Author Topic: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget  (Read 430068 times)

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #150 on: January 21, 2018, 06:27:58 PM »
I also prepped the ham for future dinners. From a 12lb ham, I got 7lbs of trimmed slices, plus the bone with all the fat and meat bits, which I'm going to cook tomorrow-- we'll eat the meat parts, and then I'll render the rest for broth and lard. I'll use the broth for beans or rice, and the rendered fat I'll put in my grease jar for frying stuff in the skillet.

7lbs of trimmed meat from a 12lb ham at $0.87/lb makes the cleaned meat about $1.50/lb, assuming I don't use the non-sliceable meat pieces or the bone or the fat.


« Last Edit: January 21, 2018, 07:12:55 PM by APowers »

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #151 on: January 21, 2018, 06:58:18 PM »
Costco! What we really needed was toilet paper-- one giant case lasts us almost a year (yes, we buy the cheapest toilet paper). But we also bought some food things:



Bananas: 2 bunches @ 1.39/each = $2.78
Ground ginger: 6.5oz = $4.69
Salsa: 76oz = $4.95

Total food receipt = $12.42

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #152 on: January 21, 2018, 07:36:34 PM »
SO also did some make-ahead lunches to take to school with her.

Chicken in a tomato-curry sauce. She used the last of the leftover chicken breast, plus the leftover onion from sandwich night, plus two 8oz cans of tomato sauce [$.50], plus some curry spices. This got portioned out into individual serving containers

Homemade Naan. Flour [$.20], yeast, water, salt.

Hummus. She used this recipe and it was amazing. Garbanzo beans [$.50], tahini [~$1.43], garlic [$.15], oil [$.11], and lime juice [$.31].

Total pre-prep lunch = $3.20

Monkey Uncle

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #153 on: January 22, 2018, 04:15:37 AM »
I also prepped the ham for future dinners. From a 12lb ham, I got 7lbs of trimmed slices, plus the bone with all the fat and meat bits, which I'm going to cook tomorrow-- we'll eat the meat parts, and then I'll render the rest for broth and lard. I'll use the broth for beans or rice, and the rendered fat I'll put in my grease jar for frying stuff in the skillet.

7lbs of trimmed meat from a 12lb ham at $0.87/lb makes the cleaned meat about $1.50/lb, assuming I don't use the non-sliceable meat pieces or the bone or the fat.


Keep in mind that fat rendered from a cured ham will add saltiness to whatever is fried in it.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #154 on: January 22, 2018, 06:42:58 AM »
I also prepped the ham for future dinners. From a 12lb ham, I got 7lbs of trimmed slices, plus the bone with all the fat and meat bits, which I'm going to cook tomorrow-- we'll eat the meat parts, and then I'll render the rest for broth and lard. I'll use the broth for beans or rice, and the rendered fat I'll put in my grease jar for frying stuff in the skillet.

7lbs of trimmed meat from a 12lb ham at $0.87/lb makes the cleaned meat about $1.50/lb, assuming I don't use the non-sliceable meat pieces or the bone or the fat.


Keep in mind that fat rendered from a cured ham will add saltiness to whatever is fried in it.


Yeah. I expect it to be like bacon grease, basically. Most things I cook in the skillet won't be hurt by some salt, since I usually add some to my dishes anyway.
« Last Edit: January 22, 2018, 04:18:39 PM by APowers »

Hirondelle

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #155 on: January 22, 2018, 11:09:12 AM »
SO also did some make-ahead lunches to take to school with her.

Chicken in a tomato-curry sauce. She used the last of the leftover chicken breast, plus the leftover onion from sandwich night, plus two 8oz cans of tomato sauce [$.50], plus some curry spices. This got portioned out into individual serving containers

Homemade Naan. Flour [$.20], yeast, water, salt.

Hummus. She used this recipe and it was amazing. Garbanzo beans [$.50], tahini [~$1.43], garlic [$.15], oil [$.11], and lime juice [$.31].

Total pre-prep lunch = $3.20

Just made this recipe (my first time ever making my own hummus) and it's awesome. Thanks for sharing!

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #156 on: January 22, 2018, 04:29:21 PM »
SO also did some make-ahead lunches to take to school with her.

Chicken in a tomato-curry sauce. She used the last of the leftover chicken breast, plus the leftover onion from sandwich night, plus two 8oz cans of tomato sauce [$.50], plus some curry spices. This got portioned out into individual serving containers

Homemade Naan. Flour [$.20], yeast, water, salt.

Hummus. She used this recipe and it was amazing. Garbanzo beans [$.50], tahini [~$1.43], garlic [$.15], oil [$.11], and lime juice [$.31].

Total pre-prep lunch = $3.20

Just made this recipe (my first time ever making my own hummus) and it's awesome. Thanks for sharing!

Yay! Now, if I can find a good substitute for the tahini...we can make this WAY more often.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #157 on: January 22, 2018, 08:39:34 PM »
Potato night

I boiled the ham bone and we ate the last meat bits, had mashed potatoes on the side, with some lettuce/ranch. The kids also had a couple leftover celery sticks. It was a pretty boring meal, tbh. But now I have a ton of pork broth to make yummy rice and beans and lentils with. Mmmm.

Ham: $1
4.5lb potatoes: $.68
1/3 head lettuce: $.33

Total = $2.00 + ranch. I counted the ham bone and meat pieces as $1, just for the sake of simplicity-- that leaves the rest of the ham (which is now in the freezer) as $1.34/lb.

Hirondelle

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #158 on: January 22, 2018, 11:48:43 PM »
SO also did some make-ahead lunches to take to school with her.

Chicken in a tomato-curry sauce. She used the last of the leftover chicken breast, plus the leftover onion from sandwich night, plus two 8oz cans of tomato sauce [$.50], plus some curry spices. This got portioned out into individual serving containers

Homemade Naan. Flour [$.20], yeast, water, salt.

Hummus. She used this recipe and it was amazing. Garbanzo beans [$.50], tahini [~$1.43], garlic [$.15], oil [$.11], and lime juice [$.31].

Total pre-prep lunch = $3.20

Just made this recipe (my first time ever making my own hummus) and it's awesome. Thanks for sharing!

Yay! Now, if I can find a good substitute for the tahini...we can make this WAY more often.

Why do you want to substitute the tahini? Because of the price? The recipe calls it optional anyways, though I prefer the flavor with tahini. You could possibly just reduce the amount by half?

eliza

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #159 on: January 23, 2018, 05:49:06 AM »
SO also did some make-ahead lunches to take to school with her.

Chicken in a tomato-curry sauce. She used the last of the leftover chicken breast, plus the leftover onion from sandwich night, plus two 8oz cans of tomato sauce [$.50], plus some curry spices. This got portioned out into individual serving containers

Homemade Naan. Flour [$.20], yeast, water, salt.

Hummus. She used this recipe and it was amazing. Garbanzo beans [$.50], tahini [~$1.43], garlic [$.15], oil [$.11], and lime juice [$.31].

Total pre-prep lunch = $3.20

Just made this recipe (my first time ever making my own hummus) and it's awesome. Thanks for sharing!

Yay! Now, if I can find a good substitute for the tahini...we can make this WAY more often.

I'm not much of a hummus fan myself, but I've heard you can sub peanut butter for tahini in the recipe and it comes out quite well.

PMG

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #160 on: January 23, 2018, 05:53:22 AM »
SO also did some make-ahead lunches to take to school with her.

Chicken in a tomato-curry sauce. She used the last of the leftover chicken breast, plus the leftover onion from sandwich night, plus two 8oz cans of tomato sauce [$.50], plus some curry spices. This got portioned out into individual serving containers

Homemade Naan. Flour [$.20], yeast, water, salt.

Hummus. She used this recipe and it was amazing. Garbanzo beans [$.50], tahini [~$1.43], garlic [$.15], oil [$.11], and lime juice [$.31].

Total pre-prep lunch = $3.20

Just made this recipe (my first time ever making my own hummus) and it's awesome. Thanks for sharing!

Yay! Now, if I can find a good substitute for the tahini...we can make this WAY more often.

I'm not much of a hummus fan myself, but I've heard you can sub peanut butter for tahini in the recipe and it comes out quite well.

Oh.. I could see the texture working well with peanut butter but not the flavor!

I think it’s common to sub cheaper oils and use a more of the liquid from the garbanzos. 

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #161 on: January 23, 2018, 06:35:46 AM »
SO also did some make-ahead lunches to take to school with her.

Chicken in a tomato-curry sauce. She used the last of the leftover chicken breast, plus the leftover onion from sandwich night, plus two 8oz cans of tomato sauce [$.50], plus some curry spices. This got portioned out into individual serving containers

Homemade Naan. Flour [$.20], yeast, water, salt.

Hummus. She used this recipe and it was amazing. Garbanzo beans [$.50], tahini [~$1.43], garlic [$.15], oil [$.11], and lime juice [$.31].

Total pre-prep lunch = $3.20

Just made this recipe (my first time ever making my own hummus) and it's awesome. Thanks for sharing!

Yay! Now, if I can find a good substitute for the tahini...we can make this WAY more often.

Why do you want to substitute the tahini? Because of the price? The recipe calls it optional anyways, though I prefer the flavor with tahini. You could possibly just reduce the amount by half?

Yes, just the price. It was $5.74 for a 16oz jar, which was the cheapest I could find. I may be able to find sesame seeds and do a homemade tahini, which would be just as good. I'm going to be keeping my eyes open. Maybe Sprouts will have sesame in their bulk bins...

Mtngrl

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #162 on: January 23, 2018, 01:45:36 PM »
I use peanut butter instead of tahini and we actually like the flavor better.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #163 on: January 23, 2018, 09:46:19 PM »
Rice Night:

I was grasping for ideas, and then.....JAMBALAYA! Well, it wasn't exactly, but it was pretty delish. It turned out a bit too spicy for the kids, but I thought it was perfect.



This is not authentic jambalaya. More like "Hm. I have spicy italian sausage, and rice cooked in ham broth...what spices do I need to make it taste like jambalaya?" It turns out creole seasonings are basically onion/garlic/italian seasoning/paprika. Combine that with the holy trinity of Cajun cooking, and call it good.

Rice: $.69
Onion: $.40
Celery: $.15
Green pepper: $.50
Garlic: $.10
Sausage: $1.79
Tomato: $.13
Tomato sauce: $.25

Rice in the rice cooker with ham broth for liquid. That'll take about 30 min. About 10 minutes before the rice is done, start frying stuff in the skillet.

Sausage, holy trinity, and garlic in the skillet on medium-high, till they were starting to brown up, then added in my spices and stirred them around, then after another minute or so, I added equal amounts of tomato sauce and ham broth. Then mix meat broth/sauce with rice, and boom.

Total cost of dinner = $4.01 I could have made this stretch about twice as far if I had made a double batch of rice and added another can of tomato sauce and some more broth.

PMG

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #164 on: January 24, 2018, 02:16:07 AM »
I use peanut butter instead of tahini and we actually like the flavor better.

Oooh. Do you add other flavors?  Garlic? Herbs?  This is blowing my mind a little.

(Sorry of the hijack OP)

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #165 on: January 24, 2018, 07:36:25 PM »
Pasta night! Orrrr....not. I asked the kids what kind of pasta I should make for dinner, and they clamoured very insistently for pasta AND pancakes. Or at least pancakes. So...change of plans. Pancakes!



I didn't weigh out all the ingredients, but probably about $1.50 for pancake ingredients, a couple bananas ~$.35, some peanut butter/jam/syrup for ~$.25, and veggies for ~$1.00.

Total = ~$3.15

ETA: Forgot to add $1 for some sausage to go with the pancakes. So total of $4.15
« Last Edit: January 31, 2018, 08:47:22 PM by APowers »

freya

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #166 on: January 25, 2018, 07:27:54 AM »
And, thanks for the reminder!  I started this year's grocery budget at a number lower than my average for last year (sorry it's not going to be $200) and I WILL stick to it.  However, I did a big Costco Google Express order this month, and now have just $10 left in the budget.  I've set myself a challenge to get through the rest of the month on that by making use of what I already have, and spending the $10 on eggs & vegetables only.  This just reminded me that I've got chicken meatballs in my freezer - yay!  I mix that up with rice, onion, and whatever other vegetables I have (including dehydrated zucchini and tomatoes from last summer), and cook everything in the rice cooker.  Yummy.  It may not be jambalaya exactly but it's always good.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #167 on: January 25, 2018, 07:30:25 PM »
Beans night.

I cooked a double batch of beans in the remaining ham broth. Did bean burritos for dinner, with some cantaloupe for a side/dessert. Sorry, no pics tonight.

Beans: $.84
Tortillas: ~$.70
Tomatoes: $.25
Green pepper: $.50
Lettuce: ~$.20
Cheese: ~$.25
Sour cream: ~$.10
Cantaloupe: ~$.40

Total cost for dinner = ~$3.24

Bird In Hand

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #168 on: January 26, 2018, 10:05:16 AM »
Our grocery preferences are extravagant; optimizing for health, sustainability, local meat and produce, deliciousness, etc. -- and not for cost -- means that we pay a premium on just about all the food we buy.  We spend $15k+/yr for a family of 5 and have no desire to change that.

But I still think it's totally badass what you're doing, and I find it fascinating/enjoyable to read this thread.  If nothing else, it provides a data point for a possible lower bound we could aspire to if we desired or if a financial emergency forced our hand.  Keep it up!  :)

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #169 on: January 26, 2018, 09:40:45 PM »
It was supposed to be lentils night tonight, but since we skipped pasta night....I gave Kiddo the option to choose between pasta and lentils. Pasta it was.



Pasta: ~$.80
Onion: $.40
Garlic: $.10
Celery: $.20
Peas: $1.00
Ham: $1.34
BBQ sauce: ~$.05

Fried the onions, garlic, and celery together, then added the ham (actually only used about 2/3lb, so I even have some leftover ham). Spiced it with a little extra garlic and paprika, and then served the meat/veg mix with the pasta, with a little BBQ sauce over the top.

Total cost: $3.89

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #170 on: January 27, 2018, 05:20:41 PM »
Groceries!

Went to Sprouts, as I was pretty low on green veggies. They had red peppers on sale 3/$1, so I was pretty excited about that. Unnnnfortunately, they were totally sold out, so I had to get a raincheck.



Tangelos (organic, even!) @ $.88/lb = $5.27
Green peppers @ 2/$1 = $1.00
Cilantro @ 3/$1 = $.67
Roma tomatoes @ $.88/lb = $1.25
Lettuce @ 1.29/ea = $2.58


Total receipt: $10.77
« Last Edit: January 31, 2018, 08:47:00 PM by APowers »

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #171 on: January 27, 2018, 05:42:51 PM »
Tonight was sandwich night. OMNOMNOMNOM. I love sandwiches. They are one of my top three foods of all time. Tonight was roast beef with provolone....and lots of veggies. Sometimes I feel like I just like sandwiches as a vehicle for condiments, lol.

Mine:


Kiddo's:


Girlie's


I was just going to post a photo of mine, but the kids begged me to do pictures of theirs, too. Kiddo had his sandwich in a leftover gluten-free pancake.

Bread: $.99
Meat (roast beef): $2.77
Cheese: $.99
Lettuce: $.52
Tomatoes: $.25
Avocado: $1.00
Green pepper: $.50
Onion: $.40
Pepperoncini: $.10

Total dinner cost: $7.52 plus mayo/mustard/sriracha. I accounted for the whole loaf of bread (we only used 2/3 of it), and the whole pound of beef (we only used half). Kiddo had leftover ham on his sandwich.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2018, 08:46:44 PM by APowers »

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #172 on: January 28, 2018, 09:00:13 PM »
Groceries!

Safeway had a special on Doritos, and they hardly ever go on sale, so they'll make for a extra special dinner component. Also got some cottage cheese, as SO really enjoys it. I was going to pick up some sour cream, but they were out, so I got a raincheck on that.



Chips: 2 bags = $1.98
Cottage cheese (24oz) = $1.50

Total receipt: $3.48

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #173 on: January 28, 2018, 09:22:41 PM »
Leftovers night for dinner. I fried some mashed potatoes into potato pancakes, and served with some lettuce and leftover green pepper and some leftover ham/roast beef.


freya

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #174 on: January 29, 2018, 07:09:39 AM »
I also prepped the ham for future dinners. From a 12lb ham, I got 7lbs of trimmed slices, plus the bone with all the fat and meat bits, which I'm going to cook tomorrow-- we'll eat the meat parts, and then I'll render the rest for broth and lard. I'll use the broth for beans or rice, and the rendered fat I'll put in my grease jar for frying stuff in the skillet.

Love it!  This is how I cook, too.  I always save rendered fats to reuse, and never allow a bone to go to waste.  After you enjoy the ham bone's meat parts, you can give it a final use in split pea or lentil soup.

I made Pasta e Fagioli last night - sounds fancy but it's simply a soup with onion & celery base, canned diced tomatoes, white beans, small pasta, and - most importantly - good homemade chicken stock.  I bet it would taste even better with broth made from a ham bone.  Filling and delicious, and stand on its own for dinner plus I packed up leftovers for lunch.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #175 on: January 29, 2018, 10:53:27 PM »
Potatoes night. I didn't get a picture of anyone's plate, but I did take a before/after snapshot of my oven fries. It took me a while to figure them out, but now they come out pretty amazing every time. We had some pulled pork and salad as our meat and veggies.

Before they go in the oven:


After they come out:


OmNomNom.

Here's how I do oven fries: cut up however many potatoes fit on your sheet pan. I leave the skins on and everything-- I just scrub them under running water before slicing them up. (I cut mine into 1/8ths, lengthwise, so they look like jojos.)

Then I take all the slices and put them in a big mixing bowl and add a slosh of oil and stir them around so they're each coated; then I shake generous amounts of salt, some garlic powder, a bit of pepper, and mix them all around. You can use whatever seasonings you want-- some oregano would probably be yummy, or could do a ginger and a bit of soy sauce for an asian-ish flavour. (This batch of fries I did half with just salt and garlic, and the other half with paprika and pepper). Yes, I have a giant sheet pan. I found it in the thrift store-- I think it must be a real commercial baking sheet. It's amazing, even though I can't fit it in my dishwasher.

Then I dump the slices onto the pan and turn them all so they're skin-side down in a single layer (that way they bake evenly and can get crispy on all sides). Then I sprinkle a little more salt over them on the pan, and my smoked paprika (I found it at Costco. It makes things smell like BBQ Lays, lol-yum.)

I bake at 400F for 45-60 min. They should be nicely toasted and a bit lumpy, like they puffed up a little.

I couldn't get my fries to brown up nicely until I tried the coat-them-with-oil bit. The oil also makes the salt and seasonings stick to the fries instead of just bouncing off and being in the pan.

----------------------------------

Potatoes (4.5lb): $.45
Oil: $.15
Pulled Pork (1lb): $.99
Lettuce: $.40
Tomato: $.22
Green pepper: $.50

Total dinner cost = $2.71 plus ketchup and ranch.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2018, 08:45:57 PM by APowers »

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #176 on: January 30, 2018, 05:55:54 PM »
Chicken and rice for dinner. Carrots and cucumbers on the side.



Rice: $.60
Chicken: $5.06
Cucumber: $.50
Carrots: $.60

Total cost for dinner = $6.76. I roasted four big chicken breasts, we ate 1.5 of them for dinner tonight; the rest of them will be for lunch and future dinners.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2018, 08:45:37 PM by APowers »

Mikila

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #177 on: January 31, 2018, 03:54:56 PM »
I am following this thread with avid interest.  Thank you.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #178 on: January 31, 2018, 05:31:19 PM »
Pasta night tonight. I cooked up four sausage links and made a non-dairy gravy/sauce experiment-- which wasn't perfect, but turned out better than I expected. Salad on the side.



Pasta: $.85
Sausage: $1.02
Lettuce: ~$.32
Tomatoes: $.35

Total cost of dinner = $2.54. I added some leftover green onions as a nice savoury garnish. The gravy/sauce was "throw the leftover mashed potatoes in the blender with some pasta water" and season to taste; I did use some thickener (xanthan gum-- I found an 8oz package at the discount store for $.99), as I added more liquid than I should have. I put in a bit of bouillon and salt, garlic, and pepper. With some tweaking, it might be able to be a passable non-dairy stroganoff sauce...but it was reasonably tasty for an experiment that I expected to be a fail.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2018, 08:45:21 PM by APowers »

eliza

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #179 on: January 31, 2018, 05:50:29 PM »
APowers - I'm really enjoying this thread.  Was this a one month only thing or are you going to be keeping it going?

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #180 on: January 31, 2018, 05:52:09 PM »
As it's the end of the month today.....Here is the moment of truth.

All my food spending, tallied up nicely for you. I made 11 separate grocery trips. 2 of those were combined with other non-grocery errands I was already doing anyway, which puts me at 9 dedicated grocery trips. Given that January is a long month...that's about 2 grocery trips per week. I think I can probably do better at organizing my shopping trips efficiently, maybe get it down to 4-6 dedicated grocery errands in a month.

$45.20 --- Safeway [4 visits]
$24.88 --- King Soopers [2 visits]
$41.21 --- Sprouts [4 visits]
$0.99 --- Discount Store [1 visit]
$12.42 --- Costco [1 visit]
______

$124.7 --- Total Food Spending for January.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2018, 08:35:00 PM by APowers »

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #181 on: January 31, 2018, 07:48:08 PM »
APowers - I'm really enjoying this thread.  Was this a one month only thing or are you going to be keeping it going?

I'm planning to keep it up for a year. A single month, someone might say I faked it. But a whole year? And, as I pointed out in my first posts-- this is not hard. It is just normal grocery spending and cooking for me. All I'm doing different is writing it down and taking a few pictures.

Thanks for coming along for the ride!

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #182 on: January 31, 2018, 08:19:23 PM »
some of your pics go beyond the screen size. By adding "width=800" inside the first img tag, your pic will fit the width of the screen (or similar range of number)

Code: [Select]

[img=800]https://YOURURLHERE.com[/img]




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We like to experiment with our dishes too. And plenty of times they are not winners. Leftover mashed potatoes always make good for potato cakes. throw some cheddar, flour, and egg.. heck, maybe add a little veggie and toss them in panko bread crumbs... nom nom.

eliza

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #183 on: January 31, 2018, 08:33:20 PM »
APowers - I'm really enjoying this thread.  Was this a one month only thing or are you going to be keeping it going?

I'm planning to keep it up for a year. A single month, someone might say I faked it. But a whole year? And, as I pointed out in my first posts-- this is not hard. It is just normal grocery spending and cooking for me. All I'm doing different is writing it down and taking a few pictures.

Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Awesome!  I'm nosy --- so I love seeing how other people shop and eat.  One of the bloggers I follow does a weekly What I Spent, What We Ate post that is fascinating.  Plus I'm trying to pick up some new frugal recipes.  I'm pretty good at keeping my grocery bill low ($48.22 this month!), but I cook the same three or four dishes all the time --- I'm trying to branch out a bit this year.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #184 on: January 31, 2018, 08:39:45 PM »
some of your pics go beyond the screen size. By adding "width=800" inside the first img tag, your pic will fit the width of the screen (or similar range of number)

Code: [Select]

[img=800]https://YOURURLHERE.com[/img]




====

We like to experiment with our dishes too. And plenty of times they are not winners. Leftover mashed potatoes always make good for potato cakes. throw some cheddar, flour, and egg.. heck, maybe add a little veggie and toss them in panko bread crumbs... nom nom.

*Inhales sharply* I KNEW there must be a way to resize the pictures! Thank you so much! I now feel compelled to go back and fix all my posts. This will make my first page of pantry inventory SO much more readable! Thank you!

I wish I could mix dairy in my potatoes...I wish I wish I wish, lol! Kiddo is sensitive to wheat (gluten) and dairy, so it's been trickier to make things as cheese-a-licious as I want them to be sometimes.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2018, 09:03:54 PM by APowers »

Goldielocks

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #185 on: January 31, 2018, 09:20:02 PM »
I enjoy your posts and pictures, for certain!

Our Dinner tonight:  4 adult eater (ok, one is a teenage boy and one is a teenage girl, they balance out):
1 whole roast chicken, with 6 servings, (2 leftover servings for tomorrow, could mix with lentils)
1 lb of roasted carrots (with olive oil and salt)
Brown rice with a can of mushrooms and turkey stock (homemade)

Custard / creme caramel with 3 cups whole milk, vanilla, 5 eggs and sugar (6 large servings. 2 egg whites leftover for breakfast tomorrow)

Dinner cost: $12 for 4 persons (with a bit of leftover chicken eggwhites for tomorrow)
This does not include the fact that pre-dinner/ after school snacks cost about $6.. (mostly the teenage boy feeding)
I will need to bake bread tomorrow...

This puts me at $540/month, just for dinners... with the kids eating cereal for breakfast most days, plus lunch, plus coffee, we are easily at $700/month...before any luxury snack foods (lunches are pretty small, apple plus peanut butter sandwich or ramen noodles and yogurt, applesauce/ bread and butter, etc).
.................................


I am getting tired of the winter veggie routine in my fridge / pantry. Looking for your suggestions for dinner with what I have:

1) Green cabbage
2) Onions
3) Carrots
4) Rutabaga (half of a big one left)
5) Potatoes
6) Celery (DD begged so i splurged on getting one.. $1.97 for a head. ouch)
7) Rice (brown and white)
8) Spaghetti noodles, canned tomatoes, tomatoe sauce, etc.

I also have 1 navel orange and a bag of gala apples, and bananas are always cheap.  (and the home canned peaches, pears, jam, etc).   I occasionally buy a head of lettuce, and an avocado when I can get one for $1 each or less, but none right now.

I have beans/ lentils, and whole frozen chickens, and frozen fish.  Some frozen veggies (spinach and peas, corn), too.  Milk and eggs.   Fancy snack quality cheddar that needs to last through February.  Baking supplies including lard, shortening, margarine, oil and butter (which is $4/lb so used for bread).  I will bake bread tomorrow, maybe start some more yogurt.

Out of Ground beef until it comes on sale. ( I am craving beef).  I think I have used up all the pork roasts (which I bulk bought at $2/lb).. we will be eating beans and pancakes to stretch out the grocery dollar over the next few weeks.. neither of which DH appreciates, you know?.

So suggestions very welcome!

galliver

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #186 on: January 31, 2018, 11:37:38 PM »



I am getting tired of the winter veggie routine in my fridge / pantry. Looking for your suggestions for dinner with what I have:

1) Green cabbage
2) Onions
3) Carrots
4) Rutabaga (half of a big one left)
5) Potatoes
6) Celery (DD begged so i splurged on getting one.. $1.97 for a head. ouch)
7) Rice (brown and white)
8) Spaghetti noodles, canned tomatoes, tomatoe sauce, etc.

I have beans/ lentils, and whole frozen chickens, and frozen fish. 

If you pick up some beets, you can make borscht! Bf loves it (then again he loves beets). Pot of stock (with a couple peppercorns, bay leaf, bunch of dill weed if you have it, optional meat chunks) add chunks of potato. Simmer to cook taters while you sautee julienned or thin sliced beets, cabbage, carrots, onion (add in that order 1-2 min apart), until softened, not quite done. Add sauteed veg to soup, simmer just s few min to finish veg and incorporate flavors.

Kidney beans work great to add protein, adding sour cream (in bowl) is traditional but not my fave, or just serve with some crusty bread!

galliver

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #187 on: January 31, 2018, 11:54:25 PM »


I wish I could mix dairy in my potatoes...I wish I wish I wish, lol! Kiddo is sensitive to wheat (gluten) and dairy, so it's been trickier to make things as cheese-a-licious as I want them to be sometimes.

I hear vegans use nutritional yeast...I think I've had it at restaurants and it was surprisingly good, probably pricy though (but do you need much?)

I experimented with cauliflower Alfredo and cashew cream this week and I'm quite pleased...not cheesy, but if you're ever looking to do a nondairy creamy sauce.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #188 on: February 01, 2018, 05:28:55 AM »



I am getting tired of the winter veggie routine in my fridge / pantry. Looking for your suggestions for dinner with what I have:

1) Green cabbage
2) Onions
3) Carrots
4) Rutabaga (half of a big one left)
5) Potatoes
6) Celery (DD begged so i splurged on getting one.. $1.97 for a head. ouch)
7) Rice (brown and white)
8) Spaghetti noodles, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, etc.

I have beans/ lentils, and whole frozen chickens, and frozen fish. 

If you pick up some beets, you can make borscht! Bf loves it (then again he loves beets). Pot of stock (with a couple peppercorns, bay leaf, bunch of dill weed if you have it, optional meat chunks) add chunks of potato. Simmer to cook taters while you sautee julienned or thin sliced beets, cabbage, carrots, onion (add in that order 1-2 min apart), until softened, not quite done. Add sauteed veg to soup, simmer just s few min to finish veg and incorporate flavors.

Kidney beans work great to add protein, adding sour cream (in bowl) is traditional but not my fave, or just serve with some crusty bread!

I've never actually tried borscht, but I like this idea! The other thing I was thinking was that you could take the cabbage/onions/rutabaga/celery and stir-fry them into something asian-ish with soy sauce and ginger and chili powder. Ideally, you'd have a bit of meat to add that extra umami (I'd think sausage/pork would work nicely, but you could also use some leftover roast chicken); or you could stir-fry just the veggies and use as a side for the fish that you have... and serve with rice on the side.

kaypinkHH

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #189 on: February 01, 2018, 05:38:38 AM »


I wish I could mix dairy in my potatoes...I wish I wish I wish, lol! Kiddo is sensitive to wheat (gluten) and dairy, so it's been trickier to make things as cheese-a-licious as I want them to be sometimes.

I hear vegans use nutritional yeast...I think I've had it at restaurants and it was surprisingly good, probably pricy though (but do you need much?)

I experimented with cauliflower Alfredo and cashew cream this week and I'm quite pleased...not cheesy, but if you're ever looking to do a nondairy creamy sauce.

I second nutritional yeast. It can be expensive, but a little goes a LONG way for adding cheesy flavour. I found some at a bulk food store- fancy pre-packaged organic kind was really pricey, but then over in the spice section they had it in the bulk section, and it was WAY cheaper per unit!

Goldielocks

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #190 on: February 01, 2018, 01:34:03 PM »
Thank-you for the menu suggestions.    I know I have a lot in the cupboard, but sometimes it is hard to think of cabbage again! for dinner. You have inspired me to keep trying.

eliza

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #191 on: February 01, 2018, 01:45:12 PM »


If you pick up some beets, you can make borscht! Bf loves it (then again he loves beets). Pot of stock (with a couple peppercorns, bay leaf, bunch of dill weed if you have it, optional meat chunks) add chunks of potato. Simmer to cook taters while you sautee julienned or thin sliced beets, cabbage, carrots, onion (add in that order 1-2 min apart), until softened, not quite done. Add sauteed veg to soup, simmer just s few min to finish veg and incorporate flavors.

Kidney beans work great to add protein, adding sour cream (in bowl) is traditional but not my fave, or just serve with some crusty bread!

I've never actually tried borscht, but I like this idea! The other thing I was thinking was that you could take the cabbage/onions/rutabaga/celery and stir-fry them into something asian-ish with soy sauce and ginger and chili powder. Ideally, you'd have a bit of meat to add that extra umami (I'd think sausage/pork would work nicely, but you could also use some leftover roast chicken); or you could stir-fry just the veggies and use as a side for the fish that you have... and serve with rice on the side.

Cabbage is on sale for $.49/lb --- so I was trying to think of something interesting to do with it.  I have carrots, celery (getting wilty), and onion on hand as well as a pound of ground elk (that I scored for $1) in the freezer.  And I just got two free bottles of P.F. Chang's Sesame sauce.   Cabbage stir-fry for the win!

I'll probably cook off all the elk - use half in the stir-fry and freeze the other half for future use.  Any suggestions for it?  I've done stroganoff and tacos before with ground elk and both turned out well.  But I wouldn't mind trying something new.
« Last Edit: February 01, 2018, 01:54:02 PM by eliza »

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #192 on: February 01, 2018, 08:11:56 PM »
Beans night! Sorry, but no pics tonight. I did a chips and dip thing: bean dip with corn and rice and olives and tomatoes and lettuce-- tortilla chips to dip.

Beans: $0 (leftover from freezer)
Olives: $.75
Corn: $.25
Lettuce: ~$.30
Tomato: $0 (leftover)
Tortilla chips: $1.17
Sour cream: $.05

Total cost of dinner = $2.52 plus salsa.

haypug16

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #193 on: February 02, 2018, 12:08:52 PM »
PTF - I'm lucking to get my Groceries under $200 for just myself! So I look here for inspiration.

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #194 on: February 02, 2018, 10:50:16 PM »
Had friends over tonight. Made a batch of lentil soup, following my recipe on page 3. I didn't include the ground beef, and used oil instead of sausage grease (friends are vegan). Made fresh bread rolls (regular + gluten-free) to go with it. Sorry, no pictures again today-- I was kind of in a rush between getting the kids home from school and cooking, and the requisite frenzied last-minute cleanup before guests coming over.

Lentil soup: $2.43
Bread: $1.30

There are plenty of leftovers, so they'll be dinner another night-- probably tomorrow, actually. Then sunday, we'll try to finish off all the other leftovers and start fresh on monday.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #195 on: February 03, 2018, 09:52:59 PM »
Sandwiches tonight. Used the half-package of sliced ham from the freezer, plus some leftover roast beef and chicken.

Ham: $2.25
Cheese: $.99
Bread: $.20
Tomatoes: $.25
Green pepper: $.50
Onion: $.40
Pepperoncini: $.15
Lettuce: $.25

Total for dinner = $4.99 plus mayo/mustard/sriracha.

With all the leftovers that we have....we may have to do leftovers for a couple days before picking up the regular routine again. I feel like the fridge is packed full and I have no containers left in the cabinet.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #196 on: February 03, 2018, 10:01:20 PM »
Groceries today:

Went to the discount store, mainly because I knew I would need bread for dinner tonight. Found some other good things while I was there, though.



Bread: $.99
Lime juice: $1.29
Avocados: $1.50

Total receipt = $3.78. Lime juice is regularly $2.48, so it was pretty close to half-price. I like a small squirt in my ice water-- it makes it feel even more luxurious than just ice water, which already feels luxurious to me.

-------------------------------------------

SO went to the library, so I asked her to stop at Safeway on the way home and pick up carrots, as we are almost out and there was a good coupon on the Safeway card.



Total receipt = $2.94

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #197 on: February 03, 2018, 10:27:20 PM »
Nice score on the avocados!

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #198 on: February 03, 2018, 10:35:04 PM »
Nice score on the avocados!

I know! Usually I jump on them when they're 2/$1--- these were $.30/each! I was like "I should get at least a couple...hmmm...maybe three....mmm...better make it five."

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #199 on: February 04, 2018, 12:34:09 PM »
Nice score on the avocados!

I know! Usually I jump on them when they're 2/$1--- these were $.30/each! I was like "I should get at least a couple...hmmm...maybe three....mmm...better make it five."

5 avocados for $1.50!! That's amazing, and makes me want to cry at the same time. Avocados here are 2 for $3.00, going on sale every once in a while for 99 cents each. They are definitely one of my "luxury" foods