Grocery advice needed from you helpful ladies!

[tigo]

Congrats on the apartment! I am so happy for you! I read your other threads and want to send tons of hugs your way for taking this step! I have been there done that and know you will be so happy you did this (your kids will too- trust me on this). WIC is awesome help. Will you qualify for food stamps later? At this point with your grocery budget I can relate to starting up household from scratch. I used baking soda and vinegar for my cleaning for years since it is cheapest. The Salvation Army/Goodwill is where I bought most our sheets/towels/dishes etc.
In a crock pot you can make - soup, bbq chicken breast, potatoes with keilbasa or ham (the cans that you get at the dollar tree) beans and weiners (kids fave)
In a microwave you can make rice, pasta (ramen dressed up with egg- like egg drop soup), baked potatoes, casseroles (potato with meat, cheese or other veggie)
In the electric skillet you can do quesidillas, burgers (which you can use to make burgers, tacos, beef and gravy etc), fried rice, dirty rice (using breakfast sausage to make a rice dish), spanish rice (rice w/leftover spaghetti sauce)

[MC]

I'm so glad you got your own place! It's not pitiful--it's a cozy home filled with love! Not to mention a good dose of peace of mind!!

This recipe makes 8 servings--enough for lots of leftovers lol! It calls for beef brisket, but i usually sub a plain ol' roast 'cause they are way cheaper!

French Dip Sandwiches

3-pound fresh beef brisket
1 package dry onion soup mix
1 can condensed beef broth(I just use the bouillon cubes w/water)
8 sandwich buns

Place beef in slow cooker. Mix soup mix and broth, pour over beef. Cover and cook on low 10 hours. Skim fat. Remove beef and cut into thin slices. Place beef on buns and serve with broth for dipping.

~Moroccan Chicken~
8 chicken drumsticks, skin removed(I've used cheap-o leg quarters, too)
1 can(8-oz) pineapple chunks in juice, undrained
1 large onion, chopped(or use a bit of onion powder)
2 cloves garlic, chopped(or powder)
2 TBS lemon juice
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 TBS cornstarch
1 TBS cold water
1/4 cup sliced olives(reg, green ones)

Place chicken in slow cooker. Mix pineapple, onion, garlic, lemon juice, salt, red pepper, pour over chicken. Cook on low 4-5 hours until chicken is done. Remove chicken, place in serving dish. Skim fat from sauce. Mix cornstarch and water, stir into sauce. Cover and cook on high about 15 minutes until thickened. Stir in olives. Pour sauce over chicken.

[YankeeMom]

I will definitely ditto the WIC suggestion. There was a very tough year about 12 yrs ago when my late husband, myself, and our 2yr old lived almost exclusively on WIC food. I bought a LARGE pkg of hamburger, a 3lb box of macaroni, ramen, and the occassional bag of apples every two weeks. In some places, they give out WIC fresh fruits & veggies vouchers to use at local Farmer's Markets. Those are a godsend!

Keep an eye out at thrift stores. That is where I got my rice cooker for $2 and my food processor for $5. Sheets, towels, dishes can all be found there extremely cheap as well. Look around for an Urban Mission type place to get things like soap, shampoo, hygeine stuff, for free.

Good luck!

[jamie79]

Check out yard sales. You can pick up rice cookers, crock pots, bread makers etc there not to mention other things you might need