Thanks Everyone!!! Low Budget Meals
Thank you all so much for all your support on my last blog. The jerk at the 5K can join the a$$hole who oinked at me on my list of people who can bite it. What they think and say does not matter.
I am no a very low food budget. Most weeks I spend $40 to $50 on food. This week wasn’t thinking and blew my food bugdet. So I got an idea to make what I have stretch a little further. It backfired. I made a crockpot poofta. (Poofta is what I call a dish that I throw stuff together at radom to see what happens.) Today was red beans, rice, chicken, and some spices. It doesn’t taste very good. Bad thing is I used most of what I had left in my cabinets to make it. Now I am forced to eat it till payday on Thursday. Needless to say I am not looking forward to eating this week. Oatmeal and scrambled eggs are looking really good at the moment. The other thing I have is spagetti. So I will have something to eat besides Poofta.
So I have to ask, what do you do when the cabinets are almost empty and payday is a week away? Are there low cost meals/foods that are always on hand to fill the days to payday?
I know how important it is to fuel our bodies with healthy foods. Which is why I am not happy with myself for letting this happen.
I make my meals stretch by making soups using beans for protien, whatever veggies(even frozen)are around. The right spice can make a big difference.
A little hamburger can stretch a long way with pork-n-beans and veggie soup mix. just throw them in the pan after browning your hamburger.
I keep eggs on hand, and lots of canned goods, like veggies, pinto and kidney beans, fruit(no syrup) and dried goods like split peas, pinto beans, brown rice. None of these cost alot. Oh and get some natural peanut butter too.
Sorry about the poofta!
It’s not healthy but lately we’ve been eating a lot of eggs and chicken hot dogs. I like the suggestions Tammy and Kama have suggested too. Healthy choices are always whole grain, and some stores sell these things in bulk which means tons of savings. We also have a lot of spaghetti. If you have tomato anything you can always serve that on top. I totally can appreciate what you are going thru. Hang in there Jessie, and rest assured that you will have a good weigh in Friday.
Eggs, since I keep chickens, are plentiful around here!
I also keep ground turkey breast in the freezer (super-cheap at Trader Joe’s), and frozen low-sodium chicken patties from Costco. I also just keep around cartons of broth, and will make soup from whatever’s in the fridge/cabinets! I guess that’s my version of “Poofta”! 
I am trying to reduce my food bills as much as possible without sacrificing the nutrition. One way that is available to me is that my Superstore here always have fruits and veggies on 50% off sales, so I only buy either dirt-cheap (
Huh, it cut off part of my comment. I will try to repost just once, to hopefully not annoy anyone!
I am trying to reduce my food bills as much as possible without sacrificing the nutrition. One way that is available to me is that my Superstore here always have fruits and veggies on 50% off sales, so I only buy either dirt-cheap (
I put myself on a food budget as well. It is about the same as yours but $50 lasts me two weeks and that’s cooking for a toddler and my man when he’s occasionally home. I have a couple suggestions. If you are not already doing this clip coupons and scan your weekly grocery ads for killer deals. You can easily freeze foods that you don’t intend on using right away and canned foods last. I also recommend checking out myrecipes.com and in their enhanced search you can pick a category and on the sidebar they have under $1.00 a serving options. Another thing I do to prevent having to throw away food I forget I have on hand is to create a spreadsheet and categorize my food by protein, dairy, fruit, veggie, carbs, and fats. It helps because I update it everytime I go shopping or when I use up the last of an item. Hope these tips help.
I personally like fish. Good post!
Lots of people are trying to that very thing-us included.
One meal I make is ranch style beans (if you have them there), corn and sausage. The beans give it a good flavor. Toss all the ingredients in a pan and cook til hot. Simple and filling. I can make a meal for 2 with 1 can of beans, 1/2 sausage link and corn-1/4 to 1/2 cup. I sometimes sprinkle cheese on top.
Beef stews, casseroles with rice and beans…stuff like that makes meals go farther.
I use seasoning packs since I suck at throwing things together on my own making it taste good lol.
Good luck–a little planning can be a big help.
My hub and I have 2 different ways to save because we are both on fixed incomes. He has a list of the freezer items and checks them off as we eat so nothing gets missed. I use coupons and make sure one of my meals is generic cereal of some kind that’s nutritious. There’s only two of us, so we buy frozen dinners when they are on sale and stock up (if his freezer list allows it). I would make soup or stew, but he likes eating out of cans, so I keep a stock of canned goods. Between the 2 of us we do pretty well.
wow..these are really good ideas. We make big meals and then freeze them for later..like spaghetti..chili…beef stew.
I stock on soups. I am a big soup person. Not a lot of calories and some, like veg soup. Have a lot of good things in them. If you watch store or use coupons you can get them for 30 a can
hmmmm well my mom and I do the grocery shopping and well she buys everything in sight! I swear…if they have it she buys it! Healthy or not healthy…So I dunno…:(
I find myself in situations like this sometimes too! I LOVE how u call it poofta! I usually fall off the wagon and go get something not good for me in these cases. This is why I am making myself go to Aldis after I get off work and sign up for a fitness center. I need produce and more healthy foods on hand.
Wow so many great ideas! Thanks everyone for all the tips. I need to get back in the coupon sharing circle at work. A few of the women clip the Sunday coupons. They share the ones they don’t use.
I agree with the soup suggestions. You can also take the soup and spoon it over some of your spaghetti noodles or a baked potato or rice to make it more filling and heart. Another one I used to live off of in college was kinda like a budget tuna casserole. Mix up and inexpensive box of mac n cheese then stir in a can of drained tuna, and a can of drained peas. Very tasty and makes at least two meals for under $3. I also keep an eye out for the big bag of chicken leg quarters. You can get a 10 pound bag for around $7 most of the time. Just stick the whole bag in the freezer and pull out one quarter at a time to defrost when you need it. Even though it’s dark meat, if you take the skin off it’s still a weight friendly food. A box of “complete” pancake mix is also good to have on hand. You can get one for about $2 at Save a Lot or Aldi’s or places like that and you can get several pancake meals out of it. And with the “complete” mix, you don’t have to add eggs or milk–just water. Pancakes aren’t bad either if you avoid drowning them in syrup. Hope this helps!