I just read an article in the research forum that talks about how expensive it is to diet, especially low-carb. It also discusses the issues of how much more time it takes to live low-carb (i.e. cook). The article was particularly concerned with the idea that low-income people cannot follow the plans because they are too expensive, the foods are not readily available, and the menus are too complex. And if you go by the menu plans in the books, that would be an easy inference.

So I'm curious, how do you manage low-carb? What tips do you have for the rest of us to keep costs down and provide yourself and your family with good low-carb, home-cooked meals? How do you handle life-on-the-go doing low-carb?

Well, I think my costs have gone down a LOT since I started eating low calorie too.

But the things that aren't too pricey that I eat a lot of are:

frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2.70 a pound at TJ's)
I buy meat on sale, where it is marked $3.00 off a package because it will expire soon.
Trader Joe's half&Half and cream are still reasonably priced (so far).
I eat inexpensive low carb cereal (on sale or from TJ's)
TJ's low carb bread is reasonably priced.

I don't buy many low carb products, or shop in the low carb speciality stores because thats where you really get whalloped. $8 for a loaf of bread! $8 for a small container of granola! No way! Those low carb bars and shakes are very expensive too.

I'm the only one LC'ing in my house. But because I don't allow junk food in the house, we now use that junk food money to buy extra meat and veggies that I need for this WOE.
We spend $150 a week on groceries and that's not including eating out, which we do every weekend.

I'm a stay at home Mom, so cooking 3 meals a day isn't a problem either.

So I guess I can say that life hasn't changed much around here except for the fact that the Mommy of the house is now 87 pounds lighter and is healthier too.

I know it's tough to go from ramen noodles and potatoes to REAL food. There's no way I would have been able to afford proper LCing when I was a broke student. Nevertheless, it doesn't have to be super-expensive.

1. Keep it simple. Don't feel that you HAVE to cook those elaborate recipes. I cook breakfast in the time that it takes for the coffee to brew.

Keep meats simple - throw chicken parts or pork chops in the oven with some Cajun seasoning. Make roasts. Have good ol' humble burgers regularly. Use the crock pot. Make large batches of LC chili or stew.

Ditto with veggies: you can keep it simple. Steam them and add some butter or olive oil and parmesan cheese. Serve them raw with dip. Make a big salad. Make a LC vegetable soup.

2. Do as much as you can ahead of time. This doesn't need to take a lot of time. When you get home from the grocery store, take 5-10 minutes and slice up all of the cheese, vegetables, etc that you've purchased.

3. Multitask. If you're already in the kitchen anyway, throw on a pot of hard boiled eggs.

4. Where possible, make enough for leftovers. I do this with sausages and burgers, in particular. Cook the whole package, then reheat as needed.

5. Watch for bargains that will save you time. At my grocery store, small rotisserie chickens are no more expensive than raw. Pre-washed, bagged spinach is reasonably priced, as are their baby carrots and celery.

It is very expensive! But, I also stay away from the health food stores. (except when I want one of their brownies because they are delicious!) I have a Gold Card for GNC and that helps out some when I want things like LC pizza mixes, cereal or baking mixes. I stick with chicken, beef, pepperoni, roast beef, etc. I'm not into veggies a lot, but am forcing myself to eat more of them.

I have found that it's time or money... I am all outta money so I spend a lot of time in the grocery and in the kitchen. Or not. I spend less on groceries now, but my time in the kitchen has remained constant.

Kristine mentioned just about all of my strategies. I have found that keeping it simple really is a good thing. I've also learned to make multiple servings of a dish that can eat up valuable minutes. For example, yesterday I made 2 batches of fauxtatoes and only had to clean the FP once. I do the same with veggies for chili/soup, ricotta cremes and cheese. I also noticed that DH and I go through about 3 lb chicken every 4-5 days, so now I bake an entire bag and keep it in the fridge.

I also keep a master price list. I know where I can get the cheapest ground beef, half + half, and cheese; this really helps when I find a sale in order to determine if it really is a sale - same with coupons.

Steamer!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...garden&n=507846

I buy bags of individually frozen boneless chicken breasts or fish, and dinner is usually just tossing one in the steamer, sprinkling with tex mex or cajun seasoning, and then I go off to hike for 40 min while dinner cooks itself. Serve over a big bed of home grown sprouts and cut up of bowl of fresh cucumbers or other veg on the side.

Lunch is usually ground beef and green beans. Cook off a big pack of ground beef every two weeks, drain well and freeze in a ziplaock bag.. Once a week, whack the ziplock bag with a rubber mallet, line up five ziplock boxes, measure 4 oz of ground beef and 4 oz of green beans into each and sprinkle w/ cajun seasoning. One of those and an oz of cheese is my normal lunch.

Costs are reasonable, quality is great, and time demands are minimal.

Lynda

Time management wise I usually do my cooking on the weekend. I'll make up a batch of chicken breasts or pork, or some kind of casserole. Then I take it to work during the week with some frozen veggies, and have it for dinner. Or I toss together a salad, or use some of my cooked chicken or pork in a burrito. Takes me a few minutes to assemble and nuke to deliciousness.

Sometimes in the middle of the week I stick some meat in to defrost in the microwave (takes about 0 time from me) then I pour a marinade in a plastic ziplock bag, stick the meat in and let it marinade. Next night, I grill them up and serve with veggies (from frozen). All in all, I spend very little time cooking, unless I'm in the mood for it.

It takes me all of 5 minutes to pack up my breakfast, lunch and snack in the morning.

Since I cut back on calories, I don't do much cooking of the low carb treats like I used to. I used to make low carb cookies, waffles, crackers and so on. But now I just don't have the extra calories to spare on that stuff.

I ate so much junk food and ate out at fast food places all the time before, so really, this isn't any more expensive for me, but I can understand how it would be more expensive for those on low incomes.

I had to give up beef for the most part due to the outrageous prices. Pork and chicken are still reasonable. I also usually have a bowl of tuna salad in the fridge. Tuna is still cheap.

Let's face it, when you don't cook, you don't cook. You grab some KFC, or open a box of mac & cheese, or order a pizza. That's what people mean when they say you have to cook on this WOE. Real cooks would probably find the transition not only painless, but a fun challenge.

Now that I've been eating this way, my former way of eating seems utterly without taste. No wonder I ate such large dinners; not only was I hungry, I wasn't getting any satisfaction on any level.

Sure, it was cheap to buy a box of rice mix or noodle dish, but the two of us would wipe out a box in an evening, and two hours later we were hungry again. I cook a whole chicken and it feeds us for days. Good veggies might be more expensive than the 99 cent cupcakes, but a handful satisfies me, while the cupcakes just made me want more.

So any savings you get from a cheap, high carb way of eating are probably illusory if, like me, carbs just make you want to eat more carbs. If a high carb meal costs half of a low carb meal, but you have to eat twice as much, where does the savings come in?

So in terms of time, I probably spend a little more in food prep, like keeping raw veggies in the fridge ready to go, or cooking that hunk of meat we will coast on, but I spend a lot less time prowling the #^$^ kitchen trying to find something ELSE to eat.

So time/money before and after works out the same.

My thoughts exactly!

I think my spending is almost the same. I just buy the good stuff now instead of the bad stuff. We have more fruits and veggies and less sugar and starches. I buy alittle more meat, but not that much more maybe an extra bag of chicken breasts,1 lb of ground beef, and some fish.

I do spend more time preparing my meals. Especially lunch, but that's okay with me because I like the results and I am home I can make the time

I agree with all of the above. I too, buy individually frozen breasts of chicken...usually a 3 pound bag of them. I found a brand of them at walmart (Spring River Farms) that is 5.49 a bag and offers anywhere from 4-5 huge breasts to 6 or 7 moderate ones. I also found that no thawing is required if you cook them on a barbeque! I know, I know...you'd expect it to dry out...but all my friends and family have been amazed too.

Throw them on the barbeque frozen solid...once the top has thawed enough to be wet...add your seasonings. Flip when the underside looks done and then just keep a close eye...I bend them back a bit while cooking to peek inside and when they're done...you'll know. (They wont split at all if still uncooked). I usually cook the whole 3 pounds on the grill which will feed my family a complete dinner (served with salad & starch or bread for them) and still leaves me 2 -3 large pieces for mini-meals (I only need about a third of a piece at a time 4-5 times a day...so my leftovers will last at least 2 days...unless hubby snitches)

Cant beat the price on that and cook time is fast and painless. Straight from the bag to the grill! The only plate you get dirty is the one you put them on when they're done cooking. For whatever reason...the fact that they're cooked on the grill has kept my interest high too...I never get bored of the flavor.

*BOGGLE* No kidding?

I use an instant read digital thermometer (walmart $14 I think) to tell when my meat is done. Wonderful gadget!

We have family who farm so they've been able to hook us up with neighbors of their's who raise beef. We end up paying about $1.40/lb for everything from hamburger to tenderloin and new york strip steaks. You need a freezer, but it means that we don't need to buy a lot of meat.

If we see a good sale on, say, chicken, it's not beyond us to buy a 2nd newspaper ($1.50) to get the buy one get one free coupons so we can both pick them up. Often it's pkgs of breasts, legs, thighs & wings so we buy ziploc bags and make up our own "family packs."

I'm finding I can buy almost double (5)the romaine hearts at Sam's Club for the same price I'd pay for only 3 at the regular grocer. If you're looking for the treats, Atkins & Carbolite bars are reasonably priced there as well.

The biggest thing we see is that we're at the store more often just because fresh foods don't keep as long as bozed/canned.

Brenda