Food Budget Help!

[barredrocker]

coupons

 

[MamaRoo]

Regardless of the number of words. Something more is going on

I agree with this. Maybe she's depressed about something (their financial situation?) and is doing the avoidance thing by going out to eat.​

 

[maclady]

Menu plan, I use a calendar and put a meal in for each day with input from 2 kids & hubby. I usually leave a couple days blank to eat out. We switch meals around to suit what is going on each day. Some days you just have more time to cook than others. If you are not a great cook then recipes will really help. Try checking out allrecipes.com. They have stuff for budgets, fancy, and just about everything in between. There are also reviews of each recipe to see what people who made them think of them. Excellent online resource. The menu plan and coupons/sales have helped me slash a food budget for four. Two teen boys, hubby and myself and we all love to eat. You could try making the cooking something you do together. Some couples enjoy it. I wish you luck with the cooking/relationship. and

 

[vclark321]

The hardest part of the whole thing is changing your taste buds. Fat, salt, sugar are the what our mouths are used to. I eat a mostly meat free diet and I make a huge pot of beans and rice. I used brown rice and different beans for different flavors. I can use this as a base for soup, stir fry, side dish, lunch, but mostly by its self. I use cheap meat for slow cooking and I build from that. I only buy veggies and fruit for a day or 2 rather than the week so it doesn't go bad before I have a chance to eat it. Planning your meals for the week or 2 weeks so you can see what is in the fridge and cupboards and what you need to get. Scour adds for sales and find out which stores have a double coupon day.

It is hard to retrain taste buds to eat differently, but it can be done. Good luck with the budget....

 

[Mama duck 8]

Wow that is a whole lot of money for chicken feed... how much does your chicken feed cost mine costs 12 bucks for a 50lb bag.. and each month i spend about 50 bucks on feed...and I have like 30 chickens and 5 ducks.

 

[hendrygg]

We mostly eat fast food. Pizzas, Taco bell, Cane's. Fairly cheap stuff but still too expensive. I've tried making her gumbo, jambalaya, burgers, salads, chicken and rice. It just sits in the fridge and goes to waste.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Taco bell lovers might like homemade quesadillas.

Buy sliced cheese and look on internet for tortilla recipe (flour and water needed). Yum!!!

 

[mom'sfolly]

Sounds to me like she doesn't much like real food, and may have little experience with it. Most fast food is loaded with salt, fat and other things. They make the food taste good, but they aren't very good for you. When I was doing a weight loss program, the nutritionist that worked with the program basically said the reason you can't make your homemade food taste exactly the same is because of the amount of fat, salt and flavor enhancers used in restaurant food. Just for kicks, look up the nutrition info on her favorite foods, and for an extra kick look up some of the salads at Chili's.

I think she may be conditioned to the fast food. I would start simple, and not cave. It's like with a little kid, if they are hungry enough, they will eat it. Making tacos at home is easy, or a quesadilla with chicken and cheese. You can even buy precooked chicken, and it will be cheaper than the fast food. Maybe start with stuff like Frito Pie made with fritos, canned chili and cheese. It will taste more familiar to her than the jambalaya, and still be cheap. It is still not exactly a nutritional choice, but better than the fast food.

check out the quesadilla explosion salad...

http://www.chilis.com/EN/LocationSpecificPDF/MenuPDF/001.005.0000/Chilis_Nutrition_Menu_Generic.pdf

http://www.tacobell.com/nutrition/information

 

[Elite Silkies]

Try these tacos: I'll try my best to explain it. Add the hamburger to the skillet with some water, once it is done cooking leave the water in, it is what makes the tacos really greasy. Add seasoning, I use the Taco Bell Seasoning, since my family loves Taco Bell.

Then I buy the soft corn tortilla's and fry them for 10 seconds on each side. It leaves them soft, but they are delicious! Add whatever you like, lettuce, onions, cheese, tomato, sour cream..............

I also buy the Taco Bell Sauce. If she doesn't like these taco's, she is toooooo spoiled

My Taco's put Taco Bell to shame!

I also put the Original Catalina Dressing on mine, my aunt who taught me how to make these tacos uses French Dressing. My husband loves Taco Bell, he'll eat mine over Taco Bell anyday!

 

[HeatherLynn]

When we go out and everyone really loves something, I try to copy it at home. Homemade mexican pizzas are so yummy, tons better than going out. O'charlies loaded potatoe soup. Dead easy. Potato soup but made with milk instead and a can of chedder cheese soup. A bit of shreeded cheese and fried bacon sprinkled on top. Yummy Texas Road House green beans. Even easier. saute minced garlic with LOTS of bacon, then just toss in the green beans and a bit of butter and let in all cook together a bit. So yummy.

All of these things can be made on a budget. You might also really look into making a list of recipes that you can both agree on. Have a goal of only eating out once a week or once a month. Something you can stick with. Then buy basics that you can cook with. I would also start split cooking 50/50. I will admit I do 100% of our cooking but my husband is appreciative of my effort and even if he doesn't care for something he will eat some. I do try to avoid those things he really cannot stand.

I know some people are super picky though. I have a grown niece who only eats stuff dipped in ketchup. No fruits and only a couple veggies and steak. Thats it. When she was pregnant she ate saltines and ketchup as a meal. gross. You really cannot please that kind of picky.