Two People, Thirty-four bucks

[Carlovski]

As someone who's budgetary controls are non existant, I can sympathise!

My problem is sprluging after payday, and being skint halfway through the month.

This leaves me with the odd position of usually having a large collection of condiments, spices, and non perishable staples, but not a lot of meat, veg etc. Apart from frozen peas of course. They can get you out of all sorts of trouble!

So pasta and rice tend to keep me going, I normally have stuff to knock up a nice fragrant pilau, even if it doesn't have much in the way of interesting bits (Or If I need protein, I will normally make Kitchiri - not sure about the spelling, the rice/lentil combo). Al olio style pasta is a favourite as well, with anchovies if I have them, otherwise just chilli and garlic (I also like lemon zest, and a touch of the juice).

[curlywurlyfi]

Austerity Dining. It's like being back in the 1950s.

Maggiethecat, I sympathize too. there have been a lot of lentils, baked potatoes and pasta in my life lately. (fie to thee, Atkins, fie, fie!)

think your menu ideas sound great. Broccoli stir fry with lots of mirin + soy sparked with red chili would be my tip. Beetroot + smoked mackerel salad is another good cheap one - and so fashionable, too! but something which worked for me (which you I am sure already know) when trying to stick to my food budget is to plan plan plan ahead. work out your meals for the week the minute you get home with the produce from the market and stick to your week's schedule - that way you won't suddenly find the dying celery at the back of the fridge, you will know you are going to use up the poaching liqueur from the veal breast in the following day's broccoli soup, etc. good luck.

Fi

PS the other great thing is to have store cupboard armageddon. NOW is the time to use up the tinned smoked mussels that came in the hamper three Christmases ago (even if it's only to feed the cat). (if your cat will touch them, that is.) Still got that tiny jar of non-opened gourmet mustard? Bring it on and liven up your ham sandwich. Little 'treaty' things like that make the Austerity Dining thing more bearable. (That, and kind friends who drop by with wine.)

[ianeccleston]

(fie to thee, Atkins, fie, fie!)

LOL

[bushey]

an attempt to recreate the turkey hash we tried at Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe in Boston. ]

Rachel -- I love Charlie's!! I used to have their turkey hash recipe that was reprinted in The Boston Globe. If I can put my hands on it, I'll post for you. The key is cooking in bacon fat.

Did you get a poached egg on top?

[Carolyn Tillie]

I just finished an almost year-long stint of unemployment myself and know well the trials and tribulations of poverty eating. You did well in your shopping and over the next few months, I would recommend soups. Big, hearty bean soups.

Like many others here have stated, look for the cheap chicken or turkey which is a great treat (I went a few months with no meat). Also the suggestion for bacon ends is also a great beginning for soup.

Along with the bean soups, I would recommend beans for Moors et Christianos (Moors and Christians - Black Beans and Rice). Great protein and it fills and goes a LONG way...

Good luck!

[TPO]

I sympathize too... I have had to search the house for lose change and bring it to the bank just to buy groceries.

Beans are my favorite budget stretcher. In addition to the things already mentioned, I like red beans and rice, salads made with chickpeas, and beans and pasta. If you have flour and yeast, you can make pita bread and make a big batch of hummus.

Jambalaya is also a great budget stretcher for me. I use inexpensive smoked sausage and chicken, and skip the shrimp. I make big batches of it since it is so good leftover.

Leftovers also make great soups and stews.

The slow cooker is an excellent appliance for cheap cuts of meat. Cheap roasts can simmer in broth or beer all day; cheap pork can simmer in BBQ sauce all day for amazing sandwiches, and more.

My local groceries stores all mark down meats a day or two before their sell-by dates, which is nice. Whenever I find them, I buy them to keep in the freezer.

[aliwaks]

Ohmigod I have so been there.

My favorite was spagetti with cabbage, carrots & onions all slow sauteed with garlic ,fresh ginger & soy sauce (when I was at the market I would borrow a small sprig or two of the bunches cilantro and add that) or I would make chicken thighs marinated in chinese take out packaged hot mustard ,soy & duck sauce.

My mom was always big on the Ramen noodles she would buy 2 or 3 of the 25 cent (then) pakages and put all the leftover veggies & bits of chicken or whatever in add some hot oil, herbs & sesame seeds it was good. I still do it for staff meal when it's tight arouind here (which is most of the time)

How about a strata with half the Italian bread, roasted broccoli, browned garlic & muenster cheese (do you have eggs?)

How dead is the apple? it still be roasted? nice with the smoked turkey, carmelized onions few herbs & maybe some fork mashed potatoes

I love the Zuni Cafe pasta.

remember to keep all your peelings & stems (carots, onions etc) for stock.

A potato & roasted garlic soup is nice too

or do you have some anchovies? you can make a bagna cuda and pour that over anything and it will be good (I'll thinking toasted cheese sandwich with roasted broccoli bathed in hot anchovy garlic oil)

or just pasta with anchovy, bread crumbs & olive oil..is so good

have just been having an email discussion with a freind of mine who is a cook book author and in similar cricumstances she is finding a wealth of options in her pantry all those little jars bought during times of plenty then stashed away to use at a later date. i was able to make some fantastic stuff from what i had hoarded all those years (now of course I have no money but lots of food in the restaurant, in my house I have some olives, a half a roast chicken and a very old asian pear)

[hillvalley]

The cabbage reminds me that I often go to the farmer's market not long before closing time and bargain with them.  They are often happy to greatly reduce price -- it's one less thing to pack up and haul away, and especially if it's perishable, they're getting something rather than trash.

Snowangle beat me to this one. I work at a farmer's market and we have a few families who always come by at the end to get the "end of market" discount. We make sure to keep a few things to the side that they would miss otherwise. Bringing small children helps too.

By the way, I started working at my market so I could get a discount on the veggies.

[SobaAddict70]

make pasta with broccoli, red pepper flakes, anchovies, caramelized onions and EVOO.

roast a head of broccoli and use it in place of roasted cauliflower. (believe me, it works.)

make fried breadcrumbs from leftover or stale Italian bread. use in place of cheese to top pasta off. (red pepper flakes, a garlic clove and/or anchovies make great flavor additions.)

potato galette. slice them thinly, layer and fry them with onions and garlic in butter, finish in the oven.

Andre Soltner's French potato cake. sliced potatoes, onions, bacon (I guess you can use some of that sausage if it's what I think it is), sliced hardboiled eggs, creme-fraiche in a pie tart, and then baked. I may have the ingredients wrong so maybe someone can correct me.

onion confit. just onions, butter, salt and pepper, sugar, herbs, red wine, apple cider and/or sherry vinegar. use as bruschetta, on top of pasta, with cabbage, as a side for that tilapia or veal breast, etc.

pissaladiere. hopefully you'll have access to anchovies and olives.

garlic and potato croquettes, in brown butter. or use the puree as a filling for ravioli.

Good luck maggie.

I've been there, and fully sympathize.

Soba

[sparrowgrass]

Should I mail ya a couple dozen eggs?

[Mottmott]

Making your own pasta will help stretch your food dollars. At the same time it will allow for infinite inventiveness in using up bits of things in raviolis.

I don't know where you live, but if you're in seafood territory, mussels are a delicious and cheap food. Now that they're farmed, they hardly need de bearding. When the world catches on that they're not as much work the price will doubtless rise.

If you have Asian, Indian, Mexican markets, you will find many foods that are much cheaper there than in others.

Also, I didn't notice anyone mentioning polenta.

[Rachel Perlow]

Hmm, the above got me thinking. Mussels Ravioli, would that work? I'm thinking steam the mussels just until they open, remove and use one each as ravioli filling (not mashed up or anything, just a whole mussel as the filling). Reduce steaming liquid (wine or stock, herbs), strain, then add cream for the sauce.

Someone who makes fresh pasta, try this for me, OK?

[Bux]

If I can make a suggestion that I didn't see yet, it would be to cook the onions and the potatoes separately for the hash and combine them when you add the meat. Sometimes extra steps in the kitchen are the easiest way to ensure the best results. Saving time and energy only work if the final product is right.

While we had the budget to eat out twice last week, the overall week's expenses were tempered by a large pot of soup that fed us most of the rest of the time. Mrs. B made a soup from white beans and cabbage with some chicken stock. There was some calabaza squash which was pretty well dissolved and added body to the soup and there was some chorizo and bacon that had been languishing in the freezer. Ham ends would work as well if not better. There were two dinners and a lunch for us. At the end of the week the cabbage had all but dissolved and the beans were getting soft. We thought about adding some stock or water and pureeing the soup, but we just made bruschetta and omelets as two course meal.

[Fresser]

One of my favorite budget-stretchers is actually pretty tasty: Vegetable Lasagna.

Your local produce store is a good destination to assemble the goods for this recipe. (Just how you made it up to Golf Road from Warrenville is a mystery... ) Jerry's Fruit & Garden at Milwaukee and Oakton in Niles offers lots o' tomato sauces & pastas at reasonable prices.

You'll need the following:

One bag of lasagna noodles ($1.29)

leaf spinach (59 cents)

carrots (usually 3 lbs. for a buck)

one pound of mushrooms ($2.00 or less)

a one or two-pound container low-fat or skim ricotta cheese (under $3.00)

a block of mozzarella cheese ($4.00)

a 16 oz. can of tomato sauce (99 cents)

Fresh basil, oregano & pepper

grated parmesan to taste.

Now the fun begins:

Boil up the lasagna noodles in a large soup pot. Don't forget to add a little olive oil to the water as the noodles boil.

While the noodles boil, cut the stems off the leaf spinach, tear up the spinach leaves and then submerge them in a large pot of clean water to rinse them. Drain, rinse and repeat. You'd be suprised how much dirt lurks in the leaves, and those little pebbles you'll find do not make for a toothsome recipe.

Once the spinach is clean, dice it coarsely on a chopping board--you're aiming for small bite-size pieces. Then clean & scrape about three carrots and slice them about 1/8th inch thin--they'll add lots of color and texture to the dish but won't be overly crunchy.

Finally, slice the mushrooms to your own taste.

Once the noodles are boiled & drained, you'll need a large lasagna tray to assemble the dish. Grease the pan with some olive oil and lay about three lasagna noodles on the bottom of the tray so that they overlap.

Now shmear some ricotta cheese to cover the noodle layer and sprinkle the chopped spinach on top of the cheese. Next come thinly sliced carrots and mushrooms and a drizzling of tomato sauce. No need to ladle on too much sauce--you'll end up with two or three layers of noodles & veggies.

On top of the tomato sauce, you can grate some mozzarella cheese to taste. Then, layer more lasagna noodles on top of the veggies & sauce and repeat the process. Add chopped basil & oregano to taste.

When you reach your final layer of noodles, do not add veggies on top. Simply cover the noodles with tomato sauce (so they don't burn in the oven), add a generous amount of grated mozzarella and dust with parmesan. Cover the dish(es) with aluminum foil and bake for about one hour at 350 degrees.

After one hour, remove the dishes and peel back the foil. Return the dishes uncovered to the oven for a few minutes to brown the top of the lasagna.

This hearty recipe makes about five or so servings for under $10.00.

[maggiethecat]

(Just how you made it up to Golf Road from Warrenville is a mystery... ) 

The Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, Dear Friend. ( Of course, it goes to neither Elgin nor O'Hare!)

This sounds excellent, but it serves ten. Care to fill up the Slick PT Cruiser with a few eGulls and head out to the Little House on the Prairie?

[SundaySous]

Really loving this thread. I have a turkey ham in the fridge and while searching turkey ham somehow I ended up here. Glad too.

We have a Mexican market across the street from the national chain. Perdue fryers 1/2 what the chain store wants. Right now tomatoes 1/3.

Due to the poor quality of Pizza available in my area I broke down and bought a pizza stone. I think I'm spending $6 for a pie I like as opposed to $18 tip included, delivered for one I don't like. For us that's a $600 annual savings.

Love the other suggestions here, thars gold in this here thread.

[LittleChef22]

Good luck... you did well on that shopping trip. One point of advice for anytone else on a budget... avoid Whole Foods... its SOOOO pricey. I cannot afford to shop there for most things.

[Sony]

With that veal stock, you could make a nice French Onion Soup....the Italian bread and Munster could compose the cheesy crouton topping.

I also agree with the others- pasta with red pepper flakes, broccoli and anchovy is a staple in my budget-conscious household. Broccoli puree can also go nicely on top of toasted garlic-rubbed bread. Or heck- roasted garlic on toasted bread is pretty darn tasty too! Also a big fan of pasta and toasted breadcrumbs. And aglio e olio. Baked pasta. Pasta or polenta topped with Bolognese sauce.

If you have eggs, pasta with soft-yolked egg on top (this would be a nice place to insert broccoli as well). Polenta (or grits...maybe cheese grits?) with egg on top. French toast. And if you have baking basics, pancakes. Maybe a strata with torn bread, eggs, sausage, cheese and some vegetables thrown in for good luck . If you have dried beans, I love black bean soup (just black beans simmered with a few garlic cloves in water, salt to flavor at end) with an egg poached in it.

While roasting veggies is delicious, I also find that the volume shrinks (naturally ) with that cooking process. Thus, If you choose to roast broccoli and/or cauliflower, I'd suggest stretching that flavor-concentrated dish by combining it with pasta, or making into a soup. Roasted cauliflower soup would be plenty delicious with water as a base. Same applies with meats like sausage. The taste is strong enough to flavor lots of blander "base" like rice, pasta, etc.

Speaking of which, Julia Child's basic method for making vegetable soups based on water is one of my favorite ways to make soup....small knob of butter or olive oil, add vegetable, bay leaf, onion, dried herbs....sweat, add water and plenty of salt, and simmer till vegetable is tender. Puree or leave as potage. Meat can be used as flavoring. If you have frozen peas, they make for excellent soup. Grilled cheese + soup can be great comfort food.

Tilapia + celery + tomato + water + dried herbs (if you have it, Old Bay would work great here) = seafood soup

Baked potatoes topped with steamed broccoli and Munster.

Along with meatloaf, you could even go with a "sweet breakfast sausage" route by mixing the veal with the apple, sweated celery and onions, and dried herbs like sage, thyme, fennel, etc.

Or, take some of that meatloaf mix, and make tiny meatballs out of it to drop into simmering garlic and onion-kissed broth, along with frozen chopped spinach and pastina....Italian Wedding soup.

If you have milk (even powdered milk)- scalloped potatoes. Or macaroni and cheese. Bechamels work OK with powdered milk.

If you have rice, soy sauce and toasted sesame oil, fried rice. Jook can also be satisfying.

Brain is losing power....but I'll keep thinking, and I'm sure more wonderful suggestions will be coming your way! Please keep us updated on any changes to your grocery list!

Edited August 17, 2007 by Sony (log)

[SundaySous]

I live in a densely populated, ethnically diverse area of Chicago. At the Ethnic markets I think a 20 lb bag of rice costs $5, 20Kg of flour $8.

Pakistani neighbor tells me she can feed family of four for less than $10 a day. I should find out how much time she spends in kitchen, I know she works.

[christine007]

(Certainly not in this weather)

BUT- My local grocery sells a huge hambone with a lot of meat still on it, for like two something.

All you need after that is dried beans, one carrot, a stalk of celery, an onion, and bam- enough soup for an army.

A local bakery round here sells the overstock of their bread products for ninety nine cents.

I can also get white meat tuna in water for ninety nine cents, and they also have a shelf of produce about to go south. They sell huge bags of whatever, for a buck.

I've had broccoli, peaches, tomatos, etc, nothing wrong with them, you just have to eat them up in a day or too.

The thing is, go in every single shop in your hood, look around, see who has what at what price. You never can tell where a bargin is hiding.

And, if at all possible, garden. I have tomatos, parsley, zuchinni, pumpkins, cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, all basically, for free.

Edited August 17, 2007 by christine007 (log)

[mollybloom1109]

Hi,

Don't know if you are still on a tight food budget. I read about this in our local paper but hear that the program is nation wide and even in Canada. There are no income restrictions. You can view the site at http://www.angelfoodministries.com From their site:

Angel Food Ministries is a non-profit, non-denominational organization dedicated to providing grocery relief and financial support to communities throughout the United States. The program began in 1994 with 34 families in Monroe, Georgia (between Atlanta and Athens), and has grown to serve hundreds of thousands of families every month across 32 states. Angel Food Ministries crosses denominational lines and has spread the good news of the gospel of Christ through salvation tracts that are placed in each food order.

Blessings by the box

Angel Food is available in a quantity that can fit into a medium-sized box at $25 per unit ($30 in California and New Mexico, due to transportation costs). Each month's menu is different than the previous month and consists of both fresh and frozen items with an average retail value of approximately $50. Comparison shopping has been done across the country in various communities using a wide range of retail grocery stores and has resulted in the same food items costing from between $42 and $78.

Generally, one unit of food assists in feeding a family of four for about one week or a single senior citizen for almost a month. The food is all the same high quality one would purchase at a grocery store. There are no second-hand items, no damaged or out-dated goods, no dented cans without labels, no day-old breads and no produce that is almost too ripe.

Also offered are specialty boxes such as steaks, chicken and pork. Many participants in this bonus program appreciate the expanded choices. Additionally, there is no limit to the number of units or bonus foods an individual can purchase, and there are no applications to complete or qualifications to which participants must adhere. Angel Food Ministries, like most all other retail grocery stores, also participates in the U.S. Food Stamp program, using the Off-Line Food Stamp Voucher system.

How the Program works

Food sales and distribution are handled by church host sites. Orders and payments are collected by the host sites during the first part of each month. These orders are then turned in to the Angel Food main office in Monroe, Georgia, on a predetermined date. Several days later, in the same month, the host site either picks up the food from Angel Food's 160,000 square feet warehouse to fill the orders on Distribution Day or, because this ministry is growing nationwide, food is delivered to the host site by a pre-arranged delivery mode. In most cases, as long as there is a truck headed in the direction of a community who wants this program and sees its ministry influence, there are no extra transportation costs.

[MGLloyd]

Wow, this thread was resurrected after four years.

[SundaySous]

Wow, this thread was resurrected after four years.

←

Shssh no tell anyone I'm broke...

[jgm]

I have friends and relatives who are struggling financially right now, and they depend on Angel Food ministries to supply significant portions of the month's food.

A young friend of mine, before the birth of her second child, was frustrated because of not being able to qualify for food stamps or WIC. (She does now.) So I went to her home and showed her how to stew a chicken, producing both chicken meat and chicken broth. I don't know now much she has actually done it since then, but a single chicken can produce at least a couple of good meals. I know she did make a chicken pot pie, and she and her husband really enjoyed it.

One of my favorite meals is chicken and dumplings. In a large skillet or stockpot, heat about an inch or so of chicken broth and enough cooked chicken meat to loosely cover the bottom. You want just enough broth to cover the meat; the dumplings will rest on the meat while they're cooking. While it's heating, combine:

1 cup flour

½ tsp dried parsley, or 1/4 tsp freshly minced

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

1 beaten egg

¼ cup milk

2 tablespoons cooking oil

As soon as the chicken broth is simmering, drop the dumplings, a spoonful at a time, onto the meat. I can usually get 4 large and 2 small dumplings from one recipe. Immediately cover, and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes. In my kitchen, exactly 11 minutes works perfectly. Do not remove the lid while the dumplings are cooking. At the end of the cooking time, remove the lid, and spoon the dumplings, chicken, and broth into bowls. This should make at least 4 servings. The dumplings should be light and bready.

When I took a cooking class a few years ago, the chef encouraged us to freeze our onion, carrot and celery trimmings to use in making broth. That's a way to stretch a dollar even farther. I usually just use the oldest of the carrots I have on hand. The cooked carrots are our dog's favorite treat!