I have started various threads here looking for some good ideas to get our grocery bill down. What are your from scratch recipeis that require little moola. (Family of 3) We would like to get our grocery bill down to around $200 a month. WOULD BE FANTASTIC!

Also, DH has a terriable Soda addiction and we have to buy water b/c the tap water is not the best. Any tips on this?

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:muahahahah:

Nicole

WEll if you MUST buy soda, maybe you can purchase the 2 liter bottles instead of cans?? I buy a few of those weekly, at Walmart they Sam's Choice brand is only .58. I also buy water, because ours tastes terrible for drinking, a gallon costs .62, not too bad.

As far as recipes, I don't do alot of roasts unless they are REALLY on sale and I can get several meals out of them. I tend to try to buy in bulk when I can, and use lots of coupons. A CHEAP, easy meal that usually everyone loves is breakfast for supper. A box of pancake mix costs less then $2 and you will get about 4 meals out of one box. I usually cook up some bacon, and make a sauce with the frozen bluberries, and my family is fed for way less than $5 for the entire meal.

I also like the Betty Crocker box potoatoes, its cheaper than buying a bag of potatoes sometimes and I can get them almost free with coupons. So pair that with some meat and a frozen veg, and again, another cheap meal.

Hamburger helpers are usually very fairly priced, and you can pair those with some frozen veggies or a fresh salad, again, not very expensive at all.

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~Missy~Mommy
Meghan8.Samantha7,Cameron4

One of dh's favorite meals is really simple:
Saute some spinach (fresh or frozen) in olive oil, add a can of diced tomatoes and a can or white beans. Serve over pasta. Dh prefers to dump cheese over his; I don't care for it that way. I guess any green can be used in place of the spinach. We grow swiss chard in our garden, so I generally have tons of that. Using dried beans reduces the cost even more.

Have you tried using a water filter pitcher like Brita?

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~Jeweled

For water have you tried the Brita/etc for the faucet. When we lived in another city we used that instead of the pitcher because we would forget to put more water in. It was fast and cheaper than buying water. However, if you still need to buy try the 2-3 galloons instead of the 1 water jug it may be cheaper.

We love meatballs, chicken pot pie.....

If you buy the hamburg on sale than it is wonderful. I make 10 lbs at a time and bake them in the oven instead of fry. Also, when chicken quarters on are sale for 29 cents a pound buy a lot and bake in the oven. Then you can pick the bones and use the chicken meat in other dishes. If you want than you can use the bones and little bit of meat to make stock and have chicken noodle soup.

If you want my recipes feel free to PM me.

We also have nasty city water and we use a Pur faucet filter. It cost about $15 (after coupon) up front and every 3-4 months costs about $18 for a replacement filter. Don't know if that's cheaper for you or not.

I've got most of my meals for 3 down below $5. My DH's favorite is Junk-Over-Rice. Cook some burger, saute in a stir-fry type veggie mix (I use frozen pre-mixed) add some spaghetti sauce and serve over rice. I think this one is around $4.50 and we usually have enough left over for someone's lunch.

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I am my son's mom & my husband's wife.

I am cutting my grocery bill right now, too.

We are in the same boat as far as Soda and Water, too. I buy 24 packs of water (we are on the go a lot) and costs about 3.00 at our walmart. I have to have Pepsi, but I save by buying the liters at walmart or sometimes other grocers when they have a big sale.

My fave cheap recipes are spaghetti and meatballs, chicken quesadillas, cheese enchilladas, meatloaf, etc. This week I am also adding in the recipe for keilbasa casserole that blessedwith6 posted.

We have also given up "convenience" foods which took a TON off of our bill. No more lean cuisines, or gummy snacks makes a big difference.

p.s. one night a week of tuna or hamburger helper is cheap. and one night of breakfast for dinner is also frugal. and I am sure your dd would love it, mine do!

Here is one of my proudest "frugalest" recipes. I refuse to buy creamed soup anymore. This tastes so much better and is better for you.

Cream Soup Mix
2 C instant nonfat dry milk
3/4 C cornstarch
1/4 c reduced sodium chicken or beef bouillon
1/2 tsp dried crushed thyme & basil
1/4 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients using a blender. Store in airtight container. Use as a replacement for canned cream soups in recipes. To substitute for one can of condensed cream soup, stir together 1/2 C dry mix and 1 cup water in saucepan. Cook and stir until thickened.

The original recipe calls for using 1/3 C mix & 1 C water, but I found that it didn't get quite thick enough. I also make it in the microwave. I use my 2 C pyrex measuring cup, and cook for 1 min. stir, repeat until thickened. It will thicken as it sits also. It usually takes about 3-4 minutes cooking time. I usually start first, that way, by the time you need it, it has thickened nicely. I have two jars mixed up in my pantry one for beef & one for chicken. I use the beef for cream of mushroom soup.

I have a PUR water filter hooked right up to my sink, which we purchased for about $30.00 with a coupon. You can get the replacement filters at Sams club for quite a lot cheaper, but you have to buy them in a five or six pack. (I think they're around $40.00 for the refill pack, anywhere else they are about $20.00 each) We saved enough money buying those filters at Sams to pay for our membership there for a year. I was happy! Plus its soo much cheaper than buying water. I just refill a plastic pitcher with filtered water and keep it in the fridge so its cold.

As for saving money on groceries, I like to buy turkeys or chickens when they're on sale, and see how many meals I can make out of them. You can roast them and serve with mashed potatoes or your favorite sides for a weekend meal with your family, then use leftovers to make sandwiches for the week instead of buying deli meat (five or six dollars a pound for sliced deli meat is wayyy too much) Also, as one other person suggested you can boil the bones down for stock. I rarely throw bones away without first doing this.

I bake from scratch almost everything sweet my family eats, and try to make bread at least once a week also - the more you stay away from processed stuff, the more you'll save, not to mention its healthier for your family.

I have come to the realization that the fewer trips I can make to the grocery store, the less I'll spend for the month. I try going for at least one week each month without going grocery shopping at all, and force myself to use items that are already overflowing out of my cupboards and freezer. I think I've been throwing away a lot less food by doing this.

I've really enjoyed reading all these tips because I am also trying to save money on groceries. We decided that we would probably save money if we didn't shop quite so often so we bought enough groceries for two weeks the last time we went (last weekend). We spent the same amount of money on two weeks worth of groceries as we usually do on one! We were very careful about what we spent money on (no cans of soda, only a couple of "cheap" 2 liter bottles). We also bought more store-brand stuff. Most of it tastes pretty close to name brand stuff (except we refuse to buy store brand peanut butter, yuck!). I also agree on the "breakfast" for dinner plan. As a matter of fact, I think that's what we'll have tomorrow night for dinner.