Who can make the cheapest meal for a family of 4 or 5 people?

[neatokimmo]

When Kroger does $1.79 a pound pork loin, I buy tons and cut it into one pound chunks.

One pound of pork roast with two pounds of potatoes, and one onion. Cook that in the crock pot.

Carefully remove the pork and potatoes from the broth. Dump all the liquid in a pan, with the onion chunks and the potato bits you couldn't scoop out. Use an immersion blender and mix until it is a soup. Add some flour, add a little milk and now it is gravy. Shred your pork, fork mash your potatoes and add the gravy. Once you cook carrots at $.50 a pound you have dinner for under $3.50.

 

[wendow]

Made my potato/sausage/peppers skillet last night. Cost around $6 and fed four (two of them large hungry men!) with plenty of leftovers. The sausage I used is locally produced and kind of pricey. If I had used sausage bought on sale with a coupon it would have been even cheaper.

Would you share a recipe for this? This is something my family would love. It looks pretty basic but I'd like to know if you include any spices, cook anything separate, etc. Thank you!

 

[jsmla]

Would you share a recipe for this? This is something my family would love. It looks pretty basic but I'd like to know if you include any spices, cook anything separate, etc. Thank you!

I put the recipe up earlier, I think it's on the first page. I use Tony Chachere's creole seasoning, not sure if it's available nationwide or not.

I steam my potatoes a bit to soften them before adding the onion and peppers because we prefer slightly crunchy veggies. My mother just threw everything in at the same time and it all kind of melted together.

 

[wendow]

I put the recipe up earlier, I think it's on the first page. I use Tony Chachere's creole seasoning, not sure if it's available nationwide or not.

I steam my potatoes a bit to soften them before adding the onion and peppers because we prefer slightly crunchy veggies. My mother just threw everything in at the same time and it all kind of melted together.

OH, sorry I missed it! Thanks so much. Love tony Chachere's!

 

[pjlla]

Lentil soup is one of my favorite thrifty meals. I use homemade vegetable stock instead of chicken stock (supplemented with stock concentrate when needed), and the veggies used are flexible and inexpensive.... onions, celery, carrots, garlic are the basics.... but I've also used leeks, parsnips, roasted tomatoes as well. Lentils are cheap (usually 99 cents a pound or less) and I usually make a quadruple batch at once.... it freezes well and tastes better the next day! Good luck.............P

 

[AquaDame]

Not really any different than my family eating potatoes in some form nearly every day. That's what we had plenty of around here. I wish I could make beans and rice taste better.

Beans and rice are as good as their seasonings there I said it. ok, personally I consider a bowl of plain white rice comfort food but I didn't really appreciate beans and rice as a meal until I started seasoning my food properly and discovered what toppings I like. Salsa or tali sauce (I eat at a place called Whole Bowl way too often but there are tons of recipes online that mimic it) goes well with it and keeps it from feeling bland. I never bother with any meat at all and I'm stuffed after around 400 calories of it. Feeling full lasts hours with beans and rice...!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I was actually not aware that we are in the midst of a economic downturn? Is this the same one as before? Does that make me sound like a jerk?

Locally, I can make spaghetti and salad for dinner pretty cheap. Boxes of pasta and jars of sauce go on sale for about $1/each and I can usually get some lettuce or some frozen veggies for about a dollar a bag.. We tend to have dressing on hand. Garlic bread at Aldi is under $2, so we would have very carb heavy meal, but it would come in around $5 and be pretty filling. Depending on how much everyone ate, we may have enough left over for more meals.

The best way, IMO, to stretch your grocery dollar is by using store loss leaders to comprise what you eat for the week. For instance, our local grocery store has whole chickens on sale for .68/lb. If I was looking to stretch my grocery dollars hard, we'd be eating a lot of chicken this week. I'd buy two or three, serve one as a roast chicken and then use the other two to comprise different recipes from soup to casseroles.

I have not heard of a new economic downturn. Gosh gas in under $2 and milk is down .50 cents my gas budget amount went down $25 a month for this winter so where is the terrible economy.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I have not heard of a new economic downturn. Gosh gas in under $2 and milk is down .50 cents my gas budget amount went down $25 a month for this winter so where is the terrible economy.

There is a large portion of the US that has lived with paycheck increases that have not kept up with (or even come close to) must-have expense increases. And I'm not talking Disney vacay expenses, but expenses for health care, taxes, food, rent, etc. It's great that gas is low - you can thank the US energy industry and the global economic slowdown for most of that - but that doesn't change that many things, like healthcare, have seen double digit increases year after year, while paychecks might increase 1-2%. It's the ingredients for an economic malaise...

Take a federal employee as one example - there has not been a salary increase above 1.6% in 8 years, with 3 years of 0%. Even if you factor in step increases (that were also withheld a few years), that employee has not increased their take home pay by more than 2.5% total/year (at the most) over this period. In the last 8 years, the costs of all of the things I mentioned above (health care, taxes, rent, food) have all increased more than 2.5%/yearly, so that employee has felt a bigger and bigger pressure on their paycheck and had to pinch their spending more and more.

And federal employees are probably lucky - many private employees have had to deal with fully paying for healthcare that was previously offset by employers, have had to deal with 0% increases or even pay cuts over a few years, have had to stress about their jobs being outsourced or eliminated, etc. That's tough...

And there are always exceptions for certain people, certain cities, etc...but we are talking generalities and that's why people are still calling this a terrible economy. No wage growth, only job growth is in part time employment or low wage jobs, employees paying more and more for healthcare and taxes without subsequent salary increases, high-paying jobs being outsourced and forcing trade downs to lower paying jobs, etc...

 

[jsmla]

Our area is having it's very own local economic downturn and we were personally hit fairly hard. We only lost income. Many here lost homes and jobs.
The fact that the rest of the country may be doing okay, while great, doesn't put money in our pockets!

 

[TwoMisfits]

Back on the main topic, using the Aldi ad this week, you can make some very cheap meals...for the following, you woud have to poach or crockpot the chicken leg packs and then get the meat off them (and I find drumstick weight needs to almost double for recipes to get enough meat for 4-5)...

My chicken fajita stir fry
2 lbs chicken drumsticks - already cooked and chopped up $.98 (I prefer breast or thighs, but if you have none at home, this would work as a cheap sub)
1 large green pepper - $.45
1 large yellow onion - $.25 (approx)
1 1/2 zucchini (1/2 of the on sale pack) - $.60
1 Fajita Spice Pack - $.50
1/2 bag of shredded cheddar - $.90
White Rice Cooked (I have a large container, but rice can be done for $1/lb dry) - $.50
Olive oil, salt/pepper - $.10

Total Cost - $4.28

If I were serving this meal, I would add on some sliced oranges (8lbs for $5 at another store this week, but it's probably gonna be close to the same at Aldi's, just not in the ad) - probably 1 1/2 lbs of sliced oranges for $.94 and a total of $5.22

You can also make a killer spaghetti sauce, western omelet, veggie supreme pizza, stuffed zucchini/peppers, ratatouille, and tetrazzini with the ingredients in the ad plus a few extra things this week...and the veg in the ad will stay good a few days to a week or more (except for the salad bag, which I never buy at Aldi's b/c they always don't seem fresh at mine)...so, it's a good week again for produce (I agree with a previous poster that this past week was sad)...

 

[Dakota731]

I have not heard of a new economic downturn. Gosh gas in under $2 and milk is down .50 cents my gas budget amount went down $25 a month for this winter so where is the terrible economy.

The $25 we are saving for gas and the .50 cents are hardly making a dent in the $200 more we now spend on health insurance, the $100 more on school taxes and $50 increase total on utilities all on a ZERO increase in pay. So unless you are a government worker or a union employee, I don't see how those two little savings would help anyone. Our area has faced massive layoffs even in the healthcare industry, so a lot of your outlook depends upon your job and the area you live in. U.S. median household income is still 8 percent lower than it was eight years ago, and nearly 45 million Americans are currently receiving food stamps and according to a new report issued on Friday by the Congressional Budget Office that number is 70% higher than it was in 2007 so I don't think that $25.50 savings you are talking about helps most people in the US today.

 

[TwoMisfits]

The $25 we are saving for gas and the .50 cents are hardly making a dent in the $200 more we now spend on health insurance, the $100 more on school taxes and $50 increase total on utilities all on a ZERO increase in pay. So unless you are a government worker or a union employee, I don't see how those two little savings would help anyone. Our area has faced massive layoffs even in the healthcare industry, so a lot of your outlook depends upon your job and the area you live in. U.S. median household income is still 8 percent lower than it was eight years ago, and nearly 45 million Americans are currently receiving food stamps and according to a new report issued on Friday by the Congressional Budget Office that number is 70% higher than it was in 2007 so I don't think that $25.50 savings you are talking about helps most people in the US today.

And even government workers (at least at the fed level) have also felt a huge pinch as I mentioned above - state and local ones may have fared better or worse as their localities have dictated...

 

[robinb]

Beans and rice are as good as their seasonings there I said it. ok, personally I consider a bowl of plain white rice comfort food but I didn't really appreciate beans and rice as a meal until I started seasoning my food properly and discovered what toppings I like. Salsa or tali sauce (I eat at a place called Whole Bowl way too often but there are tons of recipes online that mimic it) goes well with it and keeps it from feeling bland. I never bother with any meat at all and I'm stuffed after around 400 calories of it. Feeling full lasts hours with beans and rice...!

I just looked up the Whole Bowl copycat recipes and they look delicious. The tali sauce looks a little fat laden, but I think I can just use less of it.

 

[kidshop]

Let's here your cheapest meal please include ingredients.

we actually planned this for a class my ds took on the depression. We had $4 for a balanced meal for 5. I bought a 1# package of dried black beans ($1), a a small bag of yellow rice (like .89), a block of cheddar cheese from Aldi (1.69) and 1# of bananas (.50). I pressure cooked the beans, shredded the cheese and carmelized the bananas. We actually had leftovers! It was healthy and filing and while plain, tasted good.

 

[tarheel618]

I'm feeling the September cash flow pinch. This time of year is worse than Christmas with the back to school stuff, sports registrations, new equipment for said sports cause your kids had a growth spurt. Ugh. Then you get past that and panic when you realize it's only a couple more months til Christmas.! Lol.
Was already planning to hunker down and plan some cheaper meals so will definitely use some ideas in this thread you started. Thanks!

YES exactly- our extra cash seems non existent since school started

 

[robinb]

I just looked up the Whole Bowl copycat recipes and they look delicious. The tali sauce looks a little fat laden, but I think I can just use less of it.

I made this and it was really good! http://www.sweetphi.com/the-whole-bowl-tali-sauce-recipe-vegetarian-gluten-free/

The problem was that it wasn't cheap since I shopped at my local organic market (think Whole Paycheck) . I knew I had to shop there for the nutritional yeast and I just didn't have the time to go to Aldi's or even my regular grocery for the rest. My DD was at Homecoming last night so I'm going to try it on her for lunch. She's a vegetarian and this is right up her alley.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

I wish rice and beans were healthier for me (me personally, not generally).
It's such a cheap meal and so very tasty!

 

[hsmamato2]

I order nutritional yeast online at Jet or Amazon.... cheap and easy

 

[Dakota731]

Gosh gas in under $2

Just got gas today - here it's $2.29 for regular so no savings for our family

 

[mom+3girls]

And even government workers (at least at the fed level) have also felt a huge pinch as I mentioned above - state and local ones may have fared better or worse as their localities have dictated...

Yes state workers here got a 5% raise, but then had to contribute 3% of that into the retirement fund then there was another 5% increase in their health insurance cost. so that is actually a 3% pay cut.