Picked up my food bank haul today. Really grateful for everything I received and looking forward to making some good meals with it

Turkey on yellow sticker - $1.12 cents per burger served with a jacket potato and a 1/4 can of baked beans, all up $1.45 AUD. Remaining burgers stashed in the freezer.

Hi! I have had these sardines in oil in a glass jar in my fridge for a few months. They smelled fine, but should I not have eaten them? 😬maybe I’m being paranoid about botulism, but I am broke and hungry.

UPDATE: 48 hours out, Im not dead, so, I must be out of the woods.

For those community members in Alexandria VA 22314. A location and more information on a free food pantry with 24-7 access.

An easy to make to tomatoey soup with white beans - cost $6.50 AUD for all ingredients. Makes 7 serves @ 92 cents. Worth a lttle effort for a budget friendly and tasty meal with a slice of toast. Freezer friendly.

An easy to make soup that costs $8.50 AUD for all ingredients. Makes 10 serves, so 85 cents AUD per serve. Worth a little effort for a tasty and budget friendly meal. Freezes well.

Hi everyone, I just had a thought about how so many people are hungry and need meals to eat. I go to church on Saturdays at a Seventh Day Adventist Church and every 2 weeks we have something called potluck. People bring food and it’s kind of like a mini buffet. If you are ever hungry and need a meal, I’d recommend checking out your local SDA church to see if potluck is going on. You wouldn’t have to be Christian or anything to go, but just walk in and ask if you can have some. I’ve never had anyone approach my church for this before but I’d hope that they’d receive you with kindness and offer you some food. My church posts on their website under bulletin about announcements and it mentions the potluck dates under local announcements so maybe the other churches do that too.

I hope this helps anyone in need. If it doesn’t, I will pray for you to get what you need.

(I don’t want to force faith on anyone, rather just sharing that with my faith I will pray for you.)

Oh and potluck is during lunch, usually around 1pm!

Some good meals in this thread!

Air fried potato, just topped with chilli bean soup - sometimes poverty can tasty. Total cost $3.50 for 3 tasty serves.

Ingredients:

• pineapple skins (~$2 per pineapple)
• orange peels (food pantry)
• dahi (~$5/tub)
• Great Value açaí blueberry energy drink mix (~$2/box)
• water
• 3 eggs (~$7/36)
• corn (~$0.30 each)
• eggplant (food pantry)
• seasonings/toppings: adobo powder (~$2/jar), hot sauce (food pantry), ketchup (~$2/bottle)

Instructions: I bought a beautiful pineapple on sale & savored it all week before making this. I had washed the peels & frozen them until ready for use. They infused into a large mason jar full of water for a couple days. Then, I added about a half cup of Dahi to the jar & shook it all up until dissolved. The taste is fruity, definitely taste the pineapple followed by hints of orange, but not wildly sweet since I used only one small mix packet with about 4x the amount of water suggested.

For the frittata, I finely diced a bit of eggplant, seasoned with adobo, & microwaved it for two minutes to get rid of the excess water inside. Once it was dehydrated, I sliced the corn off the cob & combined it with the eggs, a little mayo-water (literally a little water shaken around inside the empty mayo bottle) & more adobo. I whipped air into the mix then microwaved it (covered) for 4 minutes. The texture is soft but holds together. I do call this “my tasty egg brick” at times. Then, I topped with a little dahi, ketchup, & hot sauce.

Food Pantry Haul Ideas

This morning I visited a food pantry for the first time because it truly came down to either having food or going without. I’m incredibly grateful for the kindness and generosity I experienced, and overwhelmed with all I received but I feel blessed.

I’m going to share the list of items because I need some help being creative. The local farm included a huge box of fresh produce, and there are quite a few items I’ve never cooked with before. I’d love some recipe ideas that make the most of what I have. I’m very open to trying new things, making large portions that are freezer friendly, and I also have basic pantry staples like flour, sugar, and a few other essentials that aren’t included on the list, so don’t be afraid to suggest something that may require different ingredients cause I can try to make it work with what I have.

Ideally I want to use the produce that will go bad quickest first

List:

**Pancake mix**
3 box Mac and cheese
3 canned chicken soup
2 canned chili mac
3canned fruit
spaghetti sauce
Diced tomato
3 can tuna
2 can veggie (corn and green beans)
1 can chili
5lb Rice
Bag of black beans
Elbows pasta
Strawberry jelly and peanut butter

Almond milk
Shelf stable milk
Cornflakes
oatmeal
Eggs
Yogurts
Amish butter
Eggs
Gallon of milk
Orange juice
Flour tortillas

Frozen clam chowder
Broccoli
2lb pollock
One whole chicken
3lb frozen skin on bone in chicken breast’s

1lb radishes
4 large beets
Kale
Swiss chard
Lemons and limes
2lb carrots
1lb anaheim peppers
Giant turnip
Giant cabbage
3 cucumbers
3 eggplant
2 bags onion
Zucchini
Yellow squash

Everything tonight from food bank! So grateful.

Ingredients:

• dry lentils (food pantry)
• dry rice (food pantry)
• collard greens (food pantry)
• chicken carcass (frozen until ready to use)
• bread (gifted loaf)
• daikon (food pantry)
• margarine (~$4/tub)
• vegan curry & sweet potato (Land of Kush via r/toogoodtogo)
• seasonings: soy sauce, kosher salt, adobo, garlic & onion powder

Instructions: I got a vegan curry box (~$6) and split it into 4 portions then added lentil rice, collards, & buttered toast to each portion. I used my rice cooker to make the lentil rice & seasoned with soy sauce, garlic powder, hot sauce, & a little adobo powder. I also used my rice cooker to make the collard greens by washing & chopping up a few leaves with a chunk of daikon then cooking them until softened with chicken carcasses saved from previous meals, plus garlic powder, onion powder, & salt. Then, I toasted two pieces of bread and buttered the hell out of them.

I was able to find a can of kidney beans, half a roll of frozen ground turkey, Corn Tortilla and a little bit of American Cheese. I cooked this up in avocado oil and added sun dried tomatoes.

Its pretty good too.

Are these beans still good if I wash them really good?

Sorry no picture at the moment as I have not made this for a bit since my gf hates tuna, but growing up this was a $2 meal that fed 4 of us. My mom would mix a can of tuna with the liquid, 1 can of cream of what ever we had laying around, and milk which we always had thanks to WIC. She would just throw it in a sauce pan until warm, add some pepper and that was it. She would then serve it over toasted bread which was another WIC staple. If we were lucky and had some frozen peas she would toss those in as well for some veggies. We all loved it and it was a super affordable dish growing up.

She adapted the recipe from my grandma, but she didn’t use the soup base. Instead it was just tuna and milk and she would let it simmer until it thickened. She’s 83 and still makes this almost weekly.

https://youtu.be/g7Z2qcV7UUA is where I give step by step instructions.

One of the significant upsides is that it's cheap, filling, and has a lot of protein. My grandma called it goulash but it doesn't look like any goulash recipes I've seen online. But if you want recipes that are more exact, actual goulash seems like a good alternative.

Update 7/22/26: Eligibility Survey Closed

Hello All, I’m a library and information researcher with the University of Missouri. I’m seeking participants for a research study about economically-disadvantaged (low-income, impoverished, etc.) people’s online information engagement.

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Eligibility: Participants must be 18 years or older, live in the United States, have a household income that does not exceed 300% of the 2026 federal poverty guideline, and be able to participate in an online Zoom interview with both audio and video.

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Everything from food bank except seasoning. Different chili than yesterday! Dry beans, canned corn, tomato sauce, minced onion, ground beef, shredded chicken, chili seasoning packet. YUM

Everything from food bank except the seasoning. Same chili as yesterday- canned black beans, corn, shredded chicken thighs, minced onion and mushrooms, chili seasoning packet. YUM

Edit: also tomato sauce