Guess what! It's Cinco de Mayo.! Unfortunately, I have given my cinci de mayo plates to the goodwill. I had no more room for them in the pantry-- food took over! LOL. Well live and have tacos or nachos for dinner! I can still come up with a centerpiece for the table. I painted a bowl years ago. Making mealtime fun is still something you can do on a small budget. The kids will remember that far longer than they will remember that they had beans and rice.
I remember the times we got to go to the beach and eat far more than the everyday food. We all ate at the table as soon as dad got home from work in,ess he had to stay in town for a special meeting. The. We got Chinese food because dad didn't like it. He wasn't fond of chicken or rice.
Regardless of how much you have to spend on food, you can still make eating memorable. Engage the children to help. They learn things along the way.
Yesterday's food run was very fruitful. I'm into next weeks budget, so I'll hold off for a while. We have a full pantry and a full freezer. It's time to pare down. That's a good problem to have; much better than to wonder where the next meal is coming from.
It is possible to do this on a small budget, Our budget is half of the USDA stats for thrifty. It's possible because I pay 1/2 for most of our groceries and I have self imposed limits on what I will pay for vegetables and meat or protein. We eat well. We don't eat food from Mars, or steak and mushrooms very often. I try for 100 a pound for veggies and two dollars for protein. I can still average two dollars for protein , but only because we eat vegetarian a couple of times a week.
I deviated from the meal plan last night because we had a lot of pork tenderloin left . I made stirfry. It worked and the vegetarian in the family added their own veggie meat.
I'm seeing a lot of food challenges on u tube. Like make a meal from the things in the pantry that are about to expire or Incorporate the things that you bought that make you hit your head and say "what was I thinking?" , or can I do this on 21.00. It's a way of making a game of things.
After trying every way I could to make good rice-- I used a large rice cooker, the oven, the microwave, the stove, and the crockpot. I managed good rice on the microwave when it was brown rice. I finally broke down and bought the cheap rice cooker that I gave away when I bought the big expensive one. It works remarkably well and quickly. It was 16.00. Go figure.
I bought a 25 pound bag of rice from Costco. It was cheaper than buying rice at the dollar store, or anywhere else for that matter. I had been. Using instant or ready made because I couldn't make rice come out the way we want to eat it. The difference in price between raw rice on bulk and the ready made, or instant rice will soon pay for the price of the rice cooker. Not to mention the fact that it is probably better nutrition. Next step is to find brown rice in bulk.
I have been trying to perfect quick scratch cooking for the few things that I buy ready made. Some aren't going to happen, because ready made is cheaper and more tasty. Some I will tackle. I hear there are tortillas at Winco that are ready to fry. That sounds good amd fresher amd womco is notorious for economy food . But, they are really really high in carbs. That's great of you are feeding a teen or you don't have a weight or diabetes issue. They won't work for me. I do buy two kinds of tortillas. A low carb one for me - and the regular ones for the rest of the family. None of us have a Weight issue .
I hear there is a bread store in Lynwood now. At 42nd amd 196th. We are well stocked and the freezes are full so as soon as we pare down the bread basket. I'll check it out.
Groceries on the cheap is looking at the Put Dinner On The Table meal train from a different
perspective. The emphasis is on purchasing good food( shelf- stable/ freezer staples )at the lowest possible cost and purchasing enough to last you until it goes on sale again -- Keeping a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you use on a regular basis. It means that when you shop, rather than purchasing just what you need for a day or a week, you buy a loss leader protein, produce you will
need on sale, a stock item if it's a RBP, and dairy instead. This allows you to put well balanced meals
on the table consistently for a four dollar a day budget per person. You spend more time on the
planning and shopping end of the meal train and less on the cooking end by cooking efficiently.
Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap. My premise is that of you can do it on four dollars a day, spending more isn't hard. You still get more bang for your buck.
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