SeekingSimplicity Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Will y'all help me come up with a cheap meal plan for this week? Dh got his first paycheck today. Yay! But it's our first bit of income in over a month and by the time we pay our bills, there's not much left. I have to get some food for this week as cheaply as possible. Have gluten, casein, soy, nut/pnut, shellfish allergies. I have a big bag of rice, but no butter or oil. A couple onions, a bag of black beans. A pack of pork chops in the freezer, they look like they've seen better days. 3 cornbread mixes. Frozen spinach and half a bag of bird's eye california blend veggies. Right now, potatoes are expensive and bad, bad bad bad. None of my hens are laying at the moment, but after recently cracking an egg open and finding a half formed chick inside, I'm not in any hurry to eat eggs right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Did you see the bean thread? Maybe that will give you ideas. For the pork chops, maybe you could crockpot them or braise them then serve over rice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jallison25 Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 a bag of black beans will make a huge pot of food! cook them and add the onions then you can put it over rice and it won't matter if you have rice or not! If the beans are a bit liquidy ;) then it makes no difference if you have butter for the rice or not! we do this all the time and it makes manymany meals for us in a week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 i will certainly do my best to help with ideas.:grouphug: these are in no particular order....just thinking out loud. i've underlined things you would need to buy, but they are very cheap. day 1 - what about chicken broth (or bullion)? it can be used to cook the rice and add flavor it. throw in some onion with it too. you could serve it with pork chops & you could fry them (you would need a small bottle of canola). vegetables or spinach on the side. day 2 - black beans and rice day 3- pinto beans, corn bread, and collards (i'm from the south:)) i hope others give ideas. i'm not sure with all of the allergies what is optional really. pancakes and syrup (eggs optional, lol) is always cheap. i hope you find great ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeekingSimplicity Posted September 2, 2011 Author Share Posted September 2, 2011 Did you see the bean thread? Maybe that will give you ideas. For the pork chops, maybe you could crockpot them or braise them then serve over rice? No I didn't see, I'll go hunt it down and see if I can't get some ideas off it. TY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeekingSimplicity Posted September 2, 2011 Author Share Posted September 2, 2011 a bag of black beans will make a huge pot of food! cook them and add the onions then you can put it over rice and it won't matter if you have rice or not! If the beans are a bit liquidy ;) then it makes no difference if you have butter for the rice or not! we do this all the time and it makes manymany meals for us in a week! That may be what we do for lunch and supper today :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeekingSimplicity Posted September 2, 2011 Author Share Posted September 2, 2011 i will certainly do my best to help with ideas.:grouphug: these are in no particular order....just thinking out loud. i've underlined things you would need to buy, but they are very cheap. day 1 - what about chicken broth (or bullion)? it can be used to cook the rice and add flavor it. throw in some onion with it too. you could serve it with pork chops & you could fry them (you would need a small bottle of canola). vegetables or spinach on the side. day 2 - black beans and rice day 3- pinto beans, corn bread, and collards (i'm from the south:)) i hope others give ideas. i'm not sure with all of the allergies what is optional really. pancakes and syrup (eggs optional, lol) is always cheap. i hope you find great ideas! TY for putting that together. We're from the south too. Greens and cornbread are good eating around here ;) :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: All I can say is shop the sale flyers and become a extreme couponer. I can't BELIEVE the deals some people get with coupons. It will be more challenging with the allergies, no doubt, but it can be done. When you get a little extra money, buy in bulk. I have food storage buckets with gamma seal lids that have kept grains good for years. I knew the prices were going to go up so I just bought several sacks of grains and legumes to prepare. We literally could eat on my grains/legumes alone for many, many months. It's even better to plan to buy in bulk according to sales. Millet is very cheap and very healthy. I think that was my cheapest buy. I bought black turtle beans on sale. I think they were $42 for 25 pounds or organic beans. The will last FOREVER. It won't help for this week but plan ahead. Keep a few dollars aside for sale items and then you'll have money to stock up. And, Monday and Tuesdays usually have tons of markdown meat that hasn't sold over the weekend. Gluten free pasta with meat sauce can go a looooooong way. Rice and beans lentil stew with salad and bread/rolls THere has GOT to be websites for this type of thing. Penny pinchers? Frugal gourmet? I don't know but I'm certain there's got to be something out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 oh, I have another idea! We just went to an Indian market recently. We LOVE Indian food and just wanted to see what they had inside. I could NOT BELIEVE THE PRICES. You can buy lentils (dal), rice, and all kinds of stuff there for WAY below market prices. Can you see if there's one in your area? There's a lot of stuff you may not buy, depending on family tastes. But there are many things you can use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeannpal Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 oh, I have another idea! We just went to an Indian market recently. We LOVE Indian food and just wanted to see what they had inside. I could NOT BELIEVE THE PRICES. You can buy lentils (dal), rice, and all kinds of stuff there for WAY below market prices. Can you see if there's one in your area? There's a lot of stuff you may not buy, depending on family tastes. But there are many things you can use. You can usually get really good prices at Asian food markets too. In our little town, there is a Mexican grocery that has super cheap food too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunD Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 I wanted to link you to Miss Maggie's site, Frugal Abundance. This is the same Miss Maggie who was originally behind the Hillbilly Housewife, if you're familiar with that. Anyway, she has a variety of gluten- and casein-free recipes, and of course is known for being super frugal. Looking over them, she doesn't seem to rely much on your other listed allergens, so I hope it can be helpful to you. Here is her GFCF Cost Cutter Shopping List, to give you some ideas for cheap ingredients and for stocking your pantry later when you have a little money to shop. Here is her GFCF Recipe Index, with lots listed under Beans, Rice, Lentils, and a few breakfast ideas. She has a Dirty Rice recipe with ground beef, which would be a great way to stretch some meat. Something like red beans and rice with a little sausage, over rice, could be a good meat stretcher too. Chili is another good way to make beans into a full meal and it does pair perfectly with cornbread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 a bag of black beans will make a huge pot of food! cook them and add the onions then you can put it over rice and it won't matter if you have rice or not! If the beans are a bit liquidy ;) then it makes no difference if you have butter for the rice or not! we do this all the time and it makes manymany meals for us in a week! Many meals? Your kids must not eat much!:lol: We cook a bag of black beans in the crokpot with salsa and we get a meal out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 You can usually get really good prices at Asian food markets too. In our little town, there is a Mexican grocery that has super cheap food too. Yes! I found fresh roll wrappers at the Asian market that worked out to about $.05 per wrapper, where at the big American grocery story they are $.20 each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starwarsmomma Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 I'd take one pork chop, some rice, and some of the frozen veggies and make a stir fry. Maybe an egg if ya feel brave enough. Another day take the rest of the pork chops, chop up the meat make some soup. Add some more of the veggies, maybe rice (or pasta or beans) as a filler. Serve with cornbread. Another day make the beans and onions, serve with cornbread. If you ahve beans leftover, make bean soup. serve with cornbread as a filler. Do you have oatmeal? (the basic, boring non-flavored kind)??? There is alot you can do with that. Sorry, cant remember if oatmeal is safe for your family's food issues? Apologies if it's not... There is a neat vegetarian chicken fried chicken recipe using oatmeal. I hear its awesome and am going to try it next week... Congrats on the new job! It will get better, I promise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeekingSimplicity Posted September 2, 2011 Author Share Posted September 2, 2011 we had been using this menu http://www.tacanow.org/wp-content/uploads/gfcf/gfcfsf-sample-foodstamp-monthly-menu.pdf because it's cheap, gfcf and soy free, I do a bit of tweaking tho. But, there just wasn't enough this time around, and 2 of hte kids have hit growth spurts and are eating more. Anyhow, heading to the grocery store to see what I can do. Thanks for the ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffeetime Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 One of my family's absolute favorites is "Dirty Rice". Really simple, super cheap. Brown 2 lbs of Italian sausage. Drain off about 3/4 of the juice, add 4-6 cups of cooked rice and briefly saute. Take it off the heat and finish it with a few sprinkles of red pepper flakes. (Adjust according to your tastes- those flakes are pretty spicy so I keep it to a minimum.) My kids and husband all *beg* me to make this. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 we had been using this menu http://www.tacanow.org/wp-content/uploads/gfcf/gfcfsf-sample-foodstamp-monthly-menu.pdf because it's cheap, gfcf and soy free, I do a bit of tweaking tho. But, there just wasn't enough this time around, and 2 of hte kids have hit growth spurts and are eating more. Anyhow, heading to the grocery store to see what I can do. Thanks for the ideas! Thanks for this! What a great menu - just what I needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeekingSimplicity Posted September 2, 2011 Author Share Posted September 2, 2011 I'd take one pork chop, some rice, and some of the frozen veggies and make a stir fry. Maybe an egg if ya feel brave enough. Another day take the rest of the pork chops, chop up the meat make some soup. Add some more of the veggies, maybe rice (or pasta or beans) as a filler. Serve with cornbread. Another day make the beans and onions, serve with cornbread. If you ahve beans leftover, make bean soup. serve with cornbread as a filler. Do you have oatmeal? (the basic, boring non-flavored kind)??? There is alot you can do with that. Sorry, cant remember if oatmeal is safe for your family's food issues? Apologies if it's not... There is a neat vegetarian chicken fried chicken recipe using oatmeal. I hear its awesome and am going to try it next week... Congrats on the new job! It will get better, I promise! Thanks! :) and for the menu suggestions too. I have part of a bag of gf oats, and a little bit grits. Dig some more digging around and found: a can of diced tomatoes, a small can of coconut milk, a can of tomato, okra, corn stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 How about a stir fry with the pork chops, rice, and veggies? You probably wouldn't even need to use all of your pork chops for a stir-fry meal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
domestic_engineer Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Black bean soup can be as simple as beans, onions, and chicken broth ... but obviously can be more more complex with the addition of more ingredients. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 I have found some of the ideas put forth by this woman in her free e-book to be very helpful.... http://www.budget101.com/budget101-free-ebook/free-ebook-groceries-200-month-2547.html However, I noticed that a simple google search turns up tons and tons of "how to feed your family on X per week" or whatever lists..... Allrecipes.com allows you to plug in what you have on hand and see if you can come up with any recipes to match. Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommee & Baba Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 We just made this lastnight. It was DELICIOUS!! I made up some scratch drop biscuits to serve with it. YUMMY! http://onceamonthmom.com/hamburger-soup-recipe/ I agree with watching sales and match up with coupons. We HAVE to cook cheapy/frugally. Here is a breakdown of what can happen if you really plan things. This is for our family of 5. Before Couponing Groceries per Month: $650.00 After Couponing Groceries per Month: $480.00 After Couponing & doing Once a Month Cooking Groceries per Month: $380.00 And the once a month cooking ISN'T casserole filled. It's some GOOD hearty meals. Plus the website has 6 different monthly menus. Ranging from traditional to gluten free to vegetarian and such. It's worth the hours it takes to cook that one day! Check out Once a Month Mom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeekingSimplicity Posted September 3, 2011 Author Share Posted September 3, 2011 We just made this lastnight. It was DELICIOUS!! I made up some scratch drop biscuits to serve with it. YUMMY! http://onceamonthmom.com/hamburger-soup-recipe/ I agree with watching sales and match up with coupons. We HAVE to cook cheapy/frugally. Here is a breakdown of what can happen if you really plan things. This is for our family of 5. Before Couponing Groceries per Month: $650.00 After Couponing Groceries per Month: $480.00 After Couponing & doing Once a Month Cooking Groceries per Month: $380.00 And the once a month cooking ISN'T casserole filled. It's some GOOD hearty meals. Plus the website has 6 different monthly menus. Ranging from traditional to gluten free to vegetarian and such. It's worth the hours it takes to cook that one day! Check out Once a Month Mom. Thanks! I've thought a few times about trying OAMC, but wasn't sure how to do it with our needs. I'll go check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jallison25 Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Many meals? Your kids must not eat much!:lol: We cook a bag of black beans in the crokpot with salsa and we get a meal out of it. well, i guess our kid to bean ratio is a mite smaller than yours :) I have a 5 year old boy, 4 year old girl and the baby, plus hubby and me. It does get us at least 2-3 dinners and several lunches though. We add peppers, onions, and tomatos and it lasts forever for us:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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