Feeding for 11

First- whew! Lotta folks in that house- good thing warm weather is coming, eh? Send those kids to the backyard lol

Here's a great resource for low-cost cooking-
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmenu.htm

It's an emergency 40USD menu for 4-6 people. The prices will vary by location and it'll be a bit more for you but should help get you started with ideas.

Healthy food is sometimes a matter of balancing activity to meet the food. If you can't afford tofu and diet everything- then increase your activity to match your new intake. You can gain weight on diet food too lol

I would really do a lot of brown rice and chicken as bases. Beans are great and much cheaper if you get them dry. Pizzas can be cheap as well. powdered pizza dough that you just had water is 67 cents at walmart. - yout toppings just need to be healthy - lof fat cheese and stuff. I think the kids would love these.

You might look into Angel Food Ministries if you qualify...

Ditto to the Aldis.

Lots of beans and rice type meals. Soups are often affordable to make and I find that I can use about 1/2 the meat with a soup or bean meal and it still taste good and be filling.

Do meat as more of a "side dish" than a main dish. Have several meatless meals each week.

Buy something when it is in season and on sale, buy a lot of it and freeze the rest (sweet corn in the summer, bananas when you hit a sale can be cut up and frozen and later used in smoothies, etc)

Sweet potatoes are very healthy and you can grow your own. Even if you don't have a big garden you can do potatoes in like a large outdoor trashcan.

Limit snacks for the kids...the pantry is not just a free for all. I have done large gallon ziplock bags for each person and then filled it with pre-measured out snack baggies of that person's snacks for the week (a baggie of fruit loops, a couple granola bars, etc). Everything is labeled, everyone has their equal share of stuff (no bickering) and everyone is in charge of how they snack.
If you choose to eat all of your snacks by Tuesday, that is fine but you won't get another snack bag until Monday.

You can do the same thing with a snack box in the fridge: measured out grapes, carrots, etc for each person. Now I have told my family that if they run out of the COLD snacks, I will go buy more even if the week is not over...the cold stuff is always healthier (yogurt, string cheese, I mentioned the grapes, carrots and so forth) and by george if a kid wants some more carrots I WILL BUY THEM.

Limit desserts. We don't need a dessert after dinner every single night. That can save you money AND calories. :bigsmile:

Just serve milk and water. No sodas, juices, etc.

Use the cheapest thing as the main dish and the pricier stuff as sides: Some sort of bean/rice thing as the main dish and then everyone gets a small hamburger and some asparagus (that was $3 /lb at my store yesterday!) as SIDES.

First- whew! Lotta folks in that house- good thing warm weather is coming, eh? Send those kids to the backyard lol

Here's a great resource for low-cost cooking-
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmenu.htm

It's an emergency 40USD menu for 4-6 people. The prices will vary by location and it'll be a bit more for you but should help get you started with ideas.

Healthy food is sometimes a matter of balancing activity to meet the food. If you can't afford tofu and diet everything- then increase your activity to match your new intake. You can gain weight on diet food too lol

Thanks for posting this... we have 5 kids and 4 adults in my house right now.. and money is always tight. I've been reading the livingonadime.com blogs for about a year, but never have enough to buy the ebooks. I'm sure they would pay for themselves pretty quick, but I like all the free tips on there.

Yeah, I keep meaning to buy the books but the money always gets used up before the books get bought lol There are some great tips on that website and the community there is usually good for tips- some of it can get a little 'sounds like saving money but isn't really' territory but there's so much info there!

Like other posters said, Aldi's is great - just watch the sales.

I also like to shop our local bakery outlet (ours is Sara Lee merchandise mostly) but it is called Gardeners. I can usually get two whole wheat loaves of bread, two bags of mini bagels and two things of whole wheat buns or 100 calorie sandwich thins for around $5 bucks. Often they run specials where if you spend 5 or more, they give you a few bag of buns. Is a HUGE savings and worth the trip if you live anywhere near one.

We also make a lot of things from scratch, rather than purchase the higher priced convenience items. I am really conscious of sales, and will purchase extras when they go on sale of staple items. Things like homemade soup, which we use a base of onion, celery and carrot (all cheap) and add in extras based on the type of soup we want.

We also purchase some items in bulk, if it makes financial sense. We stopped buying one-serving yogurts/etc. and prepare our own with a mix of greek yogurt (Aldi's carries Fage 0%) and low fat vanilla yogurt with fruit we have on hand.

Some of our cheapest meals are

- Baked Chicken (leg quarters are really economical for a large family) with baked or boiled potatoes. To lower the fat content, remove the skin before baking.

- Texas Caviar (Makes a TON - and serves a literal army. We have added chicken and used it as a taco filling, or a build your own nacho bar, and even put it just on lettuce as a salad topping. Very yummy and versatile! In fact, we often make a full batch, leave half for nacho/taco night, and the other half goes in the crock pot with a can of V8 (low sodium or high fiber), refill the can with water and add, then a little bit of chicken bouillon. It makes a great, LOW FAT, tortilla soup.)

1 cup diced red pepper (I omit if it is too expensive in the store)
1 cup diced green pepper
2 jalepenos (diced)
1 cup diced celery
1 chopped red onion (white will work, and is usually cheaper)
1 bunch chopped cilantro
3 15oz cans diced tomatoes with green chilies (most of these canned goods are only $0.59/can at Aldi's!)
1 can pinto beans (rinsed and drained)
1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 can black eyed peas (rinsed and drained)
1 can white corn (drained)
1 can yellow corn (drained)

Chop veggies and add all ingredients in a bowl. Stir. Enjoy!

- Pasta Night. I use whole wheat spaghetti, Hunt's canned spaghetti sauce is the lowest price here, and has a good flavor. We stretch it out by adding more veggies (Zucchini, eggplant and mushrooms are my kids fave when they are in season or on sale). Make your own garlic bread at home - just use old bread or buns and brush with olive oil or butter, sprinkle with garlic powder and toast in the oven.

- Breakfast for dinner (Eggs and pancakes are easy and kid-approved in our house.)

- Baked Potato Bar (use veggies like frozen broccoli, steamed, and anything you have in the house as left overs.

Hope this helps. I really like Skinnytaste.com and TasteofHome.com to help with low cost and healthy recipes.

Edited to add: I forgot we often buy turkey or large chickens to cook and use, or freeze for meals.

Beans, beans, and beans are the best and cheapest alternative to meat.

Learn to stretch what you're eating. Add more beans to the chili, double up the veggies in a casserole, etc.

Be sure to make ample use of your crockpot, because a really cheap cut of meat can taste awesome after cooking for 8 hours.:-)

Lots of soups and stews.

If you're making a whole chicken, don't serve it directly to the group. Rather, pull off the meat and separate it out over several meals. You should be able to make a nice soup, a casserole, and some tacos/stir fry from just one chicken.

Cut down on your beverage purchases. Water and milk should be plenty. Fresh fruit is healthier and cheaper than the juices you'd be able to buy on a budget.

Don't buy cold cereals. Instead, have eggs or oatmeal at breakfast. Cheaper AND healthier!

Practice portion control. Learn what a serving of potatoes, etc looks like, and exactly how much is needed for an adult vs a teen vs a small child.

Hope some of this helps, and good luck to you!