Advice on cheap proteins.

[coachdonald22]

@walshmeister Chickpeas lentils.

So you don't want any meat or u saying its to expensive.

Eggs,

 

[coachdonald22]

I still think you can't go wrong with a whole chicken once u break it down u can get few meals out of it.

Chicken eggs rice I mean in the scheme of things is still a highly nutritional and cheap meal

 

[dadon]

@coachdonald22 That's what we do. (Drum, thigh, boob) x2 meals for 2 adults and 2 kids, wings and tenders and stuff another meal for 2 adults and 2 kids, then with frame it gets boiled into a soup.

 

[jakewolf11]

@walshmeister lentils, legumes, most cost effective animal protein are green shell mussels.

 

[discolee]

@jakewolf11 Mussels really? Not to argue but I'm surprised.

Got some figures? About $6 per kg in the shelll aren't they? But the shells and water must be a high % of total weight surely.

Again not trying to argue, I'd be happy if you were right....oh that's right- why I haven't bought them for a while - gout

 

[furmanjones]

@walshmeister Peanut butter. I put it in my oats sometimes. There’s decent and affordable protein powder out there too. With food prices being what they are now protein powder is actually an economical option.

 

[walshmeister]

@furmanjones Can get some cheap peanut butter from the bulk places so I'll give that a go after my jam is finished for my jam on toast breakfasts.

 

[victorbell]

@walshmeister Warehouse peanut butter is insanely cheap. It's a bit oily but it's very good value for the price.

I make my own peanut butter mostly, just roast up some blanched peanuts when I'm using the oven anyway and then blend adding a little neutral oil if it needs it. Dirt cheap! Something to consider if you have a blender OP.

I second the whole chicken comments, if you buy frozen you'll get a decent amount of meals for not much money. People have already covered the awesome cheap vegetarian proteins like lentils etc.

Also, protein powders seem expensive but to just get 30g of protein in one hit they're actually pretty cost effective - you could add one shake a day and you'd be much fuller and easily up your protein. NoWhey is probably the cheapest around

 

[furmanjones]

@walshmeister There’s good calories in the peanut butter too, so get amongst it!

 

[shotmike]

@walshmeister I wonder if there are any budget meal replacement shakes that would stack up now that ‘regular’ food is so expensive

 

[walshmeister]

@shotmike Exactly what I'm thinking.

 

[christsbloodinc]

@walshmeister Musashi Protein Powder (or NZ protein for well priced protein powder and a HUGE range of protein potent foods), Greek yogurt and trim milk for a super packed protein shake. Keeps me full for ages even though it's a drink

 

[emosoundlogic]

@walshmeister I can really recommend NZ Protein if you're considering that route. You can buy a bunch of samples to try them out to see if it sits well with you. https://www.nzprotein.co.nz/category/samples

I have a Chocolate Beef Protein shake in the morning, with a tbsp of ground Psyllium husk for fibre. Blend with 300ml milk and a shot of coffee or a good spoon of peanut butter depending on how I feel. Keeps me full at work all day until dinner (I'm trying to lose weight myself)

 

[olans1]

@emosoundlogic Agree, nz protein are great

 

[godislove333]

@emosoundlogic Thank you. This is very interesting. Never even considered protein powder. Bizzare. It actually seems to be cheaper than meat. Could replace some of my meals anyway, and supplement my 3yo maybe. I’m finding it so hard to keep my weight off these days. Lost 15kg while pregnant a few years ago, not trying to but I was that sick, I think it’s ruined my metabolism. As has the cheap foods I need to live on now, they’re not that healthy. So hard to buy vegetables and fruit these days, it’s a rare treat. Do get fruit from the trees I planted years ago, but only blackberries in season now, and very small crop of Royal Galas. Anyway I’m off to see what protein powder I can get and maybe get some samples.

 

[victorbell]

@godislove333 Just commented above but NoWhey is generally the cheapest although has sucralose so probably not suitable for the 3yo.

My kids love roasted chickpeas which are cheap and easy. Pams Edam cheese if you're near a Pak N Save is good value too

 

[godislove333]

@victorbell Good idea but: No roasted chickpeas in this house! Never again! I broke a tooth on one once, it was a nightmare had to get it removed. Now the tooth next to it is broken too and I’m too scared to go to the dentist because I don’t want a huge gap, bad pregnancy ruined my teeth. Yeah I’d probably keep protein powder to supplement my protein levels instead, and not the 3yo although he’ll probably insist on a “taste”.

Got Woolworths Edam and tasty blocks yesterday really cheap, and I can’t believe I’m going to do my mum’s idea finally of grating a block for the freezer. Eek I’m growing up too fast haha. Gonna add some cheap grated mozarella I found and have a general purpose cheese mix for freezer. However my son is also allergic to cows milk, so have to be careful, he can have a little though.

 

[kryptonkangaroo]

@godislove333 BioX whey from NZ supplements is the best I've tried, especially if you have a sensitive gut. Mixes well, tastes ok, mid range price wise. Normal whey they do is $1.50 per 27 gram protein, the whey isolate is $2 per 31 gram protein serve - isolate protein is more 'available' for your body to use and also is palatable when mixed with water instead of milk.

 

[jerseychristiansuperstar]

@shotmike Oats, banana, frozen fruits, yogurt, protein powder, peanut butter, shot of olive oil.

 

[magnum44xl]

@walshmeister If you can afford it, get a casserole dish/dutch oven. You can cook the cheapest cuts of meat and they end up so tender. Last thing we did was corned beef/pastrami, which going by another commenter's method was $0.89 per 10g protein for the corned silverside needed to make it.

Another one that works well is bulking up mince into a nacho mince mix. So you could do 500g mince, four bean mix tin, a carrot, corn tin, 70g tin tomato paste, Italian tomatoes tin, and Maggi nacho spice sachet. Just cook the mince, add the spices/tomato paste/tomatoes, and then add carrot, corn, and beans last.