Big families/small budgets...talk to me about what we're going to eat this summer...

[HomeOnTheRanch]

My husband is starting a new vocational adventure (long story) and all the cash we'd saved up to live on the next few months during the transition had to be unexpectedly paid to the IRS a few weeks ago. :glare:

 

In a nutshell, I was wondering what types of fruits (no or low sugar) and veggies I can buy at the cash & carry in #10 cans that are most nutritious. We bought a big can of beets there eons ago (because it was cheap) and I hadn't opened it because it was so huge. I opened it this morning and realized that my kids will polish it off in about 2 days. I can handle that.

 

How well would the contents of canned veggies like that freeze? Just wondering. We'll go through about 3 1/2 -4 cans of green beans at a meal, so I'm thinking a big can would be about 2 meals?

 

If you were limited to $100 (or less)/week for groceries until further notice, how would you spend to maximize nutrition for a family of 7 1/2?

 

I walked into the grocery store last week with $50 (that I got by trading some rolled quarters I found in a drawer with ds for some real cash. :D) and walked out with us carrying what ds18mos needed for the week plus a few oranges and apples for the rest of us. I think I may be able to have $100 this week for groceries starting this week.

 

Our nutritional assets:

We eat simply. Breakfast consists of hot cereal like oatmeal, cornmeal, or millet for breakfast with peanut butter. Lunch is pasta, rice, potatoes, beans, and veggies. Supper is usually simply cereal or popcorn and fruit. Breads, crackers, corn tortillas, baked chips, etc. (with jams, salsa, etc.) are usually included as available and appropriate.

 

We have a chest freezer full of bags of grains and dried beans from co-op.

We still have some canned fruits and frozen fruits and veggies in the freezer that will last us for another week or so.

 

Our pantry was very well stocked, although it is dwindling quickly, so we have plenty of canned tomato products (I know, I know, be kind), processed mixes (puddings, cakes, etc.), and plenty of misc. spices, dried onion, dried nonfat milk, etc.

 

We are vegetarian, bordering on vegan until ds18mos turned out to be allergic to most of what we were eating. I do have plenty of gluten flour to make my own gluten/protein/fake meats.

 

We currently have plenty of nuts for the almond milk I make for those of us that can drink it (mostly for cereals).

 

Must buys:

1 gallon/week of organic whole milk for ds18mos who is allergic to almost everything else under the sun. I can get 2 gal/$4 if I happen to be in the big city, otherwise it is $6/gal locally. Does whole milk freeze well?

 

Gluten-free baking supplies for ds12 & ds18mos.

 

Fresh fruits and veggies and/or nutritious, cheaper canned/frozen.

 

Whole-grain "convenience" foods (pasta, cereals, crackers)--regular & gf, while not necessary, are certainly nice to have on hand for unexpected company or busy days.

 

We'll need to replenish our oats and cornmeal soon.

 

Challenges:

My Bosch is busted, so bread making is limited to a loaf at a time in bread machine or Artisan-type no-knead breads. The death of my Bosch also took my food processor. We have a cheapo blender that we're getting by with.

 

My grain grinder (hand-me-down from in-laws) bit the dust a few months ago, so I'm limited in how to use the grains in the freezer. DH suggested making sprouted grain bread, but the instructions online seem so much more labor/time intensive...I'm 18 weeks pregnant and that's not what I want to sign up for right now.

 

We were blessed to receive free apricots and apple culls last summer, so we'll be looking for more (and more) of the same this summer and fall to preserve. We're planting a garden, but our last frost is usually June 1, and first frost is about Sept. 1...not much room in between for doing much. I have spinach and peas coming up, but nothing harvestable for several weeks.

 

My family goes through 2 qts. of home-canned fruit in a meal (supper or breakfast). I've been trying to limit it to one and just going without for myself, but then DH goes and opens another anyway. I'm trying to let him know how serious and dire our circumstances are without stressing him more right now.

 

Are there any good support/advice/how-to websites or boards for eating like this...stressing whole grains/fruits/veggies and not processed mixes?

 

p.s...Even if we were willing to go the route of gov't help, DH makes far too much on paper. That is not an option for us. :)

[stripe]

Do you have a space for a garden? If you can buy a few tomato and bean plants, for example, you would get a lot back.

 

Peas are nutritious.

[Orthodox6]

Random thoughts . . .

 

Do you have enough yard space for gardening ? If not, do you have enough patio space for container gardening ?

 

Is there a food co-op within reasonable distance where you could trade labour for produce ?

 

Is there a local fruit or vegetable farm within a reasonable distance, the owner(s) of which might allow you to "glean" the unsalable (bruised, not-pretty) produce ?

 

If any family members drink milk, is there a "rent-a-cow" (or "rent-a-goat") option nearby? Sometimes families or individuals will band together to purchase an animal for butchering, processing, and divvying-up. Makes sense that there may also be similar avenues for sharing the milk from a cow or goat.

 

Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson is a good cookbook, as are all of hers. It is newly-released; I bought a copy recently. Most of the recipes serve 4-5 people; you would double the ingredients for your family.

 

Supermarket Vegan by Donna Klein is helpful in the sense that the recipes use only items available from "regular" grocery stores. The discount grocery chains (Shop-N-Save, or whatever is in your area) could be good places to shop, in conjunction with this book. (and with Robertson's book, too)

 

Instead of buying "instant oatmeal", take your bulk-purchased rolled oats and buzz them through the blender. Mix with a dry sweetener (if desired), and with a non-dairy "milk" powder (if desired), and there you have inexpensive "instant" oatmeal in bulk quantity.

 

One of our loved staples is polenta (coarse-grind cornmeal). Sometimes I use polenta as the "base" for an oven-baked savory entree. Sometimes I serve it for dinner, topped with fruit or syrup. Easy to prepare in large quantities.

[fairfarmhand]

reuse your leftover veggies for soup instead of trying to freeze them. say, every three days make a soup with veggies. Soup is amazing stuff cause people eat tons of it but it is pretty cheap to make.

 

Can you purchase a gro-light and grow some tomatoes and peppers indoors? That will give you ingredients for all kinds of stuff. salsa, sauces, salads, etc.

 

You can make bread without a bread machine. You will just have to knead it by hand for about 5 minutes.

 

Can you grind your grains in the blender?

 

You can freeze the milk, but leave space at the top for expansion and shake after you thaw to redistribute the cream.

[gandpsmommy]

Do you have an Aldi's near where you live? They wouldn't have the gluten-free products, but you can get canned fruits and veggies, and fresh fruit and veggies very reasonably there. I'm not sure if they have organic milk or not, but it's worth checking, because they are definitely a lot cheaper than most grocery stores.

 

I know you said you wouldn't qualify for government assistance, but if you find yourself really needing help, is there a food bank/pantry anywhere near you that you could visit once in a while?

[HomeOnTheRanch]

Do you have a space for a garden? If you can buy a few tomato and bean plants, for example, you would get a lot back.

 

Peas are nutritious.

 

Thanks. Yes, waaay down at the bottom of my very wordy post I mentioned our gardening challenge (very small season). We'll certainly try this summer, but it mostly turns out to be an expensive (water) hobby!

[HomeOnTheRanch]

Random thoughts . . .

 

Do you have enough yard space for gardening ? If not, do you have enough patio space for container gardening ? See above

 

Is there a food co-op within reasonable distance where you could trade labour for produce ? I really don't think so, but I'll check into it.

 

Is there a local fruit or vegetable farm within a reasonable distance, the owner(s) of which might allow you to "glean" the unsalable (bruised, not-pretty) produce ? We did some of this last year, and I'm planning on asking on Freecycle for culls/canning supplies. Hopefully those with excess will appreciate someone cleaning up the rest!

 

If any family members drink milk, is there a "rent-a-cow" (or "rent-a-goat") option nearby? There is a local rent-a-goat option, but since just one drinks dairy (and is doing fine with the cow milk), we're not sure it would be worth the trip. We'll see.

 

Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson...

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll try to check those out at the library.

 

Instead of buying "instant oatmeal"...

Great tip! My family prefers the regular rolled or steel-cut oats, though, which is plenty cheap in 25-50lbs. bags

[Kimm in WA]

Few ideas that we've used to feed our family of 6 (including 3 teenage boys!) on $400 - $550/mo.

 

Buy whole wheat flour in bulk and keep in freezer. Make WW bread 2 loaves at a time. I can save about $30/mo. by making our own bread vs. buying it at the Oroweat outlet @ $1.69 loaf (family of six @ about 4 loaves/wk.) I make some of these into big, flattened rolls for sandwiches (easier for kiddos to get used to home-baked bread for sandwiches).

 

Don't buy any boxed cereal unless it is $1/box. This has been challenging recently but when it does go on sale stock up! We buy bulk oats. We also have chickens, so eggs and toast is always an option around here. Make ahead an freeze things like whole wheat (or 1/2 and 1/2) waffles from homemade mix (check http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com for great inexpensive ideas).

 

Don't buy prepackaged stuff like chips and crackers. Buy regular popcorn in bulk and pop it in a pan w/ oil. Make snack from scratch (again Hillbilly Housewife has good ideas) like muffins and cookies. Other snacks around here are veggies, home-canned fruit, and toast with PB or jam.

 

Keep a plastic container in your freezer for left over bits of veggies, tomato sauce, spag. sauce, chicken stock, bits of meat. When it's full, you can add water, spices, etc. . . to make a pot of soup and get one meal for "free". It always turns out yummy!

 

Limit the amount of meat in your meals. Find some good, meatless meals. I make my own refried beans from bulk pinto beans and tacos at our house include no hamburger mixed into it. Homemade tortillas are too time-consuming for me (did try it last year, though) so I buy in lg. quantities @ Oroweat outlet. Boys will often make a quesadilla with these and some grated cheese in the micro. for a snack. Other meatless meals at our house: fried rice (w/ veggies only), spanish rice (sometimes add small pieces of chicken), spaghetti, veggie or bean & bacon soup (meat optional b/c of stock made from ham bone of previous meal). Often you can get by with much less meat per meal by making casseroles.

 

I recommend planting some patio pots (or in your garden) of basil. I made pesto last year and a little goes a LOOONG way. Yummy over pasta or with bread wedges. Also, if you can plant some, zucchini has a HIGH yield for low amt. of work. Let your gardening friends know you will take any surplus they have.

 

Try to make as much as you can from scratch. I make my own yogurt and it is SO inexpensive. We will often eat this w/ froz. fruit or homemade granola on top. Snacks that can be made include yogurt pops or smoothies. We can easily go through 2 qts. of yogurt /week.

 

I know this may be hard, but limit fresh fruits. Desperate times. When I'm really trying to cut costs I will buy a box of lettuce (it's really compressed) because it lasts a long time and use that to make salads with tomatoes or cukes (only if the price is right) and buy only bananas (cheap!). Sometimes that will be all the fresh we have, but we have lots of home-canned fruit to eat, and fill in with canned or frozen veggies. I often will use the canned veggie if the meal is big or filling and the salad when I need to beef it up a bit. Remember to put bread on the table at dinner as a filler. My boys will often have a piece w/ butter and jam at the end of the meal, kinda like "dessert".

 

Finally, only buy loss leaders at the grocery store. These are the SUPER DEALS in the ads. You have to know your prices to know if they REALLY are a good deal, so keep a list of best prices. When they go on sale (unless it is produce), stock up at that time.

 

HTH,

Kimm

[junepep]

Soup (Bean, Potato) & Homemade bread (someone else said 5 min knead which is true for white & many other types)

 

Potatoes & Seasoning (Hash, Chopped, Fried, Baked) & Cheese

 

Curries & rice

 

Spaghetti & seasoned sauce

 

Peanut butter & Jam/Jelly sandwiches (filling, delicious, and oh so inexpensive)

 

Doubling up on those 4 in a week should get you through your dinner (it seems as though your main meal is lunch with dinner being a snacking time - if you cooked again for dinner I think that you might find that you would be paying less in groceries rather than letting them have chips et al which are incredibly expensive). Lunch for all of them could be PB & J on homemade bread (which even a 8 yo could prepare w/ your oversight so that you're not stuck making it every day) ;) I know it sucks, but it might make it easier to stay under 100$

 

I understand that you said that you were heading vegan, but cheese is very filling. You might want to consider adding it back in for all of you, not just the DC w/ the allergies.

 

Do you have a membership to any wholesale stores? Do you have a fresh produce grocer nearby (not a chain)? Store that sells recently / about to be expired produce? Dollar store?

 

Heavy on potatoes, rice & noodles will get you to about 75-85$/wk w/ a bump every other week to about $120 on the weeks that you need to buy household items (TP, Ammonia, etc) adv ~100$.

 

If you're purchasing paper towels or diapers you'll have to cut those as well.

 

Frankly, although I understand and completly commiserate with your desire to stick to organic produce and self prepared grains... in then end you have to make compromises. Organic food isn't as important as having wholesome complete meals. Choose your battles - it's all anyone can do. A few months or a year or two without organic produce and your own ground grains would suck, but it won't be forever and I think that you'll find that the pre-grounds are cheaper than what you're getting now, unless you're getting your unground grains from a wholesaler.

 

Edited to add in the ground grains, which I forgot the first time.

Edited May 4, 2010 by junepep

[FaithManor]

As to the expense of watering, if you have city water, it isn't good for the plants anyway. It will be expensive and the chlorine and flouride in the water will upset your soil composition enough to make your harvests paltry.

 

My suggestion is that if you own your home, you check and see if there is still an existing well, if so and the pump is still working, you can use it for watering the garden. There shouldn't be anything in the zoning that prevents you from using it for the lawn. Many people in our area who have city water, still keep their well pumps going for watering plants and washing cars.

 

If not, go to the dump, scavenge the thrift stores and garage sales, etc. and look for a plastic barrel or some five gallon buckets. Put screen over them and a little tea tree oil or just a little vingegar to prevent mosquitos from making a habitat and place them outside to catch rain water. Use this for gardening and if you have any neighbors or area farmers getting rid of wood chips (ask around, you might be surprised) or straw, use that for mulch around the plants or even on the containers. This helps prevent dehydration so that you use less water. If you have friends that live in the vacinity and have a well, you could also ask them to save some of their bath water for you to collect for your plants.

 

As for the grocery shopping, yes organic milk does freeze. Just use plastic containers and leave some room. Liquids expand as they freeze and will burst the container if you fill them to the brim.

 

When I needed to feed our family of six on $75.00 per week, I used nothing but white vinegar, baking soda, and bars of castille soap (usually 79cents each in our area) for cleaning and laundry. I bought one box of washing soda per week and added one bar of shaved castille soap (fels naptha has an odor that makes me headachy), mixed it together, and it was a really basic detergent. It doesn't do super well on stains. I had to soak the clothes I really cared about first. The only canned fruits I bought were pineapple and mandarin oranges. My family just doesn't eat canned.

 

One thing you could do with cherry season coming on, is see if your area has u-pick. This also works for strawberries and blueberries as well. Its cheap and fun for the kids. You'l get a lot more fresh produce for a small amount of buck and you can freeze the berries. For strawberries and blueberries, don't wash them first (its makes their skins more easily damaged by freezing), just knock the dirt off, place on a cookie sheet, put in freezer and when frozen, transfer to plastic baggies. This keeps them much more firm.

 

Cornmeal mush is very easy to make and unbelievably cheap. You can find it online. I served it for breakfast with butter, fresh fruit, or syrup. If I gave it to them for lunch, I would scramble a couple of eggs with just a little cheese and then give everyone a sprinkle on top of their mush.

 

You might be able to save some on produce when the farmer's markets open.

Canvas the neghborhood and find out who has fruit trees that don't know what to do with their harvest. Many older couples will cultivate beautiful fruits and then have more than they no what to do with....ask if they'd take some yard work or something in trade for the fruit.

 

Lettuce does well in container gardens and if you are careful to pick a hearty variety, you should be able to harvest all summer.

 

Eggs have been up to $2.00 a dozen here but the farmers sell their farm fresh eggs (backyard flocks, not commercial enterprises) for $1.00 a dozen because the hens are producing much faster than they can consume. If you eat eggs and get some cheap, you can whip a bunch, poor the egg mixture into ice cube trays, place inside gallon size baggies, and then when frozen, use individually. One cube equals one egg in most recipes.

 

I found that in order to keep them from eating me out of house and home, I had to make sure that they kept their protein levels up. We ate a lot of chilli that was heavy on the beans, tortillas filled with beans, salads topped with beans, etc.

 

Faith

[Melissa in Australia]

you can use clotches to extend the gardening time. Here is a web sight about making cheep ones for starting off seedlings early. http://diyenvironmentalideas.blogspot.com/2010/01/plastic-bottle-clotch.html

 

my husband(Canadian) knows someone in Canada that grows veggies all year round with clotches .

A small greenhouse works well to. just build a wooden or metal frame, and stretch plastic over it. you can get greenhouse plastic, which lasts for 7 years, or you can use clear builders plastic (which is cheaper) that lasts for 3 years. the amount of veggies you can get year round in a greenhouse is amazing.

 

I highly recommend the book " The Complete Book Of Self-Sufficiency" by John Seymour. It is like my Bible on living self-sufficiently.

[bookfiend]

Do you by any chance have a Farmer's Market within resonable distance? There is an unknown section to ours that sells wholesale by the case. It is open to anyone, you just have to buy the whole case (for instance - 40/lbs of bananas = $12.00). We co-op with a few other families and get all of our fresh fruits/veggies for 3 wks at an average cost of $50.00. If this is a possiblity for you, PM me, and I will be glad to call and tell you how it works.

[SonshineLearner]

Hey There,

 

If you still have your Bosch, I'd take it to a Licensed Bosch repair center to see if there's hope...

 

:)

[SonshineLearner]

Oh... and I have the BEST crepes... you make them with oats that are gluten free... if that's a concern...

 

:)

 

Yummy Crepes

14 eggs, 3 cups kefir or runny yogurt... (or, as we do... yogurt with a little added milk

1 tsp sea salt

1 TBS molasses

 

Process Above ingredients in blender till smooth.... Then stir in...

 

1.5 cups arrowroot powder

1.5 cups oat flour. (Get Oat groats from coop, healthfood stores, or some places where they have bulk. Looks like wheat berry.... and you need to "grind" like wheat. Perhaps you know a spot to do this? I hear that you can use a coffee grinder, but I've never tried this.)

 

Stir until lumps are dissolved. If the batter is too runny, add arrowroot pwd in .5 cup increments until the batter is about the texture of heavy cream. Spoon by .25 cupfulls into a well-buttered crepe pan. Cook around 30 secs per side.

 

You can half the recipe... or freeze left overs. I like to fold in quarters... and put a few in each ziplock.. (after cooled)

 

I take them out... thaw a bit... and put in my iron skillet with a bit of butter... and when warmed... spoon in apricot fruit spread... Yum!

 

(BTW my forward slash is broken on my key board... ugh)