Hi, It was a busy day for me and I didnt have a clue as to what to cook for supper. I thought of grilled cheese and tomato soup, but needed more bread and didn’t feel like burning up a gallon of gas for one item at the store. After looking in the cupboard, I found a bag of Knorr Spanish Rice, I added a can of Mexican diced tomatoes to make it go a little farther. In the freezer was a baggie of deboned rotisserie chicken. I had shredded cheese, tortilla’s and sour cream on hand. I beleive I have enough for 4 meals. Total cost was probably less than $4. which comes to One Dollar per meal.
Although I have small kitchen and not a lot of cupboard space, I always stock up on easy to fix sides for these sorts of days and it is well worth it. There are so many people that do not cook and waste too much money eating out or having food delivered on a daily basis. I literally boiled water and warmed up some meat…. how hard is that?
Hot Weather Cooking
It has been hot here in Iowa. Too hot to use the oven as it makes the a/c run more. I did a week of planning hot weather meals. Early in the week, I picked up a rotisserie chicken at Sams club and did our easy peasy Chicken Alfredo. Left over chicken was de-boned and in the freezer for quick meal another time. We use chicken mixed into a bag of Knorr Alfredo. I like to do 2 packs so there is enought for left overs for work the next day or so. There was bone in pork chops cooked on the stove top with baked potato in the microwave. On the same day, I put some frozen meatballs from the big box store in a small crock pot with bbq sause to have those cooked and ready to go. This paired well with more easy rice and noodle packets I try and buy on sale for a $1 or so. TIP: when on sale, buy many so have on hand as such an easy side and great for left overs for work. Although i do not do a weekly menu, I am always thawing out meat from the freezer and planning a few days in advance.
2 week, spent $1 cash
Hi.
I went 2 weeks and not spending any cash but $1.00 . I set a goal and met it. Most people can’t fathom the idea of doing this and wonder how. Well…I bring my lunch to work and cook my meals at home. I have a water bottle at my desk, and I refill it at the chiller. To be honest, I can have a $5 in my wallet on Monday and most of it is there at weeks end.
You hear many people complain of being broke, then go out to eat for most of their meals. Worse yet, pay to have the food delivered. Yikes…
A bit of what I eat to make this work:
Breakfast: Typically a series of yogurt, PBJ sandwich. boiled egg or fresh fruit I cut up at home. and also have some frozen berries at home I may thaw to toss in my yogurt
Lunch: lettuce salad with a bit of shredded cheese. I buy head lettuce b/c the bagged stuff gets iccy once opened. I keep a bottle of store brand dressing in the work frig. leftovers. at times I make chicken or tuna salad for a sandwich. I always have some sliced ham around for a sandwich also. I keep a few cans of emergency soup in my drawer. Then if i dont bring food or leave it on the counter, there is something to eat. Fareway had Chunky Soup on sale if you bought 4, so i have 4 cans of Chunky Soup as my emergency meal.
Supper: I cook supper.. LIke actually cook real food. You know, peel a potato and make friend potatoes. Cook meat and other vegetables, or make a casserole. i have also been making rice once a week. I cook up a bag of frozen mixed veggies and toss that in with the rice. you can put it with so many things. Rice is super easy. I found a recipe on delish.com and perfect every time. which reminds me, I need to buy a new bag of rice.
Snacks: At times I will have a snack at work. Maybe some of those peanut butter crackers i buy in bulk at club store. plus fresh fruit and i love a big bowl of cottage cheese.
I admit I eat a bit carb heavy and show it around the belly. I do have plans in place to make some changes that will reduce the bread intake, as most of this is related to poor meal planning. I am going to say this as is needs to be said. YOUR BODY NEEDS CARBS. POTATOES ARE ONE OF THE GREATEST FOODS YOU CAN EAT. I grew up poor, we had potatoes at every meal – baked boiled and fried. But someone wanted to sell a book and said they are bad. Carbs are found in many foods, it is what makes up the calorie count in your fruits and vegetables. It is processed food that is bad. I can pronounce potato. I would rather eat a baked potato instead of some diet drink that is going to leave me hungry and unsatisfied. And who knows whats in the diet drink. Maybe I should write a book about the greatness of potatoes.
Eating like a stuck record
Decided to add some info on eating cheap. This is not advice I hi-jacked from reading others ideas or the overly cheerful know-it-all youtuber. This is my speaking from real life experience. Eating cheap and eating healthy are really one and the same. When you cook and prepare your meals at home, you are eating healthy. And yes, it includes eating potatoes and pasta.
Many years ago, I was a single parent of a special needs child. I raised her alone, no family helped me out. Not even my own mother. Times were tough, as I worked graveyard shift and had about 3-4 total hours of sleep per day. Since she had special needs to ward off cerebal palsy, I felt it best to be home during her waking hours to do her therapy and developmental stimulation, as I knew she would not get this in a day care setting. But I had to pay rent, food and formula, diapers, car payment, child care expenses, health care expenes, and all those things that go along with being a responsible adult. So… I had to work. Overnights was the most logical answer. I was blessed to have a child that was a good napper like me. So when I say I know how it is to struggle to get by, I speak from experience. As I reflect back on this, these were actually the happiest days of my life. We were poor, but we were happy. I have many wonderful memories living on Grant St.
We had to eat. It was then that I learned to cook and prepare meals on the cheap. It had to be filling becuase I get hungry. I’ve always been a big eater. I dont mind left overs, and am not a food snob, so fairly easy to do. One word can best describe my main go to food. CASSEROLE. I ate like a Bee Gees record with a huge scratch, which means repeat repeat repeat until you move past the scratch to the next casserole aka-big scratch and repeat repeat repeat. I think you get the picture.
I carry a lot of that with me today. I rarely go ot to eat, it seems so wasteful. Today, I just wanted to say you can eat cheap and healthy. Potatoes and pasta never made me fat, but they sure do keep me healthy. (menopause and beer made me fat – lol) It’s all in the food prep, but that’s a topic for another day. Thanks for stopping to visit my site.