How do you keep your food bill low if you can't eat carbs

[EveryDayImHustling]

I'm diabetic so can't eat bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, sugar etc

I have €100 per week to feed 2 adults and 2 dogs.

For the dogs each week I buy:
6 500g bags of porridge (Can't find a bulk supplier, not even amazon) - these have gone up to €1 a bag
4 1kg bags of mixed veg - 99c/€1/1.20 in some places
2x 2kg chickens - €6-7 each
24 eggs (we eat these too) - €4.25

Prices can change from week to week, recently the eggs jumped from 3.70 to 4.25.

We won't be putting the dogs on cheap biscuit so their food is non negotiable.

That leaves €71.75 for breakfast, lunches and dinners that need to be low carb. Anything else needed has to come out of that too, toiletries, cleaning products etc, except petrol. All other bills are accounted for, this is just the living money for each week.

What would your menu be?

I like to cook big batches and eat that for a few days, so soups, stews, curries, a lasagne etc.

I’m same as you,pre diabetic - except I do take met to allow a wider diet. It’s still very controlled but I can have the carbs in small measurable quantities without it tipping me into a spike with the met. I can even have sweet treats on occasion.

I also fast post 6pm - 12 noon, follow keto and bulk up with low carb frozen veggies.

Have a look at Millies Wolfheart dog food, its really high quality, and I am sure it would work out cheaper than the £30 a week you are currently spending. Its all grain free. Maybe have half that, and half what you are already feeding.

My food bill for 3 adults is less than £80 with veggies and lentils. No processed foods. DH is diabetic and low carb.

Omelette with added broccoli etc added.

I can't get past the idea that your dog food is prioritised over feeding the family.

Lentils in moderation are good! Chia seed pudding and flax seeds in natural yoghurt, almond milk are good for your blood sugar, filling and cheap (get from Aldi). Frozen berries are also good. Tinned fish like tuna, salmon and mackerel also goes a long way and is filling. Fill out mince dishes with pulses and veg to increase amounts and bulk cook/freeze where you can.

Cabbage, kale, spring greens instead of pasta, cauliflower and broccoli rice instead of rice (you can get 4 generous portions out of one cauliflower and broccoli head, I freeze uncooked and then just microwave when I need it). Use courgettes and aubergines for lasagne instead of pasta. I use a lot of frozen green beans, spinach and other veg (except pea's and sweetcorn). Tend to mix up fresh and frozen. French onion soup, mushroom soup etc are really tasty and you can control the carbs well in homemade soups. We eat a lot of eggs for the reasons you mention. You can make keto pancakes, mug cakes out of almond flour (ground almonds) and if you buy in bulk it's not as expensive, goes a long way and is very versatile.

Aldi's protein pots are great for diabetics as are their bags of nuts and seeds etc for nibbling.

I've done this for months now and my diabetes is in remission. It's not as cheap as my previous shops but we manage.

OP, you're doing the right thing, some years ago my OH cut out starchy carbs and processed foods. Within 3 days his levels were 'normal' and by that stage he hadnt even lost any weight

People for some reason get very defensive about any suggestion of cutting down or cutting out carbs, not sure why this is. People that are tuned into their levels and measurements are usually on top of what different foods do for them.

Even the practice nurse was in denial that the food types had changed my OH's levels rather than the weight loss that he eventually achived. He has never put the weight back on, but didnt keep up the diet changes. Hence his levels are now back to where they were and yet his weight didnt increase. Ergo the changes were due to his diet not the weight loss.

He found that lentils and pulses did not cause difficulties so you may well be ok.

And yes its a lot more expensive than buying processed carby foods, despite what people say.

Not my experience.

Look at buying wholemeal pasta and whole grain rice, it's far easier to tolerate and what is recommended for pre diabetes. The jdrf website has good diabetic friendly meal plans.

I know you are saying the dogs are non negotiable but that's a huge amount for dog food, my ddog costs me about £8 a week on good quality food plus gets scraps.

@Nat6999

Remember rice and potatoes are gluten free. Gram flour (check package to ensure it isn't a blend) is gluten free and ideal to make flat breads. 90% or more of what you eat doesn't contain gluten. I'm gluten intolerant but can eat wholemeal spaghetti

How do you feed the dogs on oats, veg and chicken?

Organ meats are much cheaper than premium cuts. A liver stew will go far.

Can't promise you'll like the taste though!

Why would giving them the fresh version of what supossedly goes in biscuit and tins hurt them? I say supposedly because if a pack says veg, its the peelings and offcuts, we give them actual veg and mash it to replicate masticated veg in a rabbits, for instance, stomach. It laso contains lots of pea protein, which isn't good for dogs.

Processed dog food is made up of animal derivatives, if it says beef, its fur and hooves and all the last dregs that can't be used anywhere else. Its aniimal derivatives are made up of the 4 D's, dead, diseased, dying, disabled. They are also fortified, so pets look healthy, but they actually aren't really. So why would actual meat be bad for them? Sometimes they have fish or offal or beef, depending on what we can get on yellow sticker.

There are one or two that I would feed (Salters, being one), but we can't get them, where we are. Feeding dogs on commercial dog food is like living on mcdonalds, pretty much.

Its what is normally in dog food, although to be fair, we tried to keep ours on a grain free diet. In nature, dogs wouldnt eat grains and yet dog food is sold on 'whole grains'.

I'm so sorry I wasn't challenging your feeding method. I would really like to try this on my sensitive spaniel. Sorry I've annoyed people.

I don't find that lentils spike my blood sugar although I don't eat masses in one go. You can buy them v cheap in bulk. If you grind them down into a flour you can make quite a nice pasta. Also if you stick them in a blender with water you can use the batter to make pancake/tortilla type breads, cheaper than almond flour.

Wagg dog food. Cheap and I've fed dogs on it for years and they are super healthy and live a long time. Sorry but your dog food cost is insane. Just feed them biscuits and eat better yourself.

Its aniimal derivatives are made up of the 4 D's, dead, diseased, dying, disabled

Well I certainly hope they are dead.

OP perhaps you could start a cheap low carb thread in Weight Loss. I’d certainly join you there and I think you’ve got an awful lot of excellent tips yourself that could help others.

Re dog food, all dog food in Europe and uk has to be suitable for human consumption. It's not like what they use in the US.

I raw feed my dog because of his sensitive tummy, so understand prioritising their food. There is commercial food that's ok though. My small/medium dog cost about £5 a week in raw chicken and beef/pork.

Did you see the post upthread about tinned fish? Sardines, mackerel, It's really cheap and satisfying. Sadly I loathe it!

😂

I used to feed my dogs on a similar diet but bought what ever veg was on offer or reduced to clear rather than frozen veg, frozen chicken pieces seem to be cheaper than a chicken when bought on offer from Iceland. I think your dogs food sounds a reasonable price. Could rice be a cheaper alternative to oats?

Not all fresh veg is expensive. Carrots, onions, parsnips, sweetheart cabbage and spring greens aren't. Buy veg loose if you can.

I. Keto for weight loss and after a while I only need one meal a day. I have bullet proof coffee for breakfast 20g cheese at lunch and dinner something like eggs and spinach or tofu and scrambled eggs. Maybe sliced cucumber and cheese. Last night feta olives and blueberries.