Budget Friendly Food/Recipes

robynd
robynd Posts: 35
edited September 19 in Food and Nutrition
Hi All! New to this. Trying to feed 2 adults for $50 a week. Been doing that with unhealthy food but any ideas for some healthy stuff? I try to keep dinner to about $5, some nights a little more, some less. Spend about $15-$20 for Breakfast and lunches for total of $50. Any ideas?

Replies

  • robynd
    robynd Posts: 35
    Hi All! New to this. Trying to feed 2 adults for $50 a week. Been doing that with unhealthy food but any ideas for some healthy stuff? I try to keep dinner to about $5, some nights a little more, some less. Spend about $15-$20 for Breakfast and lunches for total of $50. Any ideas?
  • adopt4
    adopt4 Posts: 970 Member
    breakfast (or anytime, really) - healthy mcmuffin

    english muffin
    1 serving of egg substitute
    turkey bacon (1 serving)
    fat free cheese slice

    build your mcmuffin from this, you can get a whole week's worth pretty cheaply, i got whole wheat muffins for 48 cents, the egg substitute was 3.49, turkey bacon on sale for 2.00 pound, cheese was 2 something. but it's more than a week's worth of breakfasts and very low cal.

    another idea is rollups, use budding chicken or turkey, a dollop of fat free cream cheese, fat free cheese slices, roll it up in a tortilla. it's cheap per meal and again, low cal, depending on the type of tortilla you use.
  • ngwife4life
    ngwife4life Posts: 569
    This recipe for mini meatloaves is actually one I've been wanting to try but I'm too chicken in case I don't like it!

    http://www.5dollardinners.com/2009/03/mini-meatloaves-and-mashed-potatoes.html

    Also, I have started religiously using coupons and I save 30-75% a week on our household and staple items, giving me some more wiggle room for buying fresh foods! There is a fabulous website for matching coupons and sales. Message me if you're interested.
  • chantybear
    chantybear Posts: 343
    For breakfast just stick to cereal, or oatmeal. Buy big boxes on sale...I love both! Just make sure you measure out the cereal of what ever you get!
  • indianagranny
    indianagranny Posts: 863
    I am not for sure what it costs but to go a long withthe english muffins for lunch get the generic pizza suce and low fat cheese and build a pizza. The sauce goes a long way also.
  • msarro
    msarro Posts: 2,748 Member
    Go back to basics.
    -Eggs
    -Tap water and tea (contrary to popular belief, its usually safe to drink tap water. There are stricter regulations on what goes into the public water supply than there are on what goes into bottled water)
    -Fruit and veggies are cheap, get a lot of them. Especially if you go to farmer's markets where you can cut out the grocery stores and their middlemen
    -You can usually get a cheap deal on meats at farmer's markets as well
    -Oatmeal is cheap.

    50$ is plenty if you're not afraid of the kitchen and are willing to cook.

    Processed foods will be a bit more expensive than fresh stuff if you know where to shop, I promise you :)
  • codykitty
    codykitty Posts: 729
    try making lentils! They are so good for you and filling and one $1.80 package feeds you for at least 2-3 days!
  • msarro
    msarro Posts: 2,748 Member
    try making lentils! They are so good for you and filling and one $1.80 package feeds you for at least 2-3 days!

    Agreed! Beans and lentils both can be bought in bulk for cheapcheapcheap!

    Just wanted to say I live on a 70$ a week budget, with that money paying for food, gas, and entertainment for the week.
  • kerrilucko
    kerrilucko Posts: 3,852 Member
    frozen vegetables are frequently on sale and are as nutritious as fresh.

    The best thing you can do is watch for sales. When we get groceries, we split our purchases between 3 different stores, buying the sale items from each. It just seems to work for us.

    Stick to basic foods- eggs, milk, bread, fruits and veggies. It's those pre packaged foods that cost so much! Buy large cuts of meats (large fish fillets, roasts, whole chickens etc) and either cut them into single portions of cook the hole things and use leftovers in the next day's dishes. I roast a chicken every sunday- we eat the breasts at dinner. The next morning I make homemade soup from the wing meat and the drippings. Then I make chicken quessadillas for dinner with the thigh meat. If there is anything left I freeze it and we use it later to top salads. We buy whole chickens in 3 packs for about 15 $, that gets us about 9 meals worth of meat. Versus 9 boneless skinless chicken breats which would run you arount 25-30$ where I live.
  • molsongirl
    molsongirl Posts: 1,373 Member
    I find that if I feed the girls on odd number days and my boys on even number days, I save almost half on my grocery bill....:laugh:
  • Vogue
    Vogue Posts: 15
    My husband and I lived off of $25 (for food and anything extra) a week for about 6 months when we were trying to save $ to pay off debt.

    We bought bulk Frozen chicken at Sam's Club (similar to Costco) and had chicken almost every night. I would marinate in in like Italian dressing or I change it up so it would not be boring. And I would alwasy try and do steamed veggies with seasoning. You can buy huge packs of frozen mixed veggies and they take only a few minutes to steam.

    Also, Sams and Costco have bulk lettuce and spinach for under $4. That lasts us about two weeks for eating salad every other day or so.You can add the chicken to your salad to switch it up for something more hearty!

    buying in bulk was the only way we made it work....
  • amycakes812
    amycakes812 Posts: 441
    I find that if I feed the girls on odd number days and my boys on even number days, I save almost half on my grocery bill....:laugh:

    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
    Thanks Molsongirl, I needed that!
  • robynd
    robynd Posts: 35
    I'm new, how do I message? I'm interested in the coupon board thing you were talking about.
  • robynd
    robynd Posts: 35
    I've never made lentils. What do I do with them?
  • MyAngelAndMe2
    MyAngelAndMe2 Posts: 49
    I find that if I feed the girls on odd number days and my boys on even number days, I save almost half on my grocery bill....:laugh:


    I KNEW I should have been doing something differently!!! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
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