We're in a money crunch right now. So tell me your secrets to making eating on a very strict budget not so bad.

We are too!

*Lots of Mexican themed meals - go well with beans/rice.
*Oatmeal for breakfast. No packaged cereals (this is a standing rule for us, no packaged cereals). Or eggs (cheap, but ours are free b/c we have hens).
*Bake muffins and cookies from scratch for snacks. Freeze extras to thaw one at a time whenever someone is hungry.
*Chop veggies for snacks. Prep a lot at a time. (We have a CSA and need to make the most of it.)

Still thinking...

Everything Lauren said. We also like grits and homemade biscuits and pancakes (I mean from scratch, not bisquick) for a cheap, filling breakfast.

Find out about places like Angel Food Ministries, food outlets (Tyson has one here - those who eat chicken can get boneless skinless leg quarters for $8 for 30 lbs).

Not that I'm officially condoning it, but if things get really tight, look into what the freegans do. My friend who works at a grocery bakery cusses for half an hour as she throws a cartload of bakery goods away. They throw that much out every single morning.

We also have one local store (Publix) that donates bakery goods to a local thrift store, and those are free to people in need. Everyone else makes a donation.

Hillbilly Housewife (http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com) has yummy ways to make those beans and rice go further.

When I've been on a crunch budget, I picked a price-per-pound I'm willing to pay for produce or whatever, and I just don't buy things that go over it. So we tended to eat what's abundant, local, and in season (not such a bad idea, anyway).

Also, the scratch and dent can store can be fun, if you have such a thing.

Yes we often plan meals around what is available at our scratch and dent store! I forgot about that.

Also we have strict rules these days about "treat" foods like ice cream. We tend to get it at the convenience store for like 3.29 a half gal because we're out and a kid has a craving. No more. They can use their $ for small cheap treats at the convenience store, and we only buy ice cream on sale when grocery shopping - when it's gone, it's gone.

be creative! Someone here had a craving for something or other that I can't remember. We had some leftover white rice. We warmed the rice, sprinkled it with sugar and poured milk over it. yes, I know. Terribly unhealthy, but it was very good and whatever the craving was it worked and for some reason the children thought it was fun.

and portions. I buy usually 4 servings of anything on the "expensive" list. The two smaller people get half each and I give the older 3 one serving. Then they have to eat the cheap stuff. If there isn't anymore, then there's really no asking for more, you know? I've just not had any, which means fewer calories and lost weight! yeah!

don't waste anything.

Oh yeah, and change things around to disguise "less". For example, I had plenty of pizza sauce thanks to the garden, and plenty of dough cause flour is cheap. I only had a very small amount of mozzarella (maybe a cup)and half a package of soy pepperoni (that was probably what, about 10?). That cheese and pepperoni would have made a piddly pizza and the children would have noticed there wasn't much, ya know? So I made something i usually don't, calzones or pizza pockets or whatever you want to call them. Because the stuff was on the inside, they couldn't see what was there or what wasn't, and it wasn't something they're used to that is obviously minus stuff that would normally be there.

Lauren do you do oatmeal for everybreakfast. we have bagged cereal but would love to get away from that too. We do cream of rice or wheat, grits and oatmeal for most breakfasts anyways.

subbing for more awesome ideas!

Well, Jacob has oatmeal every. single. day. He's like a human Bert. :lol:

Katie loves "campfire eggs," aka "eggs in a hole" - an egg cracked into bread with a hole in the middle, cooked over easy - cut off pieces of toast/egg white and dip into egg yolk. (and yes we do runny and raw eggs here, since they're ours and we know they're clean)

So not every day w/the oatmeal - we alternate w/variations of eggs - but I absolutely never ever buy bagged/boxed cereal - *except* as a dry snack. We'll get the little cinnamon Kashi people, I forget what they are called, and I will put a couple of handfuls into snack bags and send them along w/that for a school snack.

Oh another hearty "different" breakfast is an egg frittata - scramble the eggs, mix with whatever shredded or chopped veggies you have on hand - zuke, peppers, tomatoes, whatever - add shredded cheddar and bake -

I buy a few things in bulk that help. I get pancake mix. I know it is so simple to make pancakes and that after like 10 times I would remember the darned recipe but I just didn't... and so the mix helps. I make pancakes pretty often now to go along with our oatmeal, and then lots of fruit... this is what we do for breakfast. Things like this make life a bit easier and it takes the sting out of getting rid of box cereals.

Val

Don't forget potatoes!

Baked potatoes, oven baked fries (cut and dab oil on them and put them in a pan til done), potatoe soup, potatoes in stew (stretches the meat, beans, vegies farther), potato pancakes with applesauce/sour cream for supper, so on.....................

Even saute/steam or fry potatoes and then scramble eggs in the same skillet with them. If you buy eggs, it stretches those as well!

subbing! there are some good ideas being shared here :) i love the hillbilly housewife site that was linked... i only browsed around for a minute but marked it as a favorite so i can go back later~

i like hillbilly housewife too. you just can't beat the $45 menu. but ummm...can't do it that often, as hot dog stir fry one night and TONS of beans is not the biggest hit!

i make a big pot of black beans, eat them one night just in a bowl with sour cream on them, one night in burrittos, and then make black bean chili with the rest. or...make the black bean chili and eat that in the burrittos.

mix beans in with the ground beef for tacos and burrittos, and it makes the stuff go lots further.

we eat breakfast for dinner once a week. some combo of eggs, grits, oatmeal, toast, pancakes. we usually eat whatever fruit we have too. or just give ds some applesauce.

i used angel food ministries last month, and that has been a great help.

I need help, too. But, my problem is - I have a tremendously difficult time making things from scratch right now. Jack is getting a little better about moving around, but he still won't let me stand in the kitchen for a long period of time cooking. I considered a marathon cooking spree this weekend (and subsequent freezing) but we ran out of time. There's always so much to do on the weekends here.

So, how about frugal *and* easy? I have a super huge and regular sized crockpot as well, if that helps.

We lean toward vegetarian with occasional fish and chicken these days. (Only because I have stuff in the fridge/freezer that I want to eat up before we go totally veg again).

Maybe I should start a new thread with a list of what I have.

Sandi, I think you have a huge untapped resource w/your older dd. I know there are some possible issues with her though, so it might not work. However, if you stick to simple meals, children are amazingly capable!

My just turned 7 yo can make sandwich wraps and wash veggies and mix dip. A can of costco salmon, a couple heads of romaine, some mayo and spices and some tortillas rolled together with cherry tomatoes and carrots w/a yogurt dip on the side makes a yummy meal.

The 9yo likes to make poached eggs, boiled eggs, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, well. . . you get the picture. He can make pancakes, mashed potatoes, muffins, and misc other stuff of this level.

My just turned 12 yo can literally make anything I can with only the slightest need for help. Like "is this sauteed lightly?" or are these medium sized cubes? and that type of thing. Of course, I've tried to tell her it's not the end of the world if she doesn't get this exactly right, to encourage her to follow her own insticts and just look, taste, etc to see if she thinks it is right, but she's a rule follower. :/ Anyway, it's because she's been cooking for a few years.

They think it's fun. It's a privilege to get to use the kitchen. Even giving my guys a challenge like from how little money can you make a healthy meal or what do you think you can make from what we have is fun to them, though loathsome for me. Plus, it's kind of homeschooling at it's best, right? :) Oh, and I'm so bad. I always tell them if they don't clean the kitchen up completely when they are done, they won't be allowed to cook again. LOL So, they always clean up their mess. Or sometimes, if a smaller person wants an older person to cook something, like muffins, they'll say if you make them I'll clean up.

anyway, for me it was all about giving up the control I always wanted to have for some odd reason and the picture in head of me being the perfect mom who could handle the babies and cook a perfect healthy meal at the same time while the children played happily in the next room HA!

You know what? She'd be THRILLED! She's got behavior issues, but she loves being in the kitchen and having things to do. It IS a privilege to use the kitchen. She'd be pleased as punch :)

Great idea!

I'm going to start making a batch of soup once or twice a week (as soon as I find a bigger crockpot).

we eat baked potatoes topped with chili, sour cream, and shredded cheese with steamed broccoli on the side at least every other week. it is one of the cheapest meals we eat and everyone in our family loves it! we also like chili haystacks which is pretty much the same as above but with hashbrowns instead of a baked potato. tasty... and cheap! :)

You mamas have some awesome ideas.

Here is what I came up with for this weeks dinners. I made up 2 lbs (dry) of black beans. And 2 cups (dry) of brown rice. That will get us through at least four dinners this week and probably all our lunches.

First night (last night) was black beans with diced tomatoes, corn, onion, and peas. I turned out to be a bit of a soup concoction that I served over rice with cornbread on the side (at DH's request).

The left over soup concoction was put onto scrambled eggs this morning for breakfast. Tonight was refried black beans and rice burritos with homemade tortillas and sauteed green beans on the side.

Breakfast tomorrow will probably be an egg and bean burrito. Tomorrow night will be Cuban black beans and rice with Cuban bread.

Friday night will be black bean chili.

Saturday I will do a veggie stir fry with a little bit of sliced chicken breast.

Sunday I will be making a huge batch of pasta sauce and freezing probably 5 meals worth.

That sounds delicious, althara! Yum! I like the way you varied the flavors.

About kids cooking - my dd just turned nine. *sniff!* She has been doing so well with cooking! My biggest problem is she wants to make complicated French cuisine, LOL, and wants to do it all herself! She's a crackup. But when I can get her to stick with simple stuff, she'll whip up a batch of French toast for us and the 4 people visiting us, or make herself campfire eggs, or take even (please don't gasp) a packet of ramen noodles and doctor it up.

Actually the ramen has become a quick meal fix around here. Soooo cheap. She uses only half the seasoning packet, and drizzles scrambled egg in it a la egg drop soup, and chops up carrots and celery into it - so it turns out halfway healthy, quick and easy, and free. You could do the same with a bit of veggie stock and cooked pasta (only cooked pasta doesn't last very long in the fridge and the "instantness" of the soup is appealing.

Don't forget to use every tiny bit of leftovers. Start a big freezer zipper bag for left over veggies. Each night (lunch, whatever) "dump you leftovers into the bag. When there is enough, it's time for soup.

I also have "Old Country Bufffet' night... I warm up all the little bits of leftovers and place everything out buffet-style. I usually serve a fun, cheap dessert with this meal to make it a bit more special.

I also have a pretty strict rule; if you don't like what's for dinner, you get pb and j sandwiches. We are too poor to be picky!

Simplespirit, you reminded me - my Depression-era FIL takes home everyone's leftovers at restaurants. (Yes, they eat out a lot, which is kind of counterproductive to his thriftiness, but whatever, LOL.) He puts them ALL in his soup - he just freezes it all in a Ziploc until it's soup day. All leftovers, everything, every scrap, goes into his soup. We tease him that he's a human garbage can. But heck, he's turning 80 and he's healthier than most 60 yos I know. ;)