Parents Cheap meals for gymnasts

[HopefulGymnast]

Hi, sorry if this has been covered a lot.

Any cheap nutritious meal ideas? I'm particularly strugging with how to afford enough proteine. Meat is expensive, but most meat replacements don't have that much proteine in it. Beans and hummus are not an option, unfortunately.

So far I can get very far budget wise for carbs (oat meal, pasta, potatoes are my faves), but veggies, fruit, and proteines are so quickly expensive!

I'm not a parent, but a gymnast paying and cooking my own meals, but I thought the gym parents would be the best place to ask something like this.
Sorry if there's been a lot of threads like this before, I can't find a lot that are focussed on affordable meals. If there are, I'm sorry, and feel free to point me there

 

[Boymomx3]

for my family we like protein noodles, Greek yogurt, chicken and lean hamburger. My gymnasts also loves cowboy caviar -a delicious bean dip. If you are close to Aldi groceries store this has a a lot of great options that are affordable. For actual meal plans spaghetti is a family favorite.

 

[NutterButter]

Check out budgetbytes.com

I make several recipes here that are in my rotation.

 

[HopefulGymnast]

Check out budgetbytes.com

I make several recipes here that are in my rotation.

Thanks, I'll have a look

 

[HopefulGymnast]

for my family we like protein noodles, Greek yogurt, chicken and lean hamburger. My gymnasts also loves cowboy caviar -a delicious bean dip. If you are close to Aldi groceries store this has a a lot of great options that are affordable. For actual meal plans spaghetti is a family favorite.

Protein anything here is expensive except for just whey powder.

Unfortunately no Aldi in my town anymore (I'm also not american btw)

Cowboy Caviar sounds hilarious, I will google it hahaha.

Thanks for the ideas, I'll look into them .

 

[Carly]

Do you get the grocery store sales circulars or can you check your local stores' websites for their weekly sales? Plan your meals around the sale items for the week. I find near me I can usually get good prices on boneless skinless chicken breast. You can buy a larger package and freeze the extra for later.

 

[HopefulGymnast]

Do you get the grocery store sales circulars or can you check your local stores' websites for their weekly sales? Plan your meals around the sale items for the week. I find near me I can usually get good prices on boneless skinless chicken breast. You can buy a larger package and freeze the extra for later.

Yeah, I always shop sales and put stuff in the freezer. I'm also not always able to do grocery shopping so I freeze a lot of food so I've always got a backup if I can't go to the stores. But healthy cheap meats are rarely on sale here unfortunately.

Unfortunately, most sales here are all the very processed foods. I could do with adding those in my meal plan a bit more though, really.

Thanks for all the ideas

 

[Gymgirl84]

In my country pork and some beef cuts (the ones used for stews) are usually cheap (compared to the rest of meat). Also a full chicken that you can roast and eat for several days is a good option (for one person probably is enough protein for at least 5 meals )
Cottage cheese if you have that there, or any kind of cheese really, skyr might be good options too.
Canned fishes another good source. It's not cheap, but cheaper than other sources.

 

[HopefulGymnast]

In my country pork and some beef cuts (the ones used for stews) are usually cheap (compared to the rest of meat). Also a full chicken that you can roast and eat for several days is a good option (for one person probably is enough protein for at least 5 meals )

Oooh, thanks! Will definitely look into that whole chicken, though I don't have an oven so I'll need to look at how to prepare it. (Maybe soup?) I've been wanting to eat something like that for a while now, but I haven't had proper access to a kitchen for a few years. So thanks for reminding me of that fun plan! And that I should save up to one day get an oven haha. I have an aifryer but a chicken won't fit in that, it's tiny.

 

[Gymgirl84]

Oh, that's a shame. Maybe you can cut it by parts (you can look it up in YouTube) and make either a soup or freeze some and cook it individual portions in the air fryer.
In my country we also have some "soup mix" where you have different cuts of meat (some beef, chicken, pork+bones+some veggies like celery, carrots and the like) and it's usually not very expensive and you can have several soup portions.

 

[HopefulGymnast]

Oh, that's a shame. Maybe you can cut it by parts (you can look it up in YouTube) and make either a soup or freeze some and cook it individual portions in the air fryer.

I'll work it out, but yeah thanks for the idea!
I do intend to get an oven one day. I kind of moved in here with literally nothing, the cost of everything is oof. I find that gymnastics in my country is affordable, but proper nutrition is the bigger challenge haha. Especially if I sport more, I also gotta eat more, you know. But I might still save up for a cheap oven, I'd also like to be able to bake stuff one day.

 

[Coach Kate]

Cook all your grains in bone broth, so when you do buy meat, use the bones to make broth. Our kids love lentil bone broth oatmeal, bonus for adding a nice runny egg on top. You can also cook rice in bone broth.

We make our own yogurt using the boil method and straining it into Greek yogurt.

Check out budgetbytes.com

I make several recipes here that are in my rotation.

And this! I used this out of college when I was broke and still use some of them with my family over a decade later.

 

[Sebastian12]

What stores do you have? Do you have Lido? Aldi? Or Asian stores? Some meat parts are really cheap, pork nape, chicken gizzards, turkey leg/neck, salmon head, large pack of chicken wings, tips of beef. If you don’t have access to a proper kitchen, get an air flyer, a small one costs very little and can cook almost everything.

 

[HopefulGymnast]

What stores do you have? Do you have Lido? Aldi? Or Asian stores? Some meat parts are really cheap, pork nape, chicken gizzards, turkey leg/neck, salmon head, large pack of chicken wings, tips of beef. If you don’t have access to a proper kitchen, get an air flyer, a small one costs very little and can cook almost everything.

I have a proper kitchen sort of now, just no oven. I do have a stove and a microwave and airfryer, but a small one.

The stores here definitely dont sell those things. No aldi, but maybe a lidl (did you mean that with lido?) where i can have a look. thanks for the ideas though .

 

[Dahlialover]

Ground pork is cheap and can be used in stir fries—google “egg roll in a bowl”. Ground pork or ground Italian sausage can be mixed into pasta sauce or white gravy for biscuits and gravy. Tofu is cheap protein and it’s great cooked in the air fryer. Beans and rice go a long way. Peanut butter is good protein. Eggs and milk provide good protein for the money. Tuna can also be a good deal. There is protein in most wheat-based carbs, so you may be getting more than you expect. Good luck!

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

Can you add yoghurt in to breakfast/deserts? You do need to check labels, but actual greek yoghurt is usually high in protein.

These are a favourite in our house, we use a low carb potato variety, as we are watching weight. Plenty of other recipes that may suit your needs.

 

[marym]

Hi, sorry if this has been covered a lot.

Any cheap nutritious meal ideas? I'm particularly strugging with how to afford enough proteine. Meat is expensive, but most meat replacements don't have that much proteine in it. Beans and hummus are not an option, unfortunately.

So far I can get very far budget wise for carbs (oat meal, pasta, potatoes are my faves), but veggies, fruit, and proteines are so quickly expensive!

I'm not a parent, but a gymnast paying and cooking my own meals, but I thought the gym parents would be the best place to ask something like this.
Sorry if there's been a lot of threads like this before, I can't find a lot that are focussed on affordable meals. If there are, I'm sorry, and feel free to point me there

my daughter doesn't like most meats - she will eat ground beef - so her coach suggested ground beef and rice - sometimes I add taco seasoning to the ground beef and throw in some fried red pepper. Outside of that, it's a lot of yogurt, peanut butter, fruit and eggs and mashed potatoes - not sure why she loves mashed potatoes so much but she will eat a massive portion of them with a salad - we struggle with protein too. We've tried protein bars but haven't found any she likes. Oatmeal and pasta are other things she will eat a lot of. I do buy frozen fruit and turn it into smoothies with frozen yougurt - we've tried a few different protein powders but she hasn't found one she likes yet. You're right that food has gotten super expensive - I try to buy meat when it's on sale and freeze it. Not sure if you have freezer space.

 

[HopefulGymnast]

Ground pork is cheap and can be used in stir fries—google “egg roll in a bowl”. Ground pork or ground Italian sausage can be mixed into pasta sauce or white gravy for biscuits and gravy. Tofu is cheap protein and it’s great cooked in the air fryer. Beans and rice go a long way. Peanut butter is good protein. Eggs and milk provide good protein for the money. Tuna can also be a good deal. There is protein in most wheat-based carbs, so you may be getting more than you expect. Good luck!

Thanks, very helpful!

 

[HopefulGymnast]

Can you add yoghurt in to breakfast/deserts? You do need to check labels, but actual greek yoghurt is usually high in protein.

These are a favourite in our house, we use a low carb potato variety, as we are watching weight. Plenty of other recipes that may suit your needs.

Luckily we're quite good when it comes to dairy here, most of the non flavoured stuff is very healthy, without added sugar and such. Lots of options there.
Thanks for the ideas! For me, I definitely also need the carbs, haha. I do gymnastics, strength training, and I am trying to gain weight.

 

[HopefulGymnast]

my daughter doesn't like most meats - she will eat ground beef - so her coach suggested ground beef and rice - sometimes I add taco seasoning to the ground beef and throw in some fried red pepper. Outside of that, it's a lot of yogurt, peanut butter, fruit and eggs and mashed potatoes - not sure why she loves mashed potatoes so much but she will eat a massive portion of them with a salad - we struggle with protein too. We've tried protein bars but haven't found any she likes. Oatmeal and pasta are other things she will eat a lot of. I do buy frozen fruit and turn it into smoothies with frozen yougurt - we've tried a few different protein powders but she hasn't found one she likes yet. You're right that food has gotten super expensive - I try to buy meat when it's on sale and freeze it. Not sure if you have freezer space.

Thanks your response. I want to try some smoothies too some time! I do eat a lot of fruit and veg, and I think that's honestly one of the issues with my groceries budget. That's easily a few euros a day just for fruit and veg. (The cheapest fruit and veg here is like 1-2 euro per portion, and I do like my fruit and veg... Gonna discuss it with dietician tomorrow).

As for proteine powder, I've been trying out with that. I have some ideas you could try if you're interested. I've been trying to a lot

- Proteine hot cocoa from chocolate whey.
(I use XXL nutrition whey delicious chocolate, but idk if its available where you are). Use a shaker, mix chocolate whey with water (or milk if you prefer). Then heat it in the microwave till it's very warm, no need to boil it. Shake it again. I use 30g powder with 350ml, would depend on the brand though.
Do not add proteine powder to hot water! That's gonna be a clumpy mess!

- Home made hot or cold cocoa from cocoa, sugar and whey
I'm still working out the recipe, so far every time I've made it it's "Ok, less cocoa next time". My estimate is: 30g whey, 5-12g cocoa?, 8-12 g sugar, 300 ml water. But it's really 'make to taste'.


- Adding proteine powder to
-- chocolate milk (add when cold, drink cold or hot)
-- smoothies
-- milkshakes (make it yourself with ice cream and milk)
-- baking recipes

Hope you didn't mind the sudden barrage of proteine powder info. If you'd like to know more feel free to message me abt it. I have been trying out a lot with it, beause it's a cheap source of proteine here. Cheaper than meat or most dairy. However meat and dairy are definitely healthier! You get the proteines, AND the other nutrients with those.