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I'm not against cooking but definitely not one to make things from scratch. But even if you don't eat out much going to the store and buying ingredients is almost as expensive as eating out.
I do cook breakfast most mornings and dinner most of the time.
Some folks don't have the money to eat healthy buying fresh fruits and veggies meats etc it can add up going to stores like sprouts, Whole foods, and Trader joes trying to eat organic is expensive as well.
I hear a lot of good things about Aldi's good bargains. If this keeps up thought I'll be doing my shopping at the local Dollar Tree lol.
ALDIs is the first store I go to. The breads and produce are very cheap and good quality. Also cheese, dairy and eggs. I don’t buy meat or fish there. If you have an ALDIs you should start there and fill in what’s missing at other stores.
For me, this means ALDIs, Food Lion or Sam’s for meat, Publix for BOGO. I have Piggly Wiggly and Walmart, but I don’t like them. I go to Costco once in awhile.
I'm a pensioner who lives single. I make all my meals from scratch, as my mother taught me how decades ago. Furthermore, I cook one-pot meals to last 3 or 4 days. Ordering in or eating out is not a thing in my household.
The cost of groceries, for me now, is 25% higher than pre-COVID. The total nut is over 1/4 of my monthly pension now, vs the previous 1/5.
In Canada, most of our fresh produce is trucked in, sent by rail or ships from California, and Central and South American countries, but we depend on the United States for 42% of our produce imports. It's truly expensive to buy 'fresh' imported produce here, due mostly to shipping costs and probably the cost of growing it has risen. I live in ranching country but still, our beef prices make it unattainable. I also live in oil country, but our cheapest gas, is $4.00/gal USD.
In Canada's summer and fall harvests, we do get domestically grown produce.
I'm not against cooking but definitely not one to make things from scratch. But even if you don't eat out much going to the store and buying ingredients is almost as expensive as eating out.
I do cook breakfast most mornings and dinner most of the time.
Some folks don't have the money to eat healthy buying fresh fruits and veggies meats etc it can add up going to stores like sprouts, Whole foods, and Trader joes trying to eat organic is expensive as well.
I hear a lot of good things about Aldi's good bargains. If this keeps up thought I'll be doing my shopping at the local Dollar Tree lol.
Cooking from scratch is healthier if done right...less salt, fat and far less chemicals.
Cooking from scratch saves you money. For the cost of a dinner for two out, you can make enough for a dinner for six, depending on what you are making. I freeze the leftovers.
Cooking can also be fun and cathartic.
Start with something simple, like a pasta dish with your own made sauce, then work your up. Watch some YouTube videos.
Rule of thumb.
Read the recipe twice before you start.
Make sure you have all your ingredients at hand.
If found online, make sure it makes sense. I've found some that list an ingredient and don't tell you when to put it in.
I think you will find your homemade food taste better than store bought brands. By far.
Speaking of pizza. Walmart has DiGiorno rising crust Supreme Pizza for $7. I think they are pretty tasty.
Don't overbake the bottom. I take it out of my oven at about 20 minutes, oven at 400F. https://www.bing.com/search?q=baking...&wsso=Moderate
If I buy frozen pizza, DiGiorno is the brand I buy, too, but I only buy it 1-2 per year. I wait until one of the markets has a promo for something like the super bowl game or whatever, and then I can buy them for $3-$4 each--a good deal. I usually buy a few and freeze them. I buy them for convenience only. If I want really good pizza, I make my own. I have a great recipe for a crust, and then I add whatever toppings I fancy. My homemade pizza beats frozen pizza hands down. I just seldom have the desire to make it anymore now with very, very limited kitchen space and all the rest.
There was a thread on here a few months ago about how much people were spending on food. (I can't find it now) The first few posts were people who were spending about $500/person/month. Imagine our shock when we kept close track in December and January and found we spent about $1000 each month for two of us. We knew things were getting out of control but didn't realize how much, and we don't shop together so we never added up what each of us spent.
Since then we've been better at watching sales (ie I'll buy 10 yogurts when they are 10 for $10 or $11 instead of paying $1.79 each). For the past couple of years I've been stocking up on frozen veggies at Trader Joes and we do a lot of crock pot meals these days too. We rarely eat out and except for the occasional pizza, we rarely get prepared food.
I live in a two-person household and generally spend $120-$130 a week on groceries and no I'm not buying steak and lobster I'm buying Eggs, hot dogs, frozen meals, soups, veggies etc.
It's ridiculous. rewind back to before the pandemic I was maybe spending $50 to $60 at the grocery store a week for basically the same stuff.
I have a friend who has three kids she would spend $500 a week at the grocery store just to feed herself and her kids. it got so bad she had to move back to Kentucky to a rural town where her family lives to afford to support herself and her kids well that and the cost of rent was killing her.
I try to buy things when they are on special or download digital coupons but even that doesn't seem to help anymore.
Granted I do shop at Safeway at times and their prices are high way robbery at times but even Walmart is getting expensive.
so she was spending 2000 a month on groceries? How many kids?
What was she buying? Did this include household cleaners and things like that?
I make a crockpot of beans like once every 2 weeks. Sometimes it's redbeans and rice, sometimes it's pinto beans with a ham bone and scraps, sometimes it's 15 bean soup with andoullie sausage...
Beans are cheap, and they go far. We usually get 2 or 3 meals out of a pot of beans. And we LIKE beans...so it's all good.
Oh yes. I try to make a crockpot of pinto beans once a week. That with spanish rice or vemicelli is so yummy.
Then you can refry them and make bean and cheese tacos.
so she was spending 2000 a month on groceries? How many kids?
What was she buying? Did this include household cleaners and things like that?
Was she just grabbing stuff off the shelf?
It was actually $500 every two weeks typo on my part but still a lot of money. And she has three kids not sure what she buys never asked but she does 90 percent of the cooking at home and her kids eat a lot. 8-year-old, 16-year-old and 19-year-old.
Couple of cheap recipes, maybe these will help someone. Each of these side dishes will cost less than $10 and will last for a week+ in the fridge. Each recipe will provide at least 20 servings.
Mashed Potatoes -- no milk, only butter -- this will hold longer in the fridge
10 pounds red potatoes. Should cost $4 or $5 maximum. Boil 45 minutes in large pot of salted water. Spoon out four cups of the water for later before draining. Drain and let them cool in cold water for one hour, then rub off the skins (this can be a fun kid task). Then add the potatoes back to the cleaned, empty pot. Add 1 TBSP salt, 1 TBSP pepper, and one stick of butter, plus the four cups saltwater. Cover and boil again -- 10 minutes. Now mash the potatoes (a masher is easiest, but a big serving fork will do the job). Add more fresh water if you like them "looser." If desired, chopped parsley or thyme can be added at the end.
Glazed carrots
5 pound bag of carrots. Parsnips can also be added to the mix. Cost should be $5 or so.
Peel and trim the carrots, then cut them lengthwise. Place flat side down, and cut into half-moons, thinly. Place all carrots in a large, covered skillet. Add one cup cold water, 1 TBSP salt, 1 TBSP sugar. Toss them and turn on heat to MAX. Cook, covered, for 5 minutes exactly. Uncover, lower heat, and add 1 tsp white vinegar, more if needed to deglaze. Stir. Top with chopped dill and serve with lemon halves. Frozen peas can be added with the vinegar if desired.
I've given the recipe for Mississippi brisket (cheap 4# beef cut, banana peppers, buttermilk, and 4 hours in the Crock Pot) here before, and these two dishes would be lovely with that.
TL; DR -- you must learn a few "scratch" recipes to really save $$$ at the grocers.
Oh -- another one. Homemade salad dressing. Good on any vegetables or salad greens. Cost is less than a buck.
1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup white vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
1 TBSP prepared ginger (or 1 tsp dried ginger)
1 TBSP prepared mustard (or 1 tsp dried mustard)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
Shake in a mason jar or corked bottle and serve. Some like more vinegar, which can be added per personal taste.
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