Under $3 TF meals - Page 2

[spughy]

I don't know where you are, but if you're close to a lake or the ocean, fishing can be a good source of cheap protein. Resident fishing licenses are pretty inexpensive and you can get cheap but functional fishing rods at most large hardware or department stores. Gathering shellfish is even easier and they are super-nutritious. You can also gather wild greens and fruit - that's pretty much free, except for gas if you have to drive to sources. Look for unused fruit trees in your neighbourhood and if they're on city property, help yourself. If they're on private property, knock on the door and ask if you can pick. A lot of people like fruit trees for the blooms in spring and never do anything with the fruit.

Buying meat in bulk is always a good idea, and frozen fruit in bulk in the summer when it's cheaper... if you don't have a deep freeze, can you get one? I save tons of money buying good organic local produce when it's cheap and freezing it (and by freezing fruits and berries I pick myself, and fish sometimes too).

[ltlmrs]

Originally Posted by spughy

I don't know where you are, but if you're close to a lake or the ocean, fishing can be a good source of cheap protein.

I've been trying to get my husband to do this! He actually used to fish a lot as a kid with his dad (he grew up in the country), but for some reason he never goes fishing here. There are several lakes & a river near by too.

Originally Posted by spughy

You can also gather wild greens and fruit - that's pretty much free, except for gas if you have to drive to sources. Look for unused fruit trees in your neighbourhood and if they're on city property, help yourself. If they're on private property, knock on the door and ask if you can pick. A lot of people like fruit trees for the blooms in spring and never do anything with the fruit.

When I was a kid we used to pick mushrooms. But, I'm too afraid to do that here since I really wouldn't be able to tell which ones are poisonous. The biggest problem with this is that the nearest major park/forest/nature preserve has recently been closed to the public for lack of funding. There used to be a group of wild food foragers who would have "classes," I'm not sure what they do now. We have a mulberry tree on the apartment lawn, but the mulberries aren't very good.

Unfortunately, there aren't that many fruit trees around here except those planted by people who want the fruit.

Originally Posted by spughy

Buying meat in bulk is always a good idea, and frozen fruit in bulk in the summer when it's cheaper... if you don't have a deep freeze, can you get one? I save tons of money buying good organic local produce when it's cheap and freezing it (and by freezing fruits and berries I pick myself, and fish sometimes too).

We don't have a deep freeze and no money and space for one right now. I wish we did though!

[mountainsunshine]

we got our freezer on Freecycle. Maybe try posting there. Try pick your own farms for cheaper produce.

Sarah

[StoriesInTheSoil]

Originally Posted by ltlmrs

4) No more coconut oil, which I was using only for a supplement and not cooking. We cook with lard and butter. However, I can't give up our olive oil, any suggestions? Has anyone tried this one from Amazon? The price is great for a subscribe & save...

Just wanted to chime in that while I've never gotten it online, this is the brand of Olive Oil we use because the tins are the cheapest at our HFS. They also carry that brand in the bulk bins so sometimes I just bring a mason jar and fill it which is cheaper, I just tend to forget my jar when I need it

[SomethingAnonymous]

Originally Posted by my_baby_love

Is there any way you can grow some food, and maybe even preserve it? You can even garden in containers if you don't have any yard space. I save money in the summer on all our salad fixings and greens by just growing a few rows of that stuff in my garden. A package of seeds costs about $1.50 and you can harvest some of the greens all summer long. Plus, we have fruit trees and berry plants and I preserve or freeze a bunch of the fruit to use in the winter. Organic produce can be expensive in the stores, so growing it myself can be way cheaper!

For us living in an apartment and having to do container gardening on our balcony- it was way more expensive to grow than to buy organic produce from the store.

You have to factor all the costs in-

Seeds
Something to start the seeds in indoors
Bigger pots/containers for outside
Potting soil

I bought all of this the cheapest I possibly could in our area- and I think total it was probably $75-100. And we still don't even know if our plants are going to make it or produce anything. Growing from seed for your first time can be a hard thing to do.

Maybe next year it won't cost as much because we will just have to buy some seeds and more dirt... but I was just saying it's not always cheaper to go this route.

[ltlmrs]

Originally Posted by SomethingAnonymous

For us living in an apartment and having to do container gardening on our balcony- it was way more expensive to grow than to buy organic produce from the store.

You have to factor all the costs in-

Seeds
Something to start the seeds in indoors
Bigger pots/containers for outside
Potting soil

I bought all of this the cheapest I possibly could in our area- and I think total it was probably $75-100. And we still don't even know if our plants are going to make it or produce anything. Growing from seed for your first time can be a hard thing to do.

Maybe next year it won't cost as much because we will just have to buy some seeds and more dirt... but I was just saying it's not always cheaper to go this route.

That's been my experience too. However, I've had good success with perennial herbs that were bought as seedlings and planted in the cheapest clay or plastic pots I could find. I've had rosemary, oregano, marjoram, mint, three types of thyme, and two types of sage for several years now (bringing them inside when its cold) and they've paid for themselves many times over, even with fertilizer applications.

This really only works for perennials, though. We go through so much basil in the summer that one plant isn't enough and unless I start my own seeds (not enough windowsill space for that, though), then anything more than one plant is too expensive.

I was actually looking at the cost of canning from upick farms and honestly, for things like tomatoes it is actually cheaper for me to buy canned organic tomatoes than to can my own. Since tomatoes are not on the dirty dozen (or even dirty 25), then canned regular tomatoes are even cheaper. Now I'm trying to find a local source of non-organic tomatoes that would make canning cheaper than buying canned non-organic tomatoes.

I do have a bunch of bulk grains and beans that are arriving next week, somewhat unexpectedly. We placed an order several months back, they were on back order and we expected them maybe two to three 25 lb bags a month and now we're getting all 7! This is good because my pantry is almost empty, but it does mean we'll have to borrow money from next month's grocery budget to pay for it all.

[pixiepunk]

we eat a lot of beans/lentils in a variety of ways. they are soooo cheap when you buy them dry, soak, and cook. tonight, for example, i cooked a bag of chick peas i had soaking since yesterday, and then made a curry sauce to simmer them in. i made a different type of curry sauce to simmer potatoes in (boiled them first) - we always buy organic off-season, but grow our own so we have fresh right now. made about 4 cups of brown rice (soaked ahead of time), and DH fried some summer squash from the garden. this fed 6 people (3 adults and 3 kids) and we have leftover enough for us all to eat for lunch *plus* enough rice to make rice pudding which we'll all eat for breakfast in the morning.

and yes, we totally stretch the whole chicken - from roasting it, to using it for burritos/quesadillas/sandwiches/salads/etc, then making stock from the carcass.

i do think i would switch to commercially available flour if i were you. it's one of the things i've compromised on due to finances. no, it's not ideal. but for us, necessary right now. it sounds like overall you're eating very well, so don't stress yourself out about one thing. and frankly i think it's worth trading for more sources of protein like eggs or milk.

[ameliabedelia]

Lots of great ideas in this thread.

[sunshineafterrain]

Just wondering on your big vs small chicken question-
would the livers, hearts etc factor in?
There'd be more of those with more chickens
but probably smaller...stil, it occurred to me so I thought I'd mention it

[gardengrrrl]

EGGS! are our answer for high quality protein...around here the free range pasture eggs at the farmers mkt are about $4 a dozen. Thats 33 cents per serving. This time of year one of our favorite recipes is Eggs in Purgatory (eggs baked on a savory tomato sauce). feeds 4 for $1.32 total (we have tomato plants out back).