I have always spent a lot of money on groceries. Food was just a given, we live in the country so a trip to the grocery store was always between 200 to 300 dollars and we went frequently. I have a large garden and can a lot and we have our own beef and pork so I never buy meat at the grocery store so basically I am buying garbage at the store but I a year ago I would have never admitted that.

So the last few months I have been very diligent about what we purchase and reading a lot of labels and I am shocked to see how much more expensive healthy high protein foods are. I have found I really like the taste and texture of the Fuel for Fire protein smoothies but they are quite spendy and if you are purchasing for anything other than weight loss or a medical diet I can't imagine them being realistic in the family budget. It is just my husband and I at home now and we are fairly well off so it isn't a big deal but I can remember not long ago when using a calculator in the grocery store and I would have laughed at the thought of putting them in the cart. I found Shrewd Foods have really good protein puffs that tastes AMAZING AND ALMOST MELT IN YOUR MOUTH!

A lot of the bone broths are 3 to 4 times the cost of regular broths as well. I have found the Bare Bones brand pretty tasty!! But over the next month I am going to try to make my own.

My question is this.....when you see all these really good protein supplements and you try to make them at home how do you know if you are getting the protein necessary in them? I assume I will have to buy protein additives to say the soup bone broth I make and trial and error it to flavor and consistency ?????? Has anyone tried to compete with homemade verses premade products and is the cost that much different once you buy all the ingredients.

Its a darn shame that carbs are cheap and protein is expensive! LOL

First of all welcome to a area of mass confusion. Key is the proteins powders - With the powders you can make all your smoothies and foods like soup. I personally do not buy the pre made ones I make stronger healthier products

Amazon has sales of the powders just pay attention to the amount per serving. As for Broth make your own and freeze it - I make vegetable/mushroom, Beef and Seafood. You can get the bones usually for free and it only takes a few lobster shells and oyster shells makes a ton of Broth. I make about 5 gallons at a time and freeze it in quart containers - Most of my contents comes from the food i make for two teanagers

2 minutes ago, Mr Alley Gator said:

First of all welcome to a area of mass confusion. Key is the Proteins powders - With the powders you can make all your smoothies and foods like Soup. I personally do not buy the pre made ones I make stronger healthier products

Amazon has sales of the powders just pay attention to the amount per serving. As for broth make your own and freeze it - I make vegetable/mushroom, Beef and Seafood. You can get the bones usually for free and it only takes a few lobster shells and oyster shells makes a ton of Broth. I make about 5 gallons at a time and freeze it in quart containers - Most of my contents comes from the food i make for two teanagers

We have our own beef and pork so my freezer is packed with soup bones, I am just really confused with all the different protein powders out there and the best way to actually get the right one with the right foods processed in the right way....

I am so used to cooking for a small army and cooking old school you know butter, cream, flour, meat and potatoes!!! I have a ton of homemade frozen pot pies and lasagnas that I wanted to donate to the homeless shelter and they wouldn't take it because it was homemade!!! Good lord how sad!!! I am not even kidding when I say this: I have three deep freezes full of food and there is just my hubby and I now at home.

What to do with all this food now is a darn night mare.

Which protein powder do you recommend to mix with your bones for bone broth?? I assume I can use any seasonings I would like ( I am a spice *****) LOL

Yes, that's why getting fat is so easy because junk food is cheap. Healthy food is so much more expensive.

Yep, real, fresh, whole foods are more expensive but so much better for you. My grocery bill is less now because there’s no bread, no biscuits, no ice cream, no snacks, etc.

I make just about everything from scratch. I control the ingredients, how they’re prepared & how they’re cooked. I used to cook from scratch 80% of the time anyway so little change except for cooking methods, portion size & no pasta, bread or rice. I don’t use protein powders but that’s me (sorry Mr Alley Gator ?). I get all my protein in without it but as you ‘re starting out they will make it easier to reach your protein goals.

One benefit of the surgery is you eat much smaller portions so you’ll save that way. 500g of beef mince makes 9 serves of a bolognese sauce for me. Before surgery it would have been 4 or 5 serves. Don’t be afraid to bulk cook & freeze like Mr Alley Gator suggested. Zip lock bags & my freezer are my best friends followed by my microwave.

Good luck.

bone broth is probably the stuff you make at home. It's just stock - i.e., broth made with the bones. The protein comes from the collagen - so you shouldn't need to add any extra protein unless you want it super high-protein. Regular broth isn't made with bones - it's made with meat and vegetables. Bone broth (or stock) is made with mostly bones, whatever meat is clinging to the bones, and vegetables... (this is how I understood it - and then I just looked it up to verify...). So it'll be pretty cheap to make your own bone broth - and it freezes well.

You can make a delicious bone broth from a turkey carcass. Cook it to death in the crock pot, then crack open all the bones (they will be soft and you can cut them with kitchen shears if you cook the bones long enough), and then cook some more. Strain the liquid and freeze.

Thanks for all the awesome ideas, how do you guess the protein content on the broths then.....I am trying to be pretty careful with getting in the right amounts of protein.

I would much rather make my own because I know where all the animals in my freezer have come from and how there were fed but I just don't know how to count the nutrients in them?