Meals to cook when you have nothing to cook.

Its no secret, the basis of Groceries on the cheap is to stock when things are at a RBP and rotate what you buy.   It takes a while to get to that point, but you can do it even on a low budget.   The key is in the budgeting and not buying junk food.    Oh, cue the groans from the junk food lovers.  Lol.    Hey, it’s not even good for you!

Having the luxury of knowing there is always food in the house 🏡 takes a lot of stress away,   They have proven that poor people have a shortened life span because of the stress.   No child should have to grow up wondering where the next meal is coming from.


 Oh,  what do you do before you commit to a life change ?

There are meals that use ingredients that are really cheap,  it helps to set yourself up with the basics
and a few appliances as soon as you can that make life easy.  This is especially true of people that are trying to juggle many hats.  An insta pot and food processer are basic tools that make kitchen life efficient,    I saved enough to pay for  the insta pot just not having to buy ready  rice and canned beans.

Let’s get to it

•  Potato soup with or without bacon or ham 
• Cheezy potato soup 
• French toast.  There are oven recipes out there 
• Mac and cheese 
• 
  
• Spaghetti and meatballs 
• Omelets - fill with cheese and any vegetable you have
• Frittata - rice, eggs, corn, cheese 
• Impossible pie 
• Cheese and bean enchaladas
• Hot dogs and oven fries , veggie sticks -if you are really short, make dough and make pigs in blankets.   Buns aren’t hard to make, but they are time consuming,   
• Baked potato bar 
• Fried rice 
• Burrito bowls 
• Rice and beans 
• Soup-  any but vegetable bean costs out at about 2.50 for 6 quarts.!  

One if the first bulk buys I would make would be a 20 ish pound if rice and flour and a ten pound bag of oatmeal.  I buy ours at Costco, but I’m sure sams club has  them if there are still sams clubs around.    Of you don’t have a membership, you can usually find someone that will help you that does. 

A serving of oatmeal costs  .085 .  That makes six servings less than a buck including a splash of milk and a little fruit.   

Beans are a penny a serving and rice is three cents.   Buy them at the DT, 

If you can make your own pizza crust and a quick dozen muffins, that saves bundles too.   A pizza crust with Costco bulk flour costs about 19 cents,    It takes about 3 minutes,   My 5yo granddaughter can do it,    Muffins can be done in about 5 minutes and any child over ten or so as long as they are able to handle the oven without burning themselves, can bake muffins,   My mother had us baking at 9,    

Unless it’s in sale  elsewhere, buy bread at the DT.  They also have brown and serve rolls.   Not the best ones I ve ever had,  it they work if you have to.   Learn how to make peasant bread,   It’s easy, again a older child can do it, and it takes no kneading. I would handle the oven.      It is rustic like the name Implies , but it is a good accompaniment to a good bowl of soup or stew.

  I want food I can make with not much hands on cooking.  It was that way when I was holding down sometimes 2 jobs with three kids and a house to run, now it’s that way for health reasons.    It just works.