r/budgetfood

Just wanted to let my friends out there know that Safeway has this current online only promo spend $75 get $30 or even $40 back but here's the kicker they also have a spend $25 to get $10 back on certain items I love Amy's frozen meals they're usually $8.99 which is crazy expensive but by combining both of these I was able to get what normally cost $8.99 each down to $3.49 each! I always buy these when they go on sale but never have I been able to get them this cheap I believe it's a glitch in their systems(was told can't combine these cash back promos) but it worked! See screenshot of my $160 order for $48. I think this ends on the 27th of October 202. if you like Amy's frozen food this is your chance hopefully I won't regret posting this cuz they might shut it down if too many people order it. Good luck people should work still.

Mom sent a funky snack mix that I up-cycled into our weekly oat bars…

2c toasted oats
1/2c snack mix chopped
1/2c peanut butter
1/3c honey and/or maple syrup
3T coconut oil

Combine oats and trail mix. Warm together the pb, sweeteners and oil, add any optional spices (cinnamon, cardamom, protein powder, etc). Combine all ingredients and press well into lined 8x8 with spatula. Freeze 1hr.

Made this a few weeks back.

I had leftovers of roasted chicken thighs with potatoes and onions.

My kid had come down with a cold so I used the leftovers to make a chicken soup.

I used my homemade chicken bone broth (from the freezer) and chopped up some fresh celery, onion, carrots and a few radishes.

My veggie choice was just what I had available in my fridge. If I didn’t have, I would use frozen veggies from a bag, peas, green beans, etc.

I removed the meat from the bone and kinda rough chopped it. I kept the bones and added it my bone stash in my freezer to make more chicken bone broth another day.

This can be made on the stove top, but I used my instant pot only because I wanted to keep it hot for hours and it has a keep warm function.

To start I put some butter in the heated pot, about a tbsp, once melted I added in the raw vegetables and onions. Fry it up and stir around for about 2-4 minutes, till onions translucent.

Next I tossed in the chicken pieces, potatoes and the frozen chicken broth and stirred it around until the broth was completely liquid. If it wasn’t enough broth I would have added water and some chicken powder.

I then let it come to a boil and then switched on the keep warm (high setting) on the instant pot. I put the lid on and when my kid was ready for soup it was ready for them.

Tyson chicken nuggets, prepared in the air fryer according to directions. Great value pancake mix mixed according to directions. Dip the nugs in the waffle mix and throw on the waffle iron for 5 minutes.

No need for fancy breading for chicken and waffles!

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.

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)

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’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!

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.

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

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.

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.