Recently, I split my grocery bill between the sale and 50% items at Fresh N Easy and the $15 per laundry sized basket local produce co-op.
This is the time to pull out old cookbooks and family recipes that are simple. Talk about basic menus. Just little things that help economically. Let's see if we can get a thread going.
Holy cow I need to read this thread! I waste more money at the grocery store -
Allot depends on your location and what is available.
In my area, Save-a-lot has good prices, limited selection. A couple of other stores, IGA types, are somewhat to significantly higher. I find the local Walmart Supercenter is the highest on many products.
Stores, such as Fred’s, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Dollar Tree, etc., have an interesting variety of food items. They each seem to have some items not available at the other stores. Their prices are competitive.
Several of the grocery stores have special sections which are quantity products — canned products in gallon containers, etc. Bulk usually costs less, comparatively, if you have storage available.
I do lots of things, some of them already repeated.
1. If you work, make lunch for the week on Sunday. Try and do something that is six servings and freeze one. That way, you won’t have to make a pot once every few weeks. I make spaghetti sauce or what I fondly call C.I.C. (crap in a crockpot)
2. Buy the whole chicken. I cut out the breasts and break off the legs and thights and save seperately. I use everything else to make a broth. I can usually pick off a good extra cup or two of meat from the carcass. I use that for a soup or stew (see line one)
3. Revisist the leafy greens and other vegetables. I eat alot of Kale, Carrots, Cabbage, Swiss Chard, and fully grown spinach (not the bagged baby stuff). These are CHEAP. I paid .75 for a bunch of Kale two weeks ago and got about 7 servings. Please note that these have all been labeled “superfoods” at one time. I like to steam it in a little chicken broth with some paprika.
4. Don’t be afraid of store brands. Normally I buy one of something, epecially if it is on sale to see if I like it. If I do, I switch exclusively to the store brand and stock up when it is on sale. I got 20 cans of a decent quality tuna for $9.00 last month. I won’t buy tuna again for several months.
5. Experiment with beans, lentils and rice. I have had great successes mixing beans, rices, small amounts of meat, veggies and cheese. One of my favorites is mixing navy beans, chicken broth, onion, spinach, lemon and parmesan cheese. I have added a little leftover chicken and tuna to this too.
6. If you like sourdough, learn how to make it. This is least expensive way to make bread. Once you get a start going, you only need flour, water and salt to make great bread.
Check your local growers and producers. We get our chicken, whole, from a Mennonite congregation. These are free-range, no chemicals. Huge birds, lots of meat, very well priced. Also, we have a non-USDA meat market, unbelievable cuts.
Beans and rice, rice and beans.
now that we have an Aldi here, I shop there. That helps tremendously in keeping the grocery bill down. I also go to Winn Dixie or Food Lion but ONLY buy the stuff that’s on sale...I think the Winn Dixie a couple towns over has salted peanuts 10 bags for $10...I use the discount card that they require but neither is connected to my phone number and address...:)
Occasionally go to Walmart but now that Aldi opened a couple weeks ago, the trips there will be fewer because Aldi just smacks them on most prices...
bachelor, btw...
Great list idea! Please add me.
Currently a single father raising two daughters, and one of them’s a teenager, on a food budget of $200/month. I’m a decent (daughters say, “great!) cook, so I make nearly all of our meals from scratch. I even bake bread on occasion, though I’m not sure it’s much cheaper to make it as it is to buy it, lol!
Salad is a staple at suppertime in our home. I don’t buy the pre-cut “bag-o’-salad”, as it goes bad too quickly. I cut up romaine myself, along with the other tasty’s that go in it. And I make my own salad dressings (it’s really easy, and they taste sooo much fresher).
Okay, a quick, easy recipe:
Pasta Primavera
4 - 6 cups water
1 Cup shaped pasta (it really doesn’t matter what shape)
1/2 bag frozen mixed vegetables (store-brand is fine)
2 - 3 tsp olive oil
1 TLB salt, plus additional for seasoning
pepper for seasoning
Grated Parmesan cheese
Bring water to a boil in a large sauce pan or dutch oven.
Add 1 tablespoon of salt to boiling water, then add pasta.
Boil pasta for 7 - 8 minutes, until al dente.
Add frozen veggies and allow to return to a boil.
Turn off heat, and then drain pasta and veggies in a colander.
Move pasta and veggies to a serving bowl.
Drizzle olive oil over pasta, then salt and pepper to taste.
Toss and serve with a side salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil for dressing, and a piece of garlic toast.
Server grated parmesan on the side for sprinkling onto pasta primavera.
Total cost to feed three people: $3.00, at the most. That’s $1 per person!
And it’s a fairly balanced meal, to boot.
There’s veggies, carbohydrates, “good” fat, dairy...
And my kids love it!
Maybe we should send this thread to Gov. Barbie Doll.
No Bake Tuna Casserole
1 box mac-n-cheese (”MnC”)
1 slice smoked gouda cheese, chopped
1 Cup frozen peas and carrots
Two small cans water-pack tuna, drained (reserve liquid).
2 - tsp salt
pepper
Prepare macaroni according to box directions, adding 2-tsp salt to boiling water just prior to adding mac.
Typically, MnC calls for milk and butter (or, yuck, margerine), to be added to drained mac along with the MnC powder stuff.
Instead, while cooked mac is draining, lower heat under saucepan to med-low.
Add milk and butter to the saucepan.
Once butter has melted and milk/butter is steaming (do NOT boil), add peas and carrots, tuna, and hot, drained pasta to the pan.
Wait thirty seconds.
Pour on the MnC powder stuff and lightly fold together.
Add reserved liquid as necessary if mixture is too thick.
Fold in chopped smoked gouda pieces.
Sprinkle with pepper to taste and serve.
My daughters think this recipe is “off the hook”, even the 6-year-old.
And with a side-sald, cost is once again about $1 per person at the most.
Ping
One pack of little smokies, two cans of kitchen cut green beans, two cans of cream of mushroom soup.
In a 9X13 casserole dish, put one layer of little smokies, one layer of green beans, one layer of cream of mushroom soup (no milk or water added), repeat, bake on 320 degrees for 20 minutes.
Serve and eat.
Will serve 8
Porcupine Meatballs
Mix together some ground beef and ground pork. If sausage is on sale I’ll use that instead of the ground pork. You’re just looking to add a little flavor and lighten up the meatball. Add some breadcrumbs, either from the box or from your stash of ends in the freezer. Add pepper, salt, dried onions, whatever seasoning you want. Add an egg, and a baggie full( about 1 cup) of frozen leftover rice, cooked. Work it together into meatballs, and flash freeze. When you want to cook them, put them into a slow cooker, add a large can of tomato soup and a half a can of water plus 1 tbs. of brown sugar.Cook on high for about 6 hours. Your cooking time may vary depending on your slow cooker. It’s one of those homeschooling, church, clean the house recipes that you just fix up and forget until supper. I make enough meatballs so that this recipe is good for one dinner and next days lunch.
ping
check back
Cross reference to an ongoing thread with tons of info and lots of GREAT recipes ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1990507/posts
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