Rethinking the Basics

[Leahmom]

Hi Guys
I am now working PT and my old frugal habits (somewhat time consuming) kinda fell by the wayside. I realized (gulp) that my grocery bill spending has been climbing up for the last few weeks. I have been making 0-40 "extra" money over and above the bill I pay with my wages and it has been drippping right out of my hands in the form of non-dairy cheese curls and "extra " lunch treats etc. AACCKK!
So NOW with the Brakes and renewing of habits. I have realized something reading some of these threads and thought it would be worth revisiting (Definately for me)
The Pantry principle. (ala Amy D.Tightwad Gazette)

Buy the CHEAPEST FOOD always.

but and here it is key...compare to other foods. For me. Chicken at 1.49 a lb is a bargain-truly...but a bag of lentil is .50 ...So for me to plan a cheap chicken meal compared to a cheap lentil. Well this week we are eating Lentil Chili- Truly delish and a new one. Lentil burgers with homemade buns and oven potatoes.
and I will save .50 cents on my food budget. Hilarious penny pinching I know but for my situation kinda necessary.

So when we are stocking our pantry I think IMHO that it pays to compare types of food. and always always find good recipes for that bag of lentils or barley or whatever. I know it is not glamourous food, but with a crockpot and a good recipe you can do alot. The leftovers are good and usually improve on standing. A little meat can go a loonngg way in a stew..And
I can add little cheap treats..The 2nd night I serve that barley-beef stew I make an apple pie to go with and fresh homemade bread. (and yes it is a barley beef stew NOT a beef and barley Stew LOL )

The second item is the bugbear of all. Menu Planning.

Again, just in my own opinion.. I think that we all have a tendency to sit down with the sale papers and think gee what would I like to eat this week. Make a menu and then try to find cheap sales to support it. Or make a loss leader menu.....Yet if you are looking at a cheap pantry and you plan your meals AROUND whats already in your Pantry, and You come up with four or five cheapy meals and then fill in one loss leader idea..It works out cheaper.

Again the idea of a pantry is to fill it with the cheapest food possible and then USE IT.

Recipes: How many recipes do we have for beef/chicken and how many for lentils or northern bean/black beans etc..
Egg recipes versus Cheese recipes..
Myself- I have one lamb recipe and 8 for beans
The local internet is a great resource along with a library or old cookbooks at a thrift store. Thrifty cookbooks from the depression era as well.

And lastly - imagination. It is hard to refurbish the same cheap dishes week after week. I use the envelope system and every penny I save out of my grocery budget goes right to savings. That helps .. Also I have the family eat every night with a tablecloth, candlelight and classical music. I feel this is important ESPECIALLY if it is more humble type food. Dinner is an event here...(I play salsa music with mexican night- and use different colored napkins etc) I load the table with good serving dishes and variety in cheap side dishes and set it properly each and every night. We dim the lights and go to it. I keep afterschool snacking to a minimun so everyone has a decent appetite.

I know this might seem the basic of basics and please I hope not to offend, but I myself have veered unseeingly off the track. I know diff families have diff needs and priorities. I just wanted to remention the basics.

Cheap food. Pantry Use, Creativity and imagination...

[redmaples]

Your post is timely for me as I've been working on trimming my food spending to match up with what I have budgeted for food. I have to cut it in half of what I was spending! For me to do that requires that I put the work into planning as you've said to get the pantry stocked. The next step after that is to follow through with cooking from the pantry. I was having so much fun going to the grocery stores 3-4 times a week!!
We are vegetarian & usually have lots of beans & legumes, boca products & pastas.
Yesterday after working outdoors all day I didn't want to cook & then have to clean up. I was very tempted to order out chinese, but thought of all the boxes of .33# pasta in the cupboard. I made a vegetarian goulash w/ boca crumbles. We had that for both dinner & lunch today.
Getting back to basics should be easy, but to get there we have to have a picture of what that looks like & to keep that picture in mind so that we aren't too easily led off track.
Also to help us focus on the goal it is good to have the support & encouragement of other people. that's why I come to the Frugal Village so often!

Do you want to exchang bean/legume recipes? I have a few good ones.
I've been working on a recipe for a rice/nut loaf that is pretty good. I'm trying to get the consistency just right. PM me if you are interested.

[ubumartin]

You really have given me things to try. I love the idea of dimming the lights at dinner. I will try that this week. I think it would have a nice calming effect on the family. I am trying to eat at home more and find meals that are less expensive than we are used to. I also need to do more "from scratch" and stop relying on the easy frozen and prepared foods that I buy.

Thanks for some nice ideas! There are the old pro's out there but there is also people like me who need LOTS of ideas to cut back.

[barbc]

I completely agree. Sometimes when we are thinking of what we will eat we just start something for dinner. I never get my act together to plan a week ahead and usually by dinner time I am just plain tired so we rely on going on auto pilot.

Pasta is cheap and it cooks quickly. We will put on the water to boil while we decide what we are going to make. Something usually comes up.

Tossing the igredients in the bread machine for pizza dough, at least then we start something that otherwise would take a bit of time. The bread machine can make the dough, while we decide what we are going to do with it. It can always be made into bread but more often than not it becomes dinner. Oh and a quick tip for bread machines would be tossing the dry ingredients into an empty quart yogurt container (recycle, reuse) then you can quickly toss you "package" for super quick bread. I like to mark with a label what else would be needed for the batch of bread just to make it even more mindless. These tips would work for those who dont' have a bread machine too, my husband often says he doesn't understand the bread machine, so he will just start making bread the old fashioned way.

We keep tortillas in the house. A tortilla is one thing my son will eat and it is something he can make on his own when he is starving. Anyway having those tortillas and cheese mean if we open a can of beans, toss in a bit of cumin and a bit of onion powder and put that into a bowl, grated cheddar into another bowl, warm tortillas, pull out any leftover rice or bits from the refridge, and we have burritos for dinner. I was amazed the first time I did this, it was really just finding something to eat quick and EVERYONE loved it. I try not do over use it as a meal because it is so easy but I love it as a fall back meal.

Romain Hearts make great instant salads. I put a protein with them like leftover chicken and a bit of veggies (again in bowls for family to choose what they want or not) and my family gets an almost instant meal.

Brown the burger and think of what to do with it. While it browns I think. It might be Chili, it might be spaghetti sauce, it might be sloppy joes, or even Hamburger Helper (or a knockoff of that). Oh yea, when I make Hamburger Helper I add another cup or so of liquid and more macaroni or noodles. There is always plenty of sauce in those so this makes us happier on many levels.

Speaking of Hamburger Helper. We do eat it. When I am busy I think of what quick almost instant meals I can make and if I get HH on sale it fits the bill. We don't eat it weekly, but I am happy to eat it when we do.

I mentioned my son making tortillas with cheese, but we make quasedillas with that and sometimes we add a bit of refried beans (cheap cheap cheap and good!) or leftover chicken pieces. The whole idea is to get a bit in there so the qusedilla stays together as it cooks. The super quick way my son makes them is to put the tortilla on a plate, layer a bit of cheese and then microwave it for a minute. We then take it out and put it on a wooden cutting board so it doesn't get soggy. Cut it into sixths or eights and enjoy. When we are feeding the whole family we might use a grill, or rotate plates as quick as we can in the microwave.

Sometimes I come home midday and toss the ingredients into the crock pot for dinner. One of the easiest is beans with a bit of seasoned sausage and tomatoes with hot peppers. Mmmm and it is good on rice, macoroni, tortillas, or as a stew. Have it one way on one day and another way on a second day. You can do this with dry beans too, just adjust.

Meatballs are great. It could be meatballs in spaghetti sauce, or meatball subs, or even meatball stew (although I seem to be the only one eating that meal). I make meatballs in a large batch and bake them. Then I freeze them on a cookie sheet and put them in a bag to keep in the freezer. We also use the packaged meatballs, sometimes they are great for a flavor change.

I love chicken so sometimes I will either cook it in a skillet with sauce type things (like those tomatoes with chilis and onion) and other times I put it in the oven to bake. Lately my son has really objected to chicken so we haven't had this as much lately. Funny thing he can eat cheddar and tortillas and cherrios and not get tired of them........

Ok, one more idea I love lentils and I think of them as meat. When I was growing up my father wasn't working for a few years and we ate cheaply. One thing my sister learned to make was lentil loaf. It wasn't that budget when I look back it had hunks of cheese and was topped with bacon..... but still it is something I have modified and made for myself. I also love lentils and brown rice with a bit of onion and cooked in a seasoned broth. If I have a bit of bacon I can crumble on top (maybe a tablespoon or two) I do that just to add some salty goodness. To me this is comfort food and it is pretty inexpensive.

Ok, I have run on enough already. I guess Leahmom just hit a nerve with the dinners and no time idea. I often find myself wanting to stray because it is easier. I need to write this to keep me on track as much as anything else.



Barb C

[celina]

menu planning and taking the 5 min earlier in the day to take something out of the freezer are my downfalls....

fast food for us...as in avoiding mcd's or kfc by having easy meals are

frozen sole and fries.....makes itself
instant mashed potatoes and ham steak....again 5 min cooking
pasta (but we over do it so i try to max 1-2 a week)

these things save the budget even if they arent super healthy...well kfc isnt either

[homesteadmamma]

What a great thread with lots of neat ideas. One area that most people can cut back on is the grocery bill. It always amazes me that with a bit of imagination, the different meals I can come up with, with few items.

btw - we love using our oil lamps during our evening meal. It's just so cozy and warm and gives us all a good feeling. Interesting when we have those lamps on, we sit around the dinner table a whole lot longer than when our regular lights are on.

[dmvezina]

Over the summer my grocery bill got higher!! So, I'm working on bringing that down now!

I love to eat by candlelight but dh doesn't. He pays the bills, so I guess I'll let him have his light. But, he gets carried away with lights. I'm following him around either asking him to turn a light off or just doing it behind him!! Frustrating!! LOL

[Leahmom]

Over the summer my grocery bill got higher!! So, I'm working on bringing that down now!

I love to eat by candlelight but dh doesn't. He pays the bills, so I guess I'll let him have his light. But, he gets carried away with lights. I'm following him around either asking him to turn a light off or just doing it behind him!! Frustrating!! LOL

Hi
they sell those fluorescent bulbs here at costco. A little expensive in the beginning but those suckers last for years for pennies.
Leahmom

[MarshHen]

It's amazing how soft candlelight can make even hotdogs and homefries seem special, LOL.

[Leahmom]

It's amazing how soft candlelight can make even hotdogs and homefries seem special, LOL.

golly gee it just make those lentils shimmer...sigh...(clasps hands and looks bowlfully at her DH)

[Hardy1]

Leahmom - thanks for starting this thread. The ideas are great. We do eat lentils and other pulses here but not often enough. I like the idea of the barley and beef stew rather than the other way round. My DH comes home tonight after a trip away and I can now visualise tomorrow's chicken stew
S T R E TC H ED to last a 2nd night. As you suggest, I will set the table nicely and I'll pile loads of veg on his plate as well.
Thanks for the down-to-earth ideas
W

[ImEmile]

Good thread. I've gone back to work this year (against my will) and I'm often tired and don't know what to fix...or know what to fix but too tired to feel like doing it. Here in Kuwait meat and chicken can be high, meat moreso, so I need to really stick to my Lebanese cookbooks for some good meatless recipes. Or use their stuffed recipes more often. DH made stuffed zucchini the other day and you use about 1/2 a pound of meat and then you have the flesh from the zucchini to use for zucchini bread or, like we had for lunch today, mix with onion sauted in olive oil, diced tomotes (optional) and eggs. Yum! And cheap too.
I have a good recipe for mjadra (a Lebanese Lenten dish) that we eat frequently and is very healthy. And the 2 year-old twins love it.

[RaisingMen]

I have a good recipe for mjadra (a Lebanese Lenten dish) that we eat frequently and is very healthy. And the 2 year-old twins love it.

I would love your recipe for mjadra if you wouldn't mind sharing it!

Thank you!

[ImEmile]

Here's the recipe for mjadra.

1 onion, chopped
1/4 c. oil
8 c. water
1 1/2 c. lentils
1/2 c. rice
salt, pepper, and cumin to taste

Saute your onion in oil. Then add water, lentils, rice, salt, pepper, and cumin. Let them simmer for about 40 minutes. You want most of the water to cook off but not all of it. If it does, don't worry, you've just made mdadra instead. LOL

Then you put it in the food processor (I do it in 2 batches since mine won't hold it all) and puree until it's a thick paste. Dip your pita bread (or tortillas, which are cheaper in the States) and enjoy! You can also just eat it with a spoon if you want to watch the carbs. You can also scoop it with white onions and that's really good.

Let me know what you think of it if you try it.

[Katybird]

Wow, this is a great thread and it comes at the perfect time of the year. I am always trying to stretch the dollar around the holidays. Thanks ladies for all the great ideas.