<p>Would anyone like to take part in a budget food week? Many posters here say they want to lower their food costs, I certainly do. </p>
<p>How about setting a pp amount we can spend next week and seeing what we come up with in terms of menus thatwe can share?</p>
<p>Google “hillbilly housewife”. She has some really low cost menus there. I don’t use them as written but they are a good base and she has some great ideas. Her budget milkshakes are terrific. </p>
<p>It’s difficult for me to be realistic about what I spend on groceries. I can go a couple of weeks easily on what I have hoarded. I am working on using the glut right now and just replenishing the fresh foods, but it isn’t a true representation of costs for what my family eats. </p>
<p>I know that a pack of the double whole chickens at Costco can give us at least a half dozen meals. The whole pork loin and the big piece of beef there also goes a long way. It’s the vegetables that bring up my costs these days.</p>
<p>I was reorganizing my big freezer to get the Thanksgiving turkey in there—I think we should eat out of the freezer/pantry for a while. There is a lot of food in there for a family of 3. I’m thinking of cooking the chickens in the crock pot and making up chicken enchiladas and chicken pot pies…those will come in handy if premade.</p>
<p>veggies are really high. I am growing more next year.
( still waiting to harvest my leeks)
I am stretching things out more by combining things into one pot.
For instance last night I made chicken , risotto and broccoli but I knew if it was all separate that H & D would pick all the chicken out, so I put it all together in one pan after it was cooked.
( OK well ya, I left too much liquid in the risotto and I had to put it in the oven to dry out. :o )
Today I just cooked up more plain rice and mixed it in- so they are gonna have left overs .</p>
<p>I said it before and repeat here again - Costco is a king!</p>
<p>^^ I agree about Costco. Gallons of milk are cheaper than anywhere and don’t “turn” quickly like some from other stores do. 3 dozen eggs at a time make it a bit less painful to throw out the yolks for an egg white omelet. I also find their bread and banana prices excellent. I started my shopping for Thanksgiving there today.</p>
<p>Sorry, I didn’t mean to hijack the original post. Soup, soup, soup. I’m clearing out my cupboards and freezer now…threw out a can of jalapenos that had rusted. Ewwww!</p>
<p>I would probably have a hard time specifically breaking down my food budget per week, since some things I buy don’t get used the same week…like Costco, I swear by BJ’s. I bought this week for meat :
3 lbs of lean beef…broke down into thirds and made some meatballs, loosely based on a recipe I saw on Foodnetwork ( Giada )
I already had the breadcrumbs, parmesan, eggs,parsley garlic and ketchup…didn’t happen to have any smoked mozzarella, so I tried cheddar and my family likes it. I make my own sauce from tomato paste, sauce and puree ( all of which I try to buy when they are on sale ) I used $. 62 in pasta.</p>
<p>Besides the pasta, all of the rest of the food has gotten another dinner, lunches for my daughter and sauce to freeze to make chicken parmesan another night.
The veggies DO take a bite out of the budget, but I save again from buying a BJ’s. There is not the same selection as a regular grocery store…can never buy fresh herbs. Soon , I will plant my winter countertop herb garden and that will help.</p>
<p>It costs about $18.00 for enough Perdue chicken breast to make 12 dinners for husband, daughter and me. $2.99 lb as compared to $5.99 in grocery store…
We have a freezer because we used to feed at least 6 a night when my other kids lived at home and we sponsored an international college student…I tend to fill it up.
I buy cat food and litter there too…my outdoor strays have had to make the move to cheaper food. Not the indoor cats because the cat box is …well messier if cheap food is their diet. Don’t have to clean up after outdoor cats.
Litter is about half price for name brands.
A huge box of cereal…double bags ( daughter eats it every school day ) costs the same as a regular box in the grocery store.
We eat meatless meals 2-3 times a week.
Sadly, I never buy fish anymore…too expensive and daughter at home would rather chew off her own foo than eat fish.</p>
<p>I found the best breakfast to be 2 sqaures of Lindt chocolate (on sale under $2 with 10 sgares), which is 20 cents and cup of coffee at place of work - free. Then you can snack on 2 more squares before lunch. It will also keep you away from other candy bars, since they taste horrible after Lindt. Well, I have been having this breakfast for almost 3 years, it sets me to a very good mood for the rest of the day, no matter what. This is true, I am not joking, I even lost some weight.</p>
<p>Chocolate for breakfast!! WHY did I never think of that?! And esp. for the mood elevation all day–nice! ;)</p>
<p>I find it totally unfair that there is no Costco in my city of 250,000+ people. I keep reading about their great prices on these threads and I can’t check it out!</p>
<p>However, I will attempt to find solace in Miami’s chocolate for breakfast diet.</p>
<p>On another note, much love & hugs to lje for continuing to feed the strays in this tough economic time - you have a good soul.</p>
<p>Drastically cutting back on meat = budget magic.</p>
<p>Make meals of beans or lentils stewed with a little bacon or sausage. 4 oz. of meat can be dinner for a family this way.</p>
<p>I went to Trader Joe’s this weekend and made a stroganoff from their meatless meatballs, browned shallots and mushrooms, and Greek yogurt. It turned out delicious!</p>
<p>I love to make green enchiladas with chicken, but I want to experiment with a meatless version. So next week I’ll make the usual salsa verde from tomatillos and poblanos, but instead of shredded braised chicken breast, I’m going to fill them with shredded fresh mozzarella and roasted corn. (Trader Joe’s has frozen roasted corn kernels!) I will let you all know how it turns out. You can buy some very high end vegetarian stuff for the price of ordinary meat.</p>
<p>Best thing for saving and your health: don’t buy many packaged products. Try to do as much from scratch as possible. Don’t overbuy or overstock. I cook my lunches for the week on Sunday and may make a lentil/rice dish and a soup. I will never give up fresh fruits and veggies because they are health products but I don’t buy much meat of any kind. Oh yes, and breakfast: cooked oatmeal. I save that Lindt chocolate for an afternoon snack. One of my packaged buys. I haven’t changed my habits since they have always been like this.</p>
<p>Food is very inexpensive for my family. I remember when I was frugaling, I could feed my family on less than $30/week. I only buy fresh meat/veg/fruit. However, health care is much more expensive, it costs $150 pop to see a doctor. So I agree keeping healthy is more important than food.</p>
<p>Maysixxmom, Costco is only a good deal if you are disciplined. Many a time I have overspent in that place. There are some goods that you just consume as fast as you get so buying in bulk is not saving anything. It took me a long time to get through my thick head that running out of milk is not a catastrophe especially at my house that was going through a dozen gallons of week and still running out. </p>
<p>I posted my menus for this month on the thread about cutting back. Like many others here, it is difficult to come up with a cost since I have a large pantry and freezer that I draw upon. I only buy fresh fruit and vegetable, milk and egg type products regularly. Everything else I buy when they are on special and stock up on them. Every once in a while, I’ll splurge and buy some things that are treats, like when I go to Trader Joe’s (that’s expensive to me), but then I go through periods when I’ll just use what I have which is what I have been doing this year starting in the summer, and keeping costs as low as possible. I still have a full larder as there seem to always be specials. Costco, though a good price on some things can be beat if you look for specials and coupons. I joined couponmoms.com and several other sites that have all of the the deals at area grocery stores and have found that you can really live on specials.</p>
<p>We found that coupons mostly were for packaged food, which we are not buying. What food items are you buying using coupons?</p>
<p>I thought warehouse stores were everywhere in the country ! I have to drive a half hour to get to mine, but it is worth it a few times a month…plus they have cheaper gas than I can get in my own town ( paid $ 1.89 last Saturday )
I wish I had access to Trader Joes or Whole Foods, though they are sort of counterproductive to the food budget !
I would have a hard time using less meat than I do…husband is a true meat and potato guy.
I have also noticed that beef is one food that has NOT gone up in price…I read somewhere that people aren’t buying it as much, so the prices have held steady. I am guilty for buying tenderloin , but hold onto it for special occasions</p>
<p>Honestly, people who are serious about lowering their food budgets should simply reduce or eliminate their reliance on meat eating. Meat is expensive, and Americans eat far too much of it, which also contributes hugely to our environmental problems.</p>
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<p>I agree with Allmusic, the simplest way to reduce food costs is to go vegetarian. Check out dried beans - you can make a healthy meal for pennies.</p>
<p>$1.89 is our current price. I have to fill my car with the most expensive one though.</p>
<p>We do not eat much meat, only sometime. However, my suggestion is to reduce total consumption of food. It will result in much cheaper health care and less sick days. The cost of health care skyrocket mostly because of epidemic of highly preventable diseases (mostly Type II diabetese and hypertension that cause tons of other health problems). Any respectable doc. will tell you that eating less will reverse them in most cases, they might even specify exact weight target to get off medication. I did experiment myself - measured my Blood pressure and blood sugar on a daily basis with fluctuations in my weight few pounds up and down. I could not believe the huge diff. in both measurements in response to 3-5 pounds change in weight. I do not have either diabetese or high BP. I do not know how many people realize it.</p>