Cheap meals re-visited - What are YOU eating these days?

[Sandi]

I hear ya. Some things are verrrrry tempting there. But, for the other items - excellent value. The two buck chuck is worth it alone, for cooking.

<cough> yeah
cooking.




j/k

I think I'm actually going to go tonight, now that I've sat here making my list of meals. There are a few things that make it worthwhile to drive over for (earth balance, tofu, southern style greens, the aforementioned goat cheese

[heythereheather]

Yes, earth balance is one of my regular list items. And their cheese... oh, the cheese. There's some really good chocolate, too.

So, share your list of meals? Tonight we're having leftovers (meatballs and pancakes for the kids--Anders wants pancakes!) and quinoa salad for DH and me. But I'm now out of meat again. I've cut down what we eat, but my kids are still unreliable about other sources of protein. Oh, the tofu reminds me that I should make fried rice. I chop up tofu into that, but for years I used to chop up chicken breasts. So my kids don't even notice now that I don't use chicken.

[Sandi]

We love their baked tofu (they have teriyaki and thai - but thai is my favorite). The kids don't seem to mind that as much as fresh.

Okay - here's my list - I'm still trying to use up bits and pieces of things, so it's kind of strange at times

homemade waffles with blueberry "syrup" and fresh berries

shrimp fajitas (GET TOPPINGS) - kids will eat bean burritos
corn on the cob with ancho chile butter
sopapillas

vegetable soup (carrots, chard, frozen veg, etc) with flax seed rolls and lentils

grilled soyaki chicken breasts
grilled (canned) pineapple rings
sticky rice
sesame broccoli

leftover rice into fried rice with edamame for lunch the following day

pasta w/veg meatballs (TJs), homemade marinara
broccoli, texas toast

garbanzo burgers on breadsmith buns in freezer with homemade sweet fries

navy beans in crockpot with cornbread muffins and southern style greens (TJs)

GET CREAM SOUP
puff pastry shells with creamy vegetables (need cream soup)

Pastichio (w/spanakopita - have filo, need feta, need greens)

homemade pizza with goat cheese and roasted tomatoes or peppers and caramelized onions

rice and lentils?

taco salad with kidney beans cooked in taco seasoning (thanks Meeshi!) in edible bowls (get avocado?)

asparagus/goat cheese quiche with lime fruit toss

chili and chili mac with barilla elbow noodles

curry garbanzo beans with rice, carrots, etc

[chrissymama]

subbing bc i need ideas.

[lala]

Sandi- garbanzo bean burgers?

omg! recipe, please?

Trader Joe's carries banana waffles for less than 2 dollars a box, and they are gluten and wheat free.

BANANA waffles. makes this banana fan a happy monkey.

Also, the mere fact that since I moved, I am no longer over an hour away from the nearest Trader Joe's makes me ECSTATIC!


I am about to go sit down with the kids now and make out a menu plan for the rest of the week, so we don't end up eating granola bars and juice boxes for dinner tonight.

[beautifulfreak]

Since we got our new Aldi I love that place. We have never had any issues with the yogurt. I love there french style frozen green beans. I also am a big fan of the pecan twirls.

Now you got me thinking about grocery shopping and I so don't want to.

[mamagael]

Originally Posted by beautifulfreak

Since we got our new Aldi I love that place. We have never had any issues with the yogurt. I love there french style frozen green beans. I also am a big fan of the pecan twirls.

Now you got me thinking about grocery shopping and I so don't want to.

Your baby is so stinkin cute!!

We are eating what is on sale. The only things I bought this week not on sale were milk, eggs (medium they are cheaper), and butter. This week two brands of frozen veggies were 10 for $10, so I stocked up. I'm buying meat that has been marked down and freezing it. We are eating some different foods but still basically healthy. Luckily in my town nobody buys organic food so I get lots of it on closeout.

[mamabear]

Color me jealous - no Aldi's, no TJ, no nothin' around here. However, an awesome local food co-op. Just - not discount priced.

[Tara62]

my favorite lately is making a pb and j sandwich using waffles as the bread

[stephanielynn]

egg salad
tuna noodle salad
honey lentils
taco lentils
fried rice with small amounts of meat
turkey burgers with grated zuchhini and carrot in them (ds doesn't eat those veggies, but loves the burgers!)
cucumbers and tomatoes from the farmers' market sliced with almost every meal
cantaloupe and watermelon (lots of bang for the buck) sliced up at the beginning of the week and served with meals all week; applesauce served when we run out
pancakes with bananas, apples, or blueberries in them for bf and/or snack
lots of oatmeal for bf
smoothies to fill out meals
finally cracked a bunch of pecans and walnuts we had, and dh and i (kids won't eat them) can fill out lunches with those.

i make sure to never ever let food go to waste around here. it seems that i spend less money than others by being creative with food and using leftovers to create another well balanced meal somehow. also by keeping meals simple.

[Kerri]

Yeah, I keep costs low by taking stock of what we have and making meals from that. I NEVER throw things out, but will find a way to incorporate it so nothing is wasted. But it's cheap, and we eat really healthy compared to anyone else I know in real life.

Tonight we had pork stew meat (half price, close to sell-by date) in the crockpot with homemade barbecue sauce and used it to make bbq sandwiches. Lettuce from our garden and potato salad went along with it. For breakfast this morning we had one of those big baked pancakes with fresh berries and syrup which was a hit too.

Tomorrow, I'm thinking I'm going to throw some stuff together to make soup so the kids have something easy and healthy to snack on.

Basically, I only buy what's a good deal. I build meals around what's on sale or on hand already. I trade stuff with friends in a similar situation. It works really well.

Kerri

[~Meeshi~]

Originally Posted by beautifulfreak

I love there french style frozen green beans. I also am a big fan of the pecan twirls.

Luna favorite snack are those beans, still frozen. She has some every day.

[Sandi]

Originally Posted by lala

Sandi- garbanzo bean burgers?

omg! recipe, please?

Yeah, absolutely
Ahh - I can't find the link now. Basically, it's a can of beans, rinsed (you can use garbanzos, but black beans make the color "right" for a burger ) - in the food processor (I guess you could mash by hand if you're really adventurous)

Then you add a tiny can of green chiles, bread crumbs/cracker crumbs and an egg to hold it together. If you're vegan, I imagine you could use a chunk of tofu or something instead, but I like the egg in there.

And, pan fry or grill

I like them kind of thin so they crisp up a bit (otherwise you get sort of a mushy burger) but I stopped buying boca burgers because I love these so much. (And they're like $1.50 to make)

You can do other variations, too, like:
black beans, green chiles, taco seasoning or cumin (top with salsa, etc)
garbanzos, oregano, garlic, grated onion, kalamatas or roasted peppers (top with feta, tomatoes, onion, tzaziki)
beans, jerk seasoning, some crushed pineapple - yum

Trader Joe's carries banana waffles for less than 2 dollars a box, and they are gluten and wheat free.

yes - the girls do love those, too

[Sandi]

Originally Posted by beautifulfreak

Since we got our new Aldi I love that place. We have never had any issues with the yogurt. I love there french style frozen green beans. I also am a big fan of the pecan twirls.

I love the green beans - they're about the same as the ones we get at Trader Joe's - but I think the bag is slightly more expensive and slightly larger at TJ's.

Were you in front of me last night, going to Home Depot at like 9:30?

[Sandi]

Okay, so I went to Tj's last night after this thread got my gears turning and some guy showed up to buy my exercise bike. I was able to really shop Yahoo.

BUT - I paid attention (a lot more!) to the prices and OMG - some of the things I buy there can be sooo $$.

For example - they have the log of goat cheese for like $4 - excellent deal, goes a long way and I opted to get that for my pizzas, quiche, and spanakopita (or so I thought).

Then, I went to get tofu and the baked thai tofu is like $3.39 a pack and we need two for our family (and that's a few slices per person). The regular tofu was $1.19 for the same amount as two of those little baked ones. So, I need a lesson in how to do my own baked tofu or a really good way to make it. I used to do braggs and nutritional yeast, broiled until crispy, but I don't have any nutritional yeast or braggs So, even though I got two containers of tofu a $2.40 - that's two dinners and if I had gotten the thai it would have been $12.80!!! Like $10 more!

I also priced the bananas. I can't remember the weight by pound at Aldi -but we had 8 bananas and it cost $1.68. At TJ's the price was per banana so I found the biggest 8 I could at 19c. for a grand total of $1.58 for the same sized bananas. 10c cheaper. Okay, not stellar savings, but good to know, right? (For the CA girls who don't have Aldi)

Frozen veg is comparable. Aldi only had broccoli cuts and we like the florets. I was able to get bags of organic broccoli florets for 2-something a bag. I also loaded up on wild organic blueberries because it's cheaper than a comparable amount of maple syrup for us when cooked. Oh and their corn is the best

Eggs were too expensive for the type we buy. Soymilk was $2.99 a half gallon - comparable. Organic milk was $5.99 a gallon - comparable. Earth Balance was cheaper than our grocery store that actually carries it. Yogurt is super cheap for organic quarts, in comparison to our grocery store. Canned beans were 99c (and no HFCS). Organic Olive oil is 5.99 (we were out and it's over 9.99 at the grocery store here). Herbal tea (raspberry infusion and blackberry infusion) were 1.99 a box - we ice that and drink it with meals, unsweetened, so that's great for us (we usually buy tazo white apricot which is like $4 or $5 a box).

I think with prices so high everywhere else, they're really pimping their prices. There were new signs everywhere saying - look how TJ's saves you money! (on things like tofu or whatever) All in all, it was a good, eye-opening trip!