*Feed Your Family $10 A Day Challenge*(AT HOME)

[mommiepoppins]

Breakfast the kids woke up late 10 am
Toast for 4 kids= 20 cents
Spray butter=10 cents
Apple juice for 3 kids=50 cents (an entire bottle is 1$)
=80 cents

Lunch
Scrambled eggs and pancakes
Pancakes are for 4 kids
Eggs are for 5 people

Scrambled eggs=0
Pancakes 1$(entire box from $ store)
Syrup= 40 cents
Apple slices dipped in yogurt
For all of us
50 cents apples
Yogurt 50 cents
Milk for 2 kids =50 cents (one child if she has to much dairy she will break out in hives)
=290

Dinner everyone east all 5 of us
Stuffed shells with salad and tomatoes
2pakages of premade stuff shells= 2988*2=596
Mozzarella cheese on top =298
Bag salad=99 cents
Tomatoes in salad=0
Tomatoes on top of the stuffed shells=0
Milk for 2 kid=50 cents
Apple juice for 1=25 cents
=1068 just for dinner

Snacks
Popcorn=20 cents
Zucchini=0
Tomatoes =0
Dressing=50
=70
=1508 for the day…. Now I am not using all the cheese tonight I will add the rest to tomm dinner.
I normally make my own stuff shells , however I hade a weak moment at the food store and bought them.

 

[lovemygoofy]

Tina--Fellow Army wife here--I caught your post but I have to head out for a bit so when I get back I will send you the information you requested.

DH had some fish who thought their paycheck was awesome for buying video games and such and had nothing left for food...well TPTB told DH to teach them what they needed to be doing and he told them I was the one who handled all that so I got to teach them((Field Trip!! To the commissary but still..))


We eat for anywhere between $6 to $10 a day and that includes nutritionally sound food...Cereal that has 5g of dietary fiber and 3g protein served with milk for about 30c pp----lunch of turkey bologna w/3g of protein or pb&j or salad with tuna for 38c pp----dinner of pot roast and fresh corn////Total for the day $6.09

There are deals to be had at the commissary--I'll get back to you in a little bit and let you know all about them!!

Thanks, any tips are great. I've pretty much got shopping at the commissary down to a science and I do a bi-montly coupon social so that helps.

I think for me it's not about breaking it down per day but more about keeping on a monthly or semi monthly budget. Honestly, I could care less each day how much I'm spending as long as I'm serving good, healthy meals and stay under or at my budget when I grocery shop. I do understand that I have it easy being just me and the occassional meal with my husband, which means I don't feed kids and don't know the hassle of trying to cater to them.

I guess I wonder about some of the meals I see because they lack a little variety and something from all the food groups. I'm all for saving money and really do understand about scraping together every cent you have. Been there and did that but I wanted to ask why some where doing it and how they actually work it out beyond just a daily total.

I don't think I'm teaching wrong by telling them to set a budget for the grocery store and create meals from that budget. I guess it's all the same but just looks odd to me from the $10/day thing because I never break it down that small.

 

[dawn1967]

ok how do you make pita chips ???????

I need to buy the stuff to make the spinich dip I am soooo craving it now .

Take your pita bread slice in chip size. bake in low oven of 300 for 15 min until brown.
I have brushes them with oil and coats them in kosher salt but for spinach dip i like them plain so do the kids the little one uses them to dip in the peanutbutter dip i make him

Just diced pears or apples diced and peanut butter and raisins mixed together.

 

[dawn1967]

I normally make my own stuff shells , however I hade a weak moment at the food store and bought them.

I haven't made stuff shells in ages i should I'll put that on the menu.. when it gets warmer for me that's winter comfort food. Like Lasanga kids keep going mom when can we have it i told them soon as it's cold they look at me lol.

 

[mom2dea0813]

I have NEVER broke it down to a daily total either till this thread . I buy meat when its on a deep sale and I buy tons like 3-4 months worth and freeze it . When I shop I am shopping to restock our deep freezer/pantry . I could go prob 2-3 months with spending 100.00 a month in food if I did nothing but eat out of the pantry and freezer but after that I would need the 300.00 a month again . Right now I spend about 80-100 every 2 weeks. I think the biggest thing is Knowing when a item is truly on sale . Buying it when its on deep discount and buy tons if it will last .

So no its not a break down of meals but more a break down of how much you Can spend and not going over that . If that means your kids or dh and self have one or 2 not great wonderfully healthy meals that maybe what it means .

For us we have nothing extra except the internet but in reality we have to have that for Dh school . We budget everything to the penny and if there is money left over in a envelope it stays there till the next paycheck . If I find after a few paychecks that we keep having left over money then I move that money to something else and keep going .

I think as long as your teaching them to budget everything down to dry cleaning and haircuts (these are 2 things I can remember hating to pay for when I was a military wife ) . Then I think they will be fine .

 

[mom2dea0813]

Take your pita bread slice in chip size. bake in low oven of 300 for 15 min until brown.
I have brushes them with oil and coats them in kosher salt but for spinach dip i like them plain so do the kids the little one uses them to dip in the peanutbutter dip i make him

Just diced pears or apples diced and peanut butter and raisins mixed together.

Wow that sounds beyond simple !!!!! I am making them for now on instead of buying them !!!! I don't buy them often but when I do I hide them ....lol

pita bread is now going on my list

 

[Nancyg56]

I take 2 eggs per omelet and whisk them up together. Then add ham or whatever veggies and cheese and add them all together. Put them in a ziploc bag and seal it.

Put a pot of water on and get it boiling and then add the ziploc bags into the boiling water. Cook them for 14 min and then take them out and put them in the fridge and heat when needed.

The longer they sit the more flavors they absorb.

It doesn't get much easier than this, does it . I think this is going to be a welcome addition to take away breakfast in my home. Thank You.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

I just wanted to offer a couple of website links to anyone who is interested in evaluating the nutritional side of their menus:

http://www.fitday.com/
This is a free diet and weight loss on line journal but what I like about it is that you can enter not only generic foods (e.g. carrots, diced & cooked), you can also enter the nutritional information from the side of the box from commercial products (e.g. Kellogg's Special K w/ red berries). If you take a multi-vitamin, you can even enter it as a custom food. There are pie charts that will show you where most of your calories are coming from (fats vs. carbs. vs. protein) and a nutritional report that will show (in red) where you're falling short on the US RDA for your height, weight and age. I started using it when I decided to drop a few pounds. It was eye-opening to see what was eating and it helped me plan a little better. I do a lot better at making sure that I get more fiber and calcium now that I'm tracking it on line.

I also like this website:
http://fitwatch.com/database/analyzer.php
This one is for analyzing the nutritional content of your recipes. A lot of my older recipes and the ones that I get from FoodNetwork do not have a nutritional analysis. Rather than putting each ingredient into my FitDay journal each time I make something, I do the analysis for the recipe on FitWatch and then I store the analysis as a "custom food" on FitDay.

FWIW, the more cooking that I do from "scratch", the more nutritious the meals are. I can eliminate a lot of fats and sodium when I'm the one determining how many shakes of salt and what cuts of meat are being used. I hope this helps anyone who is interested.

 

[mickeyfan2]

aka-mad4themouse Thank you for the great links. I will be sure to use them.

 

[Nicolepa]

There are a ton of cookbooks out now for Once a Month Cooking. It is not longer ground beef, pasta etc. Get a couple of good OAMC cookbooks and you will have variety out your ears. Check a few out of the library and see which ones crank your scooter. I have tons of them but my 3 favorites are

Super Suppers by Judie Byrd. This one is from the Super Suppers chain in the south. There are some awesome recipes in here. I think I've liked most of them. My favorites are the Cherry Pork Chops, Rosemary-Roasted Pork Loin, Sweet & Sour Pork, Chicken a' la Provencial.

Frozen Assets by Deborah Taylor-Hough. She also has a group on yahoogroups that is great. You will get more recipes than you know what to do with. In this one we like the meatloaf/meatball mix (try the chilli day meatballs), chicken curry, chicken broccoli. The recipes in the is book are a bit more budget friendly, less gourmet.

A great book to learn how to do OAMC is the freezer cooking manual from 30 day gourmet.


I have been freezer cooking for 10 years, long before these dinner assembly places were ever started. I have so many recipes for the freezer I rarely have to repeat things during a year. There are things that my family loves and I do those thruout the year. Like I've said before my husband doesn't do casseroles, we can't do many processed foods because of unknown allergies. Dh is all for saving money at the grocery store but he is not willing to have a "cheap" cut of meat. If I started feeding him processed foods for dinner he would probably leave me! (j/k)

 

[mommiepoppins]

Take your pita bread slice in chip size. bake in low oven of 300 for 15 min until brown.
I have brushes them with oil and coats them in kosher salt but for spinach dip i like them plain so do the kids the little one uses them to dip in the peanutbutter dip i make him

Just diced pears or apples diced and peanut butter and raisins mixed together.

dawn thanks for the tip. I have so much whole wheat pitia bread it is comming out of my ears (along with zucchani and tomatoes). I bought the pitia bread at the bread store for 50 cents a package . I froze them all. Great idea. I will make them for school lunches

 

[jordansmomma]

I so agree with that.

That is so funny. When I was pregnant with DS11, I craved tomato sandwiches. He hates tomatoes!! He will eat pizza, sometimes spaghetti, but for the most part avoids tomato products.

 

[dawn1967]

dawn thanks for the tip. I have so much whole wheat pitia bread it is comming out of my ears (along with zucchani and tomatoes). I bought the pitia bread at the bread store for 50 cents a package . I froze them all. Great idea. I will make them for school lunches

I do a salsa type thing with zucchinni and tomato's and onions i know u gotta leave them out.

Dice the 3 tomato's 1 zucchini 1 onion 1 jalepeno and 1 tsp garlic and 1 tbsp of basil and 3tbsp of olive oil mix let sit in fridge for about an hour or longer and use as a dip.

 

[dawn1967]

That is so funny. When I was pregnant with DS11, I craved tomato sandwiches. He hates tomatoes!! He will eat pizza, sometimes spaghetti, but for the most part avoids tomato products.

I have a friend like that won't touch anything with sliced or diced tomatos but survives on pizza. lol

 

[wovenwonder]

There are a ton of cookbooks out now for Once a Month Cooking. It is not longer ground beef, pasta etc. Get a couple of good OAMC cookbooks and you will have variety out your ears. Check a few out of the library and see which ones crank your scooter. I have tons of them but my 3 favorites are

Super Suppers by Judie Byrd. This one is from the Super Suppers chain in the south. There are some awesome recipes in here. I think I've liked most of them. My favorites are the Cherry Pork Chops, Rosemary-Roasted Pork Loin, Sweet & Sour Pork, Chicken a' la Provencial.

Frozen Assets by Deborah Taylor-Hough. She also has a group on yahoogroups that is great. You will get more recipes than you know what to do with. In this one we like the meatloaf/meatball mix (try the chilli day meatballs), chicken curry, chicken broccoli. The recipes in the is book are a bit more budget friendly, less gourmet.

A great book to learn how to do OAMC is the freezer cooking manual from 30 day gourmet.


I have been freezer cooking for 10 years, long before these dinner assembly places were ever started. I have so many recipes for the freezer I rarely have to repeat things during a year. There are things that my family loves and I do those thruout the year. Like I've said before my husband doesn't do casseroles, we can't do many processed foods because of unknown allergies. Dh is all for saving money at the grocery store but he is not willing to have a "cheap" cut of meat. If I started feeding him processed foods for dinner he would probably leave me! (j/k)

Thank you! I will check out those books. This sounds like something I may be interested in trying.

 

[Plantlady]

Today's meals.

Breakfast:

Chips .50

(I know, I know.. but it's the last day of summer break.. a "fun day")

*.50

Lunch:

Grilled cheese w/ cheese puffs

bread: .50
cheese: .50
cheese puffs: .30

*1.30

Dinner:

Chili w/ fritos and cheese

2 cans chili beans: .60
1 can black beans: .30
1 can diced tomatoes: .30
fritos: 1.00
cheese: 1.50

*4.70

Milk throughout the day, as desired by kids:

1.00

Total: 7.50

We're also goign to make some cookies.. another, just fun activity, for before school starts. I have no idea what the breakdown is, without a recipe in front of me.. probably roughly $2.00 for the batch. But, I don't really consider that a part of the food budget persay, since we're doing it for a fun activity.

At least dinner is healthy.

we're running low on fruit to snack on. I think we're down to 1/2 a bag of baby carrots and one mango. Tomorrow is grocery day.

 

[dawn1967]

There are a ton of cookbooks out now for Once a Month Cooking. It is not longer ground beef, pasta etc. Get a couple of good OAMC cookbooks and you will have variety out your ears. Check a few out of the library and see which ones crank your scooter. I have tons of them but my 3 favorites are

Super Suppers by Judie Byrd. This one is from the Super Suppers chain in the south. There are some awesome recipes in here. I think I've liked most of them. My favorites are the Cherry Pork Chops, Rosemary-Roasted Pork Loin, Sweet & Sour Pork, Chicken a' la Provencial.

Frozen Assets by Deborah Taylor-Hough. She also has a group on yahoogroups that is great. You will get more recipes than you know what to do with. In this one we like the meatloaf/meatball mix (try the chilli day meatballs), chicken curry, chicken broccoli. The recipes in the is book are a bit more budget friendly, less gourmet.

A great book to learn how to do OAMC is the freezer cooking manual from 30 day gourmet.


I have been freezer cooking for 10 years, long before these dinner assembly places were ever started. I have so many recipes for the freezer I rarely have to repeat things during a year. There are things that my family loves and I do those thruout the year. Like I've said before my husband doesn't do casseroles, we can't do many processed foods because of unknown allergies. Dh is all for saving money at the grocery store but he is not willing to have a "cheap" cut of meat. If I started feeding him processed foods for dinner he would probably leave me! (j/k)

Yahoo groups has some great groups for saving money eatting healthy they have one that's just vegetarian recipes and ideas I get alot of ideas from there. I just joined them all and take what i want from them and share what i can.

 

[Wonderlandmom]

Here you go, MommieP. This one is fat free and vegan!

Real Louisiana Red Beans and Rice
(Sans Animaux)

1 pound dry red kidney beans (if you're in Louisiana, only Camellia brand will do)
4 cloves garlic
1 very large onion (about 2 cups chopped)
4 ribs celery
1 large bell pepper (about 1 1/2 cups chopped)
3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4-1 teaspoon red pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1-2 teaspoons chopped chipotle pepper, in adobo (this is not traditional but lends a smoky taste; substitute another tsp. of Liquid Smoke seasoning if you prefer)
1/2-1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
salt, to taste
cooked rice, to serve

Tip: Start off lightly with the red and black pepper and Tabasco sauce; you can always add more at the end.

Cover the beans with water 2 inches over beans and soak overnight. Or, bring beans to a boil for one minute, remove from heat, and soak for at least an hour. Drain beans and rinse.

Put the beans back in the pot and cover them with water 2 inches above level of beans. Put over high heat to begin cooking while you prepare the other ingredients.

You're going to want to chop the garlic, onion, celery, and bell pepper very finely, and the fastest and best way to do this is in a food processor. I throw the 4 peeled cloves of garlic in first, and then add the onion, quartered, and pulse until finely chopped. Add this to the pot on the stove, and then do the same thing with the celery and bell peppers, adding each to the beans. Add the remaining ingredients, except the salt and the rice.

When the beans reach a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring every now and then, until they are completely tender and falling apart. This can take anywhere from 2 to 3 hours, depending upon the age of your beans. (Add more water as necessary to keep them hydrated.) When they are completely tender, add the salt to taste, and check the seasonings. Add any additional spices you want, and cook for at least 10 more minutes, until sauce is thick and beans are disintegrating. Remove the bay leaves, and serve over rice.

I may try this one! It is pretty similar to what I do. I have never added celery or liquid smoke, will try that. And I grill some Hillshire Farm low fat sausage and throw that in too. Oh, I also add Worcestershire sauce.

mommyp. the first time I made it I actually used a box of Zatarain's red beans and rice mix just to see what it was "suppose" to taste like. DH loved it so much I started making it from scratch. It is in his top 3 meals I make. You can omit or change ingredients that suite your family. I change mine up every time and never measure herbs/spices. We also throw shredded cheddar cheese on top.

 

[jordansmomma]

Well my menu changed for dinner yesterday.
we ate at the demo derby.
Me- nachos, water
ds- fries & burger w/ processed cheese , sprite
snacks-
elephant ear, popcorn, 1 power aid, 2 waters, sno cone
I dont even want to know what my total ended up being.

Thursday~
Breakfast
me- nutrigrain bar- .21, water
kids- cinnamon toast & scrambled eggs- .75
milk- free
total- .96
Lunch-
kids- tuna sandwich (yes that is one can of tuna split between 3 people!!)
tuna- .30
bread- .21
tomato- free (co-workers garden)
mayo- .20
pickles- .05
cucumbers- free (co-workers garden)
pita chips- .50
milk- free
me- chicken, broccoli & cheese hot pocket 1.00
total- 2.26
dinner~
yesterdays. its already accounted for.

snacks-
celery w/ peanut butter & raisens- .50
graham crackers

total- 3.72 unless we go to the rodeo tonight.

 

[disneymom3]

Yeah it's about that thick. It's more like an apple pie, lots of apples and a little bit of pancake. Each "pancake" contains at least 2 skinned and sliced apples. Now if I can just figure out with apples are best for it. Some get nice and soft, others just get warm. When apple season starts I will pay attention to which apples cook the best.

This is one of DHs specialties and we have found that Braeburn's are the best by far. We like the recipe with practially any apples but the Braeburn's really add to it.