Sunday, August 14, 2016

5 meals under five dollars - some Way under

Four people, one meal, five bucks.   Better, cheaper, faster.

Notes : this is assuming you have two adults and two school aged children.  It also is predicated on efficient cooking and batch freezing,   

If you out a entire batch of chocolate chip cookies  in front of a child, they will eat an entire batch of chocolate chip cookies.    Portion control a reasonable amount,   

1) chicken enchiladas.   I made them the specified way .  Next time I will make them on the shape of a pie and cut wedges.   They will taste the same. But they will take a lot shorter time to make.  An entire 9x13 pan cost 2.66.  The filling made enough for two meals.    I will need to make another white sauce.    

2) speghetti with meatballs, French bread   : tip: speghetti is often less than a dollar with coupons, sauce is on sale with coupons frequently and meatballs have coupons and is cheaper than making scratch.   A good case in point,    The meatballs at Freddies were 3.69.  The same amount and brand was 1.98 at Winco.   Speghetti .50, sauce .88, meatballs 1.23.  2.61 , homemade bread or biscuits .30. Cheese .25. Green beans .50.    Total 3.66. Enough for lunch the next day.    Leaves 3.00

3) veggie bean soup.   Cheezy biscuits.   Biscuits .60, veggie,bean soup.
     Beans .32, tomatoes 1.00, stock, .50 carrots and celery.   1.82.   2.42

4) tacos, refried beans, rice : rice costs .12, refried.beans ('can ) .88.   Taco shells 99, meat 1.00.    Tomato, lettuce,cheese.  100.  Total.   4.00

5) pizza, green salad
Green salad 1.00.   Pizza : sauce .20, pepperoni .50, cheese .25, crust .45.  1.40: total 2.40

Average for five meals 3.10 each.  


Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspectives. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by 
cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

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