Meals for two ... on no budget

jbdowns35

Do you have an Aldis grocery store in your area?? If so - SHOP THERE. And definately meal plan out the entire week & only buy what you need.

nekoface

I think lots of people are in the same situation right now. Don't underestimate frozen and tinned foods and dried pulses like lentils and beans. Large bags of rice and pasta are cheaper in the long term and we also get giant bottles of things like cooking oil and dishwashing liquid to refill small empty ones. I make red beans and rice in the crockpot and things like lentil soup and curry.

Get some curry powder and you can make all kinds of curries with frozen veg, lentils and tinned things. If you have soy sauce and ground ginger you can make fried rice. It's tasty and filling. When I was growing up and we were running out of money at the end of the month my mother made fried rice with frozen mixed veg and frozen chicken. If you eat meat, frozen chicken is a lot cheaper than fresh chicken. Do compare the price of frozen vs tinned veg though - I found it cheaper for me to buy tinned peas rather than frozen peas.

Freeze things. There's only two of us as well and a regular loaf is way too much bread for two people to use up. You can freeze stuff like loaves of bread and tortillas and you won't need to buy bread for a month. I know that bread is cheap relative to other stuff, but it's a shame to waste food and the pennies add up.

And one word: coupons. You don't need to go crazy but it will help.

I like this site for easy budget recipes: http://pennysrecipes.com/
They're actually easy and actually budget - family meals from lentils, etc. It isn't one of those 'budget' recipe sites which rely a lot on you having time and space to grow your own carrots or whatever to keep the cost down.

sportyredhead01

I agree planning is everything. Also shop the sales. No matter what I'm craving, I'm usually eating whatever is on sale.
On sale this week were flat iron steaks, red and yellow peppers and romaine for 99 cents a head.
So I ended up with 6 lunch salads for the husband and I for around $13. And around where I work you can't get a sandwich for less than $7.

Also do you have a slow cooker? You can make soups and sauces that would last you two for days! Last week I made an all-day pasta sauce in the crockpot. It should have been called all-week because for the two of us I stretched it by making a lasagna with stuff that we had on hand and ate it from Tuesday-Friday. Then froze the rest.

Never throw anything out. Freeze it and take it for lunch later. :happy:

cmeiron

Check out BudgetBytes.Blogspot.com. Great recipes for people on a budget, I can cut most of her recipes in half for two people and they are CHEAP! You can healthify most of them too.

Holy crap, this is GREAT! I spent a couple of hours poring over the recipes, and I'm in love THANK YOUUUUU

Stefanny91

Thanks guys there rae some great ideas in here, I was a student for three years and I learnt the power of freezing everything!! literally everything! but now feeding two people in much more difficult because boys eat a lot!!

hnewell1030

Check out BudgetBytes.Blogspot.com. Great recipes for people on a budget, I can cut most of her recipes in half for two people and they are CHEAP! You can healthify most of them too.

I also started saving $ on groceries by not tossing leftovers or freezing things for later. I used to just toss leftovers and make a new meal the next day. That was a bad habit!

same here, I'm the queen of using all of everything I buy, left over from dinners are always lunches for me and my son at some point in the week

AnnMombourquette

Hi there,

As a single parent for many years of 2 growning boys, money was tight and I got creative. It's all about the planning and prepping at the beginning of the week. It's cheaper to make from scratch than to buy processed foods and I even had numerous people ask me to show them how I was doing it, right down to taking them shopping (lol).

Saturday morning I would make up a menu and shop for groceries. I would check the flyers and buy things on sale and work my food around them. On Sunday I cooked for the week or most of it. My crockpot was my best friend and savior as I worked 3 jobs and by the time I got home from work, leftovers or crockpot suppers were a must.

Some suggestions are:

- Cook a chicken and debone. Have chicken, potatoes, veggies the first night. Chicken on salads, sandwichs/wraps or add to soup.

- I make soup on Sundays and it's great for taking to lunch (had it today with chicken I cooked on Sunday). Add a carb, yoghurt and fruit, and you have a well balanced lunch. Soups are wonderful in the freezer as well.

- Chili is another great one. Chili with nachos, taco salad or just a bowl of chili. Freezable for days you don't have a lot of time or are between pays.

- I buy veggies in bigger bags such as turnip and squash. I take the time to chop and freeze and then pull out a bag for veggies at supper.

- I boil eggs on Sunday for a quick breakfast, egg sandwich at lunch or add to a salad.

- Egg creations make wonderful omlettes. I use half a cup every morning and add precut veggies we do up and put in containers and grated cheese. Saves on time, is nice and filling and you can customize depending on what you have in the fridge.

By the end of the week everything I have cooked or chopped is gone, no wastage, and I have had healthy, quick and delicious meals. I seen lots of great suggestions here as well.

Good luck!

whatjesseats

Check this out: http://commonground.coop/?page_id=130

My old food co-op has a series of recipes on their site that work out to less than $2 per serving (based on their prices). Of these, I've only tried the red lentil dal so far, but it's one of my favorites and I plan on trying more soon.

ewhsweets

Menu plan for the week and only buy exactly what you need. Try to make foods from scratch and quit eating out.

Agree 100% and if you overbuy for the week...soups, stir fry and fajitas are an AWESOME way to use up that random leftover single carrot, 1/2 piece of chicken, partail bag of frozen corn etc....this way NOTHING goes to waste. Just make sure you keep things like low-sodium chicken stock, whole wheat tortillas and brown rice....on hand

allifantastical

bump

bookworm_847

I have a cookbook called Six Ingredients or Less. The recipes are pretty easy with a lot of relatively inexpensive ingredients.... especially if you hit the sales. The meals are tasty and don't seem to be too bad for those trying to eat better. A lot of them can be frozen too.

iAMsmiling

There's a reason beans and rice are staples in many poor places. Lots of nutrition, cheap like dirt.

Dried beans, onions, celery, other veggies for variety.
Whole chickens or leg quarters when you find them on sale.

concordancia

Get your proteins from eggs and beans, they are by far the cheapest high protein foods.

Look for options for fresh fruits and veggies - sometimes farmers' markets are cheaper, sometimes they aren't. One of our local food pantry's even provides fresh fruits and veggies. Often, frozen is cheapest and it maintains more nutrients than other forms of processing, just make sure their isn't added sugar.

Don't worry about organic - recent studies show that the vast majority of people can't tell the difference in taste, there is no difference in nutrients, and they aren't even necessarily less chemically.

Check out cookbooks at your local library, especially vegetarian ones.

Whole grains are more filling and the price difference isn't enough to make up for the amount you will eat.

Check prices carefully - it isn't always true that bigger is cheaper. Other times, it is vastly cheaper. At one local grocery store, we can get 8 oz of mixed greens for 3.95 or 16oz. for 3.98.

Find the grocery store that is generally the cheapest - some people spend an awful lot of money on gas running around for the best deals here and there.

While you will have to cook for yourself the vast majority of the time, we have recently combined coupons with really good deals for cheap Lean Cuisine. Just remember that the box itself is only a mini meal, at best - you will need to supplement with veggies.

Never use coupons for things you wouldn't normally buy. The only exception is healthy things you couldn't afford without the coupon. But not "healthy" things like protein bars or Arctic Zero.

if you are eligible for SNAP (food stamps) get them and use them wisely.

terriblyn

I'm not sure if you can find it in your supermarkets, but I get these bags of frozen veggies with beans at ours. It costs like 1.40 euros for the whole bag and I get 4 big pots of soup out of it! In the morning I make a huge pot with 1/4 of the veg, a can of mushrooms 2 liters of water and a veggie bullion cube. Boil it for an hour, season with salt and pepper (I add a little thai chilli for a kick) and you are good to go. It makes like 10 bowls!! I like to switch it up and portion out 2 bowls and poach an egg in it, or grate Parmesan, or add quinoa. So satisfying. And so. so. cheap!

0dreamer0

thanks for the post... I'm in the exact same situation. (Economy sucks!)

DMZ_1

Pasta Fagioli (Pasta Fazool in more slang term in Italian)

During the Great Depression, poor Italian-Americans used to eat this all the time. It is inexpensive, reasonably nutritious and good tasting.

And yes, the current economic downturn is nearly as bad as the Great Depression.

It is pasta, white beans and tomato sauce, with cheese sprinkled on top in a bare bones version. It can be spruced up some more if there's a bigger ingredient budget, but you can make due on the bare bones version.

femmefatale22

As others have said PLAN YOUR MEALS! I get the weekly specials and go from there. My bill has gone down by at least 100 .


I go to a wholesale place and by a massive bag of frozen chicken. frozen vegetables, snacks, drinks etc.. everything lasts for a really long time!

NeedANewFocus

Check out BudgetBytes.Blogspot.com. Great recipes for people on a budget, I can cut most of her recipes in half for two people and they are CHEAP! You can healthify most of them too.

I also started saving $ on groceries by not tossing leftovers or freezing things for later. I used to just toss leftovers and make a new meal the next day. That was a bad habit!

wow...had no idea this existed! thanks!

mamamc03

1 - $9 3lb bag of frozen chicken tenderloins (unbreaded ofcourse) = 16 servings of meat
7 - $1 bags of frozen veggies (broccoli, peas, green beans, etc)
1 - $1.50 loaf of wheat bread (not the BEST bread choice...but it's better than white)
1 - $3 half gallon almond milk (or milk of your choice)
1 - $2 dozen eggs (or a carton of egg whites= about the same about of servings)
1 - $3 container of old fashioned grits/oatmeal - it will last forever
1 - $1 bag of black beans or legume of your choosing
1 - $1 bag of long grain brown rice
1 - $3 bunch of bananas
1 - $3 bag of baby spinach for cooking (it's labeled like this and with the greens and is FAR cheaper than buying the smaller bag that is intended for salad. It's the same product...just packaged and placed elsewhere!!)
1 - $3 bag of apples
1 - $10 for supplies to make a soup for the week. (Boil all ingredients with 12 C or water or broth, then let simmer for 45 minutes or until tender) This feeds 2 people lunch for a week!
$1 – bag of lentils
$1 – bag of split green peas
$3 – bag of barley
$3 – bag of quinoa
$1 – onion
$1 – powdered bullion (or just boil chicken tenders and use the broth)

Total Spent: $40.50

MzzNkki

bump