25 pantry staples

Having a well stocked pantry means that you don't stop and run to the store when you are on the middle of cooking.  Everyone has a stock set of recipes that you use to cook meals.   Your family likes them and they usually are easy to cook.    This makes it easy to keep a pantry and make a meal.

25 pantry items

1. Olive oil.   Costco is good.     I cook almost exclusively with olive oil.   It boosts your good cholesterol and is a natural oil.    
2. Salt, pepper, Italian seasoning. Parsley. Chilli powder, cumin, garlic, oregano. Paprika.    All these can be had at the dollar store or at grocery outlet in bulk jars.    Costco has many, but grocery outlet has smaller jars so you can be fresher.
3. Sugar, brown sugar, flour, cornstarch, baking powder. Non fat dry milk 
4. Chicken and vegetable stock.   Better than bouillon, or granulas.   Winco has some of that in the bulk isle.    
5. Coffee, tea, 
6. Beans, dried, split peas, rice.  Costco had rice for .33 a pound.   Winco had it for a dollar a pound on a bag.    
7. Pasta. Pasta has a eight year shelf life.    I wouldn't want to keep it that long. But we go through a lot of pasta.   I buy only good brands and I buy it when I can get it less than a buck.  I have bought it for as little as .38.   Coupons for pasta aren't as plentiful as I have seen on the past.    I did get a good brand,without  a lot of variety of shapes at QFC a few weeks ago for .50.    
8.  Pancake syrup
9. A brownie mix 
10. Instant mashed potatoes.   Idahoan makes flavored mashed potatoes and I can get them as cheap as .60 with coupons,    
11. Diced tomatoes.   Diced tomatoes are tomato product that is the most versatile and often on sale for as little as .38 at Winco, almost always at least one we k a month at Freddie's for .50.   
12. Beans.   Several varieties.   Also .50 or close to it at Winco and Fred Meyers.    Win is own beans have no preservatives on them.-- just beans, water, and salt.   Always rinse your canned beans and drain off the liquid.    
13.  Canned green beans , a few corn! 
14. Chicken noodle soup , tomato soup.  Costco has tomato, roasted red pepper soup for two dollars a box.   It's really good and o out basil, milk, amd cheese to it.   
15. One each of a backup of catsup. Mustard, mayo.   
16. Oatmeal, bulk.   (Quacker  oats at Costco) 
17.  A cake mix in case of an emergency.  
18. Bread crumbs ( home made ) 
19. Yeast
20. Black olives ( a treat) or for pizza and salads.   Slices are .58 at Winco.  
21. Refried beans 
22. Cream soup mix ( scratch) 
23. A box of a gratin  potatoes ( Betty Crocker is sometimes BOGO with coupons at the dollar store.   
24. A box of suddenly salad.  I was buying them on the summer for as little as .75.   
25. Salsa 

With this stock, I can always make a meal without going to the store with a few added staples from the fridge or freezer.  We always have grated cheese, eggs, and my rotation meat.    Fresh carrots and celery.   They are cheap and can fill in any number of dishes from soup to roasted root vegetables with a chicken breast.   

Hope this helps. If you are just starting out. Don't expect to get all of,this on one trip to the store.  It takes time.  When you have s well stocked pantry, life is a lot easier.    Your scope of shopping just got easier.    There are on,y a few that nags you HAVE to purchase, and you don't have to try to remember that last little thing to make a recipe.     

You are looking for a loss leader protein that you don't already have , fresh produce to fill in your meals, dairy , and a stock item of you find one and need it.   

Protein sources and what they make

Obviously, what protein sources you use will be your personal preference.....within reason.  

I am going to try and identify common ones and what can be made from them.  Variety of good when cooking on the cheap. It keeps things fresh and not boring.   That being said, I don't know a child that wouldn't just love speghetti and meatballs or pizza  every night.    lol.  

• Chicken.  Target price 1.00 or less a pound.    I only want Foster farms.    Whole chicken is your Best Buy unless you get split breasts for .98 like I did  last week.    Sometimes Winco has thighs for .58; they come out of Idaho.    I roast a whole chicken or cook it on the crockpot and divide it into t breast portions, the dark meet and the bones and broth for soup.    Thighs can be roasted off and either cooked with BBQ sauce or shredded for tacos of pulled chicken sandwiches.   

Chicken pot pie

Roast chicken dinner 

BBQ dark meat , fries , salad 

Chicken and noodles 

Chicken soup.  

Buffalo chicken pizza 

Chicken and bacon Mac and cheese 

Chicken taco

 Chicken enchiladas  

Chicken burritos.    

Chicken Quesedas 

Chicken impossible pie 

Pork loin roast or pork  sirloin,   

Slice off pork chops 

Section off a roast and roast on the oven.    

Slice off thin sliced for BBQ pork sandwiches.   

Cut some into cubes for stew, soup, tacos. Pork hero.   

Cheese : white and cheddar.    Grated cheese is cheaper and gives you more bang for your buck.    When  I grated a block of cheese, we went through four pounds in a week.   The finer grate stretches the cheese.    Target price 2.00 a pound.   Usually at Costco, but you sometimes can do better at grocery outlet.   

Mac and cheese

Pizza

Cheeseburger macaroni. (scratch) 

Ground beef - 7 percent fat.   Best price o see these days s 3.18 a pound at Winco.    Keep your eyes peeled, it's not always advertised.    I buy between three and six pounds.    I make meatloaf. Meatballs, taco meat and crumbles.   Defat the taco meat and crumbles.    Meat balls are baked on the oven on a sheet pan that has a metal screen on top to wick away the fat.    Meatloaf is cooked on
meatloaf pan  that wicks away the fat.    It's not healthy to cook meatloaf on its own juices.    

Tacos

Pizza

Red sauce 

Soup

Enchiladas

Burritos.   

Meatloaf with baked potatoes 

Meatballs with spaghetti. (Red sauce) 

Meatballs over noodles ( white sauce ) 

Meatballs over rice ( sour cream sauce) 

BBQ meatball sub 

Meatballs with brown gravy.   

Tomato basil, Gorgonzola soup and toasted cheese sandwichesn

Pepperoni pizza ( pepperoni is 1/2 price at .50 with coupons at dollar store) 

Sausage, potatoes, peppers.   

Beans and rice 

Eggs 

Breakfast for dinner 

Quiche 

Cobb salad 

getting started, now what.

You have an empty fridge and pantry.    How do you proceed.  

Start my taking your total monthly amount you have for food and divide it by 4.2 ( the number of weeks in a month) .

Now, you are going to divide that figure up by food groups.    Protein is going to take more, followed by dairy and vegetables, staples.


Week 1
Staying in budget, find two loss leader proteins.   Buy enough for eight meals each.  - two per week.   Obviously you aren't going to buy the most expensive meats in the store, and portion control for use in a stirfry or a casserole, tacos, or something you can stretch meat with.  

Fill in with dairy and veggies, maybe a pasta package.

Plan really inexpensive meals to fill out.  A vegetable bean soup. Mac and cheese, eggs.  Use two meals of each protein, and fill in.
Week 2
Next  week, add a loss leader and buy the dairy and vegetables you need to complete meals add a
stock staple in modera
Week 3 concentrate on the perishables you you need to fill out our meals and stick what you can stock  on.

While you are building a stock, pick  vegetables that are plentiful and cheap.    Add frozen peas and

carrots , or just peas.   Buy just what you need in dairy, provided you are not paying  a premium  for a small container.

This is the hardest stretch month you will have.   You are building a protein rotation.    Decide  your protein rotation ahead of time and watch for really good loss leaders.   They won't happen all in the same week.  Occasionally, I find two in a week.

Sausage, cheese, and tilapia are pretty stable prices at Costco and Winco.    Costco is the cheapest for the best quality in sausage in a three pound tube.   You should be able to get six  meals for a proverbial family of four out of a tube.    Cook crumbles and use in pizza, in eggs , in soup.......

Cheese is a staple around our house.  We go through five pounds of white and 5 pounds of yellow in a month to six weeks.    Cheapest at Costco...about twenty dollars for both.    Cheese can make a cheap dinner.

Good hamburger 7 percent, is hard to find on a loss leader.     It happens, but they don't always advertise it.    You have to have an eagle  eye.  

Whole chickens are pretty easy to find ( Foster farms ) for a buck or less.    So,etimes there are chicken thighs at Winco for .68.  


Pick three loss leaders, enough for 8 meals each.   Portion control.  You are based on six ounces of protein a day.      Use cuts while you set yourself up that can be put in pizza, soups, casseroles, tacos with some beans...etc.  in other words s t r e t c h.
Rotate 2 a week of 3 proteins and add a vegetarian.   Make sure you get a lot of cheese in case you





misjudge the protein.   You can always fill in with Mac and cheese and pizza or soup and toasted cheese sandwiches.  

Examples :
First week. Buy two chickens.   Cook. Divide into 2 half breasts, the dark meat, amd soup bones and stock.  Buy 5 pounds of cheese.  About 20.00 worth of meats/ protein.  Bisquick, eggs, carrots, celery, potatoes  2 cans of tomatoes and 2 cans of beans. Dairy

• Chicken soup, cheesy biscuits 
• Roast chicken dinner with root vegetables 
• Pizza 
• Mac and cheese 
• Vegetable bean soup
• Eggs, pancakes, fruit 
• Potato soup.   

Second week.   Loss leader  pork loin.   @ 1.69.    Buy about five or six pounds.   Or pork sirloin for about the same price.    Cut 1/2 inch slices off for a pork chop Dinner.   Roast a small 2 pound section, and then cut the rest into cubes.    Portion for  8 dinners.    You can make tacos, roast pork.  Thinly slice the left over roast for BBQ pork sandwiches.   Pork pie, or stew.    

You still have chicken and cheese.    So. Prolly 2 pork meals, 2 chicken meals, 2 vegetarian with

cheese and a breakfast for dinner.    

Third week: let's say you got 7 percent hamburger.   Buy six pounds.  two pound meat loaf, 2 pounds of golf ball or smaller sized Meat balls, and the rest of cumbles or taco meat.  Portion onto 8 meals.    

Now, you will have 2 beef, 2 chicken, 2 pork, amd a vegetarian or a fish.    

Fourth week, add another opposit. Color of grated cheese/ and or a bag of fish.     This s a wk to try and replenish dairy and stock for the next month.    

Of course, you need to adjust your sources of protein to suit the needs and tastes of your family.   There are a lot of recipes out  there for very good meals that use smaller amounts of protein.   We have a fee meals with a "Slab" of meat.   For the ,oat part, using smaller pieces and adding them to other ingredients  uses less meat.    Sloppy joes use less than a hamburger would.  You can add beans to taco meat.   Or use refried beans on the bottom of the taco shell and add meat amd cheese.  Remember. Cheese is a protein too,  So you can use less meat and still get six ounces of protein a day.    

Chicken thighs at .68 a pound can be cooked and shredded for pulled chicken sandwiches or tacos.   

Or cook, add BBQ sauce homemade at the last minute and serve with home style fries or French fries (3.00 and change at Winco for five pounds.   

Our matrix for meals is 2 beef, 2 pork or chicken, 2 vegetarian, and  a fish or shellfish.    By rotating a loss leader a week, and identifying what kinds of protein you are going to buy, you can eat well.   On a 75.00 a week budget, I would plan twenty dollars for a protein.     

That buys: 

4 chickens 

10 pounds of pork sirloin. 

6 pounds of ground beef (7 percent) .

6 pounds of pork sausage at Costco (Jimmy Dean ) 

10 pounds of cheese ( Costco)

That is less than four dollars a day.    The best way to assure that you have good food all. Moth is to buy loss leader protein. Buy vegetables and fruit in season, the dairy you need, and stock items you find at RBP.  By making meal plans and portion control, you can have food on the pantry at the end of the month.   With some families, if you put a whole chicken on front of them, they will eat a whole chicken.   Dietary guidelines say six ounces of protein a day.   No one needs a whole chicken.   

After you get to the point where you are stocked, it's easy just to go to the store and buy your staples to fill in and a loss leader.  Some weeks, you won't have to go at all.    Your pantry will

have the ingredients for a. A fiery of ,eat you amd you can meal plan from the from the freezer and pantry.   

Meal plans

• Meatballs and rice w sauce , stir fry mixed veggies : zucchini, carrots, celery, peas, peppers 
• Pizza ( parents night out) salad. 
• Tuna melts , salad 
• Sausage, potatoes, peppers,  rolls , salad 
• Breakfast for dinner 
• Tacos, refried beans and Spanish rice 
• BBQ chicken thighs fries, green salad 
• 
  

Fred Meyers ad for tomorrow.

Quick Fred Meyer ad

QFC
Ham 1.49
Grapes 1.99
Broccoli, cauli.  .99
Milk 4/5
Corned beef 3.99



Fred Meyers
Grapes 1.88
Pot roast 3.47
Point cut corned beef 2.77
Best foods 2.49@@
Sour cream/ cottage cheese ,99@@
Hillshire farm sausage 2/5@@
Berries 2/5
Cream cheese ,99@@
18 count eggs 1.99@@

Saturday madness

Yesterday, QFC had a coupon for a free Marie Cahlanders  chicken pot pie; I ate it for lunch.   I love free.    It goes a long ways to stretching your food dollar.    I feed is on less than four dollars a day and we don't eat beans and rice everyday, omit whole food groups, and starve,    None of us are overweight,

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the Put Dinner On The Table meal train from a different

 pro spective.  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.    

With the lack of sales ads last week, I had to resort to going to the stores and making a quick glance of the in store ads or just walking the store.   It doesn't take long, I can get in and our of a store pretty quickly.  If an isle doesn't have what I need or use, I skip it.    That means I am going down about four isles and across the back of grocery outlet. The freezer is full, so I skipped the frozen isle. I checked the coffee price and moved on to the cheese that I did need.   I stopped by QFC for meds and picked up grapes because they were cheaper and better quality than anywhere else.    Fred Meyers was a planned trip as well as Winco.    They have been my go to chains since Haggens took over Alberways and jacked the prices up.   I go when there is something I need and it's a loss leader.    I plan trips to piggy back on to other errands to save on gas.   We have a very fuel efficient car.    I hit QFC for meds when I got my haircut.   I hit grocery outlet when I had business deliveries to make.    I hit Winco after the doctors.    That means  that Fred Meyers was the only store I went to by itself.   I had planned the trip and knew exactly what I was going to buy.   It made getting in and out fast.    I probably spent less time on all four stores than if I had walked Costco and got in and out of its parking lot.    lol.  I don't do two hundred dollar grocery hauls.   Most of the time my ticket is 15-30 dollars a store.   Sometimes less.  We go to Costco on a need to basis.   It's close to the house and we get gas at the same time.     

I brought home the split chicken breast from Fred Meyers and deboned  them and made stock from the bones.   We'll have chicken soup for lunch.   Mid week, I cleaned out the fridge and noted what needed to be used and what we needed to fill in for perishables for the  weeks meals.   

I can't emphasize enough how important it is to know the answer to what's for dinner question at least early on the day.    It affords you the ability to plan to use up all your perishables  and not waste.   It also staves off the order pizza demons.    lol.   It gives children a sense of security.   

I don't spend a lot of time cooking.   I have found ways to cook things with passive cooking.    I am 70 years old and I am still learning,   I try new things.   I tried rice in the crock pot.  I used a controlled amount of rice so that I wasnt wasting a lot if it was a bust!   I tried brown rice in the microwave.  It works out better for us and is very easy.   You can cook the rice while you cook the rest of the dinner or earlier in the day.   Just remember, rice and beans are not supposed to be left out of the fridge after cooking  more than two hours and not in the fridge when they are in a dish more than two days.   These things spoil fast. It's not worth a few cents of rice or beans to make your family sick.    

Tonight we are having breakfast for dinner.    Last night we had a salmon noodle casserole with peas  and fruit salad.   The cantaloupe I bought for two dollars a fofty cents Sunday was really ripe.   We ate some last night and I out the rest on a green box so that it quit ripening until I got it used up.    We will have fruit again for dinner with our eggs and hash browns.  

Next weeks plans are done and are coordinated to use up things we need to use before pull dates.  I got taco shells with the sauces for a buck at grocery outlet.  It has an April pull date.   Well eat them this week.    

We have a fair amount of lettuce, so we will have salad a few times.    I bought lettuce for the tacos.   We have more burritos and enchiladas on the winter when lettuce is at a premium or doesn't look good.    Flexibility helps stretch your food dollar because you can use the things that are cheap on the marketplace  at any particular point in time.   

The Sunday paper is here.   Will post Fred Meyers on another blog.  

Winco......interesting observation.

I have been watching a lot of grocery hauls from across the United States.   It gives me perspective ( sorta) as to prices other places. A lot of people buy all organic, al lot buy a lot of junk food.   I tend to try for the  middle of the road.  

While watching these, I discovered a very interesting pattern.   These are on the same week of purchase.    One lady bought Classico pasta sauce on the regular jar in Utah for .58 from a Kroger store for .58 if you bought five.    Our Kroger stores (QFC) in Seattle has it for 1.50 each of you buy 5.    Some other lady in another city, paid like 2.16 for the same jar at  Wallmart in Indiana.  
That's some price swing!    It goes to reiterate that your quality of food doesn't have to go down to eat on the cheap.  You just have to find the lowest prices on things and buy them when you are low.    You buy five pasta sauces, and don't buy the green beans that you found on sale the week before.   You still eat pasta and green beans, you just eat more days for the same money spent.  

Last night we had spaghetti and meatballs. Tonight we will have either salmon or breakfast for dinner.  
My focus , now that I have got to the point where I can serve good meals for four dollars or less a day, is to work harder on reducing our fat, sugar, and salt intakes.    It was never bad, I just want it to be better.    It's something to work towards.  

I went to Winco yesterday.    I got a lot of veggies and lettuce that was on my list.    I also got brown rice in a bag.   Yesterday morning I found a microwave recipe for brown rice that comes out in grains rather than sticky rice.    I found a white rice recipe too that I will try another day.   I was using instant and figure that the bagged rice will be cheaper and probably more nutritious.    I cleaned out the vegetable bin and bread basket before I left so I know exactly what we were short of.    This should do us until next week, or the week thereafter.

Put 1 cup of washed rice in a microwave safe bowl with three cups of water.    Cook uncovered in high for 10 minutes.    Reduce heat to 50 percent power and cook an additional twenty minutes.  
I sometimes use chicken broth or vegetable broth for the water.  

Albertsons has purchased their stores back (33) of them in Washington state.    Other companies have purchased stores in Oregon and California.     Haggens will close their last store.    I am saddened because Safeways was the better store here.   The prices were lower and it was a lot cleaner.    Only time will tell of there is an improvement.    The prices while Haggens had control were way to high, we will have to see if things improve.     Fortunately, we have Kroger stores and Winco for other chains and grocery outlet. Costco, and SAMs club.    Competition breeds lower prices.
I will be glad of things go back to having a grocery ad on a regular basis.   It's hard to compare.    I know some things are consistently cheaper at some stores.  

1. Sliced cheese in a lot of varieties are almost always 2.39 at grocery outlet.    Coffee, if you aren't particular, is cheaper at winco and grocery outlet.    
2. Tomatoes and beans are cheapest at Fred Meyers and Winco.   Lately it has been Fred Meyers.    
3. Green beans are cheap at Winco.   Low sodium ones are best at Costco for about .66 a can.   
4. Refried beans are cheaper at Costco, but there is,no variety.    Winco has vegetarian ones close to the same  price.  
5. At any point in time, I can usually find Foster farms whole chickens for a buck or less a pound.   
6. Periodically, I can find 7 percent hambirger at Winco for around three dollars    
7. Fred Meyers is cheap on dairy about once a month.   You can stock that week because most of it has a month pull date.   Sour cream, cottage cheese, and milk.   
8. Costco , unless there is a sale, is cheapest on butter at 2.50 a pound.     Sales sometimes bring a better price, but like this week, you have to buy five and there is nothing else on the buy five list that is a good price and no coupon  match ups. You are laying more for some things to pay less for others.    No 75 percent off this time.   
9. Vegetables are a crap shoot.     Windows are sometimes good......watch!    Grocery outlet sold me a whole bag of apples that were written inside and wouldn't do anything about it.   I watch very closely before I buy any vegetables from them.   Costco is good especially on bananas.    Watch the bags, if even one piece of fruit is bad, you haven't saved anything,    Their prices are fairly consistent through the the year.  That means, that at the height of the growing season, they may be cheaper elsewhere.    It also doesn't pay you of you don't use that quality.    We never, unless we at pot lucking, use a whole box of spinach.    Tomatoes and berries are eaten most of the time , or I can freeze blues.   
10. Black olives are cheapest at Winco.   Hands down!   
11. Frozen veggies are cheapest at Costco wholesale or Winco or Fred Meyers on a coupon,   Bigger bags are better for us because I can take out what I need and save the rest for another meal.    Dollar store potatoes ar good.  Check the country of origin.   Five pounds of French fries are around three dollars at Winco.    Rarely can I find cheaper with a coupon.  
12. I can almost always find yoplait for fofty cents and I can always I can find a coupon for an additional ten cents off.    Yoplait is the lowest in sugar I can find.    
13. Pepperoni is always a dollar at the dollar tree and sometimes a coupon makes it BOGO.   Ditto Betty Crocker potatoes and they have mashed sweet potatoes.  Uncle bens rice is another BOGO when you have a coupon.    Hunts  pasta sauce is always a dollar.   Watch, they are coming out with smaller cans.    It is sometimes cheaper at Winco or Fred Meyers.   My target price is less than a dollar.   I have got ot for as low as fifty cents, but most recently .75.   Pineapple is a buck and there are coupons out there.    Name brand turkey bacon is always a buck ( check pull date) .
14. Bread and buns are cheapest at Winco.   
15. Instant mashed potatoes at cheapest at Winco and coupons can make them as cheap as .60.   

That's a good run down.    If you have questions on the Seattle area on another inexpensive ingredient, please let me know on the comments.    

Shopping anyway you can.......

yesterday, I had to do business in Bothell.   This week, we have gone to Fred Meyers on Sunday, QFC on Tuesday, and grocery outlet on Wednesday.    No store had a large expenditure.   Fred Meyers was a planned trip, that is, we went there and there alone.    The other two trips were on conjunction with other errands.   It makes no sense not to take advantage of an already scheduled errand to add the grocery store.  It saves gas.    In total, I have spent very little this week.   I bought grapes at QFC, the other stores were more expensive and lesser quality.    The grocery outlet netted :

1. Cereal, fiber one with extra protein and almonds and craisens .99
2. Rice 
3. Taco kit .99
4. Sliced cheese
5. Tortillas 
6. A bag of peppers for 1.50.   Total 13.00

I saved more than I spent.   This is an unusual week.  There were no ads, and the only way to get the best of the stores is to go to the best of the stores.    Grocery outlet is not a store we go to on a weekly basis.    I do business in. Bothell once every four to six weeks and I co-ordinate the trips to save gas.   

My planned trips for the two chains this week was to be Winco and Fred Meyers.    I'll do Winco  when I go to the doctor since its on the same neighborhood to finish with a few perishables that are cheaper there.    

The trick is to only buy what you are almost out if, and not to impulse  buy.   I'm still on track for the budget, but I have got everything cheaper than if I had just gone to a store and purchased what we needed.   I spent 46.00 total between the three stores.    

Having ads would have helped, but with the shake up on the food industry here, it's the best I can do. The bottom line is that the house is full of good food and we are eating well on less than 75.00 a week.    Last night we had a vegetable bean soup that had no fat except the little olive oil I used to sauté the vegetables. --and olive oil is a good oil; it increases the good cholesterol levels. 

Planning meals and eating a variety of meats and proteins gives us the luxury of having beef once a week or so and not having too much trans fats.    It also helps to stay at a three to four ounce portion of meat when you eat it.     

  

Grocersies on the cheap is looking at the Put Dinner On The Table meal train from a different

 pro spective.  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.    

It's ad day....

It's ad day and there is,not much there.   QFC was an two week ad.   I got grapes yesterday, but the five for five is not a good one to work with this time. A lot of things that I don't buy or can get at a lower price, there no  coupon match ups.  It's matching the dollar off and coupons than can bring you anywhere from 64-75 percent off.        Alberways is almost entirely exactly alike and there are not many  bargains.    

The last I heard the auction to sell Safeways and Albertsons stores was Feb 22, but it kept being postponed.    I think things should be better when the dust settles.    It's been a long time for this part of the country.    

We have Winco, Fred Meyers, amd QFC along with Costco, SAMs club, grocery outlet, and some things at big lots.  

Albertsons
Top round, London broil, 15 percent hambirger 3.99
Salad kits 2/6 - not a bargain
Cantaloupe 2.99 strawberries 2/5. - cheaper at FM

Five dollar Friday
No real bargains.

Blues and blacks  6 ounces 2/5

I honestly can't find anything on ad that isn't cheaper almost everywhere else.   They want 1.67 for peppers each.   They want. 1.49 for the oranges that are like .58 a pound last week at Winco.    I have purchased naval oranges for a buck  or under  for weeks now.  

Fred Meyers has a lot of dairy and chicken on sake.   Canned tomato and beans were 2/1.
Winco has good prices all the time, they fluctuate, but usually you can find a  find a good price on many things.  

Those have been my two chains for a while now.  
I am  not seeing flyers from many if the grocery stores.  Favado  might help, out but  they are not always accurate.     Sometimes you can match with coupons.  

I am  under my 75.00 a week budget for several months now sticking with Winco and Fred Meyers, adding a grocery outlet and dollar  store run and my regular Costco things.  I am very particular what I buy at dollar store and where it comes from.    I don't buy much.  Some American brands match with coupons for almost free food.

Costco has

1. Bananas 1.39
2. Blue cheese 
3. Oatmeal
4. Bisquick
5. Rice 
6. Refried beans 
7. Green beans 
8. Stir fry frozen veggies 
9. Bacon 
10. Laundry detergent 
11. Toilet paper - paper towels can be cheaper with coupons, 
12. Over the counter meds that the doc orders. 
13. Vitamins on sale 
14. Sour cream and cottage cheese in bulk.  
15. Grated cheese at wholesale club ( 2.08 a pound last time) other flavors are 2.35 or so.  
16. Hopefully brown and serve sour dough baguettes.  

All of this is bought on a need basis.   I don't keep a large stock of them.   I usually have more green beans.   It's one of the vegetables everyone eats.    

Grocery outlet is a good one for coffee sometimes and cheese.  You never know what you are going to find.   Foster farms chicken breast, frozen is sometimes cheaper.  If I don't  know where my chicken is from, I don't buy it-   I prefer Foster farms, but draper valley works.  Buzz words don't necessarily give you the best chicken.  

Thanks Jane

What's for dinner.

Good morning.   Meal plans for the week.  

This week the loss leader was chicken breast for .99 a pound at Fred Meyers ( Kroger) .  I got a half package of ham bits for 2.83 at Winco.    We also have sausage, pork chops, 7 percent ground beef that has been defatted.     ( if defat-ing takes as much as 17 percent of the  away, does that mean that 

It's virtually fat free ?   --certainly it is a lot less fat..   I still have some frozen chicken,    One of the keys is to remember that we only need a sox ounces of protein a DAY including egg.    

Meal plans for this week 

• Sunday: oven roasted chicken breast with oven roasted vegetables ( carrots, potatoes, zucchini and radishes.   (radishes take in a really good sweet roasted taste.    ) 
• Monday: leftover chicken with rice . ( I cooked the rice in vegetable broth and added asparagus, peas, orange pepper, parm, parsley, and salt and pepper.   
• Tuesday: pizza 
• Wednesday : vegetable bean soup , bread - parm- peppercorn 
• Thursday: speghetti and meatballs. 
• Friday: salmon 
• Saturday breakfast for dinner.  ( ham) 

That's about it, one less beef dinner, but we have been doing that lately.    My matrix  is

2 beef, 2 pool or chicken, 2 vegetarian and a fish or shellfish.  Eating a variety of meats or proteins, keeps eating less boring and gives you the best of the meat sources .   Some meats have more fat and than others.   Beef has four more grams of trans fats and cholesterol  than a chicken breast ( 3.5 ounce  of sirloin.   I suspect that if you defat hambirger that is already low on fat, the figures will be closer.   None the less, if you limit your protein to six ounces total in a day as recommended and eat a variety of meats, you should be able to be well rounded without eliminating a food from your diet.   

Less fat, less sodium , less sugar.    

Gone are the days that we would sit down and eat a eight ounce steak.    I never did eat the fatty cuts of meat.    Things like stew meat don't have the fat and ,at eking, so they are best cooked low and slow and I always cut off the visible  fat. 

That's about it.   

Jane 

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the Put Dinner On The Table meal train from a different

 pro spective.  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.    

Eating on four dollars a day.

This is going to be a quick one because I have no time this morning,  

Basically, it dawn on me last night, what I am saying is : you,can eat well on four dollars a day if  you get eight dollars worth of food for four dollars.  An easy fix if you shop wisely.

Lately I have been reading about the food additives that are bad for you.  It still boils down to what I have been saying , watch your fat, salt, and sugar!

  I think it will almost impossible to eliminate all hydrogenated oils out of your diet because of their  widespread  use-  until the food industry finds a new way of manufacturing.    It would be nice to say that we could make everything from scratch , but in this day and age, not many of is have the time to make everything from peanut better to crackers and everything in between and you would probably have to use some fat anyway or your family wouldn't eat it.     You would be cooking the entire day and have so much waste trying to cook for a small family.

Your best is all than anyone can expect you to do.

That's all I can do right  now, back later.  






 Groceries on the cheap is looking at the Put Dinner On The Table meal train from a different

 pro spective.  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.    

Sunday notes

My husband ran in to a lady that was so nice that she offered to return our cart to the store.   She was impressed that I had a coupon book/binder.    That must take a lot of time, she sad.   No, actually it took a little time and very little money to set up a coupon book.   I got the binder from the goodwill.  The dividers and pencil pocket from the dollar store, and some sleeves from office max.  It's not hard to set up and binder with dividers.  

I spend about twenty minutes the week of the month  pulling old coupons while I watch tv, and downloading the coupons for the new month.   Click and print.  Then separate them into categories and file.  Done.   

The inserts from the papers that come in the mail and the paper I get for a dollar at the dollar tree get marked with the date (if I remember ) and filed in a file folder.  Minutes.    

I check favado before I go to the grocery store to see what they think is on special and pull any coupons that will get me more bank for my buck.   

I have got as much as 75 percent off my purchases that way.   I do the math,   If it isn't going to be worth while to coupon or make something from scratch, I don't do it.    

Spending all Sunday afternoon clipping every coupon in five papers even if I'll never use it is a waste.    

We know what we will buy, that we buy on a regular basis.    The junk food....,it can stay in the paper. LOL. 

Onward and upward.   

Our meal plans went out the window last week.   I regrouped and went to easy things I had on hand that my husband and daughter could cook.   

We had 

Roast beef a jus sandwiches and waffle fries ( dollar store fries, not so good) steak fries are good.   

Shrimp stir fry 

Speghetti with red sauce and meatballs. 

Sausage , potatoes and peppers.   

Pizza

Back to normal.    

I spent 10.00 at Winco yesterday .   I'll finish at Fred Meyers today.    My loss leader meat will be chicken breast if they have them, and the cubed ham I got from Winco.    

Fred Meyers has milk for a buck and sour cream and cottage cheese for 2/4.   I already have eggs.    

Cantaloupe, blueberries, and some romaine and radishes should balance the vegetable Bin out.   

That should be it unless something is a grand unadvertised special I really have to have.   

Ps: this isn't meant to be all about me......I'm trying to show how with a stock , in adversity, you can punt and not revert to take out.   All we brought in from the outside last week was a bag of roast beef from the deli, because I was hungry for a jus sandwiches.   And, how you can make best use of the specials and just buy what you need to fill in your perishables and make best use of your protein dollar.    

Thanks for stopping by 

Please share 

Jane 

fm ads - for tomorrow

Foster farms split chicken breast/ drums or thighs   .99
Blues 399
Milk 100@@
Kroger ice cream 1.99
Radishes 2/1
Cantelopev2/5
Red Barron 3/10
Cottage cheese/ sour cream 2/4
Philadelphia cream cheese .99@@

5 ways retailers get you to spend more at the grocery store.

 It's no secret that retailers have spent a lot of time and research to get you to spend more money at the grocery store.  To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

1) they place a really good buy on something really desirable by the entrance to the store.   The plan is to get you into the mindset of putting things in your oversized cart.    Of
If its empty, you have to fill it up, right.  

2)  I just ate a dinasour!   All those taste tests are placed around the store to divert your attention train of thought  and make you want to buy more.   

3) 70 percent of a stores profit is made from impulse buys.   Stick to a list.    If you don't have a specific list, stick to a meat, produce, and staples you need to replace list.   Some stores have no 

Store flyers, so you are flying solo.

So called loss leaders and coupons that at for dollars off a specific total amount purchased  are a way to get you into the store.   They are hoping that you will impulse buy, especially if you have "free money,". Many times the regular things we normally buy every week are at FBP.     Beware.    Buy specials that you need or will need in the near future and stop buying when your total reaches the xx. Dollars.   Figure the percentage of the "free money" and calculate on your head or with a calculator of an ite, is a good RBP.    The more you go over the limit, the less percentage you are going to get off.   

4) just because something is on an end cap doesn't mean that it's a bargain and signs at eye level can be .for the thing on the bottom of the display.  .  Read carefully.   

5) manufacturers  pay slotting fees for the best shelf space.   The expensive stuff is at eye level.   Look up and down for the good buys.  Many times the store brand is just as good and a whole lot less-- sometimes better.    Winco canned beans have beans, water, amd salt in them.   Other higher priced beans have chemicals in them.   Always rinse beans and discard the liquid.    

To reduce distraction 

1) go by yourself .

2) eat before you go.  But, not so much that everything doesn't appeal to you.

3) stick to a list

4) group your list by department so you don't backtrack.    The longer you spend in a store, the more money you will spend.   Get in and get out.

5) if an isle doesn't have anything you need don't  go there.  If you don't have a baby or a pet, why go down that isle?  You are wasting time,   Avoiding the candy and bakery departments won't tempt you.  

6) if you have a husband that hates to shop, but has to go with you, send him on a hunt.   It's in his instincts and you are able to concentrate.   Have a specific coupon, he can find it.  

Freaky Friday.

QFC s freebie is a chocolate egg.    Woohoo.    Chocolate, did somebody say chocolate.  

I haven't grocery shopped . Maybe tomorrow.  

It's good to have easy meals in your pantry or stash to have when the main chef in the house is unable to cook. Wednesday we had shrimp stirfry..I got up and tried the crockpot rice.    I had never tried it before, so I only made about a quarters worth.  It turned out as stickey  rice and a put a reasonable amount of olive oil in it.    We like our rice more like individual grains.    I love my husband and daughter.  

Yesterday I asked my husband pick up just enough roast beef sliced thin at the neighborhood deli.   Surprisingly, enough for two sandwiches was only three dollars.    He cooked waffle fries and the sourdough baguettes in the oven and he made a jus.    Roast is so high or iced, I don't cook it very often.   I still came in with enough food to feed four of us for five bucks.    My daughter made lentil soup.   It looked very good, but I'm not fond of lentils.

Tonight I hope to cook.    Otherwise, we will have speghetti and meatballs.  My daughter is a pro at cooking pasta and the rest just needs to be heated up.

Stocking helps.   I haven't been to the grocery store.  We could have skipped the roast beef sandwiches, but I saw a picture on Pinterest  and was hungry for them.   We could go for some time more.  

After having emergency surgery , I sent my husband  to the store for perishables. He came back with beer and  Pomegranates .   I sent my college aged daughter to Costco with a budget, amd she came home with two weeks worth of real food.

Stocking covers your rear.  

Don't believe everything you hear and only 1/2 of what you read.

I have been reading a lot of grocery and health articles lately.   Mostly because I'm sick and that what can do in bed.   lol

A lot of things might have been true a few years ago, but some don't pass the logic test.    Yoplait yogurt has no HFCS  and no fake sugar in its low calorie yogurt.    Before you go ballistic on somvetching you read, it's best to do a little research.    There is a lot of hype where there is no merit behind it.  

I can believe that boxed Mac and cheese is processed, organic one report said has more fat in it.

Hamburger meal boxes are processed and have very little product in them.  

A study, however, said that processed lettuce in bags or crates has less germs in it than of you wash it. Yourself.  
Sometimes processed just makes sense especially if you have a small family.   Costco stir fry vegetables are a good price. They are frozen and you can take just what you need out of the package. I would cost a lot and take a lot of time to buy all those veggies separately.  

Frozen French fries are as cheap as raw potatoes, there is no Waste.   ( buying at RBP.) cooking them in the oven is good.

Look at what the ingredients are on the package.   How much per pound are you paying.   Is it easy  to make yourself.   Does it have a lot of oil, HFCS, or sugar of salt in it.   Will it save me money if I make it from scratch, or will it take a lot of time.  I made pita bread.... Once!

I read an article today about raised bread.    No gluten, no sugar, to HFCs, no this,no that...WHAT DOES IT HAVE IN IT.

I got mission tortillas for a quarter for ten.   Not worth my time to make them.  

Buyer beware.  Sometimes the healthier version  isn't really that healthy.  

Learn to read labels. Sugar has a lot of names.    Total carbs on the label is the total  carbs less the dietary fiber.  

Ingredients have to be listed in order of volume.  The thing that has the most in the ingredients has to be first and on down the line.   So when a tub of fake butter has water for the first ingredient, I'd be looking twice.    HudroginTed oil has a lot of names.    Palm oil. Coconut oil. Soybean oil, amd probably many more.   They are manufactured oils that use metal in the process.   They stay as a thick substance on the blood.    Not the best, my guess, for heart patients.    I'm not a doctor, I'm just giving an educated guess.

Of something doesn't have as a first ingredient the product it's suppose to b, I'd look again.  How about cheese sauce with no cheese!

Ingredients on labels  are easy to research.   And so is a logic test.  Protein bars , as one person stated, have oodles and oodles of sugar.    If they have well under 20 carbs, that's not oodles of sugar.

Read labels amd ask yourself it it passes the logic test.   Do the pros and cons.  Before you make a life changing decision.

Apples, tomatoes, broccoli, oh my.....

And what do they have in common?        They are all good for us and cost under a dollar a pound.    Wonco always has some variety of apple for a dollar a pound. QFC has broccoli for .99 a pound and a can to docs tomatoes is anywhere from  .38-.68 a can . And, they are good for you.  

I think the biggest yuk factor in the eyes of people towards broccoli is that most people over cook it.    Broccoli is a vegetable that you threaten , not cook.     Cook it until it is crisp tender.    I saw a picture on something) that I thought was cute.   It was called Mac and trees.    They put blanched broccoli in a bowl of mac and cheese.    $how fun is that!  

Apples are good just by themselves, or on a crisp, or cut up and put with cinnamon on your oatmeal.  
How about dipping it on peanut butter.    I found a peanut butter that had very low hydrogenated oil.   Read the labels.     We like apples and craisens in bread stuffing under oork chops.    Gandmas apple cake is moist and wonderful-  just don't try to use fake sugar!     ( doesn't work) .

Canned diced tomatoes are a staple in our household.   They can be side in many ways.   Out of salsa?    Dead of winter and want a green salad!  Chilli, vegetable bean or sausage and bean soup, red sauce?    And many more....


Vegetable and bean soup in the crock pot

Sauté 1.5 cups of the following ( total)  in any combination until soft.

Onion. Celery. Carrot chopped or sliced thin, colored peppers, chopped.
Add to the crock pot

Now open some cans and dump in crockpot.

2 cans of diced tomatoes (15.5 ounces ea)
2 cans of beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth

2T Italian seasoning
2tso garlic powder.

1 cup cooked sausage if desired.

Cover and cook on low for 6-10 hours.   We usually predict when we want dinner and count back.  
Garnish with parm cheese or croutons.


Apple cake

Combine :
1-1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups chopped Apple

Mix together
1 tsp soda
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped nuts ( optional)

Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix by hand ,
Batter will be stiff.
Bake on greased 9x13 pan at 350 for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

This is not the healthiest cake, but, really is any cake!     It's desert!  
We don't eat desert often.   I try to cook come thing once a week.  
Some weeks  I don't get to it.  
This cake is easy and really good.  

I suspect that olive oil would be too heavy to substitute for the vegetable oil.   Maybe some bitter melted for part of ot?   I. Sure you could cut the amount of the sugar a bit depending on the tartness of the Apple.  

That's about all.


Jane

The ads .....

I just got th ads....including grocery outlet!    

Grocery outlet
Foster farms chicken .79. Check pull date!  

Albertsons

Ground beef, 7 percent 3.99
Roma's .99
Grapes 199

Friday only

Progreso veg classics 5/5
Strawberries 2/5

Chicken noodle .69@@$$
Ragu  149@@


Safeways

Ground beef 7 percent 3.99

Ragu and chicken soup same as Albertsons with coupons ( stack manufacturers and Safeways, )

QFC

Grapes 1.99
Broccoli .99

1/2 loin 1.99

Buy 5, save 5 net prices

Butter 1.99
Cereal 1.88. CK for coupons
Red Baron pizza 3.99
Freschetta 4.49
Colgate toothpaste 1.99 CK coupons
Classico sauce 1.49
Mayo 2.49


That's all.  

Stocking for wealth

Buying your groceries consistently at 1/2 pice is paramount o having good food on the table all month and having food in the pantry when the month is over.  

It is just common sense that one should have food in the pantry in case of an emergency.....which can be as simple as a child being home sick so you can't get to the store or that dreaded "s" word.......snow.

Having a controlled pantry is not hoading,    The extreme television shows have given couponing and having more than two cans of beans a inflated bad name.

Our grandparents did it for years.....it was called putting up the harvest for the winter.    1/2 price foods is operating in the same premise as a stockbroker.    Buy when it's low, and sell ( use) when it's high.  

It used  to be that you bought enough product of your staples to last you until  the next sale.    Now I am finding stable prices on some things and sales a little more often, but limited quantities.   How much you stock is up to you.   I have three or four months of some things.    My object is to buy at 1/2 price and hold enough to carry us through the months when we reach the donut hole. ( a Medicare reality) .
I would want a month minimum.  

This will take time.    One can or package at a time.     If you are on snap. You have the luxury of having all your money at the beginning of the month.   That can also be a curse if you don't wisely  budget.    Know your prices, do it on paper before you go to a store.    Buy your monthly bulk purchases first, then divide up the remainder of the money for a weekly budget.   Do it on paper first so that you don't overspend and not have enough for the perishables .

This is what I buy, you might very well have different items.

I buy a ten pound box of oatmeal and a five pound bag of cheese .  Both are from Costco ,  bit sometimes cheese is cheaper at grocery outlet.   You can freeze cheese.   They used to say that grating your own was cheaper.    When I grate my own, we use twice as much because it is a coarser grate.

I have non fat dry milk and bread flour and yeast in my pantry on case we can't get to a store.  

I stock

• Diced tomatoes (.49) Winco or Fred Meyers.    
• Various beans (.49) -.58. Winco ir Fred Meyers.    
• Idahoian mashed potatoes (.60 w coupon) Winco 
• Refried beans, (.88) - Costco or Winco.   
• Pasta sauce, hunts (75-1.00) Winco, FM, dollar store 
• Pasta (.49-1.00)  obviously, I would prefer .49 and double fiber or vegetable 
• Black olives ( less than 1.00) 
• Some chicken noodle soup, pineapple. A backup of catsup, mayo, and mustard.  Best deals around Memorial Day and 4th of July 
• A cake mix and a brownie mix (.88) - Winco 
• A stove top stuffing, preferable for free . 
• Salt, sugar , soda, flour  ( replenish when low) best deals around Christmas and thanksgiving 
• Spices.- Winco has a great bulk isle, you can also it's always get them cheap at the dollar store or grocery outlet     Like a buck.   Chili powder was 3.39 for a Costco sized bottle

• Rice That's about it.    

Thanks 

Jane 

Please share . I have a 120 hit goal.    

It's Monday!

It's Monday morning....the start of a whole new week.     I need to do meal plans ; I have already printed coupons,    Tomorrow there should be a lot more.  
15 minute dinners take less time than driving threw the fast food line. There are many ways to achieve a 15 minute dinner,   The Internet is full of what I call dump dinners.    Basically , they are in three categories

1) slow cooker
2) stir fry
3) oven dinners.

We love a quiche ( aka impossible pie) with sausage and cheese or cheese and vegetables.    There has to be a zillion possibilities.

Soups are easy in the slow cooker.   Anything from split pea to vegetable bean, chicken and orzo. Navy bean.  Clam chowder or potato soup. Chilli.

Costco has the organic, tomato and roasted red pepper soup back.   It comes out to be two dollars a box and is a whole lot cheaper than buying it even at grocery outlet.   We Doctor ot up with basil and blue cheese.

Stir fry veggies are a good price at Costco and go a long ways.   You can add shrimp or chicken that has already been cooked .  Cook it while the rice is cooking, or add ramen noodles.  
Otherwise, you can get stir fry veggies at the dollar store or T Winco for 1.29 or so.   Prices vary.

Mac and cheese ( scratch) is a winner here, as well as tuna noodle, enchiladas, pork chops on top of stuffing with apple and craisens.  Pork chops with pineapple and green pepper, or chicken with pineapple and green pepper.  

Baked potato bar with cheese, broccoli. Chili. Sour cream,

Tex -mex is always a hit.   Nachos, tacos, enchiladas, burritos. A pie baked in a small round casserole with layers of tortillas. Cheese, refried beans, chicken or ground meat taco seasoned,  topped off with refried beans and cheese.   Baked in the oven.  

Pizza, glorious pizza.   Everyone likes it and it can be tailored to everyone's taste.  .

Pasta: speghetti. Meat sauce, primavera. With shrimp and alfredo sauce. With tomatoes, parm, peas and peppers and cut up cooked chicken breast., olive oil.

Breakfast for dinner.

What's for dinner at your house!



 Groceries on the cheap is looking at the Put Dinner On The Table meal train from a different

 pro spective.  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.