Grocery Budget?

[Matt J]

I think going to WD in PCB then across the street to Publix is a great idea. I love the canned good sales at WD and meat sales when it is good but then things like juice and milk seem to be ridiculously priced. Velveeta can be $3 more at Publix than at WD, how ridiculous is that!!!

Not as rediculous as admitting in public you use Velveeta.

 

[Paula]

Mexican lasagna is a great way to use up stale nacho chips. Just layer the chips with salsa, cheap cheddar or Mexican cheese, and a can of beans and put in the oven. I sometimes add a can of black beans and left over chicken. Keeps nicely in the fridge for lunches, too.

 

[bluemtnrunner]

Not as rediculous as admitting in public you use Velveeta.

Don't think that didn't cross my mind several times, finger poised over the backspace key....but what do you know about me????How many kids in the house????? 6 (well, now down to 5 but still)...they consume mass quantities of mac and cheese and grilled cheese samiches darn it

My dad used to get the generic processed American cheese food....NOW THAT IS . Although it did keep us from eating much cheese.

 

[SHELLY]

I wish I had the website of the woman I saw on CNN. Basically the site tracks all known and unknown sales at various grocery stores along with coupons. They then have a "D-Day" that you go and purchase certain things on your predefined list. The woman on the news bit bought like $250.00 worth of groceries for around $30.00. It also involves a lot of buying when prices are low on longer lasting items and storing them. I wish I could remember just two or three keywords from the news. At the time it seemed like a lot of work, but for savings like that I'll start clipping.

P.S. She wasn't just buying generic and already low cost items. She had about 30lbs. of t-bones in the cart when she checked out.

http://www.couponmom.com/

.

 

[SHELLY]

Any thoughts?

Ok, I know there are a lot of thoughts out here... we are trying to come up with a grocery budget and weekly meal plan. For those who don't know, we have A LOT of teens at this house.

Assign each teen a budget and give them each a day of the week to plan and prepare a menu.

.

 

[Rudyjohn]

I wish I had the website of the woman I saw on CNN. Basically the site tracks all known and unknown sales at various grocery stores along with coupons. They then have a "D-Day" that you go and purchase certain things on your predefined list. The woman on the news bit bought like $250.00 worth of groceries for around $30.00. It also involves a lot of buying when prices are low on longer lasting items and storing them. I wish I could remember just two or three keywords from the news. At the time it seemed like a lot of work, but for savings like that I'll start clipping.

P.S. She wasn't just buying generic and already low cost items. She had about 30lbs. of t-bones in the cart when she checked out.

oh, I saw that. It was amazing and I thought I might start clipping too.
(I'll see if I can find it.)

 

[scooterbug44]

Don't be a Velveeta hater - it has its uses - even I eat it sometimes!

 

[ckhagen]

When the kids were little and we were poor poor poor, I used to get a chicken, carrots, onion and celery. We'd eat the chicken and then make soup with homemade noodles. All week long I kept adding water, celery, carrots and more dang noodles. We could eat all week for $4 but man, I swore I would never eat homemade chicken noodle soup again.
Now that things are not quite so dire, maybe it wouldn't be so bad though.

Hence the reason I will never touch another corn flake ever again. Ever, ever. I would rather starve.

We shop at Publix for anything that has an expiration date (meat, cheese, veggies, fruit, etc...). I only buy it if it's on sale. Meaning, if the chicken is on sale, we eat chicken all week. If the beef is on sale, it's beef for this week. Anything that comes in a box that is not on sale at Publix, I will pick up at Wal-Mart when I happen to be out there.

If you're not in the least bit health conscious (lol!), this recipe is mmmm good.
I cut the amount of chicken quite a bit and just spread it out, but I've got a much smaller family. Our entire grocery budget is less than $80 a week, not by choice, but since my boys are still small we make it work.

King Ranch Chicken

• 6-8 chicken breasts
• salt & pepper
• 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chilies, drained
• 1 (8 ounce) jar Cheez Whiz
• 1 (11 ounce) bag cheesy plain Doritos or other corn chips, crushed
• 8 ounces grated cheddar cheese
• 4 ounces grated mozzarella cheese
• paprika, to garnish

1. Steam or boil the chicken breasts until cooked through (I use my steamer and find it makes the chicken perfectly moist and tender).
2. When cool, dice into bite-size pieces.
3. In a large saucepan over medium heat, mix the soups, onion, Ro-tel tomatoes and Cheez Whiz until blended.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
5. Layer the bottom of a greased 9x12 casserole dish with crushed chips.
6. Next, layer half the chicken pieces.
7. Top with half the sauce.
8. Sprinkle with half the cheddar cheese.
9. Repeat the layers, but top with the Cheddar and Mozzarella.
10. Sprinkle paprika over the top to garnish.
11. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

 

[Matt J]

Don't think that didn't cross my mind several times, finger poised over the backspace key....but what do you know about me????How many kids in the house????? 6 (well, now down to 5 but still)...they consume mass quantities of mac and cheese and grilled cheese samiches darn it

My dad used to get the generic processed American cheese food....NOW THAT IS . Although it did keep us from eating much cheese.

Eww generic processed orange sheets. I agree

We eat a lot of cheese too, but I just buy the big bag o' shredded cheese at Publix, I think it's even the same weight. ;-) You can still make grilled cheese with it.

 

[beachmouse]

If you've got a recipe where you need something other than mozerella or like a queso blanco to melt without getting too oily, mixing a little bit of Velveeta in with your normal cheese of choice helps prevent that from happening.