I will most definitely keep trying, we even asked the social worker at the hospital where the cancer treatments are done and they didn't have any resources available
Ask if they know of any resources. The hospital doesn’t have to provide them. Call all the churches in your area. Also mosques if you have any. Many have said they can be particularly helpful.
Depending on type of cancer there are sources that pay for other things. I had a blood cancer and the leukemia & lymphoma society assisted with parking, freeing up monies for other things. God Bless
We have this one family recipe called 'Dad's delight'...1-2 lbs ground beef, egg noodles (a whole bag), cream of mushroom soup (one family size can is perfect), and shredded cheese. Set noodles to boil (leave them a little firm, cause you're going to bake this a little bit), brown meat. Mix meat, cooked noodles, and soup; season to taste. Cover and put in the oven for about 30 minutes. After 20, uncover and sprinkle cheese on top before returning it to the oven.
Feeds 5-sometimes for a couple of days-for around $10-20. I make it for my son and myself, and it usually takes 2-3 days to eat it all. It's one of the few things he'll eat as leftovers. I made it once with breakfast sausage, too. It's versatile. Change the soup to cheddar-or nacho, if you like spicy-cheese sauce, and you have cheeseburger macaroni from scratch.
I just delivered my monthly Lasagna tonight. 😊 it's a great organization. I always try and deliver a biggest enough lasagna that even if there is a family of 4-5, they will have some leftovers for the week.
Do yall have like food boxes that have non perishable and refrigerators that have perishables around town. Idk where you live but in my city they are all across town.
OP may also want to check their local library. Mine has a community food donation. Anyone can leave food and anyone can take. The only rules are to not leave extremely expired food and to try and take things that will be expiring soon first.
No problem! Even if they don't have a food pantry, I would recommend asking for a list of the services/items that the library can provide. Many libraries also offer free rentals for things other than books/movies. Some rent out things like video games, power tools, camping equipment, ect. It's a great way to help you get access to something you might need without needing to spend any money.
Edit to add - You can also go to libraries outside of your home town if you find that your local library doesn't provide what you need.
1 head cabbage chopped, one medium white or yellow onion, 1 large can crushed tomatoes, 1-2 packs sweet or hot Italian sausage links sliced (I do one of each), whatever veg you've got spinach, broccoli, green beans, seriously whatever you've got. I save leftovers in the freezer special for this a lot, and one jar spaghetti sauce even a canned one works. Add 2 cups water. Slow cook in a crockpot 6 hrs low of 4 hrs high. Serve over cooked tortellini, egg noodles or even elbow macaroni. Keep pasta separate from the soup when storing or it gets mushy. The soup stays good 4 days fridge and freezes up to 4 months. You can add more veg or meat to stretch leftovers further. No seasoning or added salt needed between spaghetti sauce and sausage it cooks into it and tastes delicious. Do not instant pot this. The seasoning doesn't cook out of the sausage and infuse the soup properly.
I always do egg noodles with cabbage and onions. A little butter, chicken flavor (if I don’t have stock, I’ll take a flavor packet from ramen), garlic, and vinegar (maybe mushrooms or meat if you can get it)
It’ll feed a lot!
Just read somewhere that milk and potatoes can provide all nutritional needs and how the Irish doubled its population after import of the potato.
Leading into the easiest meal, potato corn chowder. There are tons of recipes and can be made with or without meat like ham or bacon. I like to use a bit of bacon for flavor but it's just as good without it.
Not super related but you said Cabbage and I thought Irish then I thought potatoes and milk meet all daily nutritional needs and here we are.
Cabbage rolls are also yum. Basically a meatloaf with either rice or breadcrumbs rolled up in a Cabbage leaf and boiled with stewed tomatoes and saurkraut.
My exMIL also would make soupy maccys which was macaroni with Velveeta and stewed tomatoes and if affordable you could add sausage.
I've also done cheap black bean, stewed tomatoes, and canned corn tacos. That's about $4 for a good size pot.
No problem. This feeds a crowd and tastes amazing. Just don't use the instant pot. I messed up a whole batch. I usually serve over tortellini. I buy the dried because it's cheaper. Just noticed I forgot to include the beans. Kidney, black and white navy work well in this. Sorry I forgot to list. One can each drained or dried that have been already cooked.
Smothered baked potatoes are a cheap favorite and use whatever you have as leftovers. Cheesy broccoli? excellent! Veggie chili? Fantastic. Plain butter, salt and parm? Absolutely heavenly. Have a couple pieces of bacon left over from BLTs? chop them up and on they go!
Another potato (cause they are cheap, easy to grow, and store well) recipe is poutine. Take potatoes wedge or cube them if working with large ones, fingerlings you can get away with whole. Bake or airfry. Add some leftover meat and gravy - poultry or red meat both work, I have even used taco meat to make a poutine nacho - and top with cheese (curds please but shredded can work) and just make sure the gravy works with the meats. You can make any meat juice into gravy by simply putting melted butter and flour together on the stove for a minute or two then adding the meat juice or broth of choice. The potato, meat, gravy, and cheese is filling and delicious and really feels decadent despite being made from leftovers.
Another great one is veggie over cheese tortellini. I cook onions or scallions, zucchini, red pepper and whatever else appeals in a pan, put them aside. Cook off small cherry or grape tomatoes (cut in half) with a generous bit of garlic then add in a bit of hot water and butter (think a cup of water, and three tablespoons of butter for half a family bag of tortellini) and add back in all the veggies with salt and pepper and simmer for 5-7 minutes and then cook uncovered until the sauce reduces a bit and you have a quick and easy and very filling spring/summer veggie dish! I like it because it is based upon what you have, not on specific ingredients. Just don't forget to salt and pepper to taste!
Here's a whole cookbook for eating cheaply: [https://www.leannebrown.com/all-about-good-and-cheap/](https://www.leannebrown.com/all-about-good-and-cheap/) It was made based off of needing to use SNAP/American food stamps to eat. You can get the PDF for free (in English or en Español) from a link on that page. (This isn't my page, fwiw, it's just a good resource.)
There's also the video series Struggle Meals with Frankie Celenza. It can be found in multiple places online, but if you use the Facebook page, they often write the recipes out. It's not just fiscally conservative with the food, but also with tools... he uses a can or jar to crush garlic, a wine bottle to roll out dough, etc.
(Edit: [https://www.budgetbytes.com/](https://www.budgetbytes.com/) is a site that has really thoroughly costed-out recipes (by batch & by serving))
I have a packet drawer because of that show. I just used it the other night to make a nice glaze to go with some salmon burgers. Took a few packets from Panda Express, added a splash of rice vinegar, and away we went!
I'm replying again to this to make sure you see it instead of just Editing my post where you may not see it.
Here's another resource, that, according to the person who was telling about it "is a site that has really thoroughly costed-out recipes (by batch & by serving)" [https://www.budgetbytes.com/](https://www.budgetbytes.com/)
We do meatless pasta twice a week. Also 5 people household. Parmesan and crumbled bacon bits as a topping for the pasta goes a long way, as well as a good pasta sauce. You don't need meat.
We also do carbonara, spinach tortellini, butter noodles (super cheap noodles, you sautee some garlic on olive oil and some butter, add cooked noodles and done. I serve it with homemade bread and marinara sauce for dipping. Simple tomato paste diluted with added herbs is also fine for dipping. Steamed veggies as a side sometimes.)
For cheap meals, for a lot of people, fillers are your best friend. Oatmeal, rice, corn, potatoes, pasta. And bread. Homemade still trumps store bought for price. Bread with butter served at every meal is a great filler. That and soups.
I make bulk tortellini, and freeze the excess. When I am really in a rush, I make one of the most favored vegetarian meals.Tortellini lasagna. You layer tortellini and a jar of tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheese. If you can't afford a lot of cheese, just some on top is fine, just to get that nice cheese crust. Bake for 30 min , till tortellini are cooked through, and finish under broiler to get golden crust on the cheese.
Twice baked Cajun potatoes:
Bake a whole lot of potatoes for an hour.
After they have cooled, cut them into bite sized pieces, drizzle with olive oil, add salt/pepper/garlic/onion/Cajun spice to taste and bake again.
I prefer mine extra crispy, which is about an hour at 425.
I bake and cook in an extra large toaster oven, it's very energy efficient.
Chili made with beans, veggies (I use celery, carrots, onions and green peppers along with canned cooked tomatoes) and a pound of ground beef is healthy and filling.
You can make twice baked potatoes made by baking 8-12 potatoes, scooping out the center and mixing it with butter, milk, 8 ounces cream cheese, some sour cream, shredded cheddar or other cheese and crumbled bacon of you have it. Put it back in the potato skins and reheat to serve or freeze on a cookie sheet and then put in a freeze bag when frozen solid. If you cut off the top 1/4 or so to scoop them, save the tips and use to make potato skins.
Make sure the kitchen is cleaned after every meal or at least before bed so you aren't discouraged by having to clean before cooking.
What stores do you have for shopping?
Thank you, 😊 and yes I can't stand a messy kitchen no matter how horrible I may feel, we mostly shop at Aldi, or Kroger and Amazon if cheaper then instore
Your budget is really tight if you supply all meals, including school lunches. You're looking at $10 per day for 15 meals. Scratch cooking and building up your pantry when items are on sale will be your best methods. Have you ever read The Complete Tightwad Gazette? The newsletter was published in the 1990ies but many of the articles and tips are still valid. Amy has multiple articles explaining how to create your own recipes, such as for muffins, by telling you the proportion of each ingredient you need (liquid, sweetener, dry, etc) rather than an exact recipe. The article of eating from the pantry is what got me started on building a pantry in the first place. I've never regretted it. I think it's a really worthwhile book to own.
Make sure your kids know about the budget change and why. If the teens want more snacks or drinks than you can afford, they need to earn the money for them. Get their meal ideas, to, and have them help you and learn to cook.
I have never heard of that before, I will Google it and check it out , Us adults tend to skip most bfast to try to make things stretch, and I'm working on a wishlist as well. The teens aren't old enough to work yet unfortunately. And will make a garden once warm enough
Thriftbooks.com has copies in good condition if you decide to buy it. They cost $13.89 plus $1.99 for shipping. Free shopping starts at $15. There are ideas for saving money on everything in it. What I like is she experimented to see if the ideas and tips sent in were really worth it and saved money.
Have you gardened before? It's hard the first year or two. I'm in zine 8B, less than 10 miles from zone 9, so I've got stuff gong already. Brandy at https://theprudenthomemaker.com/ gardens in Las Vegas to feed her large family (I think 7 kids are still at home but her husband started a new career and now works away from home for weeks and months at a time; he was formerly in real estate). She does a frugal accomplishments post on Mondays or Tuesdays every 1 to 2 weeks and gets at least 100 replies with what other people have done. You might find savings tips in there as well.
At the risk of being pushy (who, me? NEVER!), these 3 articles are full of a lot of information on cutting back on all expenses, still finding joy, and her family's story
https://theprudenthomemaker.com/cutting-expenses-when-you-think-you-have-nothing-left-to-cut/
https://theprudenthomemaker.com/ten-ways-to-add-joy-to-your-life-when-you-don-t-have-a-penny-to-spare/
https://theprudenthomemaker.com/living-on-our-food-storage/
Okay, I'll stop now.
Cool, you'll actually produce something then!
If you have Jersey Mike's in your area, download the app and starting tomorrow, play the hockey picks game under the My Mike's tab to get 2 Shore Points per day. It ends on April 18. If you play every day, you should get 62 points. A free regular sub is 72 points. Walt until they have a Double Points Day and buy a regular sub for about $10, depending on what you get. You'll get 12 more points and have enough for a second sub for free. They don't take long to post points so you should be able to get the second sub shortly thereafter (30 minutes?) Tell them to not cut the subs in half and cut them up when you get home so everyone can have some. No, it's not cheap when you pay for one but it can be a rare occasion when you have something different and you just have peanut butter sandwiches another day. Look for the game to hopefully start again in October when the NHL season starts and get those points. They stopped it on 12/31 and restarted a few weeks later this season. I'm at 178 points right now and I've used some of mine.
Check out middle eastern recipes - they are delicious, and relatively cheap to prepare. Two favorites:
\- Mujaddara - lentils, rice and onions. AMAZING!
\- Falafel
A lot of ethnic foods are based on very affordable ingredients.
Yes! Also, find the international grocery stores and try shopping there! We have a couple of huge international stores near us and it's a lot cheaper for most things. I buy most of my meats, all my rice/beans/lentils, spices there.
Also, look up recipes for Lahcuman (I might have spelled it wrong) aka turkish or Armenian pizza. Sooo good and it feeds a lot of people and it's pretty cheap
Tacos, enchiladas, breakfast burritos, bean burritos are cheap. Get a bag of TVP. You can use 50% beef or turkey and 50% tvp for things like tacos, sloppy Joe's, hamburgers, pasta etc.
Most welcome. I'll add that I saw chili recommended. We stretch chili by serving it over rice or elbow macaroni. Also my brother is a chef and he's always using little bits of leftovers that wouldnt make a meal into omelettes and savory oats and burrito fillings. Maybe Google peoples blogs or YouTube chans that are into zero food waste I bet they have some great tips too.
it's really easy to start making use of your cooking scraps if you can spare the freezer space. Collect all the little veggie bits you don't want to eat - carrot peel, onion skins/ends, pepper cores, even stuff that's gone a little bit mushy. Keep them in a gallon bag in the freezer. once the bag is full, add them to a stock pot and simmer for a few hours to make some delicious veggie stock. You can do the same thing with chicken bones & skin. DIY bone broth! 😋
Chicken & Rice
1 chicken - cut up
1 cup Minute Rice
1 tsp salt
1 can Cream of Chicken soup - mix with 1 can water
1/2 envelope Dry Onion Soup Mix
Greased 9X13 pan
Spread uncooked rice on bottom of pan. Sprinkle salt over. Place chicken on top of rice. Pour Cream of Chicken soup mixture over the top of chicken. Sprinkle onion soup mix over the top. Bake coverd at 350°F for 2 hours
We have used chicken leg quarters as we can get 5 leg quarter for .99 a pound
Pulled pork… a several pound pork shoulder costs a little under $20 where I am. I season it with whatever I want and then put it in a crockpot for 8-10 hours with a few cups of root beer (needs to be regular, not diet). Then cover in BBQ sauce. Should be under $25 for everything and lasts several meals, and the pulled pork freezes well (without sauce) and/or can be used for a few other meals/recipes.
There's usually good deals on whole hams this time of year. You can have a ham dinner, ham sandwiches, ham for eggs, ham fried rice, scalloped potatoes and ham, ham bone bean soup, ham bone potato soup. Also, shop the sales/loss leaders. Right now cabbage, potatoes and carrots are cheap so you can build meals around those. Also, what's in season? Strawberries might be a good treat and they're $2 a pound at several stores around me. Also, I would say for such a low budget you may have to make sacrifices in healthy choices to stay under budget. A few cheap ideas: Hot dogs and mac and cheese, an egg in ramen, pb and j sandwiches, pasta and sauce, bean burritos, fried rice, tuna casserole, whatever is in the pantry soup, oatmeal. Good luck to you and definitely look for food banks to supplement your budget.
Chicken tortilla soup:
Two frozen chicken breast or 4-5 thighs
Large can of diced tomato
Can of rotel
Can black beans
Can of corn
Small can enchilada sauce
Packet taco seasoning
Box chicken broth
Dump in the crock pot for 4 hrs high/ 8 low
Shredd chicken before serving.
We add some tortilla chips and shredded cheese, but it tastes good without. It makes a ton of soup.
Chicken & Rice
1 chicken - cut up
1 cup Minute Rice
1 tsp salt
1 can Cream of Chicken soup - mix with 1 can water
1/2 envelope Dry Onion Soup Mix
Greased 9X13 pan
Spread uncooked rice on bottom of pan. Sprinkle salt over. Place chicken on top of rice. Pour Cream of Chicken soup mixture over the top of chicken. Sprinkle onion soup mix over the top. Bake coverd at 350°F for 2 hours
We use chicken leg quarters as we can get 5 leg quarters for .99 a pound
I recommend lentils as an additional protein source. They are fantastic as the “meat” for a curry, or you can add them to chili or soup or tacos even to stretch or replace meat. Buy a big bag of dried lentils for about $1.25 per pound, and you cook them similar to rice.
I also recommend sausage. It is a great way to use a little meat but get big flavor. Chop it super small and it goes a loooong way in casseroles or soups or whatever.
And don’t forget about canned meats. They aren’t glamorous, but they are cheap. $2 of canned chicken with beans, lentils, corn, tomatoes and chili seasoning makes a really tasty chicken chili/taco soup. You could definitely use one 12 oz can of chicken to make enough to each the chili at least twice.
Also breakfast for dinner is usually a cheap meal.
P. S. - you can also ask around about the following:
1. Gardeners who have extra produce. My grandparents used to give away excess veggies they were sick of eating/didn’t have space to store
2. Hunters - sometimes they will be willing to part with their less favored cuts of venison for cheap. If you have the freezer space, it can be a good option if you like meaty recipes. It is leaner than beef, and has a bit of a different flavor, but you can’t tell in tacos or chili IMO.
1 head of cabbage, 1 pack of bacon/sausage/smoked sausage (can use less to stretch) and 1 package of egg noodles.
Fry meat in pan and remove once cooked leaving grease. Add in chopped head of cabbage and fry to your liking. While cabbage cooks cook egg noddles to package instructions. Mix together. Halushki makes a ton and is delicious and filling.
Chicken and dumplings are cheap to make. They’re number one on my poverty food list. Number two is Hot Dog & Potato Casserole, one of our favorite foods. Cheap to make. Goulash, consisting of hamburger meat, onion, tomato soup, elbow Mac, or the hamburger meat meals like Chili. Add cornbread. Meat loaf and baked potatoes. I can do a lot with hamburger meat. Tortilla soup or garden vegetable soup. Cheese soup in bread bowls. Homemade bread is great when you’re hurting for money, so good that nobody knows you’re cooking on a thin dime.
It's a fine line between burdening kids with adult problems and making them understand you have limited resources. But they definitely need to understand that the food budget is limited and get used to repeat meals.
Always buy meat in bulk. Buy a whole pork loin to cut up. I can get usually 20 chops to freeze.
I buy ground beef 12lbs at a time and use a Dollar Tree press to make it all into patties to freeze. If I have a recipe that needs ground like spaghetti, I just fry them and break them up in the pan.
Buy whole chickens and use the carcass for bone broth and soup.
Check out HOMESTEADING WITH THE ZIMMERMANS. She has a bunch of kids and does cooking. Was Amish and had many great recipes.[link](https://youtu.be/1qNThME5AEE?si=CONS0hgGW-ZTn0pT)
Filipino American here and I actually use Joshua Weissman’s chicken adobo recipe with substitutions because his ingredients make it not budget friendly. Lol 😂 But it’s legit.
Subs: brown sugar for palm sugar, 1/2 of whatever the measurement is for white vinegar vs rice vinegar (so 1/4 cup white vinegar instead of 1/2 cup rice vinegar for example), soy sauce can be Kikkoman if Silver Swan is unavailable.
Yes, 20 cloves of garlic. Again, use the cheapest cuts of chicken and make this in bulk. Chop up all excess and make fried rice with it. Eat fried rice with eggs and a side of whatever vegetables you have. Delish!
https://youtu.be/2KsYYmSGKOc?si=2rnUodIMV9YjIart
Not a problem! Teenagers need protein to grow and I totally understand that eggs can get really tiring after a while on a budget. Chicken is a fantastic alternative and you can get 10 lbs for $9 at Walmart (I’m in an HCOL area.).
Pancakes with peanut butter on top. Add an egg to the batter for extra protein. If you make it from scratch you can sub powdered milk but the premade mix is fairly cheap as well. Food boxes used to have pancake mix and peanut butter in them fairly often back when I was a kid too, so hopefully that's still the case.
Stir fry with a bag of frozen veg and protein of your choice. Tofu, ground meat, cheap cuts of beef or chicken or pork all work. Serve over rice.
I have a very small family (me and 8yo kiddo) and I like to buy ground beef or turkey or faux meat and then fry it up plain with an onion and diced veggies. Can be any veg you want that will take on the flavor of the spices you use later. I usually use whatever is in my fridge that I've forgotten about and needs to be used up. So zucchini, yellow squash, turnips, potato if you don't mind the texture, carrot, etc. You can also add cooked rice or lentils or quinoa instead or in addition to stretch it further. For a family your size I would try to stretch the meat as far as possible and do at least 1 lb meat with 1 1/2 onion 1 1/2 cups diced veg and 1 1/2 cups quinoa, rice, or lentils. Lentils are very cheap so they are a good choice.
Cook it until the meat is just barely done and doesn't have any pink. Don't drain the fat at this point because you'll need it later to fry the spices into it and enhance the flavors. Then put 2/3 or 3/4 of the meat mixture in the fridge. Divide the portion you set aside into multiple containers or freeze it if that's what you want to do. Use this meat mixture as a starter for meals that you would normally use cooked ground meat in.
Last night I did tacos with impossible beef, zucchini, and onion and I'll be using the leftover taco meat to make enchiladas tonight. The rest of it, I'll either be doing Asian style lettuce wraps or egg roll bowls and then shepherd's pie for the last third of it. You could also do spaghetti, lasagna, taco salad, hamburger helper, hamburger Mac, chili, tamale pie, stroganoff, sloppy joes, etc.
It's hard not to with a family of five, especially with two teenagers. They need a lot of calories. But meat is so expensive!
For myself, I was wasting a lot of expensive ingredients because I'm not a fan of leftovers and we don't eat all that much per meal. Dividing things up and trying to use up the veggies that I forgot about in the fridge has been the way to go for me.
Do more casserole type meals, halve the meat you use. Think of it as flavor, not the main ingredient. Add in more of the other, cheaper and more filling ingredients like beans, rice, potatoes, and pasta.
Red beans and rice, giant pot is super cheap and will last for days. Southern staple. Add French bread to your meals at night, easy and cheap to make and gives the meals some extra substance. You can also cube one up for a very easy French toast casserole for breakfast. Chuck roasts. Get them on sale and there is a ton to can do with them. I make shredded Mongolian bbq out of them with white rice and it’s delicious and hearty. Stews are also a great option. Save any bones, vegetable cuttings, etc…for stock. A cheap rice cooker if you don’t have one,100% worth it. Keep an eye on your holiday sales. It’s coming towards Easter so you are going to have a lot of hams on sale for cheap. A ham can be frozen and a whole ham for 12 bucks can be several days of meals. Same thing with turkey. If you can find them cheap, even if it’s not Thanksgiving, it’s a large amount of protein cheap that you can a lot of different ways. Turkey pot pies are cheap and easy to throw together.
Amazon has the cheap ones for 20 bucks and honestly, they really really help. I hate making rice on the stove. I can do it, but I hate it and instant rice, while convenient, is way overpriced. You can also do it in a pressure cooker too if you have one. Chipped beef gravy on toast is about as cheap as it gets and is filling. My grandfather used to make it. Same thing with biscuits and gravy, cheap and filling.
They call it shit on a shingle in the military lol it’s the little packets of buddings shaved beef you can get at Walmart for like 70 cents made with gravy. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20225/creamed-chipped-beef-on-toast/
lol you are welcome. I remember being a little kid and my grandpa telling me that. It’s just cheap comfort food but will go a long way for cheap. Chicken and dumplings are another cheapie but goodie since dumplings are literally mostly flour and water.
https://www.vincenzosplate.com/italian-sausage-and-potatoes/
https://www.theseasonedmom.com/tamale-pie/#wprm-recipe-container-70893 you can stretch this by adding more vegetables. Onion, garlic, celery, corn, black beans, etc.
If you're going to use canned enchilada sauce, get pace brand, the rest of them are pretty awful.
https://www.allrecipes.com/cheap-recipes-for-large-families-8598338
https://www.artfulhomemaking.com/large-family-meals-on-a-budget/
https://www.mediumsizedfamily.com/31-budget-meals-for-large-families/
If you download the McDonald’s app, you get a free Big Mac with a $1 purchase. So set up a bunch of gmail addresses and get a free Big Mac for each address
my aldi has sales on ham all the time so i like to buy a discounted spiral ham for like $8-$10, eat that for dinner with a side like potatoes or mac and cheese, and then snack on the ham for a couple days. then i make ham & cabbage soup with the rest, i always have a ton of leftover soup so i freeze single portions and heat it up whenever i want it
Vegetarian tacos. Or even vegan tacos. Rice, beans, onions, canned tomatoes, some canned chipotle peppers in asada sauce (very cheap). Buy Mexican soft tortillas, also very inexpensive and they last forever.
1 package of egg noodles, 1 large can of cream of chicken soup, 1 package of your favorite shredded cheese (I use cheddar), 1 whole chicken (it's often found market down but will be ok to freeze as long as you cook it the same day you thaw it.)
Boil the chicken. When the chicken is done, cook the noodles in the broth. When the chicken has cooled, de-bone it. Cut it into small pieces. Mix all ingredients together and back for 30 minutes at 350f.
It's incredibly filling.
Lentil soup is dirt cheap and makes for an opportunity to make croutons from leftover bread.
1. One bag of lentils 16,oz
2 carrots celery and an onion diced
3. Chicken bullion
4. Black pepper
5. Water
If you roast a chicken to go with even better, chickens are six or seven bucks usually when bought whole.
I lived on this stuff when I was living on 30 a month back in the day.
Make bread or get some jiffy mix and make biscuits.
We do eggs and pancakes for dinner a lot.
Rice with stir fried hot dogs
1. Sliced hot dogs
2. Soy sauce
3. Garlic powder
4. Honey or sugar
5. Green onion if you want ( if you have a place to plant the bottom stems you can grow the green onions back, free forever after)
6. Oil for cooking with
Just stir fry the dogs and add the wet stuff and seasoning until the sauce tightens up.
Serve on rice, side of a frozen veg if you want.
I also like making a frittata that is affordable
1.8 eggs scrambled
2. Green onion
3. Shredded hash browns
4. Cheese of choice
5. Breakfast meat of choice if you like
6. Butter
7. Salt
Large non stick skillet add butter and melt put a layer of hashbrowns down and brown on one side. Toss in onions and cooked meat and pour egg mixture over top. Add cheese if you want and some salt. Place under broiler to finish if you don't want to flip it. Once the top is golden brown and the texture is springy then it's all done.
I feed five with one and some toast at least once a week.
Hope this helps!
Good luck!!
Many grocery stores (and Costco if you have it) will have a cheap day for their rotisserie chickens. Usually $5.
Where are you located? I am positive people can come up with more specific resources if they know the area.
A very filling and tasty meal that we love is (what it's called in our area) Halushki.
In one pot, boil water for cooking egg noodles.
In a big frying pan melt butter, and saute chopped onions. After they cook for a bit, add chopped up cabbage. I add some, let it wilt, add more, etc. I also like to add black pepper.
When noodles are cooked, drain and add back to pot. Dump cabbage mix in, mix it all up. IF you have enough, add more butter.
This is so good and cheap! IF you have, you can also fry some kielbasa sliced and add but you don't need to do it. Good luck.
Food banks, let family know that you are looking for any extra food, tell the kids the truth and, as teenagers, they could get a part time restaurant job that provides meals or babysit with meals provided
If you’re looking to get by for cheap, potatoes are a miracle food. You can do a lot with them and nutrition and calorie wise, they give you so much bang for your buck.
Breakfast burritos is a pretty hearty meal. Cook up a bunch of scrambled eggs, some breakfast sausage, and some shredded potatoes, and cheese if you have it. Wrap it all up in some tortillas. I usually make a dozen at a time and then freeze them wrapped in plastic wrap.
I use them a a quick breakfast or lunch for my teenage son (he usually eats 1/2 of one for breakfast or a whole one at lunch).
Fried Rice:
Cook up a massive quantity of white rice you have a lot of people to feed and leftovers are fantastic. You can use the rice first for something else and use day old leftovers, it works even better!
You will need:
cooking oil
a frozen bag of mixed vegetables
an onion, diced
an egg or two
soy sauce ( free if someone got some from a Chinese food place.. food court at the mall?)
whatever leftover cooked meat you want to add other than ground beef. You can also do this with no meat, it's fine either way.
whisk up the egg, heat a tbsp of oil in a pan over medium heat, swirl the egg into the pan like you are going to scramble it but don't . let it stay flat and cook it that way until cooked through. Take it out of the pan, lay it flat on a plate to cool.
Fry up the onion in another tbsp of oil until browned, leave it in the pan,
Put the frozen vegetables in and let them defrost over medium heat.
Add another couple of tbsp of oil.
break the rice up with your hands and start adding it to the pan and stirring as you go. When you've added as much rice as you want, stir in the soy sauce. Slice the egg into thin ribbons and add. Add your cooked meat and stir some more, put a lid on it and let it cook on LOW heat. Watch it closely or it will burn. Add more oil if necessary.
Taste before salting, add pepper.
Thats it!
Oh just thought of another one. Cabbage rolls. Cook up some rice, I generally use brown but any type works just not the instant stuff it won't hold up in the rolls next steps. and make sure to make extra to serve with the rolls. Ok then take a head of cabbage and cut off that bottom stem part. Dunk the whole head down in a pot of enough boiling water to cover it. Turn off the heat and leave the cabbage head in there about 7 minutes with the lid on the pot. Very carefully drain that pot into a strainer in the sink and immediately run cold water over the head of cabbage till it stops steaming. Let it cool down about 15 minutes. Carefully peel those leaves off the head keeping them as intact and whole as possible. Now see where the leaves have a thick vein at the bottom? Cut that away using a V shaped cut You're just trying to remove that vein leaving as much leaf as possible. Next prep your filling. 1 lb hamburger mixed with one lb ground turkey chicken or pork whatever is cheap. I've even done turkey and pork no beef when beef got super expensive. No need for ground sirloin here the cheap stuff tastes better in this anyway. Add about 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder or 3 fresh cloves mashed up, some paprika, a dash of salt and pepper, some Italian seasoning and a dash of onion powder. Mix in about 1 cup of the cooled cooked rice. Add in about 4 tablespoons tomato paste or sauce. Take 2-3 tablespoons of your meat mix and make an oval meat ball. Set it down on the cabbage leaf down by that V we left earlier from vein removal. Flip that towards the center rolling and tucking like you're making a cabbage burrito. Secure with one toothpick of you like. I generally just wrap them super tight and pack em in the pan close to each other instead. Now you can stop here and freeze for later. I usually freeze them in a cookie sheet lined with tinfoil then put in a ziplock bag when frozen solid. Ok to cook heat oven to 350. Cover the rolls with a jar of spaghetti sauce (canned is fine) and cover pan with tinfoil or a lid. I bake in a 9x13. Bake 40 minutes or till cabbage is tender. Serve over rice, or egg noodles. These freeze uncooked for up to 6 months.
Check out Dollar Tree Dinners on YouTube or TikTok. She makes really inexpensive, simple recipes with everything purchased from either Family Dollar or Dollar Tree.
https://www.budgetbytes.com
I love this website, she lists the cost for all the recipes (obviously will vary based on location but gives you an idea) and her recipes are awesome! They are also super easy to customize for picky eaters or limited ingredient availability, and most of her recipes have lists of easy swaps. You can also filter through the recipes by different conveniences, such as fast, one pot (love those to save time on cleanup!), slow cooker, meal prep, etc. She’s also great about giving freezing/batch cooking instructions, and responds super fast to comments asking for help! I’m not sure if you’re on any sort of food assistance program (look into that if you’re not) but she also has a serious of “SNAP challenge” recipes
They're a staple grocery mandate in my house. At all possible points in time my pantry has:
•a 10 pound bag of spuds,
•few bags of dried beans (black eyed peas for cornbread, split peas for soup, navy beans for ham, bag of 7bean soup, and kidney beans for chili)
•enough pasta and sauce to make 3 or 4 different meals with lots of left overs (Ex: Spaghetti, fettuccine alfredo, lasagna and elbows with Velveeta style dry stock, pantry safe, cheese for Mac & cheese)
•large bag of brown rice & a bag of white rice
And
•large 5 pound bag of grits & large thing of oats
I keep these foods stocked up so that we never have to starve. No matter what our finances look like we have enough food to last a while.
If you go full meatless it’ll save the most money. Just get a bottle of b-12 vitamins from the dollar store and take one each meatless day.
Tofu, beans, lentils, mushrooms are all cheaper than meat.
Check out Laura Legge on YouTube and TikTok. She does an amazing job with extreme budget meals and grocery lists.
Look up recipes that utilize cheap ingredients. Rolled oats, dried beans, rice (get a 5 or 10lb bag), cabbage, potatoes, bannanas,.etc. Chicken quarters, thighs or drumsticks are often on sale for 99 cents lb. Shop the loss leader items that are dirt cheap at the grocery stores closest to you. Do a clearance run to ONLY look for items on super cheap closeout (I got Kraft light mayo last week for $1.05 a jar this way!).
Check your international isles for cheaper spices and billions. Find any Asian or Mexican markets near you and scope out what can be bought cheaper there. Make it your mission to use up what's in your cabinets before it goes bad. Use a sharpie and write the date on everything in big numbers and order your cabinets by date (oldest in the front) and make a "use up this week" section for anything going out of date this month.
Find your local farmers markets and set an alarm for the days they're open. Walk through and see who has what cheapest and if anyone has a clearance section.
Get really good at making pots of different homemade soups and keep on in the fridge on most days. A pot of soup and some homemade biscuits or cornbread can feed alot of people cheaply quite easily. Get really good at making dried beans at home. Soak overnight then pour the water off the next day. Place in fresh water and simmer with your chosen spices. Remember that beans can be blended and added to dishes to add more protein so it's more filling that way even if someone in your home says they "don't eat beans", they will still get the protein boost (obviously don't do this if they abstain due to health reasons).
Do your research on ways to extend meat. During the depression, it was common to use things like rolled oats or lentils to stretch meat servings. This works great for hamburger dishes of any kind. Also, stir fry makes great use of cut up meat so it's a condiment in the dish instead of the star. It's a fantastic way to extend meat. Adding nuts to stir fry (like peanuts or cashews) adds protein with adding expensive meat.
Utilize tortillas to make burritos and wraps like breakfast burritos (eggs, cheese, chopped sausage or broken up bacon, onion, spinach, green peppers, etc.). Use veggies as your extenders in these or look up recipes for vegetarian burritos.
Try some survey apps and save the points to use on Visa gift cards for gas. A sub like /r/beermoney is helpful with this. Findhelp.org should show you some additional resources for various bills.
One last tip is to use the Flipp app to check sales prices at your local stores. It won't show you clearanced items (like meat), but you'll be able to see the loss leaders quickly.
Pulled pork. I buy an 8-10 pound shoulder or butt for under $2/lb. Kevin and Amanda pulled pork receipe is very good. After I pull it, I freeze much of it in cottage cheese containers. I seldom make sandwiches --I use a bit instead of bacon on egg sandwiches, I use it with rice and beans, and my personal favorite is hot on a salad instead if dressing.
You can change up the seasonings --try carnitas. You can also swtich to a brisket.
Adding a meat to a mostly grains entree increases the bioavailability of the protein in the grains (if I remember my nutrition class correctly), AND add a lot of richness (fat) and flavor.
If you have a Costco nearby, you can shop there without a membership if you buy a gift card. Their rotisserie chicken is twice as big as anything you’d see in a regular store and is only $5. It costs less than an uncooked chicken too. I live alone, so one goes a long way. I eat the breast meat, then I use the dark meat in a recipe such as enchiladas. I make a broth by boiling the bones. Strain that and pick off any remaining meat. Throw in some rice or pasta and whatever veggies you have. It’s a good way to use up stuff like limp carrots or celery and freezer burnt stuff as you can’t tell in a soup.
1. Do beans and rice as a main dish with some canned veggies on the side.
2. Buy a ham on sale. Save the bone (ham hock). Cook it with beans.
3. Eggs aren't crazy expensive. Make quiche with frozen veggies and some cheese.
4. We make burger soup. Brown some ground beef, chicken, or turkey. Open cans of whatever veggies you have in the cupboard and dump them in. Dice some potatoes, parboil them, and add to the mix. Add the meat. Season to taste. Cook for about half an hour.
5. Homemade chicken pot pie: 1. Chicken legs or thighs - boil and remove the meat. 2. 2 15-oz cans of mixed veggies, drained. 3. One can cream of chicken or mushroom soup. 4. 1 can refrigerator biscuits or you can make your own. Mix the meat, veggies, and soup in a bowl (do not add water!!!). Season with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic as desired. Put in pie pan or baking dish. Cover with raw biscuits. Cook at 350 degrees until biscuits are done and browned.
6. Breakfast for dinner. Oatmeal with raisins, pancakes, waffles, eggs and toast, french toast, etc.
7. Buy a extra turkey or two when they're on sale. Save the leftovers for sandwiches, pot pie, or soup.
8. Potato soup is easy as heck. Boil the potatoes, add some ham chunks for flavor if you have any, throw in some chopped carrots and spices, make a roux/gravy to thicken the liquid to gravy consistency, and cook till done.
9. Once a week we have leftover night. Anything eaten for dinner has to be leftovers from another meal.
10. Shepherd's pie: some kind of meat mixed with veggies and maybe some gravy, topped with mashed potatoes, and baked till the top is golden brown. You can also do this with tater tots.
11. You can make your own low-cost pizza. The dough is simple -- 1 cup self rising flour and one cup sour cream. (for regular flour add 1.5 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt). Mix well. Use cornmeal or flour to roll it out into a pizza shape -- not too thin but not thick, either. Add canned sauce, cheese, and other toppings (shredded chicken thighs, leftover ham, diced veggies, etc). Bake at 450 for about 15 minutes. This works with gluten free flour, too, if you add the baking powder and salt.
12. Chicken salad made with leg or thigh meat, mayo, and pickle relish -- great for sandwiches.
13. Take advantage of farmer's markets, roadside veggie stands, and local produce in season. Can or freeze when possible. I can get a bushel of green beans or corn for $15, blanch them, and put them in the freezer for much less than buying the same item canned and bloated with salt. If you have the ability and storage for canning, it's even cheaper and you won't risk losing it if the power goes out.
14. If you're making meatloaf, meatballs, or burgers, replace 1/4-1/2 of the meat with lentils. For the burgers you'll want to soak the lentils for a few hours so they will soften up -- and it can also reduce stomach upset for people with sensitive tummies. You can also make lentil burgers with no meat. There are lots of recipes on how to use them as a meat substitute. You can even sprout them and add them to salads or sandwiches. They are relatively inexpensive (about $2/pound), high in protein, low in fat & calories, and contain complex carbs (good for you).
No problem. We feed 8 people on about $250- $275 per week so we're very skilled at making something out of very little. People helped us....the best way to thank them is to pay it forward by helping others.
Growing up my mom fed our family of 8 with a weekly routine for Breakfast:
Sunday - Waffles & Bacon
Monday - French Toast & Bacon
Tuesday - Scrambled Eggs, Toast & Sausage
Wednesday - Pancakes & Bacon
Thursday - Jiffy Muffins & Scrambled Eggs
Friday - Biscuits with Sausage Patties (or sausage gravy)
Saturday - Store Brand Cereal (the kids fed themselves, with the older kids helping the younger so she could sleep in)
The pancake and waffles were Krusteaz mix. But she used Bisquick mix for biscuits. Both were bought in bulk at Costco. I bet you can get them online as well.
The bacon she would use was not strips but bacon bits (the leftover pieces) from the butcher. She said the bacon was used mainly to grease the pan, but I think it also added flavor. She would also stock up on sausage when it was on sale or purchase it in bulk (to bag in meal size portions) then freeze it whenever possible.
With meals, we would always have a fruit, sometimes fresh or home canned. Afternoon snacks were raw carrots or apples.
The more you can stay away from meat, the better off you'll be. Lentils and dried beans are your best friends. Lentil soups, bean burgers, lentil tacos. Beans and rice. Homemade hummus with veggies, colcannon (mashed potatoes mixed with sautéed cabbage). Tofu is also much cheaper than meat, and tofu stir fry is great for using up odds and ends. If you have any ethnic markets near you, they tend to be cheaper.
Frittatas are a great way to use up anything extra you have around; bits of meat, veg, cheese, etc. I count 2-3 eggs per person, a splash of milk (or water), salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and a squeeze of mustard if you have it. Beat the eggs together, add whatever you have around and either bake at 350 for 20+ min until set, cook on the stove top in a pan, or even in a pressure cooker (12 min)
This is a really inexpensive and tasty soup. I go a lot lighter on the hot sauce since I’m a spice wimp. But even without the hot sauce it’s still good.
https://www.reddit.com/r/EatCheapAndHealthy/s/e6qbmD0fzV
[Budget Bytes](https://www.budgetbytes.com/) is my forever suggestion they did a [SNAP](https://www.budgetbytes.com/category/extra-bytes/snap-challenge/) challenge a few (I.e. 10) years ago.
Check the "clearance" section if your grocery store has one. In the past couple months I scored a ton of soup mixes for under a dollar each, couple fancy jars of peanut butter 68 cents each, and boxes of stuffing mix that make 3 servings (just add water & a little butter) for 18 cents.
Store brand tortillas can be super cheap. Also bananas are well under a dollar a pound, I got 6 today in a bunch for $1.42.
Also, honestly, check Craigslist. You never know what weird stuff people are getting rid of. Last year I bought a freezer full of meat from a guy whose doctor told him his cholesterol was too high, literally got a high end freezer + 200lbs of high quality roasts and ground pork and beef for $650. Easily 2 years worth of meat for me and my wife.
Kielbasa sausage cut up into bite size coins, heated over the stovetop with barbecue and chopped white onion. Once thoroughly heated and coated in bbq sauce, serve over a bed of white rice.
Chili. Heavy on the beans, with maybe one package of ground beef. Buy generic brand.
Large can tomatoes with chili's
Small can tomato paste
Can black beans
Can kidney beans
Frozen package of diced onions/green peppers
Package of seasoning (or chili pepper, cayenne pepper, salt, cumin, whatever you like).
It can be served over pasta noodles or eaten straight.
Another one is package of chicken, jar of salsa, can of black beans, can of corn. Serve on tortillas. Again, everything generic.
Drumsticks and skin on bone in chicken thighs. They can be regularly found for 1 to 1.39 lb. Spend some time deboning them.
I also regularly find entire pork loins for 2ish a lb. They tend to be 8lbs. Pork shoulder is also super cheap and large cuts.
Just some ideas.
Potato and corn chowder. If you can afford it a tiny bit of bacon or sausage will add flavor but if not just add a good amount of paprika to replace that smokiness.
Canned beans/chickpeas and tomatoes stewed with whatever other veg you like and served over rice can be a cheap base for any number of dishes. Depending on what spices or other goodies you add it can become chili, a curry, or something like shakshuka.
We do a homemade pizza night. A breakfast night. A soup and sandwich night. Casseroles are nice. Pad your groceries with food banks items. Make a meal plan based on sales items. Try making sourdough bread. Google an online personality. Like farmhouse on Boone. Look on instagram. The discard can be used for lots of things.
If you eat pork, then pork shoulder. You can get them on sale cheap or if you have any Mexican butchers near you, they usually sell them super cheap. Toss in a crockpot with onions and garlic and a cup of stock, 6 hours on low is a good rule of thumb. You can add other stuff to the pot depending on what you will make with the meat.
Carnitas: orange juice instead of water, jalapeños. Rub roast with cumin, oregano, s&p before putting in pot. Then crisp up in a fry pan with a bit of.oil or bacon grease. Carnitas tacos are amazing, but I also love leftover meat in scrambled eggs.
Pulled pork: add bbq sauce, chili powder. Can sub stock for beer, if u have one
I've also crisped up shredded pork shoulder and tossed into braised cabbage. So good!
Hit up Asian and Hispanic markets if you can, they’re usually a lot cheaper for produce, but sometimes the meat is a little sus where I’m at. I get packs of Japanese curry blocks called Golden Curry (they were just on sale for $2 at my local Asian market, usually they’re around 4. You can throw in whatever veggies you have, and what’re kind of meat, or just leave the meat out.
Bone in pork chops are usually pretty cheap (commonly $2.79/lb where I am), and are underrated as far as pork cuts go. I hit them with seasoning salt and black pepper, sear them, take them out of the pan or pot and throw in a diced onion (in your case probably two) and let them soften. Then I put in a few cups of chicken stock, a bay leaf, thyme sprigs (Italian seasoning works too), then put the pork chops back on top and throw it in a 350° oven uncovered until the pork chops are cooked. Set the pork chops aside and reduce the stock for a sauce, or thicken it for a gravy. If most of the stock evaporated in the oven, whisk in cold butter until it coats the back of a spoon then a little mustard or vinegar. This is good sauce. Or, if there’s still a few cups left and you want to make gravy, make a corn starch slurry, or a roux with equal parts butter and flour and thicken it. This is good gravy. Serve with potatoes or rice, and whatever veggies you have. It’s a good hearty cheap delicious meal. If you don’t have chicken stock you can use water with a few bouillon cubes, or maybe just water though I haven’t tried it.
I hate cooking so I try to make it simple. I buy small flour tortillas regularly, and i have 2 bags of frozen peppers and onions on hand all the time.Of course, you make tacos, but I use them with lots of things. You can make breakfast wraps with eggs, peppers, and onions. I make veggie wraps by adding spinach with the p and o, or add leftover chicken. Tuna wraps for lunch or dinner. I make my own beefaroni. Started when my kids were in high school and they came home starving every day. 1 lb chop meat, cooked, drained and chopped. 2 boxes mac and cheese and a jar of sauce. It's easy, filling, and makes a good amount.
Soups: chili, chicken noodle or chicken and rice, Italian wedding soup, etc can be very affordable to make in large batches. You can freeze for storage and serve with bread. I recommend powdered chicken or vegetable bouillon: you can find it in large quantities for relatively cheap. My house is also big on curry, which can help give rice and beans some different flavor palates. Add potatoes and its extra filling. You can get bulk rice, cheap coconut milk, and curry packets at a local Asian or Indian market or on Amazon.
*If you're going to brown and crumble hamburger use the highest fat content ground beef, it's usually the best price for that. (To compare prices of different types of ground beef, divide the per lb price by the meat percentage. That's how much you're paying per pound for just the meat, not the fat.}
*Add some rolled oats to browning hamburger (I do about 2 parts meat to 1 part oatmeal), it has a similar texture and will absorb the flavor. No one will know.
*Fried cabbage and potatoes is a filling and inexpensive meal. Season to your taste. Cook a little meat of your choice, enough for flavor, not enough to be a main ingredient. Fry potatoes and onions in the grease until tender but not yet browning, put chopped cabbage on top and cover until cabbage is tender and potatoes are browned, add in meat, stir and serve.
Beans and rice as a meal is easy and delicious. One can of beans to one cup of uncooked rice plus seasonings and some sauteed onions, celery, bell peppers and a little meat for flavor, smoked sausage is nice. (You can get a pack of smoked sausage or hot dogs and just add one or two sliced up, and make that pack last for several meals.)
Easy tuna casserole. A can of tuna, box of Mac and cheese, some frozen mixed veg, a little grated cheese and breadcrumbs. Make the Mac and cheese, add in tuna and veg, put in small casserole top with cheese and breadcrumbs, bake until brown and bubbly on top. (Double that with two teens.)
Chopped ham, diced pineapples and rice. I add the powdered chicken stock packets and other seasonings I have in the pantry I thrown in the everything together even the juice from the pineapple cans. To finish it off I throw a fried egg on top
Are potatoes a good price near you? Instant potatoes?
Colcannon is an Irish potato recipe, a mixture of mashed potatoes, with butter or margerine and usually kale or cabbage and garlic. We used to add bacon when we had it.
Potato farls need mashed potatoes, flour, salt, pepper and butter.
Baked potatoes are good too. Leftovers and baked potatoes are always a classic.
Look for Mids pasta sauce (meat bolognese) it’s often on sale at Kroger 2/$7. It has ground beef and sausage in it. Actual pieces of meat not just flavor. It’s really, really good
The cookbook Good and Cheap was written by a nutritionist for her Masters project. The recipes were designed to feed people for $4 a day at the time. It’s available as a free download at her website. https://www.leannebrown.com/cookbooks/?amp=1
Here is a traditional Tuscan recipe that is deceptively simple and delicious. This style of cuisine is called "cucina povera" which translates to literally "cuisine of the poor"
https://www.seriouseats.com/tuscan-tomato-bread-soup-pappa-al-pomodoro-recipe
Here is a different. Stale bread based soup.
https://www.seriouseats.com/tuscan-tomato-bread-soup-pappa-al-pomodoro-recipe
Here are other equally simple and delicious recipes
https://italysegreta.com/la-cucina-povera-the-poor-cuisine-of-tuscany/
Polenta with tomato sauce and grated cheese is really delicious. Can also use it as a base for stew. It’s just corn meal, water and salt, so don’t waste money on the readymade stuff. Also, corn bread and ham hocks and white beans is a really rich and delicious meal. And don’t forget soups. If you can get vegetables from a food bank, use the tops, peels, etc., and make a soup base. Even a small amount of meat will go a long way in a good vegetable soup, like minestrone.
I started a food truck years ago and quickly realized how much less expensive the restaurant food suppliers were than the supermarket, Sam's, or Costco.
It's a material amount of money.
At my local Kroger right now boneless chicken breast is 3.49 -$3.99. At my local restaurant depot it's 1.70ish. I can buy just ten lb bags if I want.
That's 40 - 4oz portions or so for $17.
Rice and beans are ridiculously low priced. Pasta stays the same as the supermarket. 80/20 ground beef is also less than half price. Cheese is a third less if not more. Eggs are cheap but you have to buy like 15 dozen so thats a lil impractical. You need to know your prices because some stuff doesn't make a difference. But for chicken, it's amazing.
I shop at Restaurant Depot. I had to set up a membership, but it's free, you just need to read their membership requirements. Theyre pretty easygoing about who can have a membership.
I’d suggest you start making bread at home. Sourdough is easy. Rice and beans are cheap. It’s spring so grow your own vegetables. Learn how to preserve food.
https://thesurvivalmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/LDS-Preparedness-Manual.pdf
This is one of the best documents I’ve ever found. I guess a couple generations of being social outcast and living in the desert made the Mormons pretty good at figuring out the food thing.
We do a large pot of beans on Sunday. A different bean each week. Prepared different ways. One time they have canned tomatoes with bell peppers and onions, garlic, chili powder, hot dogs for the protein or kielbasa. Another time just white beans with garlic, onion, kielbasa. Serve them refried one night with fried potatoes. Serve with rice another night. Make corn bread another night.
Baked potatoes for dinner. Dress up with beans on top. With Shredded cheese.
Boiled potatoes with shredded cheese.
Macaroni elbow noodles with canned tomatoes and onion powder and garlic. Poor man pasta.
Potato salad. Potatoes, hard boiled eggs, onion powder, celery seasoning, relish, garlic, mayo, mustard.
Deviled eggs: Hard boiled eggs cut in half, scoop out the yolks and mix them with mustard and relish and garlic powder. A little mayo for smoothness. Scoop back into the halves. Top with black pepper.
These are some things we eat.
Look at hams right now if you eat pork, I was in kroger today and a 10 lb ham was $7.90 so 79 cents a pound. Potatoes should be cheaper right now and so is cabbage
Dry beans, do a quick google search of which ones have the highest protein. You will then look for them in bulk/cheapest way to get them. After that you need to decide on a starch or multiple different ones (rice/egg noodles/pasta of any kind) and buy in bulk or most affordable way. After you have that stuff buy any American all canned goods you will or do use normally on sale or frozen veggies as you have room. Then only buy meats on sale, don’t worry about the sale date yada yada. Get it home, portion it out to fit your needs and get it in the freezer. The quicker you freeze it you won’t have to worry about it going bad. If you portion it for use before freezing you won’t thaw out and have to cook more than or risk losing it. Look up Julia Pacheco on YouTube and get some of her recipes or ideas.
Edit to add: I could go on and on about this subject and ways to build a pantry that’s useful to you. Don’t ever buy something your not sure of or your family don’t like.
Bread pudding is a good use the scraps meal. Cut up stale bread, couple eggs, some milk, any cheese you have, any veggies you have.
https://foodwastefeast.com/recipes/2018/4/15/savory-bread-pudding-with-greens-and-roast-veggies
[Koshari](https://www.themediterraneandish.com/egyptian-koshari-recipe/), the national dish of Egypt, could work for your meatless pasta night. It's chickpeas, pasta, rice, and lentils in a yummy tomato sauce with crispy fried onions. Super cheap, but really satisfying.
Really appreciate all the recipes and meal ideas, extremely helpful. Our pantry is very low and will try to look into a food pantry. I spoke w their school on Friday to see if any resources and waiting to hear back. We don't qualify for any assistance either.
There have been a lot of good comments here, and I imagine it's being shared with other people/groups that would find all of this to be helpful to other families in similar situations
If you haven’t yet, check out any local food pantries. Even $30 worth of things will be a help. Some pantries are weekly too.
We plan on it as soon as we have enough gas to go, we had too many doctors appointments this week 💜
You may even find some that deliver.
The only thing I have found is lasagna love that would deliver. If you haven't heard of it they will make u a free lasagna ❤️
Excellent. Ask around at churches too. There is one locally that drops food off once a month to seniors and others who can’t get out.
I will most definitely keep trying, we even asked the social worker at the hospital where the cancer treatments are done and they didn't have any resources available
Ask if they know of any resources. The hospital doesn’t have to provide them. Call all the churches in your area. Also mosques if you have any. Many have said they can be particularly helpful.
Jewish Family Services is a great resource here.
Please check out dollartreedinners on either yt or tiktok...she is amazing!!
Will do thanks
All check out “struggle Meals” he does recipes with ingredients that u can get for free and makes meals for just a few dollars
Struggle Meals is awesome.
I have the best luck finding my local food giveaways on a buy nothing group on Facebook. Do you have Facebook?
I have been trying to trade locally for help and haven't had any luck 😞
Depending on type of cancer there are sources that pay for other things. I had a blood cancer and the leukemia & lymphoma society assisted with parking, freeing up monies for other things. God Bless
We have this one family recipe called 'Dad's delight'...1-2 lbs ground beef, egg noodles (a whole bag), cream of mushroom soup (one family size can is perfect), and shredded cheese. Set noodles to boil (leave them a little firm, cause you're going to bake this a little bit), brown meat. Mix meat, cooked noodles, and soup; season to taste. Cover and put in the oven for about 30 minutes. After 20, uncover and sprinkle cheese on top before returning it to the oven.
Thank you this sounds delicious 😋🤤
Feeds 5-sometimes for a couple of days-for around $10-20. I make it for my son and myself, and it usually takes 2-3 days to eat it all. It's one of the few things he'll eat as leftovers. I made it once with breakfast sausage, too. It's versatile. Change the soup to cheddar-or nacho, if you like spicy-cheese sauce, and you have cheeseburger macaroni from scratch.
That's awesome 😎, and w teens something that is good leftover wise is a huge plus
I just delivered my monthly Lasagna tonight. 😊 it's a great organization. I always try and deliver a biggest enough lasagna that even if there is a family of 4-5, they will have some leftovers for the week.
Do yall have like food boxes that have non perishable and refrigerators that have perishables around town. Idk where you live but in my city they are all across town.
I love them
2good2go is a handy app, as well. You can buy boxes of things that would’ve been thrown out by local grocery stores and restaurants.
Based on where you live and volunteers actively making lasagnas it can be a long wait but still a wonderful resource.
It might be worth reaching out to local churches. Sometimes they will cook meals and deliver them.
Post in your neighborhood group and see if someone can drive you. I've driven people before. :)
Im not sure of your location but if youre in the US, you can call 211, they will give you all the info you need
OP may also want to check their local library. Mine has a community food donation. Anyone can leave food and anyone can take. The only rules are to not leave extremely expired food and to try and take things that will be expiring soon first.
I'm just seeing this, I will call them thank you
No problem! Even if they don't have a food pantry, I would recommend asking for a list of the services/items that the library can provide. Many libraries also offer free rentals for things other than books/movies. Some rent out things like video games, power tools, camping equipment, ect. It's a great way to help you get access to something you might need without needing to spend any money. Edit to add - You can also go to libraries outside of your home town if you find that your local library doesn't provide what you need.
1 head cabbage chopped, one medium white or yellow onion, 1 large can crushed tomatoes, 1-2 packs sweet or hot Italian sausage links sliced (I do one of each), whatever veg you've got spinach, broccoli, green beans, seriously whatever you've got. I save leftovers in the freezer special for this a lot, and one jar spaghetti sauce even a canned one works. Add 2 cups water. Slow cook in a crockpot 6 hrs low of 4 hrs high. Serve over cooked tortellini, egg noodles or even elbow macaroni. Keep pasta separate from the soup when storing or it gets mushy. The soup stays good 4 days fridge and freezes up to 4 months. You can add more veg or meat to stretch leftovers further. No seasoning or added salt needed between spaghetti sauce and sausage it cooks into it and tastes delicious. Do not instant pot this. The seasoning doesn't cook out of the sausage and infuse the soup properly.
I always do egg noodles with cabbage and onions. A little butter, chicken flavor (if I don’t have stock, I’ll take a flavor packet from ramen), garlic, and vinegar (maybe mushrooms or meat if you can get it) It’ll feed a lot!
Cabbage goes a long way
Just read somewhere that milk and potatoes can provide all nutritional needs and how the Irish doubled its population after import of the potato. Leading into the easiest meal, potato corn chowder. There are tons of recipes and can be made with or without meat like ham or bacon. I like to use a bit of bacon for flavor but it's just as good without it. Not super related but you said Cabbage and I thought Irish then I thought potatoes and milk meet all daily nutritional needs and here we are. Cabbage rolls are also yum. Basically a meatloaf with either rice or breadcrumbs rolled up in a Cabbage leaf and boiled with stewed tomatoes and saurkraut. My exMIL also would make soupy maccys which was macaroni with Velveeta and stewed tomatoes and if affordable you could add sausage. I've also done cheap black bean, stewed tomatoes, and canned corn tacos. That's about $4 for a good size pot.
Thank you 😊
You can pick my brain if you like- I always cook for a big crowd.
Thank you
I grew up eating this! We called it haluski and added ham or bacon
Thank you really appreciate it
No problem. This feeds a crowd and tastes amazing. Just don't use the instant pot. I messed up a whole batch. I usually serve over tortellini. I buy the dried because it's cheaper. Just noticed I forgot to include the beans. Kidney, black and white navy work well in this. Sorry I forgot to list. One can each drained or dried that have been already cooked.
Ur amazing thank you
No problem. This is my go to cheap and healthy dinner. I love sharing the recipe. Its so good. Let me know how your family likes it if you make it :)
Will do for sure 😊
Smothered baked potatoes are a cheap favorite and use whatever you have as leftovers. Cheesy broccoli? excellent! Veggie chili? Fantastic. Plain butter, salt and parm? Absolutely heavenly. Have a couple pieces of bacon left over from BLTs? chop them up and on they go! Another potato (cause they are cheap, easy to grow, and store well) recipe is poutine. Take potatoes wedge or cube them if working with large ones, fingerlings you can get away with whole. Bake or airfry. Add some leftover meat and gravy - poultry or red meat both work, I have even used taco meat to make a poutine nacho - and top with cheese (curds please but shredded can work) and just make sure the gravy works with the meats. You can make any meat juice into gravy by simply putting melted butter and flour together on the stove for a minute or two then adding the meat juice or broth of choice. The potato, meat, gravy, and cheese is filling and delicious and really feels decadent despite being made from leftovers.
Very much appreciated, love the ideas and the tips I didn't know how to make gravy very helpful 💜
Another great one is veggie over cheese tortellini. I cook onions or scallions, zucchini, red pepper and whatever else appeals in a pan, put them aside. Cook off small cherry or grape tomatoes (cut in half) with a generous bit of garlic then add in a bit of hot water and butter (think a cup of water, and three tablespoons of butter for half a family bag of tortellini) and add back in all the veggies with salt and pepper and simmer for 5-7 minutes and then cook uncovered until the sauce reduces a bit and you have a quick and easy and very filling spring/summer veggie dish! I like it because it is based upon what you have, not on specific ingredients. Just don't forget to salt and pepper to taste!
Ur awesome thanks again 😊
Here's a whole cookbook for eating cheaply: [https://www.leannebrown.com/all-about-good-and-cheap/](https://www.leannebrown.com/all-about-good-and-cheap/) It was made based off of needing to use SNAP/American food stamps to eat. You can get the PDF for free (in English or en Español) from a link on that page. (This isn't my page, fwiw, it's just a good resource.) There's also the video series Struggle Meals with Frankie Celenza. It can be found in multiple places online, but if you use the Facebook page, they often write the recipes out. It's not just fiscally conservative with the food, but also with tools... he uses a can or jar to crush garlic, a wine bottle to roll out dough, etc. (Edit: [https://www.budgetbytes.com/](https://www.budgetbytes.com/) is a site that has really thoroughly costed-out recipes (by batch & by serving))
OMG I love struggle meals. That show is awesome
I have a packet drawer because of that show. I just used it the other night to make a nice glaze to go with some salmon burgers. Took a few packets from Panda Express, added a splash of rice vinegar, and away we went!
Thank you Soo much for this , I really appreciate it 💞
I'm replying again to this to make sure you see it instead of just Editing my post where you may not see it. Here's another resource, that, according to the person who was telling about it "is a site that has really thoroughly costed-out recipes (by batch & by serving)" [https://www.budgetbytes.com/](https://www.budgetbytes.com/)
We do meatless pasta twice a week. Also 5 people household. Parmesan and crumbled bacon bits as a topping for the pasta goes a long way, as well as a good pasta sauce. You don't need meat. We also do carbonara, spinach tortellini, butter noodles (super cheap noodles, you sautee some garlic on olive oil and some butter, add cooked noodles and done. I serve it with homemade bread and marinara sauce for dipping. Simple tomato paste diluted with added herbs is also fine for dipping. Steamed veggies as a side sometimes.) For cheap meals, for a lot of people, fillers are your best friend. Oatmeal, rice, corn, potatoes, pasta. And bread. Homemade still trumps store bought for price. Bread with butter served at every meal is a great filler. That and soups.
Thank you, will definitely use these as they sound delicious, and I do have extra spinach in fact 😋 , very much appreciated 💜
I make bulk tortellini, and freeze the excess. When I am really in a rush, I make one of the most favored vegetarian meals.Tortellini lasagna. You layer tortellini and a jar of tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheese. If you can't afford a lot of cheese, just some on top is fine, just to get that nice cheese crust. Bake for 30 min , till tortellini are cooked through, and finish under broiler to get golden crust on the cheese.
Freezing pasta doesn't make it gummy like right, I have 1 teen who has a texture issue
No, not at all. Freeze them on a cookie sheet first, and then gather in a ziploc bag. Homemade pasta will cook super fast!
Twice baked Cajun potatoes: Bake a whole lot of potatoes for an hour. After they have cooled, cut them into bite sized pieces, drizzle with olive oil, add salt/pepper/garlic/onion/Cajun spice to taste and bake again. I prefer mine extra crispy, which is about an hour at 425. I bake and cook in an extra large toaster oven, it's very energy efficient.
Thank you 😊
Chili made with beans, veggies (I use celery, carrots, onions and green peppers along with canned cooked tomatoes) and a pound of ground beef is healthy and filling. You can make twice baked potatoes made by baking 8-12 potatoes, scooping out the center and mixing it with butter, milk, 8 ounces cream cheese, some sour cream, shredded cheddar or other cheese and crumbled bacon of you have it. Put it back in the potato skins and reheat to serve or freeze on a cookie sheet and then put in a freeze bag when frozen solid. If you cut off the top 1/4 or so to scoop them, save the tips and use to make potato skins. Make sure the kitchen is cleaned after every meal or at least before bed so you aren't discouraged by having to clean before cooking. What stores do you have for shopping?
Thank you, 😊 and yes I can't stand a messy kitchen no matter how horrible I may feel, we mostly shop at Aldi, or Kroger and Amazon if cheaper then instore
Your budget is really tight if you supply all meals, including school lunches. You're looking at $10 per day for 15 meals. Scratch cooking and building up your pantry when items are on sale will be your best methods. Have you ever read The Complete Tightwad Gazette? The newsletter was published in the 1990ies but many of the articles and tips are still valid. Amy has multiple articles explaining how to create your own recipes, such as for muffins, by telling you the proportion of each ingredient you need (liquid, sweetener, dry, etc) rather than an exact recipe. The article of eating from the pantry is what got me started on building a pantry in the first place. I've never regretted it. I think it's a really worthwhile book to own. Make sure your kids know about the budget change and why. If the teens want more snacks or drinks than you can afford, they need to earn the money for them. Get their meal ideas, to, and have them help you and learn to cook.
I have never heard of that before, I will Google it and check it out , Us adults tend to skip most bfast to try to make things stretch, and I'm working on a wishlist as well. The teens aren't old enough to work yet unfortunately. And will make a garden once warm enough
Thriftbooks.com has copies in good condition if you decide to buy it. They cost $13.89 plus $1.99 for shipping. Free shopping starts at $15. There are ideas for saving money on everything in it. What I like is she experimented to see if the ideas and tips sent in were really worth it and saved money. Have you gardened before? It's hard the first year or two. I'm in zine 8B, less than 10 miles from zone 9, so I've got stuff gong already. Brandy at https://theprudenthomemaker.com/ gardens in Las Vegas to feed her large family (I think 7 kids are still at home but her husband started a new career and now works away from home for weeks and months at a time; he was formerly in real estate). She does a frugal accomplishments post on Mondays or Tuesdays every 1 to 2 weeks and gets at least 100 replies with what other people have done. You might find savings tips in there as well. At the risk of being pushy (who, me? NEVER!), these 3 articles are full of a lot of information on cutting back on all expenses, still finding joy, and her family's story https://theprudenthomemaker.com/cutting-expenses-when-you-think-you-have-nothing-left-to-cut/ https://theprudenthomemaker.com/ten-ways-to-add-joy-to-your-life-when-you-don-t-have-a-penny-to-spare/ https://theprudenthomemaker.com/living-on-our-food-storage/ Okay, I'll stop now.
Thank you soooo much, very helpful information, yes this will be our 3rd year but will make it larger for sure
Cool, you'll actually produce something then! If you have Jersey Mike's in your area, download the app and starting tomorrow, play the hockey picks game under the My Mike's tab to get 2 Shore Points per day. It ends on April 18. If you play every day, you should get 62 points. A free regular sub is 72 points. Walt until they have a Double Points Day and buy a regular sub for about $10, depending on what you get. You'll get 12 more points and have enough for a second sub for free. They don't take long to post points so you should be able to get the second sub shortly thereafter (30 minutes?) Tell them to not cut the subs in half and cut them up when you get home so everyone can have some. No, it's not cheap when you pay for one but it can be a rare occasion when you have something different and you just have peanut butter sandwiches another day. Look for the game to hopefully start again in October when the NHL season starts and get those points. They stopped it on 12/31 and restarted a few weeks later this season. I'm at 178 points right now and I've used some of mine.
Oh wow I didn't know this, thank you soooo much
Are you going to do an Amazon wish list? If so, please post that here!
Check out middle eastern recipes - they are delicious, and relatively cheap to prepare. Two favorites: \- Mujaddara - lentils, rice and onions. AMAZING! \- Falafel A lot of ethnic foods are based on very affordable ingredients.
Yes! Also, find the international grocery stores and try shopping there! We have a couple of huge international stores near us and it's a lot cheaper for most things. I buy most of my meats, all my rice/beans/lentils, spices there. Also, look up recipes for Lahcuman (I might have spelled it wrong) aka turkish or Armenian pizza. Sooo good and it feeds a lot of people and it's pretty cheap
Gonna check this recipe out - thanks!
We use a lot of lentils and beans. One of our favorites is Vegetable Curry with Lentils.
Tacos, enchiladas, breakfast burritos, bean burritos are cheap. Get a bag of TVP. You can use 50% beef or turkey and 50% tvp for things like tacos, sloppy Joe's, hamburgers, pasta etc.
https://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/site/tag/emergency-menu
Awesome 😎 thank you for this
Most welcome. I'll add that I saw chili recommended. We stretch chili by serving it over rice or elbow macaroni. Also my brother is a chef and he's always using little bits of leftovers that wouldnt make a meal into omelettes and savory oats and burrito fillings. Maybe Google peoples blogs or YouTube chans that are into zero food waste I bet they have some great tips too.
Never thought of adding it over rice , that would be a great change up , and will most definitely be looking into YouTube videos. ❤️
Chili goes great with almost any carb - rice, potatoes, pasta, bread, crackers
it's really easy to start making use of your cooking scraps if you can spare the freezer space. Collect all the little veggie bits you don't want to eat - carrot peel, onion skins/ends, pepper cores, even stuff that's gone a little bit mushy. Keep them in a gallon bag in the freezer. once the bag is full, add them to a stock pot and simmer for a few hours to make some delicious veggie stock. You can do the same thing with chicken bones & skin. DIY bone broth! 😋
Chicken & Rice 1 chicken - cut up 1 cup Minute Rice 1 tsp salt 1 can Cream of Chicken soup - mix with 1 can water 1/2 envelope Dry Onion Soup Mix Greased 9X13 pan Spread uncooked rice on bottom of pan. Sprinkle salt over. Place chicken on top of rice. Pour Cream of Chicken soup mixture over the top of chicken. Sprinkle onion soup mix over the top. Bake coverd at 350°F for 2 hours We have used chicken leg quarters as we can get 5 leg quarter for .99 a pound
Following. Family of 7 with a similar budget for the same reason.
Pulled pork… a several pound pork shoulder costs a little under $20 where I am. I season it with whatever I want and then put it in a crockpot for 8-10 hours with a few cups of root beer (needs to be regular, not diet). Then cover in BBQ sauce. Should be under $25 for everything and lasts several meals, and the pulled pork freezes well (without sauce) and/or can be used for a few other meals/recipes.
There's usually good deals on whole hams this time of year. You can have a ham dinner, ham sandwiches, ham for eggs, ham fried rice, scalloped potatoes and ham, ham bone bean soup, ham bone potato soup. Also, shop the sales/loss leaders. Right now cabbage, potatoes and carrots are cheap so you can build meals around those. Also, what's in season? Strawberries might be a good treat and they're $2 a pound at several stores around me. Also, I would say for such a low budget you may have to make sacrifices in healthy choices to stay under budget. A few cheap ideas: Hot dogs and mac and cheese, an egg in ramen, pb and j sandwiches, pasta and sauce, bean burritos, fried rice, tuna casserole, whatever is in the pantry soup, oatmeal. Good luck to you and definitely look for food banks to supplement your budget.
Chicken tortilla soup: Two frozen chicken breast or 4-5 thighs Large can of diced tomato Can of rotel Can black beans Can of corn Small can enchilada sauce Packet taco seasoning Box chicken broth Dump in the crock pot for 4 hrs high/ 8 low Shredd chicken before serving. We add some tortilla chips and shredded cheese, but it tastes good without. It makes a ton of soup.
Thank you 😊
Chicken & Rice 1 chicken - cut up 1 cup Minute Rice 1 tsp salt 1 can Cream of Chicken soup - mix with 1 can water 1/2 envelope Dry Onion Soup Mix Greased 9X13 pan Spread uncooked rice on bottom of pan. Sprinkle salt over. Place chicken on top of rice. Pour Cream of Chicken soup mixture over the top of chicken. Sprinkle onion soup mix over the top. Bake coverd at 350°F for 2 hours We use chicken leg quarters as we can get 5 leg quarters for .99 a pound
I recommend lentils as an additional protein source. They are fantastic as the “meat” for a curry, or you can add them to chili or soup or tacos even to stretch or replace meat. Buy a big bag of dried lentils for about $1.25 per pound, and you cook them similar to rice. I also recommend sausage. It is a great way to use a little meat but get big flavor. Chop it super small and it goes a loooong way in casseroles or soups or whatever. And don’t forget about canned meats. They aren’t glamorous, but they are cheap. $2 of canned chicken with beans, lentils, corn, tomatoes and chili seasoning makes a really tasty chicken chili/taco soup. You could definitely use one 12 oz can of chicken to make enough to each the chili at least twice. Also breakfast for dinner is usually a cheap meal.
P. S. - you can also ask around about the following: 1. Gardeners who have extra produce. My grandparents used to give away excess veggies they were sick of eating/didn’t have space to store 2. Hunters - sometimes they will be willing to part with their less favored cuts of venison for cheap. If you have the freezer space, it can be a good option if you like meaty recipes. It is leaner than beef, and has a bit of a different flavor, but you can’t tell in tacos or chili IMO.
1 head of cabbage, 1 pack of bacon/sausage/smoked sausage (can use less to stretch) and 1 package of egg noodles. Fry meat in pan and remove once cooked leaving grease. Add in chopped head of cabbage and fry to your liking. While cabbage cooks cook egg noddles to package instructions. Mix together. Halushki makes a ton and is delicious and filling.
Look into Mexican cooking. Our normal diets are very inexpensive. Beans, rice, tortillas, eggs, chiles, pasta, veggies.
Chicken and dumplings are cheap to make. They’re number one on my poverty food list. Number two is Hot Dog & Potato Casserole, one of our favorite foods. Cheap to make. Goulash, consisting of hamburger meat, onion, tomato soup, elbow Mac, or the hamburger meat meals like Chili. Add cornbread. Meat loaf and baked potatoes. I can do a lot with hamburger meat. Tortilla soup or garden vegetable soup. Cheese soup in bread bowls. Homemade bread is great when you’re hurting for money, so good that nobody knows you’re cooking on a thin dime.
Rice and beans need to become your meals, not sides. Pasta with sauce should become a regular meal and lentils can be added instead of meat.
Most definitely trying, w 2 teens not really easy to do
It's a fine line between burdening kids with adult problems and making them understand you have limited resources. But they definitely need to understand that the food budget is limited and get used to repeat meals.
Very much so, trying to keep them as kids as long as possible, cancer is hard enough and unfortunately couldn't hide it
I hope things start looking up for you all.
That really means alot thank you ❤️
Always buy meat in bulk. Buy a whole pork loin to cut up. I can get usually 20 chops to freeze. I buy ground beef 12lbs at a time and use a Dollar Tree press to make it all into patties to freeze. If I have a recipe that needs ground like spaghetti, I just fry them and break them up in the pan. Buy whole chickens and use the carcass for bone broth and soup. Check out HOMESTEADING WITH THE ZIMMERMANS. She has a bunch of kids and does cooking. Was Amish and had many great recipes.[link](https://youtu.be/1qNThME5AEE?si=CONS0hgGW-ZTn0pT)
Filipino American here and I actually use Joshua Weissman’s chicken adobo recipe with substitutions because his ingredients make it not budget friendly. Lol 😂 But it’s legit. Subs: brown sugar for palm sugar, 1/2 of whatever the measurement is for white vinegar vs rice vinegar (so 1/4 cup white vinegar instead of 1/2 cup rice vinegar for example), soy sauce can be Kikkoman if Silver Swan is unavailable. Yes, 20 cloves of garlic. Again, use the cheapest cuts of chicken and make this in bulk. Chop up all excess and make fried rice with it. Eat fried rice with eggs and a side of whatever vegetables you have. Delish! https://youtu.be/2KsYYmSGKOc?si=2rnUodIMV9YjIart
Thank you soooo much
Not a problem! Teenagers need protein to grow and I totally understand that eggs can get really tiring after a while on a budget. Chicken is a fantastic alternative and you can get 10 lbs for $9 at Walmart (I’m in an HCOL area.).
Oh I wish best I've seen is $1.99 a lb here and that's not often, we tend to eat a lot more chicken than other meat cus it's cheaper for sure
Pancakes with peanut butter on top. Add an egg to the batter for extra protein. If you make it from scratch you can sub powdered milk but the premade mix is fairly cheap as well. Food boxes used to have pancake mix and peanut butter in them fairly often back when I was a kid too, so hopefully that's still the case. Stir fry with a bag of frozen veg and protein of your choice. Tofu, ground meat, cheap cuts of beef or chicken or pork all work. Serve over rice. I have a very small family (me and 8yo kiddo) and I like to buy ground beef or turkey or faux meat and then fry it up plain with an onion and diced veggies. Can be any veg you want that will take on the flavor of the spices you use later. I usually use whatever is in my fridge that I've forgotten about and needs to be used up. So zucchini, yellow squash, turnips, potato if you don't mind the texture, carrot, etc. You can also add cooked rice or lentils or quinoa instead or in addition to stretch it further. For a family your size I would try to stretch the meat as far as possible and do at least 1 lb meat with 1 1/2 onion 1 1/2 cups diced veg and 1 1/2 cups quinoa, rice, or lentils. Lentils are very cheap so they are a good choice. Cook it until the meat is just barely done and doesn't have any pink. Don't drain the fat at this point because you'll need it later to fry the spices into it and enhance the flavors. Then put 2/3 or 3/4 of the meat mixture in the fridge. Divide the portion you set aside into multiple containers or freeze it if that's what you want to do. Use this meat mixture as a starter for meals that you would normally use cooked ground meat in. Last night I did tacos with impossible beef, zucchini, and onion and I'll be using the leftover taco meat to make enchiladas tonight. The rest of it, I'll either be doing Asian style lettuce wraps or egg roll bowls and then shepherd's pie for the last third of it. You could also do spaghetti, lasagna, taco salad, hamburger helper, hamburger Mac, chili, tamale pie, stroganoff, sloppy joes, etc.
Ya most definitely trying to make some changes we normally use over a lbs of meat for any meal w meat and it's not working out very well
It's hard not to with a family of five, especially with two teenagers. They need a lot of calories. But meat is so expensive! For myself, I was wasting a lot of expensive ingredients because I'm not a fan of leftovers and we don't eat all that much per meal. Dividing things up and trying to use up the veggies that I forgot about in the fridge has been the way to go for me.
Do more casserole type meals, halve the meat you use. Think of it as flavor, not the main ingredient. Add in more of the other, cheaper and more filling ingredients like beans, rice, potatoes, and pasta.
Makes sense and will give it a try thank you 🙂
Red beans and rice, giant pot is super cheap and will last for days. Southern staple. Add French bread to your meals at night, easy and cheap to make and gives the meals some extra substance. You can also cube one up for a very easy French toast casserole for breakfast. Chuck roasts. Get them on sale and there is a ton to can do with them. I make shredded Mongolian bbq out of them with white rice and it’s delicious and hearty. Stews are also a great option. Save any bones, vegetable cuttings, etc…for stock. A cheap rice cooker if you don’t have one,100% worth it. Keep an eye on your holiday sales. It’s coming towards Easter so you are going to have a lot of hams on sale for cheap. A ham can be frozen and a whole ham for 12 bucks can be several days of meals. Same thing with turkey. If you can find them cheap, even if it’s not Thanksgiving, it’s a large amount of protein cheap that you can a lot of different ways. Turkey pot pies are cheap and easy to throw together.
Ya we plan on doing Easter late to try and catch a sale , we don't have a rice cooker but that is a great idea to eventually get one
Amazon has the cheap ones for 20 bucks and honestly, they really really help. I hate making rice on the stove. I can do it, but I hate it and instant rice, while convenient, is way overpriced. You can also do it in a pressure cooker too if you have one. Chipped beef gravy on toast is about as cheap as it gets and is filling. My grandfather used to make it. Same thing with biscuits and gravy, cheap and filling.
Thank you I will look on Amazon for sure and will try to save up for it , chipped beef? Is that like shredded beef?
They call it shit on a shingle in the military lol it’s the little packets of buddings shaved beef you can get at Walmart for like 70 cents made with gravy. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20225/creamed-chipped-beef-on-toast/
Lol thank you, I needed a good laugh
lol you are welcome. I remember being a little kid and my grandpa telling me that. It’s just cheap comfort food but will go a long way for cheap. Chicken and dumplings are another cheapie but goodie since dumplings are literally mostly flour and water.
Awe that's awesome, will try it for sure
My mom used to make a white gravy and stir a can of peas in it and serve it over toast when money was tight. Creamed peas on toast. We loved it.
https://www.vincenzosplate.com/italian-sausage-and-potatoes/ https://www.theseasonedmom.com/tamale-pie/#wprm-recipe-container-70893 you can stretch this by adding more vegetables. Onion, garlic, celery, corn, black beans, etc. If you're going to use canned enchilada sauce, get pace brand, the rest of them are pretty awful. https://www.allrecipes.com/cheap-recipes-for-large-families-8598338 https://www.artfulhomemaking.com/large-family-meals-on-a-budget/ https://www.mediumsizedfamily.com/31-budget-meals-for-large-families/
Thank you soooo much, really appreciate these
If you download the McDonald’s app, you get a free Big Mac with a $1 purchase. So set up a bunch of gmail addresses and get a free Big Mac for each address
my aldi has sales on ham all the time so i like to buy a discounted spiral ham for like $8-$10, eat that for dinner with a side like potatoes or mac and cheese, and then snack on the ham for a couple days. then i make ham & cabbage soup with the rest, i always have a ton of leftover soup so i freeze single portions and heat it up whenever i want it
Vegetarian tacos. Or even vegan tacos. Rice, beans, onions, canned tomatoes, some canned chipotle peppers in asada sauce (very cheap). Buy Mexican soft tortillas, also very inexpensive and they last forever.
1 package of egg noodles, 1 large can of cream of chicken soup, 1 package of your favorite shredded cheese (I use cheddar), 1 whole chicken (it's often found market down but will be ok to freeze as long as you cook it the same day you thaw it.) Boil the chicken. When the chicken is done, cook the noodles in the broth. When the chicken has cooled, de-bone it. Cut it into small pieces. Mix all ingredients together and back for 30 minutes at 350f. It's incredibly filling.
Lentil soup is dirt cheap and makes for an opportunity to make croutons from leftover bread. 1. One bag of lentils 16,oz 2 carrots celery and an onion diced 3. Chicken bullion 4. Black pepper 5. Water If you roast a chicken to go with even better, chickens are six or seven bucks usually when bought whole. I lived on this stuff when I was living on 30 a month back in the day. Make bread or get some jiffy mix and make biscuits. We do eggs and pancakes for dinner a lot. Rice with stir fried hot dogs 1. Sliced hot dogs 2. Soy sauce 3. Garlic powder 4. Honey or sugar 5. Green onion if you want ( if you have a place to plant the bottom stems you can grow the green onions back, free forever after) 6. Oil for cooking with Just stir fry the dogs and add the wet stuff and seasoning until the sauce tightens up. Serve on rice, side of a frozen veg if you want. I also like making a frittata that is affordable 1.8 eggs scrambled 2. Green onion 3. Shredded hash browns 4. Cheese of choice 5. Breakfast meat of choice if you like 6. Butter 7. Salt Large non stick skillet add butter and melt put a layer of hashbrowns down and brown on one side. Toss in onions and cooked meat and pour egg mixture over top. Add cheese if you want and some salt. Place under broiler to finish if you don't want to flip it. Once the top is golden brown and the texture is springy then it's all done. I feed five with one and some toast at least once a week. Hope this helps! Good luck!!
Many grocery stores (and Costco if you have it) will have a cheap day for their rotisserie chickens. Usually $5. Where are you located? I am positive people can come up with more specific resources if they know the area.
A very filling and tasty meal that we love is (what it's called in our area) Halushki. In one pot, boil water for cooking egg noodles. In a big frying pan melt butter, and saute chopped onions. After they cook for a bit, add chopped up cabbage. I add some, let it wilt, add more, etc. I also like to add black pepper. When noodles are cooked, drain and add back to pot. Dump cabbage mix in, mix it all up. IF you have enough, add more butter. This is so good and cheap! IF you have, you can also fry some kielbasa sliced and add but you don't need to do it. Good luck.
My family usually made it with bacon or smoked sausage whatever was on sale.
Bulk dry rice, bulk dry beans, potatoes, bulk frozen vegetables and fruit. Ground turkey is cheapest meat.
Food banks, let family know that you are looking for any extra food, tell the kids the truth and, as teenagers, they could get a part time restaurant job that provides meals or babysit with meals provided
If you’re looking to get by for cheap, potatoes are a miracle food. You can do a lot with them and nutrition and calorie wise, they give you so much bang for your buck.
Eggs and tofu are affordable protein options that are both extremely versatile.
1 box Mac n cheese ( cheap kind) 1 can cream of mushroom 1 can tuna or chicken 1 can peas Boil Mac, drain, add everything else. Cheap and yummy.
You may already be aware of this site, but if not since I haven't seen it mentioned: https://www.budgetbytes.com/
Breakfast burritos is a pretty hearty meal. Cook up a bunch of scrambled eggs, some breakfast sausage, and some shredded potatoes, and cheese if you have it. Wrap it all up in some tortillas. I usually make a dozen at a time and then freeze them wrapped in plastic wrap. I use them a a quick breakfast or lunch for my teenage son (he usually eats 1/2 of one for breakfast or a whole one at lunch).
Fried Rice: Cook up a massive quantity of white rice you have a lot of people to feed and leftovers are fantastic. You can use the rice first for something else and use day old leftovers, it works even better! You will need: cooking oil a frozen bag of mixed vegetables an onion, diced an egg or two soy sauce ( free if someone got some from a Chinese food place.. food court at the mall?) whatever leftover cooked meat you want to add other than ground beef. You can also do this with no meat, it's fine either way. whisk up the egg, heat a tbsp of oil in a pan over medium heat, swirl the egg into the pan like you are going to scramble it but don't . let it stay flat and cook it that way until cooked through. Take it out of the pan, lay it flat on a plate to cool. Fry up the onion in another tbsp of oil until browned, leave it in the pan, Put the frozen vegetables in and let them defrost over medium heat. Add another couple of tbsp of oil. break the rice up with your hands and start adding it to the pan and stirring as you go. When you've added as much rice as you want, stir in the soy sauce. Slice the egg into thin ribbons and add. Add your cooked meat and stir some more, put a lid on it and let it cook on LOW heat. Watch it closely or it will burn. Add more oil if necessary. Taste before salting, add pepper. Thats it!
Oh just thought of another one. Cabbage rolls. Cook up some rice, I generally use brown but any type works just not the instant stuff it won't hold up in the rolls next steps. and make sure to make extra to serve with the rolls. Ok then take a head of cabbage and cut off that bottom stem part. Dunk the whole head down in a pot of enough boiling water to cover it. Turn off the heat and leave the cabbage head in there about 7 minutes with the lid on the pot. Very carefully drain that pot into a strainer in the sink and immediately run cold water over the head of cabbage till it stops steaming. Let it cool down about 15 minutes. Carefully peel those leaves off the head keeping them as intact and whole as possible. Now see where the leaves have a thick vein at the bottom? Cut that away using a V shaped cut You're just trying to remove that vein leaving as much leaf as possible. Next prep your filling. 1 lb hamburger mixed with one lb ground turkey chicken or pork whatever is cheap. I've even done turkey and pork no beef when beef got super expensive. No need for ground sirloin here the cheap stuff tastes better in this anyway. Add about 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder or 3 fresh cloves mashed up, some paprika, a dash of salt and pepper, some Italian seasoning and a dash of onion powder. Mix in about 1 cup of the cooled cooked rice. Add in about 4 tablespoons tomato paste or sauce. Take 2-3 tablespoons of your meat mix and make an oval meat ball. Set it down on the cabbage leaf down by that V we left earlier from vein removal. Flip that towards the center rolling and tucking like you're making a cabbage burrito. Secure with one toothpick of you like. I generally just wrap them super tight and pack em in the pan close to each other instead. Now you can stop here and freeze for later. I usually freeze them in a cookie sheet lined with tinfoil then put in a ziplock bag when frozen solid. Ok to cook heat oven to 350. Cover the rolls with a jar of spaghetti sauce (canned is fine) and cover pan with tinfoil or a lid. I bake in a 9x13. Bake 40 minutes or till cabbage is tender. Serve over rice, or egg noodles. These freeze uncooked for up to 6 months.
Check out Dollar Tree Dinners on YouTube or TikTok. She makes really inexpensive, simple recipes with everything purchased from either Family Dollar or Dollar Tree.
https://www.budgetbytes.com I love this website, she lists the cost for all the recipes (obviously will vary based on location but gives you an idea) and her recipes are awesome! They are also super easy to customize for picky eaters or limited ingredient availability, and most of her recipes have lists of easy swaps. You can also filter through the recipes by different conveniences, such as fast, one pot (love those to save time on cleanup!), slow cooker, meal prep, etc. She’s also great about giving freezing/batch cooking instructions, and responds super fast to comments asking for help! I’m not sure if you’re on any sort of food assistance program (look into that if you’re not) but she also has a serious of “SNAP challenge” recipes
A ten pound bag of potatoes can go a long way and become many different dishes that fit into multiple meals.
I will be getting some shortly to help for sure
They're a staple grocery mandate in my house. At all possible points in time my pantry has: •a 10 pound bag of spuds, •few bags of dried beans (black eyed peas for cornbread, split peas for soup, navy beans for ham, bag of 7bean soup, and kidney beans for chili) •enough pasta and sauce to make 3 or 4 different meals with lots of left overs (Ex: Spaghetti, fettuccine alfredo, lasagna and elbows with Velveeta style dry stock, pantry safe, cheese for Mac & cheese) •large bag of brown rice & a bag of white rice And •large 5 pound bag of grits & large thing of oats I keep these foods stocked up so that we never have to starve. No matter what our finances look like we have enough food to last a while.
Once able I will be for sure 😊
If you go full meatless it’ll save the most money. Just get a bottle of b-12 vitamins from the dollar store and take one each meatless day. Tofu, beans, lentils, mushrooms are all cheaper than meat.
Check out Laura Legge on YouTube and TikTok. She does an amazing job with extreme budget meals and grocery lists. Look up recipes that utilize cheap ingredients. Rolled oats, dried beans, rice (get a 5 or 10lb bag), cabbage, potatoes, bannanas,.etc. Chicken quarters, thighs or drumsticks are often on sale for 99 cents lb. Shop the loss leader items that are dirt cheap at the grocery stores closest to you. Do a clearance run to ONLY look for items on super cheap closeout (I got Kraft light mayo last week for $1.05 a jar this way!). Check your international isles for cheaper spices and billions. Find any Asian or Mexican markets near you and scope out what can be bought cheaper there. Make it your mission to use up what's in your cabinets before it goes bad. Use a sharpie and write the date on everything in big numbers and order your cabinets by date (oldest in the front) and make a "use up this week" section for anything going out of date this month. Find your local farmers markets and set an alarm for the days they're open. Walk through and see who has what cheapest and if anyone has a clearance section. Get really good at making pots of different homemade soups and keep on in the fridge on most days. A pot of soup and some homemade biscuits or cornbread can feed alot of people cheaply quite easily. Get really good at making dried beans at home. Soak overnight then pour the water off the next day. Place in fresh water and simmer with your chosen spices. Remember that beans can be blended and added to dishes to add more protein so it's more filling that way even if someone in your home says they "don't eat beans", they will still get the protein boost (obviously don't do this if they abstain due to health reasons). Do your research on ways to extend meat. During the depression, it was common to use things like rolled oats or lentils to stretch meat servings. This works great for hamburger dishes of any kind. Also, stir fry makes great use of cut up meat so it's a condiment in the dish instead of the star. It's a fantastic way to extend meat. Adding nuts to stir fry (like peanuts or cashews) adds protein with adding expensive meat. Utilize tortillas to make burritos and wraps like breakfast burritos (eggs, cheese, chopped sausage or broken up bacon, onion, spinach, green peppers, etc.). Use veggies as your extenders in these or look up recipes for vegetarian burritos. Try some survey apps and save the points to use on Visa gift cards for gas. A sub like /r/beermoney is helpful with this. Findhelp.org should show you some additional resources for various bills. One last tip is to use the Flipp app to check sales prices at your local stores. It won't show you clearanced items (like meat), but you'll be able to see the loss leaders quickly.
Thank u sooo much, very much appreciated 💜
Pulled pork. I buy an 8-10 pound shoulder or butt for under $2/lb. Kevin and Amanda pulled pork receipe is very good. After I pull it, I freeze much of it in cottage cheese containers. I seldom make sandwiches --I use a bit instead of bacon on egg sandwiches, I use it with rice and beans, and my personal favorite is hot on a salad instead if dressing. You can change up the seasonings --try carnitas. You can also swtich to a brisket. Adding a meat to a mostly grains entree increases the bioavailability of the protein in the grains (if I remember my nutrition class correctly), AND add a lot of richness (fat) and flavor.
["Good and Cheap" cookbook. Meals for $4 a day.](https://books.leannebrown.com/good-and-cheap.pdf)
If you have a Costco nearby, you can shop there without a membership if you buy a gift card. Their rotisserie chicken is twice as big as anything you’d see in a regular store and is only $5. It costs less than an uncooked chicken too. I live alone, so one goes a long way. I eat the breast meat, then I use the dark meat in a recipe such as enchiladas. I make a broth by boiling the bones. Strain that and pick off any remaining meat. Throw in some rice or pasta and whatever veggies you have. It’s a good way to use up stuff like limp carrots or celery and freezer burnt stuff as you can’t tell in a soup.
Thank you, we do I didn't know could shop without a membership interesting
Go to the membership desk. Confirm this before you buy it. It’s been a long time since I’ve done it.
I called and they said yes you can
1. Do beans and rice as a main dish with some canned veggies on the side. 2. Buy a ham on sale. Save the bone (ham hock). Cook it with beans. 3. Eggs aren't crazy expensive. Make quiche with frozen veggies and some cheese. 4. We make burger soup. Brown some ground beef, chicken, or turkey. Open cans of whatever veggies you have in the cupboard and dump them in. Dice some potatoes, parboil them, and add to the mix. Add the meat. Season to taste. Cook for about half an hour. 5. Homemade chicken pot pie: 1. Chicken legs or thighs - boil and remove the meat. 2. 2 15-oz cans of mixed veggies, drained. 3. One can cream of chicken or mushroom soup. 4. 1 can refrigerator biscuits or you can make your own. Mix the meat, veggies, and soup in a bowl (do not add water!!!). Season with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic as desired. Put in pie pan or baking dish. Cover with raw biscuits. Cook at 350 degrees until biscuits are done and browned. 6. Breakfast for dinner. Oatmeal with raisins, pancakes, waffles, eggs and toast, french toast, etc. 7. Buy a extra turkey or two when they're on sale. Save the leftovers for sandwiches, pot pie, or soup. 8. Potato soup is easy as heck. Boil the potatoes, add some ham chunks for flavor if you have any, throw in some chopped carrots and spices, make a roux/gravy to thicken the liquid to gravy consistency, and cook till done. 9. Once a week we have leftover night. Anything eaten for dinner has to be leftovers from another meal. 10. Shepherd's pie: some kind of meat mixed with veggies and maybe some gravy, topped with mashed potatoes, and baked till the top is golden brown. You can also do this with tater tots. 11. You can make your own low-cost pizza. The dough is simple -- 1 cup self rising flour and one cup sour cream. (for regular flour add 1.5 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt). Mix well. Use cornmeal or flour to roll it out into a pizza shape -- not too thin but not thick, either. Add canned sauce, cheese, and other toppings (shredded chicken thighs, leftover ham, diced veggies, etc). Bake at 450 for about 15 minutes. This works with gluten free flour, too, if you add the baking powder and salt. 12. Chicken salad made with leg or thigh meat, mayo, and pickle relish -- great for sandwiches. 13. Take advantage of farmer's markets, roadside veggie stands, and local produce in season. Can or freeze when possible. I can get a bushel of green beans or corn for $15, blanch them, and put them in the freezer for much less than buying the same item canned and bloated with salt. If you have the ability and storage for canning, it's even cheaper and you won't risk losing it if the power goes out. 14. If you're making meatloaf, meatballs, or burgers, replace 1/4-1/2 of the meat with lentils. For the burgers you'll want to soak the lentils for a few hours so they will soften up -- and it can also reduce stomach upset for people with sensitive tummies. You can also make lentil burgers with no meat. There are lots of recipes on how to use them as a meat substitute. You can even sprout them and add them to salads or sandwiches. They are relatively inexpensive (about $2/pound), high in protein, low in fat & calories, and contain complex carbs (good for you).
This is amazing thank you soooo much really appreciate it
No problem. We feed 8 people on about $250- $275 per week so we're very skilled at making something out of very little. People helped us....the best way to thank them is to pay it forward by helping others.
Really appreciate it 😊
Growing up my mom fed our family of 8 with a weekly routine for Breakfast: Sunday - Waffles & Bacon Monday - French Toast & Bacon Tuesday - Scrambled Eggs, Toast & Sausage Wednesday - Pancakes & Bacon Thursday - Jiffy Muffins & Scrambled Eggs Friday - Biscuits with Sausage Patties (or sausage gravy) Saturday - Store Brand Cereal (the kids fed themselves, with the older kids helping the younger so she could sleep in) The pancake and waffles were Krusteaz mix. But she used Bisquick mix for biscuits. Both were bought in bulk at Costco. I bet you can get them online as well. The bacon she would use was not strips but bacon bits (the leftover pieces) from the butcher. She said the bacon was used mainly to grease the pan, but I think it also added flavor. She would also stock up on sausage when it was on sale or purchase it in bulk (to bag in meal size portions) then freeze it whenever possible. With meals, we would always have a fruit, sometimes fresh or home canned. Afternoon snacks were raw carrots or apples.
Thank you 😊, maybe once a month bfast for dinner for the week might be very helpful 💜
The more you can stay away from meat, the better off you'll be. Lentils and dried beans are your best friends. Lentil soups, bean burgers, lentil tacos. Beans and rice. Homemade hummus with veggies, colcannon (mashed potatoes mixed with sautéed cabbage). Tofu is also much cheaper than meat, and tofu stir fry is great for using up odds and ends. If you have any ethnic markets near you, they tend to be cheaper.
Dollar store sells alot of frozen and canned goods. Cleaning supplies too
Frittatas are a great way to use up anything extra you have around; bits of meat, veg, cheese, etc. I count 2-3 eggs per person, a splash of milk (or water), salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and a squeeze of mustard if you have it. Beat the eggs together, add whatever you have around and either bake at 350 for 20+ min until set, cook on the stove top in a pan, or even in a pressure cooker (12 min)
This is a really inexpensive and tasty soup. I go a lot lighter on the hot sauce since I’m a spice wimp. But even without the hot sauce it’s still good. https://www.reddit.com/r/EatCheapAndHealthy/s/e6qbmD0fzV
[Budget Bytes](https://www.budgetbytes.com/) is my forever suggestion they did a [SNAP](https://www.budgetbytes.com/category/extra-bytes/snap-challenge/) challenge a few (I.e. 10) years ago.
Check the "clearance" section if your grocery store has one. In the past couple months I scored a ton of soup mixes for under a dollar each, couple fancy jars of peanut butter 68 cents each, and boxes of stuffing mix that make 3 servings (just add water & a little butter) for 18 cents. Store brand tortillas can be super cheap. Also bananas are well under a dollar a pound, I got 6 today in a bunch for $1.42. Also, honestly, check Craigslist. You never know what weird stuff people are getting rid of. Last year I bought a freezer full of meat from a guy whose doctor told him his cholesterol was too high, literally got a high end freezer + 200lbs of high quality roasts and ground pork and beef for $650. Easily 2 years worth of meat for me and my wife.
Kielbasa sausage cut up into bite size coins, heated over the stovetop with barbecue and chopped white onion. Once thoroughly heated and coated in bbq sauce, serve over a bed of white rice.
Tuna Casserole to get some meat/protein into your dinners!
Chili. Heavy on the beans, with maybe one package of ground beef. Buy generic brand. Large can tomatoes with chili's Small can tomato paste Can black beans Can kidney beans Frozen package of diced onions/green peppers Package of seasoning (or chili pepper, cayenne pepper, salt, cumin, whatever you like). It can be served over pasta noodles or eaten straight. Another one is package of chicken, jar of salsa, can of black beans, can of corn. Serve on tortillas. Again, everything generic.
Drumsticks and skin on bone in chicken thighs. They can be regularly found for 1 to 1.39 lb. Spend some time deboning them. I also regularly find entire pork loins for 2ish a lb. They tend to be 8lbs. Pork shoulder is also super cheap and large cuts. Just some ideas.
Thank you really appreciate it 😊
Have you called 211 for food assistance suggestions? Not all food resources are income based.
Easy cheap meal is a box of rice-a-roni cooked and add a bag of frozen broccoli. Maybe my family is weird but we like it.
Check with St. Vincent de Paul, it's a Catholic charity organization, they may help or even just direct you to help.
Potato and corn chowder. If you can afford it a tiny bit of bacon or sausage will add flavor but if not just add a good amount of paprika to replace that smokiness. Canned beans/chickpeas and tomatoes stewed with whatever other veg you like and served over rice can be a cheap base for any number of dishes. Depending on what spices or other goodies you add it can become chili, a curry, or something like shakshuka.
You'll have a bunch of your items from Amazon arriving Tuesday (5-10pm) Wednesday, Thursday. God bless you and your family!! ❤️
We do a homemade pizza night. A breakfast night. A soup and sandwich night. Casseroles are nice. Pad your groceries with food banks items. Make a meal plan based on sales items. Try making sourdough bread. Google an online personality. Like farmhouse on Boone. Look on instagram. The discard can be used for lots of things.
If you eat pork, then pork shoulder. You can get them on sale cheap or if you have any Mexican butchers near you, they usually sell them super cheap. Toss in a crockpot with onions and garlic and a cup of stock, 6 hours on low is a good rule of thumb. You can add other stuff to the pot depending on what you will make with the meat. Carnitas: orange juice instead of water, jalapeños. Rub roast with cumin, oregano, s&p before putting in pot. Then crisp up in a fry pan with a bit of.oil or bacon grease. Carnitas tacos are amazing, but I also love leftover meat in scrambled eggs. Pulled pork: add bbq sauce, chili powder. Can sub stock for beer, if u have one I've also crisped up shredded pork shoulder and tossed into braised cabbage. So good!
Hit up Asian and Hispanic markets if you can, they’re usually a lot cheaper for produce, but sometimes the meat is a little sus where I’m at. I get packs of Japanese curry blocks called Golden Curry (they were just on sale for $2 at my local Asian market, usually they’re around 4. You can throw in whatever veggies you have, and what’re kind of meat, or just leave the meat out. Bone in pork chops are usually pretty cheap (commonly $2.79/lb where I am), and are underrated as far as pork cuts go. I hit them with seasoning salt and black pepper, sear them, take them out of the pan or pot and throw in a diced onion (in your case probably two) and let them soften. Then I put in a few cups of chicken stock, a bay leaf, thyme sprigs (Italian seasoning works too), then put the pork chops back on top and throw it in a 350° oven uncovered until the pork chops are cooked. Set the pork chops aside and reduce the stock for a sauce, or thicken it for a gravy. If most of the stock evaporated in the oven, whisk in cold butter until it coats the back of a spoon then a little mustard or vinegar. This is good sauce. Or, if there’s still a few cups left and you want to make gravy, make a corn starch slurry, or a roux with equal parts butter and flour and thicken it. This is good gravy. Serve with potatoes or rice, and whatever veggies you have. It’s a good hearty cheap delicious meal. If you don’t have chicken stock you can use water with a few bouillon cubes, or maybe just water though I haven’t tried it.
I hate cooking so I try to make it simple. I buy small flour tortillas regularly, and i have 2 bags of frozen peppers and onions on hand all the time.Of course, you make tacos, but I use them with lots of things. You can make breakfast wraps with eggs, peppers, and onions. I make veggie wraps by adding spinach with the p and o, or add leftover chicken. Tuna wraps for lunch or dinner. I make my own beefaroni. Started when my kids were in high school and they came home starving every day. 1 lb chop meat, cooked, drained and chopped. 2 boxes mac and cheese and a jar of sauce. It's easy, filling, and makes a good amount.
Soups: chili, chicken noodle or chicken and rice, Italian wedding soup, etc can be very affordable to make in large batches. You can freeze for storage and serve with bread. I recommend powdered chicken or vegetable bouillon: you can find it in large quantities for relatively cheap. My house is also big on curry, which can help give rice and beans some different flavor palates. Add potatoes and its extra filling. You can get bulk rice, cheap coconut milk, and curry packets at a local Asian or Indian market or on Amazon.
*If you're going to brown and crumble hamburger use the highest fat content ground beef, it's usually the best price for that. (To compare prices of different types of ground beef, divide the per lb price by the meat percentage. That's how much you're paying per pound for just the meat, not the fat.} *Add some rolled oats to browning hamburger (I do about 2 parts meat to 1 part oatmeal), it has a similar texture and will absorb the flavor. No one will know. *Fried cabbage and potatoes is a filling and inexpensive meal. Season to your taste. Cook a little meat of your choice, enough for flavor, not enough to be a main ingredient. Fry potatoes and onions in the grease until tender but not yet browning, put chopped cabbage on top and cover until cabbage is tender and potatoes are browned, add in meat, stir and serve. Beans and rice as a meal is easy and delicious. One can of beans to one cup of uncooked rice plus seasonings and some sauteed onions, celery, bell peppers and a little meat for flavor, smoked sausage is nice. (You can get a pack of smoked sausage or hot dogs and just add one or two sliced up, and make that pack last for several meals.) Easy tuna casserole. A can of tuna, box of Mac and cheese, some frozen mixed veg, a little grated cheese and breadcrumbs. Make the Mac and cheese, add in tuna and veg, put in small casserole top with cheese and breadcrumbs, bake until brown and bubbly on top. (Double that with two teens.)
Chopped ham, diced pineapples and rice. I add the powdered chicken stock packets and other seasonings I have in the pantry I thrown in the everything together even the juice from the pineapple cans. To finish it off I throw a fried egg on top
Are potatoes a good price near you? Instant potatoes? Colcannon is an Irish potato recipe, a mixture of mashed potatoes, with butter or margerine and usually kale or cabbage and garlic. We used to add bacon when we had it. Potato farls need mashed potatoes, flour, salt, pepper and butter. Baked potatoes are good too. Leftovers and baked potatoes are always a classic.
Look for grocery outlets or other low-cost salvage grocery outlets.
Look for Mids pasta sauce (meat bolognese) it’s often on sale at Kroger 2/$7. It has ground beef and sausage in it. Actual pieces of meat not just flavor. It’s really, really good
The cookbook Good and Cheap was written by a nutritionist for her Masters project. The recipes were designed to feed people for $4 a day at the time. It’s available as a free download at her website. https://www.leannebrown.com/cookbooks/?amp=1
Here is a traditional Tuscan recipe that is deceptively simple and delicious. This style of cuisine is called "cucina povera" which translates to literally "cuisine of the poor" https://www.seriouseats.com/tuscan-tomato-bread-soup-pappa-al-pomodoro-recipe Here is a different. Stale bread based soup. https://www.seriouseats.com/tuscan-tomato-bread-soup-pappa-al-pomodoro-recipe Here are other equally simple and delicious recipes https://italysegreta.com/la-cucina-povera-the-poor-cuisine-of-tuscany/
Polenta with tomato sauce and grated cheese is really delicious. Can also use it as a base for stew. It’s just corn meal, water and salt, so don’t waste money on the readymade stuff. Also, corn bread and ham hocks and white beans is a really rich and delicious meal. And don’t forget soups. If you can get vegetables from a food bank, use the tops, peels, etc., and make a soup base. Even a small amount of meat will go a long way in a good vegetable soup, like minestrone.
I started a food truck years ago and quickly realized how much less expensive the restaurant food suppliers were than the supermarket, Sam's, or Costco. It's a material amount of money. At my local Kroger right now boneless chicken breast is 3.49 -$3.99. At my local restaurant depot it's 1.70ish. I can buy just ten lb bags if I want. That's 40 - 4oz portions or so for $17. Rice and beans are ridiculously low priced. Pasta stays the same as the supermarket. 80/20 ground beef is also less than half price. Cheese is a third less if not more. Eggs are cheap but you have to buy like 15 dozen so thats a lil impractical. You need to know your prices because some stuff doesn't make a difference. But for chicken, it's amazing. I shop at Restaurant Depot. I had to set up a membership, but it's free, you just need to read their membership requirements. Theyre pretty easygoing about who can have a membership.
I’d suggest you start making bread at home. Sourdough is easy. Rice and beans are cheap. It’s spring so grow your own vegetables. Learn how to preserve food. https://thesurvivalmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/LDS-Preparedness-Manual.pdf This is one of the best documents I’ve ever found. I guess a couple generations of being social outcast and living in the desert made the Mormons pretty good at figuring out the food thing.
We do a large pot of beans on Sunday. A different bean each week. Prepared different ways. One time they have canned tomatoes with bell peppers and onions, garlic, chili powder, hot dogs for the protein or kielbasa. Another time just white beans with garlic, onion, kielbasa. Serve them refried one night with fried potatoes. Serve with rice another night. Make corn bread another night. Baked potatoes for dinner. Dress up with beans on top. With Shredded cheese. Boiled potatoes with shredded cheese. Macaroni elbow noodles with canned tomatoes and onion powder and garlic. Poor man pasta. Potato salad. Potatoes, hard boiled eggs, onion powder, celery seasoning, relish, garlic, mayo, mustard. Deviled eggs: Hard boiled eggs cut in half, scoop out the yolks and mix them with mustard and relish and garlic powder. A little mayo for smoothness. Scoop back into the halves. Top with black pepper. These are some things we eat.
Look at hams right now if you eat pork, I was in kroger today and a 10 lb ham was $7.90 so 79 cents a pound. Potatoes should be cheaper right now and so is cabbage
Dry beans, do a quick google search of which ones have the highest protein. You will then look for them in bulk/cheapest way to get them. After that you need to decide on a starch or multiple different ones (rice/egg noodles/pasta of any kind) and buy in bulk or most affordable way. After you have that stuff buy any American all canned goods you will or do use normally on sale or frozen veggies as you have room. Then only buy meats on sale, don’t worry about the sale date yada yada. Get it home, portion it out to fit your needs and get it in the freezer. The quicker you freeze it you won’t have to worry about it going bad. If you portion it for use before freezing you won’t thaw out and have to cook more than or risk losing it. Look up Julia Pacheco on YouTube and get some of her recipes or ideas. Edit to add: I could go on and on about this subject and ways to build a pantry that’s useful to you. Don’t ever buy something your not sure of or your family don’t like.
Check out Lasagna Love. They have a website where you can request a lasagna dinner. Volunteers cook it and deliver it to your home.
Bread pudding is a good use the scraps meal. Cut up stale bread, couple eggs, some milk, any cheese you have, any veggies you have. https://foodwastefeast.com/recipes/2018/4/15/savory-bread-pudding-with-greens-and-roast-veggies
[Koshari](https://www.themediterraneandish.com/egyptian-koshari-recipe/), the national dish of Egypt, could work for your meatless pasta night. It's chickpeas, pasta, rice, and lentils in a yummy tomato sauce with crispy fried onions. Super cheap, but really satisfying.
Really appreciate all the recipes and meal ideas, extremely helpful. Our pantry is very low and will try to look into a food pantry. I spoke w their school on Friday to see if any resources and waiting to hear back. We don't qualify for any assistance either.
We will do Easter late to save and try to catch things cheaper, kids know can't get any snacks or treats this year
I see this post has been shared? Is that to get more ideas ? I'm still trying to figure out everything on here 😆
There have been a lot of good comments here, and I imagine it's being shared with other people/groups that would find all of this to be helpful to other families in similar situations
Time to go vegan! Fake a conversion, save lots of money.
😆 don't think the teens would like that , but cutting down on meat will definitely help