Cheap Low Carb Cooking

To save money at the store I spend about 4 hours every Sunday prepping and cooking for the week to come and although I rather being doing nothing at all, this day is the key to me sticking to my budget and to my low carb diet!

I divide large packs of meats into freezer and marinated fridge portions, chop veggies for recipes later in the week and prep sauces. I cut tubs of vegetables to throw together a quick salad during the week; diced red onion, cucumber, celery and romaine lettuce (I use a plastic lettuce knife so it does not brown) all ready to go.

Every Sunday I also make a large low carb meal that I can eat through out the week, like a hearty soup (of which I have several versions), bean less chili or a roast. This is my Sunday night dinner that doubles as a quick lunch or dinner throughout the week that just needs to be heated.

I try to cook large batches of everything so that I have plenty of leftovers for quick lunches and dinners during the week, here is an example of my weekly meal plan:

	Break	Lunch	Dinner
Sun		Spinach and Feta Frittata (brunch)	Large Pot of Bean-less Chili
Mon	Frittata	Italian Roll Ups	Baked Chicken & Veggies
Tues	Sausage and eggs	Chili Dogs with Cheese	Baked Chicken Salad
Wed	Frittata	Baked Chicken Parm	Chili
Thurs	Chili Eggs	Chef Salad	Pork Chops & Veggies
Fri	Pork Chops and eggs	Italian Roll Ups	Leftover night!!!
Sat		“Leftover” Omelet (brunch)	Low Carb Flatbread Pizza

Cheap Low Carb Meals

I find that thinking about your cheap low carb meals a week (or more) ahead of time helps to save you money as well as time in several different ways. First, it saves trips to the grocery store, ultimately saving you time, gas and headaches. You can save yourself time by planning out different low carb meals that use similar items that you can cook in large batches to use for more than one purpose. Then by more accurately knowing how much of each item you will be using, you can make cost decisions such as bulk buying while shopping. Weekly meal plan examples coming soon!

Low Carb Is Expensive!

Low Carb Is Expensive!


Okay, I know that is not a revelation from some one like me who has been part of the low carb lifestyle for years now but in light of my new financial situation it has become a bit more obvious. I am still working part time and I am very thankful to be making my bills .... but it has made my low carb cooking a little on the uncreative side :-(

I love to come up with new and tasty low carb recipes to eat and to share online but I have had to cut back on the extras ... you know, imported cheese, expensive sugar free syrup, pretty much everything from the organic grocery store ... I think you get the idea.

So, I have not been posting because I felt like I had nothing to share with my readers but after talking to a fellow low carber that was having similar issues got me rethinking. After all, a lot of people are having money issues right now and they have to change the way they are cooking too. My cooking is not boring ... it is just thrifty! Thrifty low carb recipes to come!