$30, 9 days, empty fridge

pootle1972

A girl called jack....she's a food blogger who spends pence on food.....check her out.

cocates

Francl27 wrote: »

You could check the dollar store for bread too. Or see if one of your store has a clearance section. Mine always has random bagels and rolls there for like $1 for 6 (plus cheese, deli meat, some prepared food and cut fruit and veggies at 50% off).

+1; grocery stores either mark down after 7:00pm or first thing in the morning.

Plus, http://greatist.com/health/44-healthy-foods-under-1 (hope the link works)

corgicake

Learn to like pumpkin for a week and render one of those giant ones people usually buy to stick on their front porch. Everything but the skin and stringy part of the guts can be eaten. Pull the guts and save the seeds. Cut into chunks with the skin still on and bake at 300 degrees in deep baking dishes until the skin can be peeled. There will be sweet water that will pool in the baking dishes and there will will be some in the chunks. They come out pretty waterlogged.
The water can be spiced and boiled down into a syrup that must be kept in the fridge. Give at least part of this away to people who will use it as this stuff doesn't last. Seeds can be soaked in saltwater and baked until dry. Portions destined for the freezer should have the skin peeled but kept waterlogged. Portions to be pureed should have the skin peeled and excess water squeezed out with a mesh strainer after being run through the blender.

Chicken leg quarters come in massive bags. Separate the skin and bone from the meat. Use the meat as normal. Crack the bones and boil them along with the skin for soup base.

Also, find out if there are any out of town farmers that sell directly to people. Some are as expensive as the regular store but others are obscenely cheap.

Here's how the shopping list would go... pumpkin, potatoes, onions, carrots, pasta, chicken, and processed tomato things. There would be a solid day and a half in the kitchen but it would work.

JoRocka

black beans and rice my friend- black beans and rice.

AngelAura777

Packets of dried legumes are awesome. They are filled with lots of protein, fiber and carbs and are satisfying and cheap. Or after you get paid if you can afford it plant some kale and spinach etc and you wont have to buy those you can just get it from the backyard.

jgnatca

My daughter reminded me this week that sometimes the ready-cooked fresh roasted chickens are cheaper than the raw! Check prices.

Lounmoun

spacelump wrote: »

Alright, you savvy MFP's. I have $30, 9 days til payday, and an empty fridge but for about a pound of chicken and bag of brown rice.

Please share all your frugal meal suggestions for this broke little dieter trying to stay on the fed and healthy path.

I intend to buy skim milk, bananas, some tuna, and eggs. What else might I add as filling staples for meals?

Thank you all in advance!

I would buy things like oatmeal, dry beans or lentils, bread, peanut butter, potatoes, onions, carrots, canned tomato.
Soup is a good dollar stretcher. Bean or lentil soup can be very inexpensive and filling to make.
I use onions and garlic a lot in recipes.
A large container of yogurt usually lasts me a week.
I would cut up or shred your chicken and put it in soup, stir fry or casseroles.
You can do a lot with beans or lentils-> http://www.lentils.ca/recipes-cooking/recipes/
budgetbytes.com has many recipes that my family has enjoyed.

ModernRock

In graduate school I lived on a monthly stipend paid by the University on the first of each month. Keep in mind that I knew how to cook meals far more elaborate than what I list below, but at that time in my life food was mostly an annoyance and only served the purpose of providing sufficient energy and nutrition. I can't tell you the number of times my lunch and dinner consisted of one of the following:

a. Rice and peas, topped with chopped onion, garlic powder, shredded cheese.
b. Tortilla pizza topped with chopped onion, garlic powder, shredded cheese, tomato sauce, any other fresh vegetable on sale.
c. "Succotash" consisting of one can of corn mixed with one can of black-eyed peas.
d. Leftover tomato sauce mixed with rice.
e. Free food I could find at events on campus.

My special treat once a month (PAYDAY!) was a new bottle of multivitamins, a frozen pizza, and a bottle of wine.

_Terrapin_

melodicraven wrote: »

Black eyed peas and Lima beans are both easy to make. And potatoes are inexpensive as well. Big 8-10 lb bag will only set you back a $2-3 and you can do a lot with them (baked, boiled, soup, oven fries, etc).

I've got a recipe for sausage veggie soup that runs me about $10 for everything, but it makes this gigantic stock pot of soup if you're interested.

You can also puree them in chicken stock and add salsa to freeze. Trying it with garbanzo beans this weekend.