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Interested in ways to stretch your food dollar? Join this group for some tips, recipes and discussion.

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Thank you to "wineguy818" for the suggestion, I have been making great use of this program for 7 months now. I also work for the Welfare Department and I refer my clients to it all the time. After I get the food I look on Big Oven to figure out what to do with it all. It has really been a blessing !

Burger

Hi, i'm trying to find new and family friendly ways to use our over-abundance of hamburger. We recently purchased a 1/4 of a cow, and ended up with more hamburger than anything else. We'll find a different butcher next time, but in the meantime I could really use some suggestions on what to do with all of this.

New to this club and this site

Hello I just wanted to say hello and let you know I am very interested in learning all I can. I love saving money it's a hobby of mine and I am very good at it. I am an okay cook wanting to be a great cook so I hope y'all can help me. "Yes, I am a Southern. I am from New Orleans."

I seen the message before this posted about Angel Food Ministry. We have used them and we really liked it sometimes the first box isn't all that, but once you buy that box you are offered a lot of great deals that really save a lot of money. Check it out I am sure you'll like it. Oh, one more note I noticed they do take Food Stamps so if you have them you can get in on this also.

Hope the virus don't get me or you and I can come back for some great lessons. :)

Have a good night,

Laura

Angel Food Ministry

I have recently come across a program called Angel Food Ministry that sells a box of food for $30 with no requirements for income or other guidelines. The box is meant to last a family of four for one week so I usually buy multiple boxes. It usually contains various meat offerings as well as staples like rice or beans and an assortment of frozen vegetables and a dessert item. If you buy one or more regular boxes you can purchase a special box of selected meats or fruits & vegetables. This program has cut about $200 out my monthly grocery bill so I am happy with it. If you go to www.angelfoodministries.com you can look up participating locations and get a copy of the monthly menu. They also have special offerings for senior citizens.

Crouton hint

I left the crouton hint before, but recently I had some leftover Pillsbury breadsticks. We seasoned them before baking with garlic powder and Italian seasonings, just to serve with dinner so they were a little bit seasoned. I cut them into rounds and toasted them. They made fantastic croutons! They were so tasty, I may even use them to make a batch of croutons. But if you happened to have only a few left over you could slice, toast it up and keep it in an airtight container for later use.

Homemade Chicken Broth/Stock

One way I stretch my food budget is to buy a whole chicken, use it for a few meals and then make soup out of the bones.

Now I'm going to get a bit off-topic, but I'm not sure where to post this:

I followed the recipe for making chicken stock to a "t", but it didn't turn gelatinous in the fridge, so I guess I got broth instead. It made great soup, but I would love to know the trick for making stock. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Cut up a Whole Chicken

Here's a great video on how to cut up a whole chicken into its various components to save a bunch of money. (For instance, at our local market, we can by a whole free-range fryer chicken for about $9.00, yet chicken breasts alone cost $7.00 and drumbsticks/thighs another $6.00.)

Cooking on a Budget

I have several cookbooks sold by school PTA's. They have great recipes from other parents that are both easy and cheap.

Another tip -- use up leftovers in your fridge!

Americans waste an extraordinary amount of food each year. One great way of stretching your food dollar is to use up leftovers in your fridge.

One great way to do it is to use BigOven's Leftover Wizard to find out what you can make. Or, simply visit BigOven.com and enter a few ingredients into the search box, separated by spaces, e.g., "spinach chicken".

Saving on the Food Budget

Well, as some of you know already, in December I purchased a bread machine. Since then, I have not bought store made bread of any kind, other than one package of bagels. Funny thing is, I now have dough rising to make my own bagels too. Keep your fingers crossed.
With the ridiculous cost of a loaf of bread these days (along with everything else), and while I haven't calculated the cost of the machine, plus the cost of ingredients, I already know the machine has paid for itself, and I'm not wasting money on bread that goes into the trash (which is what happens when you live alone). The ingredients for the bread don't cost that much either if you break it down into recipe portions.

Anne

[edited March-8-2008]

Tips for Cooking on a Budget

What are your favorite tips for cooking on a budget?

Mine are to (1) Make a plan, (2) Don't grocery shop while you're hungry, (3) Check out your local farmers markets for produce, (4) Find ways to make each ingredient stretch into other meals.

Recipes in this Group

Vintage Hamburger Goulash 20	Ground Turkey Taco Salad8	Dijon Vinaigrette 1	Tuna Chip Casserole6
Taco Meatloaf9	Boston Market Cinnamon Apples6	Basic Bread33	Cheddar Crackers2
Turkey Meatloaf2	Triple Citrus Chicken Breasts11	Wendy and Heathers Turkey Chil...8	Bagels3