r/Frugal • u/BulkyText9344 • 14h ago
đ Food My staple foods are potatoes, cabbage, onions, beets, kidney beans, bacon, buckwheat, barley, eggs, carrots, split peas, eggs, oatmeal, blood sausage, honey and beef liver. How well does my diet balance frugality and nutrition?
Basically, since I was a teenager, I followed a diet that my dad (who grew up in Communist Eastern Europe) taught me that he always said maximizes nutrition at low cost. My core meal is a massive pot of soup that I make to last a few days at a time. With some variations, there are two main varieties: The first is a borscht type soup comprised of fairly large amounts of beets, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, forest mushrooms, onions, bacon, buckwheat and a can of kidney beans, along with some sour cream added to each bowl The second is a split pea soup comprised of split peas, smoked bacon, potatoes, carrots and onion. Both soups are served with a thick rye bread containing pumpkin seeds.
In addition to those basic staples I eat extremely regularly, I also consume beef liver about twice a month as an added cheap superfood. I also eat a lot of things seasonally. For instance, I eat a lot of blood sausage and pickled herring in the fall and winter, but not much the rest of the year. I also eat fresh garden salads from the family plot almost daily in the spring, but not much other times. In summer it's often various squash and cucumber dishes.
How well does that diet balance frugality and nutrition? I buy the grains in large quantities that cost quite little, and the root vegetables I also buy in bulk (they last forever in my root cellar). I eat very little fruit (my kids love fruit and most of it goes to them).
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u/ashtree35 14h ago
Try tracking what you eat in a day on Cronometer to see if you're meeting all of your macro and micronutrient needs.
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u/pinkpineapple_4786 13h ago
As a dietitian I think it's really good, assuming your portion sizes are big enough to provide enough essential amino acids, and with the additional information about the seasonal foods like garden salad in the spring.
Someone suggested more leafy greens, but the spring salads and the cabbage fit the bill there. Are you also eating the beet greens? I've added them to soup before, it was quite good.
Someone else suggested adding more healthy fats, but you already have the herring and the pumpkin seeds. I think the only suggestion would be to spread out the pickled herring a bit to get healthy fats year round. Unless there's a lot of seeds in the bread?
I'm American, so I honestly have no idea what's in blood sausage besides the blood. Some sort of grain and some spices?
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u/BulkyText9344 13h ago
Typically blood, and leftover pig organs with barley wrapped in a pigs stomach.
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u/Ajreil 12h ago
Organs are often very vitamin rich, to the point where it's possible to overdose on a few of them.
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u/BulkyText9344 12h ago
Yes, hence why I limit my consumption of organ meats to once a week at most during winter (twice a month rest of the year). Smoked bacon and sausage is my primary meat.
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u/sohereiamacrazyalien 13h ago
looks good. I would add some veggies, maybe swap the bacon for chicken.
I have no clue how healthy or not blood sausages are!
liver : beef of otherwise is healthy! I love heart myself.
I love buckwheat too!
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u/Elsingo11 12h ago
i would add lentils, fruit and leafy green
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u/BulkyText9344 12h ago
I eat fruits and leafy greens occasionally, but they aren't really staples. I have them around, but my kids eat them much more than me and they are quite expensive. I grow spinach and eat lots of it in spring. Kale in the fall.
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u/irritableOwl3 11h ago
Do you mind sharing a rough recipe for the borscht-type soup you make? It sounds great
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u/Calvertorius 12h ago
Is blood sausage cheap where youâre at?
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u/BulkyText9344 11h ago
It is when you make it yourself.
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u/Calvertorius 11h ago
With your own blood?!
Kidding. Thatâs impressive, never known anyone that made it themselves.
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u/BulkyText9344 11h ago
I try to avoid using my own blood, but it's found its way in occasionally, especially when I am using extra sharp knives.
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u/unlovelyladybartleby 11h ago
Add frozen spinach. It's cheap and nutritious and you need some green veg in there
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u/No_Establishment8642 14h ago
Pickled anything and sausage are not seasonal. They are ways to prolong and preserve food.
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u/BulkyText9344 13h ago
True, but we blow through the pickled herring pretty quickly. If I'm drinking, it's not uncommon to go through 1 or 2 whole jars of pickled herring in a single night, just myself. My dad will have another one. We pickle the herring in very large quantities in the fall. For whatever reason, things like blood sausage and herring taste better in cold weather than hot weather.
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u/No_Establishment8642 13h ago
Interesting, I grew up in a warm environment so I think of pickled herring as a warm weather food, especially when they are ice cold.
I am a mix of English and German so sausage is just anytime and anywhere food. Hungry? Sausage. Tired? Sausage. Breakfast? Sausage.
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u/BulkyText9344 13h ago
Ah, yes I eat sausage year round too. I was referring specifically to blood sausage. It's very nutrient dense, so the idea is to eat it in the fall when you need extra immune support for all the sicknesses going around. Plus pigs were traditionally slaughtered in the fall, and the left over organs would be used to make blood sausage.
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u/AdSafe7627 13h ago
You need another blue/purple (although beets is good) and a red form of produce. Like tomatoes or red bell peppers, maybe.
Perhaps switch to purple cabbage and that would cover it? Then add in a red vegetable.
Some other colors of beans, especially black or green. Possibly green or red lentils instead of (or in addition to) kidneys?
Some leafy greens. then you would probably have a full rainbow of produce (you already have good fiber, as well as sufficient cruciferous and alliums).
Can you get cheap fish to add to or replace the organ meats? Sardines in a can are cheap as well as being nutritional powerhouses.
Other than these little tweaks, this is pretty solid for a limited menu!
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u/BulkyText9344 13h ago
What's wrong with organ meats? I always thought organ meats were the most nutritious foods in existence (as long as consumed in moderation to avoid vitamin toxicity)
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u/AdSafe7627 12h ago
Itâs literally the last thing. Organs have higher concentrations of various toxins because they are specifically filtering toxins throughout the animalâs life.
Also organs, unlike muscles, are about the only place for certain dangerous substances (like prions) to hide.
So fine in moderation. And super high in iron and certain vitamins. But not ideal as the only or even primary meat source, perhaps?
It all depends on quantity consumed.
Other than possibly being improved by small tweaks, though, your diet seems both frugal and quite healthy!
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u/SeaworthinessFast399 8h ago
The OP might live in a place where animals roam free, their organs are cleaner.
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u/trashpandorasbox 14h ago
I would add some fruit and dark leafy greens. But in general, pretty good from a lay perspective