Hello all,

Now that I'm at home with my kids, I'm trying to streamline our food expenses. For a family of 4 (kids are 4y and 2m), we spend anywhere from $400-$600/mo in groceries. And then for those nights where what I made wasn't fully satisfying, we spend more on take out or trips to the convenience store.

Being that he is on a weight loss program and weight training is a major part of it, he requires lots of protein. But his preference is eating meat. I know that cutting back on meat and protein will leave him feeling hungrier and force him to eat things that will make him gain more weight.

To eliminate the need to get take-out, I'm trying to keep protein rich foods he likes in the freezer, like making chicken tenders, meatballs, grilled chicken breast - I can make them homemade instead of the frozen prepackaged kind. I shop only at Redner's, and I'm going to take a trip to Aldi's next week. It makes me cringe that I'm spending $100+ a week on groceries, just for the basics with no snacks, soda, cereal.

Food is expensive in my area, but I know I have to do better. Please help me how.

Thanks,
Jen

I don't have many answers for you but it sounds like you are doing lots of things right by making stuff homemade. Will your husband eat other sources of protein like beans, peanut butter, eggs, etc. You can make a quiche or frittata with lots of eggs for pretty cheap - add in a little sausage or ham. Beans can be a main dish or added to lots of other foods. I add a handful of lentils a lot when I cook rice. I don't really taste them too much since I cook them till they are mushy and they just blend in with the rice. Add refried beans to any mexican meal. Soup is also something that fills you up w/o adding too many calories so serving soup with any meal will fill you up more. What about having some healthy easy snacks around instead of running to convenience store - cut up veggies, apples, grapes, tortillas to throw in microwave with cheese. Simple easy and still healthy. Good luck keeping that man full!

Lou

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Better to give your kids the values you have
than the valuables you can't afford.

Ok, this is a big investment but can pay off in the long run... but check out your local butcher for meat. See about buying a quarter or half at a time - that should help save money in the long run. Of course this only works if you have a freezer large enough.

Do popcorn and I don't mean the microwave kind. Pop it yourself in an air popper or the stove top - it is much cheaper than microwave. You can add tons of toppings. I like parmesaen, try taco seasoning, chilli seasoning. It is cheap and filling. Get Aldi's cheap crackers (taste the same as major brands) and make pb sandwiches your 4 yr old will probably like them as well as your dh - mine would::

Let us know how cheap you want to get - some of us can come up with some pretty crazy ideas....

Rachel

Do you have any 'bulk' warehouses in your area?? *I only buy meat a few times a year, and I spend a couple hundred each time. *I watch for the sales at certain store, then just stock up. *Like if I can get 10 hamburger real cheap, I do that and just put it in 1 lb portions in the freezer. Same with pork, I buy a whole loin for about$15 then cut it up into chops for about 5 meals. * Buy a whole turkey and cook it at once, then just clean off the bones and put the meat in the freezer, save it for other meals. *You can also boil the bone with some salt, pepper, sage, garlic, and onion powder to make a nice stock that you can use for other recipes.

When you make tacos or something along those lines, add a can of kidney beans to it. It will stretch out the meat, while adding protein to it.

When I go shopping, I only buy hamburger, seems I always need that, and chicken breasts. But I shop at Walmart and can get the bag of flash frozen breasts, there are about 6 of them in a bag. *I only use about 2 at a time, I cut them into pieces and use them in my stir fry or bread them for chicken fingers. *They are huge. *

Plus I started buying all my cleaning supplies with Melalueca so I don't spend money on that anymore when I shop too. I just do one bulk order a month with them, I spend about $60 and it gets me through for the month.

My average grocery shopping bill lately has been around $60 a week, and I shop at WAlmart Super center. *

HTHs!

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~Missy~Mommy
Meghan7.Samantha6,Cameron4

A Pirate's Life for ME!!

we have a piggly wiggly here we go to it only for meat as evrything there is REALLY cheap and the meat is good quality.... we spent like 25.00 two weeks ago and we are just now almost out and have to go back.. I have like 7 cube steak left still....

But we again only got there for the meat as everythign else is pretty ridiculious

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