Menus for Frugality

[Britesea]

With the son off house-sitting, DH and I have been enjoying some of the foods we don't get too often because the boy doesn't care for them - like avocados (supper salad of lettuce and spinach with chunks of avocado and shrimp, in a lime-cilantro dressing!). In fact, I have supper salads lined up for at least 3 days next week. It means that I have to buy more salad greens though, since I don't have anything in the garden yet.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I cooked a BIG beef round roast in the crockpot Saturday. We had it Sunday too. I'll chunk up the rest and put in the freezer and pull it out one day and have roast beef hash with onions and potatoes. YUM, YUM! That'll be quite a few meals out of one roast.

 

[Britesea]

Ooh yum! I love me some hash!

 

[lcertuche]

I plan my meals around sales. Especially meat sales. What ever meat is on sale I can use a lot of the same recipes. I try to limit meat prices to $1.50/pound with the exception of bacon and sausage. I think I should be making sausage out of the pork roast I buy on sale and then the sausage would be cheaper and probably be healthier and taste better. DH's company sales chicken (and occasionally other types of meat) at very good prices. I do have to buy huge amounts but I have a large freezer. When I get 20 pounds if boneless, skinless chicken tenders for $22 then I use the chicken for all kinds of recipes. With these limitation I almost never buy beef but meat is meat and my family loves it. My church also gives the church members free food. I have gotten 125 pounds of tomatoes, 150 pounds of red potatoes, a case of bananas, cases of salads, bread, etc. I plan meals to include what I have in the freezer, cook dried beans, make vegetarian and vegan meals. Most of these recipes are casserole or soup type meals. I cook most my meals in a crockpot so energy cost are low. I double up many meals to freeze extra. I make huge pots of chili and spaghetti sauce to freeze extra. I dehydrate #10 cans of vegetables to preserve. I freeze my roosters. I wish I had a pressure canner. I forage greens and fruit from the edges of our property. I always cook huge amounts of pancakes once a week and freeze the extra for quick breakfast or snacks. I often bake bread which really stretches meals, especially since I have 2 teenage sons that are in sports and therefore starving (lol) most of the time. I have a puny little garden that I get fresh vegetables during summer. My project for next spring will be to enlarge it.

 

[Beekissed]

I don't think I've ever planned a meal in my life unless it was for a special occasion/holiday. I know my mother never did either. We normally just cook what we have on hand, depending on our tastes for that particular day...and then everyone else can either eat it or not, their choice.

They usually eat it.

I'm fond of the one dish wonder meal and find them very economical and a great use of the pantry, left overs, etc. We also don't worry about all the variety that most folks incorporate into meal times...our fare is pretty standard and stays much the same over the years, so we don't clip coupons or take advantage of sales...everything we buy is already cheap and they don't make coupons for it~rice, beans, pasta, potatoes, etc. for the base and then whatever we grow and can here as the accompaniment(canned items, eggs, canned chicken, homemade bread), and a few items from the store thrown in(peppers, onions, spices etc.).

So, I guess our menus for frugality rely on staples, simple food made in the skillet or pot~fleshed out with multiple ingredients~ all at the same time and eaten until it's gone in the meals thereafter. Sometimes if we have soup left over and have eaten on it a few times, I'll take what's remaining and turn it into pot pie.

That's pretty much how Mom raised us nine kids and multiple grandkids along the way on just the one, small income and how I did the same with my three boys on my one small income. I guess to most of the world that kind of eating sounds boring but I never heard any complaints and we are all fat and healthy, so it worked.

 

[lcertuche]

My meal choices have always been eat or don't eat, lol.

 

[baymule]

I don't really plan a menu. I just cook what I feel like fixing. Tonight I made what we call Cornbread Supper, I browned a pound of sausage, saute'd a half chopped onion in the grease, grated 2 cups of cheese and put it in the middle of a skillet of cornbread. One piece is a meal and we'll have it for the next several days. Last night was fried chicken livers, gizzards and hearts with mashed potatoes. We had the leftover livers and gizzards today for lunch, the leftover potatoes will be used to make potato patties. If I just don't feel like cooking, there's always grill cheese sandwiches.

The freezer is packed with vegetables, blueberries, pork, chicken, pecans, and more. I canned chicken meat and used the first jar to make chicken salad for lunch a couple days ago and we ate the rest of it for supper that night. I can throw something together easily because of working for years and having to come home and having little time to fix supper.

 

[lcertuche]

Like BAYMULE I love to recreate leftovers like the turning potatoes into potato cakes, use in bread dough, thicken soups, shepherd pie, etc.

 

[MoonShadows]

And @baymule, I love chicken livers, hearts & gizzards.

Anyone else getting hungry?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I'm sure hoping that I'll have some fresh livers this weekend. DH gets the hearts and gizzards and I claim the livers! And thanks to MS, I want some biscuits too!

So much for trying to diet. I'm gonna have rooster salad, fried livers and biscuits/gravy - and I dare anyone to tell me I shouldn't!