How do y’all afford protein foods😭

[jeanclaude]

@dikaioumenoi I look for protein powder sales at Amazon, Costco, and MyProtein. Amazon often has deals where the first subscribe and save order has a discount and then I cancel the subscription after the first order. I search deal sites like slickdeals or dealnews to find the sales. I generally can find sales where whey protein is under $10/pound. It costs more per pound that most foods I buy but since it is such a dense protein source it works out pretty well per gram of protein.

For fresh food like yogurt and chicken I check the weekly sales flyers for my local grocery stores. I only have 2 stores in my town - Safeway and Fred Meyers (Kroger) - so I go to whichever has better deals. I keep track of the prices to know what I should pay- I'll stock up on boneless skinless chicken if it gets below $3/pound.

 

[revcharlesg]

@jeanclaude I’ll second MyProtein. They often have sales, and I can usually find a 30% off code as well, which makes it the cheapest brand I can find.

 

[christiantodayaustralia]

@dikaioumenoi Trader Joe's is amazing. And broccoli has more protein than you think.

I found bobs Redhill tvp (textured veggies protein) for cheap and its even keto friendly.

Also asian grocery stores are great value and interesting. So are Hispanic grocers too.

 

[berend2nd]

@christiantodayaustralia +1 for the TVP. I eat veggie, and that stuff is a budget and protein lifesaver. Also soy curls! A bag might seem a little steep depending on where you are, but they bulk up in volume like crazy, so it stretches further than you'd think. Really good for chicken-type dishes

Also, OP, if you want to shake up from meat, Asian grocery stores also often have really good, relatively cheap mock meats, too. You kind of have to dig for them, but hundreds of years of vegetarian Buddhist cuisines has led to some insanely delicious results! Not to mention you can often get spices and the like cheaper at international-type grocers.

Edit: to the tvp and soy curls, they're also amazing for backpacking if that's anyone's thing! Put in a heat proof bag with the spices you like and add boiling water at the campsite.

 

[oftencurious]

@dikaioumenoi Don’t forget legumes!

 

[jinh3004]

@dikaioumenoi Dry legumes are a few dollars a kg.

 

[standingrightministry]

@dikaioumenoi I just use plant-based protein. Other than protein powder, everything else is really inexpensive: TVP (textured vegetable protein), tofu, seitan (homemade), beans, legumes, nuts, seeds...

 

[timothy115]

@dikaioumenoi Lentils are like 2.99 for a 3lb bag. Dried beans and a pressure cooker. Throw in a piece of semi-fatty meat for flavour. I’ll make lentil curry, stew or soup and toss a chicken thigh in there to juice it up. chana masala is the tastiest thing in the world and super easy to make

 

[lauramay]

@dikaioumenoi Go Indian food, Indian grocery store and you’ll easily find ingredients or food that is high protein along with fiber most of the time

 

[dawn16]

@dikaioumenoi I make my own yogurt at home, it's so easy! Also cottage cheese (I buy the normal one and just whip it myself in the food processor because the pre-whipped one is double the price!) For meat I stick to chicken and pork because it's generally cheaper than beef where I live, fish is not even an option because it's so expensive! Eggs are also pretty affordable where I live, but I've seen a lot of talk about egg prices going up in other countries. I've been thinking of making my own cheese too, I've seen some videos and it doesn't look too difficult but I'm yet to try, but that could also be an option!

 

[yodaguy96]

@dikaioumenoi I raise chickens. Started out with four Isa brown chicks that were week old when I bought them and put them in a brooder to keep them warm till they were about 5 6 weeks old fully feathered then I put them outside after slowly introducing them letting them play in the yard in the day and bring them back in the house at night cuz I refuse to put them in a garage. And they start laying at about 5 months of age. I start off with four chickens got addicted to them and now I have 24 including chicks and have an incubator to hatch eggs and sell them too haha

 

[yodaguy96]

To clarify those four chicks were six chicks and they were all going to be hens (they are) and I got six more chicks from somebody off the internet.

They were straight run which means both sexes as some breeds it's difficult to tell what sex they are looking at their butts at the inside as you'd be looking for a bump if it's a boy could also disembowel a chick so leave that to the pros!
Then I drove to Tennessee even though I live in Georgia cuz I wanted a certain breed of chicken and then of course you start hatching them with the incubator.
Next thing you know here I am.
Home raised chickens also delicious.

For those that don't know how biology works it takes female ( hen )and a male (rooster, aka "roo") to have fertilized eggs that will hatch if you put them in an incubator etc.

Just having hens (females) will lay without a rooster but obviously they won't hatch because they are not fertilized.

Yes chickens have sex

 

[vmundine]

@yodaguy96 Mind blown!

 

[judie]

@yodaguy96 Omg this is cool but like how does it go from hens to you eating them? Lol do you do it yourself or take them to someone?

 

[yodaguy96]

@judie I dispatch, eviscerate pluck them etc all myself.
Three times so far but still not easy killing an animal even though they are for food.
I've I my eaten the roosters so far.
I have 3 hens I bought last year that will turn 3 years old in December so even though I've only had them for one year of their life I'm probably going to turn them into stew because after they reach a certain age their muscles and stuff become tough and stringy. Although I've gotten sweet on two of them so one of them is my mascot even when she quits laying eggs and doesn't contribute anything I'm keeping her

 

[judie]

@yodaguy96 Oh wow! It sounds super difficult. I hope that hen enjoys retirement!

 

[alizayjames]

@dikaioumenoi Costco- I buy meat, fish (portion out and freeze), and dairy in bulk at Costco and I have chickens for daily eggs. I also buy canned fish in bulk (sardines, clams, tuna, oysters) or prepackaged fish (smoked salmon) and dairy (evaporated milk, whey powder) for the pantry. Just in case I don't ever run out of protein sources, I keep frozen egg & turkey sausage patties in the freezer (also from Costco in bulk) if I need a quick fix. I also buy unsalted whole, shelled nuts (almonds, brazil nuts, cashew, pistachio mix) from Costco and I have Nutzo (combo of different nuts and seeds except peanuts) in the fridge and a backup in the pantry.

 

[daspt]

@alizayjames Yeah, this is the way! I go to Sam's club once a month and get 2 giant packs of chicken and spend maybe $35-$40 and that lasts me a while. They also have 3 pound packs of 93% lean ground beef for $14 that I grab sometimes. I definitely need to check out the fish selections though, I eat a ton of fish and it's getting expensive.

I've heard costco is better than sams but unfortunately I don't have one nearby.

 

[alizayjames]

@daspt I'm once a month too and I really stock up lol. On ziplock bags too!

On the fish, I buy salmon, cod, and mahi-mahi bulk frozen filets mainly and these are really easy to defrost and coat with a little olive oil and saute. I don't know if Sam's Club has the ground bison 2-packs, but I love it because it is really lean and packs a lot of protein. I get the ground beef 3-pack too and also bone broth in bulk-I make a lot of stews.

 

[oftencurious]

@dikaioumenoi Chicken, eggs, canned salmon/tuna and tofu are all pretty well priced. I’ve also found good deals on frozen wild caught fish. Buy things in family size packs and freeze in smaller portions.