Best laid plans.

Meal plans are a necessity in cooking in the cheap.  But, sometimes, being flexible with those plans works too.   I got crescent rolls for 2/1 at grocery outlet yesterday.    I asked my granddaughter what she wanted for dinner.    She sold soup with beans in it.    It took me a minute, but realized she meant vegetable bean soup.   It's one of her favorites.    It's cheap ( about three dollars a full crockpot) and full of no fat nutrition.   I will add the cheezy rolls with it ( crescent rolls with some grated cheese inside, ) one of the fastest dinners you can make and a good one of you hav family members arriving home at different times.  

I don't know of it works on the pressure cooker, I'll have to do some research,  

Kenmore dollar tree still has pronto speghetti.    I had one last coupon.    New coupons come out the first of the month.   For some reason, my mail insert was a smart source.   I didn't see a r d plum this week.  

Vegetable bean soup .   it's a dump soup
Place in crockpot.  

1. 2 cans of diced tomatoes.    ( Italian works - just dint add seasoning ) 
2. 2 cans beans, rinsed and drained.   - I use two different kinds 
3. 4 cups broth - any kind will work 
4. 1/2 cup celery, and 2 carrots, chopped and sautéed  until soft.   
5. 1 T Italian seasoning, 
6. 1 tsp chopped garlic.   

I don't add onions, because we don't like them.   If your family eats them, you can add them.  

Cover and cook 6-8 hours on low.   

You can always substitute cooked beans for the canned  ones.   

I have been seeing u tubes that suggest you make a huge pot of rice or beans and eat them all week.   That is a mistake,    Beans and rice spoil fast- and faster when they are in something,    Especially if you have a compromised immune system, don't keep beans and rice around more than two days or so.  Rice and beans are both inexpensive when bought in bulk.   You are much safer making small batches,    Better safe than sorry.     Rice in a pressure cooker or rice cooker is almost effortless.   

Beans can be cooked on a pressure cooker, or crockpot as well.    I cooked them without soaking them, and they were fine,    

I love appliances that let me set it and forget it. 

The biggest assets you can have to cut your food bill are 

1. Know your prices and always buy at RBP process for the things you use in a regular basis.   
2. Meal plan using family favorites that use inexpensive ingredients that ar efficient cooking. 
3. Stock so you are not caught paying that ugly f word---full price.    
4. Coupon when it makes sense.   A coupon for junk food doesn't make sense.   

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

 Perspective . The  emphasis is on purchasing good food( shelf- stabll/ 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.    

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