OK mamas, I think I've done pretty well this month thanks to all your help. That wasn't so tough was it?

Now I'm down to $60 and have 10 days till payday. I have cornmeal, tiny bit of quinoa left, enough brown rice for 1 meal some potatoes. ! box of chicken broth. 1 parsnip, frozen peas, plenty of frozen green beans and black eyed peas. There's still some UFO's in the freezer, they are growing ice fur but I might could soak them in salt water and revive them. All out of sugar and tea and eggs. Doing good on powdered milk (it really isn' all that bad after all, we were surprised). OK, that's about it. So what's on the menu this week?

*Use the UFOs (I'm assuming meat?) for stew w/the potatoes
*Eggs stretch everything and are cheap protein...eggs and potatoes for dinner a couple nights?
*buy some pintos &/or kidneys and use cornmeal to make cornbread, feed 'em on cornbread and beans...

ETA: our menu...

turkey w/mashed potatoes, green beans and salad
leftover turkey...
pinto/kidney mix and taco beef (cooked already) w/brown rice, dressed up as burritos, tacos, tostadas

That's about it...

This is what's on my menu for the week.

30~spaghetti
31~tacos
1~grilled teriyaki chicken , parm. potatoes, broccoli
2~Easy Baked Ravioli and salad
3~french toast
4~Slow Cooker Sweet & Sour Chicken served over rice
5~Honey Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin, roasted red potatoes, carrots

Are you wanting to go shopping with your $60?

ETA: Not sure if you were wanting my menu or to help you come up with something for this week's menu.

Some ideas that use what you have on hand plus cheap purchases:
Cornbread, blackeyed peas, and green beans
Potato and bean burritos
Tamale pie
Black beans and rice
split pea soup
lentils and rice

What I find are the cheapest fruits and veggies:
carrots, potatoes, onions, bag apples, cabbage, and whatever's seasonal and on sale.

Nobody's going to collapse from a lower protein diet in 10 days if you can't afford more meat beyond what's in the freezer. :) Just use dry beans for protein, or if you find a good sale on chicken thighs, they'll make a few nice meals if used sparingly, like a cheap stir fry with some cabbage, carrots, and rice.

Are you wanting to go shopping with your $60?

ETA: Not sure if you were wanting my menu or to help you come up with something for this week's menu.

Either/or. *grin* I do need to go shopping for some groceries this week, I need to feed a family of 5 3 meals a day for 10 days on $60. Except my menu has to be gluten, casein, soy, nut/pnut free, or to where I can make one serving of food free of these things.

But seeing what's on your menu might help give me some ideas too. How do you make your sweet and sour chicken?

Nobody's going to collapse from a lower protein diet in 10 days if you can't afford more meat beyond what's in the freezer. :) Just use dry beans for protein, or if you find a good sale on chicken thighs, they'll make a few nice meals if used sparingly, like a cheap stir fry with some cabbage, carrots, and rice.


Yeah, we're not really protein junkies here. My problem is figuring out how to use the meat in the freezer because I'm not really a meat eater. DD is allergic to foods in the legume family, and no here likes beans except Dh, so I can't rely too heavily on beans.

Either/or. *grin* I do need to go shopping for some groceries this week, I need to feed a family of 5 3 meals a day for 10 days on $60. Except my menu has to be gluten, casein, soy, nut/pnut free, or to where I can make one serving of food free of these things.

But seeing what's on your menu might help give me some ideas too. How do you make your sweet and sour chicken?

1 medium onion, sliced
1 medium carrot, peeled, sliced
1 medium celery stalk, sliced
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs (1-1/2 lb.), cut into bite-size pieces
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup catalina dressing
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. grated gingerroot
1 can (8 oz.) pineapple chunks, drained, liquid reserved
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 medium green pepper, sliced
1 medium red pepper, sliced
4-1/2 cups hot cooked rice

PLACE onions, carrots and celery in slow cooker; top with chicken.

ADD combined brown sugar, dressing, soy sauce and ginger. Cover with lid.

COOK on LOW for 7 to 8 hours (or on HIGH for 3-1/2 to 4 hours). During last 30 min. of cooking time, increase to HIGH. Stir cornstarch into reserved pineapple liquid; add to slow cooker along with the pineapple and peppers. Cook 30 min. or until peppers are crisp-tender and sauce is thickened. Serve over the rice.

I would look through my local grocery store's ad and see what's on sale. Buying the on sale fruits and veggies that your family likes. Buy grains that you normally eat and fill in that way.

blackeyed peas and rice-- you need probably an onion to give it a little flavor. You can also do blackeyed peas and cornbread and buy some greens of some sort. Its also really yummy with tomatoes mixed in (just a can of finely diced ones)
Potatoes, I would do potato and onion roasted, and get some sort of green veggie --maybe more spinach or turnips or mustard/kale/etc.

Quinoa I would make into some sort of salad for lunch.

What kind of meat do you have? I am sort of thinking about homemade chicken pot pie too from the things that you have, or maybe shephards pie?

I pulled some things out of my freezer to thaw. A ham bone, frozen veggies, some chicken, and a bag of hamburger that's already been cooked. I'll throw all this into the crock pot for soup tomorrow.

I also pulled out 2 rib eye steaks, pork chops-- I think it's 2 or 3 bone-in-- and a bag of what I think is chicken.