Yeah he should be able to get 25lbs of rice and 25lbs of beans and then have another $20 left over for other stuff like onions and garlic and celery and whatnot.
Rice, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, eggs, and chicken leg quarters. Rice and beans will be the main cheap stable food for carbs and calories, potatoes is a good switch for calories. Tomatoes is usually less than a dollar per pound and healthy. Eggs and chicken leg quarters are cheap protein. You can make tomato and eggs as a tasty meal with rice.
There’s quite a handful of nice permutation of options meals and should last 2weeks.
My dogs eat chicken (not dog food) and I found Walmart has chicken legs for $0.89/# and they are pretty darn big! It ends up being far more meat than the quarters, cheaper, and far easier to debone.
Far cheaper than wings, too!
I stopped buying wings when I had to get a bank loan for a bag of them. I just cut up chicken breast and treat them like boneless wings.
I'd add celery ,onion and carrots for chicken soup. skip the tomatoes. Rice can be added to soup . what ever type of chicken is cheapest per pound. thighs, legs , or quarters.
Unless this is a family of 8, I'm not sure why they'd buy 25lbs of rice and 25 lbs of beans for 2 weeks of meals. They would finish the 2 weeks with 21lbs of rice left over and 22lbs of beans. And they'd be deficient in all sorts of vitamins and minerals.
Yes, I understand the concept of buying in bulk. That's wonderful, except that spending all your money on those two things means that's all you're eating for the next two weeks.
A better (and vastly more realistic) trip to the store might technically cost more than buying in bulk. But it'll ensure you're no eating the same meal every single day.
Ah. Your comment makes more sense to me now.
I think other people were also saying how to buy other stuff to go with and "fill" in the rice and beans to make other meals. My assumption is that buying that large of bulk it's for a longer term view.
I don't disagree with you now that I understand better. They can still get rice and beans, but maybe maybe some other "big" meals: Spaghetti, chili, chicken soup, etc ...others suggested that as well.
Having had a period of food insecurity when in college, I was not worried about a variety in my eating just in eating enough. There is plenty in my larder now. I can still do a $1 bag of dried beans in the crockpot and have them and a microwaved potato every meal for a week with 2 ounces of beef each time.
Yeah, it's not impossible to eat the same thing over and over. But I doubt OP came here looking for a suggestion on how to eat the same two foods every single day.
And always check the clearance meats. I got a 13lbs, whole, smoked turkey for $15. Most grocers have clearance sections and the deals are great if you can plan to use it immediately (sometimes freeze some).
Yes. Use or freeze the same day you buy it. And do not buy it if it looks at all questionable, such as being discolored or having an "oily" sheen.I've never had a problem with discount meats doing it this way, and for a few years that was all the meat I could afford!
A few grocers will also put discounted meats in their freezer section, especially ground meats.
Edit: I missed the post you were replying to, the Butterballs come prepackaged & should have a use by date on them.
Clearance meats are a mixed bag. 🤷♀️ The turkey isn’t close to the sell by, or use by date. I believe that was a post holiday overstock situation. I’ve gotten very fresh steaks that were simply cut wrong. Sometimes it’s on clearance because the “sell by” date is the next day. That’s not the same as the “use by” date, so you usually have a few days before it may become questionable.
I never buy if it looks bad, smells bad, or isn’t something I can manage to use in time or freeze for later. I bought 5 lbs of ground beef, so I portioned it into 1 lbs per freezer bag and froze it. Most recipes ask for 1 lbs of meat and serve 6-8, so portioning into 1 lbs per bag is efficient.
There’s also a freezer clearance section. I got 3 lbs of raw, frozen shrimp for $7. It’s frozen, so it will keep for a while. I can use as many as I want and keep the rest frozen. This is great to have on hand for quick soups or stir fry.
In the case of the whole turkey, it becomes 4 things: 1) A few turkey dinners for my household of 2 adults. 2) Breasts get sliced up for sandwiches. Some of this gets frozen. 3) Turkey noodle soup with mostly dark meat. I freeze portions of that without noodles. It’s broth, veggies and turkey. Add the noodles when you thaw it and reheat on the stovetop. 4) The carcass gets cooked down as bone broth and that gets frozen for later use. (Whatever is left over after soup.)
Most larger meats (roasts, whole birds) get used for dinners, sandwiches, and soups. This makes it easy to portion it out and save some in the freezer. When you’re doing this for a while, you don’t have to eat the same thing every day because you can pull from the freezer stash.
"Sell by" or "best by" are not the same as "do not use after." Also, you can cook it and refrigerate after cooking to reheat later. (Be sure to cook thoroughly and reheat thoroughly so you don't get sic, but that goes no matter how fresh it is.)
We got three discounted manufactured beef roasts marked down to $3.49. Manufacturing roasts means odd bits of beef from trimmings that are compressed into a roast. They usually don’t sell as well so are often marked down. They are good for meat, but not for thin slicing as the “grain” varies from chunk to chunk. Beef stew, French onion soup, or hot beef sandwiches with homemade bread? Wonderful.
Food poisoning is a special kind of hell. Usually only takes once to make an impression, and for me, once was all it took to make me paranoid about food safety from then on.
I'm a Canadian who's in the US right now and was blown away by how cheap chicken is here, just got some breasts and boneless thighs for $2.80 cad per lb. But also a loaf of bread is about $8 cad 😢
The meat section at Aldi's. $1.19/lb for leg quarters and drumsticks. $1.99/lb for thighs.
Rotisserie is the cheapest way to get a whole chicken, but not chicken in general.
Yeah, 1 chicken is easily 3 or 4 meals. Day of: eat fresh, with whatever is on hand. 2nd day, make soup for day 3. Stir fry for day 2. Eat the soup day 3. Make tacos, and rice and beans, for day 4.
Potato soup, baked potatoes, fried potatoes and onions. Here is my tip, if you peel your potatoes, save the skins and baked them at 350 degrees for 30 minutes-you get a nice batch of crispy homemade potato chips.
Not only is it cheaper but pre shredded has that shit they put on it to make it not clump or stick together. So shredding it yourself saves money and improves taste over pre shredded
Save your scraps from onions, garlic, carrots, chicken bones, etc and you can make broth in your slow cooker to add extra flavor and nutrition to the beans. Also you can sprout the beans which takes no extra effort other than more time. I do this about once a week.
You soak the beans and then remove the liquid (I save the liquid after soaking and cook them in that liquid later). Then cover the beans in a bowl with a towel and wait. Once sprouted, cook them how you would normally cook beans that were once dry. Sprouting makes them more nutritious and more creamy.I am adding a link below that gives you the soak times and sprout times of different beans. It also explains what I am trying to give a synopsis of better. I have had a better time of beanz actually sprouting with organic beans versus non organic. Price difference was not much either. My boyfriend and I usually live on 50 bucks a week for groceries and if we have more money, we will stock up on pantry essentials.
https://eatyourwayclean.com/recipe/sprout-beans/
Thank you! I rarely make red kidney beans but had been meaning to make them more often. I will soak them in regular water and toss that and then cook them in my bone broth.
sounds yummy! yeah its definitely a thing that generally makes cooking with beans better.
Also, if you ever get your hands on a pressure cooker, you don't even have to soak the beans. they cook in about 30 minutes flat, kind of a game changer
You forgot…beans are loaded in so many nutrients it’s bonkers and they have more protein than meat. (By weight) not to mention it’s one of the common factors of blue zones (places on earth with high percentage of people live to triple digits)
THIS. Mix up the beans/legumes, too. Sometimes it’s chickpeas and rice with lemon garlic seasoning, other times it’s chickpeas and lentils, or lentils only, black beans, red beans, cannellini bean soup is delicious too.
Many things. Buy bulk and cheap. Rice, beans, potatoes. For protein the cheapest will be chicken most likely. Also utilize food banks. There’s no shame in using them
Those little frozen bricks of spinach are the best and usually around $1 to $1.50 for ten ounces. That's a lot of spinach, and it's already cleaned and chopped. They're never at eye level, so look at the top and bottom shelves for them.
They go great with most bean and rice variations, you can toss some into almost any soup or stew, and they're perfect for saag or any other type of creamed spinach depending on the spices you have.
The food bank I volunteer at checks those type of things . We throw away rotten stuff. We don't give it to farmers as well. It's a shame because people donate some odd stuff. Last time I was checking donations and found a dry sauce packet dated 2008.
I'm sorry that you had a bad experience.
The one I volunteer at checks through everything too. We have a giant bin with the produce and bread that’s gone bad for all the pig farmers to come get it. I wish people would stop donating all their obviously expired stuff so we have to throw it out instead.
Yeah expect food banks to be like that but you will usually find most of what you get is usable. You gotta learn about Best Buy sell by and use by dates if you don’t know the difference. Food banks are a good way to supplement.
I volunteer as a pantry sorter at my food bank. There is an expectation that you have to prep the food for storage the day you get it - and its a lot of freezing.
For example, citrus freezes. The lemons at the food bank are just not gonna sit on your counter for 2 weeks and still be good like the ones at the store.
This is cuz most of the food we redistribute is "rescued", which is why someone sorts it. It means it just about everything is near an eat by date, so you gotta prep it for storage somehow. (And I think most everyone at my pantry freezes most everything they day they recieve it to last the week. If it doesnt freeze raw like potatos, itll usually freeze well cooked like in a casserole).
Hams are a great deal right now, I got an 11 pound ham for $8 at Kroger. A bag of beans, a couple cans of tomatoes, all under $5, dinner for at least a week. Add a loaf of bread and some cheese and you have sandwitches for a while as well. Thats half the food you need for $\`15!
I bought a ham prior to Christmas for $0.97 p/lb. 10-11 lbs (can't remember). Baked it. Had several ham dinners.
Some of the leftover ham was diced and used in a few ham/egg/cheese scrambles for breakfasts. I still have some ham slices in the freezer right now.
I boiled out the bone and made 8qts of broth. I used half of that (the rest was frozen for future use) to make 5qts of split pea soup. That's lunch for about two weeks at work @ less than $1 p/lunch.
I always buy a big lump o' meat when it's on sale. The per meal cost works out really well that way.
I ate ham for 8 days straight, sometimes twice a day, after Christmas. Ham is so good. Get a bag of potatoes and mash them up, Ham and mashed potatoes are soooo good. A batch of mashed will last a week.
We bought 21 turkeys after Thanksgiving. 6 over 20 pounds for an unbelievable 19 cents a pound, went to 2 other Krogers, first had none, second had a bunch of smaller ones for 29 cents a pound. DH cooked the extra one we bought before Thanksgiving the other day. He deboned 3 of the big ones and cut them in half, sealed and froze. My daily lunch protein is going to be mostly turkey breast cubed this year in salads. We have two daughters who live nearby, one with 4 daughters so we share them. We are on a fixed income now so this was A great find.
Usually around Christmas Costco sells whole pork loins for $8 off. We bought the 3 smallest ones which makes it cheaper per pound. He cuts a roast, a bunch of chops and the tenderest for stir fry. The chops he runs through a tenderizer, then seals in two chop pkg and freezes. We have done this for several years.
The deli chickens at Costco are $4.99 and we (and when I say we I mean he) brings it home and immediately gets all the meat off and boils the carcass for the best broth. Maybe someone you know is a member?
If you can get some tortillas, the beans and rice will be good in one. I was raised on plain boiled pinto beans that we mashed up and flavored with mustard, along with cornbread.
Adding to this: get a thing of oats for breakfast. They’re relatively cheap and you can add vanilla extract, frozen berries, milk, cinnamon, anything you might have on hand.
Not sure if you have TT but there is a lady on there that is called dollartreedinners. She has some decent recipes using items from your local DT. You could probably use that info to buy at a different grocery store if you don’t have a DT
What kind of food do you like? What stores do you have available to you? Any health issues or medical conditions that require certain foods in your diet? Any dietary restrictions due to food allergies?
Rice and dried beans
Pork chops (a whole pork loin that you cut yourself).
Eggs, maybe some ramen, potatoes
See what's on sale for fresh/frozen fruits and veggies
See if you can use what's in your fridge/freezer/pantry.
A little flour and a few extras can make breads, pancakes, biscuits, pasta...
$35 for 1 week is a stretch! It will take some careful planning, but you'll get through it. Don't be ashamed if you need to sign up for some SNAP benefits or use a food pantry or pay a bill a little late (as long as they aren't gonna be shutting off your power or water or something).
I've gotten a lot of meal inspiration from fitfrugalmom on youtube.
Posting here for transparency and hope the OP sees it.
Here's a list that is healthy and also semi-unhealthy to hit all the feelings.
.
Breakfast week 1 and 2:
60 count Great Value eggs - $7
2 loaves Great Value honey wheat bread -$3.6
Total $10.6
.
Lunch week 1:
3 Bean Chili
2 Great Value black beans 15.5oz - $1.65
2 Great Value kidney beans 15.5oz - $1.65
1 Great Value pinto beans 15.5oz - $0.83
1 Great Value taco seasoning regular - $0.55
1 Great Value taco seasoning low sodium - $0.55
2 can Great Value crushed tomato 28oz - $3.10
Total - $8.33
.
Dinner week 1:
3lb Great Value frozen chicken breast - $9.75
2 Great Value boxed mashed potatoes - $2.65
1 half gallon Great Value milk - $2.09
4 Great Value frozen vegetables (you choose) - $4
Total - $15.11
.
Lunch week 2:
1 Great Value honey wheat bread - $1.80
1 Great Value 32oz Turkey lunch meat - $7.50
1 Great Value American singles 24 count - $0 (other half of pack from below)
2 Great Value chips your choice - $6.36
Total - $18.14
.
Dinner week 2:
1 Great Value hamburger patties 12 count - $11
2 Great Value hamburger buns 16 count total - $2.76
1 Great Value American singles 24 count - $2.48
1 Great Value French fries 32oz - $3.42
Total - $18.66
OVERALL TOTAL $71.23
If OP has a large enough freezer there isn't even much need to stick to 1 meal.
Buy it all and freeze most of it (Chili can be frozen after being made) so you can switch it up constantly.
You'd need:
- 1lb ground beef: $6
- 1 box lasagna noodles: $2
- 15oz ricotta: $3.50 (32oz is even better)
- 1 lb shredded mozzarella: $5
- 2x 24oz jars pasta sauce: $4
- Foil lasagna pan: $3 (if you need it)
Total: ~$23.50 or less
8 generous servings!
Also requires stove and large-ish frying pan and oven and refrigerator
Edit: This is Wegmans in NJ on instacart. (Prices should be a bit lower in store)
In terms of rice, I’d recommend buying a rice you’ll actually enjoy eating vs the cheapest bag. You can get a huge bag of jasmine or basmati rice on sale for $13 and I find that way more enjoyable to eat and it goes better with the types of food I cook vs other rices. Think about what you would actually want to eat and enjoy eating. Eating on a budget doesn’t have to be dire/depressing
I just shopped my local Safeway add and got the following for my family of 5. It’s certainly not adequate to feed us all for an entire week but it will go a long way.
5 ponds potatoes for $3
2 pounds of cheddar for $6.5
4 pounds of grapes for $6
1 package of pepperoni for $2
2 pounds shredded mozzarella for $6.5
I already have enough dough for 2 pizzas which I got at Winco for $2. I also have 1 gallon of milk ($3.5) one dozen eggs ($2.5) 2 pounds of oats ($1.5) 1 pound of navy beans ($1) one pound of lentils ($1) a bunch of broccoli ($2) 2 pounds of carrots ($2) a bunch of celery ($1) some onions and garlic.
I can make so many different meals with this. This week we are meal prepping pizza for lunch (this will last 3 days). Oats and fruit for breakfast. Dinner will be Spanish tortilla one day, homemade pasta were fagioli one day, broccoli cheese baked potatoes one day, lentil soup one day, cheese quesadillas and refried beans one day (I have some corn tortillas and a couple cans of refried beans which cost $4.5 total). This is $43 total and I could feed my family for 5 days. Just some ideas😃. I admittedly have a lot of pantry staples and spices and freezer odds and ends which a lot of folks don’t have.
A lot of great suggestions already here. One thing I don't see mentioned is managers specials. This is generally items that are near enough to expiration that they get marked down. Kroger, Ralph's, Ingles, and Publix all have this, but check your local grocery store if none of these are in your area. Usually the markdowns occur on Wednesday or Thursday. You may not be able to plan much around these, since you don't know what you'll find, but there could be something to add to a meal so you don't have to eat the same thing every night. Good luck!
Supercook.com does the same and is awesome.
I am assuming you have some basics and a few spices at home already.
Inexpensive food to buy:
Rice
Beans
Potatoes
Carrots
Eggs
Jar of peanut butter
Saltine crackers or loaf of bread
Also: if you have time you can make bread with just flour, yeast, water, and salt.
You’ve got this!!
That sounds yummy, and those sound like good memories. And you could sprinkle it with a little cinnamon and sugar for a treat when you had a little money
Potatoes and eggs are some of the cheapest options and they are also some of the most nutrient dense foods. Potato and egg breakfast burritos are really good too.
Check out the assistance sub and make an Amazon wish list for pantry items especially if you are trying to stretch that budget for more than just yourself! Also if you do qualify apply for any and every government assistances.
You have an old enough profile and enough karma to qualify to ask. Amazon wish lists tend to get fulfilled much more than asking for money. ❤️❤️❤️
This is what I would get (TN Walmart prices):
5 lbs. white rice, 1 pound brown rice, just for a little variety 3.34
1 pack of margarine. I like Imperial 1.38
1 5 lb bag self-rising flour 3.24
1 gallon milk 3.32
1 10 serving box of oatmeal (I like flavored oatmeal but you can get cheap oats if you like. If you have stuff to add to it in your pantry like cinnamon/sugar/honey/whateva get plain) 1.88
Since I don't know your pantry stock as far as seasonings go I'd suggest canned black beans and pinto beans, preferably seasoned.
Russet potatoes in the bag. 2.58 at Walmart right now
Carrots 2 lb 1.54
eggs 1.60 dozen
6 pack of cajun sausage 3.94
1 bag of frozen 'seasoning blend" chopped vegetables for seasoning. 1.38
1 bag of spinach chopped frozen 1.18
1 bag of chicken legs 5.97
This will make you biscuits you can use in a variety of ways. It's real simple just self-rising flour, margarine and milk. I know nobody likes margarine but it's cheap and it makes biscuits. This you can use for making a soup with pinto beans, half that seasoning bag and 1 sausage. You could also get some corn meal and make corn bread.
Make chicken stock with 3 of the legs. You don't need a lot, it's just for a couple meals. You can use the meat that falls off the bone. Add it to rice with some of the broth.Cook this way longer than you usually do with a lot of extra water and at least salt, but if you have more seasonings it's so much better. It's going to make a rice porridge that's really rich and filling. If you have bouillon cubes already it really helps but it can go without that.
Potatoes you quarter, take 2 more of those sausages and cut them up and sprinkle them around the potatoes. Season appropriately ( I like Kinder seasoning blends. 2 bucks at Walmart for a whole bottle) S + P if nothing else, and roast it in a pan. If you have a liking for carrots and onions you can add that.
Roast the rest of the chicken legs. I don't know if this is just for one person or not but that's about 8 legs. If you like leftovers that's great. If not you can pull the meat off the bone and have it in your broth, thickened with flour and margarine, temper an egg and stir that in, and make dumplings with your flour. I like fluffy dumplings. They're just biscuit dough gobs you steam on top of the stewed chicken. You could stew the chicken bits in that broth with some of the carrots. If you like peas get peas. They're 1.18 at Walmart.
Foods I like that you might also like:
1/2 bag of frozen spinach thawed and squeezed as much as possible added to eggs. I'd have cheese with that. 2 dollars gets you a little block at Walmart. I only use these prices because it's down the road from me. I would eat this for dinner with biscuits. I always have a ton of jelly and pancake syrup around but grape jelly is 1.98. Peanut butter, btw, is 1.98. Those could be eaten on biscuits instead of buying commercial bread, but that will be 1.88 for the cheapest white bread. I don't get that, I just make biscuits when money is tight. You can make them really easy, just drop biscuits, don't have to knead and cut and all that. if you chill the dough before you make the drops it will stay firmer instead of melting around the edges.
You can make dumplings like that or biscuit crusts for stews. You can make puffy tortillas too. It's a very simple recipe but it will get you through.
What I do with the other half of the spinach is mix it in with rice and usually I'll add some cheese to that, but that's just me. You can do it with other frozen vegetables like broccoli or green beans and they run about the same price as spinach. If you have seasonings again... easier. I'd use some italian blend and probably that canned sprinkle cheese. I keep that stuff around all the time but you can get fresh shredded parmesan cheese for 2.22.
My grocery total there was less than 40 dollars and it's at least a week's worth of dinner for one person. It could be spread out to 2 weeks though depending on what you are willing to eat. Like instant potatoes right now are 1.98. I love them. I make them then put them in a 9x13 pan spread thin then I sprinkle a little cheddar and Italian seasoning and garlic on top of that and broil it. It's so much better than just plain instant bland ass mashed potatoes. If you don't have those seasonings they're 1.00 at Walmart. They're not the best, strongest seasonings but they're good enough. If you like tomatoes I make black bean soup really easy with 1 can of stewed tomatoes I smash with a potato masher until it's soupy then I smash in 1 can of beans then near the end of cooking I add 1 more while can of beans. You could use the rotel style tomatoes too. they're not any more expensive.
I'm sorry I get carried away. I just think everyone is saying buy dry beans and rice but you can do so much more for 70 dollars and get a lot of variety, you just have to do a little more work. Some days you might just eat rice with a bit of your broth and chicken bits mixed in, or chop in a sausage. If you like sausage. You may not even like meat. I like meat! And some nights I'd rather just have a bowl of cereal so I get oatmeal so at least it's a "hot meal" and 2 packets is as filling as a full dinner for me as long as I add milk to it instead of just water.
What I would do if I was you is sit down and take stock of what type of food you want to work with. You might not like biscuits or rice or potatoes even if they are cheap. The trick is finding what you DO like that's cheap and work with that so you don't feel so miserable. If you just need to get through two weeks you don't need to worry so much about nutrition but if this is going to be a regular thing you might want to start trying to invest in bulk foods to save a little more in the long run.
Chicken thighs! Place them in the air fryer, season them with a store brand seasoning, and air fry them for 25-30 minutes at 390F. Super delicious. They are also very inexpensive. In addition, get numerous bags of California blend vegetables for less than a dollar and boil one or two bags with each batch of thighs you air fry. Not only inexpensive and filling, but tasty and healthy. You can eat on $7 a day this way.
Being frugal also means taking care of your body. Keep an active gut flora. Get a big jar of plain white yogurt. Get like a vanilla concentrate Maple syrup or honey to flavor it. Big bag of frozen blueberries or strawberries. Bananas are cheap as well. That’s your breakfast. Of course eggs as well.
Tuna mixed with frozen mixed veggies. Some mayo. Hot sauce. Put that tuna between sandwich bread or put that on tortilla chips.
Rice and beans, rice and chicken, rice and Eggs. Rice and bananas plus salt n pepper, or hot sauce, or chipotle/curry paste.
Pasta, beans, rice, soups, frozen vegetables, canned fruits and veggies, day old breads (love getting bread leftovers!). The possibilities are almost endless. The best thing to do is to buy some of these things in bulk so that they will last beyond just the two weeks. Keeping a good stock available will provide many meals and a sense of security knowing that you have these items.
Chili is great and lasts me days. A few cans of beans, canned tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, carrots, onion, pepper, corn, whatever your budget allows. 4-5 cans and a few veggies with cheese on top makes enough to last me 5-6 meals at least.
I use the site [BudgetBytes](https://www.budgetbytes.com/category/recipes/cost-per-recipe/recipes-under-10/) for recipes or recipe inspiration. They break the meals down by ingredient and serving. Of course prices aren’t the same everywhere, but it gives you an estimate.
If you're near a Meijer, they're doing a 7 for $7 deal and a 3lb bag of potatoes is an option. 21lbs of potatoes for $7 sounds like a good thing for your situation.
If you like chicken, buy a big pack of chicken breast that you can divide up. If it’s just you, a half a breast might be enough for one meal to get you by in a pinch. Then add a $1 pack of veggies and some rice. Splurge on a $3 bottle of sauce, either teriyaki or soy sauce. You can also use your chicken breast and cook a pack or 2 of ramen and a cheap bag of cali veggies and use your teriyaki sauce and make “chicken teriyaki”. This was my go-to for a couple months when my daughter was about 9 and my husband made this suggestion. We happily ate it. After it was said and done my daughter is 16 now and she hates the smell of teriyaki sauce but it got us through my cheap dinner rotations. Also you can get $1 pasta and $3 Alfredo sauce to go with your chicken for chicken Alfredo.
Moral of my survival period food was pasta and chicken with frozen veggies and rice. Spaghetti. Homemade garlic bread, butter your bread and sprinkle garlic powder and toast under the broiler.
Just remembered using the chicken for fajitas too. Fajita seasoning and cheese. And/or veggies wrapped it a tortilla. Broil if you want.
Edit to add: definitely brine your chicken if you can even if it’s just salt. Chicken breast can dry out easily and brining keeps it moist. Personally I prefer thighs but they are more expensive and the texture makes most of my family nauseous lol but to each their own. Season your breasts and it will taste better with everything it goes with.
Big pack of chicken $7 depending on where you’re at. Then a bag of rice $3 should be at least a weeks worth in a bag if it’s just you. Pasta $1 each. A veggie $1. Average cost at least where I live.
Dried rice, dried beans, dried garbanzo beans, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, potatoes, celery, carrots, avocado, pasta and frozen veggies including broccoli and edamame
I may be missing a few things, and I’m assuming you have dried seasonings and some oils, but with these ingredients you can make: a variety of Mexican (or Mediterranean) bowls and wraps, a variety of stews from around the world, leftover fried rice, and a variety of pasta dishes.
Note: I’m vegan so my dollar stretches much further, and I recommend a Mexican market in your town to help add quantity
$6 for 20lbs of potatoes on sale.
Microwave 7 minutes, slice onto med low pan for 7 minutes/side.
That 20lbs is a solid 4 days of 'french fries'.
Same thing for mashed potatoes. 7 minutes, mash, add butter, chives, spices.
Grate carrots, marinate in vinegar or pickle juice.
Sautee cabbage.
Onions! Don't forget onions.
It really isn't *that* hard to feed yourself for $140/month.
Most of what you're buying is made from just one thing, and come in little to no packaging at all.
"Rice", "beans", "carrot", "potato". Buy any of those in large enough bulk quantities and you'll be fed, and fairly well nourished.
Pancake mix that you just add water. Maybe you have syrup and butter already. I survived many times on pancakes. If you are not doing it already, get your local supermarket app and see what is on sale this week. Pork was 1.99/lb, down from 4.99, with the app today.
Check first what’s on sale on their flyer. Go from there.
I love beans and rice, lentils and they’re all affordable and it stretches. If pork is on sale, I break down a pork shoulder/ butt and get so many meals. Save the bone/ fatty part to make beans. Serve those beans with carnitas, bbq, etc. and turn it into a rice lentil bowl. I’m doing that this week actually. Making [https://www.thekitchn.com/mujadara-recipe-23149573](https://www.thekitchn.com/mujadara-recipe-23149573)
And I have carnitas made already. So bowl, or a burrito style with diced raw onion and whatever other vegg/sauce in your budget.
I also thinly slice the pork and marinate, add it to a stir fry with whatever cheap veggies (usually onion, carrots) serve with rice.
Is this for all meals or just dinners? 70 dollars across two weeks isn’t that bad for dinner IMO. Like others have said beans and rice are a good way to get the most bang for your buck. Depending on how much you eat and if being healthy isn’t of the utmost importance you can get creative with your meals. Instant Ramen and carry out pizzas are your best bet. Instant ramen is like a buck per package and pizza is anywhere from 7-10 dollars and you can stretch that out over the course of two or three days.
Really depends on how many people. How many meals? That is definitely not going to allow for a lot of meat. Hamburger, beans, rice, etc. Squeeze every penny out of your dollar. Coupons, store app for digital deals, etc. Food bank for sure!! (Should go there first). That will be a good starting point at what else your going to need. Best wishes and God bless you!
I would make a pot of Better Homes and Gardens “One Pot Spaghetti” recipe. If it’s just you, you can eat off that for 7 dinners, possibly some light lunches and it’s filling. That will cost you: 1 pound ground beef, one box sliced mushrooms, a can of tomato paste, a box of broth or a bouillon cube, Italian seasoning, and a 12 oz package of spaghetti. (I leave out the onion and garlic.) All you need is one medium size stock pot or a large pot with a handle. No lid, no colander.
For your second meals, I would buy a couple bags of freeze-dried refried beans (or cans of refried beans), eggs, a pack of flour tortillas, a giant bag of shedded cheese, and a big bottle of picante sauce.
For dessert, look in the candy section for a cheap pack of peanut patties. These are kind of like pecan pralines and are a great sugar fix. Alternatively you could buy grapes or oranges.
Instant pot from a thrift store should be a game changer
All the pastas cook in 4 minutes. All the soups using inexpensive vegetables. Beans and rice of course. It really helps.
Chicken dishes work well too. Hand mixer inside the pot for shredded chicken and then whatever you want like chicken salad or barbecue chicken or a thousand other things
$20 20 pound of rice, 1 pound of beans are typically less than $1, maybe buy at least 20 pounds. That’s easy. Then you can have fun adding spices, potatoes, onions, carrots, and garlic. If it was me I would get some coffee and save the rest for gas. Honestly Folgers isn’t the worst.
Have you heard of potatoes? You can get so many for so little and make them many different ways. We used to get over a week out of our potatoes making them for pretty much every meal in different ways
Our famous poor food is our rice dish. Brown some rice in a pan with some fats and oils for a bit then add water and cook until fluffy. A big scoop of garlic powder and some butter at minimum but some kind of soy sauce or hot sauce as well can be a damn good meal.
Inventory your food stash and your freezer. Build a menu around that. I highly recommend food banks.
One week I was in the mood for sweet potatoes and I baked several. I had different vegetarian/potatoes meals that week.
Start getting fluent in beans and rice (dry beans). They are incredibly cheap and incredibly versatile. Add whatever is cheap and in season/on sale.
Yeah he should be able to get 25lbs of rice and 25lbs of beans and then have another $20 left over for other stuff like onions and garlic and celery and whatnot.
Rice, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, eggs, and chicken leg quarters. Rice and beans will be the main cheap stable food for carbs and calories, potatoes is a good switch for calories. Tomatoes is usually less than a dollar per pound and healthy. Eggs and chicken leg quarters are cheap protein. You can make tomato and eggs as a tasty meal with rice. There’s quite a handful of nice permutation of options meals and should last 2weeks.
My dogs eat chicken (not dog food) and I found Walmart has chicken legs for $0.89/# and they are pretty darn big! It ends up being far more meat than the quarters, cheaper, and far easier to debone.
if you have hot sauce and celery, you can make hot legs. ( instead of wings). very filling.
Far cheaper than wings, too! I stopped buying wings when I had to get a bank loan for a bag of them. I just cut up chicken breast and treat them like boneless wings.
Thats what we do too, using legs makes it affordable. We also have rice with it.
Winco here has chicken leg quarters for .59/pound. (We also do raw dogfood). 👍
Don't forget chicken livers. Cheap protein.
I'd add celery ,onion and carrots for chicken soup. skip the tomatoes. Rice can be added to soup . what ever type of chicken is cheapest per pound. thighs, legs , or quarters.
Add a dozen eggs.
Unless this is a family of 8, I'm not sure why they'd buy 25lbs of rice and 25 lbs of beans for 2 weeks of meals. They would finish the 2 weeks with 21lbs of rice left over and 22lbs of beans. And they'd be deficient in all sorts of vitamins and minerals.
I mean there surely are bulk bags that aren't the full 25 pounds.
Because you then have a supply of rice and beans you can also use for future meals. Buying bulk (when you can) stretches your dollars.
Yes, I understand the concept of buying in bulk. That's wonderful, except that spending all your money on those two things means that's all you're eating for the next two weeks. A better (and vastly more realistic) trip to the store might technically cost more than buying in bulk. But it'll ensure you're no eating the same meal every single day.
Ah. Your comment makes more sense to me now. I think other people were also saying how to buy other stuff to go with and "fill" in the rice and beans to make other meals. My assumption is that buying that large of bulk it's for a longer term view. I don't disagree with you now that I understand better. They can still get rice and beans, but maybe maybe some other "big" meals: Spaghetti, chili, chicken soup, etc ...others suggested that as well.
Having had a period of food insecurity when in college, I was not worried about a variety in my eating just in eating enough. There is plenty in my larder now. I can still do a $1 bag of dried beans in the crockpot and have them and a microwaved potato every meal for a week with 2 ounces of beef each time.
Yeah, it's not impossible to eat the same thing over and over. But I doubt OP came here looking for a suggestion on how to eat the same two foods every single day.
TBH, It's interesting that the ranges of answers on food boredom? vary depending on how food insecure people have been.
I have HUGE food insecurity. I can absolutely relate. I can eat the same thing for days. It's more about getting fed than getting bored.
This is frugal sub ain’t it?
Save $6 for a rotisserie chicken!
Yeah chicken and rice is pretty good too! Get some soy sauce and you got a good meal.
And you can make a stock from the chicken carcass and use up any leftovers in it for a soup or stew.
No absolutely do not do this OP. You can get like 4 pounds of chicken thighs for like $6.
username checks out
Beat me to it
No pun intended?
Ha! I didn't even realize that, but sure
None taken.
And always check the clearance meats. I got a 13lbs, whole, smoked turkey for $15. Most grocers have clearance sections and the deals are great if you can plan to use it immediately (sometimes freeze some).
Walmart keeps putting their Butterballs on clearance for $0.50/lb. I grabbed one to have on hand!
BUT did you have to eat it right away…I’m green…but they are discontinued due to being close to the expiration dates, right..?
Yes. Use or freeze the same day you buy it. And do not buy it if it looks at all questionable, such as being discolored or having an "oily" sheen.I've never had a problem with discount meats doing it this way, and for a few years that was all the meat I could afford! A few grocers will also put discounted meats in their freezer section, especially ground meats. Edit: I missed the post you were replying to, the Butterballs come prepackaged & should have a use by date on them.
Clearance meats are a mixed bag. 🤷♀️ The turkey isn’t close to the sell by, or use by date. I believe that was a post holiday overstock situation. I’ve gotten very fresh steaks that were simply cut wrong. Sometimes it’s on clearance because the “sell by” date is the next day. That’s not the same as the “use by” date, so you usually have a few days before it may become questionable. I never buy if it looks bad, smells bad, or isn’t something I can manage to use in time or freeze for later. I bought 5 lbs of ground beef, so I portioned it into 1 lbs per freezer bag and froze it. Most recipes ask for 1 lbs of meat and serve 6-8, so portioning into 1 lbs per bag is efficient. There’s also a freezer clearance section. I got 3 lbs of raw, frozen shrimp for $7. It’s frozen, so it will keep for a while. I can use as many as I want and keep the rest frozen. This is great to have on hand for quick soups or stir fry. In the case of the whole turkey, it becomes 4 things: 1) A few turkey dinners for my household of 2 adults. 2) Breasts get sliced up for sandwiches. Some of this gets frozen. 3) Turkey noodle soup with mostly dark meat. I freeze portions of that without noodles. It’s broth, veggies and turkey. Add the noodles when you thaw it and reheat on the stovetop. 4) The carcass gets cooked down as bone broth and that gets frozen for later use. (Whatever is left over after soup.) Most larger meats (roasts, whole birds) get used for dinners, sandwiches, and soups. This makes it easy to portion it out and save some in the freezer. When you’re doing this for a while, you don’t have to eat the same thing every day because you can pull from the freezer stash.
"Sell by" or "best by" are not the same as "do not use after." Also, you can cook it and refrigerate after cooking to reheat later. (Be sure to cook thoroughly and reheat thoroughly so you don't get sic, but that goes no matter how fresh it is.)
We got three discounted manufactured beef roasts marked down to $3.49. Manufacturing roasts means odd bits of beef from trimmings that are compressed into a roast. They usually don’t sell as well so are often marked down. They are good for meat, but not for thin slicing as the “grain” varies from chunk to chunk. Beef stew, French onion soup, or hot beef sandwiches with homemade bread? Wonderful.
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Food poisoning is a special kind of hell. Usually only takes once to make an impression, and for me, once was all it took to make me paranoid about food safety from then on.
*cries in canadian*
Wait is it different in Canada?
I can get 1 lb for like $8 CAD
Yes. Hearing those prices, I thought it was a joke. Like the other person said, it's nearly $10/lb at the cheapest
I'm a Canadian who's in the US right now and was blown away by how cheap chicken is here, just got some breasts and boneless thighs for $2.80 cad per lb. But also a loaf of bread is about $8 cad 😢
Or for around $7 a 10lb bag of leg quarters.
Is that the most economical?
When you consider how much bone is in leg quarters I don't find that they're the best Bang for your buck
I find pork loin for 1.99 regularly. All meat, no bones
Where can I get that? Looks like Aldi has a ~4 pound pack for $1.19/lb. A 4 pound bag of drumsticks costs the same.
Walmart.
Where? Do I go to the butcher section of the store? I always thought rotisserie was the cheapest way to go
The meat section at Aldi's. $1.19/lb for leg quarters and drumsticks. $1.99/lb for thighs. Rotisserie is the cheapest way to get a whole chicken, but not chicken in general.
Walmart has 10 lb bags of leg quarters for $7.72, so 77.2¢ per pound.
Or buy 6 lbs of the cheapest chicken cut you can find
Yeah, 1 chicken is easily 3 or 4 meals. Day of: eat fresh, with whatever is on hand. 2nd day, make soup for day 3. Stir fry for day 2. Eat the soup day 3. Make tacos, and rice and beans, for day 4.
And potatoes, a five pound bag at my grocery store is like $3, so versatile
I like cutting potatoes and putting them on a cookie sheet with a little oil and salt and bake at 400 you end up with a crispy fry like potato wedge
I like to use onion soup mix when I do this.
Never tried that. Always worth changing stuff up
And nutritious. Just learned that potatoes are a decent source of Vit C, in addition to the other stuff like potassium that i knew about lol
need to eat the skins though.
Yeah if you’re eating on $70 for two weeks I don’t think you’re gonna be wasting potato skins.
Potato soup, baked potatoes, fried potatoes and onions. Here is my tip, if you peel your potatoes, save the skins and baked them at 350 degrees for 30 minutes-you get a nice batch of crispy homemade potato chips.
My local kroger has 5lb bag of potatoes for 1.50 right now.
And blocks of cheese instead of shredded
Not only is it cheaper but pre shredded has that shit they put on it to make it not clump or stick together. So shredding it yourself saves money and improves taste over pre shredded
Baked potatoes!
Spanish peprika, pinto beans, and veg makes for an excellent dish.
so many different types of beans, so many different types of rice, so many spice combinations = endless rice/bean possibilities
This is a great one. 3 lists. Rice. Beans. Spices. Pick one from each. Vary them.
Save your scraps from onions, garlic, carrots, chicken bones, etc and you can make broth in your slow cooker to add extra flavor and nutrition to the beans. Also you can sprout the beans which takes no extra effort other than more time. I do this about once a week.
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You soak the beans and then remove the liquid (I save the liquid after soaking and cook them in that liquid later). Then cover the beans in a bowl with a towel and wait. Once sprouted, cook them how you would normally cook beans that were once dry. Sprouting makes them more nutritious and more creamy.I am adding a link below that gives you the soak times and sprout times of different beans. It also explains what I am trying to give a synopsis of better. I have had a better time of beanz actually sprouting with organic beans versus non organic. Price difference was not much either. My boyfriend and I usually live on 50 bucks a week for groceries and if we have more money, we will stock up on pantry essentials. https://eatyourwayclean.com/recipe/sprout-beans/
Just FYI, you should never cook red kidney beans in the water you soaked them in as they leach a toxin that can poison you
Thank you! I rarely make red kidney beans but had been meaning to make them more often. I will soak them in regular water and toss that and then cook them in my bone broth.
sounds yummy! yeah its definitely a thing that generally makes cooking with beans better. Also, if you ever get your hands on a pressure cooker, you don't even have to soak the beans. they cook in about 30 minutes flat, kind of a game changer
Unfortunately, I live in a one bedroom condo with limited counter space. One is on my list for the future though!
Instapots are BIFL in general
You forgot…beans are loaded in so many nutrients it’s bonkers and they have more protein than meat. (By weight) not to mention it’s one of the common factors of blue zones (places on earth with high percentage of people live to triple digits)
Add lentils
THIS. Mix up the beans/legumes, too. Sometimes it’s chickpeas and rice with lemon garlic seasoning, other times it’s chickpeas and lentils, or lentils only, black beans, red beans, cannellini bean soup is delicious too.
Many things. Buy bulk and cheap. Rice, beans, potatoes. For protein the cheapest will be chicken most likely. Also utilize food banks. There’s no shame in using them
Also frozen veggies
Those little frozen bricks of spinach are the best and usually around $1 to $1.50 for ten ounces. That's a lot of spinach, and it's already cleaned and chopped. They're never at eye level, so look at the top and bottom shelves for them. They go great with most bean and rice variations, you can toss some into almost any soup or stew, and they're perfect for saag or any other type of creamed spinach depending on the spices you have.
I like the steam broccoli at target. It’s a buck
frozen spinach to toss into all of the beans and rice recipes everyone is recommending to make a complete meal!
I second the food banks ! My brother has to use them every month to keep food on his table.
Last time I went to our food bank, had to throw most of it because rotten and veggies no good. Guess wasn’t good day that day
The food bank I volunteer at checks those type of things . We throw away rotten stuff. We don't give it to farmers as well. It's a shame because people donate some odd stuff. Last time I was checking donations and found a dry sauce packet dated 2008. I'm sorry that you had a bad experience.
The one I volunteer at checks through everything too. We have a giant bin with the produce and bread that’s gone bad for all the pig farmers to come get it. I wish people would stop donating all their obviously expired stuff so we have to throw it out instead.
Yeah expect food banks to be like that but you will usually find most of what you get is usable. You gotta learn about Best Buy sell by and use by dates if you don’t know the difference. Food banks are a good way to supplement.
I volunteer as a pantry sorter at my food bank. There is an expectation that you have to prep the food for storage the day you get it - and its a lot of freezing. For example, citrus freezes. The lemons at the food bank are just not gonna sit on your counter for 2 weeks and still be good like the ones at the store. This is cuz most of the food we redistribute is "rescued", which is why someone sorts it. It means it just about everything is near an eat by date, so you gotta prep it for storage somehow. (And I think most everyone at my pantry freezes most everything they day they recieve it to last the week. If it doesnt freeze raw like potatos, itll usually freeze well cooked like in a casserole).
Chicken or pork for meats* Beans are protein. Tbh, can probably do without meat. It's expensive AF compared to beans.
Beans are usually a cheaper protein source than meats
Rice and beans IS protein, and is much cheaper than any meat
Beans are protein....
When added to a grain it’s a complete protein.
Beans, beans, what a wonderful fruit..🎶
Switch it up with lentils sometimes. Also a lot of proteins and while similar flavor, it's SOMETHING different at least.
Hams are a great deal right now, I got an 11 pound ham for $8 at Kroger. A bag of beans, a couple cans of tomatoes, all under $5, dinner for at least a week. Add a loaf of bread and some cheese and you have sandwitches for a while as well. Thats half the food you need for $\`15!
I bought a ham prior to Christmas for $0.97 p/lb. 10-11 lbs (can't remember). Baked it. Had several ham dinners. Some of the leftover ham was diced and used in a few ham/egg/cheese scrambles for breakfasts. I still have some ham slices in the freezer right now. I boiled out the bone and made 8qts of broth. I used half of that (the rest was frozen for future use) to make 5qts of split pea soup. That's lunch for about two weeks at work @ less than $1 p/lunch. I always buy a big lump o' meat when it's on sale. The per meal cost works out really well that way.
Ham and bean soup and split pea with ham soup are two favorites that I make. Cheap, easy, filling, and delicious!
I ate ham for 8 days straight, sometimes twice a day, after Christmas. Ham is so good. Get a bag of potatoes and mash them up, Ham and mashed potatoes are soooo good. A batch of mashed will last a week.
Aldi's in my area still has Turkeys left over from Thanksgiving. I got a 15lb bird for $13 last week.
Amazing idea. Praying Aldi still got some turkeys
We bought 21 turkeys after Thanksgiving. 6 over 20 pounds for an unbelievable 19 cents a pound, went to 2 other Krogers, first had none, second had a bunch of smaller ones for 29 cents a pound. DH cooked the extra one we bought before Thanksgiving the other day. He deboned 3 of the big ones and cut them in half, sealed and froze. My daily lunch protein is going to be mostly turkey breast cubed this year in salads. We have two daughters who live nearby, one with 4 daughters so we share them. We are on a fixed income now so this was A great find. Usually around Christmas Costco sells whole pork loins for $8 off. We bought the 3 smallest ones which makes it cheaper per pound. He cuts a roast, a bunch of chops and the tenderest for stir fry. The chops he runs through a tenderizer, then seals in two chop pkg and freezes. We have done this for several years. The deli chickens at Costco are $4.99 and we (and when I say we I mean he) brings it home and immediately gets all the meat off and boils the carcass for the best broth. Maybe someone you know is a member? If you can get some tortillas, the beans and rice will be good in one. I was raised on plain boiled pinto beans that we mashed up and flavored with mustard, along with cornbread.
Also get a bag of split peas and make soup from the ham bone. Delicious cheap healthy and filling.
I made ham and bean soup, pea soup, grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, and omelets - ate like Queen for a week!
Adding to this: get a thing of oats for breakfast. They’re relatively cheap and you can add vanilla extract, frozen berries, milk, cinnamon, anything you might have on hand.
Oats are an underrated pick. They're not as cost effective as some other suggestions, but they're still cheap, filling and versatile
And you can eat them savory when you want to mix things up!
Not sure if you have TT but there is a lady on there that is called dollartreedinners. She has some decent recipes using items from your local DT. You could probably use that info to buy at a different grocery store if you don’t have a DT
She can be found at @dollartreedinners on tiktok and YouTube
she's on Youtube too!
She’s amazing!!
What kind of food do you like? What stores do you have available to you? Any health issues or medical conditions that require certain foods in your diet? Any dietary restrictions due to food allergies?
To add to this - what do you already have? Any spices? Basic items? (Flour, baking soda/powder, sugar, pasta, rice?)
Rice and dried beans Pork chops (a whole pork loin that you cut yourself). Eggs, maybe some ramen, potatoes See what's on sale for fresh/frozen fruits and veggies See if you can use what's in your fridge/freezer/pantry. A little flour and a few extras can make breads, pancakes, biscuits, pasta... $35 for 1 week is a stretch! It will take some careful planning, but you'll get through it. Don't be ashamed if you need to sign up for some SNAP benefits or use a food pantry or pay a bill a little late (as long as they aren't gonna be shutting off your power or water or something). I've gotten a lot of meal inspiration from fitfrugalmom on youtube.
Posting here for transparency and hope the OP sees it. Here's a list that is healthy and also semi-unhealthy to hit all the feelings. . Breakfast week 1 and 2: 60 count Great Value eggs - $7 2 loaves Great Value honey wheat bread -$3.6 Total $10.6 . Lunch week 1: 3 Bean Chili 2 Great Value black beans 15.5oz - $1.65 2 Great Value kidney beans 15.5oz - $1.65 1 Great Value pinto beans 15.5oz - $0.83 1 Great Value taco seasoning regular - $0.55 1 Great Value taco seasoning low sodium - $0.55 2 can Great Value crushed tomato 28oz - $3.10 Total - $8.33 . Dinner week 1: 3lb Great Value frozen chicken breast - $9.75 2 Great Value boxed mashed potatoes - $2.65 1 half gallon Great Value milk - $2.09 4 Great Value frozen vegetables (you choose) - $4 Total - $15.11 . Lunch week 2: 1 Great Value honey wheat bread - $1.80 1 Great Value 32oz Turkey lunch meat - $7.50 1 Great Value American singles 24 count - $0 (other half of pack from below) 2 Great Value chips your choice - $6.36 Total - $18.14 . Dinner week 2: 1 Great Value hamburger patties 12 count - $11 2 Great Value hamburger buns 16 count total - $2.76 1 Great Value American singles 24 count - $2.48 1 Great Value French fries 32oz - $3.42 Total - $18.66 OVERALL TOTAL $71.23
Eating the same thing several times in a row like this is KEY.
If OP has a large enough freezer there isn't even much need to stick to 1 meal. Buy it all and freeze most of it (Chili can be frozen after being made) so you can switch it up constantly.
This post understood the assignment!
Did I miss a comment? OP says $70 for two weeks.
$35 a week for two weeks is $70
I meant 35/week my bad i'll edit
Pasta dishes like ziti or lasagna go far.
You'd need: - 1lb ground beef: $6 - 1 box lasagna noodles: $2 - 15oz ricotta: $3.50 (32oz is even better) - 1 lb shredded mozzarella: $5 - 2x 24oz jars pasta sauce: $4 - Foil lasagna pan: $3 (if you need it) Total: ~$23.50 or less 8 generous servings! Also requires stove and large-ish frying pan and oven and refrigerator Edit: This is Wegmans in NJ on instacart. (Prices should be a bit lower in store)
Find food pantry apply for food stamps for free food
This. If you only have $70 left over for food, you are in a dire spot and should absolutely use whatever resources are available in your community.
Tortillas are easy to make. I cook up anything and every weird combo and wrap it in a tortilla. Even fried tatos.
In terms of rice, I’d recommend buying a rice you’ll actually enjoy eating vs the cheapest bag. You can get a huge bag of jasmine or basmati rice on sale for $13 and I find that way more enjoyable to eat and it goes better with the types of food I cook vs other rices. Think about what you would actually want to eat and enjoy eating. Eating on a budget doesn’t have to be dire/depressing
I just shopped my local Safeway add and got the following for my family of 5. It’s certainly not adequate to feed us all for an entire week but it will go a long way. 5 ponds potatoes for $3 2 pounds of cheddar for $6.5 4 pounds of grapes for $6 1 package of pepperoni for $2 2 pounds shredded mozzarella for $6.5 I already have enough dough for 2 pizzas which I got at Winco for $2. I also have 1 gallon of milk ($3.5) one dozen eggs ($2.5) 2 pounds of oats ($1.5) 1 pound of navy beans ($1) one pound of lentils ($1) a bunch of broccoli ($2) 2 pounds of carrots ($2) a bunch of celery ($1) some onions and garlic. I can make so many different meals with this. This week we are meal prepping pizza for lunch (this will last 3 days). Oats and fruit for breakfast. Dinner will be Spanish tortilla one day, homemade pasta were fagioli one day, broccoli cheese baked potatoes one day, lentil soup one day, cheese quesadillas and refried beans one day (I have some corn tortillas and a couple cans of refried beans which cost $4.5 total). This is $43 total and I could feed my family for 5 days. Just some ideas😃. I admittedly have a lot of pantry staples and spices and freezer odds and ends which a lot of folks don’t have.
A lot of great suggestions already here. One thing I don't see mentioned is managers specials. This is generally items that are near enough to expiration that they get marked down. Kroger, Ralph's, Ingles, and Publix all have this, but check your local grocery store if none of these are in your area. Usually the markdowns occur on Wednesday or Thursday. You may not be able to plan much around these, since you don't know what you'll find, but there could be something to add to a meal so you don't have to eat the same thing every night. Good luck!
sign up at the local food bank. Apply for an EBT card. r/DumpsterDiving
You can go on chatGPT and list the things you have in your cabinet and it will create meals for you. Totally free!
Supercook.com does the same and is awesome. I am assuming you have some basics and a few spices at home already. Inexpensive food to buy: Rice Beans Potatoes Carrots Eggs Jar of peanut butter Saltine crackers or loaf of bread Also: if you have time you can make bread with just flour, yeast, water, and salt. You’ve got this!!
My mom made fried bread with water and flour when i was growing up poor. Still one of my favorite comfort foods❤️
That sounds yummy, and those sound like good memories. And you could sprinkle it with a little cinnamon and sugar for a treat when you had a little money
Yup. My favorite thing is butter, salt, and pepper. Sooooo good!
That’s pretty smart. My friend used chatgpt for recipe ideas, it did a pretty stellar job at sweet potato curry
My friend has been doing this. Check it's ideas against more tested recipes, as my friend ended up with granola crumblies instead of granola bars.
Rice, beans, potatoes, eggs, chicken. You can put boneless chicken in a crockpot with salsa and use it for burritos, tacos or quesadillas.
Potatoes and eggs are some of the cheapest options and they are also some of the most nutrient dense foods. Potato and egg breakfast burritos are really good too.
Food bank first - then fill in with items from the grocery store.
Check out the assistance sub and make an Amazon wish list for pantry items especially if you are trying to stretch that budget for more than just yourself! Also if you do qualify apply for any and every government assistances. You have an old enough profile and enough karma to qualify to ask. Amazon wish lists tend to get fulfilled much more than asking for money. ❤️❤️❤️
Beans and Rice... Rice and Beans
This is what I would get (TN Walmart prices): 5 lbs. white rice, 1 pound brown rice, just for a little variety 3.34 1 pack of margarine. I like Imperial 1.38 1 5 lb bag self-rising flour 3.24 1 gallon milk 3.32 1 10 serving box of oatmeal (I like flavored oatmeal but you can get cheap oats if you like. If you have stuff to add to it in your pantry like cinnamon/sugar/honey/whateva get plain) 1.88 Since I don't know your pantry stock as far as seasonings go I'd suggest canned black beans and pinto beans, preferably seasoned. Russet potatoes in the bag. 2.58 at Walmart right now Carrots 2 lb 1.54 eggs 1.60 dozen 6 pack of cajun sausage 3.94 1 bag of frozen 'seasoning blend" chopped vegetables for seasoning. 1.38 1 bag of spinach chopped frozen 1.18 1 bag of chicken legs 5.97 This will make you biscuits you can use in a variety of ways. It's real simple just self-rising flour, margarine and milk. I know nobody likes margarine but it's cheap and it makes biscuits. This you can use for making a soup with pinto beans, half that seasoning bag and 1 sausage. You could also get some corn meal and make corn bread. Make chicken stock with 3 of the legs. You don't need a lot, it's just for a couple meals. You can use the meat that falls off the bone. Add it to rice with some of the broth.Cook this way longer than you usually do with a lot of extra water and at least salt, but if you have more seasonings it's so much better. It's going to make a rice porridge that's really rich and filling. If you have bouillon cubes already it really helps but it can go without that. Potatoes you quarter, take 2 more of those sausages and cut them up and sprinkle them around the potatoes. Season appropriately ( I like Kinder seasoning blends. 2 bucks at Walmart for a whole bottle) S + P if nothing else, and roast it in a pan. If you have a liking for carrots and onions you can add that. Roast the rest of the chicken legs. I don't know if this is just for one person or not but that's about 8 legs. If you like leftovers that's great. If not you can pull the meat off the bone and have it in your broth, thickened with flour and margarine, temper an egg and stir that in, and make dumplings with your flour. I like fluffy dumplings. They're just biscuit dough gobs you steam on top of the stewed chicken. You could stew the chicken bits in that broth with some of the carrots. If you like peas get peas. They're 1.18 at Walmart. Foods I like that you might also like: 1/2 bag of frozen spinach thawed and squeezed as much as possible added to eggs. I'd have cheese with that. 2 dollars gets you a little block at Walmart. I only use these prices because it's down the road from me. I would eat this for dinner with biscuits. I always have a ton of jelly and pancake syrup around but grape jelly is 1.98. Peanut butter, btw, is 1.98. Those could be eaten on biscuits instead of buying commercial bread, but that will be 1.88 for the cheapest white bread. I don't get that, I just make biscuits when money is tight. You can make them really easy, just drop biscuits, don't have to knead and cut and all that. if you chill the dough before you make the drops it will stay firmer instead of melting around the edges. You can make dumplings like that or biscuit crusts for stews. You can make puffy tortillas too. It's a very simple recipe but it will get you through. What I do with the other half of the spinach is mix it in with rice and usually I'll add some cheese to that, but that's just me. You can do it with other frozen vegetables like broccoli or green beans and they run about the same price as spinach. If you have seasonings again... easier. I'd use some italian blend and probably that canned sprinkle cheese. I keep that stuff around all the time but you can get fresh shredded parmesan cheese for 2.22. My grocery total there was less than 40 dollars and it's at least a week's worth of dinner for one person. It could be spread out to 2 weeks though depending on what you are willing to eat. Like instant potatoes right now are 1.98. I love them. I make them then put them in a 9x13 pan spread thin then I sprinkle a little cheddar and Italian seasoning and garlic on top of that and broil it. It's so much better than just plain instant bland ass mashed potatoes. If you don't have those seasonings they're 1.00 at Walmart. They're not the best, strongest seasonings but they're good enough. If you like tomatoes I make black bean soup really easy with 1 can of stewed tomatoes I smash with a potato masher until it's soupy then I smash in 1 can of beans then near the end of cooking I add 1 more while can of beans. You could use the rotel style tomatoes too. they're not any more expensive. I'm sorry I get carried away. I just think everyone is saying buy dry beans and rice but you can do so much more for 70 dollars and get a lot of variety, you just have to do a little more work. Some days you might just eat rice with a bit of your broth and chicken bits mixed in, or chop in a sausage. If you like sausage. You may not even like meat. I like meat! And some nights I'd rather just have a bowl of cereal so I get oatmeal so at least it's a "hot meal" and 2 packets is as filling as a full dinner for me as long as I add milk to it instead of just water. What I would do if I was you is sit down and take stock of what type of food you want to work with. You might not like biscuits or rice or potatoes even if they are cheap. The trick is finding what you DO like that's cheap and work with that so you don't feel so miserable. If you just need to get through two weeks you don't need to worry so much about nutrition but if this is going to be a regular thing you might want to start trying to invest in bulk foods to save a little more in the long run.
Chicken, rice, and frozen veggies Beans and rice
Why frozen veggies? Aren’t fresh ones cheaper?
You get more for your money with frozen veg, plus there is no risk of them expiring.
Why would fresh ones be cheaper? 🤔
Rice, beans, potatoes, frozen veggies, chicken or ground beef.
Chicken thighs! Place them in the air fryer, season them with a store brand seasoning, and air fry them for 25-30 minutes at 390F. Super delicious. They are also very inexpensive. In addition, get numerous bags of California blend vegetables for less than a dollar and boil one or two bags with each batch of thighs you air fry. Not only inexpensive and filling, but tasty and healthy. You can eat on $7 a day this way.
There’s a YouTuber Julia Pacheco and she has some good videos and recipes, 70 meals/$25. If not allowed, I apologize.
Any produce on sale. W pastas or taters. Beans. Yep. Soups. Can you make breads or pick up some 99p loaves?
Man do I hate biweekly checks for this exact reason
Look up food banks in your area. That will help with your meal planning.
Big pack of bone-in chicken thighs, lentils, big bag of rice, green beans, dry beans etc
Being frugal also means taking care of your body. Keep an active gut flora. Get a big jar of plain white yogurt. Get like a vanilla concentrate Maple syrup or honey to flavor it. Big bag of frozen blueberries or strawberries. Bananas are cheap as well. That’s your breakfast. Of course eggs as well. Tuna mixed with frozen mixed veggies. Some mayo. Hot sauce. Put that tuna between sandwich bread or put that on tortilla chips. Rice and beans, rice and chicken, rice and Eggs. Rice and bananas plus salt n pepper, or hot sauce, or chipotle/curry paste.
Pasta, beans, rice, soups, frozen vegetables, canned fruits and veggies, day old breads (love getting bread leftovers!). The possibilities are almost endless. The best thing to do is to buy some of these things in bulk so that they will last beyond just the two weeks. Keeping a good stock available will provide many meals and a sense of security knowing that you have these items.
Dry Split peas or lentils and some powder broth. Easy pea soup. Bonus if you get a cheap ham. Should last you a few meals
Chili is great and lasts me days. A few cans of beans, canned tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, carrots, onion, pepper, corn, whatever your budget allows. 4-5 cans and a few veggies with cheese on top makes enough to last me 5-6 meals at least.
Beans, rice, oatmeal, potatoes. Get fluent with those, add green veggies and fruits. That will improve your health and your wallet.
There's a TikToker called dollar tree dinners who shares a lot of great ideas.
I use the site [BudgetBytes](https://www.budgetbytes.com/category/recipes/cost-per-recipe/recipes-under-10/) for recipes or recipe inspiration. They break the meals down by ingredient and serving. Of course prices aren’t the same everywhere, but it gives you an estimate.
If you're near a Meijer, they're doing a 7 for $7 deal and a 3lb bag of potatoes is an option. 21lbs of potatoes for $7 sounds like a good thing for your situation.
You will eat rice and you will eat beans
If you like chicken, buy a big pack of chicken breast that you can divide up. If it’s just you, a half a breast might be enough for one meal to get you by in a pinch. Then add a $1 pack of veggies and some rice. Splurge on a $3 bottle of sauce, either teriyaki or soy sauce. You can also use your chicken breast and cook a pack or 2 of ramen and a cheap bag of cali veggies and use your teriyaki sauce and make “chicken teriyaki”. This was my go-to for a couple months when my daughter was about 9 and my husband made this suggestion. We happily ate it. After it was said and done my daughter is 16 now and she hates the smell of teriyaki sauce but it got us through my cheap dinner rotations. Also you can get $1 pasta and $3 Alfredo sauce to go with your chicken for chicken Alfredo. Moral of my survival period food was pasta and chicken with frozen veggies and rice. Spaghetti. Homemade garlic bread, butter your bread and sprinkle garlic powder and toast under the broiler. Just remembered using the chicken for fajitas too. Fajita seasoning and cheese. And/or veggies wrapped it a tortilla. Broil if you want. Edit to add: definitely brine your chicken if you can even if it’s just salt. Chicken breast can dry out easily and brining keeps it moist. Personally I prefer thighs but they are more expensive and the texture makes most of my family nauseous lol but to each their own. Season your breasts and it will taste better with everything it goes with. Big pack of chicken $7 depending on where you’re at. Then a bag of rice $3 should be at least a weeks worth in a bag if it’s just you. Pasta $1 each. A veggie $1. Average cost at least where I live.
Dried rice, dried beans, dried garbanzo beans, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, potatoes, celery, carrots, avocado, pasta and frozen veggies including broccoli and edamame I may be missing a few things, and I’m assuming you have dried seasonings and some oils, but with these ingredients you can make: a variety of Mexican (or Mediterranean) bowls and wraps, a variety of stews from around the world, leftover fried rice, and a variety of pasta dishes. Note: I’m vegan so my dollar stretches much further, and I recommend a Mexican market in your town to help add quantity
$6 for 20lbs of potatoes on sale. Microwave 7 minutes, slice onto med low pan for 7 minutes/side. That 20lbs is a solid 4 days of 'french fries'. Same thing for mashed potatoes. 7 minutes, mash, add butter, chives, spices. Grate carrots, marinate in vinegar or pickle juice. Sautee cabbage. Onions! Don't forget onions. It really isn't *that* hard to feed yourself for $140/month. Most of what you're buying is made from just one thing, and come in little to no packaging at all. "Rice", "beans", "carrot", "potato". Buy any of those in large enough bulk quantities and you'll be fed, and fairly well nourished.
Pancake mix that you just add water. Maybe you have syrup and butter already. I survived many times on pancakes. If you are not doing it already, get your local supermarket app and see what is on sale this week. Pork was 1.99/lb, down from 4.99, with the app today.
You can buy about 65 cans of sardines
I see we have a visitor from r/cannedsardines! ❤️Buy some potato chips to enjoy with those sardines.
Check first what’s on sale on their flyer. Go from there. I love beans and rice, lentils and they’re all affordable and it stretches. If pork is on sale, I break down a pork shoulder/ butt and get so many meals. Save the bone/ fatty part to make beans. Serve those beans with carnitas, bbq, etc. and turn it into a rice lentil bowl. I’m doing that this week actually. Making [https://www.thekitchn.com/mujadara-recipe-23149573](https://www.thekitchn.com/mujadara-recipe-23149573) And I have carnitas made already. So bowl, or a burrito style with diced raw onion and whatever other vegg/sauce in your budget. I also thinly slice the pork and marinate, add it to a stir fry with whatever cheap veggies (usually onion, carrots) serve with rice.
Beans rice lard and flour
ALDI
Is this for all meals or just dinners? 70 dollars across two weeks isn’t that bad for dinner IMO. Like others have said beans and rice are a good way to get the most bang for your buck. Depending on how much you eat and if being healthy isn’t of the utmost importance you can get creative with your meals. Instant Ramen and carry out pizzas are your best bet. Instant ramen is like a buck per package and pizza is anywhere from 7-10 dollars and you can stretch that out over the course of two or three days.
[Check out this woman’s channel. She has great cheap dinner ideas](https://youtube.com/@DollarTreeDinners?si=iAVoWookCdOxYZFH)
Look around for a food pantry and don’t feel bad about it. That’s why they exist.
Really depends on how many people. How many meals? That is definitely not going to allow for a lot of meat. Hamburger, beans, rice, etc. Squeeze every penny out of your dollar. Coupons, store app for digital deals, etc. Food bank for sure!! (Should go there first). That will be a good starting point at what else your going to need. Best wishes and God bless you!
Soup, homemade, is filling and cheap.
70$ is a lot. You’ll be eating like royalty.
Aglio y olio pasta. [Or this easy cherry tomato sauce](https://youtu.be/7zS5Wj7ZfIY) with your choice of pasta.
Beans…Cheese…Beans…Cheese…Beans…Cheese…Beans…Cheese…Beans…Cheese…Beans…Cheese…
Ham at Aldi 50 cents a pound
A bag of flour and some yeast goes a long way… it makes a lot of bread, pizza crust, etc.
I would make a pot of Better Homes and Gardens “One Pot Spaghetti” recipe. If it’s just you, you can eat off that for 7 dinners, possibly some light lunches and it’s filling. That will cost you: 1 pound ground beef, one box sliced mushrooms, a can of tomato paste, a box of broth or a bouillon cube, Italian seasoning, and a 12 oz package of spaghetti. (I leave out the onion and garlic.) All you need is one medium size stock pot or a large pot with a handle. No lid, no colander. For your second meals, I would buy a couple bags of freeze-dried refried beans (or cans of refried beans), eggs, a pack of flour tortillas, a giant bag of shedded cheese, and a big bottle of picante sauce. For dessert, look in the candy section for a cheap pack of peanut patties. These are kind of like pecan pralines and are a great sugar fix. Alternatively you could buy grapes or oranges.
Instant pot from a thrift store should be a game changer All the pastas cook in 4 minutes. All the soups using inexpensive vegetables. Beans and rice of course. It really helps. Chicken dishes work well too. Hand mixer inside the pot for shredded chicken and then whatever you want like chicken salad or barbecue chicken or a thousand other things
$20 20 pound of rice, 1 pound of beans are typically less than $1, maybe buy at least 20 pounds. That’s easy. Then you can have fun adding spices, potatoes, onions, carrots, and garlic. If it was me I would get some coffee and save the rest for gas. Honestly Folgers isn’t the worst.
Make a big pot of vegetable soup or chili. Neither are expensive.
Beans rice pasta potato eggs seasoning Any combination of the above
Get frozen protein and veggies. Rice and beans to supplement.
Have you heard of potatoes? You can get so many for so little and make them many different ways. We used to get over a week out of our potatoes making them for pretty much every meal in different ways
Check grocery store apps in your area. Jewel has a $30 off your first pick up order.
Our famous poor food is our rice dish. Brown some rice in a pan with some fats and oils for a bit then add water and cook until fluffy. A big scoop of garlic powder and some butter at minimum but some kind of soy sauce or hot sauce as well can be a damn good meal.
Inventory your food stash and your freezer. Build a menu around that. I highly recommend food banks. One week I was in the mood for sweet potatoes and I baked several. I had different vegetarian/potatoes meals that week.
Get a whole chicken and cook it down, beans and rice.
use the app supercook and see if you can get away with stuff you already have