Hearty Meals, Shoestring Budget
In these trying economic times, the first question on everyone's mind is: How the heck will I feed my family on such a limited budget? Well, I tell you, the answer is, quite simple. All you have to do is know how to improvise, and know the right (reasonably prised) ingredients to use. For starters, let's take breakfast. Everyone knows that about the cheapest thing you can have for breakfast is a nice, hot bowl of oatmeal. Not only is it inexpensive, but it's also good for you as well, helping to keep cholesterol, and your weight, down (something we all need anyway). Not all that into oatmeal? Try the toasted oat cereals instead, especially the one that looks like tiny little donuts. Try the generic and store brands of this particular cereal, which is much cheaper then the national brand. Over the weekends, you can have another inexpensive grain, grits, with Spam (the kind on your plate, not on your computer) and eggs. Grits is also good as a stand alone cereal as well, having the texture similar to Cream of Wheat and Malto Meal.
For lunch, nothing beats a nice peanut butter sandwich, with jelly as an option for those not interested in watching their weight. Salad sandwiches are also good, starting with the classic boiled egg salad sandwich, which can be made with store brand mayo and store brand relish in between two slices of store brand wheat bread. If you're interested in a little more protein, you can also add a can of store brand tuna or chicken to the egg salad mixture. This can make sandwiches for about a family of four easily. And instead of prepared boxed juice drinks, which the expenses can add up each week, it would be cheaper to fill a small thermos or plastic water bottle of your favorite, whether it be milk, juice, Kool Aid, etc. Add an apple, pear, or orange and you got one nutritious mid day meal.
Now, as we get into dinner, let me give you some pointers about that one staple of inexpensive meals: Spam, successfully feeding hungry families on a budget everywhere for over seventy years. Any kind of Spam, regular (pork) or turkey will do, but you will do well if you follow my bit of advice: Regular Spam for breakfast and lunch, Turkey Spam for dinner. The reason why I say this is because, while Regular Spam is versatile, and can be used for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, Turkey Spam is more suited to the dinner plate that the breakfast one. Turkey Spam can be diced into cubes and added with noodles and vegetables to make soups, mixed with mac and cheese, added to beans to give them a little more flavor, mixed with cream of mushroom or cream of celery soup, corn, peas, and string beans and put into a prepared pie crust to make turkey pot pie, and sautéed in a wok with soy sauce and poured over steaming vegetables and cooked ramen noodles to make Japanese turkey salad (since ramen noodles are high in sodium and fat, it is recommended that you prepare this particular dish once a week). For a beverage to wash it all down with, who needs canned soda, which can be very expensive week after week? All you have to do is add one package of Kool Aid (cherry, black cherry, grape, or tropical punch) to either a 64 ounce bottle of cranberry juice or apple juice. Now that's good drinking!
In conclusion, I think I must say something about a certain grocery store that has gained in popularity over the past decade: the 99 Cents Only Store. As I always say, shopping at the 99 Cents Only Store is like eating fried pork skins: nobody would admit to doing it, but you know everyone does. Well, we shop at the 99 Cents Only Store (and I also eat pork skins, but that's beside the point) for the same reason everyone else does: because you get the better brands for less. And isn't that what we're all looking for in a tight economy? Anyway, many of the ingredients mentioned in this blog can be found at your local 99 Cents Only Store, including the fresh fruits and vegetables.
So you see, you can feed you family very well with inexpensive ingredients. All you have to do is just go on a little bargain hunt, and know where to hunt. Until next time, keep well, and keep hanging in there!
Best regards,
Marley Sue
For lunch, nothing beats a nice peanut butter sandwich, with jelly as an option for those not interested in watching their weight. Salad sandwiches are also good, starting with the classic boiled egg salad sandwich, which can be made with store brand mayo and store brand relish in between two slices of store brand wheat bread. If you're interested in a little more protein, you can also add a can of store brand tuna or chicken to the egg salad mixture. This can make sandwiches for about a family of four easily. And instead of prepared boxed juice drinks, which the expenses can add up each week, it would be cheaper to fill a small thermos or plastic water bottle of your favorite, whether it be milk, juice, Kool Aid, etc. Add an apple, pear, or orange and you got one nutritious mid day meal.
Now, as we get into dinner, let me give you some pointers about that one staple of inexpensive meals: Spam, successfully feeding hungry families on a budget everywhere for over seventy years. Any kind of Spam, regular (pork) or turkey will do, but you will do well if you follow my bit of advice: Regular Spam for breakfast and lunch, Turkey Spam for dinner. The reason why I say this is because, while Regular Spam is versatile, and can be used for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, Turkey Spam is more suited to the dinner plate that the breakfast one. Turkey Spam can be diced into cubes and added with noodles and vegetables to make soups, mixed with mac and cheese, added to beans to give them a little more flavor, mixed with cream of mushroom or cream of celery soup, corn, peas, and string beans and put into a prepared pie crust to make turkey pot pie, and sautéed in a wok with soy sauce and poured over steaming vegetables and cooked ramen noodles to make Japanese turkey salad (since ramen noodles are high in sodium and fat, it is recommended that you prepare this particular dish once a week). For a beverage to wash it all down with, who needs canned soda, which can be very expensive week after week? All you have to do is add one package of Kool Aid (cherry, black cherry, grape, or tropical punch) to either a 64 ounce bottle of cranberry juice or apple juice. Now that's good drinking!
In conclusion, I think I must say something about a certain grocery store that has gained in popularity over the past decade: the 99 Cents Only Store. As I always say, shopping at the 99 Cents Only Store is like eating fried pork skins: nobody would admit to doing it, but you know everyone does. Well, we shop at the 99 Cents Only Store (and I also eat pork skins, but that's beside the point) for the same reason everyone else does: because you get the better brands for less. And isn't that what we're all looking for in a tight economy? Anyway, many of the ingredients mentioned in this blog can be found at your local 99 Cents Only Store, including the fresh fruits and vegetables.
So you see, you can feed you family very well with inexpensive ingredients. All you have to do is just go on a little bargain hunt, and know where to hunt. Until next time, keep well, and keep hanging in there!
Best regards,
Marley Sue
Comments