Budget Meals for Singles

[karice2]

I know there are a lot of tips on this board for people who have families. You guys have a lot to deal with. It takes a lot to plan and feed a group of people but I have found that as a single my budget gets busted because of waste.

Conventional wisdom is to buy in bulk because you get the better prices. Coupons now only allow you to save if you buy multiples and the good prices are usually reserved for the multipacks of things.

I run into problems with the amount of food that I waste every week or month because a price is really good on something but then I usually have way too much of it. I do have a casket freezer but I don't use it very often because it also serves as my laundry folding table. Don't laugh, that thing is ginormous. I do have some things in there but mainly rely on my standard freezer in my kitchen. Has anyone noticed how much less space you get with the fancy french door freezer thing.

So in the spirit of the DIS budget board, I am going to create an effective meal plan for singles using the best of budget shopping plans.

Here is my personal challenge,

I have to reduce my eating out budget by $100 per week.

80% of my food must be home cooked. Not a microwave processed box.

Meals must be nutritious.

Reduce grocery waste by 75%

Follow along if you want.

 

[pezheadmeg]

Prep, prep, prep.

I do a lot of fresh produce. Just have to eat it that week. I also grill chicken plain on Sunday. Then during the week I use it in a variety of dishes. Yes the flavor is stronger marinated, but I like variety.

And there is no rule you have to make a whole box of pasta at once. A single serving means less water to boil.

 

[hffmnheidi]

Get a large package of hamburger and split it into single serving sizes for your meals. You can probably get almost a month's worth of hamburger based meals from a large package for a single person.

If you are wanting to save money, start shopping at Aldi's. They have pasta, rice, and fresh produce for half the cost at Wal-mart, ect..and it's the same stuff you buy with a name-brand.

 

[Marionnette]

Im going to follow along. Two kids just went back to college this weekend. Now I have to reduce the number of meals prepared by forty percent. One meal that always worked for me is pasta. Spaghetti sauce is easy to freeze in small portions. Dried pasta can be cooked in any quantity. I cook my meatballs in the sauce. Then I freeze them on a cookie try. Then I bag them up. I make lots of italian rolls at one time and partially bake them. Then I freeze them. Steam some frozen green beans. And I have a healthy meal on the table in under forty minutes. Of course that means you may lose your laundry folding table but some things are worth the sacrifice.

 

[sookie]

can you cook yourself a meal and immediately separate and freeze the rest? like a hamburger helper may feed you 3-4 times - so separate and freeze that and thats lunch and dinner for a few days? you take your lunch right?

 

[scbelleatheart]

I don't know if I'm qualified to reply because I (we) are travel warriors. We usually spend anywhere from 160 to 250 nights in a hotel each year and needed small healthy meals. We got sick of restaurants but the way we eat works at home even better if you work. I have gotten a lot of good advice from this board.
PP said it. Prep! On the nights I get to be at home I grill chicken, beef, pork and slice it and freeze. Breakfast, hard boiled eggs, fruit, yogurt. Lunch, lots of salads with the sliced meat, HB eggs, grape tomatoes or sliced meat & cheese wraps. Supper, hot food, grilled meat, steamed veggies, more salad. Snacks, veggies, dip, nuts & fruit.
We get rooms with microwaves/fridges, take everything from home frozen in a softside cooler and put it in the fridge. Even without the freezer we are good for 6 days.
Our travel per diem for food is $25 per person per day. $25 per day for 2 people will last 2 1/2 days for us. Our employees think we should raise the per diem.
So healthy, easy, portable.
I used my freezer as a place to fold laundry too. Now I use my kitchen island!

 

[lovemygoofy]

Make a meal plan before going to the store. Store/freeze things in proportions.

I put individual chicken breasts in freezer bags, sometimes with marinade. Cut up a pork loin and freeze in small portions, again with marinade if you wish.

I brown up several batches of ground turkey and freeze that then unfreeze in the microwave with whatever seasoning. You can also freeze burger patties in portions.

Buy bagged salad or small portions of salad/veggies/fruits. I buy fresh fruit and cut up the strawberries, peaches, and pineapple almost right away so it's on hand for serving.

I buy a loaf of bread and automatically divide in half for the freezer, though now I just buy the deli flats by Sarah Lee. Make a batch of pancakes or waffles and freeze extras for a quick defrost for dinner.

Make a big batch of food and freeze it. Lots of things freeze well in portions. Take leftovers for lunch the next day or even eat two days later while rotating one other meal for that week.

Best thing you can do is prepare your week.

 

[cglaura]

One of our favorite dinners is Grilled Chicken Caeser Salad.

We buy the bag of frozen chicken breast from Walmart. It is $6.89 for 3lbs...approximately 7 or 8 breasts, depending on their size.

Bag of mix romaine salad...no more than $2.50 at the grocery store, though often can get 2/$3.00. If you don't go the convenience route of prewashed and bagged, could save more.

Have on hand...fat free caeser dressing and croutons...about $3.00 per month.

I grill the chicken in a non-stick pan with some cooking spray (like Pam), with garlic powder and black pepper and a little salt.

Add to the salad with a few croutons, quick and easy 20 minute dinner.

Total Cost: $1.79 (less if salad and stuff on sale)

Chicken $0.86
Croutons & Dressing $0.10
Salad $.83

I love this because it is super simple for one person, or if dd is home, adding more chicken to the pan is no big deal...same amount of time.

If I'm not particularly hungry, I may use only half the chicken, and save the other half for lunch next day...shred it up with some dressing and put in a pita with lettuce for a sandwich.

 

[Sagginit]

im single, currently living at home, but since i have a food allergy and we all have different diets i essentially have to function as a single. the main thing i depend on is buying things that multi-task. grilled chicken can be turned into chicken parm with sauce and cheese, just add pasta. shredded and put with cheese and veggies for quick quesadilla, steam bag of veggies and cook rice + asian sauces makes stir fry. and on that note i can use fresh carrots and peppers for salad, and then for the stir fry, and then the peppers with onions for quesadila etc. i will even chop up carrots and zuchinni (also good for stir fry) and add to sauce for a healthier pasta sauce. bags of shredded cheese are super handy and can be easily frozen but it may take a few weeks to go thru, so i have enough time to wait out a sale to buy more but dont have to stockpile it. i keep "processed" foods like amys frozen meals or organic canned soup for when i dont feel like cooking to resist the urge to just go out and get a pizza.

i balance splurging on things that matter, like really good cheese or organic produce with buying generic of other things or the brand on sale. at the same time i found the oraganic greens in the plastic tubs keep longer than greens in a bag, organic apples in a bag are smaller than the regular ones and i tend to eat more, thus less waste.

and can i just say i needed berries for a recipe and went to aldis b/c i didnt want to waste spending $6 on berries in case i never finished it and discovered they carried the same exact brands as my local foodstore at half the price? so glad i went there on that one.

 

[Kat73]

I agree on the planning. Before I head to the grocery I plan out exactly how many nights I'm going to be cooking that week, and try to come up with an idea of what meals I'd like to fix. What meals I fix is flexible, if I get to the grocery and some other kind of meat is on sale/really good deal, I'll adjust. I sometimes buy the "family pack" sizes of fresh meat, and then when I get home just divide and freeze the extras.

One thing that I've found is that I waste just as much money on eating out for lunch at work as I do after work. So now I take leftovers for meals about 70% of the time. My new rule is that any night of the week that I'm home ( i work retail so my hours flex from first to second shifts all over the place) in the evening, I have to cook food even if there are leftovers. I've found since doing this that I eat more food from home, waste a lot less, and enjoy my meals more.

Another thing I do is cook extra/do more food prep on the 'easy' work days/offdays. Such as fixing extra sides (rice, potatoes, noodles, etc) or cutting up extra fruit.

Personally I'm a big fan of making wraps/fajitas. I keep a stack of tortillas on hand almost all the time. A little rice, a little cheese, some low fat caesar dressing or other whatnot, whatever meat's on hand, and sometimes I fix up some onions/peppers etc, YUM. super easy.

And someone else mentioned bagged salad, and I have to agree. This is one splurge that for me is worth the money. I just can not eat that much salad in a week, so the bags of romaine/etc are perfect. Plus, having one of them on hand makes it easy to add that to all the stuff I put in the fajitas, and presto taco salad

 

[hambirg]

Lots of good suggestions here. We are a family of 4, but I get home so late sometimes that my kids have already eaten. . .hence having to cook for one. I won't rehash what others have said here, but a few other things to consider. Do keep a few frozen meals in the freezer. I like Healthy Choice ones. It might not be super budget friendly, but it will keep you out of the drive-thru on those nights when you really don't want to come home and have to deal with cooking anything. It is more budget and health friendly than the drive-thru. Also, on the weekends I like to make what I call garbage soup. It's basically a minestrone type soup that I just through all those little left overs from the week into. . . vegies, pasta, beans, meats, etc with some canned spaghetti sauce and water as the base. It always turns out really good, and even though we are a family of 4, I think my biggest budget buster is the amount of food we through out. At least with this I feel like I'm saving some food from the garbage can. I think sometimes people forget the waste factor. Just as an example. . .I buy bags of onions, but if I had to cook for one I think I would buy those pre-diced frozen onions. You might be paying more up front, but there wouldn't be any waste. Just like I usually buy organic bananas. They are a little more expensive, but I think they taste better, and the main reason is they are smaller. My kids could never eat a big normal banana and I was constantly throwing out half eaten bananas. I know you can freeze them and use them for smoothies, but in reality we never did that. You just have to figure out what works for you.

 

[smokeyblue]

I've been waiting for this thread! I am just terrible with eating out because I'm too tired or lazy to cook. I throw away so much meat and produce because I don't get to prepping it.

Everyone is so right. I need to start prepping food all in one day and freeze what I can in appropriate portions. I just wish I had more freezer space. I can't wait to see some good ideas.

 

[Rantybaby]

I have the same problem. I should save eating at home more but take out is more conventient. I go to websites like: Campbell's Kitchen, Kraft Foods, Minute Rice and Starkist they have great recipes. I'll cook 4 or 5 recipes; Beef-Chicken-Pork & Seafood (usually shrimp or tuna). Freeze in Ziploc small square or small round containtainers. Will make up to 16 meals.

 

[Rantybaby]

hffmnheidi,

Where do you live with an Aldi's? My brother lives in Milwaukee

 

[howlongtildisney]

When I was on a serious budget and living alone, I ate a lot of scrambled eggs. I'd saute some fresh veggies and then add in some eggs and cheese. It was super cheap and super filling. I still make it pretty regularly now for DH and me.

Good luck with your challenge!

 

[karice2]

Thanks for everyone's advice. I have a bit of a plan in place. I do know about the prep. All those cooking classes really helped a lot. I have a huge cutting board for veggies and then some color coded ones for my proteins.

I guess I should also mention that I am trying to eat locally and hormone and antibiotic free meats. I know it adds to the budget but it is better for me and the planet. It is the least that I can do. So that being said, I do most of my grocery shopping at the huge farmers market. I know most of the farmers so I can get good deals on stuff. Just always have too much.

Last night, I wanted to try my new steamer so here is what I made in the steamer
1/4 cup dry brown rice
3 boneless skinless chicken breast seasoned with some cracked black pepper, sea salt and fresh herbs.
2 servings of fresh mixed veggies (broccoli, carrots, squash)

This became two dinner meals in fridge.

While that was going I also made my version of a greek salad and separated into two portions for lunches.

Greek salad
baby romaine lettuce and arugula - $7 for large pack
grape yellow and red tomatoes - $2 at Farmers market
1/4 red onion - $.50
Feta cheese - $2.49
1 Cucumber- $.50
1 chicken breast from steamer

here is the recipe I used for dressing. I have all this stuff in pantry so easy for me to make. So good.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Absolutely-Fabulous-GreekHouse-Dressing/Detail.aspx

I also had some zucchini that I got at the market. farmer stuck them in my bag. They are huge. I have every intention to make zucchini bread today when I get home from work.


I still have half a container of salad greens, tomatoes, Feta, 3/4 of red onion to figure out something but I do have some recipes that I am going to pull out and see what I come up with. I do have some Chilean Sea Bass in the freezer.

 

[Juliegirl1]

Single mom here whose child doesn't eat anything .

I will buy or cook a whole chicken and make a ton of meals for myself out of it.

Eat roasted chicken one night. Remove the rest of the chicken from the bones. you can either freeze in small portions or use some right away.

Use leftover chicken bones to make stock and freeze in smaller portions. You can then use the chicken stock and some of the meat for soups - tortilla soup and chicken noodle are two of my favorites and easy to freeze.

Use chicken meat to make sandwiches, quesadillas, chicken enchiladas, chicken salad, fajitas, chicken spaghetti, fettucini or tetrazzini, etc. All of these except the chicken salad can be either made in small portions or make larger portions and freeze some of it.

I also will buy two steaks and cook them both. One steak will feed both my child and I one night, I will slice leftovers over a salad the next day for lunch and the other steak I will slice up for either fajitas or put it over egg noodles with a mushroom gravy (like beef tips). I sometimes buy a beef tenderloin at Costco and slice it up in steaks - I can usually get about 16 steaks plus two bags of tips out of one $65 tenderloin - much cheaper than buying them separately - plus they are much leaner and more tender than what I can get at the grocery store.

Spaghetti sauce does freeze well in small portions - I put it in freezer bags and freeze it flat. When I am craving lasagna instead of make a huge lasagna I use frozen cheese ravioli and layer it with meat sauce and cheese on top in a mini loaf pan. Enough for me for dinner and a bit left over for lunch the next day! Much easier than boiling noodles and the whole lasagna mess.

I have a George Foreman grill and will buy large packs of meat at Costco and divide them up into two portions per freezer bag. We grill a lot and since meat is one thing my child eats it works great for us and lasts a long time.

I have very little waste this way - I make a Costco run for meat about every six months or so. I also love their boneless skinless chicken breasts that they have packaged two to a bag - no freezer burn and perfect portions for me.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Kim -thanks for starting this thread I'm married but DH is an over the road trucker so I have to think of things as a single, I'll be following your thread for more ideas..I never seem to come up with anything new and then end up skipping meals. which is so bad

O/T I hope you do a trip report with Mom's 60th I already
hinted at the tiara & 60 th with my DDs (in another 4 yrs that idea I got from you !


Ruthie

 

[bettymae1121]

When I was single I'd make a huge batch of something, put a bit aside in the fridge to eat for the next few days and freeze the rest in single serve containers. I would make a full pan of lassagna, eat one or two slices right away, then freeze single slices. Same with chili, meat loaf, spaghetti/penne/ravioli with red sauce, and home made soups.

I'd also buy boxed Tyson's individual wraped frozen chicken breasts. I'd wait for them to go on sale for 50% off and then buy like 10 boxes of them. That would get me through until the next 1/2 off sale a few months later. They were the perfect size and I could defrost only what I needed. Since they were in that heavy-duty plastic, i could just defrost them in a bowl of hot water, took about 5 minutes and then they were ready to cook.

For veggies, I'd buy frozen bags and just use as much as I wanted, as needed.

 

[Rantybaby]

Juliegirl1,

Moving back to Houston Oct 1. Going to Angleton, 50 miles south on Hwy 288. Which Costco do you use?