I'm going to Costco with little money and need staples list..

[mykdsmomy]

Hi mamas! I need to go over to Costco today. We are very low on cash and I admittedly hate to cook
However, I need to buy staples so I can come home and do some cook and freeze ahead meals.
I know for sure I want to get some cheap beef to shred for frozen burritos, but I'm having a hard time coming up with other staple-type-quick-good-tasting-CHEAP-healthy-foods that I can either make ahead or throw together quickly.

We have a large family to feed. There are 8 of us (although the baby doesnt eat food so it's really just seven mouths to feed).

Any ideas for a staples list or meal ideas before I go? Thanks

[Eman'smom]

I guess it depends on your budget and how much you really hate to cook, but things like flour, beans, and rice are sold in huge quantity cheap. I like to get the pre-shreaded cheese and freeze it in smaller containers, we do the same with with chicken breasts and thighs. It helps to know how much things cost in your area. For example, chicken goes on sale at the local grocery store for less that Costco, but Costco is cheaper the rest of the time. KWIM? I also like them for things like TP ect, I don't like to run out of those types of things. They are also good for frozen veggies and fruits in bulk.

[rainbowmoon]

this is just a list of things I have bought there that go far;

pickles
peanut butter
granola bars
mac n cheese
tom paste
onions
in season produce
bread
bagels
butter
canned fruit
packaged quacamole

[kdabbler]

I'm a big fan of buying their massive bags of frozen broccoli and stir fry. Couple that with the Ling Ling pot stickers they have and you have a pretty easy and filling dinner or two. I throw the pot stickers into the stir fry to cook through first then the veggies or the broccoli. Serve it all on a bed of rice.

With a family of your size, I would definitely check out the produce section there to do some stews or casseroles.

[michelle524]

i would definitely get lots of beans! you could make chili (if you need an easy recipe, pm me). also, i would get canned tomatoes. they work in the chili, and i also make a stew type thing of chick peas and tomatoes or white beans and tomatoes.

pasta and rice would be good. maybe pancake mix for a breakfast for dessert night? i'm assuming you don't want to make pancakes from scratch.

what about soup and bread?

i don't shop at costco much so i'm not sure what they have that's worth it.

but you could freeze chili, or lasagna and pasta and my stews are pretty quick, so I don't freeze them.

good luck!

[momto l&a]

The romaine hearts are a good price and make a fair amount of salads. Much cheaper for us than buying one head of romaine at a grocery store.

They have big bags of beans, never tried them though. They also have rice but its not brown

[momaste]

You'll probably want to stick with whole foods and less packaged stuff. They have big bags of rice and beans, about as cheap as you could get. Soak a ton of beans overnight, then freeze them in meal sized portions so they're convenient to use when you want to. I make lots of bean dishes and love them, so it's no hardship for me to use up tons of beans!

Potatoes, onions, garlic, and carrots are always super cheap, too. I recently got a 10# bag of onions for $3.00. You could buy a package of sausage and stretch it - make bean soup with just a little bit of sausage; make mashed potatoes with kale and sausage mixed in (yummy!!); have pasta with tomato sauce and a little sausage. Even with a big family, you could probably stretch a package of sausage over two or three meals if you're careful. Canned tomatoes would probably work well for your family, too.

Nonfat powdered milk is also a good deal if you can get your family to drink it. You could always cut it with whole milk if your family isn't used to it, but it's a good way to stretch the milk budget. (Milk is also a great deal at our Costco - organic milk 2 gallons for under $10. Regular milk is even cheaper.) Eggs are a cheap, easy meal and also cheap at Costco. You can get several dozen eggs for not too much money.

[rosie_plus_one]

We pretty much always get a bag of their IQF chicken breasts - it's generally $1.99/lb, but you do have to buy a 10 lb bag.

I find them so convenient to make stirfry, fajitas, chicken parmesan, etc.

[Benji'sMom]

The boneless skinless breast is the #1 selling meat in the US so they inflate the price on those, so you can usually buy the legs and thighs for way cheap, they practically give them away because nobody wants them. So with a bag of leg quarters and a bag of potatoes you can make baked chicken and mashed poatoes, or just boil the potatoes and put some salt and pepper.

Any kind of dried bean is usually less than $1 per lb. You can make beans and rice for cheap. And a lb of dry beans, once you rehydrate and cook, makes a LOT of beans. And a cup of dried rice makes at least 2 cups rice once cooked. It'll feed plenty of people for cheap.

If you can find some pork neck bones for under $1/lb that would also be good for flavoring your beans with a meaty taste, or making soup with. If you make the soups with mostly veggies and potatoes and a little meat, it'll be cheap and filling and still give that meaty flavor. I don't have a costco near me but where I do shop, I can get a 5# pack of pork neck bones for 88c/lb.


We buy big bags of frozen mixed veggies, like the kind you put into soup, and just eat that a lot as a veggie side dish with all kinds of meals.

[Jadzia]

I have never seen dried beans at any of the Costcos around here. Just the huge cans of chickpeas (which are great for making a batch of oven-roasted chickpeas for snacking.) But those cans are too big for me, since once they are opened you have to use it all right away.

I wish that Costco sold like 6-packs of canned beans. I use those a lot.
I always buy the 6 packs of organic canned tomatoes there.

I also always get the big bags of red bell peppers, they are so much cheaper ast Costco and I use those a lot.

[mykdsmomy]

Thanks so much for all the suggestions! I wound up spending more than I planned but I'm hoping to make it stretch for a while.

Now I need to sit down and make lists of what I can make from the ingredients I have on hand and I also need to make sure we are rationing the food instead of letting the kids have a free for all with it.

Usually the cereal, crackers, treats and fruit are gone within a few days leaving only a few choices for snacks and in between meals.....I want them to be able to have things they like but not the entire package of cookies at one sitting, yk?

I plan to make lots of beans this week Thanks so much everyone!

[rainbowmoon]

so what did you get? :
(just curious!)

[mykdsmomy]

Originally Posted by rainbowmoon

so what did you get? :
(just curious!)

Ok, you broke me.. I went over budget and got a few things that were not staples.

I bought frozen breaded popcorn shrimp and a big Stouffers frozen lasagna. Those were my premade quick dinners. (Cheaper than eating out but still quick and easy).

I also got a big package of stew meat that I'm going to marinade and cook up to put in homemade burritos to freeze.

I also bought fruit (apples and pluots and a frozen organic bag of berries) and 4 loaves of bread, turkey lunch meat, provolone cheese, peanut butter, cereal, wheat thins, shampoo, body wash, big tub of dates, huge box of quaker oats, beans, rice, (dried), a variety pack of the Austin crackers/cookies (for the kids lunches), bacon, chocolate chips, romaine lettuce, potatos, avocados, milk, sour cream, salt and a box of the Walker shortbread cookies as a treat for me

I'm hoping to make this week.....burritos, enchiladas, lasagna, tostados, chicken and mashed potatos, popcorn shrimp, a quiche.

I also need to make some of the things I bought this week last for a few weeks.....so we'll see how I do

[peachpie]

My fav Costco deal is the rotisserie chicken. They're HUGE. I get one for $4.99 and serve it one night with fresh fruit and salad or chopped veggies. (We eat a lot of raw veggies just because that's what the kiddos like.) The next night we make something with the leftover chicken-- quesadillas or chicken caesar salad or something along those lines. More fruit. More side salad. I alternate weekly between the green salad mix, broccoli salad, and fiesta salad mix. Or if I already have plenty of salad fixin's, just plain old lettuce.

We also LOVE the salmon burgers. My kids eat them with no bun, just some BBQ sauce for dipping. I like to top them with lettuce and mango salsa. So quick and nutritious. Again with a side of fruit or salad.

I also keep on hand (things I buy maybe monthly)-- frozen cooked shrimp (delicious and fast pasta dish with garlic and tomatoes), spinach pesto ravioli, Amy's pizzas for "convenience night".

We buy a double loaf of multigrain bread every other week and a box of GoLean Kashi. We top the kashi with fruit (usually papaya but that might be local!)

I feel like I have finally got Costco figured out (ummm it only took a year). We spend $70 every other week and $130 on the opposite weeks. For where we live, that's really pretty good!

[melshanezach]

Great deals at
costco I have gotten are, Hamburgar $2.19 pp, Big can of tomato sauce under $2.00 Throw in some spices and make lots of spagettii sauce. you can also use it for home made pizza. Big container of pop corn, pretzels

[FireflyFan]

what is the best way to heat up the rotisserie chicken?

where do you find the salmon burgers? (frozen or fresh meat? )