Frugal grocery newbie needs some serious help.

[PrincessPerky]

Some really simple basics:

baked potato:
wash and prick with fork, put in microwave for around 5 minutes (watch it, size depending) or bake in oven at 375 for around 45 to an hour (size depending) top and eat.

Rice:
I use a ricer, so I have no idea how to cook in a pot, but if there are no directions on the box, ask someone at the asian market.

but once cooked: top with tarihaki or soysauceand a vegetable and/or cheese

or combine with a can of cream of mushroom/chicken soup and a vegetable

or scramble an egg in a pan (just put on medium heat, place some oil or pat of butter in the pan, drop in egg-no shell)-move with spoon till cooked fully..is not 'real scrambled, but good for fried rice) put in rice and a finly chopped vegetable (I use shredded carrots, but I shred them in bulk) some soysauce, some water, stir around to distribute soysauce and heat rice. (they say you need 'old rice' like last nights, and they might be right, but I never expect perfection when I cook!)

Beans:
A can of tomatoes (not stewed), a can of kidney beans or two, a tablespoon of chili powder (some diced onion or pepper if you have it, powder or skip if not) let it 'simmer' (that means little bubbles, not full boil) for awhile (20 min for minimum flavor, hour for fancy homemade slow cook flavor) top with cheese if you have it, pour on rice if you want to stretch it.

[lrjohnson]

Sweepsplayer said on another thread:

Wraps are a good choice. Buy a package of the soft, medium to large tortilla shells (the spinach or tomato ones are even better for you). You can use them for fajitas, tuna/chicken/egg salad, a bread-alternative for dipping in soup or chili, breakfast burritos, and a lot more.

It seemed perfect for this too.

There are some basic foods that can be used in combination. Say, Ground beef, tortillas, cheese, eggs, potatoes. You have burritos, you have hamburgers with oven-fried french fries, you have breakfast burritos, you have omelets with country fired potatoes, baked potatos with cheese, potato salad, egg salad, etc.

If there's food you like that's reasonably priced, use it a lot! If you like ground beef, find 5 recipes that use it, instead of one for ground beef, one for chicken, one for pork chops, etc. Same with a veggie, a starch, etc.

It's like they say with clothes: you want things that complement each other. not a who bunch of separate outfits that don't match, but pieces you like that are versatile.

[nahirean]

Wow, there's a lot I have to learn here... I am still very nervous.. I am on such a budget, I am worried I will starve!

[PrincessPerky]

I doubt that, most of America has never really felt true starvation...

Lousy food yes, starvation prolly not.

[boefixepa]

Promise you won't starve. Really have you ever tried not eating for two days? I have, and really I didn't even notice the first day. The second day was a bit harder, but as long as I kept busy I was fine. (I did this to just to see what it was like. I was in Africa and I was seeing starving people.) So trust me you are not going to die.

Someone on the site posted this web page and I really like it. Tweek it to your liking and it will give you some great ideas and it even has recipes for everything. Give it a shot...so far my goal of feeding my self for $50.00 a month is on track!!! Granted I've been cooking from scratch since I could cook so there is less learning involved for me.

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmenu.htm

If this feeds a family of 4-6 for one week it should work for one person for one month!

[wwjdmsl]

Beans and Rice and Water

[auntie2many]

Keep your menu simple. I am seeing a lack of fruits and veggies in the menu's. You have to have a little fiber. Carrots and cabbage are usually real inexpensive. Buy a cheese shredder and shred the carrots and use a knife to dice the cabbage and then make some coleslaw. A cheap coleslaw dressing recipe is to mix 1/2 cup mayonnaise with about 1/4 cup sugar and one tablespoon of white vinegar. The salad will look real dry but let it sit in the refrigerator for about four hours before eating and it mixes and becomes real moist. I usually use a head of cabbage and three or four carrots to this amount of dressing.

Buy fruits in season and vegetables too.

Summer - melons, grapes, bananas, lettuce, celery, carrots, onions, tomatoes, cabbage.

Winter - potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, apples, oranges, winter squash.

A good tip for boiling eggs is to put the eggs in a pan and add water (about 1-1/2 inches above the eggs) and add 1 tsp. vinegar to the water. (The vinegar helps the eggs to peel better), bring to a boil and cook at a low boil for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and drain then add cold water and let the eggs sit in the cold water for about 15 minutes then they will be cool enough to take the shells off.

If you cook beans from scratch, do not add salt or tomato products until the last half hour of cooking, because salt and tomatoes turn the beans tough if added at the beginning of cooking.

I hope that you find these tips helpful. This is my first post. I am new to this board.

auntie

[nahirean]

Originally Posted by boefixepa

Promise you won't starve. Really have you ever tried not eating for two days? I have, and really I didn't even notice the first day. The second day was a bit harder, but as long as I kept busy I was fine. (I did this to just to see what it was like. I was in Africa and I was seeing starving people.) So trust me you are not going to die.

Someone on the site posted this web page and I really like it. Tweek it to your liking and it will give you some great ideas and it even has recipes for everything. Give it a shot...so far my goal of feeding my self for $50.00 a month is on track!!! Granted I've been cooking from scratch since I could cook so there is less learning involved for me.

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmenu.htm

If this feeds a family of 4-6 for one week it should work for one person for one month!

Learning to cook isnt a problem for me. I am learning a lot about it thus far.

I looked at the web site, and I am not sure how I can modify this to feed only myself for a month..

[jaksilee]

I cook for just myself during the week and for my DBF on the weekend when he visits. I try to see what is on sale and stock up when I can to make things easier for myself.

Here are some of my stock cheap meals:
1. Pasta w/homeade or semi homemade sauce

For the pasta: I cook a whole bag of pasta shaped pasta (no long noodles)when I do this, then use the planned overs for lunches. When pasta is done and drained put back into your hot pot, drizzle with enough olive oil to coat all the pasta when you stir it in (I don't knoe how much that is, sorry. Do one drizzle around the pot stir and add more if needed) then take out what you need for your meal. Put the rest in the fridge right away, it can be used to make pasta salads and other stuff!

For the sauce: for semi homemade, take one large can of sauce (the cheaper the better I get mine for less than a dollar in the CAN not the jar) add garlic, mushrooms, greep pepper or any other good for you vegge then simmer till it is all tender.

2. Leftover pasta:
Option 1: Take pasta, left over chicken/beef or a can of tuna, a little bit of fresh chopped veggies (carrots, onion, celery, radishes, ect.) then mix with a little italian salad dressing for a cold pasta salad.
Option 2: Take some stock, leftover chicken/beef, small cut frozen veggies (peas, carrot stlye mix) and leftover pasta or Ramen Noodles (with out the seasoning package) simmer stock and veggies (and ramen noodles if using) till almost done add meat chunked into small pcs and pastaand cook till warm.

These are just a few that I can think of right now...I will try and think of a few more for you that don't cost much.

[kashi]

Check out allrecipes.com. You can type in ingredients you have on hand and see which recipes come up here. One nice thing about allrecipes is that you can change the number of servings a particular recipe makes, and it will change the ingredient measurements for you.

This Black Bean and Couscous recipe is really good, and you can substitute orzo pasta for the couscous if you want. It's a fairly cheap recipe and makes a ton.

Check out the library! There are tons and tons of books out there about making cheap meals, learning how to cook, cooking on a budget, etc etc.

Definitely take that multivitamin! You'll be ok.

[boefixepa]

You might try and do a search for a menu planner and plan things out. Many recipes are hard to cut down to single servings, but with some planning you can freeze single portions for future meals, I do this alot. If you do some planning it might help you feel more comfortable.

[Mabuisakura]

I live in a 5 person household plus a baby right now. For us to save money shopping we buy ramen noodles and canned vegges on sale and a meat. We put that together as a meal and we can have that for 2 days. Also we get the store brand items unless others are on sale or we have coupons!1 Good Luck!

[pearlieq]

$150 for a month isn't so bad. That's about $37 a week--definitley doable!

Breakfast is pretty easy. Each week buy yourself a box of good cereal. Not sugary junk, but something that is good for you and will help you feel full for a while. Personal favorites of mine are Raisin Bran, Shredded Wheat (generic brands, of course), and Special K (but only when it's on sale).

On days when you want something different, scramble 2 eggs and eat them with either toast or on torillas with a slice of cheese. This will give you lots of protien to start your day.

Once you're more confident in the kitchen, you can make yourself pancakes or french toast for a treat.

Lunch can be pretty easy too. You can fix yourself sandwiches (PB&J, grilled cheese), tortilla roll ups, or take leftovers from dinner. Eat those with a piece of fruit and some carrot sticks.

Dinner can be any number of inexpensive recipes. Each dinner should include your entree, a piece of fruit, and vegetables (if they're not already part of your entree). Have a cup of milk to drink for extra nurtients and protein.

One thing to do is to learn how to strech meat. Aim to not eat more than 4oz of meat per portion. In other words, a pound of meat should give you 4 meals.

There are several meals you can try. As people have mentioned, making a stir fry out of ramen noodles, meat, and frozen veggies can be a nutritious enough meal (use half the seasoning packet to cut down on salt.). You can make an inexpensive taco filling out of beef, canned beans, and frozen corn. This can stretch across several meals of tacos, burritos, etc.

Meatloaf is another good meal. You can mix up 1/2 pound of ground beef with leftover bread, an egg, a bit of milk, and spices and bake it in a muffin tin so you get individual servings. You can then refrigerate the rest for other meals. You can also cook up individual portions of meat (chicken thighs, small hamburger patties) and eat them with cooked potatoes (either baked or diced and oven-roasted) and a vegetable.

For snacks, eat fruit or carrot sticks you were too full to eat at a meal, have extra cereal, and bake muffins, cakes, and cookies.

Here's a basic shopping guide:

Each week you will need to buy: 1 gal milk, 1 doz eggs, 1 box cereal, 1 loaf bread, 1 pkg tortillas, 1 pkt sliced cheese, 3 lbs meat (ground beef, chicken, ham, etc.), 2lbs frozen vegetables, 12 servings of fruit, 1 lb carrots, other supplies (canned beans, noodles, etc)

The weekly supplies should cost between $25 - $30. You will need to shop for sales and be flexible about which types of fruits and meats you buy to make this number.

Each month (or less) you will need to buy: 5 lb flour, 5lb sugar, baking soda/powder, 1 bottle cooking oil, spices (garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, vanilla, and cinnamon are the priorites), 1 large tub of margarine, 5 lb potatoes, 1 jar peanut butter, 1 jar jam

The monthy (or less) supplies should run you about $7 a month. Most of these will take a very long time to be used up, so you won't have to replace them that often.

I know you said you wanted to eat for less, but I wouldn't go much lower than this. You need to eat fruits, vegetables, and enough protein to stay satisfied. Eating poorly can cost you tons of money in ill health!

[mariec99]

These are some things I eat when I want a low-cost, high flavor and FAST meal:

Mini-pizzas: Buy day old bread, sale spaghetti sauce, Mozzarella cheese. Optional: optional: canned sliced mushrooms, cut up hot dogs, leftover meat, etc. Spread a piece of sliced bread or two (preferably whole grain for fiber and nutrition) with a spoonful of spaghetti sauce and sprinkle on a bit of cheese (even a few shakes of canned parmesan) and bake in the oven (350 degrees) for a few minutes. Add canned sliced mushrooms or leftover meat -- even sliced hot dogs if desired. ** Everything in this recipe can be made from things that go on sale often, you can easily find coupons for them, AND can be frozen.

I ate a LOT of scrambled eggs -- eggs are great buys! They have a LOT of nutrients/protein for the price. For extra flavor, dissolve a cube (or half) of chicken bullion into the milk before mixing it into the eggs.

Good Ol' Mac & Cheese & Tuna casserole: Make a box of Mac & Cheese per directions on the box, drain a six-ounce can of tuna and mix it into the mac & Cheese. Yum.

Burritos: Buy or make small tortillas, spread canned black or pinto beans on a tortilla, add a big spoonful of store brand (or on sale) chunky salsa and a small sprinkling of cheddar or Monterey jack cheese. Microwave or bake (350 degrees) until the cheese melts. Optional: add left-over ground beef, chicken, pork, rice, etc. **Tortillas can be frozen!

Tip: When you buy cheese, buy as big a block portion as possible, grate it yourself (it costs more if you buy the already grated kind) and freeze it.

Frozen vegetable are GREAT and often have more nutrients than fresh (because they are frozen right after picking). Sprinkle with pepper, garlic salt, etc. Add a bit of butter for flavor and fat that will help your body absorb fat soluble vitamins.

ETA: There is no shame in using coupons! People who attempt to say otherwise are idiots. Using coupons is kind of like a game for me - how much can I save? Can I match this with a sale? (I am a woman and the only time I have ever thought couponing was not good was when a guy pulled out a "buy one meal get one free" coupon for dinner on a FIRST DATE. I would have been happy with him using the coupon on a later date...but on a first date, please refrain. That guy did not get a second date...nor did he get so much as a kiss that night.)

ETA: Get a copy of the book A Man, A Can, A Plan. (Amazon has new ones for $10.37 or used ones for as little as $4 (plus shipping). Remember -- you DO NOT HAVE TO USE THE BRANDS they do.

[LuxLiving]

Just going to throw in family favorites that the guys here like. Personally I save the saurerkraut & weinnies for when I'm going out the door! Let them eat Kraut!

SAURERKRAUT & WEINNES

1 can kraut (appx. 65 cents)
1 pkg weiners (appx. 59 cents on sale)
1/2 tsp. season salt

Slice up weinnes or not, dump them in skillet, toss in kraut. Warm. They say YUM, I say GAG! YMMV!!

BEANNIE WEINNIES
1 med. can RanchStyle Beans (appx. 99 cents)
1 pkg. weinnies (appx. 59 cents on sale)
1 small onion chopped (appx. 30 cents maybe?)
1 tsp. chopped garlic (I just buy the 99 cent jar & keep in frig)
1/2 tsp. season salt
1/2 tsp. cumin (a mexican style spice good also on taco style stuff)

Put garlic & onion in skillet. Warm til onions are clearish. Slice up weinnies and let them lightly brown. Add beans (don't drain). Heat it up about 5 minutes. Good served w/a bit of grated cheddar on top & saltines on the side.

Other cheap eat ideas -- frozen corn dogs - easy to zap & dash w/mustard.

HOT DOGS
HD Buns (appx. 59 cents)
HDs (appx. 59 cents on sale)
Canned chili (75 cents a can)
A bit of grated cheddar
A bit of chopped onions

RED BEANS & RICE
1 cup rice in 2 cups water cooked covered for 20 minutes
1 lb. Hamburger - brown w/onion & garlic
Dash of Worchestershire sauce
Dash of Season Salt
Add a couple cans of Red Beans. Warm up. Cheap, cheap & will feed you for several days.


Loose Meat Sandwiches
1 lb. Ground Beef, brown w/onion & garlic. Season w/the worch. sauce & season salt.
2 pks. of brown gravy mix. Use slightly less water than pkgs. recommend.
Pile this on HB buns. Serve w/some pork n' beans, dill pickles & chips. Cheap & filling.

Bubble & Squeak
1 ham steak (about 2.25) chop it into bite size cubes.
1 head cabbage (about 39-79 cents a head)
3 or 4 potatoes (1.99 for 5 lb. bag)
1 small onion chopped
1 tblspoon garlic
Oil or Bacon Grease

Do this in a big soup pot! Slice up potatoes (peel or not - suit yourself). Begin Frying the potatoes in the oil. Put some oil in the bottom of the pot - not a lot, maybe 1/4 of an inch?? Add a little, if you need more you can always add more later. Add the onion & garlic. Let the potatoes cook until almost done. Add the ham. Then just thinly slice the cabbage and start piling it on top. It'll look like a bunch but will wilt down. Stir often. This will get everything moist. Put a lid on it and let it simmer on low for about 2 or 3 more minutes. Add season salt. TASTY!! Greasy but TASTY!! Very filling.

Hope these help! Let us know how it's going!

[rickatheslicka]

I am currently making the transition from Hamburger Helper style to "real" cooking.

I found the "Cooking for Dummies" book to be extremely helpful, it has everything from how to bake a potato (apparently it is important to poke some holes in it), how to steam veggies, to how to roast a chicken (surprisingly easy, very tasty, cheap, and you can make so many meals with the meat), to more complicated recipes. It also has descriptions of various spices and herbs, how long to cook meats, and all kinds of other info (and I'm only about 1/3 of the way through the book!).

Auntie2many and others - I'm so glad someone emphasized the importance of adding some fruits and veggies!

Especially right now while all you are eating is HH, it is easy enough to cook some frozen brocolli or some baby carrots or have an apple with your meal. Check out what is on sale at your grocery store, just be careful not to buy too much of this fresh stuff at first or it will go bad and you'll just be wasting your money. Oh and with a few exceptions, store your fruits and veggies in the fridge (exceptions- store garlic, onions, and potatoes in a cool dark place; bananas will go dark in the fridge but will taste fine) and most should not be washed until right before you're going to eat them (the water will make them go bad faster).

In the meantime, I used to stretch the HH even further by adding extra pasta or rice. I am also a big fan of Minute Rice (I got a huge box for $3 at Sam's), because it cooks in minutes (hence the name) and I always seem to make regular rice soggy or burned. I still have a lot to learn!

One quick addition to the great recipes people have posted in your thread:

I like to make mashed potatoes because you can taste as you cook and correct accordingly, hard to go wrong.

Mashed Potatoes
- Wash (scrub firmly) some potatoes (the brown ones, classically used for baking, I would start with three large ones)
- Peel them if you want to (healthier not to)
- Chop them up into pieces roughly one inch in diameter (smaller pieces will cook faster if you want)
- Put them in a pot and cover with water, sprinkle some salt into the water
- Turn the heat to high and boil until tender but not falling apart (take a piece out after 10 mins and then every few mins after that til you like the texture)
- Drain the potatoes and put in a bowl
- Add a splash of milk, a pat of butter, and a sprinkle of pepper and salt to start with
- Mash with a fork, hand masher, or hand mixer (whatever you have) until the consistency looks tasty to you (some like there mashed potatoes lumpy, others creamy).
- Taste frequently, and add more milk, butter, salt, and pepper til it is yummy to you.
- Now, feel free to add cheese, some steamed brocolli from yesterday, some hamburger meat (save a cup of browned meat and add the rest to your HH), some canned chicken, some chopped up bacon or ham, whatever.
- Eat up! Yummy with gravy (gravy packets are cheap). Refrigerate the leftovers.

Potato cakes (made from leftover mashed potatoes)

This is a delicious thing to do with leftover mashed potatoes.
-Eyeball your potatoes to determine if you have at least 2 cups
-If you have 2 cups, add one egg to the potatoes. If you don't have quite that much, you can either add part of an egg and scramble the rest, or you can add the whole egg and then just add more flour to thicken the mixture back up (this will dilute the potato flavor a bit).
-If you haven't already added some meat and veggies and cheese, do it now.
-In a skillet, heat some vegetable oil (pour enough to get a height between 1/4 and 1/2 inch of oil).
-While the oil is heating, stir the egg and potatoes and then add enough flour so that that you can drop thick but wet spoonfuls into the hot oil, push down on the dollop with the spoon, and you will have a patty (no messy hands).
- Fry til golden brown on one side, then flip over. Cook this on medium heat or the oil will splatter a lot and you might not heat the middle before the outside is burned.
- Remove the patties from the oil and place onto a plate with paper towels on it to soak up the oil, sprinkle a bit of salt on the patties while they are still wet with oil.
- Eat up! Yummy with ketchup.

Not the healthiest of foods, but tasty, easy, cheap, stretches the meat, and gets some dairy and veggies into your body.

If you want to get a bit fancier, you can add a cube of boullion (like freeze dried condensed chicken broth) to the water that you boil the potatoes in.

Enjoy!!! And have fun!

[garilon]

As a young guy you don't want to spend heaps of time cooking so have one mammoth session every couple of weeks - plan three or four cheap one pot meals with lots of seasonal (&cheap) veggies - make everything in one night and freeze lots of portions (divide into small portions - you can always have two if extra hungry) and have as 'fast food' with rice / pasta / potatoes that you have bulk bought earlier. Buying individual packs of noodles might look cheap but is more expensive that buy a large bag of rice and make the dish to go with it - good luck

[BILLY HANNAH]

I was just directed yesterday to a sight that might help. Look up angel food ministries. It is a way of buying bulk of foods at a reduced price,

[LuxLiving]

I wouldn't say Angelfood ministries is 'buying bulk of foods' at a reduced price. I just got my second box in about 5 years time - and I do believe I can do better.

Angelfood itself buys in bulk and probably cheaper, but I really don't feel I get a good ENOUGH value for our money. I had tried it once long ago and thought I'd give it another shot. Initial reaction? I feel the same way today as I did back then. I can stretch my dollar further by careful shopping at my deep-discount places.

THAT SAID and However, for those not practiced in deep discount or scratchN'dent style shopping I'd say go for it.

I'm going regular grocery shopping today w/FrugalSon and TheGrrl at Aldi's and/or Save-A-Lot (gotta find the flyers). If I can find the paperwork - one of them's task today will be to take the Angelfood list for the box we just got and work out the prices for the same foodstuffs at that store/s.

The other one's task will be to take that $5 a week plan I posted about the other day and price it out for me. Maybe it'll have to be renamed the $7.50 or $10 a week plan for our area.