Crunch Day
When trying to keep to an $8 per person a day budget many people might start off feeling as though they need to give up the foods that they love. With a little creativity and resourcefulness that is not true at all. It is all a matter of perspective, mindset and effort. Recently in a discussion with someone that has started to follow these blog posts a new reality was brought up “It takes work to be poor”. The choice of words might be changed to “ it takes effort to live frugally” that seems a bit less derogatory and it is correct. To stick to this budget, it takes effort.This means setting time aside to not only plan the week's menus but also time to prepare the meals and to prepare foods that in the past may have been purchased ready made.
A good way to start changing from buying convenience foods to purchasing the ingredients and making those items from scratch is to sit down and make a list of all of the foods normally purchased in ready made form. Then put a check next to the items that could easily be made from scratch at home. Next put a dot next to the items that could be made at home but would take some learning or practice to get right. Here is a small sample list:
Cookies Bread
Cake Soup
Hummus Jarred Tomato Sauce
Snacks Frozen Prepared Meals
Salad Dressing Popcorn
Salad Coffee
Instant Hot cereal Pancake/ Waffle Mix
From this list almost each and every one of these items can be less expensive if made at home or from scratch. Cookies and bread freeze well so have a once a month baking day - get your kids involved, or pair up with a friend. When you cook, make a double recipe and either freeze in family sized portions or invest in reusable freezer containers and freeze in individual portions for a quick meal. Salad dressing always tastes better when made fresh and has no sketchy unpronouncable ingredients. Buy coffee in 2 to 5 lbs bulk whole bean, keep in the freezer and grind at home as needed. With a good electric coffee mill the beans can even be ground fine enough to be used as instant coffee. Salad, yes buying pre checked and washed greens is super time saving but so much money can be saved by washing, checking and preparing one's own salad greens. Here is a youtube video that shows how to prepare salad greens to last for the whole week. Of course the ease of buying prepopped and seasoned popcorn is so tempting but if the bag isn’t finished in one sitting it gets stale and is often wasted. Buying popcorn kernels and popping either in an airpopper or the microwave as it is needed is so much more cost effective. A large party sized bag of popped corn comes out to aprox. .78 cents per serving where as 32 oz. bag of corn kernels will yield aprox. 25 servings of popped corn at .09 cents per serving. Instant oatmeal packets compared to a big container of old fashioned oats is another great cost saving example. 10 servings of instant oatmeal at about .19 cents per serving compared to 30 servings of oats at .13 cents per serving, it all adds up. It takes time to figure out where your grocery budget can be trimmed but as you get used to doing this you will feel a sense of accomplishment and enjoy the savings.
For those that argue time is money, you are correct but your own time shouldn’t be seen that way but as an investment into your household budget and well being. Doing the prep work may seem daunting and like all you will ever do is be in the kitchen but it gets easier with practice and once you get routines down you really won’t be overwhelmed. Also don’t take on doing all of this at once, take baby steps. Tackle one goal a week or a month whatever pace works for you. Also don’t expect to be perfect all of the time, sometimes the convenience of a prepared item is just too tempting or the reality of life determines limited time and convenience trumps expense. Be easy on yourself.
This week's daily menu is a crunch day menu - counting the days to payday etc..
Day #3 - Crunch Day * indicates recipe included
Breakfast - Sheet Pan Pancakes* .80 cents per serving
1 oz. pure maple syrup .49 cents
Small apple .40 cents
Milk 4 oz. .40 cents
8 oz. coffee .75 cents
Total per person $2.84
Lunch - Ramen Noodle Bowl* $1.71
Popcorn .09 cents
¼ pound grapes .37 cents
8 oz water FREE
Total per person $2.17
Dinner - Easy Peasy Tuna Noodle Casserole* $1.07
1 oz. potato chips .16 cents (great crumbles on top of casserole)
1 sliced roma tomato .32 cents
1 cup shredded romaine lettuce .31 cents
1 oz. Italian Vinaigrette .26 cents
Homemade Parve Brownie .35 cents
Total per person $2.47
Total per person for the day $7.48
Sheet Pan Pancakes
Serves 8 Dairy / Parve
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour .45 cents
2 tablespoons baking powder .36 cents
2 tablespoons sugar .10 cents
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt .02 cents
2 1/2 cups CY milk $1.20 / oat milk $1.80
2 large eggs .28 cents
*8 tablespoons unsalted CY butter, melted $4.78 (we will not be using this as it is like gold) /
8 tablespoons earth balance, melted $1.68 / 8 tablespoons grapeseed oil .82 cents
Vegetable oil Cooking Spray – A few sprays less than .03 cents
Step -By- Step Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.
Add the dry ingredients and whisk together, then add the wet and combine fully.
Spray a half-size baking sheet with baking spray and pour the pancake batter onto the pan, spreading evenly.
Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown.
Ramen Noodle Bowls
Serves 1 Parve
Ingredients:
1 packet of ramen noodles .76 cents
¼ cup shredded carrots .12 cents (shred your own)
1 scallion chopped .06 cents
1 tablespoon miso paste .37 cents
¼ block of tofu, cubed .40 cents
8 oz. hot water FREE
Total $1.71
Step -By-Step Directions
Please the ramen noodles into a bowl, discarding the seasoning packet.
Put he remaining ingredients into he bowl over the noodles.
Pour 8 oz boiling hot water over everything.
Cover and let sit for 5 to 6 minutes.
Enjoy!
Easy Peasy Tuna Noodle Casserole
serves 8 Parve
Ingredients:
1 16 oz box Whole Wheat Pasta, cooked according to directions & Drained $1.43
12 oz chunk light tuna in water $2.83 cents
8 oz. frozen peas .49 cents
8 oz white mushrooms, sliced $1.45
1 14.5 oz can cannellini beans, pureed with liquid $1.39
½ cup homemade vegetable stock FREE
1 to 2 tablespoons corn starch .26 cents
1 large onion, diced and caramelized, .50 cents
Salt & Pepper to taste .20 cents
Total $8.55 each serving $1.07
Step -By- Step Directions
Cook and drain the pasta according to the manufactures directions - the noodle should be al dente.
In a large bowl mix the drained tuna, pasta, frozen peas and sliced mushrooms until well combined.
In a separate bowl or large measuring cup pour the canned beans with the liquid and puree using an immersion blender/ place the beans and their liquid into a blender or food processor and puree.
Add the vegetable stock and the corn starch continue blending until well combined.
Pour over the noodles & vegetables, mix well.
season to taste.
Pour the noodle mixture into an oiled 9 x 13 casserole dish
sprinkle the caramelized onions over the top of the noodle mixture,
Bake in a preheated 350F oven until the top is brown and bubbly.