Help me feed my family!

[momofkali]

Ok so we have hit a rough patch and I need some ideas on how to feed a family of 5 for under $10 a day.

Also I seriously need to lose some weight so if you like to bug people bug me.
I am going vegetarian, trying to go mostly raw and need to exercise.

I need a bootcamp coach, anyone want to keep me motivated and get to push me around?

[Sally888]

Have you looked at the hillbilly housewife site for cheap meals? http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/

[momofkali]

Thanks, I checked it out a little while ago but it just seems to be so much white flour.
That and the prices of where whe lives are almost half of what we would pay here.

So her $70 menu is still over $100 here. Plus almost all the fruits and veggies are frozen or canned. I don't mind them sometimes but it just doesn't seem too healthy

[Midnightly]

it's soo tricky you have to make teh choice in being cheap/affordable or healthy

could you take the white flour recipies and use whole wheat?

[Littlemoe0]

Geez it would be real tough to do that on $10 a day, just think how much milk costs alone. I'm behind ya 100% if ya want someone to crack a whip, but I gotta tell ya, I wouldn't be tough enough.
Soups, pasta and potatoes go along way, but then with the last two your dealing with so much starch.
Produce in the summer is great, but in the winter it will set you back much more.

Maybe folks could post healthy low cost recipes in the thread for you.

[GoddessDigi]

Hamburger Helper can be your best friend (well, the cheap version, anyway).
Just requires a bit of milk, some meat and what's in the box.
I make it once a week (because my husband and his little sister adore the beef stroganoff..for some reason) and it's around $10 to feed all 3 of us (but my husband is a bit of a pig, he eats 4 bowls!) so that should be good for you.

[cabmonk]

Btw, Frozen veggies are just fine. They are usually flash frozen when fresh, often within an hour of being picked or harvested and retain most of their goodness.

[Natalka]

There is absolutely wrong with frozen veggies - they are just as nutritious as fresh.
Sometimes they are MORE nutritious.
"Frozen vegetables have been picked at the peak of their ripeness, and immediately flash frozen. As a result, all of the minerals and vitamins are locked in, ready for your benefit. This means that in some cases, frozen vegetables might be more nutritious than vegetables purchased from the produce aisle which have been sitting for weeks. Frozen vegetables may also have the outer cellulose layer already broken as a result of the freezing, making it easier for your body to digest the vegetables." (wisegeek)

Keep in mind, though, that this is just frozen vegetables which are JUST the vegetables - not the ones packaged with sauces, etc.

[Natalka]

Ok, that said - I cook meals serving six to eight people, very cheaply.
I'll focus on the evening meal, since that's usually where the biggest cost goes. For breakfast, totally depends upon the things your family likes - cheaper to make oatmeal than to buy prepackaged; fruit in season, if not use canned; scrambled eggs with toast, etc. For lunches, sammies and soup; simple pasta dishes, etc.
I rarely used prepackaged stuff for cooking - just have a few things in the freezer for times when I'm ill, etc. and can't manage cooking a full meal.
Otherwise - some examples of meatless meals we do are:
- 400g pollock fillets - 3.49 (I won't remember the prices of everything!), I just bake them in the oven with lemon and seasonings; serve with pasta or rice, salad and veggies.

Lazy Cabbage Rolls Casserole
(with or without meat)

1 cup rice (short grain is best, but long is okay)
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt, few shakes pepper
1 Tablespoon margarine
----
1 medium onion, chopped
3 Tablespoons margarine
(option - 1 pound lean ground beef)
3 cups shredded cabbage
1 can tomato soup; 1 can water
salt, pepper, dill

Cook rice the way you usually do. I nuke mine.
In a dutch oven, cook onion in margarine til softened. (If using ground beef, add now and cook til pink is gone.)
Add cabbage, stir around, and keep cooking and mixing maybe five minutes til it wilts a bit.
Add salt and pepper to taste; I also add several shakes of dill.
Put this in a 9x13 baking dish, add rice and mix together well. Add a can of tomato soup, and a can of water, and mix all together.
Cover with foil. Bake 350 degrees about 45 minutes. Uncover, let sit 5 minutes. Mix and serve!
----------------
omelettes and salad
canned tuna/salmon casserole - or I make patties from one or the other, and bake in the oven, serve with veggies and salad and/or pasta
Homemade soup - any and all varieties which tickle your fancy. Serve with any bread/buns, I often make a biscuit-like focaccia to go with, or a quickbread loaf.
Perogies - can get on sale, No name are fine; making your own is cheap!
Homemade pizza with veggie toppings, shrimp (3.99 big bag on sale), or fake crab (flavoured pollock) - then I mix up my own 'seafood sauce' instead of using just tomato sauce.

I'm going to stop now... cause I could go on and on....
I've had to be very frugal with cooking for the past decade or so, so there's lots to share!

[cabmonk]

Thanks, that cabbage roll one sounds good.

[S J]

lentil soup is another cheap + healthy + filling alternative.

just put one cup lentil{your choice} + 4 cups water + whatever veggies you have at home or can buy cheap add salt and seasoning and let it simmer for hours till it reaches your desired consistency . voila you have a healthy dish which will fill up your entire family . cost is in your hand how much veggies you wanna put.

[gourmetsue]

make your own stocks and use them in other recipes. a couple of carrots, onions, leeks and celery with dried herbs go a long way in making a tasty veggie stock.

I've make veggie chili from the yves website too. I use the ground "chicken" some canned tomatoes, couple of cans of white beans, carrot, celery and onion and voila! Tasty, healthy and uber yummy. this would be great in a crockpot. PM me and I can send you the recipe if you like.

I also make our own no knead bread. SUPER easy and I use kamut or spelt flour mixed with some white. Now kamut and spelt are pretty expensive if you're feeding lots of people, but you could easily use whole wheat. And honestly it's a super easy recipe. Just mix the flours, salt and yeast for a couple of minutes, let rise 18 hours and then fold in on itself, let rise 2 hours and cook in a pre-heated pot with a top. Again pm me if you want the recipe.

Good luck!!

[khipson]

For cheap cooking - get your hands on a real Mennonite cookbook or one like "More With Less". I have that one and it is really good - simple recipes with simple ingredients.

Some sites you might find good advice on... frugalvillage.com, frugalmom.net

I love Tosca Reno's Clean Eating plans but they aren't always the cheapest so you need to watch that. The Natural Makeover Diet is another one that creates really good results and is super-healthy, but you'll have to make your own budget decisions.

The biggest advice I can give you is to PLAN. When frozen veggies are on sale, buy a lot. Throughout the produce season, hit the farm markets and get busy with freezing or dehydrating. Plant a garden this spring - don't go crazy because it can cost a fortune, but start one. Cherry tomatoes and green peppers both grow really well in pots in a sunny porch. Plant herbs on your kitchen windowsill.

Good luck!! It can be done, but it takes work.

[Natalka]

khipson, great idea about the Mennonite recipes - some yummy cooking there!
Lots online too.
This is my fave site - and she has gluten-free recipes, too.
http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/

[jaba]

stack at LD! I know they don't have much food, but they do have catelli healthy harvest pasta, there are tonnes of coupons for these (save.ca, gocoupons, some in booklets found at safeway). This pasta can come out really cheap or free and it's good for you, just add some sauce and it's a pretty yummy and healthy meal.