What do you spend on food for a week?

[SandraMort]

AHHHH yes, raw is a horse of a different color.

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I was refering to RAW milk. Not pasturized. It takes effort to get the pure milk these days. Raw milk and pasturized milk are as different as night and day.

 

[SandraMort]

When people count food as being 0, where is the money coming from budgetwise? Paying for half a steer up front saves lots, but it's still part of food costs. If you're hunting, the licenses, bullets and other gun costs have to count, too (don't ask me what's involved, I don't hunt, I just know it's not free)

I just think 0 is misleading in the long run if you're looking at budgets.

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[SandraMort]

Wow. Are people buying them up to process? That's free meat, pretty much...

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[SandraMort]

How??? I bought conventionally grown ingredients to make lentil soup this week and am being stingy with vegetables for the sake of budget.

1 Lentils
1 Half a $2 small bunch of celery
.60 One fifth of a $3 five pound bunch of carrots
1 Three small parsnips
1 Some potatoes from a $3.50 five pound bag
? A bunch of onion flakes from the closet
? Onion broth powder from the closet
? Herbs/spices/salt/pepper

So I can put together a pot of soup for under 5 dollars plus closet staples, but it's nowhere near generous with the veggies

Another week, I'd have several more veggies in it and lots more of each one.

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[s6bee]

Thanks for the food ministries site. I may see what it is all about, but I tend to cook in larger amounts for leftovers. That however might be someplace I could get food for my son at college. He's sort of local, but staying on campus, we did not get him food plan so this is something we can maybe offer him instead. He likes to cook and they have a full kitchen in his room. Hmmm.

 

[ginasmarans]

We spend between $120-$150/week for a family of 4. This pretty much includes personal items as well. Some weeks it's a little more,depending on if we have run out of alot of things. We had a garden and I put food up,so we buy mostly meat,bread,milk and such as that and lunch items. When things are really tight though,I can feed us on about $50/week. I will buy a large inexpensive roast and feed it for 2 days and on the 3rd day,it turns into soup,which goes for a couple of more days. Chicken & dressing or dumplings is another meal good for left overs,as well as spaghetti.

 

[wishin4chicken]

My husband teases me that we can get more meals out of a roast chicken. Roast chicken the first night. Chicken casserole the second and third nights and then chicken/rice soup with tons of veggies. For the two of us, that's almost a whole week's meals on one chicken. The soup is our favorite meal with a salad, homemade bread and a glass of wine.

Note to self:

Must roast a chicken tonight!

Michele.

 

[Backyard Buddies]

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The recipe comes from The New Americana Cookbook by Sherri Eldridge. The subtitle of the book is "A Heart-Healthy Excursion Through Regional Cuisines." and much of what you listed in your lentil recipe isn't in hers, so perhaps that's why this version is less expensive. I think this book is out of print, but I see some very inexpensive listings on places like Ebay and some of the online bookstores.

It has a pound each of Split Peas and Lentils. I think I paid 75 cents a pound for them this last time, but I can get them cheaper when they're on sale in the bulk bins at Henry's. $1.50 or less.
Water - no broth at all. Cost - virtually zero.
Onions - if you grow them - free. If you buy them, 50 cents.
Carrots - free if you grow them. 50 - 60 cents if you buy them.
Celery - .33 cents.
Garlic - free if you grow it, .25 cents if you buy it.
The rest is seasonings you'd have around the house - a little soy sauce, bay leaves, rosemary (I have a bush, you may have to buy if you don't), cloves, salt and pepper.

So, $1.50 plus less than $1.60 in veggies, plus whatever you'd pay for any of those other spices. This falls just over $3.00 for a HUGE pot of soup/stew. It's pretty thick, filling, has lots of protein, no fat, and lots of good flavors from the veggies and herbs. It's even better the second day, which you'll definitely have unless you're feeding an army.

Hmmm. I think I'll go throw all this in the crockpot. Thanks for the idea for dinner!

 

[SandraMort]

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Yeah, a dollar a pound here.

Water - no broth at all. Cost - virtually zero.

OK...

Onions - if you grow them - free. If you buy them, 50 cents.
Carrots - free if you grow them. 50 - 60 cents if you buy them.
Celery - .33 cents.
Garlic - free if you grow it, .25 cents if you buy it.

LOL! I think your grocery store must have MUCH better prices than mine. 33 cents of celery might be a stalk here -- I just paid 1.50 or 2 for a small head. I paid $3 for a 5 pound bag of carrots, so if I only use 1 pound of carrots, it would be 60 cents, but I wouldn't call 1 pound in a whole pot LOTS of vegetables. Onions would probably cost me a couple of dollars - they run about a dollar each for big ones.​

 

[MissPrissy]

I often bulk shop.

I can get garlic heads for 10 cents or less each. I usually get 20 - 30 heads at a time. We use a lot of garlic.

I on occassion find the 10lb bags of carrots for $2 or less - check Sam's, BJ's etc.

If I don't buy celery hearts or organic I can find it for under $1 a bunch.

Onions I buy in 25 - 50 lb bags. I grew up with Valdalia onions so the others just don't appeal to me and I buy the bulk favorites when possible.

Those 3 things (garlic, onions, celery) are staples in my kitchen. Most every broth contains all 4 and most every dish starts out with onions and garlic at the very least.

You can do a lot with beans and rice. I buy those in bulk too. usually 25 - 50 lbs of basmati rice. It lasts a very long time.

I think alot of people get stuck in a rut and end up serving the same old things in the same old way and don't realize they have a gourmet meal in their pantry just waiting to be brought to life.

It takes little effort to grow herbs that can take any dish from plain jane to asain, latino, tex-mex or southern comfort. Small bits of meat cook can be made to seem as if your dish is overflowing if you are willing to put some effort into your meals.