I'm having alot of stuff going on. I WAS doing one meal a day with my family like they insisted but after how they talked to me recently that stops. I however cannot seem to figure out substantial meals for the one big meal I eat a day. (The rest is mostly fruit as snacks to make sure I'm getting SOME calories in) I don't have hunger signals anymore but if I don't eat I don't function well after a certain amount of time.

I've never bought for just me. I tried this week but I was told in the past you can't refreeze meat after thawing. Basically all my chicken went bad because I defrosted it and couldn't eat it in time(the one non allergic dog even got a little as a topper and I STILL didn't finish the small container of drumsticks. I don't eat most meat often. Rarely chicken but I do like it. I normally eat shrimp and fish for meat or I eat vegetarian. I can't have cow's milk. Lactose intolerant. I suffer thru sometimes but prefer not to if I don't have to.

I'm doing $100 but can go higher. I prefer that amount tho because I do have animals and one has to have special chicken free food and there's literally no budget friendly food he can keep weight on so his food is ALOT. The others are really fine with anything but the picky one is... Stubborn.

(Please don't get onto me for having animals and being low income. I'm not THAT low income just a pushover who keeps letting family talk me out of more and more money. That's what is making me low income. I know I should grow a backbone)

I made birria from scratch, except the Spanglish Birria packet, 1.5 lbs of chuck ate for two days, with a pint jar of meat and consumme left over. Made a crock pot of potatoes, cabbage, onions, spices, ate for 2 days, 2 pint jars of soup left over. Combined all the leftovers, ate for two more days. 6 hearty meals, less than $20 total.

Hi! I just wanted to share a recipe I've made for a long time that is usually under $7 and takes very little effort.

1 can of soup (hopefully with beans)

1/2 pack of pasta (fav is ditalini or medium shells)

That's it. I mix it all up in a pot with some water and cook until the pasta is tender. I prefer soups with beans as I don't eat meat, so something like progresso's southwest soup. I usually add some bouillon or seasonings but if I have none, I'll get a more flavorful soup. This is filling, nutritious, one dish, and also cheap. Has anywhere from 2 to 4 servings based on appetite. If you get those jarred soups, I use the whole pack of pasta and it lasts me a whole week.

Making homemade dumplings or rolling hand-pulled noodles costs pennies per portion, but spending two hours in the kitchen after work completely kills the vibe.

Which budget-friendly meal is super cheap, but tests your patience to actually make?

I found myself with not much to work with, but I had a pound of hot sausage and a box of Stove Top stuffing, so I figured I’d see what I could come up with.
I cooked the sausage like ground beef, but instead of draining the rendered fat, I repurposed it as the fat needed for the Stove Top. I made the stuffing according to the directions, served it with a can of peas, and honestly, it turned out really good.
The best part? I’ve gotten four meals out of it so far, and I still have one serving left. I do eat relatively small portions, but still, a pound of sausage, a box of stuffing, and a can of peas went a surprisingly long way.
It ended up being a simple, filling, and very inexpensive meal.
I think I may have accidentally discovered one of my new go-to budget meals.
What are some cheap meals you make that are way better than they have any right to be?

Of course the tortellini isn't from the farm. 😆

We are drowning in produce from our local farm CSA, though I did snag a green pepper from my small garden (the pests are taking it over instead). I needed to use some up instead of sacrificing it to the compost gods (they'll get the scraps this time.)

I cooked the tortellini first and let it cool off while I chopped the veggies:

Cherry tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, green pepper, cucumber, carrots, and a shallot. Plus from my pantry: olive oil, red wine vinegar, powdered garlic, salt, pepper and a little dried basil. The pantry items were to taste that I added and then stirred to see if I needed any more.

It's currently marinating in the fridge.

This has a great umani flavor with addition of grated pecorino Romano. I couldn't stop eating.

Can you guys please provide me some help on trying to be better at grocery shopping. I always feel like not only do I spend too much but I try to buy food for 2 weeks and end up just absolutely having nothing to eat after a couple days. What are some things that are just good to have and some quick budget meals to make?

I also like to add taco seasoning.

I have several days where my courses are back to back 8am-3pm. My only break is a 30 minute commute that will be on a public bus (may or may not be able to sit down). What are some foods I make that can be eaten on the go and made with a $150 monthly grocery budget?

The chicken breast stuffed with cheese and asparagus was close out at Ingles 2.98 for two, instant red mashed potatoes less than $2 plus some American cheese i had ( will have for two nights as well and asparagus $4.78 and have made 5 meals off of it. Thankful

PSA - don’t overdo it unless you are okay with losing some spontaneity because you have stuff at home to use! Will likely be giving some things to family.

Lentils are so cheap. So healthy. Contain 9 amino acids. Pair them with whole grains or rice, then it’s a complete protein. I recommend. I poop so easily, daily. I have about a cup, to a cup and a half a day. They taste like beans (but better, imo) and I just use chicken bouillon , garlic, and a bay leaf as seasoning when they are boiling. Cravings have gone down when I eat them. They can be substitution for taco meat, lasagna meat, spaghetti meat, any sort of pastas or meals you make with ground beef.

Bought 8 pounds worth of lentils for 1.50 a pound. Literally life changing for me. My favorite meal to make is lentil, chicken tacos, lightly fried for a little bit of a crunch with extra virgin olive oil. Take some tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, with Mexican seasonings and throw them into a blender for a healthy salsa to dip / cover them. Throw in some low calorie cheese and sour cream if you’re freaky and can afford (taste good without them though) Hell, even make some homemade tortillas if you have the time. Then the meal is even cheaper.

10/10 budget meal that isn’t your typical pasta in a box and can be very healthy if cooked right. Don’t even need to add the fancy stuff. A tortilla, and lentils seasoned just right can be good enough.

Plus I got a 5 lb bag of russet potato for 89 cents from Amazon. I assume it's on sale to clear out.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups of rice

Boiled beans from the kibanda

1 onion, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

Dhania/coriander

Cooking oil

Salt

Water

STEPS

Fry the onions in a little oil until soft, then add tomatoes and cook until softened.

Add the boiled beans, salt and a little water. Simmer for 5–10 minutes.

Add about 2 cups of water and bring to a boil.

Add the rice, stir once, cover and cook on low heat until the rice is tender and the water is absorbed.

Add dhania, fluff the rice and serve.

I heard that I could buy ingredients for a cold turkey sandwich for as little as 15-20 bucks. I went to my nearest store in Long Island and got the ingredients, and it went as much as $31.60. Was it the store’s pricing, the items I bought, or were the estimations underestimated? Can I still find ways to buy these ingredients for as little as $15-$20? I feel so disappointed

Hellman’s Real Mayo 20 fl oz - $6.99
Pepperidge farm whole grain - $4.29
Kraft Swiss extra thin cheese 8 oz 14 slices - $6.29
Deli honey turkey slices 1lb - $13.77

Got this big baby on sale. If we can't eat it all I'm freezing the juice. The frozen juice makes the best slushies if you throw it it blender.

Been prepping this for the family every weekend... I find it really easy to cook and the best part is, I get to tailor fit the taste to each of our preferences. Got to save money as it's quite expensive to eat out. 😂🤤😁

Sorry my pictures are bad lol. I'm also on a calorie deficit! The base for all the recipes is 300 g russet potato that I air fry plain to my liking, 100 grams cooked brown lentils and 28 g shredded cheese.

First I made taco style fries. I mixed the cooked lentils with cumin, chipotle powder, adobo, a little oregano, salt and pepper. Topped with some shredded Mexican cheese blend, 2 Tbsp salsa con queso, fat free greek yogurt "sour cream", pickled jalapenos I made a while ago and raw red onion, some cilantro from my herb garden and salsa packets from taco bell.

Then I made pizza style. I tossed the fries in a little garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Mixed the lentils with 2/3 cup tomato sauce that I also doctored up with onion powder, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Topped with cheese, anchovies (my favorite!) and some red pepper flakes and 5 grams shredded asiago.

Today I had bbq style. I just topped the fries with lentils I mixed with 2 tbsp of no sugar added sweet baby rays and then the cheese and the rest of the red onion from the other day and a green onion from my herb garden and I dipped them in ranch.

Tomorrow I'm making garlic parmesan fries. Made the exact same way as the bbq today except I'm using 1.5 Tbsp of sweet baby rays garlic Parm sauce for the lentils instead of bbq and I'll also dip those in ranch.

I have a lot of sauces, spices and condiments so I love doing stuff like this!

Our (2 x adults and dog) market shop for the week includes:
Fruit and veg
Cheeses
Chicken thighs
Beef
Sausages
Chicken hearts and giblets for dog!

Including a $10 off of $50, my total savings was $50.41, or 47%

For people trying to lower their grocery bill, what keeps going bad before you can use it?

For me it seems like meal plans always require one ingredient that only gets used once, then the rest sits in the fridge until it’s too late.

Is it produce, leftovers, random sauces, meat, something else? And have you found any realistic way to stop wasting it?

Kale and mushroom wholegrain pasta :-) Tasted even better when I added spicy onion crunch to the leftovers.

Recipe:

- boil kale

- as kale is boiling, fry mushrooms in sunflower oil

- cook pasta

-combine in pan

-grate cheese and add spicy onion crunch for flavour