While trying to figure out how to stretch my $20 for groceries this week (to keep with my challenge), I found this site and thought I would post. Do you think we can add ideas? Take care and God bless.
I posting a link to these sites on another forum I belong to... those ladies just can't believe our grocery/cleaning/hba budget is $250 a month. Most of them are pretty much doubling or even tripling that for families of 4-6 and they are baffled. Some of them keep bringing up that they don't like rice and beans even though I've told them several times we eat meat all the time and only have a meatless meal once a month, if that (my dh is a meat and potatoes guy, if it was up to me we'd be doing meatless Mondays). Maybe these links will help them see the light.
good post my ideas
-eggs and toast
-pancakes
-canned soup/grilled cheese
-chili/cheese hot-dogs
-meatless spag. and canned corn
-yellow rice and chicken
not sure how much more you could get b/c i don't have exact prices but you'd need to buy:
-bread [$1.04 at walmart]
-eggs [$1.44 at walmart, .99 at aldi's]
-pancake mix
-canned soup [.49 at save-a-lot, .58 at walmart]
-sliced cheese
-canned chili
-hot dog weiners [use the bread for "buns" and sliced cheese for the chili chs hot dogs]
-kool-aid to drink [assuming you had sugar]
-spag noodles [.92 at walmart]
-spag sauce [$2.34 at walmart,prego]
-canned corn [.39 at aldi's]
-bag frozen chicken legs [3.99 at aldi's] OR whole fryer chicken [$2.89 at savealot]
I have all those ingredients in my house right now! My price... probably about the same give or take a little because I buy in bulk and when on sale. I don't buy my bread buy bake it.
I'd add onion or garlic.
I am going to assume that you have some food in the house, and likely a good amount of the things listed. Why don't we start with what you HAVE, and see what can be added to that with your $20. That would make more sense.
I see carrots and I find them to be a wonderful way to stretch stuff out. I shred them in spaghetti and they double the bulkiness of it making it seem meatier. Also, good for stews and carrot and raisin salad.
another way to stretch hamburger is to add some shredded potato to it for things like taco's. It fries up nicely and really adds bulk to the hamburger to make it stretch for a larger family.
I do it all the time and my family don't even notice!
Patty! What a great idea! I just watched a cooking show Friday that stated that potato takes on the flavors around it! I'll have to try this today. I'm trying my hand at home made tortillas.
I don't always have those "common" pantry items on hand that everyone else seems to keep stocked (EVOO, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and cornmeal come to mind), so I usually have to add them to the shopping list. Still, any "low-cost" menu plan is usually a good starting point.
I also tend to make beer bread much more often than yeast breads. I'm also considering making sourdough (because we like the taste, though it's certainly inexpensive, too). I definitely dislike the current prices of store-bought bread--even at the "discount" bread stores, it's expensive!
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