20 Meals for 2 for $100

[hengal]

Hi everyone! Can you help me with this please? Our meals usually revolve around chicken and beef. DH does NOT eat BEANS - just an fyi . I would really appreciate it if you could throw some suggestions my way. I am trying to see how much I could reduce the grocery bill for the two of us (processed and junk food is out the door). I should have done this a long time ago, but I am now in a position that I really need to save more $$. I know some of you could probably make twice or three times as many meals for that amount of money - please don't laugh - I'm just learning ( I know, pathetic isn't it? )



Thank you so much for your help - it is greatly appreciated.

[grandma12703]

Make homemade whole wheat pasta and spaghetti sauce. Cheap and good. Add a variety of things to change it up. Beef or turkey meatballs, mushrooms, peppers, pepperoni, use sausage in the meat sauce. Lots of stuff.

For a different variety make your pasta and pour in a bowl and add 1 egg and some mozzarella cheese, salt and pepper and mix it up. Make your sauce and then take a baking dish and cover the bottom with a little sauce, add pasta (which will stick together due to the eggs and cheese) top with remainder of sauce. Top with parmesan or mozzarella and bake. Spaghetti pie

Chili! You can make homemade chili (turkey meat to make healthier) cheap and then freeze and use in all kinds of dishes.

Taco salad
Fried potatoes covered in chili
open faced hamburgers covered with chili
chili mac

(we use a lot of turkey/chicken burger)
sloppy joes
taco burgers
(all on homemade bread)

pancakes with sausage
sausage gravy over biscuits

I also make a meat roll up and cut into slices like cinnamon rolls and cover with gravy (brown or white)

Get creative. Some of your best ideas will happen now.

[AngieM2]

taters and or rice

use them as a base

Then whatever meat with whatever veggies available
stir fy with seasonings of choice, and change them up.

put the stir fry over either the taters or rice. Preferrable rice.

Or stews over taters.

Get some biscuits and eggs in there also for breakfast. Grits, oatmeal.

Make some meatloaf, stretch with dry breadcrumbs and left over veggies.
Use in sandwich the next day.

Just a few ideas off the top of my head, no beans in it.

[MO_cows]

So, $5 per meal. Do you have eggs, garden produce, stuff you don't have to buy at the store?

Frittata - eggs with whatever bits and bobs of veggies, meat and cheese you have around. Save and use your leftovers this way.

Pancake sandwich - over easy egg between two pancakes. With portion control, you can have sausage or bacon on the side and still stay under the $5. We like this for dinner as well as breakfast.

Pasta n meat balls - Make the meatballs small, then there are more of them and your eyes tell you there is a lot of meat, even though there's not.

Stir fry - use up what you have. You don't have to buy special vegetables for a stir fry. Slice the meat thin and you can get by with far less than if you cooked it as a whole piece and served it that way. About half as much has been my experience. Again, the eyes lie, and it's a good thing.

Soups - use your bones to make stock. Use your stock to make soup.

Spend some time on the tightwad thread. Some great ideas and tips are shared there.

One more suggestion - simply don't go to the store as often. Every trip you will end up with something you didn't really need. So eliminate trips and you will save.

[hmsteader71]

My dh won't eat chicken or turkey, or any shredded meat so I am limited also. I do a lot of casseroles. But it is me, dh, 18-year-old son & 16-year-old step-son. We use a lot of deer & pork.
Cheeseburger & fry casserole
Sausage spaghetti casserole
Hashbrown casserole
Shepherd's pie
Homemade beef pot pie
Tortillini alfredo
Spaghetti, garlic bread & salad
Spaghetti & meatballs
Meatball subs
Royal round steak (easy & delicious)
Homemade bar-b-cue meatballs, scalloped potatoes
Tacos with homemade tortilla shells
Broccoli cheese soup with homemade bread bowls
Lasagna rolls or lasagna
Potato bars(Amish recipe)
Pensey(Amish recipe)
Grilled cheese, tator tots, peas
Chili with cornbread
Ham and beans and cornbread
Fried potatoes, onions & kielbasa and cornbread
Fish (will he eat it?), baked beans and onion patties
If you want any of these recipes just let me know. Also, there are more ideas if you want them.

[Kris in MI]

Originally Posted by MO_cows

One more suggestion - simply don't go to the store as often. Every trip you will end up with something you didn't really need. So eliminate trips and you will save.

This works. For a few years I shopped once a month (other than fresh milk once a week) for my family of 5 at the time: 2 adults, 2 teens and 1 pre-teen who became a teen during this time period. Not being in the store very often sure saved us a lot money because the opportunity to make impulse purchases just wasn't there. In fact, my monthly grocery budget (for 5) was $400 from about 2007-2010. Now, that didn't include much meat because we hunted/raised alot of it ourselves, but it did include all toiletries, pet food, paper products, etc.

So, I think MO_cows has an excellent suggestion for helping you stick with your 20 meals for $100 goal by not going to the store very often. Here's what I suggest: Set your menu, write your shopping list. Go to the store and buy just those items. Go home. Stick to your menu and do not go to the store again until you've eaten those 20 meals (unless, of course, you are out of milk. . . but only buy milk!)

[Jan in CO]

Some good sounding dishes on here! I'm limited because my Mom can't have a lot of carbs, so I have to fix something that gives dh the meat he craves and some carbs, too, but gives Mom enough food. Plus her teeth aren't the greatest so she can't chew a lot of the meats like venison unless it is juicy and cut small. I end up slipping a couple hot dogs in for her as she likes those.

I would add coupons, check to see if there is a dent or salvage store in your area and again, don't shop frequently! Eggs are reasonable, so you can do dishes with those.

[amandaleigh]

Something that always helped me in keeping on budget was calculating out the cost of each serving of a meal - and it was a great motivator to see how low I could actually get the price. Some of the less expensive meals that I have made are:
-baked hams (I buy a few on sale at Christmas and Easter for between $0.50 and $0.99 per pound). We eat one or two meals of ham with sides and use the rest for ham and cheese omelets, hash-browns with ham, potato soup with ham, or sliced super thin for ham sandwiches.
-Turkey (I usually get a few on sale at Thanksgiving) - Again, I do one traditional meal and use the rest to make turkey and stuffing casserole, turkey tetrazini over rice, turkey vegetable soup, and hot turkey sandwiches.
-Pasta - I like a baked pasta and veggie Alfredo with just a little bit of chicken for protein. I've also found the price on bulk sausage to be a lot lower than the price for ground beef, so I usually make pasta with sausage instead of meatballs or meat sauce
-Potato soup - filling and inexpensive
-stews - can turn the stew into a pot pie or shepherd pie to mix it up
- stuffed vegetables - I make the filling with either rice or dry bread and just a little meat for flavor.

[Yvonne's hubby]

I get by pretty cheaply by shopping for loss leaders, especially meat, and stocking up while its cheap. Yesterday I bought 15 pounds of new york strip steak... 2.99 per lb. That will provide meat for at least 30 meals for my Yvonne and I for 45 bucks. I buy chicken the same way when it is on sale. A couple weeks ago I was able to stock up on boneless skinless breasts for 85 cents lb. Leg quarters are often on sale for 45 cents lb. Pork tenderloins come home with me when they drop below 2.00 lb. Rice and or beans for filler are cheap, and of course lots of veggies this time of year. Pasta is also a cheap filler, tonights supper is couple dollars worth of hamburger, an onion, couple jars of home canned maters, with a bit of garlic, basil and oregano thats been in the crockpot simmering since about 9 this morning. This and a couple dollars worth of spaghetti will feed four of us (Yvonne's parents are with us for a while) two meals! Sure wish I could find a good deal on cheese but nobody ever seems to put it on sale.

[hmsteader71]

I wanted to share a Facebook page with you and anyone else who is on Facebook who might want to look at it. I started it a while back and it's called "Frugal Recipe Box". It's where we all post cheap meals and recipes.https://www.facebook.com/groups/377923012273341/

Here's a link to a blog where she posts recipes for "4 Weeks to Fill Your Freezer". I just printed the recipes for pizza pockets, freezer-friendly brown bag burritos & homemade ham and cheese pockets.
http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/05/4-...les-day-3.html

[tinknal]

A buck will buy about as much eggs and taters that a man can eat in one sitting. Bacon may be expensive, but turn the bacon grease into gravy and pour over biscuits and you have a meal. Make pancakes and bacon for breakfast and make enough extra that you can have pancake and peanut butter sammies for lunch. Roast a chicken and when done eating make stock with the bones. Animal fat is good, and contrary to popular belief it's good for you, never waste it.

[Taylor R.]

Meal planning is one way I'm able to make our budget work. I plan to use leftovers and use the 'fresh stuff' before they've gone bad. Save every little edible bit.

Soups, stir frys, and salads are great ways to use every little bit. You don't necessarily have to use a recipe. Just use what you have and add complimentary seasonings.

Pay attention to portion size, as well, as you don't have left overs to use the next night if hubs eats all the meat left (ask me how I know that might happen).

Cooking and baking from scratch saves us a TON. I can make oodles of stuff with just the staple foods that are in my pantry and fridge all the time.

Finally, don't be worried about cooking something that your family doesn't adore. It's tough, especially when you're taking the time to cook from scratch, when whatever you made doesn't go over very well. If he's on board with saving the money, he'll eat it or not and be okay with it. My husband was PICKY before we started our healthier, more frugal diet, but now he rolls with it and knows that the nights when dinner is way more amazing than the processed junk make up for the stinky nights.

[backtocolo]

stuffed bell peppers
put stir fry over quinoa- it stays with you longer.
mix oatmeal with quinoa

I make crustless quiche ( i don't like the crust). You can put any meats or veggies you want in it. It reheats well for leftovers.

Will your dh eat lentils?

My dd and I LOVE samosas.

Quesidillas with sauteed veggies, a bit of meat, a smear of refried beans and a bit of cheese.

In the summer don't forget the benefits of pasta salad or grain salad to go with grilled meat (cook with planned leftovers in mind)

Dh loves brunswick stew and chili. I can them in pint jars that he just grabs and takes to work for lunch.

Have you all tried polenta? braised meat and veggies over "grilled" polenta is very good and you can cook enough at once for a couple of meals.

[Wolfy-hound]

If you make soup, either serve it over rice, or add rice or barley to it to make it more hearty.
Quiche is way awesome and if you use leftover ham bits, leftover bacon(like there is such a thing??) or even leftover meatloaf, meatballs or hamburger as the meat, you're only really paying for the eggs. Make your own pie crust, it only takes a minute to make it and costs pennies.
Potatoes are your friend. "Bangers and mash" or sausage with mashed taters is a quick and cheap meal. You can add in peas or carrots, or even boil carrots and mash them into the taters.
Definitely plan ahead, have your list, don't run by the store unless you need fresh produce/milk.
Drink a lot of water, or make iced tea at home, no sodas or bottled/canned drinks if you can avoid it. Don't stop for a coffee and/or donut on the way to work... make your coffee at home.

Make your own biscuits, bread, etc when you can. Don't let bread intimidate you. If *I* can manage to make edible bread, I have every confidence you'll be steller at it.

[Hears The Water]

I didn't read all the other posts, so if someone else mentioned this before me, sorry. One of the ways I make my budget really stretch is to buy whole chickens. We use 4 per month. I bake them on the same day, two at a time in big pans. Then I cool them down to strip all the meat off the bones. Then I put all the bones, wing tips, skin, and all the pan drippings in a big pot, add water to cover and let it simmer for a full day. then I strain it putting the left over bones on a tray to put in the fridge, and the broth in the fridge as well after it has cooled. The next day I skim the fat off the top of the soup pot, and then start it simmering again. While that is going on, I pick off the last little bit of meat off the bones, to add back to the soup. I put in carrots, celery, garlic and onions in the pot to cook until tender. At the very end I add kale, torn into small pieces and then turn the heat off. But you could add rice or noodles if you wanted. The chickens make at least four or five meals each, more if you eat only small amounts of meat at a time. The soup makes at least ten servings. So if you figure four pound birds, and five meals off each bird plus the ten servings of soup that works out to be about 54 cents a meal for the chickens. That is a great price for the protein. Not to mention that the bone broth is very healthful and super yummy.HTH
God bless you and yours
Deb

[hengal]

Thank you so much everyone! Great ideas! We have chickens so we always have plenty of eggs - quiche will have to become a standard. I definitely make way too many trips to the store - usually after work on my way home. I need to take some time and do some menu planning and stick with it. DH and I just came to the decision (agreement) that I will be going to part time at my job beginning January 1st. (SO excited about this) There is the chance that it could be tight $$ on us at times, so I'm looking for ways to cut and save $$ any way I can and I know, (guess I've always known) I spend/waste too much in the grocery budget.

Thank you so much for your help.


Thank you very much!!!!

[Belfrybat]

Hmsteader71 -- what is Pensey? I looked it up and all that came up was Penzey's Spices.

[Oldcountryboy]

Save all your leftovers and be creative with them. Leftover vegetables and meat can go in your pot of stew. Leftover fried or baked chicken can be turned into a pot of Chicken and noodles, rice, or dumplins. If he likes bean & cheese burritos, you can make a pot of pinto beans and then smash them up to make bean & cheese burritos. Make a big pot of chili one night and the next night you can have the bean & cheese buritos with leftover chili poured over it. Pot roast one night and use the leftovers for beef tip & noodles the next day.

Also, to spread that meat futher, make a lot of stir fry. It doesn't take much meat for stir fry.

Make your own bread. If your not much of a baker you can skillet fry your bread. You can make your own flour or corn tortillas too. To make quick skillet bread just combine one cup self rising flour, one egg, 1/4 tsp. salt, and enough water to make an almost pancake batter like mixture. Using a large serving spoon, scoop out one spoonful at a time onto a oiled flat griddle as if your making pancakes and you will end up with what looks like a very thick pancake. But it's not sweetened so therefor it's just plain bread.

Save pork chop bones, beef rib bones, etc, to make a soup stock and add spaghetti or wide egg noodles and other flavorings and have soup once in a while.

Breakfast foods taste great for supper. Theres times we eat homemade pancakes and sausage, biscuits and gravy, or breakfast burritos for supper. All much cheaper to make then the usual supper.

[Marilyn]

I agree with the earlier post that mentioned preparing beans even if your husband doesn't like them yet. If you simmer a pot of navy beans with a nice meaty hambone and an onion, I cannot imagine him not being just a bit curious about whatever it might be that smells so wonderful!

If you try beans just occasionally at first, he might surprise you.

Congratulations on being able to go to parttime hours. You'll have so much time to put all of these frugal ideas into practice.

[myheaven]

Get this book make a mix cookery http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ref=mw_hm
And the more make a mix cookery! Everything from scratch. Healthy cheap and super simple!