Help me cut my grocery bill

[mm1970]

I have upwards of 120 fantastic, low cost recipes, so there's very little repetition. Also within many of those recipes there are variations I can make, so closer to 200 really.

You should share some of them, if you ever feel so inclined.  I got paprika on your recommendation...am slowly adding recipes to it.  I probably only have 20 though.

[Metalcat]

I have upwards of 120 fantastic, low cost recipes, so there's very little repetition. Also within many of those recipes there are variations I can make, so closer to 200 really.

You should share some of them, if you ever feel so inclined.  I got paprika on your recommendation...am slowly adding recipes to it.  I probably only have 20 though.

If I had an easy way to do so, I would, but I don't know of an easy way with Paprika to share recipes

[mm1970]

I have upwards of 120 fantastic, low cost recipes, so there's very little repetition. Also within many of those recipes there are variations I can make, so closer to 200 really.

You should share some of them, if you ever feel so inclined.  I got paprika on your recommendation...am slowly adding recipes to it.  I probably only have 20 though.

If I had an easy way to do so, I would, but I don't know of an easy way with Paprika to share recipes

Screen shot! Kidding.

I just noticed the name change...at first I thought it was a different poster, then I recognized the cat.  I am not so swift today.

[Metalcat]

I have upwards of 120 fantastic, low cost recipes, so there's very little repetition. Also within many of those recipes there are variations I can make, so closer to 200 really.

You should share some of them, if you ever feel so inclined.  I got paprika on your recommendation...am slowly adding recipes to it.  I probably only have 20 though.

If I had an easy way to do so, I would, but I don't know of an easy way with Paprika to share recipes

Screen shot! Kidding.

I just noticed the name change...at first I thought it was a different poster, then I recognized the cat.  I am not so swift today.

I felt like a change.

[SailingOnASmallSailboat]

@MrsSpendyPants any comments? You've had a lot of great advice on here.

[cats]

It seems most people have already said it, but definitely:
-Less (or no) deli meat.  We pretty much never buy it.  If you must have meat for sandwiches, roast a chicken.
-I would also say less meat generally and less red meat.  Have a meatless dinner a few nights a week, have chicken instead of beef, have a PB sandwich sometimes instead of cheese & ham.
-Less prepared foods and more bulk/unprocessed foods.  i.e. instead of buying crackers, make a loaf of bread
-No soda
-3 gallons of milk/week for 3 people seems like a lot.  We are 3 people also and average around 1 gallon for drinking each week, plus a gallon every two weeks to make into yogurt.

I would definitely make a meal plan for the week before shopping, and then also try to set aside an hour or so on the weekend (or whenever works best with your schedule) to do some prep: cook a big pot of something, get veggies chopped up so they are ready to go into a stirfry, get some other meal components ready so that when lunch or dinnertime rolls around you have minimal prep to do in the moment.  If the idea of cooking more from scratch or cooking more vegetarian intimidates you, there are lots of good cookbooks and websites. One really good site that gets referenced here a lot is Budget Bytes.  I like the recipes there as the ingredients list is usually not too long or exotic, the results are consistently good, and many of the recipes are very family friendly.

Do you do any sort of price tracking? I notice you bought blueberries at two different stores, for two different prices.  I do keep track of which stores in our area offer best prices on items that we want to buy frequently and generally only buy items at the store where they are cheapest.  Also, I am conscious that while my kid loves blueberries, he also loves strawberries (which are much cheaper), so if I buy berries I would generally get strawberries and get blueberries more occasionally.  There are plenty of other foods for which this logic applies (e.g., finely chopped cabbage is quite good in a salad, so you can get a head of cabbage and mix that 50/50 with your romaine or salad greens and ta-da, your salad has just become cheaper).

[Kyle Schuant]

@MrsSpendyPants any comments? You've had a lot of great advice on here.

She posted this several days ago, and and was last online a dozen hours ago. Evidently she didn't like any of the responses she got. We get askholes a lot online.

[mm1970]

She posted this several days ago, and and was last online a dozen hours ago. Evidently she didn't like any of the responses she got. We get askholes a lot online.

Or, you know, maybe she's a full time working mother with a toddler ... who is busy collecting and processing the suggestions to make a plan.  She doesn't really owe us anything, does she? 

I'll answer that: no. She doesn't.

[Kyle Schuant]

Actually, people do owe others.

If someone asks for advice and is given it in detail, at the least they can reply, "Thanks!"

[slappy]

She posted this several days ago, and and was last online a dozen hours ago. Evidently she didn't like any of the responses she got. We get askholes a lot online.

Or, you know, maybe she's a full time working mother with a toddler ... who is busy collecting and processing the suggestions to make a plan.  She doesn't really owe us anything, does she? 

I'll answer that: no. She doesn't.

Out of curiosity, are you familiar with this poster? Not that she owes anyone an explanation or anything, but she has been less than accepting of ideas in her recent posts.

My input to the OP is to drink less milk, depending on the age of the child. Of course if the child is a young toddler, milk may be important, but if the child is over 2, milk is not necessary. Not that it would the save the OP a ton, but every little bit counts I guess. Looks like 3 gallons a week would save about $40 a month. Even if they keep one gallon around for baking/cereal/occasional drinking, it would still save a little money, especially if other small changes were made at the same time.

[mm1970]

She posted this several days ago, and and was last online a dozen hours ago. Evidently she didn't like any of the responses she got. We get askholes a lot online.

Or, you know, maybe she's a full time working mother with a toddler ... who is busy collecting and processing the suggestions to make a plan.  She doesn't really owe us anything, does she? 

I'll answer that: no. She doesn't.

Out of curiosity, are you familiar with this poster? Not that she owes anyone an explanation or anything, but she has been less than accepting of ideas in her recent posts.

My input to the OP is to drink less milk, depending on the age of the child. Of course if the child is a young toddler, milk may be important, but if the child is over 2, milk is not necessary. Not that it would the save the OP a ton, but every little bit counts I guess. Looks like 3 gallons a week would save about $40 a month. Even if they keep one gallon around for baking/cereal/occasional drinking, it would still save a little money, especially if other small changes were made at the same time.

My only familiarity is with what it is like to have a full time job and young children, ... I know what it's like to be barely hanging on.  It's not fun.  Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

No, she doesn't owe us anything.  We gave her recommendations.  She can take them or not.

[slappy]

She posted this several days ago, and and was last online a dozen hours ago. Evidently she didn't like any of the responses she got. We get askholes a lot online.

Or, you know, maybe she's a full time working mother with a toddler ... who is busy collecting and processing the suggestions to make a plan.  She doesn't really owe us anything, does she? 

I'll answer that: no. She doesn't.

Out of curiosity, are you familiar with this poster? Not that she owes anyone an explanation or anything, but she has been less than accepting of ideas in her recent posts.

My input to the OP is to drink less milk, depending on the age of the child. Of course if the child is a young toddler, milk may be important, but if the child is over 2, milk is not necessary. Not that it would the save the OP a ton, but every little bit counts I guess. Looks like 3 gallons a week would save about $40 a month. Even if they keep one gallon around for baking/cereal/occasional drinking, it would still save a little money, especially if other small changes were made at the same time.

My only familiarity is with what it is like to have a full time job and young children, ... I know what it's like to be barely hanging on.  It's not fun.  Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

No, she doesn't owe us anything.  We gave her recommendations.  She can take them or not.

Or she can take the third option of not taking the suggestions and then coming back to post the same/similar question again. At some point, posters may want to see some accountability. I don't really care either way, I've just noticed this trend with a few posters and I can see how it can be frustrating for the people trying to help. The fact that I noticed it tells you that I've been spending way too much time here during this quarantine! I also think sometimes posters look for updates just because they become invested in the story and want to see the person succeed, not necessarily because they feel like they are owed something.

[mm1970]

So if I want a meal that has cheddar and cilantro, I can quickly look up additional recipes that will also use those ingredients. Then if that additional recipe calls for half a head of cabbage, I can lookup a recipe that will use up the second half.

@Malcat

And I was today years old when I discovered this function.  This is so helpful!

[Metalcat]

So if I want a meal that has cheddar and cilantro, I can quickly look up additional recipes that will also use those ingredients. Then if that additional recipe calls for half a head of cabbage, I can lookup a recipe that will use up the second half.

@Malcat

And I was today years old when I discovered this function.  This is so helpful!

Lol, well you have to put in the work categorizing everything, but I have all of my recipes tagged according to perishable I gradients that are best bought in larger volumes.

So my recipe categories seem a little odd, like I have no way to look up recipes that have red peppers in them, because it's so easy to buy a single pepper. Meanwhile, I have categories for every single type of cheese that I use.

It took awhile and I've reorganized my recipe tags a few times, which can take awhile, but it's so worth it for every single week to have meal planning and grocery shopping lists take virtually no effort.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

Or she can take the third option of not taking the suggestions and then coming back to post the same/similar question again. At some point, posters may want to see some accountability. I don't really care either way, I've just noticed this trend with a few posters and I can see how it can be frustrating for the people trying to help. The fact that I noticed it tells you that I've been spending way too much time here during this quarantine! I also think sometimes posters look for updates just because they become invested in the story and want to see the person succeed, not necessarily because they feel like they are owed something.

At least we've all enjoyed conversing about the topic.  I know what you mean about seeing the trend with specific posters on various forums -- repeated posts asking for help reducing food or other living expenses.  Typically the food purchases are laden with meats, convenience foods, etc.  When it's suggested to cut those out, the OP says they can't.  In the past it's been sad at times (not here at MMM), when someone can't pay other bills but also refuses to serve anything less than high end meat cuts everyday.  Or needs to buy several 12 packs of soda each week, or beer, or sugary snacks.  I never want it to be about judging what people eat, but when people ask for help, other are going to point out the expensive items.

I actually went through this with my parents after I grew up and moved away.  My dad lost his job, but he couldn't go grocery shopping without buying what he wanted -- he felt too deprived.  He had been the main grocery shopper in the family.  My mom was disabled and couldn't easily go to the grocery store herself.  For about a year she and I worked together -- she would make the meal plan and grocery list, and I would do to the shopping for her.  She always made the list for my dad, but he would come home with so much more than what was on the list (also true my entire childhood).  As soon as he was working again he took back the grocery shopping because he hated how we'd been doing it.  He wants what he wants -- all the snacks, sodas, convenience foods, expensive brands of peanut butter and lunch meat, etc.  Just last month we were talking about grocery shopping and I mentioned Aldi, and he said he hates Aldi because they are mostly store brand and he hates store brands.  I told him I'm fine with them.  The sad difference between us is I actively try to save money and not be in debt (FI and absolutely zero debt, I'm RE and DH could RE if he wanted to), and he is of retirement age, working FT, and is still paying the mortgage on a house he's had more than 40 years, along with a car loan and plenty of consumer debt.  He's proud of me, but can't wrap his head around how we did it.

[MrsSpendyPants]

Hi all!  I've been reading these and getting excellent ideas.  For example, I had never considered the idea of purchasing hams after easter to freeze them and use!  Additionally, I've never looked at the price of bananas - I always just get 5-6 of the greenest bananas the store has since total cost has always been negligible. 

Some of the things we did with the groceries we bought: meatballs and pasta, meatballs on rolls, chinese stir fry, ham and cheese, omelettes etc.

I have a very picky toddler and husband.  Only vegetables that the husband will eat is spinach and sauteed onions/green peppers.  So we spend a lot of money on meat although we are using up what we have frozen right now.  My toddler goes through ~3 gallons of milk a week (he's under two).  He has a bone condition so it's the easiest way for him to get some calcium and vitamin D (we do supplement vitamin D) since he doesn't like many things besides dairy and fruit.

I feel like we definitely need to eat more soups, sounds like an easy way to spread things around but I have not found any recipes we have liked.  Maybe I need to find a nice potato and ham one, feels like that would please everyone.

We have cut down on the soda, I'm not sure I'll be able to get it much lower at this point.

Great idea on the cabbage in salad - I love cabbage!

The block of cheese idea is a great idea.  However I am having trouble finding block cheese that is less expensive than the cheap American cheese slices.  Any stores where that does make sense?

Taking some of these suggestions I spent $70 this week!  Missing my hearts of palm but that's definitely a nice to have and not worth such a large amount of my grocery budget.

[ysette9]

Hi all!  I've been reading these and getting excellent ideas.  For example, I had never considered the idea of purchasing hams after easter to freeze them and use!  Additionally, I've never looked at the price of bananas - I always just get 5-6 of the greenest bananas the store has since total cost has always been negligible. 

Some of the things we did with the groceries we bought: meatballs and pasta, meatballs on rolls, chinese stir fry, ham and cheese, omelettes etc.

I have a very picky toddler and husband.  Only vegetables that the husband will eat is spinach and sauteed onions/green peppers.  So we spend a lot of money on meat although we are using up what we have frozen right now.  My toddler goes through ~3 gallons of milk a week (he's under two).  He has a bone condition so it's the easiest way for him to get some calcium and vitamin D (we do supplement vitamin D) since he doesn't like many things besides dairy and fruit.

I feel like we definitely need to eat more soups, sounds like an easy way to spread things around but I have not found any recipes we have liked.  Maybe I need to find a nice potato and ham one, feels like that would please everyone.

We have cut down on the soda, I'm not sure I'll be able to get it much lower at this point.

Great idea on the cabbage in salad - I love cabbage!

The block of cheese idea is a great idea.  However I am having trouble finding block cheese that is less expensive than the cheap American cheese slices.  Any stores where that does make sense?

Taking some of these suggestions I spent $70 this week!  Missing my hearts of palm but that's definitely a nice to have and not worth such a large amount of my grocery budget.

I’m not sure you are going to find real cheese cheaper than American “cheese” since it isn’t even real cheese, and so is quite a bit cheaper. Maybe price out the big blocks that come from places like Costco? Personally I’d rather eat less of something good than more of something not good, but what is good or not is a personal call that everyone makes for themselves.

Awesome starting to cut down on the hill! And thanks for the follow up. Everyone appreciates when posters actually read the advice. :) Good luck. We are cheering you on.

[Roadrunner53]

Not sure what you are into for food but maybe you could try to prepare foods  you can pull out of your freezer. It doesn't have to be intense cooking but batch cooking. For instance, you could plan to make burger based meals by buying a good amount of ground meat and make a batch of meatballs, a meat loaf, hamburgers and ground beef for spaghetti sauce. Meatballs are easy, you can make them up pretty quickly and bake them in the oven. Same with the meatloaf. The burgers would only take seconds to form and freeze. The ground beef can be quickly cooked up in a skillet with onions, garlic. Then cooled and packed for the freezer. Sometimes after we have a meatloaf, I will freeze the rest cut up in slices. If we decide to have it later on it just needs warming. If I decide I want a spaghetti meat sauce, I break it up and throw it in the sauce. Or you could make a poor mans stroganoff with alfredo sauce and noodles.

You could do similar things with ham. Ham dinner, ham chunks in macaroni and cheese, potato and ham soup, ham and beans, ham and rice.

Your hub needs to try some new veggies. Maybe you can get him to try things, just one spoonful. When I was a kid I hated veggies and ended up getting almost scurvy. Mom brought me to the doctor and he said I needed to eat veggies. It was so hard for her not to force them on me but she just asked that I try one spoonful and not screaming or ranting at me. I guess I got over it because I eat just about every veggie. Spinach is a good vegetable though. How about baby spinach salad?

Maybe you could try making ice tea from tea bags. They are very economical and cold tea is very refreshing. You can add lemon to it. I am sure there are lots of ways to jazz up tea. I agree with another poster on the Soda Stream machine. I have one and use it mostly for seltzer. Years ago I tried the soda flavors but didn't like them. Maybe they have improved. You can add lemon, lime, fruit to the seltzer to flavor it up. You can also add the liquid Crystal Light flavors to it too.

As others mentioned, watch the sales each week and buy what is on sale and stock up on those items. Plan your menu around those sale items each week.

[RetiredAt63]

What were vegetables like when your husband was a child?  A lot of adults don't like vegetables because the ones they were given as a child were horribly overcooked.  Like the soda consumption, this is something you need to discuss with him.  Not only is it bad for his health, it sets a bad example for your toddler.

All those lovely flavanoids and other colours in vegetables need to be eaten with fat to be absorbed.  So lovely lightly steamed broccoli with butter.  Broccoli stems are great in stir fries, but they need to be peeled.
Cauliflower lightly steamed, sprinkled with grated parmesan or cheddar.  Ripe peppers lightly sauteed in butter/lard/avocado oil.  Basically any vegetable tastes better with butter, and the nutrients are better absorbed.

Recipe from my niece who studied cooking in France:
Sweet potato fries
Cut up sweet potatoes for fries. Toss lightly in good olive oil.  Place on baking sheet and sprinkle with Herbes de Provence (an herb mix, all the grocery stores here carry it so should be easy to find).  Bake at 450F until done, usually about 45 minutes but depends on how thick you cut them.  Turn them over at least once while cooking.  They should be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.  Perfect if you already have the oven on for something else.

These are incredibly yummy, plus a yellow (or red, or purple) vegetable, healthier than regular potatoes.

My sister has an air fryer and they are equally good cooked in that if you already have one.

Re your toddler, the best vitamin D source is sunlight (unless your child can't make it, which would be rare).  The Norwegian Institute for Air Research has an online calculator for exposure time.  No sunblock for this period of exposure, it interferes because it blocks the UV rays that trigger Vitamin D formation.  The amount of time needed for this is much less than the time needed to have the skin go pink, so you are not risking sunburn as long as you are careful about time.

[Roadrunner53]

Yes, I agree with RetiredAt63. Most canned veggies are the worst texture and flavor. For me the exception is corn and green beans. Most frozen veggies are excellent and of course fresh. Over cooking any vegetable makes them taste disgusting. I would suggest finding a book of simple ways to cook veggies.

As an example of a convert, my family always loved pizza with anchovies on it. My husband was disgusted with anchovies and picked them off but I think some of the flavor remained. Over the years he learned to like them and now insists we have anchovies on pizza every time! People can learn to like things if given the time and if the food is prepared properly.

[ysette9]

I learned from my husband that in Chinese cooking veggies aren’t this neglected stepchild on the edge of the plate next to the tasty main dish. It is part of the main dish(es). The English style of cooking I grew up with has it totally wrong. The meat and the sauce and the veggies should all be served and even cooked together so the veggies are colorful and flavorful and enticing. In real Chinese cooking the veggies are the star and the meat is the supporting flavor-enhancer.

[OtherJen]

What were vegetables like when your husband was a child?  A lot of adults don't like vegetables because the ones they were given as a child were horribly overcooked.  Like the soda consumption, this is something you need to discuss with him.  Not only is it bad for his health, it sets a bad example for your toddler.

Yes! This!

I hated beets when I was younger because we only ever had sliced beets from a can, which my mom then proceeded to boil until all the nutrients were probably denatured. They were awful and made everything else on my plate turn pink. As an adult, I learned that fresh beets are awesome when grated raw into a slaw with apples and gingery dressing or roasted and tossed with goat cheese and pecans in an orange-balsamic vinaigrette.

My dad used to loathe brussels sprouts because his mom boiled them until they were grayish mush. Now, he likes them when they're roasted until the outsides are crispy and the insides are bright green and just soft, or when they're sliced thin and pan-fried in a bit of bacon grease with garlic.

Any root vegetable can be cut into cubes, tossed in olive oil with salt, pepper, a bit of garlic powder, and some smoked paprika and thyme (my favorite blend) and roasted as described by RetiredAt63. The roasting mellows the flavors and brings out a bit of sweetness.

I also agree that lightly steamed (just a few minutes so it's still bright green and not mush) broccoli with butter and salt is delicious. It's even a big favorite of my picky niece and nephew, who will also eat basic salads of lettuce, cucumber, carrot, and ranch dressing even when they can't be convinced to eat anything else.

For compromises, my husband will only eat eggplant as baba ganoush so if we get an eggplant in our produce box, that's what I make. When I was little, I would only eat zucchini in fritters, so that's what my mom made. That's also totally fine and still provides nutrients!

Some things you or your husband just might not like. I don't particularly like artichokes (the hearts are okay if they're in a dish with other things) or acorn squash. My husband has a strong dislike of peas unless they're a very minor ingredient in a soup or similar. That's okay too!

[ysette9]

I still can’t stand beets but have learned to love almost everything I hated as a kid: onions, curry, spinach.

I was saying to my husband earlier today that I am proud of how much more mature the palates if my kids are than mine was at their age. They were scarfing down green and kalamata olives at lunch today which I didn’t start to appreciate until my late teens.

[RetiredAt63]

Kids learn to like lots of things if they are exposed to them early.  And if they are used to variety they are more likely to be open to new foods.

I read once, in a book whose main topic was totally different, that an unwillingness to expand one's food choices is a result of limited food choices as a child, and that this reflects a mother who was unwilling to try new things because of the financial cost of uneaten food if the kids didn't like it.  I have no idea if there is a relationship between poverty and limited food  choices, but it sort of made sense.  I could see it also arising as a result of a household where there was little time for food prep.  Although I  know many people who were fine financially who also overcooked things, my MIL who grew up on a farm in the 30s cooked everything, meat and vegetables, until they were dead dead dead.  Even her mashed potatoes had no texture.  And her son, my Ex, had very few vegetables he would eat.  Until he had my cooking, now he likes vegetables.  So people can learn to like vegetables if they are prepared well.

[lhamo]

Add me to the list of people who thought she hated vegetables until she grew up and realized that they do not have to come out of a can.....

[calimom]

OP, you're asking,  listening, learning, willing to  make changes. Kudos to  you!

I'm super focused on my grocery bill also and doing my best to take advantage of sales and what's available seasonally. This morning I fed six people breakfast/brunch on the deck. We had: potatoes from the large stash, lightly fried  with onions, garlic and red bell pepper. Eggs procured free from a neighbor who raises chickens. Scrambled, with fresh herbs from the garden Sliced cantaloupe, which cost  .99. French bread,  toasted. the loaf was purchased at the market end of  day yesterday, .99. Sliced tomatoes from the garden. Seriously, it  was a feast and just about  $2.00 per person.

Highly recommend An Everlasting Meal: Cooking With Economy and Grace by Tamar Adler. Not so much a cookbook, but a look  into ways to  turn one meal into several. The Sunday chicken becomes enchiladas  Monday then soup later in the  week. Ends of vegetable scraps turn into stock.  You  get the  idea.

[Zikoris]

I thought I hated vegetables and damn near everything else until I was an adult. Turns out I was lied to my entire childhood, I'm not even remotely a picky eater, and my mom is just a terrible cook. I figured it out pretty quickly once I moved out on my own to a big city with lots of food options, and started learning how to cook properly.

[Roadrunner53]

As far as saving money on your grocery bill, do you have a stand alone freezer? I do believe a freezer is one answer to saving money. For instance, at Thanksgiving time, turkey breasts are on sale. I usually pick up six and put them in my freezer. Then this one store in my area always has the bargain turkey for $0.39-$0.59 per lb. Sometimes I will pick two of them up. We have turkey all year round. Same with Prime rib roasts at Christmas time. They usually go on sale and I pick up around 5 of them. We have beautiful prime rib all year long. You could do the same with Easter hams or ham steaks. Anything on sale! Buy a few extra and freeze them. If you happen to like corned beef, they freeze well too. At St. Patrick's day they are always on sale. I usually buy two or three and freeze two. I love them and it is so tasty I enjoy it more than one time a year. Whole chickens are on sale a lot during the year. I get the oven roasters and have the butcher spatchcock them. They remove the backbone and flatten the chicken. When you get it home you will probably need to put them in freezer bags or foil. These chickens can now be stacked in the freezer. The butchers do not charge extra to spatchcock either. I usually ask them to give me the backbone and organ meat. I make bone broth from the bones and the organ meat gets cooked and given to the dogs. Another thing, is that you can start a scrap bag in your freezer. Anytime you have a few bones or limp celery or cooked veggies, onions, etc. you can toss in your scrap bag. One day when your bag is full, you can throw it in a pot with water and simmer for hours with lid on to make a broth. You can flavor the broth with herbs, salt, pepper.

Potatoes are on sale especially at Thanksgiving. Sometimes it is buy one 5 lb. bag for $1.99, get two bags free. You could buy all those potatoes and prepare them for the freezer. They do need to be cooked in some way. You can't just throw the bag in the freezer or they will turn black. There are many way to prepare them. Look it up on the internet.

Identify anything that goes in the freezer. Write the date you bought it on the package. Make sure you rotate the inventory. Oldest date gets pulled out first and cooked. Also, keep the freezer organized with like items near each other so you don't lose track of items. Super organized people, of which I am not, have a spread sheet of what goes in the freezer and what comes out with dates, etc.

[RetiredAt63]

The other great use for a freezer is batch cooking.  Get a good buy on ground beef?  Make a bunch of meat patties and freeze, make a bunch of meat balls and freeze, make up a basic meat sauce (meat, tomatoes, onions, garlic) and freeze. It can become spaghetti sauce, chili, taco filling, sloppy Joes, depending on spices.  Lots of cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden or farmer's market?  Make pickles and relishes, they are so much yummier than bought.  Not cheaper the first time around, because you need to get the equipment (yard sales!) But once you have the jars and canner you are set for years.

There are books out there for batch cooking, you don't need to invent it for yourself.


Plus, basically run your kitchen like your great-grandmother did.  Use everything, make your own as much as possible.  Read The Tightwad Gazette, she discusses food costs and prep a lot.

[Moonwaves]

I'm another who didn't eat vegetables as a kid. Except for potatoes. Unfortunately, in my teens my stepmother decided to force us all to eat any veg she put in front of us (most of it overcooked in the microwave in the morning and then reheated when we were home from school), which did not bode well for my consumption of vegetables as soon as I was able to make the decision myself. I was probably in my mid-20s before I realised that I really like leeks (always loved leek and potato soup). Had zucchini tempura at a fancy restaurant once and that was enough to sell me on that. Didn't mind tomato sauces too much, would eat bolognese etc. so long as there were no identifiable bits of veg in it and eventually that became me longing for the tomato season to start and almost all summer long having very few lunches or dinners that don't involve tomatoes, often straight from the plant. I loathed lettuce - until I realised that actually I just don't like the butterhead and iceberg lettuce that was all that was available in those days and that place. These days I generally do follow my nutrionist's advice and for most meals about half my plate is veg and/or salad.

Anyway, at least for the sake of your toddler, your husband needs to get on board with providing a good example. They both should get a spoonful of whatever veg is on the menu that night and must try it. Make sure your husband knows that he should do his best to not react in a negative way, no scrunching up his face or dramatic yuck sounds. It'll get a laugh from your kid but will also influence his behaviour. Have you ever spoken to your husband about why he doesn't eat/like vegetables and does he think it's not a big deal if your son doesn't either? Do you think you could get him on side to try and encourage your son to be more open to trying things? I know that for me, a lot of the veg (and other foods) that I have ended up really liking, I only tried because I was being polite when friends invited me over for dinner. Turnip may always make me gag, I'll never think cucumber tastes good, will never be able to eat bell peppers, and I don't see myself ever getting enthusiastic about the texture of mushrooms but that's alright. There's such a huge variety other than that.

Back in the olden days, I remember a blog written by a women who was trying to get her son to eat more veg and they made it into an A to Z challenge. Ok, I challenged myself to find it and did. A quick calculation leads me to the conclusion that her son must now be 20 or 21 - I feel old now. Anyway, if you have time to read an old blog, the first post is here. She did publish a book as well. There were always lots of tips in the comments on the blog, too, though. A two-year-old might not be quite at the stage of that kind of challenge but maybe something for the future.

Finally, do you grow anything yourself? That is a really fantastic way to get kids interested in eating veg because they get to help plant, and care for, and harvest something. Definitely increases the chances that they'll also eat it.

[Ecky]

I have a very picky toddler and husband.  Only vegetables that the husband will eat is spinach and sauteed onions/green peppers.  So we spend a lot of money on meat although we are using up what we have frozen right now.  My toddler goes through ~3 gallons of milk a week (he's under two).  He has a bone condition so it's the easiest way for him to get some calcium and vitamin D (we do supplement vitamin D) since he doesn't like many things besides dairy and fruit.

This sounds like a tough situation to be in.

It's worth noting that the Harvard School of Health recommends minimizing dairy as much as possible, based on accumulated evidence:

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-eating-plate-vs-usda-myplate/

I found this article by WebMD to be helpful, and rather even-handed, without an apparent agenda:

https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/milk-for-your-bones#1

[ysette9]

When I lived in France the gospel was that yogurt was the best thing ever, including being more effective for delivering calcium to the bones than other dairy. I never looked into the truth of this or not but I know the live cultures have other benefits for gut health.

[Laura33]

What were vegetables like when your husband was a child?  A lot of adults don't like vegetables because the ones they were given as a child were horribly overcooked.  Like the soda consumption, this is something you need to discuss with him.  Not only is it bad for his health, it sets a bad example for your toddler.

Yes! This!

Yeah, ok, let me be contrary:  NO.  It's funny, my whole life I was fed the story that my mom hated vegetables because her mom served everything overcooked/mush, and all I needed to do was eat veggies fresh from the garden and still crunchy.  Yeah, no.  Raw or lightly-cooked veggies taste too much like Essence of Vegetable.*  OTOH, cook some green beans with some bacon or ham hock for a few hours, and you have deliciousness.

OP:  Different people have different tastes.  I am apparently a supertaster, and things that my mom finds sweet and delicious I find absolutely overpoweringly vegetable-ish.  So by all means, try the fresh, lightly-cooked, or stir-fried options.  But also try other options, like the salty umami of bacon or ham hock to override the green-ness, or the brightness of a vinegar-based colelaw to cut the earth cabbage-ness, or some butter/cheese and salt to balance out the veggie-ness (salt masks bitter, fat carries the nicer flavors).

One thing that may work for you is to add veggies to ground meat.  I make meatballs and meatloaf with a bunch of cooked down veggies that I have on-hand -- basically, carrots, onion, you name it in the food processor and whizzed until they're mostly liquid, then cooked down to remove a lot of the water.  Mushrooms are particularly good with beef-based options -- I cannot stand the texture, but mush them all up and add them to meatloaf, and it's freaking delicious.

*Except for cabbage and greens, which are tolerable only when raw, preferably with lots of vinegar, because otherwise they taste too much like, well, cabbage and greens.

[OtherJen]

What were vegetables like when your husband was a child?  A lot of adults don't like vegetables because the ones they were given as a child were horribly overcooked.  Like the soda consumption, this is something you need to discuss with him.  Not only is it bad for his health, it sets a bad example for your toddler.

Yes! This!

Yeah, ok, let me be contrary:  NO.  It's funny, my whole life I was fed the story that my mom hated vegetables because her mom served everything overcooked/mush, and all I needed to do was eat veggies fresh from the garden and still crunchy.  Yeah, no.  Raw or lightly-cooked veggies taste too much like Essence of Vegetable.*  OTOH, cook some green beans with some bacon or ham hock for a few hours, and you have deliciousness.

OP:  Different people have different tastes.  I am apparently a supertaster, and things that my mom finds sweet and delicious I find absolutely overpoweringly vegetable-ish.  So by all means, try the fresh, lightly-cooked, or stir-fried options.  But also try other options, like the salty umami of bacon or ham hock to override the green-ness, or the brightness of a vinegar-based colelaw to cut the earth cabbage-ness, or some butter/cheese and salt to balance out the veggie-ness (salt masks bitter, fat carries the nicer flavors).

Yeah, pretty sure we both suggested different cooking/seasoning methods in our full posts.

[norajean]

Just stick to fresh produce and dairy and limit meat and alcohol purchases. Stop buying packaged, processed or frozen foods.  Try to buy and prepare in bulk.

[mm1970]

So if I want a meal that has cheddar and cilantro, I can quickly look up additional recipes that will also use those ingredients. Then if that additional recipe calls for half a head of cabbage, I can lookup a recipe that will use up the second half.

@Malcat

And I was today years old when I discovered this function.  This is so helpful!

Lol, well you have to put in the work categorizing everything, but I have all of my recipes tagged according to perishable I gradients that are best bought in larger volumes.

So my recipe categories seem a little odd, like I have no way to look up recipes that have red peppers in them, because it's so easy to buy a single pepper. Meanwhile, I have categories for every single type of cheese that I use.

It took awhile and I've reorganized my recipe tags a few times, which can take awhile, but it's so worth it for every single week to have meal planning and grocery shopping lists take virtually no effort.

And yesterday I learned to search by "ingredients" not just recipe title...

[mm1970]

What were vegetables like when your husband was a child?  A lot of adults don't like vegetables because the ones they were given as a child were horribly overcooked.  Like the soda consumption, this is something you need to discuss with him.  Not only is it bad for his health, it sets a bad example for your toddler.

Yes! This!

Yeah, ok, let me be contrary:  NO.  It's funny, my whole life I was fed the story that my mom hated vegetables because her mom served everything overcooked/mush, and all I needed to do was eat veggies fresh from the garden and still crunchy.  Yeah, no.  Raw or lightly-cooked veggies taste too much like Essence of Vegetable.* OTOH, cook some green beans with some bacon or ham hock for a few hours, and you have deliciousness.

OP:  Different people have different tastes.  I am apparently a supertaster, and things that my mom finds sweet and delicious I find absolutely overpoweringly vegetable-ish.  So by all means, try the fresh, lightly-cooked, or stir-fried options.  But also try other options, like the salty umami of bacon or ham hock to override the green-ness, or the brightness of a vinegar-based colelaw to cut the earth cabbage-ness, or some butter/cheese and salt to balance out the veggie-ness (salt masks bitter, fat carries the nicer flavors).

One thing that may work for you is to add veggies to ground meat.  I make meatballs and meatloaf with a bunch of cooked down veggies that I have on-hand -- basically, carrots, onion, you name it in the food processor and whizzed until they're mostly liquid, then cooked down to remove a lot of the water.  Mushrooms are particularly good with beef-based options -- I cannot stand the texture, but mush them all up and add them to meatloaf, and it's freaking delicious.

*Except for cabbage and greens, which are tolerable only when raw, preferably with lots of vinegar, because otherwise they taste too much like, well, cabbage and greens.

Ahha ha. 

So, I wasn't into too many vegetables as a kid.  My parents made me eat:
stewed tomatoes (I hate tomatoes until I was in my 30s)
canned green beans.  As in, we grew them.  And canned them.  And never ever ate them fresh.
cole slaw with that really sweet mayonaisy sauce
canned peas

Ugh.

So anyway, green beans.  Apparently was a matter of discussion for my husband's family too.  FILs mom cooked a pound of green beans in boiling water for an hour with some onion and a stick of butter.  (I've had them...they are tasty. but mush).  He joked that MIL barely waved them over the pot they were so crisp.

[RetiredAt63]

@MrsSpendyPants   Are you still popping in? Are you getting anything useful out of this?

[ysette9]

Holy crap, cooking green beans for an hour? Was the resulting product sludge?

I caught my aunt once trying to pressure cook broccoli for my English grandmother. Good lord, what did that poor broccoli do to deserve that fate?

[researcher1]

18.09 - 3 lbs of Bavarian ham at 5.99/lb. 

1.74 - 2 Liter of coke
1.74 - 2 Liter of coke
8.00 - eight 2 Liter bottles of Fresca soda
4.24 - cold brew coffee
4.24 - cold brew coffee
3.79 - 2% gallon milk
3.55 - gallon skim milk
3.55 - gallon skim milk

2.58 - 24 oz american cheese
1.29 - american sliced cheese 10.6 oz
1.29 - sliced american cheese 10.6 oz

My toddler goes through ~3 gallons of milk a week (he's under two).  He has a bone condition so it's the easiest way for him to get some calcium and vitamin D
We have cut down on the soda, I'm not sure I'll be able to get it much lower at this point.
However I am having trouble finding block cheese that is less expensive than the cheap American cheese slices. 

The items listed above are still complete overkill, even with a picky husband and child who need calcium.

No family on Earth needs to eat 3 POUNDS of deli ham in the course of a week.
No bone condition requires a toddler to drink 3 GALLONS of milk a week.  That is just insane.
And the rest of the items are just as crazy...12 2 liters of carbonated soda, nearly 3 pounds of american cheese slices!!!

[Roadrunner53]

I absolutely love fresh tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato anything! I worked with a woman who despised tomatoes. I just couldn't fathom why she loathed them. She mostly hated fresh sliced tomatoes and said she hated the texture. She would eat pizza with tomato sauce and spaghetti sauce. I still don't get the texture thing! To me there is nothing better than a fresh tomato off the vine.

Also, have a friend who hates just about everything. So she says. She rejects trying anything new. What is the harm of just trying something. How can you know you hate something if you never tried it. Someone convinced her to try lobster which she said she hated, ate some and loved it. Now craves it. I think she was brought up in a household that stuck to certain foods and never veered to the wild side!

I guess we all have limits on what we will eat.

[ChickenStash]

I absolutely love fresh tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato anything! I worked with a woman who despised tomatoes. I just couldn't fathom why she loathed them. She mostly hated fresh sliced tomatoes and said she hated the texture. She would eat pizza with tomato sauce and spaghetti sauce. I still don't get the texture thing! To me there is nothing better than a fresh tomato off the vine.

Is it maybe the texture of the tomato gel (snot) in a fresh slice? I like a fresh tomato from my garden but usually remove the snot after slicing.

[Kyle Schuant]

Hi all!  I've been reading these and getting excellent ideas.

Good to hear, thanks for checking back.

I have a very picky toddler and husband.  Only vegetables that the husband will eat is spinach and sauteed onions/green peppers. 

I used to get that in my household. I have two solutions.

For the children: "Eat your dinner, or go to bed now. By the way, if you don't eat it for dinner, you're getting it for breakfast. If you don't eat it for breakfast, you're getting it for lunch. For dinner I'll make you a fresh one." This stick works best if it's combined with a carrot. For example, my son was supposed to eat a single cherry tomato - just to try it. He wouldn't. Pancakes sat behind the cherry tomato, waiting for him. He missed Saturday night dinner, then Sunday morning breakfast he sat there from 0630 to 1230 before he finally gave in and ate the tomato. Six hours. So, it takes some patience and a certain streak of merciless ruthlessness, but it does work.

For the adults: "That's what I made for dinner. If you don't like it, that's fine: what are you making?" It's a family dinner table, not an a la carte restaurant.

Family can be an ungrateful, insolent lot, you have to keep them in their place.

[ysette9]

I can remember those battles of the wills with my mother over food I didn’t like. We had to eat it all or were served the leftovers for subsequent meals until it was done. I won’t eat beets or salmon patties to this day because of it.

I’ve taken a modified approach with my kids. You must taste at least one bite. You aren’t allowed to complain you don’t like something if you haven’t tried it. You finish your serving of whatever (we try hard to make the servings on the small size to make sure we aren’t overriding their body’s signals of fullness). If you finish you can have a little dessert (fruit smoothie popsicle or a few chocolate chips). If you don’t finish, no biggie but also no dessert. If my Big One finishes her serving and doesn’t want more because she didn’t like it that much she can make herself a PB&J if she is still hungry. I’m not making a second meal for anyone. Like you say, this isn’t a restaurant.

[RetiredAt63]

I can remember those battles of the wills with my mother over food I didn’t like. We had to eat it all or were served the leftovers for subsequent meals until it was done. I won’t eat beets or salmon patties to this day because of it.

I’ve taken a modified approach with my kids. You must taste at least one bite. You aren’t allowed to complain you don’t like something if you haven’t tried it. You finish your serving of whatever (we try hard to make the servings on the small size to make sure we aren’t overriding their body’s signals of fullness). If you finish you can have a little dessert (fruit smoothie popsicle or a few chocolate chips). If you don’t finish, no biggie but also no dessert. If my Big One finishes her serving and doesn’t want more because she didn’t like it that much she can make herself a PB&J if she is still hungry. I’m not making a second meal for anyone. Like you say, this isn’t a restaurant.

Yes, you can't  push it too much.  I hated liver as a kid, the smell made me nauseous.  No desert unless the main course was finished - I ate everything else, and the liver sat there until I was excused from the table.  No desert of course.  I wasn't a picky eater otherwise.  I still loathe the smell of liver, even using bought dried liver to train the dog was not great.

[MrsSpendyPants]

Hi all!  I've been reading these and getting excellent ideas.

Good to hear, thanks for checking back.

I have a very picky toddler and husband.  Only vegetables that the husband will eat is spinach and sauteed onions/green peppers. 

I used to get that in my household. I have two solutions.

For the children: "Eat your dinner, or go to bed now. By the way, if you don't eat it for dinner, you're getting it for breakfast. If you don't eat it for breakfast, you're getting it for lunch. For dinner I'll make you a fresh one." This stick works best if it's combined with a carrot. For example, my son was supposed to eat a single cherry tomato - just to try it. He wouldn't. Pancakes sat behind the cherry tomato, waiting for him. He missed Saturday night dinner, then Sunday morning breakfast he sat there from 0630 to 1230 before he finally gave in and ate the tomato. Six hours. So, it takes some patience and a certain streak of merciless ruthlessness, but it does work.

For the adults: "That's what I made for dinner. If you don't like it, that's fine: what are you making?" It's a family dinner table, not an a la carte restaurant.

Family can be an ungrateful, insolent lot, you have to keep them in their place.

Unfortunately my husband does a lot of the cooking so he chooses a lot of what we eat.  I've been doing some batch cooking on the weekend to try and fix that.  Doing lots and lots of stir fry since he will eat peppers and onions.  I did ham and sauteed spinach yesterday which he did eat, then have a mexican casserole planned for tomorrow since I can sneak tomatoes, peppers and onions into that.  Working on small steps here.  Tried to make zucchini boats with ground beef and neither MrSpendyPants nor ToddlerSpendyPants would eat the zucchini part.  MrSpendyPants tried and said he hated the texture.  How you can hate the texture of zucchini is beyond me...

I need to work on being tougher on the toddler, I do feed him things he likes as I'm worried about getting some food into him.  Hence the amount of fruit we go through.   

I know it sounds like I'm giving excused right now, just expressing frustration at lack of ability to make bigger changes.  Still making good small steps.

[Cassie]

Some people have texture issues so the taste is okay but not the texture. I was raised strict and so were my kids but not when it comes to food. It’s a eating disorder waiting to happen. I said you can eat what I made or make yourself a peanut butter sandwich. Never get into a power struggle over food.

[OtherJen]

Some people have texture issues so the taste is okay but not the texture. I was raised strict and so were my kids but not when it comes to food. It’s a eating disorder waiting to happen. I said you can eat what I made or make yourself a peanut butter sandwich. Never get into a power struggle over food.

Texture issues are very real. My young nephew has actually vomited at the table because of them. Even potatoes can be an issue: something firmer, like roasted potatoes or hash browns, is fine for him but mashed potatoes make him gag.

@MrsSpendyPants , maybe try something like zucchini fritters or zucchini bread/muffins. My mom used those to get me past my aversion to “weird green vegetable.” Now, I love the stuff.

Toddlers are just weird. My niece ate absolutely everything until just before she turned 2, and then it was like a switch flipped. I think maybe they become super sensitive to smells, flavors, and textures, plus there’s the whole control struggle. If you can find a few fruits and a few veggies that yours will eat consistently, offer those regularly and maybe introduce one new thing at a time.

[Roadrunner53]

I have two suggestions as far as veggies. Try cutting up fresh vegetables into strips or in half (brussel sprouts), red and green pepper strips, onion chunks, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, sweet potato or whatever else you like. Place in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt, pepper and spices (Rosemary is awesome). You can use any combination of veggies.

Toss it all around and then place on a pan lined with parchment paper for easy clean up. Roast in a preheated oven at 425 F.  After about 15 minutes, stir and roast another 15-20 minutes. The aroma in your house will be awesome with the rosemary. Basil is great too. Do not overload your sheet pan! If you overload, nothing will crisp up.

Another idea would be to have a platter of fresh veggies and ranch dressing to dip into. Or hummus, salsa, honey mustard, refried beans, spinach dip.

[RetiredAt63]

Do kids generally like rosemary? We didn't.  I think little kids have really sensitive taste buds and what tastes good to us is too much for them.  They have to get used to them. 

I can see the texture thing.  My late MIL put milk in her mashed potatoes and whipped them.  They had about as much texture as ice cream.  I like them mashed but barely, still some small chunks, and only a bit of butter, nothing to make them too soft.  If the family likes garlic, cooking some cloves with the potatoes gives them just a hint of garlic.

Baked/roasted veg are so yummy, but on the grill in summer, who wants to heat the kitchen?