We are down to pasta primavera , breakfast 4 dinner, and fish on our meal plans, we ornery much followed them exactly this week. I do think we will adapt a little because our neighbour generously shared green beans with us. So fish and chips might become fish packets. Seems like a no dish Friday to me. We got a notice of free food at QFC. Cookies and sausage! Yum!
Pinterest of full of new recipes and ideas. Reader beware, there are some things that might look like scams, but plenty of inspiration there. Sometimes that's all one need to combat their lazy butt even if we have good excuses-- the dog ate the vacuum. LOL.
I have several u-tubers that I watch. They give me motivation to try new things and organize the house better. There are days when I just need a push to keep on Going. You wonder if life is worth the fight! Whatever works.
She's on her apron is a young mother of four that does grocery hauls ( not inexpensive ones ) , organizational ones, and motivational ones. She fights anxiety, and shows you can function well coping, She u- tubes and sells cleaning products as well as taking care if a household of six with children in school and church activities.
The Kneady homesteader is a gal with I think 4 children and two of them live with she and her husband. She is making the switch from boxed foods to scratch and does Kroger and SAMs club hauls.
I made the cream soup base yesterday and made mac and cheese from scratch. I made it early and put it in the fridge. I put it in the oven when the family came home. Good job, because all heck broke loose yesterday afternoon, I would not have had the stamina to set out and cook from scratch.
Some dinner times are more hectic than others. It pays to be prepared. We would have resorted to pizza or take out. I digress. The Mac and cheese was drier than I would have liked. Next time I would add sour cream or milk if I was making it ahead. When made it, there was cheese sauce on top after I mixed cheese sauce in. Sitting in the fridge must have dried it out some, I covered it with a silicone lid.
I also took the bread they didn't eat all of the other night and I made croutons. That saved a bundle. I didn't t throw away .60 worth of bread and I didn't buy croutons for upwards of two dollars.
I out the remaining slices from the potluck Tuesday on top of the Mac and cheese before I added the topping that I made from bread crusts that were drying in the food processor. It's the little things that add up. They make for better dinners for little money.
Cheap dinners dint have to be hamburger meal boxes. In fact, the cheese sauce mix in those boxes is about the most expensive cheese on the store. I would rather savor a piece of extra sharp white cheese or some good parm than a reconstituted cheese sauce made from the stiff my grandmother used to sell to the farmers to slop the hogs! -- and I would have money to spare. I would have to go back to look, but if my memory serves, it was about 13 dollars a pound.
There are a few things, in my opinion, that aren't a bargain at any price: hamburger meal boxes and a certain brand of chicken . Think nutrition for your money, and cleanliness.
With some effort, a change of attitude, and thinking your our chases, you can eat well on a limited budget.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment