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bentheredunthat: 5 months ago

Can you cook a reasonably healthy meal for your family for $10 or less?

Wondering if people still teach their children how to stretch meals by cooking from scratch vs. relying on single meal fast foods & frozen pizza.

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Answer 1

FarmerGirlMaryJo: 5 months ago | Last edited at 1:50PM on 12/1/2012

If I can't feed myself and any hands for less than $2 a person, I'm doing something seriously wrong. Buying in bulk, stocking up on sale, using coupons, not buying convenience foods (well, the occasional Cup O' Ramen, but that's dirt cheap, lol), having a garden and preserving as much as possible, making breads and cakes versus buying ready-made... it all adds up. If the grocery stores around here had to rely on me for their income, they'd go out of business.

Edit: Bentheredunthat! How the heck have you been? I've MISSED you! (Didn't even see whose question it was 'til now, lol!)

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bentheredunthat: 5 months ago

Thank you MaryJo! Totally agree. Same here - $2 or less per person is my goal & it usually works out well. Just wonder sometimes if cooking at home is becoming a lost art. People are struggling to feed themselves & their families, yet have no idea how far a bag of $1.49 brown rice or a dozen eggs can go. Worse - how to prepare a healthy meal for their kids on a very tight budget. My mom did it all the time. She was very creative. Weird recipe combos & sometimes boring, but we never went hungry.

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FarmerGirlMaryJo: 5 months ago

I know what you mean. I was shocked when I worked for Michigan State University when we had to have an entire team of "Expanded Food & Nutrition Education Program" (EFNEP for short) assistants to TEACH people how to SHOP and COOK!

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bentheredunthat: 5 months ago

Hey, all is good, thank you for asking! Re EFNEP. Interesting comment. I believe you & it makes you wonder. I was watching a documentary about hungry children in the U.S. (DISGRACEFUL) & a family who fed themselves five $2 frozen pizzas for dinner. The kids were tired of eating them & said they tasted like cardboard. Nutritionally that's about right. I was upset that the parents didn't know to spend the $10 on something healthier & makes several meals. There are dozens of common food items that cost $2 or less per package, & offers multiple servings, that would have served them much better. I guess we're both lucky that our folk's generation were so wise during tough times.

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FarmerGirlMaryJo: 5 months ago

My folks survived the depression... really taught them how to live. And red (or black) beans and rice are highly underrated as a cheap, tasty, nutritious meal.

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bentheredunthat: 5 months ago

Yes, my parents too - depression era kids. "A dish of ice cream was a treat for us when we were kids!" (Big eye roll.) But seriously, rice & beans is a very favorite meal - delicious & filling. I also serve it to friends on a big platter & they love it - they think it's exotic cuisine, lol.

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FarmerGirlMaryJo: 5 months ago

ikr? And my little guy goes crazy over homemade mac and cheese. His birth monster and his father shovel garbage at him unless I'm around.

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bentheredunthat: 5 months ago

LoL!!!

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bentheredunthat: 5 months ago

("birth monster":0)

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FarmerGirlMaryJo: 5 months ago

It definitely fits... What "mother" lets her kid's teeth rot out of his head so that by the time he's eleven he's had nearly $10K worth of dental done? Or continues to smoke around him after she was told he's very near to having asthma? She has 3 kids by 3 baby daddies, and lives off child support and welfare. Ugh!

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bentheredunthat: 5 months ago

I'm so sorry. Wow. I'll never understand why some people have children if they're not willing to see them into healthy adulthood. Or love them enough to put them first, instead of their own bad habits. At least he has you to quietly guide him in the right direction, you know?

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FarmerGirlMaryJo: 5 months ago

He's eleven now, and he amazes me how well he's turning out. I can't take credit for it; I see him only every other weekend and every other week during the summer. But puberty scares the bejeebers out of me. I'm the one he comes to with any and all questions.

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bentheredunthat: 5 months ago

Go ahead & take credit. It's not how much time you spend w/ him, but the quality of that time. And your influence. It's working because he's coming to you for advice, because he knows you care. Good job.

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FarmerGirlMaryJo: 5 months ago

Aw, thanks... he really is my heart.

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Answer 2

Brigitte.Valle: 5 months ago via Android

sure people know how to cook on a budget but choose not to because we've grown lazy
Sure, pasta and rice are filling and with different sauces or spices can taste different! and beef is usually cheap

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bentheredunthat: 5 months ago

You're right, so true. Nutrition suffers as well. Whole wheat pasta & brown rice with seasoned beans & sauces can be cheap, healthy & delicious if prepared right. Sometimes a bag of soy crumbles is cheaper than ground beef, so I sub that. Nobody knows until I challenge them to (uh oh...) guess what they're eating, lol.

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Answer 3

Jamadi: 5 months ago

Wait for a sale and get some talapia filets, season to taste and saut? in a little olive oil, serve with some rice and a veggie. One of my favorites.

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bentheredunthat: 5 months ago

Thank you - perfect! (Yummy)

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Answer 4

Aileen1234: 5 months ago

Depends how large is your family

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bentheredunthat: 5 months ago

True. Thinking a family of four or five, at most. (Any more & agree - a real challenge. :)

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Answer 5

mimtastic: 5 months ago

I love tuna noodle casserole, and I've been cooking it a lot lately. It's super cheap and you can always substitute chicken for tuna, or cream of something else if you don't like cream of mushroom. :]
Also, super cheap dessert that is awesome. Box of angel food cake, can of crushed pineapple, and you're done. You could probably do all those together for around $10. :]
http://www.food.com/recipe/simple-tuna-noodle-casserole-177046
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,166,142188-243198,00.html

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bentheredunthat: 5 months ago

Both sound really good, thank you for the recipe posts. I love tuna casserole too, esp. w/ frozen peas. :) FYI, Target sells their own brand chunk white chicken (Market Pantry) for about $1.59, large can. ($2.49 +/- elsewhere.) It's great in casseroles & rice dishes. Fresh chicken is good too - but buy the whole bird & just stuff it in the oven. The cost is about $1 per pound vs. buying cut up chicken at $2 per pound on sale. A big money saver. ;)

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