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6 weeks, only bread and milk

4K views 35 replies 16 participants last post by  mpbabes 
#1 ·
I have tried and tried to do the pantry challenges and eat what is here. I have tried to have a grocery budget, but with a baby who is adding baby food to the tune of at least $30 a month (those stinking jars are about 83 cents each and she usually eats 2 jars a day), I can't seem to do it.

I just hit up Harris Teeter for their super triple coupon deal. I have plenty of food. My goal is not to spend more than a total of $120 for the next 6 weeks (average of $20 a week). That is not counting baby formula. I will start yesterday (Sept 19) and go to Oct 24th.

I plan on only buying milk and bread. I have canned fruit and frozen fruit. I know fresh may be better, but we are looking to pay off at least one bill if not two. We are quickly eating through our savings and food is one of the last places I have left to cut.
 
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#2 ·
I will be rooting for you! You can do it. There is so much you can do with all in your pantry foods and fruit , delicious meals, desserts and baby food. I can't wait to see how you do it and what you make. Good job and challenge.
 
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#4 ·
Have you thought about making your own baby food? I had a little baby food grinder (non-electric) that I just ground up any fruit or vegetable (before salting) for my babies. I also pureed foods and froze them in ice cube trays. One or two cubes of each type worked for a meal. For baby cereal, I cooked brown rice, millet, oats and then pureed in the blender and froze in cubes.
 
#33 ·
I was about to say the exact same thing. Put food in a blender and switch on the Puree feature...so much cheaper than the "convenience" jars at the supermarket. You will pay BIG Bucks for those "convenience" jars.

What did women do before "Gerber" became a household name? They fed their children the same food they eat except they pureed it or cut it up real small.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Amen to daylily. I only bought baby food when I had to travel with a baby. That way I didn't have to worry so much about refridgeration. Otherwise, they ate what we ate just blended up more. Babies R Us and some other places have the little grinders that you can easily grind things up with. Or you can use a blender. Either way, that will save you tons.
 
#7 ·
thought about making baby food, but don't have a grinder. I will have to check out Babies R Us. Thanks everyone
 
#9 ·
Or food processor.
 
#10 ·
Menu for week one:

Yesterday-leftovers
today-hamburger helper with leftover sides
Wed-chicken fried rice, grapes
Thurs- chicken pot pie, grapes
Fri-hamburgers, fries, peaches
Sat-tacos
Sun-BBQ chicken, corn on cob, green beans, mac n cheese
 
#12 ·
We used a stick blender for our homemade baby food. And, I would definately suggest doing the homemade. We saved a ton of money by making our own. I also feel like the guys got a much more varied diet because we made our own.

Also, look into baby led weaning as another option. A friend did that with her babies. It worked out well for her.
 
#13 ·
Bake your own bread. Much cheaper. And much better bread, too. If you decide to try that, buy yeast in bulk and not in the little jars. Here, the little jar costs about $8 and I think it's four ounces. I bought in bulk for $5/pound, or 1/4 the cost. It's better yeast, too.

Look at everything on your menus and figure out if you can make it from scratch cheaper than buying it already made. Convenience foods are very often money-wasters and also often second-rate foods.

Good luck. It can be tough to stick to your guns and power through to reach a goal, but if you're determined enough, you'll get there.
 
#14 ·
When desperate times call for desperate situations I ask myself what our great-great grandparents did. They didn't have blenders, food processors, or baby grinders. Really look at your current items in the house and figure out what you would do in case of an emergency for your baby.

Just a thought, it seems so easy nowadays for people to run out and buy at product that they forget what's already available around them with a little creativity.
 
#15 ·
When desperate times call for desperate situations I ask myself what our great-great grandparents did. They didn't have blenders, food processors, or baby grinders.
This is what really got me started on doing my own baby food. I do remember helping my mom grind up food in a baby FOOD grinder (sorry, the image that came to mind with the term baby grinder is funny and unpleasant at the same time :) ) but we thought about what people did before Gerber and Beechnut came on the scene. I mean did people really only feed one type of food to a child for a week to 10 days to see if they would like it but only if it was prepared separately and perfectly pureed, or did they just feed them foods that were already prepared for the family that could be easily mashed regardless of content?

(If you do have a history of food allergies, do the week to 10 day thing. It is a good safety precaution because food allergies are on the rise.)
 
#16 ·
Babies were not started on solid foods as early then. Mothers just mashed the food and the baby was better able to eat it by that time.

I don't think babies of a few weeks old are meant to be given solid food. You'll notice that their reflex is to push it out. That's because the tongue needs to be in that position to nurse and a different position to eat solid food. After a few months they learn to eat and that's when they need to be given solids. This is assuming the baby is breastfed and getting the proper nutrients.

My 3rd was born with a rash on her face and the Ped. suggested that I not start her on solid food until she was about 6 months old to try and avoid allergies. He said no egg until a year old. That's what I did.

Just my 2 cents :)
 
#17 ·
-no problem here, didn't start solids until around 5 1/2 months and she is 8 months now

-I have bought the small packs of yeast to give it a try first. I bought them about a month ago, have a bread maker, but am just scared to give it a try. Guess now is as good a time as any to try it.

-We went ahead and bought some items to make meals of the hamburger and chicken we have. We spent less that $10 and got two marinades (I know, should have made my own, but I have none of those ingredients either), chili spices mix (once again, home made better, but last time I tried homemade no one in the family liked it), stuffing for casserole, and buns.
 
#18 ·
I did some shopping. We had to go on a family reunion picnic this weekend so I bought picnic supplies. While out I tried to get items to finish meals and fill holes that would help me get through the month.

stuffing (for chicken casseroles) 1.67
2 chili seasonings (chili beans) 2.78
2 marinades 1.78
hamburger buns 1.29
vinegar 1.54
kool aid (about 20 packs) 3.98
lettuce (cheaper than bag salad) 1.19
milk 3.39
2 sugar 5.90
applesauce 1.29(healthy snack)
pudding 1.25 (picnic)
micro meals 3.57 (shouldn't have gotten it!)
canned peaches 1.67 (healthy snack)
raisins 2.69 (healthy snack)
baby food 1.00
4 cream of chicken soup (casseroles) 4.36
hot dog buns 1.29
pretzles 2.19 (picnic)
chips 3.00 (picnic)

Total: 46.71 with tax
My goal is to only spend $100 during this 6 weeks, so I am about half way and have 4 of the 6 weeks left, but we have lots of food to choose from. We are looking slim on meats, so I am making casseroles and adding rice, noodles, stuffing, beans, etc. to stretch it!
 
#19 ·
Week of Oct 2 to Oct 12 meals

2-BBQ chicken (cut up 2 breasts to make it look like more), corn on cob, lima beans, fries
3- chili beans, crackers, fruit
4-chicken and stuffing, butter beans, broccoli and cheese
5-chicken, noodles, peas, carrots, and cream sauce
6-tacos, corn, spicy rice
7-sausage, pancakes, fruit
8-spaghetti, salad, toast (leftover buns)
9-chicken and rice, canned corn
10-hamburger helper, squash and onions
11-microwave meals, frozen meals (use up the odds and ends)
12-pizza
 
#20 ·
Learn to make your own white sauce and eliminate cream soups for casseroles. Any cookbook will tell you how. I use a basic white sauce as the beginning point for many dishes and find the flavor much nicer than the canned soups.

I also agree with making your own baby food. I would cook up different veggies, puree and freeze in icecube trays. When frozen pop out and store in plastic bags. I always put as many cubes as needed into a Corel tea cup and warmed in the microwave. I like the tea cup for feeding as the handle is so convenient and the size appropriate for most baby foods. I used canned fruits but rinsed off the syrup before pureeing. In fact I prefer canned fruits due to so many problems with recalls on fresh. When you make your own baby food you quickly learn how much water you're buying in those tiny containers.
 
#23 ·
Learn to make your own white sauce and eliminate cream soups for casseroles. Any cookbook will tell you how. I use a basic white sauce as the beginning point for many dishes and find the flavor much nicer than the canned soups.

I never even thought of doing that. I know that I have tried some things from scratch (I grew up thinking if you used a cake mix from a box and added your own eggs and oil it was home made!). The taco mix was a flop! I will have to try the cream soup! I hate that I am making a casserole to save money, stretch the meat farther, etc. and the most expensive ingredient is the soup!
 
#21 · (Edited)
~Do you have a potato ricer? An 8 month old shouldn't be on purees anymore. A ricer will give some texture. Transition as quickly as possible to fully textured foods!
Just about anything that you eat, if diced small or slightly mashed, an 8 month old can handle.
Just go easy on the salt when you cook. Everyone else can season at the table.~
 
#22 ·
~Do you have a potato ricer? An 8 month old shouldn't be on purees anymore. A ricer will give some texture. Transition as quickly as possible to fully textured foods!
I did something different with my 3rd baby and gave her "real" food right from the start. She has never had a jar of baby food. I gave her regular oatmeal too. I saved a ton of money!
Just about anything that you eat, if diced small or slightly mashed, an 8 month old can handle.
Just go easy on the salt when you cook. Everyone else can season at the table.~
We still have a few jars of baby food left, but we have almost totally transitioned to "table food". I just have to monitor my behavior. The first day I tried I realized I was giving her a lot of bread and other starches. We shared a banana today and it was quite nice!
 
#24 ·
Well, I have nearly 4 weeks left in this challenge. I am realizing how much leftovers we were wasting! I think we were doing much better than the average family, but I have grown to get excited when we can stretch a meal to last one more time. We had about 2 spoonfuls of soup left the other day and I saved it! Add a few crackers, and it was a great snack!

We are cutting back in other areas as well. I ran out of the "cool" preschool soap my ds likes using so I made him use some of the baby's soap. It all cleans!

The weather turned cool real fast, but we avoided turning the heat on yet. Last year I never let it get below 69. Last night it was 67 and everyone had an extra blanket!
 
#27 ·
Thanks to the advice here, my almost 9 month old has whole-heartedly embraced "table food". I guess serving her jars of baby food made it feel like she wasn't growing up so fast! She still has a few jars of items such as diced carrots, but is eating basically what the rest of us do (she has a milk allergy, so very little dairy).

We went back to the store today. I did menus and we have meat or main dishes to last for another 7-10 days. I figured I would look for some cheap chicken especially. The other store has it cheaper, so I didn't buy any today, but did get some marked down meats.

produce store:
2 apples, 3 oranges, 1 tomato and CANDY!! $4.75 (candy for DS for helping with babysitting!)

grocery store:
mark down chicken drums 3.19
mark down stew beef 10.16 (4 meals!)
ham 11.17
shredded cheese (3) 4.93 (BOGO and we are out!)
slice cheese (3) 4.47 (BOBO and we are almost out!)

I only have $14.68 left. I expect to only need 2 milk ($7) chicken breast ($5), and bread ($2) hopefully. That would be my $14!
 
#28 ·
Tonight's supper was chili beans- pintos cooked in bulk in the crock pot from dried beans, home canned tomatoes, beef and a seasoning packet. We also had some of my home made bread sticks that were essentially free since I had all the ingredients laying around!!!
 
#30 ·
My goal was bread and milk only, but you know, life happens. I ran out of potatoes, which could help make 4 more meals, so I get them. We run out of cheese, which goes on casseroles, salads, sandwiches, crackers, etc. so I get some. I decided to not spend more than $100 over the 6 week period. I spent $50 by Oct. 1. That meant I had $50 for Oct. Well, I went over a few dollars and will probably need another gallon of milk.
 
#31 ·
On 10-8 I went to Harris Teeter to get some of the B1G1 chicken breast since we were totally out. I ended up buying a few more items.

5 pastas (B2G3 and a $1 coupon) 2.34
milk 2.97
chicken breast 4.99
 
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