TOTM December 2022... It's Back!!

I bet you could manage to stretch that soup even further if you put it over a bowl of cooked rice (or noodles, if you prefer) perhaps go with only one breast?

I agree on not paying a premium for someone else to cut up a bird...maybe a bit more for boneless, as you are paying for meat rather than bone...and don't forget after-holiday specials. We found turkey for .25/lb - since it had to be frozen and was labelled as fresh. Cheaper than repackaging, I suppose.

 

Split a grass fed cow with the neighbor, talk about tender meat!
Shot a couple deer, Going to have deer/pork sausage soon, I had the deer mixed with a pig I had killed so this saved on buying pork.

 

While raising our family on a single income, we would buy groceries on sale, use coupons and in bulk whenever possible. It seemed we could never buy enough to keep up with the demand at times. But somehow we made it happen.

 

For the first time since we've been back stateside, we busted the budget so....so, yeah, definitely starting to feel old LooneyTune Biden inflation - to be fair - much of it also lays at Nancy and other Dems feet but Biden simply making it worse with his ridiculous policies especially, his energy policy which is nothing more than 'destroy America's self-reliance' or maybe simply its 'destroy America' wherever and whenever possible.

So, " how we make ends meet could help in the economic climate we are all in." In short, we do without - period. I did propose a 2X a week 'Chili Dog' night but that sort of got sidelined by the cook as her appetite is more sophisticated. LOL!

 

Bought a ¼ side of beef (grass fed) and a sheep, not cheap but it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than $15-17/lb at the store.

 

I could easily stock a couple of deep freezers with venison and other game to a level I could have a year or more of meat available at any given time. I do certainly bring in game but the difficulty is that if the power goes down it is all gone just like that (yes I have a generator that can keep me online for almost any length of time in a non-TEOTWAWKI event) however I also travel a deal with work and my spare time so I could well be several 1000km away when it goes dark at home, especially with the weather as it has been here for the past couple of years. Bulk meat purchases IS the way to do it cost effectively however. As other have said, get a small group to go in regularly on a beast.

 

I buy a couple of the $5 costco chickens every couple of weeks. Then I make stock with the bones, of course. I make a lot of our bread. I'd like to say we've made changes with inflation, but we have always lived cheap. I just put the turkey up to can the stock. We're having chicken enchilada soup tonight (a can of beans (I rehydrate dried beans, 16 oz), a can of las palmas green enchilada sauce (brand matters), 8 oz of green salsa (I make my own), 16 oz of corn-canned or frozen, 2c leftover turkey or chicken, 2 tblsp garlic- I use several cloves from the garden, 3c stock-anything but fish, 1c diced onion, 2-3 potatoes in large chunks. Cook it all in a large pot until potatoes are soft, then serve with salsa and tortilla chips or rice. The soup is better the next day. Take any leftover soup and layer it with corn tortillas and cheddar cheese; leave a layer of cheddar cheese on top. Think of this as a mexi lasagna.
I have tons of cheapo tips.
Make your own tortilla chips, they're far cheaper and they taste better.
Reheating pancakes is a snap and makes a far healthier breakfast on the go than those lousy breakfast sandwiches they sell at fast food. So always make extra pancakes.
Only an idiot throws away bacon grease. It can be added to leftover beans to make refried beans. It is the best base for fried rice.

 

Gah! I often find italian sausage for less than ground beef and it can be used in many recipes in place of ground beef.

 

Polish sausage is the way to go!

 

Homemade soups are the ONLY soups we have around this house and they're fantastic! My wife is not one for store bought food and loves to cook. Yeah, I'm spoiled rotten... The thanksgiving turkey is now boiled into broth and in the freezer to make soup in the near future.

 

I think sausage might be the biggest bang for the buck for protein/fat/salt requirements.

1lb smoked sausage / kielbasa sliced, a diced onion, bunch of garlic. brown them up. add a few diced roasted tomatoes and few couple/few/several of cups of cooked/canned black/red beans, add what ever spices you want. simmer. serve over and about 8 cups of cooked rice. 6 bucks for 6 servings (or 3 if VTJr is hungry)
Could eat that every day. Mrs VT, not so much.
If you wind up using store canned tomatoes and beans it might cost a little more but not much.

also use the sausage in a breakfast casserole that we have often.
9x13 pyrex casserole dish.
Diced sausage, shredded potatoes, half pound of shredded cheddar cheese, 6-8 eggs beaten, bell or some other pepper of choice,
parboil potatoes (or use store bought hashbrown (frozen/dehydrated)),
fill dish with potatoes, pour eggs into potatoes, mix in diced sausage and peppers, top with cheese and 350 degree over 45 minutes. Again, 8 servings for about 6 bucks.
It will cost about 5 bucks more if you have to use store bought hashbrowns and eggs vs coming off the farmyard.

 

AND she's keeping you alive longer and healthier. Homemade bone broth or stock is loaded with collagen and therefore calcium. There's loads of information on how healthy it is for you. Also, if the world explodes tomorrow, that bone broth is suddenly worth it's weight in gold to anyone with kids. Your wife is awesome!!

 

Nice topic....and nice responses by fellow monkeys.

 

50 years ago Lappe wrote a book, Diet for a Small Planet, that gave us a glimpse of how the rest of the world, hungry and poor survived. Its emphasis on mixing food sources in order to maximize the usable amino acids and required vitamins and minerals showed the modern scientific world what had been learned in the school of hard knocks. Those that ate a balanced diet survived and had children, those that didn't starved and did not reproduce.

Rice and beans, chili and tomatoes, fish sauce and soy sauce, olive oil and bread, read her book and see how you can eat cheap and survive. Go back to the source however, it is now a cult and it throws out animal foods for ethical reasons, adds a lot of modern cooking habits and general leftist propaganda changes to the basic findings.

Also note that even Lappe no longer finds it necessary to combine the food in one meal. One source eaten for breakfast will combine just as well with another source eaten as a snack or for lunch. In the 1970's edition she considered junk food and sugars as rare. Now it has become epidemic in our modern diets.

The LDS food storage plans can be modified and "enhanced for taste" into a very good cheap source of food for the here and now. Old style bulk oat meal with apple sauce or raisins and a little sweet added as well as powdered milk for breakfast, and so on it goes. Most modern survival foods are expensive, have too much sugar and salt, not enough calories to meet daily minimums when engaged in active labor, and are heavy into the "common" middle class foods. Thus freeze dried meats and fruits, fancy freeze dried Italian and other pasta meals,etc.

You can create the same meals using available cheaper cuts of meat, chicken on sale, etc. Beans and rice are good for you, but Cajun beans and rice with a cheap home made meat sauce is a delight to eat and I look forward to it. A good fresh lentil soup with carrots etc and a little Indian spices is also a good treat. Start looking into how the poorer class of people in India eat, it isn't found in the aisle in the super market that has the $5 noodle bowels and expensive spices. The poorer people in India seem to be surviving quite well and reproducing rapidly on budgets we would die on.

 

I don't follow the instructions on the instant oatmeal package anymore. I get about 1/3 more if I heat the water FIRST.

Another way I save money. I keep stuff that works until it will never work again. My cars have 290k and 320k miles on them. The young one is 18 years old. It may be my last car.

Of the more than forty cars I've owned only one was factory new. We had a new baby, in the winter, in Michigan, and a twenty-one year old two door Pontiac with a rod knock so loud people would stand and stare. My idea of a "new" car is anything newer than my old one.

And yes, I live alone and the little wheels under the microwave spinner have about 200,000 miles on them.

 

Priceless, diggety!

 

It is my fervent belief and hope that NOTHING can survive inside a microwave! Otherwise, we are all dead!

 

Look for a restaurant supply store in your area. Something like Chefs Supply, or Smart & Final, or Cash & Carry. We have been buying pork loin for $2.50 a lb. Just know your prices, because it's not always cheaper. Grocery Outlet usually has good bargains, but check the dates, because canned or bottled stuff is often close to the "best by" date.

Keep a big pot of beans going, I like red kidney beans the most, because it makes it's own gravy. I cut up a couple of sausage links in it, add onions, carrots and celery. Then add whatever seasoning and spice you like. Keep the lid on it, bring it to a boil once a day, add .ore ingredients as it gets eaten. Bulk beans are still a good deal.

Canned vegetables. I recently bought a case of recent production green beans for 50 cents a can. I remember paying that price nearly 20 years ago. Good deals are still out there, if you look for them. Don't procrastinate, do it now!