I am really really trying ot be frugal, but 99% of the recipes I find in frugal websites or magazines/books include chicken. Very frustrating!
DO you have any frugal recipes that do NOT have chicken in them? Also, my hubby has trouble digesting a lot of vegetables, so he sticks mainly to meat and potatoe type meals.
help! The cost of red meat and meals I can make for hubby is driving our grocery bill up and up and up!
ALSO if you have any other FRUGAL ideas, please send them along!!
Herei s what I already do:
clean with baking soda/vinegar/lemons
cloth diaper baby
shop @ local farmers market
use hand me down/second hand clothing (or i sew kids clothes with scrap material/reused material)
very stirct about electric use- no lights during the day, lights off in unused rooms, etc
reuse items from around the house for decor/craft stuff
no single use/throw away items
disconnected our sattleite, so no more cable bill!
got rid of our cell phones
downgraded to a cheaper internet connection
any other ideas would be great!! I REALLY need to cut out about $300 of useless spending a month.... so I can stay home with my kids instead of paying daycare!
ThanksHubby allergic to chicken- help with frugal recipes!?
My wife has a lot of food allergies. Many chicken recipes you may substitute pork. I am going to assume that they are allergic to other fowl as well such as turkey, duck or pheasant.Hubby allergic to chicken- help with frugal recipes!?
Learn to fish, great adventure with the kids too. Gardening, squash and beans are healthy combinations.
For dry goods shop in the dry bulk bins. This usually saves around 60% and in some of the better stores you can get everything from flour, sugar, rice, pasta, beans, spices, and even some prepared cereals.
My hubby's real meat and potatoes too but he's opening up to other choices.
One package of tofu costs between $1.19-$1.68 and lasts my 2 person household 2-3 meals. I use several recipes so it's never the same meal twice and it's pretty well disguised. Check out allrecipes.com for ideas. When you get it home, slice it, drizzle with olive oil and soy sauce, and bake 20-30 minutes at 400F. Store in sealed container in fridge and use as needed. This adds flavor but remains neutral so it will go with anything.
Since he's a picky eater check out new recipes for the vegetables he will eat to keep them from getting boring and explore vegetarian meal options. I buy frozen fish at Costco and have rules about how much I'll spend.
Do leftover plans. Make a pot roast one night, then from the leftovers you can make strognaoff, soup, stew, tacos, salad, etc. for the rest of the week.
Can he eat other poultry? Turkey is inexpensive. Rabbit is one of the most digestible meats around and it doesn't cost much to raise meat rabbits. You already shop at farmer's markets. Do you buy large quantities in season and preserve by canning or freezing? For most of the country its too late to grow a vegetable garden but there's always next year. Growing your own food is a great hobby. It can be done on a very small budget. You have the ultimate control over how its raised and its a good learning opportunity for the kids.
Other ways to save money include weatherproofing your house, getting the furnace tuned up for maximum efficiency and lowering the thermostat before going to bed or leaving the house.
Vegetarian choices will definitely extend your budget. You can find that even ';meat %26amp; potatoes'; types can deal with a hearty lentil stew now and then.
College-student- geared websites will often have suggestions for frugal, healthy meals.
Lentil Stew:
An excellent winter warmer which is high in fiber and low in
fat. This recipe can be made in bulk and frozen in small
quantities for individual meals. Ideal if you only have one
vegetarian in the family or you are cooking for one.
Ingredients
1/3 cup dried yellow split peas (75g)
1/3 cup red lentils (75g)
1/3 cup green lentils (75g)
4 cups boiling water (1000ml)
2 medium finely chopped onions (200g)
2 crushed cloves garlic (6g)
2 tsp mono/polyunsaturated oil (10ml)
2 tbsp water (40ml)
1 tbsp fresh or 1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp fresh or 1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 cup tinned kidney beans (200g)
1 x 400g tin tomatoes (400g)
陆 cup water (125ml)
Method
Place split peas and red and green lentils in a saucepan with
1 liter of boiling water. Return to the boil and cook for 2 minutes. Cover and leave for 1 hour. Drain and put aside until
required.
Place onion, garlic, oil and water in a heavy based saucepan
with oregano, thyme and caraway seeds. Stir fry for 5 minutes.
Add prepared peas, lentils, kidney beans, tomatoes, water
and salt. Bring to the boil and simmer over a low heat for 1
hour, stirring occasionally.
Serves : 5
Nutrients per Serve : Calories 201, Carbohydrates
(grams) 27, Fat(grams) 3.3, Cholesterol(milligrams) 0, Protein
(grams) 15, Sodium (milligrams) 185, Fiber (grams) 10,
Calcium (milligrams) 69, Iron (milligrams) 4.3.
Lentil Goulash can be used to create a Vegetarian
Shepherd鈥檚 Pie (pictured) by placing 5 cups of Lentil
Goulash in a casserole dish and topping it with 600g of
mashed potato before baking it in a moderate oven for 30 minutes.
You can look into a vegan or vegetarian diet and see if you can get any good ideas. You can also look for a local rancher and see if you can get a deal on bulk meats, my rancher gives a deal if I would be willing to buy 1/2 a cow. Before I started buying direct from the rancher I shopped sales, I can pick up great deals on large pieces and learn to butcher them yourself things, like full pork or beef tenderloin, you can also get them at warehouse stores. You may also want to buy from the bulk aisles. My local stores have a great variety of almost anything you may want, spices, grains, pasta, nuts, flour, sugar, and treats.
Another energy waster is stanby energy. I plug my tv, vcr, stereo and game system into a power strip with a switch, I flip them all off when not in use. This along with unplugging all chargers when not in use saved me about $50 a month. Anything that has a light or clock or uses a remote uses standby energy and almost all electronics draw some electicity even when turned off, so don't forget laptops, desktops, ipod docking stations, battery chargers, electric toothbrushes and microwaves.
When I first became a stay home mom money was tight, I was an avid coupon clipper, but be careful that you aren't buying things you don't need. I also shopped sales ads. A couple times a year I still do what i call pantry cooking, that is when I clean out the pantry and make meals with what ever I can find, I usually just have to add some meat or a veggie. Planning a menu and shopping with a list are always good money savers. Before you think your children need another outfit, count what they have, we tend to over buy for our children. If they complain they have nothing to wear, arrange a clothing swap, have others in the same age group or Moms can do the same thing, come over with their good quality clothes they never wear and they can shop each others piles.
The true test of where you can cut a budget is to write down every cent you spend and see where it is going. We often have little things draining the budget that we don't recognize as waste. I saw a lot of great ideas on Oprah's debt diet, the info may still be on her website.
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