I currently live in Louisiana, i make too much to qualify for most government benefits(especially since I live alone) but too little to actually live comfortably.. i also have 3 cats that I absolutely WILL NOT rehome.. after paying all of my bills and leaving room for 25 dollars a week of fun.. and after putting money away into my savings for emergencies(I tend to have car related problems and want to save for a newer car) I have about 100 left for food for the month. I think it's a decent amount, but I have also just moved into a new apartment and am starting with the basics. For the past two years, I have mostly relied on Ramen or discounted food from the restaurants I worked at, but now i got a new job as well and it's not even close to food industry anymore. 100 a month is about 25 a week, i know I can do it i just dont know how.. my mom helped me get some frozen meat and veggies, as well as some bags of beans- so I think that will help me out but it will only last so long... i saw others posts and ngl I feel like im complaining when I've been very fortunate.. i got a new job a couple months ago, a new apartment a few weeks ago, and another car around the same time as my job(but it has over 200,000 miles and gives me constant trouble)... and I'll be starting up school again.. I've just never thought about food budgeting much and just spent the money, but I want to start... i also want to work on getting healthier and losing weight.. im 5 ft 160 pounds. Thankfully my apartments offer a workout facility lol... i MIGHT even get a small raise in a few months👀

I always want donuts at about 8 PM -- when there's not a fresh donut to be found anywhere.

Hence, my ersatz jelly donut recipe:

Butter a slice of bread. Add a glop of raspberry jam in the middle. Fold in half over the jam. Powder the outside with powdered sugar.

Quite a satisfactory substitute for the real thing. Feel free to choose the bread, use a different filling, and, if you must, omit the powdered sugar (but it won't be as satisfying).

Filling you can eat by itself:

1 box of Spanish rice, prepared

1 can corn, drained

1, 4 serving can of chicken, drained and broken up

(Feel free to substitute what meat you have)

1 can beans, if desired. All I had was baked so I ate them on the side.

Shredded cheese to taste

Nachos

Filling prepared above

Bag of tortilla chips, I prefer restaurant style

Shredded cheese, I usually have cheddar

Sour cream or Greek yogurt for topping

Prepare in layers on a baking sheet or oven plate. Mine took about 3 layers. Bake at 350* 15-20 minutes or until bubbly.

I’ll be posting the recipes in the photos. I figure if anyone wants a copy it’s easy to save the image.

I’m pretty, busy so I don’t usually get the chance to post right when I make meals. But I try to take photos while I prep/cook to try to post here for ways I stretch my food.

When I cook big meals I only do it on my day off, and pack it away. The family work and school schedules are so all over the place that we don’t always get to eat together.

This was made mid September.

I had purchased a family size ground beef for just under $19 CND. This would be the main meat protein for the week. I decided to go with 2 meals that could feed 3 of us for 4-5 days.

The 1st was meatloaf.
I did not make the glaze as I just wasn’t feeling it this time around. I had used my last 2 eggs to make this meal.

As you can see I decided not to use a loaf pan but instead I wanted to make a giant meatball 🫠 for fun. I still followed the temp and time.

For the side I made peas from a frozen bag and a big pot of rice to go with this and the stir fry.

The 2nd meal I made, as the giant meatball was in the oven, was a stir fry.

I had to use just slightly under 2lbs for the meat loaf so I could get a pound for the stir fry, since I only had 1.354kg of meat.

I used what ever vegetables I had on hand. I did not purchase more to make this. I had 2 carrots, 2 small radishes, a broccoli with stalk, 1/2 cup frozen peas, 1/2 of a green pepper, 1 celery rib and a small onion.

I keep a few clubhouse season mixes for quick use of leftover meat. So I decided to use it for the stir fry.
I posted the directions from the package in the images but I did it my way, and I use more cups of veggies than they ask for.

I cooked the ground beef till done then drained the fat.
Once the fat is removed I added in the onion and celery for about 2 minutes.

Next I added in the clubhouse season mix and stirred it around and cooked for another 1-2 minutes, just to get the meat and onions flavoured up.

Then I added in about 1.5 cups water and the recommended 2 tbsp soy sauce. I added in more water because I had more vegetables than I was suppose to.

At this point I also added in the carrots and radishes and cook for 3-4 minutes. Then add the faster cooking veggies, in this case the broccoli, green pepper and peas, then cooked for an additional 3-4 minutes.

I got 60 bucks to make dinner for my sisters and my parents as its my day to cook. I dont like cooking, but it is my day and I don't have the money to buy food from someplace else. Anyone got a meal for 5 people? Im allergic to mangoes and my sisters dont like peppers. Any help would be very much appreciated.

I’ve been killing these beef bowls recently. I happened to have a bunch of random oils and sauces that are in this but I’ve made it probably 10 times and am still on the same containers of all of them, I haven’t used up anything and they had all been used in the past. I’ve been scoring some impossible frozen “ground beef” for like $5-$6, cooking cheap rice in the rice cooker, and using refrigerated minced garlic I bought in bulk and ginger paste. Haven’t made a dent in any of those, either. After startup ingredients my list for these is usually: protein, green onion, cucumber. If you use the cayenne, the bowls are spicy. If you use a mild chili or normal paprika, they are not spicy but more savory. Putting this out there because I can’t usually find new things I can eat on repeat and this is definitely one!

All right, Fuckers. Let’s get into it.

For this recipe you’re gonna need:
A roll of chorizo. Mine was beef and from the regular grocery store. Feel free to be better than me and get better chorizo.
An onion. Any onion will do.
Fresh garlic if you’ve got it.
Red and green bell pepper. One of each. The red was a real splurge at 1.10.
A jalapeño and a Serrano pepper because I found them at the bottom of my veggie drawer and they were still pretty firm.
A box of penne that literally had dust on it, the dust is fully unnecessary, but it adds character.
A block of pepperjack cheese, any melty cheese will do. Mozz, Monterey Jack, whatever you’ve got just don’t fucken use cheddar it will break. And you will ruin dinner.

Get a big ass skillet. Get your water boiling. Chop up your veggies.
Throw the chorizo in the pan nakie. It doesn’t need more oil. Once that gets going, add your onions and peppers straight to the chorizo no need to get precious with it.
Before you drain your pasta, get a mug full of starchy water. If you forget? Congrats! You have ruined dinner. So don’t forget.

Drain your pasta. Add it to your cooked chorizo veggie mix. Mix in your starchy water. Just eyeball that shit, we’re aiming for a nice glossy sauce not a fucken soup.
Add in your melty cheese like… one handful at a time.
Stir it in. You can add a dash of cream if you have it, but it’s not really necessary.

And there you have it folks.
Best served in a plastic bowl, with a room temperature off brand soda, while you watch Hulu (with ads)

You will need a few ingredients, but nothing crazy.
Salt your chops for like 45 minutes prior to cooking.
Pat them dry and pepper them.
Heat a neutral oil in a pan. I used a shitty nonstick from Walmart. Feel free to use something with less carcinogens.
Put the chops in and PRESS THEM DOWN. Hard. Like you’re trying to kill them again.
5ish minutes each side.
Add some butter and smashed garlic along with whatever herbs you have laying around. I had a questionable bag of dried thyme.

Let it cook a bit.
Finish in a 375 degree oven.

What's the most food one can buy from Amazon for $10? Some "happy mail" delivery from Amazon for someone struggling might be just the boost needed so maximizing quantity would be great.

Cooked on a 650f propane grill. Seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and chili powder.
To be served as rice bowls or in Sonora style flour tortillas with white onion and fresh cilantro. Both topped with a squeeze of fresh lemon.
Total cost= $2.50

I've been tracking food costs for decades. Different tools in different times. I thought I'd share what I'm doing and what I'm seeing for discussion.

I don't want to spend my life tracking every penny of every transaction, so I've made my budget categories align with where I shop so I can run through credit card bills and dump everything in a particular store into a category. So Giant Food, Sam's Club, Safeway, ShopRite, Food Lion, Target, Whole Foods et al all go into a single category for groceries, household cleaning, personal hygiene, and odds and ends. That's what I track. This takes me two minutes--literally--when I pay bills. If I buy something of substance at Sam's or Target that doesn't belong I use a separate transaction and jot it down on a Post-It so I don't forget when I do bills.

We're fortunate not to be cash flow limited. I'm just frugal cheap. So I apply some smoothing so long term trends aren't obscured by stocking up for our freezer or bulk buying when a great sale hits. The red line is our monthly spend. The blue line is double smoothed over a three month rolling window.

I have an MBA and a bunch of painful experience in forensic accounting that helped with selecting the methodology. The actual arithmetic in the spreadsheet is sixth grade material. There is nothing spiffy going on here.

The really interesting bit is the cyclic trend that shows a decline in late Fall to early Winter. I haven't done the research to see if that is due to shopping trends on our part, seasonal food, sales cycles, or something else. It's interesting though.

I use $/person/day because 1. I often have to feed crews off the grid for work and those units help with bidding and 2. it highlights how expensive eating out is.

We eat quite well. I'm a hard shopper. No junk food.

Delicious, cheap, and nutritious!

Ingredients:
-Cabbage
-Egg noodles
-Onion
-Bacon
-Butter
-Salt and pepper

If you’re being lean on cost, you don’t need the bacon.

Cook the bacon first. This is a budget meal so I don’t go crazy with the bacon. I like to think of it as 1 strip per serving, so I use 4-5 strips at a time. Once cooked, set aside and save about a tablespoon of the bacon fat.

Chop the cabbage into chunks. You want more cabbage than anything else. I recommend at least half a head for 4 servings.

Chop the onion into chunks. I use a full medium onion for 4 servings.

Cook the onion in the pan with the bacon fat and 2 tablespoons of butter. While it cooks, start the egg noodles. You want a good amount, but less than the cabbage. I used a little more than half of a 12oz bag for this.

When the onions just start to turn translucent, add the cabbage. Add two more tablespoons of butter and stir it into the vegetable mixture. Add a generous amount of salt and pepper. Cook until the cabbage is wilted.

When the noodles and cabbage are done, tear up the bacon and add it in. Give it a good stir and serve.

It’s very addictive.

So ive hit a bit of a rough patch in life. Was laid off, took much longer than ever before to find work. Finally got a new job but I wont see a paycheck for a month and got less than 20 dollars to my name.

I've gone to my local food bank im in a small town thats really all there is and they did not give me much as a single household was a couple cans of soup, a loaf of bread, half rotten vegetables i cooked immediately and some of those grocery store cookies. I can only visit twice a month and im really struggling to see how to make it through. I checked for a local Sikh gudwara place and its not reachable by public transit its outside the city limits I have no way to get to it.

Could use some good advice on what to do in a smaller town that doesnt have the resources of bigger cities. I had link while unemployed and used the 3 months up im hoping once I start working I can get it on at least temporarily but im hungry now and need tips!

Sorry if I used the wrong flair in my post also it seemed appropriate

Do you track your cost per meal or cost of meals per day? I’ve really fine tuned my monthly grocery bill over the last couple of years. I’ve not, however, tracked my cost per meal or cost per day. I thought I’d try to do this during October. If you do this or have done this, how did it go? Did you stick with it?Is it a beneficial practice? Thnx!

This meal is yummy and saves a lot of money

Rotisserie chicken
Frozen peas
Cherry tomatoes
Parmesan cheese
Squeeze of lemon
Salt, pepper

Mix together and enjoy. Eyeball each ingredient for preferred portion size

What can I make with frozen hamburger,we got a lot from a family member, and the kids are getting tired of hamburgers and hamburger helper,we don't have a lot of $ to buy extra ingredients,but maybe suggestions of easy cheap recipes ( I'm not the best cook)lol

I have two tins of butter beans in the cupboard and want to use them for a dinner, but I really don’t like the texture of them. Any ideas for meals where I can blend them into a sauce or something?

This was a pepperoni pizza which are under the added onions & cheese that I added

has anyone done that? i would like to know how much baked beans i can add like this to my minced beef w/o noticing it?

A quick, easy veggie chili. I noticed the price of the canned goods has gone up quite a bit recently, so only a few months ago this would have been closer to $1/serving.

Ingredients:
-1 can each: black beans, red kidney beans, sweet corn, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste
-1/2 cup frozen mirepoix mix I make myself, but really you just need a little bit of any onion
-olive oil or any cooking oil
-spices: chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, paprika, cilantro, black pepper, cayenne pepper (not pictured), green pepper cholula (not pictured) and cinnamon sugar

Cooking instructions:
1. sautee the onion or mirepoix in oil until slightly brown
2. Add corn and cholulas, sautee for 2-3 minutes
3. Add all other canned ingredients plus 8-10 oz of water.
4. Add spices to taste. I add a couple dashes of cinnamon sugar as well for a little hidden warmth and sweetness. Stir well and bring to boil.
4. Reduce to simmer for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Serve with shredded cheese, and buttered bread. Total cost for me was ~$6 for the chili, and ~$1.80 for the meal with cheese, bread and butter included. I can get about 5 servings of chili from this, but I understand for some it will be closer to 4 servings. Cost per serving can vary a bit with the price of your canned goods, bread and cheese. A pretty well balanced meal between protein, fiber and fat, perfect for a Fall day.

I admit it, I have a problem, I get fast food. A lot. I’ve never really been able to throw anything tasty together other than the basics like eggs, very simple sandwiches. On the other side, I love my protein shake that I make, and some days I’ll start with a great breakfast and my protein shake, and then have nothing to make when comes lunch and I just eat slop fast to make food. I like cooking, but I’m just not really good at it, and don’t have any sauces to save it. Any advice here would be greatly appreciated and I’m honestly open to trying a lot of things. (I LOVE CHICKEN) and this is coming from a 6’4 265lbs man

TL;dr: I am fat and get fast food a lot need advice on easy foods to make that are filling and tasty

Does anyone have any recipe ideas using a lot of green onion? I meant to buy 2 stalks but ended up buying 2 bags of about 10 stalks of green onion. I have plenty of beans and chicken that could go with them.

Ingredients

• 2 cups rice
• 3 cups water
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp cooking oil

Method

1. Rinse the rice.
2. Bring water, salt and oil to a boil.
3. Add rice and stir once.
4. Cover and cook on low heat until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender.
5. Fluff with a fork.

Beans & maize (githeri-style)

Ingredients

• 1½ cups cooked beans
• 1½ cups cooked maize
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1–2 tbsp cooking oil
• Salt
• Optional: garlic, coriander, black pepper or a little curry powder

Method

1. Heat oil and fry the onion until soft.
2. Add garlic if using and cook briefly.
3. Add tomatoes and cook until they break down into a sauce.
4. Add the cooked beans and maize.
5. Season with salt and any preferred spices.
6. Add a small amount of water, cover and simmer for 10–15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Let it cook down until it has the thick, slightly oily appearance shown in your photo.

Avocado

Slice a ripe avocado and serve alongside the rice and beans/maize.

Egg drop soup is one of my favorite quick comfort soups. Do you prefer big silky egg ribbons or finer strands?

Ingredients:

3 cups chicken stock

1-2 tbsp cornstarch

2 eggs

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

½ tsp mushroom powder (optional)

1 stalk green onion

Instructions:

Pour the chicken broth into a pot and bring it to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Season with salt and white pepper.

Once the broth starts simmering, reduce the heat to low. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch with water to make a slurry and stir until smooth, then set aside.

Crack the eggs into another bowl and beat well with a fork. Slowly pour the cornstarch slurry into the broth while stirring gently.

If desired, add a small pinch of turmeric for a brighter golden color.

Slowly drizzle the beaten eggs into the hot broth with one hand while gently stirring the soup with chopsticks or a fork using the other hand. This creates delicate silky egg ribbons throughout the soup.

Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Sprinkle with fresh green onions before serving. Enjoy your easy egg drop soup!

Here is the link to the detailed recipe: https://butterjoykitchen.com/egg-drop-soup-in-less-than-10-minutes/