We spend approx $400 - $450 /mth for a family of 4 (kids are 12 & 9).
I walk down the processed foods isles and buy very very little from there. I pretty much home make everything. I also do not buy much meat which saves us A LOT.
If you're not buying much meat and not much processed foods can you give us an example of a menu in your household?
I would like to cook with less meat but man if I leave out meat husband thinks I'm evil.
We spend approx $400 - $450 /mth for a family of 4 (kids are 12 & 9).
I walk down the processed foods isles and buy very very little from there. I pretty much home make everything. I also do not buy much meat which saves us A LOT.
If you're not buying much meat and not much processed foods can you give us an example of a menu in your household?
I would like to cook with less meat but man if I leave out meat husband thinks I'm evil.
Here, weekly example from my household; this week's meal plan (NOTE: only doable with a large chest freezer):
Monday:
Breakfast: Eggs and homemade bread with frozen grapes (yum)
Lunch: Leftover homemade mac and cheese from the previous Saturday (I highly recommend this recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipe/ricardos-macaroni-and-cheese/9501/) with leftover fennel salad (homemade vinaigrette, fennel sliced on the mandolin and on sale last week)
Dinner: Tofu curry on rice (I used Mark Bittman's recipe for curry sauce, bought frozen veggies and tofu at Costco, and froze 5 meals into ziplocks - getting home from work involves setting the rice cooker, heating the curry mix, and adding some coconut milk. Yummy, tasty, cheap, healthy, and quick. I estimate about 5US$ for the dinner, including leftovers)
Tuesday:
Breakfast: Oatmeal with milk and frozen blueberries (my daughter's favorite - oatmeal and frozen berries are bought in bulk at Costco)
Lunch: leftover curry
Dinner: Chicken burgers (patties from Costco bought frozen at 15$/16 patties; we keep burger patties and buns in the freezer for quick weeknight meals)
Wednesday:
Breakfast: Eggs, toast, banana
Lunch: The last of the leftover curry
Dinner: Chicken thighs (bought on sale and frozen; 6$ = meals plus leftovers plus broth for soup) with leftover potatoes from the weekend (chopped and roasted) and peas (frozen: just pour boiling water over htem and add salt and a bit of butter; my kid LOVES them)
Thursday:
Breakfast: Probably the oatmeal again
Lunch: Leftover chicken
Dinner: Lasagna (I make like 20 at a time and freeze them, so they're handy to tuck into the oven. I last calculated the cost of the meal at 5$, but no leftovers, so I'll bake 2)
Friday:
Breakfast: blueberry buttermilk pancakes from scratch (aka: I have the day at home with my daughter so we're gonna go all out on breakfast)
Lunch: leftovers, or egg and veggie sandwiches with homemade bread if we don't have any
Dinner: Shepherd's pie from the freezer (I make them 20 at a time and freeze them; cost per meal is 2$ without leftovers so I'll usually bake 2 so we have lunches. Also, I make them so that they're 1/4 corn, 1/4 beef, and 1/2 veggie, so they're healthier and cheaper and you don't have to come up with a side vegetable).
Saturday:
Breakfast: I dunno. Possibly waffles? We got a waffle iron for Christmas, and the raised yeast waffles from the Smitten Kitchen blog are effing AMAZING
Lunch: soup: broth from the chicken earlier in the week, plus whatever veggies - fresh or frozen - are around/on sale, a good chunk of parmesan rind that you'd otherwise throw out, some beans, maybe some noodles or potatoes, a can of tomatoes, some salt/pepper/oragano... Into the slow cooker before breakfast and lunch is AMAZING by 1. With some fresh bread, baked that morning. (Note: this gives enough soup for like 4 lunches; we freeze the extra in portion-sized ziplocks for easy grab-and-get-out-the-door work lunches)
Dinner: We're going to my parents place
Snacks are mostly fruit (bananas, apples, or frozen, at this time of year). We don't drink juice or soda, but we do drink coffee and tea. Occasionally, I'll buy a really fruity tisane (so: no caffeine - raspberry/hybiscus is a favorite) and make iced tea out of that, and everyone likes the treat. Add a decent amount of $ for milk (our toddler will go through 2-3 gallons per week...), and there you have it. Granted, this is a relatively cheap week, but seriously: looking at that menu, I'm having a really hard time feeling deprived.
So, there you have it. Decent amounts of veggies, decently healthy.
Edited to add: all costs are in CAD, which are equal to about 0.7USD, because our dollar sucks right now. In the end, we're at about 350-400$/month in USD for two people and a toddler (who doesn't each THAT much but adds a whole bunch of fruit and milk to our budget).
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