What would you buy with $117?

[Leilamus]

That's our food budget for the next two weeks and I'm not sure where to start. It's three of us really cause the baby isn't eating much for solids now. In the house I have brown rice, wheat flour, eggs, soy milk, and other assorted odds and ends. I'm just wondering what is the best way to stretch tihs money? We usually do cereals for breakfast and lunch is just DS#1 and me, DP takes left overs to work usually. Thanks for any ideas!!!!

[becoming]

Without knowing details about your diet, here are the meals I personally would make on that budget:

1. Scrambled eggs, bacon & toast
2. BLTs (using whatever bacon is left over from #1)
3. Tuna & swiss melts
4. Chili dogs
5. Black bean burritos
6. Spaghetti
7. Vegetable soup
8. Veggie omelets
9. Sloppy joes
10. Grilled cheese & portabella mushroom sandwiches
11. Meatless pasta (we do bow-tie or penne pasta with tomatoes, mushrooms, butter & Parmesan cheese)

And then I'd probably do 3 nights of either canned soup or frozen pizza. Not the healthiest, but a good way to stretch the money.

[Starr]

Here are a fw of my simple, cheap meals we do

Eggs- are relatively cheap and can be made many different ways
Pancakes- filling, cheap, and easy to make
Grilled Cheese
Canned soup
Pasta with a little garlic and olive oil
Hotdish type foods, all in one, make a big batch and have leftovers
Rice

[Benji'sMom]

eggs and pancakes or buscuits

Rice croquetts (I assume you won't have to buy biscuit mix because you have the dry ingredients for buscuits, right?) http://hillbillyhousewife.com/savoryricecroquettes.htm

Rice and lentils: http://hillbillyhousewife.com/tacolentilsrice.htm

You could make refried bean burritos. I use 1 lb dry pinto beans, cook them then mash them up, then heat them up in a skillet with some oil and a chopped onion. Wrap in tortillas. DH loves these way more than canned refried beans. And pintos are the cheapest bean at the store!

Stir fry: http://hillbillyhousewife.com/vegetableslomein.htm

I'd probably by a chicken and make some quesadillas, then maybe some chicken salad sandwiches with the eggs, or maybe maked one of the creamed chicken dishes here : http://hillbillyhousewife.com/creamedchicken.htm

then I'd make some chicken & veggie soup with the chicken bones -at least 3 meals from one chicken!

[caiesmommy]

Rice and bean dishes! buy a jug of tomato juice as your sauce...sooo good

tofu stirfry with onion, garlic and frozen veggies..make a peanut sauce to go on top! served with rice

leftover pasta...end of the two weeks when the veggies are gettinng soft throw them inn pasta sauce...

pancakes with fruit(peaches..mmm) whatevers on sale

sorry thats all i got for now..ds needs boob

[darbyalycen206]

Just write out a menu and list! I generally feed myself and 2 kids for $110 or so per 2 weeks. I made an excel sheet that will total everything up for me, so I can stick to my budget. Watch your grocery ads, buy stuff on sale, and don't buy prepared food when you can generally make your own for way cheaper. Include fresh produce if its affordable where you are. It is definately enough money to feed everyone, and you don't even need any Top Ramen! Look for recipes that have few ingredients. Look for recipes that use ingredients you already have. Some of my faves are:

Homemade pizza
Baked BBQ pineapple chicken (some BBQ sauce, some chicken, can of pineapple)
Balsamic chicken and onions w/ spaghetti noodles (got that recipe on here!)
Quesadillas/tacos w/ black beans
Homemade Pancakes
Baked potato bar
Slowcooker chili- makes enough for 4 large family meals

make your own if you are ambitious- pita bread, naan, pizza dough, bread. Good luck!

[blissful_maia]

I would buy loads of the cheap fruits and veggies (potatoes, carrots, onions, apples, bananas, etc.)

Cereals in a huge bulk bag and some almond milk.

Eggs and cheese.

Lots of beans and canned tomatoes.

A few loaves of bread.

Flour and other baking ingredients for making muffins, bread, pancakes, etc.

Frozen fruit.

Brown rice.

[courtenay_e]

Two cheap roasts. make one, freeze one for next week. Make the roast monday, maybe with potatoes and carrots. Tuesday make soup out of the bones and some odds and ends. Make homemade bread with it. Wednesday make breakfast. When we're BROKE we eat pancakes one week and waffles the next (same recipe, different "face" on the food). Thursday make hot sandwiches out of the end of the meat from the roast. Friday we make pizza. We make the dough, use canned tomatoes and spices to make sauce, etc. Saturday we have something veggie...stir fry or lentils or rice and beans is cheap. Sunday, we usually have a potluck with friends or family, and I make brownies or muffins as our "share" of the dinner. Your budget should get you that stuff pretty darned well.

[Radish4ever]

I'd scope out loss leaders from your local grocery stores - the cheapest items that they put on the weekly sales flyer to get you in the store! We almost exclusively eat loss leader fruits and vegetables and meats!

[celestialdreamer]

I adapted my "emergency menu" to fit someone who eats gluten products and assumed you eat meat. You mentioned soy milk so I left out dairy products, but cheese can be a cheap alternative to meat. I'd make a strict meal plan before I left to go shopping.

eggs (4dozen) $8.00
oatmeal (1 large or 2 small) $4.50
butter/margarine (2) $5.50
jar of yeast to make bread $7.00
bananas (5lbs great snacks for kids, in smoothies, etc) $4.00
in-season cheap fruit (freeze half for week 2) 4lbs/.99lb $4.00
PB butter (if your family can eat it) (2 jars) $4.00
dried beans (3 bags) $3.50
spaghetti noodles (2) $2.00
canned tomatoes (2) $2.00
canned tomato sauce (2) $3.00
frozen veggies (3 spinach, 2 corn, 2 green beans) $7.00
fresh carrots (5lbs) -snacks, dinners, carrot bread $2.50
fresh red potatoes (10lbs)- dinners, oven fries w/lunches $7.50
2 whole chickens (1.49/lb) $10.50
2 cheap roasts (1.99lb) $16.00

Total (from Safeway.com before tax): $88

You could add on whatever things like condiments, snacks, and fruits and veggies you wanted to round it out. Do you have access to a farmer's market? It can be super cheap this time of year.

With the above list I'd make things like scrambled eggs, homemade bread, oatmeal with fruit, homemade granola, PB and banana sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, beans and rice, chili w/biscuits, roast or chicken with carrots and potatoes, leftover roast or chicken in soup w/ canned tomatoes & frozen veg, quiche with frozen spinach, and so on. HTH!

[krankedyann]

Rubber chicken meals. If you can get a chicken for 69 cents a pound, it can go a long ways.

First meal, roast a chicken with some veggies and eat some of the meat. Debone the meat and make stock from the carcass.

Second meal, use most of the remining chopped up meat in a casserole.

Meal three, make soup with the stock and any leftover meat.


I'd also do a lot of beans and rice, casseroles, and soups. Also, if you can get it, alternative grains like quinoa- solid nutrition and it's not expensive if you can get it out of the bulk bins.

I'd change breakfasts to soaked oatmeal out of the bulk bins- it's cheaper and more filling.

[Leilamus]

thank you!!!!!!

[MamaChicken]

Good one!

Originally Posted by Benji'sMom

Rice and lentils: http://hillbillyhousewife.com/tacolentilsrice.htm

Tried this yesterday - I liked it a lot and DH and DS thought it was very good, too. Thanks! DS had just been asking for brown rice, so great timing.

[simplepamom]

Ok, This is what I Would try- SuperWalmart by me has Turkey for 68 cents a lb. Buy a 20 lb turkey. I would get the largest bag of cheap potatoes i could afford- make mashed potatoes - extra- the next morning I would have potato cakes for breakfast (scramble and egg and add the mashed potatoes- fry.) The turkey would be a meal that night, turkey soup, enchiladas, sandwhiches, casseroles for meals to come. The soup is the least expensive so I would definately make that- even if it is served for lunch every day. Simmer those bones and skin to get broth. Other cheap meals from this- cook some noodles in the broth, add turkey and a veggie for a noodle casserole. SO far you spent $15 on the turkey, $5 on the potatoes (give or take), $2 on 18 eggs- and i am guessing for 3 people this will last a week. You can cook your rice in the turkey broth, add turkey on top, a veggie if you like, and top with a can of cream of soup for an easy dinner too. Ok so, maybe $2 on noodles, $1 on a can of cream of soup, say $3 for a bag of frozen veggies for both casseroles and soup- so I think I am being generous in saying you spent $28 and you had turkey one night, turkey soup, turkey noodle casserole, turkey rice casserole, and potato cakes for breakfast. Another breakfast could be scrambled eggs- though I Think I would do a breakfast casserole- bread, eggs, potatoes, cheese- and it makes more servings so you will be able to reheat and serve at least twice, probably 3 times. So add $1 for bread, and $3 for cheese. Another great breakfast is baked oatmeal- say $2 for the oats. A bag of beans will go a long way- make baked beans, or bean soup, or refried beans, beans and rice..... If you can find it (I just got some at my walmart the other day)- 10 lbs ground meat for $10. This would take you to about $45 so far- and you can make tacos, meatballs, meatloaf, hamburgers...... Even if you can't get it that cheap, you can spend $10 on ground meat and probably still have enough for your family of 3 to eat several meals. You can stretch what meat you do get by adding cooked mashed lentils, kidney beans, etc. If you got tortillas you could do turkey enchiladas one day, beef another, refried bean another- or add refried bean to either turkey or beef to get full on less meat. Ok so figure about 1/2 your budget is gone right there, but I think it took care of all your dinners, most of your breakfasts, and some leftover lunches. IF you make meatloaf, you can have meatloaf sandwhiches for lunch. If you have the tortillas you can make tortilla pizzas with only a few etc ingredients (and depending on the cheese you use for other dishes you may have the cheese already)

Brenda