What's for dinner? Was it "budget"?

[FormrCastMbr]

Yesterday was ravioli, doctored up jarred sauce, homemade meatballs and sausage and garlic toast. All was on sale.

Today is pancakes, sausage and microwaved "baked" apples. I may scramble some eggs too. I have a craving...

 

[FormrCastMbr]

Hi! Can I jump in?

Hi! I am new here too!

 

[babytrees]

welcome to the newbies!!

New menus are always welcome

 

[dizluvah]

Tonight is grilled pork chops ("assorted" pork chops were on sale for .99 cents/lb - so I stocked up/divided into freezer bags). I just season with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and toss them on the foreman grill. I plan to serve with some rice and canned veggies. Quick and easy. Thanks to all who have shared their meal ideas - I plan on reading this thread in full - when I have time!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

We leave for Disney tomorrow so tonight is the end of cleaning out the refrigerator...

We are having grilled cheese sandwiches with either tomato or cream of mushroom soup... I have leftover applesauce to go with it... No veggies today

Sandwiches - $2.50
Soup $1.50

$4.00

Hope everyone has a great week, see ya next Sunday!

 

[tonilea]

We had pork steaks (.99 lb) - seasoned with Cavenders and garlic salt, mashed potatoes (1.99 for ten pound bag), steamed broccoli (.99 lb for crowns) and homemade honey wheat bread.

I would guess about $4 for three people.

 

[SnowWhite607]

Cheese quesadillas and black beans

tortillas (1/2 pack at 1.50 so...) 0.75
1 pack cheese........2.00
1 can beans...............0.48

total for yesterday was - 3.32

We had about half of the cantalope for dessert but it was on sale for 99 cents so add another 50 cents for dessert.

 

[Grendalynn]

Does anyone ever find it hard to eat cheaply yet nutriciously, too? Most anything that is budget is crap and filled with additives, which is fine every so often but not nightly! I find that I spend more in the produce and meat departments than others, yet I am still trying to cut corners by buying canned tomatoes rather than fresh and things like that. Any one have any ideas on this??

 

[OceanAnnie]

Hi! Can I jump in?

Tonight it's beef tips in the crockpot:

2lbs beef stew meat
1 pkg lipton onion soup mix
1 can cream mush soup
1 large can mushrooms
1/2 cup red wine (I use Barefoot's Cabernet)

Left over mashed spuds, homemade bisquits and peas (those are for dd)

Love the recipes, ladies!!!!!

Welcome! Glad to see you. The beef tip recipe looks great. And in the crockpot too!

We had chicken tacos tonight. It was build your own tacos with all the usual sides. Fun. Probably will have a bowl of rocky road ice cream later.

Grendalynn, I'd like to see some ideas too.

 

[marcyinPA]

Does anyone ever find it hard to eat cheaply yet nutriciously, too? Most anything that is budget is crap and filled with additives, which is fine every so often but not nightly! I find that I spend more in the produce and meat departments than others, yet I am still trying to cut corners by buying canned tomatoes rather than fresh and things like that. Any one have any ideas on this??

Yes, I'm really struggling with this too. I really love to buy fresh everything, but it's very pricey if it's not on sale. I do buy some frozen veggies, which are not bad (nothing added). I've really been into vanilla yogurt, berries and granola for breakfast. Well, a little teeny tiny package of blueberries was 3.00 so I decided to check out how much the frozen blueberries were. After all, there is no sugar added, so not bad for you. The 16 oz bag of frozen blueberries was $4.99!!! I nearly fell over! I bought them, because I really wanted them! But the cost of good things is insane! The granola, btw, was almost $5 for the bag too. It lasts me a while, since I only use a handful at a time, but geesh!!

I've been trying to lay off the packaged chips/cookies/crackers, etc. but my kids are having a fit. They'll get over it. All I buy now is pretzels, graham crackers, and whole grain tortilla chips. Oh, and I will buy granola bars. Other than that, it's fruit for dessert, and veggies and dip and stuff like that for snack.

 

[NHWX]

It's after 10, so I'm tired. I'll try not to misspell anything but it's just trying.

Besides the obvious - buy what's produced locally and in-season, sometimes just knowing the sale prices can help. I positively drool when I read posts about people going to farmer's markets already. I can almost see all of my deck but there's still snow and ice on it.

Trader Joe's has good prices on many things. Costco sometimes has good prices but you really have to know what's what. Their frozen blueberries are cheaper than many stores' and so is their hamburger. Their milk can be a bargain also. Shopping the sales is frequently a way to go.

Many posters will say "I bought a lot of X and froze it". If you have the space, it's a pretty good strategy. OTOH, I see a lot of prices that are substantially cheaper than I ever see.

One area which makes it difficult to be budget is when the people in your family simply eat a lot. Today I made chili and corn muffins. We have two boys - 14 and 12. A friend (13) was over for dinner also. I have 7 corn muffins leftover and about 4 cups of chili. But I started out with a large oval crockpot nearly full and 12 corn muffins. Oh, and the boys wiped out a pan of homemade marshmallow treats too over the course of the evening. We go through about a gallon of milk per day plus some juice.

NHWX

 

[tonilea]

Does anyone ever find it hard to eat cheaply yet nutriciously, too? Most anything that is budget is crap and filled with additives, which is fine every so often but not nightly! I find that I spend more in the produce and meat departments than others, yet I am still trying to cut corners by buying canned tomatoes rather than fresh and things like that. Any one have any ideas on this??

Wal-Mart Super Centers will price match. So, I gather all the local ads and use them to get the best prices at all the stores without going to all the other stores.

I also coupon, buy in season, buy in bulk and freeze, make alot of stuff from scratch.

 

[LuvMickey36]

I love this thread!! I just found it & it is me! I drive my dh crazy talking about my bargains & how much x meal cost etc.

I agree the farmers market & Trader Joes are both great & have some really great prices. That is where I go for most of my groceries. Mainly because my ds has severe food allergies & is allergic to almost everything (it seems like it anyway). His 3 biggies are peanuts, eggs & soy. Soy is in just about everything. Most things I buy end up being all natural/organic. Not counting meat, I am able to get 2 weeks of groceries, including food for 4 dogs & 2 cats along w/cat pine pellets from TJ's for about $100 give or take $5-10 either way. I have cut out junk snacks for the most part. Trying to stick with fruits/veggies/dried fruit. We do have a box of fruit snacks & cheddar bunnies but I try to use them sparingly.

Back to topic, dinner tonight....... I am embarassed to say, we had tuna sandwiches. $3 for 3 cans tuna & ds also had a bowl of Annies micro mac & cheese.

Bread- Free (already counted in last weeks budget)
Tuna- 3.00
Mac & Cheese- Free (again, already counted elsewhere)

 

[SnowWhite607]

Tonight we will be having

Hamburger Helper - free from mom's cabinet cleanout
meat - 1.59
green beans - 0.88
orange slices - 0.50

total - about $3 for 3 servings and maybe a serving leftover for lunch Monday

 

[Sorsha]

Homemade pizzas tonight...

$1.50 for a box of pizza crust mix
$2 for canadian bacon
$2.50 for pepperoni
$1 for sauce
$5 for mozzarella cheese
Pineapple, mushrooms, olives all from the pantry

$13 will feed all 5 of us, with extras for friends (may drop by) and probably lunch tomorrow. Not quite budget, but probably budget-y-er than ordering pizza!

 

[tonilea]

Tonight we are having chicken pot pie.

Chicken .49 lb - $1.00 - $1.50
Mixed veggies - .29
a few more mixed veggies from the freezer - free
cream of chicken soup - .89
Cavender's seasoning - ?
Cheese - maybe .50
Bisquick for the crust - ? .50

Under $5 and there will be leftovers.

 

[dreaming3]

Pasta with Fra Diablo (sp?) Sauce
was supposed to have seafood in it, but I left that out.

Angel Hair Pasta $1
2 cans diced tomatoes $.75 each
Zuchini & Squash $1 each
Garlic $.50 ???
1 onion $.25 ???
Crushed red pepper, salt, olive oil from pantry
splash of red wine $.50 ???

I figure it was about $4.75, more if you count the pantry staples. DH called it a winner and I have plenty of extra for a few lunches.

 

[babytrees]

tonight is....manwiches, salad and strawberries

really early and really yummy

 

[OceanAnnie]

Happy Sunday!

Tonight is pie night! I made chicken pot pie for dinner. And I made cherry pie for dessert!

 

[SnowWhite607]

Fritatta and salad - has anyone noticed how much those pre bagged salsds in the sack are?? OMG!

6 eggs - 1.00
swiss cheese - 1.00
ham - was in the freezer so I dont really know the price
salad from the bag - 3.48

total - 5.48 and I will probbaly have leftovers of at least the fritatta