Stretching Your Grocery Bill

nun69

nun69

New member
ok I really really really need to stretch my grocery bill the next 2 weeks.....so tell me some good ways to "stretch" my grocery bill for the next 2 weeks....easy meals that will feed 6 and we can have leftovers for lunch (for Dh & I the next day)....

I do have a corned beef in my freezer, 4 lbs of hamburger, 2 packages (16 each) of fryer chicken legs and I think I still have a roast......

I am open to add some more meat and whatever I can to stretch it but I am just not very good at stretching meals out :( so help me out girls......I know I need to buy pasta, bread, milk, eggs, potatoes, onions and lunchmeat but what else...hook a sistah up :):):hugs: I am also lost for breakfast stuff on the weekends other than bacon and eggs which can get expensive~
 
portion control has helped my grocery bill more than anything

Try in season fruites/veggies from a local stand or farmer's market...Here they are cheaper than a grocery chain and will taste better
 
I'm not very good at stretching our grocery money, either. For weekend breakfasts, what about pancakes? We make ours with Bisquick as the base. The exact directions are on the box.

Another cheap meal that my kids like is Mexican haystacks.I serve black beans, rice, corn, and cheese and they combine it all as they wish (or eat it separately...DH and I are the only ones who really combine it).
 
Buy your beans by the bag. You can't get much cheaper than beans and rice. Refried, pork and beans, black beans, white bean chile, etc.
 
rach3975 said:
Another cheap meal that my kids like is Mexican haystacks.I serve black beans, rice, corn, and cheese and they combine it all as they wish (or eat it separately...DH and I are the only ones who really combine it).
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this actually sounds fairly good...do they put them on tortillas?
 
Do some pancakes/waffles - from scratch, and an egg - and that makes a good, cheap breakfast. If you have some apples you can cut up, saute a bit and add some brown sugar/vanilla/cinnamon to, you can serve it as a topping over your eggs.

Do those Mexican haystacks in a tortilla for a quick lunch treat.
 
I would prolly cook the chicken, shred it, and throw it in with some rice and black beans (plus cumin, chili power, salt & pepper, & garlic powder) and use it as a filling for enchiladas, tacos, etc etc. That should last a couple meals.

I would make a double batch of mashed potatoes to go with the roast & use 2 pounds of the hamburger to make a meatloaf. They're filling and would hopefully make the roast & meatloaf into some leftovers. Hmmm... I might make chili from the rest of the hamburger since it uses the same spices as the chicken filling recipe.

No ideas for the corned beef since I have never made that before. :p

I second (third?) the suggestion to make pancakes for weekend breakfasts. Super cheap & fast. Have different add-ins on hand to make them 'different' each time e.g. chocolate chips, fresh fruit, etc. You could also make homemade granola bars (there are dozens of recipes on Pinterest) or muffins; if you make from scratch, they're pretty cheap.
 
My kids just have regular cereal for breakfast, no matter whether it's a weekend or a week day.

Stirfried rice always makes a meal go further - then you only need half the usual meat and some veges to add to it.
 
I do lots of grilled chicken. I buy the huge packs. With grilled veggies and brown rice. pastas with whatever veggies/meat and sauce you have. Soups are good for throwing in the kitchen sink.
Breakfast on the weekend pancakes with bisquick. Bisquick can also be used to make copy cat cheddar biscuits to go with dinners like soups. Or use it for regular biscuits for biscuits and gravy.
 
Some things I've been doing to stretch our bill:

Eat out of the pantry. Rice, dried beans, flour etc. I have a pantry full of that I have been using up.

EAT WHAT I BUY. I buy so much that goes to waste, so I've been buying in smaller increments so that it doesn't go bad before I get to it.

Make your own bread, cookies, treats, quit buying pre-packaged. It's so much more expensive.

Stretch meals with fillers like rice, quinoa, potatoes, that way you can use less of the expensive meat. (tacos - half beans, half meat, rather than all meat)
 
My sister in law writes up her meal plan for the week then shops specifically for the items she needs. E.g. if one recipe requires 3 carrots, and no other recipes need carrots that week, then she only buys 3 carrots, not a whole bag. Very specific buying means less wastage.
 
Traci I am learning the idea of "not buying so much" and eat what is in the pantry!!! and believe it or not, my kids have been pretty resourceful! I also think I am going to start buying things and putting them in a box in the garage (it is cool in there) and then bring them out every so often instead of EVERYTHING being out for them to see and just eat cause they will constantly eat :D
 
i find my grocery bill is less if i make a few bigger dishes that we can eat on a couple of times. i love to do up a really big batch of soup in the crockpot... and can usually get 2 meals & a few lunches out it. i cut way back on meat and add more beans, potatoes or rice as fillers. it's also fun to try out some fun types of beans... blackeyed peas & chickpeas are my boys faves. my family's top soups faves are : Creamy Potato & Kielbasa, Cowboy Chilli and Taco Souptopia.

other faves for us are big baked dishes... like Baked Spaghetti & Shepards Cottage Pie ... easily get 2+ meals out of those & are super easy (& inexpensive) to make.
if you'd like to try any of the recipes just shoot me a PM ♥
 
jacinda said:
My sister in law writes up her meal plan for the week then shops specifically for the items she needs. E.g. if one recipe requires 3 carrots, and no other recipes need carrots that week, then she only buys 3 carrots, not a whole bag. Very specific buying means less wastage.
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I LOVE this idea, but my problem is I buy 3 carrots and my kids or husband would eat them before I even got to the recipe LOL!
 
Inexpensive meals are "throw everything in" meals that make use of left-over veggies, meat, cheese, that usually get thrown out and wasted. I make stir-fry with whatever I have in the fridge a lot. Buy a big bag of rice to serve it over... none of that boil in bag stuff. ;) Curry is kind of the same way, too... you can make it with almost any leftover meat or veggies & serve with rice. I also make a lot of homemade vegetable soup (one of my favorites is a tuscan soup with white beans and spinach) and serve it with inexpensive loaves of bread, seasonal fruit, etc. I often use leftover bread (somewhat stale) and make french toast. Or grilled cheese.

I agree with Meg about portion control. I know a huge thing for us has been eating only one serving so that there are plenty of leftovers. And eating lighter meals (soups, salads) without feeling like it wasn't a "real" dinner. I also don't serve meat at every meal. One of the first things I did to stretch our grocery budget was to start using less and less meat in our meals. Gone are the days when I would cook 1 chicken breast per person. :)
 
If you do a roast with mashed potatoes and veg, you can then use the leftover meat for beef and barley soup, and same with the chicken make a nice chicken soup. Add a nice salad, and bread with the soups for dinners and the leftovers are great all week for lunches.
 
Meatloaf - make a big one and you'll have leftover to make meatloaf sandwiches for lunch.

Make a big pot of meatless spaghetti sauce and have spaghetti one night and then stretch it another night by mixing the left over with a different pasta (elbows or shells, etc.) and layer in a casserole dish with some mozzarella and bake (pasta bake).

Roast a whole chicken (or what you have in the freezer) and divide into zip bags and freeze for burritos, quesadillas, soup. For lunches make into chicken salad.

Cook off your corned beef and then chop it all up finely to make corned beef hash (boil potatoes cool and then mix with chopped up corned beef and chopped onions - stretches the corned beef into a lot more than just by itself). Fry up in pan until it's all crispy on the outside and serve with a quick vegetable.

*****Check to see if your grocery store sells meat and cheese ends. Mine does and they are 1/2 price from the starting price. I get all my cheese this way and I've seen lots of meat in the basket too. It's usually behind the counter and you have to ask to see the "ends." Sometimes you even get meat and cheese that's sliced instead of the ends - the deli person makes a mistake or the customer changes their mind. You can slice the ends up at home for sandwiches too.

If you get the cheese/meat above then make a quick mac and cheese bake with pasta and the cheese you scored. If you scored meat ends like ham or bologna or salami, etc. chop into chunks and add to the mac and cheese bake.

Once a week my mom always made "leftover casserole." She would cook a pasta and mix it with spaghetti sauce (leftover or a cheap jarred kind) and toss in leftover veggies and meat (could be beef roast, chicken, meatloaf, pork roast, etc.) Add a couple layers of mozzarella cheese and top with cheese.
 
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Speaking of cheap breakfasts, we often have "breakfast for dinner" nights (mostly waffles or pancakes). The kids think it's a fun treat!
 
I really only cook about 4 times a week. Then we have a couple of "whatever" nights (and eat out at least once). And that's partly because of our schedules. I have older kids, but they have to figure out their own dinner on those "whatever" nights - it's either leftovers, something like grilled cheese, or something out of the freezer. My kids are super picky, so I don't try to force too many "new" meals out of leftovers.
 
nun69 said:
this actually sounds fairly good...do they put them on tortillas?
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I do rice or tortillas. Some of us prefer the rice, others prefer the tortillas. Of course you can do both in the same meal, but we don't because the adults in our house don't need the calories and the kids would eat too little of the protein foods if served both.
 
one of my favorite "guaranteed leftovers" meals is meatballs and sauce, baked in the oven with cheese. then again, there's only two of us. but i'm sure you could double the recipe. i buy a big bag of frozen meatballs, and cook half of the bag in my crockpot with a jar of sauce in the morning. then, about a half hour before we wanna eat, i cook up a box of pasta, then mix in the meatballs and sauce. i mix in a handful or two of mozzarella, and dump it into my lasagna pan. i sprinkle the top with grated parmesan, and bake for like, 20 minutes at 400 degrees. i make a big salad and some bread to have with it. it makes enough for us for dinner, and then he brings it for lunch 3 days. you could easily double (or triple) the recipe. it's pretty cheap, too (: i think the meatballs are the most expensive, and you could easily make them yourself. same with the sauce.

mom does a lot of soup in the crock pot, and always makes enough for leftovers.

also, at least around here, walmart has the cheapest groceries. i dunno if safeway is cheaper, though (i'm trying to picture the grocery chains out there.. it's been a while since i was where you are)
 
I have to admit thanks to this thread I managed to feed 5 kids (2 adults in this number) with 16 grilled cheese sandwiches, 1 cut up apple, 1 cut of carton of strawberries and a few handfuls of chips...I am actual;ly pretty proud of myself for this :) and I made them with whole wheat bread :)
 
nun69 said:
I have to admit thanks to this thread I managed to feed 5 kids (2 adults in this number) with 16 grilled cheese sandwiches, 1 cut up apple, 1 cut of carton of strawberries and a few handfuls of chips...I am actual;ly pretty proud of myself for this :) and I made them with whole wheat bread :)
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Are you counting each 16 WHOLE sandwiches or halves? :blink:
 
If you make pancakes you can freeze them & reheat them in the toaster or microwave during the week. We do this fairly often. We chill & reheat leftover oatmeal too or bake it into breakfast bars with added dried fruit or chocolate chips.
 
YepBrook said:
Are you counting each 16 WHOLE sandwiches or halves? :blink:
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yep it was 16 WHOLE sandwiches...I know that is alot, but for some reason my kids seemed to be starving.....:D my 12 y/o and 7 y/o each ate 3 whole sandwiches, but luckily they were ful and not asking for anythign to eat before bedtime (which they ususally do) LOL!
 
nun69 said:
yep it was 16 WHOLE sandwiches...I know that is alot, but for some reason my kids seemed to be starving.....:D my 12 y/o and 7 y/o each ate 3 whole sandwiches, but luckily they were ful and not asking for anythign to eat before bedtime (which they ususally do) LOL!
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Holy cow, Angie. I now have a whole new understanding of your need to stretch the grocery bill! That's amazing that they each ate 3... I make one grilled cheese sandwich for each of us at dinner time (although I usually serve them with soup &fruit).

One thing I would suggest is to track hunger (I do this on Weight Watchers sometimes). Make notes of each meal, the portions eaten (servings) and how long it satisfies your family before they are begging for more food. :) You might find that the "budget" meals are costing you more money because your family is eating more of it or snacking afterwards.
 
nun69 said:
yep it was 16 WHOLE sandwiches...I know that is alot, but for some reason my kids seemed to be starving.....:D my 12 y/o and 7 y/o each ate 3 whole sandwiches, but luckily they were ful and not asking for anythign to eat before bedtime (which they ususally do) LOL!
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I feel your pain Angie - Cheyanne (12, almost 13) will eat 2 grilled cheese easily in a sitting along fruit or soup and water to drink, etc. I swear to god that she is a literal bottomless pit! Her brother ate a lot between 12 and 18 too but he was extremely active like she is. And she isn't remotely overweight and I swear burns it off a meal in 30 minutes flat. She's like a dang hummingbird :D She brings her own lunch to school and the teachers are amazed at what she puts away!
 
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mariewilcox said:
I feel your pain Angie - Cheyanne (12, almost 13) will eat 2 grilled cheese easily in a sitting along fruit or soup and water to drink, etc. I swear to god that she is a literal bottomless pit! Her brother ate a lot between 12 and 18 too but he was extremely active like she is. And she isn't remotely overweight and I swear burns it off a meal in 30 minutes flat. She's like a dang hummingbird :D She brings her own lunch to school and the teachers are amazed at what she puts away!
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Perhaps my kids are at the cusp of this? Ben will be 7 in June. As I was typing my response earlier he ate his lunch in about 5 seconds flat and was asking for seconds. Oh dear. :blink:
 
YepBrook said:
Perhaps my kids are at the cusp of this? Ben will be 7 in June. As I was typing my response earlier he ate his lunch in about 5 seconds flat and was asking for seconds. Oh dear. :blink:
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LOL Brook - so it begins! Wait until you get to the age when you have to start labeling things "DO NOT EAT - SAVING FOR DINNER" :D
 
I buy ham hocks with some meat on them pretty cheaply. I then get a 1 pound bag of red or black beans. Soak the beans overnight, drain, put them in a crockpot with 1 ham hock (you could probably do 2 lbs of bean with one ham hock), some chicken stock, garlic, s/p, bay leaf. Cook all day on low, then turn up to high with the lid off and mash them up. I serve with yellow rice, but you could serve with white or brown rice. I usually will pair that with some chicken taco meat, but last time I made it with some cut up polish sausage and that was dinner with some fruit on the side.

Plus - after we eat I divide up the beans and put half in the freezer for a few weeks from now and leave half out for left overs.

Do you have an Aldi or an Albertson's near you? Our Albertson's has boneless chicken for $1.89 or less on a regular basis. I buy 20-30 pounds at a time and bag one whole breast (or two split) in a bag a freeze. I use that for one dinner for 4 of us (10 and 14 yo girls). I just cut the chicken in to 4 servings, or if I really want to stretch it I cut it into chunks and everyone seems to eat less that way.

The chunk chicken is easy to make different ways - with stir fry veggies and rice, with butter, garlic and white wine over noodles for scampi, with lemon juice, olive oil, oregano and little feta cheese for greek and like Brook I make curries with it too. Makes things easier for me and a lot of these meals the meat is the smaller part of the meal. The rice and veggies steel the show.

For breakfasts I also am a big fan of pancakes or waffles, french toast if you have bread that is going stale. Eggs and bacon/sausage is never enough to fill my kids. Breakfast pizza is a big hit too. Use Jiffy mix to make the crust, bake the cruse and then put eggs, cheese and a little breakfast meat on top.
 
ohh I like the idea of breakfast pizza!!! I made fried rice today (huge pan) and it was a big hit with everybody but 1 and it was really filling! Abby even said "mom you have to make this every week" LOL!
 
mariewilcox said:
LOL Brook - so it begins! Wait until you get to the age when you have to start labeling things "DO NOT EAT - SAVING FOR DINNER" :D
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ROFL! I hear you.... I've got 3 teenage boys. You can imagine what my grocery bill is like.... food literally disappears. *sigh*
 
YepBrook said:
Perhaps my kids are at the cusp of this? Ben will be 7 in June. As I was typing my response earlier he ate his lunch in about 5 seconds flat and was asking for seconds. Oh dear. :blink:
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My 9 year old still varies a lot with quantity. At restaurants we won't let him order from the kids' menu anymore because when he does he wants a 2nd entree as soon as he finishes. But at home there are days he eats half a peanut butter sandwich and an apple for lunch and is full, and days he eats 2 full sandwiches, an apple, and a few yogurt tubes.
 
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