Help me come up with cheap meals

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't be discouraged. $50 per week for you and your 5 yo son is not going to be impossible as the prior pp suggested. It can be done. I've done it.

1st - I suggest shopping at Aldi where your $50 will get you ALOT of food.

2nd - I would suggest purchasing and electric skillet. My mom and I were homeless when I was growing up and we had our stuff in a storage facility. We used to go to the storage facility each day to plug up our electric skillet and cook meals. On the special days (maybe once per month) we fried up and steak in the skillet and it was yummy!

We had one of these which cost about $20:
http://www.amazon.com/Presto-06620-11-Inch-Electric-Skillet/dp/B0000BYD65/ref=sr_1_10?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1374500785&sr=1-10&keywords=electric+skillet

3rd - If you have access to a backyard or open space you can cook as though you are camping, with real pots/pans over a can of sterno. My mom and I used to go to a public park and set up the sterno and cook up some delicious meals.

Here's a link to the sterno:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterno-Gel-Fuel/14913075

You will probably want to also get the portable folding stove. You can put the can of sterno inside and then set your pans on top to cook your food:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterno-Portable-Folding-Stove/20434298

4th - Look for websites or blogs that are dedicated to making cheap meals. Here's a good blog for you to check out: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2010/10/21/20-favorite-dirt-cheap-meals/

When all else fails refer back to # 1. Aldi needs to be your best friend. You can get tons of good quality food within your budget from Aldi. I'm not sure where you live but I go to the one in Alexandria, VA down Richmond Hwy (Rte.1 ). I usually spend about $50 per week on average for myself and my 3 year old.

Also, if you are ever in a bind don't feel bad about going to a food bank or even a local church they will be able to give you food to supplement your needs which will help you to stretch your budget even more.

Right now it sounds like you are in an adjustment period. The goods news is that with creative solutions you CAN make it work.

My mom and I lived homeless in her car for at least 7 years from when I was about 6 years old to when I was 13 years old and the electric skillet and sterno w/ portable stove that I outlined above were lifesavers for us in terms of still being able to cook our own healthy meals and not having to eat fast food everyday.

)9:42 again - while Aldi is a good suggestion if they are close by and most are not close in. For example, I live in Alexandria but Alexandria Aldi is about 40 minutes from my house. I have limited time and the waste of gas and time to go there negates any savings. It is possible to shop in the standard area grocery stores for food on $50. Shoppers is cheap but Giant, Safeway and HT have tons of loss leaders each week.

The most important thing to remember is that most people way over estimate how much food they need and eat vs. how much sits in the cabinets and gets thrown out. How I got down to a budget of $50 was actually measuring out portions at a few meals and buying only foods that my child and I really like and will eat.

[Anonymous]

my kids love these. some cheese (can just be sliced or cut up or shredded) added to some canned beans (which you can microwave first or not use if you just want cheese). put beans and cheese in between 2 tortillas and microwave for 40 seconds or so. cut up into squares. ingredients are pretty cheap and can be found on sale. they keep in the fridge too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mom w/ one kid age 8.

The crock pot is a waste. Makes too much and who wants the same thing 5 days in a row for lunch/dinner.

We spend btw $50 - $60 on groceries. About half is spent at Whole Foods on basics. We do minimal amounts of processed food. I buy more fruits than veggies and stick to in season and on sale as much as possible.

I try and coupon but its time consuming so every few months I might score a good deal on something boxed or canned and stock up.

She doesn't have an oven or stove. She basically NEEDS a Crock Pot if she's going to have anything hot that isn't microwaved. And if she's trying to keep her grocery bill at $50/week for two people, leftovers are going to be pretty necessary.

You can use the crockpot to make the basic meat and then add a twist.
For example: toss chicken, onions, and seasonings in the crockpot to cook. Then on one day toss that chicken into a soft shell tortilla with rice, beans, baby spinach, cheese, and salsa.
On another day that same chicken can easily be shredded, mixed with BBQ sauce, put on a bun and served with fruit salad.
On the last day you can toss the last few chunks of chicken right back in the crockpot for a little while with a bit of curry, coconut milk, and California mix veggies for a quick curry served over leftover rice.
If you serve the chicken every other day your menu is varied.
You could do meatless on the other days (veggie soup, veggie spaghetti, etc...). Or you could toss another meat like ground turkey in that crockpot with seasonings and have on alternating days sloppy joes, microwaved baked potato topped with ground, meat, cheese, and baby spinach, and turkey chili with beans and veggies.
Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Also, OP, if you do get the slow cooker you can check out good cookbooks for it at the library.

[Anonymous]

Safeway and Giant often sell their (very tasty) whole rotisserie chickens for $5 each. You could make several nice meals out of one:

1st day--serve the chicken hot with a side of instant mashed potatoes made in the microwave. You can get a box of Betty Crocker Potato Buds for just a few bucks. Or a side of canned corn instead, if you prefer.

2nd day--serve it cold in a salad or with sliced fresh veggies on the side (carrots, tomatoes, or cucumbers)

3rd day--make sandwiches or wraps with the chicken and some cheese and salsa. Cheese and salsa can be used in some of the other recipes suggested by PPs, so they don't tax your budget as much to buy a big container and use over a few weeks.

For dessert, apples (buy the big bag, if you are living in a basement apt. it should be cool enough for them to last awhile) or plain yogurt (sold in large container) with some honey. Not expensive and stretches over many days and has a lot of protein and calcium.

I think it is TOTALLY feasible for you to feed yourself and your child on the $50/week budget and with your limited cooking facilities. You can do it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mom w/ one kid age 8.

The crock pot is a waste. Makes too much and who wants the same thing 5 days in a row for lunch/dinner.

We spend btw $50 - $60 on groceries. About half is spent at Whole Foods on basics. We do minimal amounts of processed food. I buy more fruits than veggies and stick to in season and on sale as much as possible.

I try and coupon but its time consuming so every few months I might score a good deal on something boxed or canned and stock up.

She doesn't have an oven or stove. She basically NEEDS a Crock Pot if she's going to have anything hot that isn't microwaved. And if she's trying to keep her grocery bill at $50/week for two people, leftovers are going to be pretty necessary.

You can use the crockpot to make the basic meat and then add a twist.
For example: toss chicken, onions, and seasonings in the crockpot to cook. Then on one day toss that chicken into a soft shell tortilla with rice, beans, baby spinach, cheese, and salsa.
On another day that same chicken can easily be shredded, mixed with BBQ sauce, put on a bun and served with fruit salad.
On the last day you can toss the last few chunks of chicken right back in the crockpot for a little while with a bit of curry, coconut milk, and California mix veggies for a quick curry served over leftover rice.
If you serve the chicken every other day your menu is varied.
You could do meatless on the other days (veggie soup, veggie spaghetti, etc...). Or you could toss another meat like ground turkey in that crockpot with seasonings and have on alternating days sloppy joes, microwaved baked potato topped with ground, meat, cheese, and baby spinach, and turkey chili with beans and veggies.
Good luck!

That is exactly what I did when I was in my early 20's and single. I cooked chicken all day in the crockpot on sunday and then divided it up for other meals. Crockpots don't have to be huge to work. I think my first one was just a 2qt pot that could make 4-5 chicken breasts at a time. It worked beautifully for my purpose.

[Anonymous]

Once you get a slow cooker or another way to cook meat. Harris teeter always has boneless skinless chicken breasts for 1.99 a pound at the meat counter. That an rice is often a staple in my house.

Also do you have friends with a kitchen? I'd ask to see if you can use it to cook once a week or so. Just cook a bunch of meat at once and then season and microwave what you need though out the week.

[Anonymous]

10:04 here. I just realized that I erroneously assumed that you have a son when you very well could have a daughther. Sorry about that!

Also, I see that you've gotten some pretty good suggestions from pp's about the appliances that you could use in lieu of a kitchen. I've pulled together a list based on all of the appliances recommended so far. You may not need to get everything as some may be redundant or some may be single use but having the list in front of you should help you narrow down based on your needs which appliances to choose.

No Kitchen! No Problem! Appliance List:
-Microwave
-Blender
-Food Processor
-Crock Pot
-Electric Range
-Electric Skillet
-Electric Griddle (with removable grill plate)
-Rice Cooker
-Toaster Oven
-George Foreman Grill
-Sterno with portable folding stove
- Nuwave (Just thought of this one. My coworker has one and she swears by it)

[Anonymous]

Here's a link to the NuWave:

http://www.amazon.com/NuWave-Oven-Digital-Black-Extender/dp/B003IBJY32/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1374503713&sr=8-2&keywords=nuwave

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mom w/ one kid age 8.

The crock pot is a waste. Makes too much and who wants the same thing 5 days in a row for lunch/dinner.

We spend btw $50 - $60 on groceries. About half is spent at Whole Foods on basics. We do minimal amounts of processed food. I buy more fruits than veggies and stick to in season and on sale as much as possible.

I try and coupon but its time consuming so every few months I might score a good deal on something boxed or canned and stock up.

Our breakfast are smoothies or fruit and yogurt currently

snacks are always fruit, fresh veggies(cauliflour, celerey, etc), or greek yogurt with some sort of berries or honey.

If I dont buy a crockpot and use it what other cost effective options do I have to make lunch and dinners.

[Anonymous]

Google Stephanie o'dea 365 crockpot for healthy and good slow cooker ideas. You should get a small capacity cooker as the extra space in a huge one will mess up some recipes. Her site is great for how to use a slow cooker to eat every day

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you are able to spend a little, getting a Foreman grill from a goodwill store might be a good option. During a period when we didn't have a kitchen, I used ours to grill veggies and make grilled cheese and other grilled sandwiches. You could also get a used griddle from a goodwill store for easy, cheap things like pancakes, french toast, eggs, etc. You can cook potatoes in the microwave, steam some broccoli in the micro, and shred some cheese, and that's a meal.

awesome Ill check there today..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mom w/ one kid age 8.

The crock pot is a waste. Makes too much and who wants the same thing 5 days in a row for lunch/dinner.

We spend btw $50 - $60 on groceries. About half is spent at Whole Foods on basics. We do minimal amounts of processed food. I buy more fruits than veggies and stick to in season and on sale as much as possible.

I try and coupon but its time consuming so every few months I might score a good deal on something boxed or canned and stock up.

She doesn't have an oven or stove. She basically NEEDS a Crock Pot if she's going to have anything hot that isn't microwaved. And if she's trying to keep her grocery bill at $50/week for two people, leftovers are going to be pretty necessary.

+1!!

And nobody normal can live off mostly fruit. I stay away from much fruit other than bananas because it's too expensive. We eat lots of rice and beans. That is by far THE CHEAPEST thing someone can eat other than cereal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you are able to spend a little, getting a Foreman grill from a goodwill store might be a good option. During a period when we didn't have a kitchen, I used ours to grill veggies and make grilled cheese and other grilled sandwiches. You could also get a used griddle from a goodwill store for easy, cheap things like pancakes, french toast, eggs, etc. You can cook potatoes in the microwave, steam some broccoli in the micro, and shred some cheese, and that's a meal.

awesome Ill check there today..

This is a GREAT idea! I didn't even think of it!

What about a waffle griddle too?

[Anonymous]

http://www.dchunger.org/pdf/getfood_dc.pdf
See if any of this applies to you. It will help, do it for your kid.