I don't know if you like to cook, but, that's part of it. Buy nothing processed. I shop organic foods almost exclusively from a food coop, or at sales at regular markets. I have also found that many discount stores sell tons of organic food, esp pasta & tomato sauce & paste.
Cheap organic foods that are quality:
Dry beans & legumes of all kinds
Dry brown rice (you add spices)
Whole Wheat flour & other flours
Oats
Pasta
Pop Corn to air pop
Peanut butter
With some of this, you can make anything- cassaroles, pizza, soups, stir frys- anything. Brown rice or noodles with make a very hearty meal add you only need to add a small amount of meat.
You can also make cookies, muffins, granola bars etc from these ingredients. Kids don't need processd snacks. They aren't really good for them, yk?
Produce
from a coop or buy the in season veggies & fruits. Carrots & potatoes are usually cheap. If you live in a warm climate, you can prob get high quailty protein from avocados faily cheaply. Some parts of the country also sell eggs fairly cheaply and they are a bang-up source of things kids need to grow (if you are not a veggie).
What I can't buy if I am cutting back on food spending:
String Cheese
Any sort of processed food-- like Annie's shells or Amy's canned soups
Granola bars
Packaged cookies
Frozen organic meals like
If you have any strage, you can buy things like flour very cheaply in 25 lb bags. Just freeze it for 24 hours (if you live in a cold climate, the back porch will do) and then place in a cool safe place away from critters.
If you are open to buying non organic itmes, I have found that BJ's sells bulk cheese very cheaply. I have had great luck freezing shredded cheese.
Find a place to buy whole chickens and ask the butcher to cut it up for you. WHole chickens are cheaper than pieces. I buy organic chicken from Whole Foods and they cut it up, if I want. But cooking a whole chicken for soup or to freeze is simple. If you are a vegetarian, or only buy organic foods, it's a lot harder, of course.
But if you buy whole foods, even if not organic, you can feed a family healthfully, if not organically, on what you have suggested.
I agree with looking for a day old bakery source. If your family eats a lot of bread, day old bakeries are good bargains (sometimes cheaper than baking it yourself). In the past I have been able to buy whole wheat bread, although not organic.
Some books that I found really helpful are : The Complete Tightwad Gazette & Cooking_More_With Less Mennonite Cookbook by Doris Longacre.
Scratch Cooking, and bargain hunting, and cutting out most processed foods are part of the answer. Good luck! You can do it!
growing up my parents seporated when I was 12 (they got back togeter when I was 13)
we lived on Mac and cheese we got hot dogs (YUCK) on Sundays.
Mom got WICK at the time so it got the milk, eggs, cheese and stuff.
We had Peanut butter and jelly for lunch EVERYDAY!!!
IT was the same thing day in and day out.
But, I was talking with a friend who is in the same place you are right now. she gets the roman noodles (they are 5/$1.00)
Good Luck!!!
I can't wait to start my garden in the spring (we moved here in the fall we had no garden here and we left the garden at our old house
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WAHM to Matthew (almost 5), Andrew (3)
Joseph
buy a few different varieties of frozen veggies ( there's usually a generic available), and use them in things. A lot of the things that are cheap are not veggie rich, yk? We did:
Mac & cheese with brocolli and peas
Ramen noodle soup with peas, corn and spinach
Beans and mexican spices with a spoonful of tomato paste, spinach and corn
Pizza (crust from scratch, but lost my recipe) with brocoli (we found that you can make a tasty sauce with 2 tbsp tomato paste with enough water to make it the right consistancy. I would buy a BIG can and freeze it on a cookie sheet in tbsp chunks. when froaen hard, put in a ziploc.) MUCH cheaper than a can of sauce. and some of the sauces are barely more than this. . .you pay for the water.
You could add meat to any of these if you feel you need it. . . try adding a little, because these dishes go a long way.
then, at the end of the week, throw 1/4 lb of chix or ground beef in a big pot with the leftover veggies and a can of broth, and whatever rice or pasta you have, and you have soup.
Now, I try to use 1/2 beans in a lot of meat dishes to stretch them and make them a little healthier. I do a huge pot of beans in a crockpot overnight, and freeze them in 1 cup portions. I mash them and add to:
Meatloaf - surprisingly good
any ground beef mexican type dishes - if you like beans, you can get away with using the meat as a garnish here
Kidney beans are good in tomato sauce over pasta - with or without meat.
For snacks? We do apples, bananas and pears in the am, cut carrots, celery, and cucumber in the pm. this can be a good place to make up for the shortage of fresh veggies at dinner. I know that frozen are just as healthy or healthier, but they're limp, yk?
Dessert - smoothies! I buy whatever frozen fruit is on sale, and plain yogurt in the big container - puree it all! if the fruit is still frozen, it will be frosty, like a shake. This is where I try to get berries into out diet in the winter, 'cause they are sooo healthy. You can add sugar at the begining, b/c you probably won't be used to the flavor, but try adding a tiny bit less each time. The kids munch graham crackers with these, but they are pretty filling on their own. . .
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Jennifer
Mom to 3 daughters
9, 7, and 4
My dh works for Wonder/Hostess and he says the thrift shops there sell the bread way cheaper than at the grocery store, but its mostly fresh bread.
They dont reshelve the bread that is close to expiration. Its easier for the company to use that as a write off so the bread that is in the thrift shops are from the stores that order too much and dont need it all, it ends up in the thrift store fresh!
You might want to look around and see if you have a Wonder Bread thrift shop in your town and you can always tell the freshness of the bread by the date on the package!
DH has been unemployed about every other week so heres what we have eaten. If you need a recipe LMK.
breakfast lunch dinner
Day 1: cold cereal tunafish sand chili
Day 2: oatmeal roast chkn stir fry
Day 3: eggs and toast meatloaf ramen noodles
Day 4: cold cereal shepards pie Chicken noodles
Day 5: pancakes quesadillas spaghetti
Day6: grits hash pbj
Day 7: french toast veg. soup potato enchiladas
Also If you spring for a roast you can have it all week long.
Get the biggest roast you can
Day 1 have pot roast Day 2 Barbequed beef Day 3 beef and noodles Day 34beef, rice and gravy Day 5 manhattans I usually make the roast then make all the other entrees up and freeze them that way we can mix them in with the other dishes. I know how the economy is lately so I HTH.
Hamburger and potatoes can go a long way. Also, you can get a 25 lb bag of rice at Asian food stores for $9-18 . (yes that's 25 lbs) If you fill up on rice it helps. Beans are cheap and go well with rice. They're a good source of protein, too. My dh won't touch them, but the kids and I eat them.
Check out Gary Paulsen's Beat the System from the library if you can.
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Candace: Mama to Mollusc, Sluggie, Fishy, and the homebirthed Prawn!
P0F4X0
Gonna be the odd (wo) man out here and say avoid Aldis...
I shopped there when we first moved to Missouri because I thought it was cheaper as well. However, you will find the meat, veggies and fruit (fresh) are not really great and they have a TON of processed foods that will tempt you to buy them because YES, they are cheap. Bottom line is you can get alot of food for the $, but, not alot of healthy food, and if you are on a low budget, you need nutriton from those $$$$$.
I think you may have a Gordons Food Service, check them out, they have AWESOME prices and better choices for food. I also would cuess there are fodd co-ops in your area since you are near a college town...any co-op Mama's who can help Missy find this out? She is near Kalamazoo Michigan.
I am going to second alot of ideas...rice (brown), potatoes, peanut butter, dry legumes (hey split pea soup with potatoes and a bit of ham is great as is potato soup!
Lots of soups, stews, rice dishes may be in your diet for a bit. I know you can cook awesome, so maybe try to focus on enjoying the cooking instead of worrying about the $ will help you. Oh Missy, I wish I was there so I could give you a hug, I totally know what you are going through. If things get really bad (though I have a feeling they won't) please check out and see if they have a local food pantry. I had to do that years ago, and yes, it was very embarassing, but, it was that or starve the kids....alot of people fall on hard times..never be afraid to ask for help when you need it. BTW, do you still have a paypal account?
Location: I get u where u need to be, usually with a fart and a smile.
Posts: 8,146
Quote:
Originally posted by AttachedToThree Pasta, potatoes, eggs, bread and beans are fairly inexpensive things that you can do a lot with. I also buy shredded cheese in bulk and freeze it so I always have it on hand...we use lot's of cheese.
The key is to make your own food and not buy convenience foods. I always make home-made cookies or pudding for my little snackers.
Also, Dollar General has great prices on their food. They don't have a huge selection, but what they have is CHEAP. We go there for canned items since the nearest Aldi's is 30 minutes away.
Good luck!
Mama, you are always full of good advice!
xoxo
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The easiest thing to do is adapt what you normally eat, taking into account whats in your cabinet of course. If you can, make a trip to Sams and stock up on the basics-- beans, rice, flour and yeast are all super cheap there. You can usually get great deals on cheese as well. No idea if you still have a kitty, but food and litter are much cheaper there as well. DO not fall into the trap of their frozen food section-- their convenience foods are very $$$. They have large bags of frozen veggies and fruits that are a good deal. The large cans of tomatoes and such are a good deal, but need repackaging-- you can use tamatoes as the base for a ton of different dishes!I usually open them and freeze them in cooking portions-- I use large ziplocs to conserve space, but you cna use anything you have-- tupperware and whatever else-- just don't use aluminmum foil with tomatoes-- the acid reacts with the foil. Root veggies like potatoes, carrots and onions are cheaper than others. Sams has large packages of romaine hearts (6 of them, for a little over 3 dollars-- i think-- we have been buying lettuce through a veggie co-op lately). I suggest getting root vegs and then getting frozen-- maybe a few bell pepper if they aren't really bad up your way-- Sam's usually has a pretty good deal on a bag of 6 of these. This time of year in MI, the fresh veggies aren't really gonna be all that fresh or good anyway-- when May comes I notice that there is a Farmer's market there-- I know this is beating an old drum, but go to it-- food really is much cheaper, as farmers compete in price for vegs that are in season. Yogurt is cheaper to buy in the large container-- you can add frozen fruit to make it a tasty treat
I can give you recipes, but if they aren't foods that your family normally eats, then they wont do you much good, y/k? There are ways to adapt everyday foods to make them healthier-- I can help you do that if you like We are in a neverending search for simplicity with our meals-- I am bad about eating out due to time constraints.
Our menu for last month had lots of Indian dishes, a Thai dish, quesidiallas, spaghetti sauce (that inculdes lots of veggies), chili (also with vegs), vegetable soup, some nights we just do giant salads with bread.
Post some of the foods that you usually eat, and lets see how we can adapt it to be both cheaper, and more whole food
heather
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Heather , mama to Liam, born 12-19-01, and Simon, born 04-17-05 wife to Mark, married 09-23-97
meal at my house costs $6.00 or less for dinner. Lunch is usually leftovers for the whole family or something simple and inexpensive for the kids. I made tortilla soap tonight (2 cans of beans = .99) 1/2 chicken $1.75, tomatoes - .75 (mine where from my garden though) green chilies - .55, 1 onion - .25, cilantro - .50. That feed a 14yo boy, dh, myself, michael and Elizabeth. There is enough left for dh and all of us for lunch tomorrow - it was all from scratch and only cost $4.80. You could add in a package or 2 of cornbread mix at .33/ea or make it from scratch for about .15. So if you made scratch cornbread that would put the whole meal at $4.95! Not bad. If you need help with cooking ides and stuff, pm me. I have a homemade chicken pot pie that is to die for and feeds an army for about the same $$ as this meal.
OH, don't buy cans of veggies or fruits - either buy fresh or frozen you get more for your $$ that way. You can buy inexpensive fruit in the freezer section add it to generic yogourt and viola - tasty and healthy snack. Bake graham crackers, they won't be perfectly shaped like the ones in the store, but kids don't care. Also, if you can swing 1 trip to SAMS - you can get HUGE bags of raisens and other healthy snacks for the same prices that the regular sized containers are at the store. It is really amazing how much more you get at Sams for your $$. Especially on cereals like oatmeal and cheerios!\
Edited to add: That you can freeze tomatoes, applesauce and such! I buy the HUGE sizes from sams and then portion them out into baggies and freeze them. Also check out the price of frozen ground turkey. It tastes better than beef and is better for you. I have changed over almost completely to this and my family doesn't know the difference. It is .99/lb here.
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Kim
Mama to Michael (11/99) & Elizabeth (10/01)
Good friends are sometimes God's apology for giving us some of our relatives......
Last edited by Wiggles12 : 02-07-2003 at 01:05 AM.
Location: Not only did I not not fail statistics, but I got an A!!!
Posts: 1,672
here are some more ideas
We are also having a very tough time right now and so I have gotten pretty good at eating cheap...
I have been making all our own bread, which is not only lots cheaper, but also a ton more yummy!! I have made this spread for sandwiches which is really good, just take a cup of cooked beans(or canned if you buy canned) and mash them in a pan with a little water, garlic powder and oregano and serve on the homemade bread...my little ones LOVE this and so do I. I add a little shredded carrot for veggie or a shredded apple for sweet and a change. Again, scratch cooking helps a lot. I went shopping yesterday and bought enough for the month...except the occasional need for apples and bananas and 1 jar of soy nut butter for $4!!! due to peanut allergies....and it was all $103 and that leaves room in my budget for the soy nut butter(1 jar per month) and the apples, bananas and carrots each week.
Veggie fried rice is a great meal to have...dinner one night and lunch the next day...
2 cups raw rice cooked as directed, 1 egg for each person in the family, 1 cup cooked beans, 1/2 bag thawed frozen peas/carrots and soy sauce to taste. I even make tortillas to wrap the fried rice in the next day to make it a little different for fun.
there are a ton of beans and rice recipes that are super yummy but don't cost a ton to make. fruit breads are a good dessert to have on hand if you can swing them. good luck and I have tons of recipes if you are interested LMK
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SARAH
Jacob, my comedian with an attitude is 14
Adam, my Georgia Tech obsessed beauty is 11
Jordyn, my sweet little girl is 9
due to peanut allergies....and it was all $103 and that leaves room in my budget for the soy nut butter(1 jar per month) and the apples, bananas and carrots each week. 
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