meal ideas - low fat and cheap

**Arimeh** · May 3rd, 2013, 07:14 PM

Just after some meal ideas! My gall bladder is acting up again and I need to cut out as much fat as possible from my meals.

However my dh is a student so we normally have sausages and mince a lot because they are cheap - but not exactly low fat!

Anyone got any good meal ideas that fit into both of those requirements? Last pregnancy he was working so it was easier to afford lower fat stuff.

Thanks for any suggestions!

**Aussiegirl777** · May 3rd, 2013, 07:20 PM

Turkey. Any cuts are yummy and cheap. Much cheaper than chicken and a leaner meat as well.

I make turkey and barley soup or turkey and vegetable soup. You can buy the giant drumsticks and bake them in the oven they are a real novelty with kids. My DS, who's only just turned 2 thinks he is eating dinosaur

Lentils - Makes yummy soup or dahl or just a stew with veggies. Good for you too.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

**Floweryfields** · May 3rd, 2013, 07:34 PM

Can you get bulk cuts and mince them yourself? I often see whole rump for about $8/kg (was actually $6/kg here yesterday) or gravy beef. You could mince these in a food processor after removing the majority of fat and still make meals that go a long way for a family (as opposed to just steak dishes).

Soups would also be a cheap meal with lots of bulky filling stuff like pearl barley or soup mix/risoni/rice/pasta and loads of vege. Very little fat.

**Tinks** · May 3rd, 2013, 07:47 PM

Soup and stew all the way.

**Nai** · May 3rd, 2013, 07:47 PM

Lentil soup, Dahl, spinach & ricotta cannelloni

**Livinthedream** · May 3rd, 2013, 07:50 PM

Fried Rice
Pasta with pasta sauce with a diced chorizo sausage cooked in the sauce, gives a lovely smokey flavour, chuck in a handful of diced bacon to add meaty ness if thats what your kids want.
Dahl with sweet potato and spinach.
I made a super yummy diced ham and lentil soup the other day , not as gluggy as pea and ham, but mega filling.
Admittedly chorizo and bacon are not low fat, but its in the quantity, I am talking 1 sausage and 100gms of diced bacon between the whole familiy.
We are trying to cut down on our meat consumption and up our veges and am finding that, if you can make it meat flavoured, its really like having a meat meal.
We are also back eating veges with carbs in them, and this makes plumping out a meal soooo much cheaper.

**Arimeh** · May 3rd, 2013, 08:00 PM

Hmm lentils are being mentioned a lot. Maybe I need to go searching for vegetarian type recipes...

**nothing2lose** · May 3rd, 2013, 08:03 PM

Tuna patties
Casserole/stews using topside or rump in the slow cooker
Chicken thighs

Also, when cooking mince, brown it off then drain all the fat.

**Floweryfields** · May 3rd, 2013, 08:08 PM

Or you can par boil it and remove the fat prior to putting into pan to brown.

**AnyDream** · May 4th, 2013, 10:13 PM

You can cook mince, then put it in a colander & tip boiling water over it, washes most of the fat off. Then you can cook it up with loads of veggies (grated if you prefer), add a jar of pasta sauce, it gives you a large amount of bolognaise with a very small amount of fat in it. Add to pasta with a sprinkle of Parmesan.

When I was having gallbladder problems, I bought a bulk tray of chicken breast, divided it into small portions, added some low fat marinades, and froze them in individual bags. Then I would cook them in a dry pan, and slice and serve in things like warm salads and tortilla wraps or enchiladas with lots of salad.

Fish is good, provided you don't choose oily fish like salmon (which is very good for you but might aggravate the gb). And spend a bit of extra time at the shops, I was able to find some relatively cheap low-fat versions of things, eg the local supermarket sold lowfat sausages that cost 50c more than the other ones.

I lost a lot of weight quickly eating like this and was quite hungry so adding in some no-fat yoghurt and low fat dairy like custard or rice pudding with a side of fruit helped fill the hole.

**Arimeh** · May 5th, 2013, 07:56 AM

Thanks md. I stocked up on chobani yoghurts yesterday because Coles had them for $1 each. Although I tried to budget shop somehow my groceries came to $230! I only budgeted for $150 because it was only meals until Wednesday. Crikey.

And yes, I might lose weight, I did last pregnancy, gave birth at nearly 42 weeks 7kg lighter than I was at the start of my pregnancy. I could definitely lose weight though, so that might be a good thing lol

**lisaandshaun** · May 5th, 2013, 08:46 AM

Up the amount for veggie meals. Add protein like eggs.

**Frangipani Lou** · May 5th, 2013, 09:49 AM

Fresh tofu is also a really cheap source of protein. I buy a kilo from our local Asian grocer for $4.60. I cut it into cubes and pan fry it and add it to dhal or to stir fry. Mmmmm.... Craving tofu!

**Olive** · May 5th, 2013, 10:02 AM

Oi madam, why aren't you making your own yogurt???

You can make your own rice noodle too.

**LimeSlice** · May 5th, 2013, 10:12 AM

Oh, and soup! Gallons and gallons of glorious soup!
So cheap and easy to make and you can cram all sorts of goodness into them too.

**Danielle_NZ** · May 5th, 2013, 06:05 PM

I did the following with 4 x chicken thighs (cut then browned), did the browning of the cut veges in a pan then the rest in the slow cooker. YUM!!!! I'm not even a soup person

Chicken Noodle Soup

1 whole Chicken Cooked
2 large Onions Peeled & Diced
2 large Carrots Peeled & Diced
2 stalks Celery Diced
1 clove Garlic Finely Chopped
2 litres Chicken Stock
1 small Swede Peeled & Diced
2 large Potatoes Peeled & Diced
1 sprig Thyme
1.5 cups Pasta Macaroni, Spirals or Fettucine
2 Tbsp Parsley Chopped
Sea Salt & Ground Pepper to taste

Remove the meat off the chicken carcass and dice or tear into thick chunks. Set aside.

Heat some oil in a large stock pot and add onion, carrots, celery and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes until the vegetables soften and start to brown.

Add the chicken stock, thyme, swede and potatoes and bring to a simmer, then simmer gently for an hour. Turn the heat up and bring it to a rapid simmer. Add pasta and chicken pieces and cook for another 15 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Stir through parsley and check for seasoning.

Serve with crusty bread.