40 Plus meals

Meatball subs
Tacos
Sliders
Nachos
Burrito bowls
Enchaladas. Chicken
Enchaladas, beef
Hot dogs
Salisbury steak meatballs
Meatballs with mashed potatoes, rice, or noodles
Shepherd’s pie


Pork noodles
Pork roast, sauerkraut
Ham and bean soup
Cuban pork chops
Pork Roast
Pork sliders
Pork chops and stuffing


Vegetable bean soup
Chili
Minestrone
Great northern beans and sausage cassoulet
Potato  soup
Tomato soup
 Chicken  corn chowder
Beer cheese soup
Chicken gnocchi soup
Chicken salad. Pecans, chicken, grapes, craisens. Greens.  
Chefs salad



Shrimp tacos
Shrimp stirfry


Pizza , sausage, pepperoni
Pizza, buffalo chicken
Spaghetti
Baked spaghetti


Quiche
French toast ,  bacon, fruit
Scrambled eggs, English muffins. Fruit
Waffles , sausage, fruit or fruit parfaits

Chicken parm
Chickn pot pie
Chicken and bacon cassarole w tater tots
Pepperoni stuffed chicken breast

Chicken nuggets
Chicken stroganoff

Meal plans 8/5/8

Meal Plans are a tool that saves time and money.  It helps to  manage your food in such a way as to avoid waste .

• Bbq beef sandwiches, corn on the cob, salad 
• Pizza
• Chicken noodle casserole 
• Pasta salad ( potluck) 
• Insta pot spaghetti , baked, salad 
• Salmon, twice baked Potatoes. Veggies 
• Breakfast for dinner 

Notes : 

1. Use bbq beef purchased at FM and leftover buns, 
2. Pizza is cheap and homemade (1.00) 
3. Chicken noodle casserole made with chicken cooked in insta pot. 
4. Pasta salad starts with Suddenly salad - it’s a dollar at winco and sometimes the DT and here are coupons out there. 
5. Salmon is pepper corn salmon from Winco, 
6. Breakfast for dinner is a family favorite and everyone cooks,   
7.  Insta pot spaghetti is one we found on u tube.   

Saturday Concepts: Retailers dirty little secrets

It should come to no surprise that retailers have studied our shopping habits and our habits in order to extract as much money from us as possible,   Knowing their tricks, you can make the best of their strategies .

• 70 percent of our purchases at the grocery store are impulse buys. Its 80 percent in England. 
• Impulse buys means that we are nit logical about our decisions,   This could speak trouble. 
• 50 percent of any given cart is usually liquids and snacks.  Cutting these off your grocery list can save a lot.   If you just have to have the pop and chips, set aside a different ‘entertainment’ budget so it’s really visable  as to how much you are spending,   
• The verbiage  10 for 10 in an ad, is to entice you to buy 10.  Unless it specifically states buy 10, you don’t have to buy 10.   
• It is no accident that the snack attack and bakery items bombard you as you walk in the door.   Its a good idea to not go to the store hungry or uptight.   Your resistance is down and you will spend more.
• Stock to your list. Make a list, or at least know what categories you are shopping for.  Of you shop to replentish stock, take a quick inventory so you have a good idea that you need dairy, and produce, and quite possibly a rotation protein.   Do keep a list of staples that you are noting are dwindling. Watch for a RBP on those things.   
• Don’t impulse buy, but do take advantage of an unadvertised special if the price is at your buy price or below if you can readily use it.   One time I walked onto QFC and Local chicken was .50 a pound because they needed to be cooked that day or the next.  I bought three and went home and cooked them.  It was then that I researched and found the easiest way to cook a chicken.   
• Offering basket coupons is another way to get you into a store. Pay attention to the minimum amount that you need to spend.  The closer to that minimum amount you come to, the more percent off you are saving,   Be sure to include the coupons you may have on items so you don’t come up short.   Only buy things that are at or close to your buy price.   Its not a bargain if you buy things that they have already marked up the 20 percent they are giving you for instance.  
• Manufacturers pay slotting fees to get to display their merchandise in preferable places.  Notably the end caps and middle shelves.  Some chains get upwards of a million dollars for the pro ledge,   You have to know that the companies are going to still make a profit and that cost is going to be reflected in your purchase price.   Look up and down.   Consider the store brand. Those brands are mostly name brands that manufacture for  the stores.   The cost is remarkably different.  Mild green chillies at Winco for Winco brand are .66.  The name brand is 1.28.  
• Knowing where things are on the store helps.   You can, for instance, pass a lot of hamburger buns at Winco until you get to the bread isle and find the cheapest Winco brand buns.   We are talking 1/2 price.   
• If a store is offering hot  dogs on sale cheap especially on a holiday weekend, you can bet the buns will be full or an inflated price.   This is why you shop at two stores.   
• Shopping  at two stores gives you the best selection of produce and with some ad watching, the  best prices on any particular item on your must have list.  That being said, being flexible can save a lot of money.   
•   Certain stores are have a reputation for the best price on certain things.  Fred Meyers has a huge bag of English muffins for 3/5 all the time.   It used to be by the eggs, but now that they remodeled, I will have to hunt it up again. 
• Going with a clear view in your mind of what you are specifically looking for is you best hedge against falling for the impulse buys.

Breakfast for Dinner

Last nights dinner cost .65 a plate.   We had Texas Toast french toast, bacon, and cantaloupe .

The Texas Roast was purchased at the Franz Bread store for 1.13 a loaf ,.  The cantaloupe was 2.00 at Safeway's and it was huge,   The bacon was 2.43 for 12 ounces at Winco.   Eggs are .88 at the Kroger stores.  We have a lot left to incorporate into other meals.   I made extra french toast and froze it so we can toast it for breakfast.   

Our average this year has been less than 4.00 a day and we supplement granddaughter and grow a stock.  Four dollars a day is what we spend totally.   You can’t call it four dollars  a day when you have to spend ten dollars a day to get the ingredients.   What we have left from last night’s dinner, we can incorporate into other meals and still maintain a four dollar  a day budget.   

Its buying what’s on sale and incorporating it into meals.  Not everything on a sale ad is on sale.   Its FOR SALE, but not necessarily on sale,   There is a drastic difference sometimes  just between stores for the exact same thing.   Picking your store for the best prices that week is a good tool in reducing your food costs.   Going to more than one store is essential .  No one store has all the lowest prices.   And, no food is going to do your family any good if you are feeding it to the garbage disposal.   

French Toast 

Mix eggs with a little water or milk and some cinnamon and nutmeg,   Soak bread in egg mixture,   Cook on frying pan or griddle until browned,  turn and cook  the other side.  I put the toast on a cookie sheet and kept it warm in a 250 degree oven.   

My husband cooked the bacon between paper towels in the microwave while I cut part of the cantaloupe.   

All in all, dinner was really fast, easy, and cheap.    We still got protein, starch, and a serving of fruit. 

Hauls ... 39.78

7/29/18

Dollar tree

3 pasta, Barilla

Safeways

Cream cheese

4 frozen veggies

Green grapes

Spinach

Lettuce

Total

14.33

Total 17.33

8/1
QFC
Classico pasta sauce .99
Beef patties 7.99
Taquitos 5.49
Yoplait .40 with coupons
Ice cream 3.50
Total 22.45

Chain store ads

QFC

Eggs .88
Tillamook ice cream 2/7
Kroger brats 2/5


Buy 5,save 5
Classico .99
Kraft dressing .99
Yoplait 10/5
Beef patties 6.99


Alberways
Cantaloupe 2/4
Lucerne cheese 2 lbs 4.99


Fred Meyers

FF grill Paxks .99
Kroger bacon 3poumds 10.99
Country Ocen bread 3/5
Grapes.99
Cherries 1.68
Milk 1/2 gal .99
Pears .99
Pork shoulder .99
Eggs .88
Strawberries 2 lbs 3.99


DIGITAL COUPONS

Folgers 5.99
Lean cuisine 4/6
Skippy 1.99
Lunch meat 2.49
Classico sauce .99

FRIDAY and Saturday only
Digital coupon
Cereal .99

Another installment of how did she do that?

 Last night we had hot dogs. Oven fries, and a fruit platter.   Its the season and we had grapes, cherries, strawberries,  blueberries and raspberries.

We continue to spend less than our 4,00 a day budget,  I did, however, prorate our case of hamburger purchase,  Zaycon is out of business .

How did she do that!   Meals that are super cheap, especially when you efficient scratch cook

1. Beans, rice, and cornbread .  Rice in the insta pot is easy. Ditto the beans,   Scratch beans and rice save a ton of money,   Bagged Reid rice can be 50 cents a serving,   Homemade costs .02.  Cornbread is another cheap side.  My family doesn’t eat cornbread, so we make beer bread.   It, too, is really easy,   
2. Spaghetti w pasta sauce .   Sour dough bread takes 10 minutes and costs a quarter. 
3. Split Pea soup. 
4. Homemade pizza.  Another one that is cheap and easy. 
5. Bbq chicken (leg portions) and oven fries.  Leg portions  can be less than a buck a pound. Potatoes are a quarter a pound here,  wash potatoes with vinegar water.  We have a dedicated brush,  cut potatoes in eights, dry with a paper towel.  Toss with olive oil and  sprinkle with  desired seasoning,  we use garlic pepper.   Place on sheet pan and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes,or until done. 
6. Mac and cheese,  scratch Mac and cheese is easy.   Start with a white sauce mix (homemade) add grated cheese.   Cook elbow macaroni until done,   It takes 2 minutes in the insta pot, quick release,   Use a quart of water for a box of pasta.   Have been finding Barilla at the DT.  Put the Mac and cheese in a baking pan and top with a breadcrumb mixture of breadcrumbs, parmesean  cheese and parsley,   Bake at 350 until heated through.  We use homemade breadcrumbs, real parmesean cheese.   You can have real foods and still stay on a low budget. 
7. Stirfry,   Stirfry s t r e t c h e s.   A little meat,    When you are butchering your bulk meat, you can often set aside bits of meat for stirfry,  add veggies and you have a meal.  Add rice or top ramen noodles,  
8. Fried rice, 
9. Cheeseburger macaroni,   Scratch takes no longer than the box and has better and more ingredients,   When we dissected  a box  of mix it had 4.2 ounces of macaroni including the take weight, and a 1.57 ounce package of cheese sauce that didnt have any cheese in it,  It did have a whole lot of things that we couldn’t pronounce .   The recipe is on the blog.   
10. Tuna Melts.   
11. Nachos,   
12. Breakfast for dinner,   Pancakes, waffles, french toast, eggs, fruit,   

The best tip I can give, is to develop a set of meals your family likes that use inexpensive sources of protein,   Keep a stock of shelf or freezer safe foods that you will use to cook those meals,  buy stocking when prices are low,you can maintain a 4-6 week supply of ingredients and you will avoid the pantry is empty and there is 4 days until payday syndrome.   Its a nice place to be.  It doesn’t happen overnight,but it can happen.   

Monday Kitchen Management

Kitchen management is a tool that saves time and energy.  By prepping your weekly food, you do things in big batches and wash up once,  

Reminder of meals,

• Hot dogs , french fries fruit 
• Pizza salad 
• Salisbury steak meatballs, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots, 
• Chicken salad, rolls 
• Salmon, rice, green beans 
• Chicken stroganoff , salad 
• Breakfast for dinner 

1. Wash kitchen floor 
2. Wash and disinfect counters and sinks and drains,
3. Clean out refrigerator and dump anything dead.
4. Put stove vent screen in dishwasher, 
5. Wash potatoes and cut french fries, soak in vinegar and put on container for tonight, 
6. Wash fruit and put in containers 
7. Make salad and oit in paper towel lined container 
8. Cook chicken for stroganoff and salad 
9. Check to see of the rice mix is full. 
10. Fill the oatmeal, flour and sugar canisters. 

Notes : 

Peas and carrots were a dollar at safeways,   I bought seven bags including white corn, peas, greenbeans. Peas and carrots and mixed veggies,   This should last us untIl they go on sale again. The new crop should be coming in and I expect about September there will be more sales.  Both canned and frozen.   

Meal Plans -week of 7/30/18

Meal Plans  are a tool that saves time and money. A little time before the hectic week saves  a lot of stress during the hectic dinner hour.

• Sheet pan dinner:   Sausage, potatoes,carrots, radishes. 
• Pizza Bread, salad 
• Salisbury steak meatballs, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots 
• Chicken salad, rolls or bread sticks 
• Salmon, seasoned rice, greenbeans 
• Chicken stroganoff, salad 
• Breakfast for Dinner 

Notes: 

1. Sheet pan dinner:   Line sheet pan with. Parchment.  Cut rope sausage into pieces, wash carrots and potatoes, radishes in vinegar water.  Cut potatoes and carrots in uniform sized pieces so that they cook at the same time.  Add all vegetables to sheet pan and toss with olive oil to coat. Season with garlic pepper or salt and pepper.   Roast at 400 degrees for 45 mnutes or until potatoes and carrots test done. 
2. French bread purchased at .95 is the base for pizza bread.  
3. Salisbury steak meatballs is from Betty Crocker 
4. Chicken salad uses the rest of the bread from pizza bread 
5. Salmon is purchased at Winco for 5.00 a pound.  Green beans are frozen from the sale at Alberways.  
6. Chicken stroganoff is a Betty Crocker recipe . 
7. Breakfast for dinner -everyone cooks, using Texas toast from the bread store and bacon and fruit. 

Grocery Hauls

Winco
Steak fries 1.06
Mama Rosa Pizzas (8) 4.98
Cherry tomatoes 2.28
Beans .96
Rope sausage 2.58
Bacon 3.48
French bread .95
Total 20.83

Fred Meyers

Cherries. 1.88
Butter 2.50 less 2.00 coupons for 2
Tortilla chips 1.25
Classico sauce .99
Salad dressing mark down .79
Diced am 2.00
Total. 11.64

Total. 32.47

Safeways

Vegetables 1.00
Yogurt .33
Grapes 3.54   (1.77)

Total 8.54

41.01

Saturday Concept

For years I have been reading all I could about cutting food costs.  It has been a constant adjustment for rising food costs ,  availability of foods , and a new approach to eating basic food instead of so much processed foods.

Our media blitz is full of store pick up food and ready prepped food.  All this is more expensive than doing it yourself.  Duh!

Groceries on the cheap takes a different approach to buying food.   Instead of buying 1 day, 1 week at a time, you are buying to replenish a small stock.  Sales are on a 4-6 week basis.   By taking advantage of that, you can save a lot of money and still have good basic food.

By sticking to basic food and avoiding a lot of processed food, you can eat better and spend less.  That’s  a good combination.

In addition, buying in bulk when it makes sense is a really good tool in lowering food costs.   Rice in bulk at Costco ( we dont have Sams Club or BJ’s here ) makes white rice 02 a serving.  Oatmeal is .085 cents a serving as opposed to .40 a servingfor instant that takes no less time.   Flour at Costco is .08 a cup.  That makes a batch of muffins even with fruit added less than a buck instead of five dollars.   It makes pizza crust .19 instead of 1.50-2.00.  A loaf of sour dough bread is upwards of 2.50.  It takes ten minutes and .25 to make it.   Other than the dealing with the very hot oven, a child can make it in ten minutes hands on time.

There is something about a hearty bowl of home made soup and hot crusty bread that is nutritious and satisfying.  It is one of the cheapest meals you can make.   It can be one of the most efficiently cooked meals as well.  That’s a winner in my book.

Another concept is simplicity.  The least amount of things in your cart simplifies grocery shopping.   When you buy a rotating RBP protein and stick to one cut of meat per variety, you save money and time.   The concept is to buy one meat or protein source a week and rotate in a 4-6 week interval.  In other words, If pork loin is on sale for .99-1.69, you buy enough to eat that protein a specified number of times a week.   In other words, we eat pork loin in some form along with chicken three times a week.   So we need six servings for four weeks.  That is because if I cut a roast from the pork loin, we have enough for a Sunday dinner type roast meal and a pork slider eat agin sometime in the week.   This saves time an money. The other three days we eat boneless, skinless chicken breast.  It, too is purchased for a dollar or so if possible.   It is possible to purchase bonless, skinless  chicken breasts for as low as .88.  It may take a few minutes to prep and portion control.

Hamburger is purchased at the RBP as well.   We eat beef once a week.  Buying hamburger in bulk, cooking it until it is no longer pink and de-fatting it is a good way to cut fat and costs.   Portion control it in quart bags and put the quart bags in a gallon bag and mark it with the date.

We have a side by side refrigerator.  I have marked the freezer shelves(bins) with beef, chicken, pork, and fish or veggies.   It makes live simpler.  We eat fish once a week as well.   Please don’t buy tilipa.  It is as far as I ca tell garbage fish from china.

If you don't have a side by side, you can by baskets from the dollar tree and label the with a laminated label and put on with zip ties using a punched holes.   Yes, that takes time, but you only have to do it once.

By picking a limited number of meats that are versatile, you save time and money.   Chicken breast, hamburger and pork loin are all very versatile.   The internet and cookbooks have literally a ton of ideas so you wouldn't have to eat the same thing for months.  That being said, the average family eats a variety of 7-10 dinners.

Eating vegetarian two nights a week helps too.   Our family likes breakfast for dinner.   It’s a way to involve the whole family and it can be a cheap meal.   Or not.

Using these ideas,  we can eat an entire week of dinners for the cost of two dinner at your door meals.    And, you still have to cook those dinners and do the dishes.   LOL.

Sample meal plan :

Breakfast for dinner :  french toast, fruit, eggs 

Pizza - vegetables and pepperoni or buffalo chicken

Pork roast, mashed potatoes, vegetable 

Pork sliders, oven fries, salad 

Baked salmon, seasoned rice, green beans 

Vegetarian chili, sourdough bread 

Spaghetti with pasta sauce, sourdough bread with garlic spread, salad 

In concept , you can save money and cut your food costs by :

Simplifying the food that you buy

Shopping at a variety and more than one store. 

Buying in bulk and stocking when prices are low. 

Portion controlling your food.   No one needs to eat the better part of a two pound roast.   LOL 

Planning meals and cooking scratch efficiently 

Eliminating waste by portion control and morphing  leftovers.  

Friday recipe: Italian hamburgers

Sandwiches on the grill and a salad is a good choice for hot days.  The salad can e made early in the day. 

• hamburger buns. Toasted 
• 
  
• 4 ounces tomato sauce 
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce, divided 
• 
  
• 1 egg
• 1 pound ground beef 
• 3 T dry bread crumbs 

• Mozzarella cheese 
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce with the herbs, 

• Mix tomato sauce and herbs in small bowl or the can 
• Mix together the sauce, ground beef, egg and bread crumbs .

• Shape into 4 patties. 
• Broil or grill patties until done and no longer pink 
• Place some sauce and some mozzarella cheese on top of meat patties 

Place dressed patty on toasted bun 

Thursday grocery Hauls this week

Winco
Roma  tomatoes .77
10 lbs potatoes 2.56

Previous bread 7.88

QFC
4 lean cuisine 6.00
Raspberries 2.99
Total 8.99

Total 12.32-week

Chain store ads

Note:  FredMeyers does not have a paper ad.  The prices are from favado and sometimes include coupons to find or load.  My husband says that he is getting a pop up on his phone fror an ap.

Fred Meyers - the best bet this week. 

Classico Pasta sauce .99 @@

Kraft dressing .99@@

Sour cream/ cottag cheese .79@@

Hebrew National 2.99

Folders coffee 5.99

80/20 ground beef 3.49

Blueberries 5 lbs 9.99

Cherries 1.88

Butter 2.50

Pumpkin pie 4.00

Alberways 

80/20 beef 2.99

Grapes 1.77

Milk 1.79@@

Frozen veggies 1.00

QFC

Berries 2.99

Grapes 1.99

Digital coupons -

Lean cuisine 4/6

Ice ream 1.99

Red Barron pizza 3/8

How did she do that?

Sweet and Sour chicken or Pork 

• Cook rice in insta pot or rice cooker:  insta pot place equal parts rice and water or broth in insta pot.  Stir.   Cover and seal pot.   Push the rice button. 
• We used pork cubes from a dollar a pound pork loin.  , a can of pineapple from the DT and a slice of red pepper from peppers purchased for.88.
• Sauté meat cubes (1 lb)  in a little olive oil on the sauté feature until cubes are browned.   Add 3 cups water.   Seal and set the insta pot on manual for 35 minutes. 
• In saucepan on stove : make sauce.  1/4 cup brown sugar , 1 T cornstarch, 2T vinegar, 2T soy sauce, 3/4 cup ketchup, 1/3 cup reserved pineapple and slice of red pepper, diced small  .  Cook on medium heat until sauce has thickened.   Measuring the ingredients before starting to cook helps make this go smoothly.   
• Add drained meat and canned pineapple cut into chunks into sauce.  Turn heat off and pour sauce ,meat and fruit over rice.
• Cost: less than 3.00 for 4 servings. 

    

Kitchen Managment

Kitchen management is a tool to save time and money in the kitchen and make the hectic dinner hour less hectic.

Reminder of meal plan

• Skinny, creamy chicken enchaladas 
• Pizza
• Hamburgers, hot dogs 
• Pork chops 
• Salmon
• Pork stew 
• Breakfast for dinner 

1. Clean out the refrigerator and dump anything dead.
2. Wash refrigerator and clean the bins and shelves 
3. Wash kitchen floor 
4. Wax south side cabinets 
5. Wash and disinfect counters and sinks and drains 
6. Cook chicken for enchiladas 
7. 
   
8. Scrub potatoes and carrots 
9. Check the seasoned rice mix replenish if necessary. 
10. Make muffins 

Meal Plans

Its going to be hit hot hot this week here .

Meal plans are a tool that makes life easier and saves time and money.

• Pizza , green salad 
•  Breakfast for dinner 
• Skinny creamy chicken enchaladas (BC) 
• Hamburgers/hotdogs, parmesean fries , 
• Pork chops, apple, craisens dressing , green beans 
• Peppercorn salmon, seasoned rice  salad 
• Pork stew, sourdough bread 

Notes

1. Pizza is a favorite here.  Its a good averager—when you are going for a 2.00 average protein, you need some really cheap meals to offset the more expensive ones.   , The cost of pizza is a dollar a cheese pizza.  Saving bits of meat and veggies from other meals adds toppings for almost free. 
2. Breakfast for dinner can also be a good dinner for an average. 
3. Hamburgers uses buns from Winco at .75.  It always pays to know your prices and where things are the cheapest  .  The bread store is good for bagels, English muffins and loaves of low carb bread, but buns are more expensive than Winco.   This time, they had no bread sticks that were low priced.   You just have to “roll with the lunches, so to speak and adapt to what is a good price.   I plan to have french toast for breakfast for dinner because Texas toast was on the 4/5 racks  
4. Pork chops and stuffing is easy and you can put it in the oven and leave the kitchen when the kitchen is hot  
5. Salmon is from Winco and its really good, not too spicy    We make seasoned rice mix ourselves, rice, chicken or vegetable stock and herbs. 
6. Pork stew takes minutes in the insta pot.  Again, you can set it and leave the room. 
7. Skinner chicken enchiladas is a Betty Crocker recipe and is easily adapted to be scratch,   Find it online,   

  Pricing is sooo important,   With the procuring of food at a RBP, you can eat well on a limited budget.  I have heard so many horror stories, that I work hard to teach people how to eat a reasonable balanced meal on a low budget and buy good food.   We have salmon, tilipa is dirty food,  Buying real food instead if fake is always good,   Buying local chicken is always good.   Learning safe food handling procedures  is good,   Buying produce in season is good.   Buying in bulk when it makes sense is good, using coupons when it makes sense is good.   Anything can be bad if it’s over the top,

Thursday: Grocery Hauls this week

Saturday

Franz bread store has military and senior discount of ten percent on Sunday and Wednesday .

White bread .99

Four for  five dollars 

Bagels 

English muffins -2

9 carb bread 

Sour dough loaf 

Total. 7.88

 

Kitchen Hacks

...Tips and tricks to make life easier.

• Having a basic food pantry /freezer reduces your stress because you have the peace of mind knowing that there is always a meal in the house. 
• buying basic food at the lowest possible price and in bulk when it makes sense saves money and time.   
• 70-80 percent of all grocery purchases are impulse buys.   Avoiding impulse buys save money.  Stick to a list or at least get a good idea of what you need before you shop.   Studying the ads for produce in season and a rotation protein on a 'real' sale.  
• Meal Plans just make life easier.  
• The internet is full of ideas for new recipes or variations of old ones.  Switching up recipes helps to keep things fresh.  
• That being said, the average household has 7-10 dinners that almost everyone likes to eat.   rotating the same 10 meals makes you only eat the same things 3 times a month,. 
• Celery and Carrots are cheap and versatile.   
• On a four dollar a day budget, you need to average your protein at 2.00 a pound.   This is believable by having a couple of vegetarian meals a week and buying versatile meats that are low in price when bought on sale.   Chicken breast can be as low as .88-1.00 here at times.   Stock 4-6 weeks.  Pork Loin can be as low as .99.  Again, buy bulk and butcher it yourself.   
• Stick to basic meals.  We like Italian  and Tex mex.  I surmise that others do as well.   Many ethnic food has many inexpensive meals.  Rice and beans, bubble and squeak, fried rice, spaghetti and sauce ....
• Waste not, want not......with a little attention, many bits that may be thrown out can be recycled.  Anything that can be put on a pizza can be frozen and gathered for the next time you make pizza.   Ditto. Bits of veggies for vegetable soup.    Even good, but somewhat wilted greens can be used for fish packets.   (Layer spinach or wilted romaine, cooked rice, white fish, a green veggie on parchment. Wrap it up and bake,   
• Portion control.  Its good for your waistline and your pocketbook.   Buying bulk meat and portion controlling meal sized packets saves a lot of waste...or waist!   
• Taking a bulk package of hamburger or ground meat and frying it up until it’s no longer pink, then draining it and de-fatting it is the best and easiest way to store hamburger.   No thawing, low fat, and dinner can be made into any number of entries faster.   Tacos in 10 minutes.   

Pick up meals ......

We have all been there.  The day has gotten away from us and suddenly its dinner time.   The enemy of any food budget is take out or worse going out for dinner.   At the cost of one dinner out for one p reason , you can feed two people for a week!   Thats probably why I could count on one hand the amount of times during my childhood that I waste fast food or food in a restraunt.  

Having a few quick and easy meals that aren’t premade food gets you beyond the  ‘crisis’.  

• Spaghetti and meatballs 
• Nachos 
• Sloppy joes 
• Salmon, baked potatoes, frozen or canned veggie 
• Tomato soup and toasted cheese 
• Egg sandwiches with English. Muffins. Fruit 
• Chilli
• Impossible pie 

All of these take minutes to prep and a lot of them are a step away from the freezer or pantry.   Keeping a pantry or freezer with some basics helps.