Grain Mill

A few months back I took the plunge and bought this grain mill.. The difference has been huge. Breads made from freshly ground flour taste fabulous. I was amazed at the amount of energy I had after I began eating bread made from flour I ground fresh. Even my gravies and sauces taste better.

I often bake bread for my mom, and she prefers the bleached white flour. Recently I was out of my own fresh ground flour and in a hurry, so I borrowed some of hers. The sauce I made was awful! I could taste the chemicals in it. Once you start using your own freshly ground flour, you won't want to go back.

Learn More About Frugal Cooking

Invest in good health and some of the best bread available with a good quality grain mill. You can beat frugal cooking both for the excellent nutrition and savings. Learn why cooking from scratch is so important by clicking here.

Want to see all of our frugal recipes? Click here.

Want organic food at a great price? Form a food club, and you'll also foster the growth of locally produced, excellent organic food. Learn more.

Do you love Chinese food? Save a bundle and invest in your health by learning to cook healthy vegan Chinese food at home!

Avoid that expensive trip to the bakery and make fabulous desserts at home. Learn more.

Listen to the general media, and they'll tell you that coconut oil is something akin to the devil's spawn, unleashing an epidemic of heart disease into our country and killing thousands of people. But do a little research, and you learn otherwise. For reasons why you should be cooking with coconut oil, click here.

A good quality cast iron cookware set like this one is an excellent investment for healthy, even cooking. It can also be used outside as a Dutch oven. Cook mouth-watering meals that increase your energy and make your feel terrific. Learn more.

The next time you are suffering from a cold, sore throat or other infection, instead of calling the doctor, reach for this healthful oil instead. Learn more.

Make authentic sausages right in your own home. Learn more.

Thinking about investing in a grain mill, but not sure which one is right for you? Read a review about grain mills by clicking here.

Dehydrating foods are a great way to preserve foods in a healthy, low-cost way. Learn more.

Use the healing power of vegetables in your cooking. Learn more.

A good quality vacuum sealer makes your food last for months and even years and can save you a bundle of money. Click here to learn more. Using a vacuum food sealer is the best way to make sure your foods lasts and to save money, but there are some tricks to using a vacuum food sealer. Read more.

Do you have a weakness for fine-quality, Mexican food? Learn to cook fabulous Mexican dishes and save a bundle. Click here to learn more.

Having and using a cast iron camp Dutch oven is a good idea should the power go out and you're unable to use your electric range. It's also a great way to keep the heat out of your kitchen in the summertime and outside where it belongs. Learn more.

When you stock up on bulk grains, don't forget to stock up on yeast as well. Learn more about this crucial ingredient by clicking here.

New! Comments

Have your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below.

Want to See All the Recipes on this Site?

You can view all the recipes available on Organic Gardening and Homesteading by clicking here.

How I'm Earning an Income at Home with This Website

I was determined to stay at home, but also needed a little extra money to make ends meet. Then I learned about Site Build It!

When I started this website I had virtually no web building skills. Now I am earning a great part-time income, working from home and having the time of my life. You can too! Site Build It! has an easy to follow, step-by-step program that will show you how to build a successful website that brings in the traffic you need to get the income you want and start living the life you want to lead. Want to learn how? Click here.