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

[Mouse House Mama]

I can get name brand cereal, $1 a box, at the Dollar Tree. It easily lasts two meals, for four people.

My boys eat Whole Wheat. No options, no arguments, 89 cents a loaf.

Ground Turkey, every day, 79 cents a pound. Every day, that's not a sale. Mind you, we rarely eat meat, but that is what i use, in place of ground beef, when the kids are craving some meat.

It can be done. We've discussed before, different regions, different prices.

Okay- no dollare tree too close to here but we also eat meat almost every day. Even if it was turkey chopmeat which we do eat it costs no less than $2.50 a pound and that is only if it is B1G1. Otherwise it is about $5.00.

I do however stock up on sliced chicken breasts when they are on sale and I make a ton of stuff with them. You can make chicken cutlets one day. Fry up some extra and then you can make chicken parm with them or cordon bleu, or I put stuffing on top of them and some gravy and bake them on the oven. That tastes really good. Leftover steak can be cut up and then you can stirfry it with some italian dressing and make fajitas. You can also do the same with chicken.

 

[mommiepoppins]

I can get name brand cereal, $1 a box, at the Dollar Tree. It easily lasts two meals, for four people.

My boys eat Whole Wheat. No options, no arguments, 89 cents a loaf.

Ground Turkey, every day, 79 cents a pound. Every day, that's not a sale. Mind you, we rarely eat meat, but that is what i use, in place of ground beef, when the kids are craving some meat.

It can be done. We've discussed before, different regions, different prices.

plant lady I am with you. I have found tons of deals at the $ store. (it helps when you ask when the delevery date is). I have found.. Gushers, tropicana O.J. Soy milk. Fruit loops cereal. I know for a fact that you can buy that stuff there! Shop early in the morn and not on Sat.

 

[mommiepoppins]

I can imagine some Do take advantage

I do not take advanated of our church. I am very active and very blessed! We tith 10% of our income and donate food to the youth group. .. . I would not steal or take advantage.



ok back to menus

 

[mom2dea0813]

B ~
Dh- did not eat
Me - plum .19 juice free
DS- cereal and milk free
DD both -4 packages of grits free milk free

Snack for DD#2 Pretzel and cheese .17
me and DD just shared an Apple .16

Lunch -
me , dd#2 and DH all will have left over lentil soup
DD milk and me and dh water

DS- took the following for lunch and snacks at school - Turkey .80 and cheese free sandwich .10, apple .16 , vanilla pudding cup .13 , cashews and about 7 m&m's mixed in as a special treat free counted them last week and a bottle of water and one of those packets into it to make it sugar free juice .17 plus .5 for packet (these were on clearance for .50 a box )
$1.41
DD- has 2 snacks times and lunch so she took - Pb free and homemade jelly .25 sandwich .10 , Apple .16 , vanilla pudding cup .13, cashews and about 7 m&m mixed in free , PB crackers .12 , Carrots and dip .25 and a bottle of water .17 and a packet to make it juice .5
$1.23

Snack
Me and DD#2 shared a pack of PB crackers and a bottle of water .17 in the car while waiting to pick up the older kids .12
Then the kids came home and ate the left over things from lunch box DS pudding cup , DD cashew nuts and 1 piece of her Sandwich and the DD#2 had a piece of cheese . All free sense already counted for .

Dinner -
Chicken Fajita
Shells 1.40
Seasoned Chicken 2.00 (angel food box )
Green pepper and onions .50
Cheese free
Salsa .50 (half the jar )
Sour cream .50 (half the jar )
Mexican rice 1.60
Lettuce .25 (quarter of the head total cost was 1.00)
tomato free already accounted for a few days ago
$6.50

Snack
Pb chuck bars 1.00 (angel food box ) Well Dh and my kids did not want this tonight instead they ate :
DD#2 plum .19
DS and DH peaches 1.25
me and DD#1 just had strawberry milk I know no healthy but thats what we wanted ! .15

total= 11.79

 

[disneyjunkie]

It's a game to me as far as pretending I have kids. I don't have kids, so I'm not able to know how much they actually eat.

80 cents will "cut it" for cereal for four people, since I only pay $1 a box, and I can't imagine four people eating a whole box of cereal in one sitting. 75 cents is doable for grilled cheese. I pay $1 for a pack of 16-slices of American cheese, that is about six cents a slice, figure two slices for each sandwhich, which is 48 cents for the cheese, and I get bread for about a $1 a loaf, so I'm figuring about another quarter for some bread.

If you think this is realistic, then you're in for a big surprise.

 

[momx2]

I can get name brand cereal, $1 a box, at the Dollar Tree. It easily lasts two meals, for four people.

My boys eat Whole Wheat. No options, no arguments, 89 cents a loaf.

Ground Turkey, every day, 79 cents a pound. Every day, that's not a sale. Mind you, we rarely eat meat, but that is what i use, in place of ground beef, when the kids are craving some meat.

It can be done. We've discussed before, different regions, different prices.

That is just amazing to me. I live in KY and I thought it was pretty cheap here. The only whole wheat we can get here for $1 is just the brown looking flour. It's not true whole wheat. My understanding is if it doesn't say whole wheat in the first 2 ingrediants, it doesn't truly have the benefits of real whole wheat. At least that is my understanding and you can't buy that here for less than $2 a loaf. My ground turkey, we eat 94/6, because I don't like the 98/2, is every day $1.59 at WalMart, which I don't like to go there, but will if I got to. I can get it on sale for $1.69 to 1.99 at Kroger. Cereal is never $1, even at the Dollar Store. Go figure!

 

[Toby'sFriend]

you are going to feed a kid a grilled cheese with only two slices of Kraft cheese?



No seriously, I just added up the calories from your sample day and it is around 1345 calories total. That would be considered a weight loss program for an adult woman, who has a much slower metabolism than most kids.

These are the general guide lines from Keep Kids Healthy

Age Average Calorie Needs Each Day
0-5 months 650
5-12 months 850
1-3 years 1300
4-6 years 1800
7-10 years 2000

In addition to age, for older children, calorie requirements are also determined by their sex, with boys, in general, requiring more calories than girls. Other factors include a child's size, body composition and level of activity. A very active teen at the top of the growth charts will likely need many more calories than a smaller and/or less active child.
Boys Average Calorie Needs Each Day
11-14 years 2500
15-18 years 3000

 

[MELSMICE]

A dollar for a box of cereal?!!!! Even with all mu coupons doubled and a super sale I have never gotten cereal for a dollar.

Listen to this deal I got for cereal yesterday.....................

Coupon in paper: Buy 10 boxes of Kellogg's products & get $10 rebate. All products had to be purchased at same time.

I had 3 coupons for buy 2/get 1 free for Special K cereal.

Special K on sale at Target for 2/$5 - I bought 10 boxes.

Girl rang up free coupons at normal cereal price of $4 each, so I got $12 off a $25 purchase. Purchase price now $13 for 10 boxes of cereal.

Sent in $10 rebate & will now pay $3 for 10 boxes of Special K!!!!!

30 cents per box!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just had to share!

 

[shirleyb]

My children are 16 (DS) and 12 (DD). For years they have prepared their own lunches. In the summer they can choose leftovers or make a sandwich, have yogurt, fruit, salad, pasta, etc. I cannot imagine fixing their lunches in the summer and I don't tell them what to make or limit what they eat (unless it is junk!). They rarely have the same thing. Sundays, after church, we always go out to eat. Other than that they are in charge of their own lunch 95% of the time, and I'm a SAHM. I am in charge of dinner though!

I guess this is why I cannot do these daily menus as I never know what they will eat and often don't know at the end of the day what they ate. No way to limit a 16 yr old boy to a bagel, a sandwich, a scoop of casserole and fruit in one day. No way DD could survive on that either. I think doing so could affect their health/metabolism for a long time. They are both fit, great BMI's, very active, average size teen and teen to be!

I'm with you. My two DS's are very active in sports, and they'll come home from practice and eat a bagel, a banana, and a bowl of cereal easily, and then eat dinner an hour later. My DD10 is already 5'4" and the DS's are 6' and 6'4", so the tiny amounts of food that some of these families eat would never work for us.

ETA: For the poster who calculates for her "hypothetical" children, do you realize most kids (OK, at least mine) will often eat two bowls of cereal and two grilled cheese sandwiches?

 

[mom2dea0813]

Not all kids eat 2 sandwiches .... Remember not everyone on this list have Teens I have an 8yr old , 4 yr old , 2 yr old and pregnant with #4 . So yes the amount of food I list dose go further for my family then it would for someone help . I DH would not even eat two sandwiches unless thats all I gave him . But usually he gets carrots and dip , or a piece of fruit , chips or nuts , apple sauce or yogurt my point is my kids would not just be offered the sandwich .

Also my kids drink SOOOOOOOOO much water a day I swear if I drank as much water as them I don't think I could eat anything all day . But that comes from someone that doesn't drink as much as she should .

 

[cinamin27]

A dollar for a box of cereal?!!!! Even with all mu coupons doubled and a super sale I have never gotten cereal for a dollar. I fancy myself as a bit of a cereal expert as I buy no less than 10 boxes at a time. Also a dollar for cheese and bread? Where is this secret dollar grocer? With what I spend in a month I could finace his whole store for a year!

not exactly a dollar a box, but pretty close. I just bought 24oz box (the largest the store sells) of Kelloggs bite size frosted mini wheats, buy 1 get 1 free at Publix $3.64 minus a $1 off/2 coupon (since I am getting 2 boxes @ B1G1F) = only 2.64 for 2 boxes of cereal so only $1.32 for 1 box. Looking at the nutrition facts, a serving is 24 biscuits with about 11 servings a box. Realistically for me, if I eat it each day here at work, it takes me a week (5 work days) + 3 or 4 days the into the next week to eat the entire box. Like another poster said about 4 people polishing off a whole box of ceral in one sitting, it would never be done in my house with my 14 yrd dd & I only, nor would it happen in just 2 days. I only buy cereal when it is B1G1F & have coupons. I use the coupons that are hanging from the shelves in the store, or possibly on the boxes itself, or from in store coupon books they have in the display racks at the front door where they keep the weekly ads. Keeps my cereal prices less than $1.50 a box.

Regular store brand (Publix) white bread is $.89 every day, honey wheat is $1.45 so I can see bread for $1 if they are buying white. Kraft American cheese slices (16 slices) goes on sale every few weeks for $4/2. Bordens is $1.39 every day. We prefer the Kraft. So the prices the poster is quoting aren't much different than what I acually pay. Oh, to another poster, asking about serving only 2 cheese slices on a grilled cheese, I must have been brought up differently as we were served grilled cheese with only one slice & I continue to do it this way now. (& on cold days dip it in some campbell's creamy tomato soup, yum!)

All Dollar Tree stores carry groceries and some even have refridgerated sections. Everything in a Dollar Tree is $1 or less. Big Lots groceries are often $1 or less too.

 

[mickeyfan2]

I'm with you. My two DS's are very active in sports, and they'll come home from practice and eat a bagel, a banana, and a bowl of cereal easily, and then eat dinner an hour later. My DD10 is already 5'4" and the DS's are 6' and 6'4", so the tiny amounts of food that some of these families eat would never work for us.

ETA: For the poster who calculates for her "hypothetical" children, do you realize most kids (OK, at least mine) will often eat two bowls of cereal and two grilled cheese sandwiches?

See you fed them when they were little. That enabled them to grow to over 6 feet. Now you need to feed them like a 6 footer.

 

[mom2dea0813]

See you fed them when they were little. That enabled them to grow to over 6 feet. Now you need to feed them like a 6 footer.

Well genetics help a great deal with them being over 6 feet tall . I could feed my kids (or FORCE my kids ) to eat this much also but they will not grow that tall . I am only 5 feet tall and dh being 5 feet 7" so there is no way we will have kids up in the 6 feet range . My point is not every child can or will eat what some list there kids eat . Same goes for me what I feed my kids other kids laugh at . And thats fine . I like this thread cause it gives me new ideas and it reminds me to stay on budget . Cause yes being on budget so I can be a sahm means more to me then buying crazy amounts of foods weekly .

 

[mickeyfan2]

Well genetics help a great deal with them being over 6 feet tall . I could feed my kids (or FORCE my kids ) to eat this much also but they will not grow that tall . I am only 5 feet tall and dh being 5 feet 7" so there is no way we will have kids up in the 6 feet range . My point is not every child can or will eat what some list there kids eat . Same goes for me what I feed my kids other kids laugh at . And thats fine . I like this thread cause it gives me new ideas and it reminds me to stay on budget . Cause yes being on budget so I can be a sahm means more to me then buying crazy amounts of foods weekly .

Genetics will define your maximum height but only via good nutrition will one actually attain it.

 

[mommiepoppins]

Breakfast
DH free at work he travels and gets paid for food
Me I had nothing
Toast for 4 kids each kid one slice (youngest did not even eat half) =20 cents
Peanut butter on each slice=20 cents
3 kids had milk=60 cents
=1$

Lunch DH is working out of town ect
Peanut butter and bananas sandwich 4kids
Peanut butter=50 cents (I put it on both sides of the bread)
Bananas=0 free (I had a coupon for free Dole bananas if I bought ice cream toppings)
Milk for 3kids =60
Dd 15 will eat a yogurt=42 cents
Me a banana=0
Oatmeal=15 cents
All of us
Tomatoes slices=0 we grew them our selves
Squash=1
Spay butter=10 cents
=277

Dinner all 6 (I think)
Chuck wagon... I am using onions to for DH….
Onion 1/3= 10 cents
Mash potatoes=1$
Turkey bacon=75 cents
Block of cheddar cheese=169
Beans=44 cents
Served along side
Salad=99 cents
Tomatoes=0
Cucumbers we bought from a farm =1$
Dressing=50 cents
Entire bottle of 100% apple juice=1$ (if DH is here)
=647
Snacks
Fruit salad
Apple slices=96
Bananas=0
Can of pineapple=75 cents
Oranges=50 cents
Cool whip =79 cents
Peaches=98
bread for also for dh dinner=20
=319
=1363

 

[katerkat]

Well genetics help a great deal with them being over 6 feet tall . I could feed my kids (or FORCE my kids ) to eat this much also but they will not grow that tall . I am only 5 feet tall and dh being 5 feet 7" so there is no way we will have kids up in the 6 feet range .

Actually, it's not always just YOUR genetics. I'm 5'6" and DH is 5'9" and Russ is well on his way to being at least 6'. I have an uncle who's over 6' and DH's grandfather was over 6', so he comes by it honestly.

I've pretty much acknowledged that I'm screwed when Russ gets older. At two, he eats a full grilled cheese sandwich at lunch. Plus fruit, a piece of string cheese and a handful of goldfish. Goes through a gallon and a half of milk every week himself. Eats a full portion of whatever we make for dinner.

And he's only 37 inches tall and weighs 27 pounds.

 

[elan]

See you fed them when they were little. That enabled them to grow to over 6 feet. Now you need to feed them like a 6 footer.

oh tag fairy, what a great tag.

Now that you got me to spew my drink I'll go clean my screen.

 

[JennyMominRI]

Thanks i cut and paste this to my soup collection for the winter we love this soup but buy it in the international section will try yours. I will leave out the tomato's though i don't like those in the soup Thanks again.

Well, you're not really supposed to put tomatoes in Matzoh Ball soup anyway..It's totally wrong to some and could get me in big trouble with many people's mothers..To anyone who has never had a matroh ball they are really good...I also make them with brisket

 

[dawn1967]

Breakfast 7 kids french toast and blackberry syrup 2.50 2 loaves of bread and 12 eggs and 2 cups of sugar for the sryup.
me and hubby coffee and granola 1.5

lunch
7 kids
Grilled Cheese and tomato soup 3.49
1.99 for cheese 3 can's of tomato soup .50
Me what ever fruit and veggies we have and some brown rice.
hubby a meal out of the freezer

Dinner
for 10 people 3 whole chickens split and quartered and grilled. .39lb each chicken is about 4lbs now me and little one will split a breast section and my husband oldest boy will split a thigh and leg portion. not sure what the rest of the kids or brother would do i just know what my family does.
5.00
zucchinni and summer squash grilled
mushrooms and onions broccolli saute
Brown rice 1.
grilled flat bread 1.00

Snacks
fruits and veggies
Pop corn
black berry cobbler

 

[mom2dea0813]

Actually, it's not always just YOUR genetics. I'm 5'6" and DH is 5'9" and Russ is well on his way to being at least 6'. I have an uncle who's over 6' and DH's grandfather was over 6', so he comes by it honestly.

I've pretty much acknowledged that I'm screwed when Russ gets older. At two, he eats a full grilled cheese sandwich at lunch. Plus fruit, a piece of string cheese and a handful of goldfish. Goes through a gallon and a half of milk every week himself. Eats a full portion of whatever we make for dinner.

And he's only 37 inches tall and weighs 27 pounds.

No one in our family is tall or big in anyway for that matter so really we have no shots at a tall child ...lol

But again your not forcing Russ to eat that much food he wants too . If my kids want more of anything they are welcomed to it . If the item is gone like at dinner then they can get something else but general speaking they don't want more . I do know once I have teens in the house my food budget will go up but by then hopefully my Dh pays go up also . So it dose all even out in the end .