Beans. All kinds. You can find lots of different recipes for them on the internet. They are cheap, filling, high in protein, and, if well prepared, delicious.

Beans are kind of carby.
EGGS! I eat a bunch of eggs.
A whole chicken can be roasted and eaten that way. The next day boil it and add carrots, onions celery and noodles, chicken noodle soup.

beans, eggs, brown rice, mushrooms. those are all very filling, very healthy, and you can make TONS of different varieties of food with them!

although, i have to say, i dont know if it will be possible to get your grocery budget that low. do you have a trader joes near by? or an aldi? its time to start discount shopping. we are a family of 4 and spend about $700 a month. granted we have celiac disease, so our food costs more, but still. $250 a month is average for 1-2 people. at least where we live.

I have celiac disease also, so yes, food can get a little more expensive. I joined a local food co-op that some family and friends have been talking about, so hopefully I can get some cheaper produce that way. I think eggs and canned tuna for protein. Beans have too many carbs for my liking. I like the idea of whole roasted chickens. We used to do that often and I could spread it out over a few days worth of meals.

No Trader Joe's or Aldi's around here. We recently moved to a pretty small town that is not health conscious at all. I can seriously count on one hand the number of people who aren't overweight within a 10 mile radius of my home. People just aren't very concerned about it here. There is a small vitamin shop in town and they have a few gluten free pastas, but other that than there is really no variety of food here. It's hard to find whole grains and the produce section of the store takes up about half of an aisle at the far side of the grocery store. It's really strange for me because where we moved from was full of health food stores and there were entire aisles of gluten free foods. Now I have to drive 40 minutes to find the kind of gluten free bread I used to buy.

So, yes, a part of it is just lack of options in town. I don't have a lot of money right now, so it doesn't make sense to me to spend the extra gas money to drive to a bigger city and spend extra money for specialty foods. I'd rather keep it close to nature and close to home.

Have you applied/ or thinking about food stamps. I have heard this helps out a lot of people who need help. I hope I didn't offend you, but there are a lot of Americans on them, and with a food budget so low, maybe they can help you....just a thought.....

The sounds like a nightmare!!!

I make - Chicken and lentil stew - lentils are cheap high in protein and bulk this dish out - any stew and you can just add lentils beans to bulk it out!! buying fruit and veg in season as it is normally cheaper. I am not sure where in the world you are but you could grow your own veg/friut??

have you looked into the angel food banks at all? they have gluten free meal boxes that you can pick up once a month that are really inexpensive?

I too am on a limited budget -- a total income of just about $1,100 a month, including $109 in food stamps. I've found Trader Joe's to be expensive, at least here in Arizona, and I have to be doubly careful due to my diabetes. I think I will check into whole chickens and make chicken noodle soup. That usually stretches to several days worth of meals. I don't know about the beans, due to the carb count.

I really appreciate having somewhere to come for info and support.

Annie

I was on the Idaho Potato site last week and they had several recipes marked Thrifty.