Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Well this thread took off. Thanks for the responses.

I started shopping at Aldi and although I'm not a fan I was surprised how much cheaper it is compared to other options we use (Safeway, Harris Teeter, etc). I'll still use the others for some things they carry that Aldi does not, but I hope shopping there and making more of our lunches at home to bring into work will help to rein in our spending.

What don’t you like about aldi?!

Limited selection, weird check-out process (no bagging, just throwing your stuff in a cart which you then have to sort at a separate counter), not a great area.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Well this thread took off. Thanks for the responses.

I started shopping at Aldi and although I'm not a fan I was surprised how much cheaper it is compared to other options we use (Safeway, Harris Teeter, etc). I'll still use the others for some things they carry that Aldi does not, but I hope shopping there and making more of our lunches at home to bring into work will help to rein in our spending.

What don’t you like about aldi?!

Anonymous wrote:We spend way too much on food but I have no idea how to get the costs down. Here is the cost for our dinner last night which ended up costing $22. We are a family of 3:

Organic chicken breast, 1 pound, used all of it and no leftovers: $7
Organic broccoli and bag of shredded carrots: $6
Box of special rice: $4
Bread crumbs and butter based on the amount used for meal: $2
Beverage (juice): $3

Total: $22 for eating at home, no leftovers

Juice (or any flavored beverage) is not a requirement at dinner. You can cut that out and reduce costs by ~12% right there.

OP here. Well this thread took off. Thanks for the responses.

I started shopping at Aldi and although I'm not a fan I was surprised how much cheaper it is compared to other options we use (Safeway, Harris Teeter, etc). I'll still use the others for some things they carry that Aldi does not, but I hope shopping there and making more of our lunches at home to bring into work will help to rein in our spending.

Anonymous wrote:
Well, not halve it - still dinner and lunches. But you cld decrease it.

Well cut those in half, too!!!

I switched from juice boxes to bottled juices and saved a ton. (Yes I know water is even cheaper -- but my kids need to gain weight!)

Anonymous wrote:PP again. budget bytes is a good source for recipes for home cooked meals that aren't too expensive (but also aren't "open a can of soup". Here's a recipe for a complete meal for four for $9.43 That includes the cost of spices used, but if you have to go out and buy a jar of each spice it would be a lot more. (The spices are normal pantry spices that someone who cooks at home should have -- garlic powder, paprika, cayenne etc.)

https://www.budgetbytes.com/smoky-chicken-and-cinnamon-roasted-sweet-potato-meal-prep

If you could bring the cost of meals cooked down from $22 a dinner to $10-$12 a dinner, on a routine basis, you could halve your grocery costs.

Well, not halve it - still dinner and lunches. But you cld decrease it.

PP again. budget bytes is a good source for recipes for home cooked meals that aren't too expensive (but also aren't "open a can of soup". Here's a recipe for a complete meal for four for $9.43 That includes the cost of spices used, but if you have to go out and buy a jar of each spice it would be a lot more. (The spices are normal pantry spices that someone who cooks at home should have -- garlic powder, paprika, cayenne etc.)

https://www.budgetbytes.com/smoky-chicken-and-cinnamon-roasted-sweet-potato-meal-prep

If you could bring the cost of meals cooked down from $22 a dinner to $10-$12 a dinner, on a routine basis, you could halve your grocery costs.

Anonymous wrote:We spend way too much on food but I have no idea how to get the costs down. Here is the cost for our dinner last night which ended up costing $22. We are a family of 3:

Organic chicken breast, 1 pound, used all of it and no leftovers: $7
Organic broccoli and bag of shredded carrots: $6
Box of special rice: $4
Bread crumbs and butter based on the amount used for meal: $2
Beverage (juice): $3

Total: $22 for eating at home, no leftovers

Well, I am assuming you prioritize organic, so assuming you want to keep that there are still a few ways you could reduce this cost considerably.

#1) Meal plan and buy in bulk. Locate a source of cheaper organic chicken. EG on sale or at Costco etc. Repackage at home in 1 pound quantities and freeze. I don't shop at Costco but I see online that organic chicken breast there can be $4.99/pound. Aldis has it cheaper than $7 per pound too.

#2) substitute other chicken meat (thighs, etc) -- my family only eats chicken breast though so this won't work for everyone.

#3) use regular rice instead of fancy boxed rice. MUCH MUCH cheaper. 2 C of rice is maybe 50 cents?

#4) buy regular carrots instead of a bag of shredded carrots and spend 2 minutes grating with a grater. Carrots can be as low as $1 per pound.

#5) I don't know how expensive organic broccoli is, but I have a rule never to spend more than $1.99 a pound for fresh produce. If broccoli is more than that, keep looking until you find a leafy green vegetable or cruciferous vegetable that is less than $1.99 a pound. Or buy something frozen.

#6) buy the breadcrumbs and butter when on sale and freeze or store safely to cut that price in half.

Your meal is breaded chicken breasts, rice, and two vegetables. You should be able to make that for $12.

Anonymous wrote:We spend way too much on food but I have no idea how to get the costs down. Here is the cost for our dinner last night which ended up costing $22. We are a family of 3:

Organic chicken breast, 1 pound, used all of it and no leftovers: $7
Organic broccoli and bag of shredded carrots: $6
Box of special rice: $4
Bread crumbs and butter based on the amount used for meal: $2
Beverage (juice): $3

Total: $22 for eating at home, no leftovers

Buy rice from the bulk bin. Make your own bread crumbs-I do this with bread that's going stale. We drink only water.

Too much. Around $500 a week, costco, whole foods, sometimes trader joe’s. family of 5, 3 kids.

Anonymous wrote:We spend way too much on food but I have no idea how to get the costs down. Here is the cost for our dinner last night which ended up costing $22. We are a family of 3:

Organic chicken breast, 1 pound, used all of it and no leftovers: $7
Organic broccoli and bag of shredded carrots: $6
Box of special rice: $4
Bread crumbs and butter based on the amount used for meal: $2
Beverage (juice): $3

Total: $22 for eating at home, no leftovers

We don’t drink juice and don’t buy organic. Your ability to cut costs way down are limited with organic.

We spend way too much on food but I have no idea how to get the costs down. Here is the cost for our dinner last night which ended up costing $22. We are a family of 3:

Organic chicken breast, 1 pound, used all of it and no leftovers: $7
Organic broccoli and bag of shredded carrots: $6
Box of special rice: $4
Bread crumbs and butter based on the amount used for meal: $2
Beverage (juice): $3

Total: $22 for eating at home, no leftovers

Anonymous wrote:I’m the recipe poster. I’m NOT the same one that mentioned breakfast. My kids are heavily into sports, including some that have 2 hours of practice before 6:30 am! Our breakfasts on those days are something like an egg sandwich. Good Bread with $1 off at Aldi, 2-3 eggs, cheese, butter on bread (one side). It will then be supplemented with something else if still hungry: fruit, piece of cheese, yogurt, etc. on non sports days, it is a variety of diff things depending on the preference: oatmeal, cereal (generic), milk, yogurt and fruit, etc.

A few more dinners from the last two nights and then tonight’s dinner - all abt $5 give or take a little :

- pasta (large) shells filled with cheese -frozen from aldi in the front freezers where they have sales - $.99 bag. 2 bags were used.
- two jars of spaghetti sauce ($.99 jar)
- steamed broccoli

—-
1/2 pkg of ground beef from aldi ($2 sticker discount on it - from freezer), used to create taco meat. It was a 3.4 pound package originally
Then I added it to two Taco Bell brand taco kits that were $.99 each at aldi. I added some lettuce, shredded cheese and sour cream (.99 for whole tub but we used just a little)
Cauliflower (broccoli and cauliflower were on sale this week so that’s what everyone will get this week)

—-
Tonight’s dinner is remaining half of beef package with onions and a marinade to make seasoned beef, head of lettuce for lettuce wraps.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m the recipe poster. I’m NOT the same one that mentioned breakfast. My kids are heavily into sports, including some that have 2 hours of practice before 6:30 am! Our breakfasts on those days are something like an egg sandwich. Good Bread with $1 off at Aldi, 2-3 eggs, cheese, butter on bread (one side). It will then be supplemented with something else if still hungry: fruit, piece of cheese, yogurt, etc. on non sports days, it is a variety of diff things depending on the preference: oatmeal, cereal (generic), milk, yogurt and fruit, etc.

My son is an athlete and he needs 3500 calories a day to gain weight properly. But he is more active than just his sports practices.

. But your son isn’t more active by 6 am on non sport days. He eats the same right after a huge workout as he does without the workout? This is talking about breakfast. Sure, my kids are active with activities most days but they definitely eat more and are hungrier on training days. Your child eats as much as when it isn’t a full training day?

There is no such thing as a "non training" day. If he does not have organized sports he still will do 3-5 hours of sports with friends just for fun. His brother, otoh, is a fortnight kid, so he eats 2 meals a day when not in sports or growth spurts (both boy > 6ft) ... He hates breakfast.

My kids still eat more on training days. Training is nonstop and far more rrigorous than playing around for fun.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m the recipe poster. I’m NOT the same one that mentioned breakfast. My kids are heavily into sports, including some that have 2 hours of practice before 6:30 am! Our breakfasts on those days are something like an egg sandwich. Good Bread with $1 off at Aldi, 2-3 eggs, cheese, butter on bread (one side). It will then be supplemented with something else if still hungry: fruit, piece of cheese, yogurt, etc. on non sports days, it is a variety of diff things depending on the preference: oatmeal, cereal (generic), milk, yogurt and fruit, etc.

My son is an athlete and he needs 3500 calories a day to gain weight properly. But he is more active than just his sports practices.

. But your son isn’t more active by 6 am on non sport days. He eats the same right after a huge workout as he does without the workout? This is talking about breakfast. Sure, my kids are active with activities most days but they definitely eat more and are hungrier on training days. Your child eats as much as when it isn’t a full training day?

There is no such thing as a "non training" day. If he does not have organized sports he still will do 3-5 hours of sports with friends just for fun. His brother, otoh, is a fortnight kid, so he eats 2 meals a day when not in sports or growth spurts (both boy > 6ft) ... He hates breakfast.