Soup for supper, what constitutes a thrifty meal? (W/picture)

[pipoman]

One reason I like winter. Tonights fare was a pot of potato soup and a pot of cream of mushroom. Both are scratch soups and three loaves of crusty French bread. Total cost $15.00. Three of us ate all we wanted tonight and there is enough for another meal for 3 or 4 adults left over. Assuming the three of us eat another meal our cost per meal will be $2.50. I like to shoot for $2.00 or less per adult meal. It is very important to me for the meal to be delicious and not just cheap. I know we could eat cheaper but there is a point when the food becomes stomach filler and not something that the eaters want to have seconds or thirds. We really are not on too tight of a budget, this is just a little game I have started playing with myself over the last few months. Beyond leftovers I don't make the same meal more than once per month as a rule.

My questions are, does anyone else have a budget they are shooting for on a per meal basis? What is your idea of a thrifty (but delicious) meal? What is the projected cost if all the ingredients are purchased at the store? How many will the recipe feed?

[KatyaR]

1. I don't mind spending a little more for a meal if I know I will have leftovers.

I don't mind leftovers, and since it's just me, I can fix a roast or big pot of stew and not mind the cost, knowing I'll eat well for several days. I just have to be careful not to waste a lot of food--I really hate that, even though I do it a lot. I'm with you--we all need to eat better. It's too bad it costs a fortune to do that.

The best, most thrify way is to get someone else to pay. :) We had a big whoopty-do meeting with lunch at work today, so I got to bring home baked chicken and veggies, an excellent salad mix, and ciabatta bread. I'll have food for at least three meals. Luckily we have these meetings daily for the next two weeks, so I'll be eating high on the hog for a while, which is good because I never got to the grocery store last week.

BTW--that soup and bread looks GREAT! There's nothing like homemade bread and soup.

[pipoman]

2. We like leftovers

especially soup, I think it is usually better the second go. I try to change the leftovers so they seem like a fresh dish, leftover roast and gravy..I might make some biscuits and have chipped beef & gravy on biscuits, etc. I think the key to eating cheap is making larger quantities then freezing or at least eating leftovers.

Good on ya getting leftovers from work lunches, that is thrifty for sure!

[sandnsea]

3. I shoot for $5.00 per meal

89 cent can of Hunts spaghetti sauce, $2.50 pkg of hamburger, $1.00 of spaghetti noodles.

Or $2.50 worth of ham hock and $1.50 bag of split peas or beans.

Or $2.00 pkg of cheese slices, $1.00 bag of elbow macaroni, and 2 .50 cans of tuna.

Now when I want to add fresh fruits and vegetables and cut fat and starch, I have to reconsider the whole concept of thrifty.

Your diet is fine for active teen-agers, not so good for middle-aged office workers.

[pipoman]

6. We do all of those meals occasionally

except for the tuna noodles as my wife doesn't like hot tuna but I miss it sometimes. During December seems to be one of the best months for sales here. I bought 20 packages of frozen veggies all were on sale for 10 pks $10. We are lucky enough to have some extra freezer room so I bought a turkey for $.59 and some other things.

[NMDemDist2]

4. I don't try a budget, but I notice I feed the two of us for about $80 a week

that includes all the meals since we rarely rarely eat out and I pack lunches for hubby every work day

we eat very well too, I don't buy hardly any 'packaged' foods, I buy flour, meat, veggies and go from there.

Last week we had Beef Strogonoff, Pinto Beans and Rice with Ham and cornbread, Chicken caccatori, Pork Chops with twice stuffed taters and broccoli, Lentil Soup with homemade bread and a couple different desserts, Hubby had lunches of turkey sammies, chips, apples, bananas and we had banana bread around for breakfast and I made cheese omelets on Sunday

I was able to freeze three meals of leftovers out of the above for later meals too. So I think I feed us fairly frugally but don't pinch pennys

:hi:

[pipoman]

7. That is really how I got started

keeping track. I don't pinch pennies or clip coupons (though I may start) either. Now that I have been paying attention I find myself shopping a little differently. I haven't made beef strogonoff for a long time I will put that in the hopper for next week.

$80 is pretty thrifty, we are around $120-150 for 3 and sometimes 4 adults.

:hi:

[MagickMuffin]

5. I love to cook big meals

Growing up I cooked for my family, there were seven of us living at home. So, I've always had a hard time cooking smaller meals.

I can cook a large enough meal to be re-purposed into 3 different dishes during the week.

Sometimes I will cook a large casserole of mixed potatoes, carrots, onions, peppers and cook in the oven. Mmmmmm roasted veggies with gravy. We can usually get 2 or 3 meals just from the veggies, but then hubby will use the rest of the leftovers to make wonderful Indian dishes of curry with rice. He usually makes a large pot of rice (more leftovers) to use with other dishes.

When in the mood I have a Stuffed Poblano Pepper with Cilantro Cream Sauce dish that will make 3 meals. I make enough Cilantro Sauce to last for 3 meals as well.

Soups, oh sheesh the soups can last for days.

We don't eat meat (except seafood occasionally) so we eat soy meats. The chicken soy is a real winner. I make chicken pot pie (a large pie) again 3 meals.

Soy ground meat Mexican burgers 2 meals.

When we eat out we can usually get two sometimes 3 meals out of those meals.

I really haven't ever done a cost analysis tho. But we are very frugal and eat well.


Your soups look very delicious. What kind of mushrooms are you using??? In mine I use Portabellas, and Shiitake. Sometimes I make the Mushrooms to top Spaghetti, before using it for soup, of course I add more dairy to thin it down.

[pipoman]

8. I like the term "re-purposed"

I have never heard that before but it is really a better description than leftovers. When I was a kid my mom served leftovers, that was the same dish, removed from the fridge and either oven heated or microwaved (later), both ways the food sucked and nobody wanted to be home on leftover night. I try to make an entirely different dish from the leftovers when possible and never would serve up oven dried out or over microwaved food.

I would like the stuffed poblano pepper with cilantro cream sauce dish recipe. We are big fans of Chile Rellenos sounds like this might be a hit here too. We do eat meat but not every meal. We have a freezer full of venison, our own beef, traded pork, and some buffalo and still eat veggie burgers and black bean burgers occasionally.

This is my first attempt at creamy mushroom soup. I used some shiitake and white mushrooms. I would have preferred portabellas but they didn't look good today so I reluctantly bought the white mushrooms instead.

[MagickMuffin]

9. Glad you like the re-purpose meme

I understand about how leftovers can become loathsome if just reheated. But turn into something else all together and whamo a whole new dish and you'd never know it was leftovers. Cooking should be fun as well as great tasting.


I don't mind sharing my stuffed pepper recipe. This is a basic recipe, you can reinvent it with whatever ingredients you like.

Here are some of mine.

Peppers, onions, mushrooms, cumin, salt, pepper, meat/soy meat, squash, zucchini, cooked rice, black beans, cheese.

I wash the peppers and cut out the tops and de-seed them. Boil in water for roughly 10 minutes or so, drain and cool while the other ingredients are cooking.

In skillet saute onions, mushrooms in olive oil until tender. Add ground meat/soy meat, shredded squashes, black beans, rice and cheese.

Stuff peppers and bake for 20 minutes or so.

For Cilantro Cream Sauce.

In skillet melt some butter, add heavy whipping cream, chopped cilantro. Let this cook and reduce to a thick consistency.

After plating the peppers, I usually cut the peppers open, pour the cream sauce over the top of the peppers. Heat some flour tortillas, and enjoy the meal.

I hope you will try this recipe and let me know if liked it.:hi:

[NMDemDist2]

11. interesting, I think that's the first stuffed pepper recipe I've seen with no tomato

in it.

sounds delish! :hi:

[pipoman]

13. Great recipe and recipe style

even if a recipe is written in the traditional way (1/2 c. of this, 2T. of that), I always read and retain the recipe the way you presented this one.

This will go on next weeks list with AZDem's suggestion of beef strogonoff, I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

[hippywife]

10. Those sound delicious!

And it is soup weather!

As far as a food budget, it depends on what it is. If it's something out of the ordinary, a nice treat for a change of pace, I try to think about what it would cost us in a mid-priced restaurant. I can usually come in around half of that. Most of the rest of the time, I don't mind spending a little extra to get good produce, organic food stuffs when I can. I think it is worth choosing to spend the little extra over the costs that cheap goods wreak elsewhere and otherwise.

Enjoy your lovely soups! :hi:

[pipoman]

14. We have some dishes that definitely break my pretend budget

favorites are salmon with pesto and fresh pasta, stir fry with prawns and/or crab, etc.

The soups and bread were awesome...and Italian wedding soup is on the next soup day, Ill try to post a pic in your thread! :hi:

[supernova]

12. I can usually get out of the store for 45-50 dollars

and that's with something like two meats, maybe a whole chicken to roast and some fish, fresh veggies and fruit, coffee and/or tea (which i don't have to buy every time) and one or two luxuries/curiosities. I don't eat wheat (or any grains) or dairy so I skip those sections of the store. I rarely buy chips and other junk food. I will usually buy a small high-end chocolate bar and make it last for 3 or 4 days.

Though, I admit I sometimes spend more on the take out counter (WF) because there is just me and I don't cook a lot.

I also cut down on grocery bills by buying cleaning products anywhere else besides the grocery store. The dollar store is really good for that. There's nothing wrong with the product; it just didn't sell well for what ever reason, not a popular fragrance or color for example. I got a new set of stove drip pans at the dollar store for about $2/each. They are cheap but I will get $2 worth of wear out of them.

[pipoman]

16. I eat a little chocolate about every evening

but it is often in the form of baked goods. It does seem like it is cheaper per plate to cook for 6 or 8 than 1 or 2.

[sazemisery]

15. When we cook, we cook large

We are empty nesters and love to cook. So, when we do, we cook in quantity, use our Food Saver to bag up 2 serving portions. For example, Mrsazemisery is the BAR-B-Q King. He smoked a 16 lb brisket for 6 hours then we slow cook it in a foiled sealed container at 170 degrees F. for 12 to 18 hours. We feasted on chopped brisket sandwiches and a lovely salad. When the brisket was completely cold in the fridge, we vacuum packed 13 containers for future meals.

I haven't done the cost analysis, but this thread has got me to thinking about it and I might just see how cost effective it is.

[pipoman]

17. Bar-b-que is a great way to eat cheaply

I have a Traeger pellet smoker and I buy meats on sale, when I have 40lbs or so I cook it up. I just bought a 20lb turkey for $.59...the next time brisket or pork shoulder goes on I will buy enough to fill my smoker. What a delicious way to save time and eat cheap!

[shireen]

18. i'm not a soup fan but

that potato soup looks very good. Can you provide your recipe? Did you grow your own potatoes for it? (I recall that you live on a farm or grow your own food, which is something I dream about from my apartment!)

[pipoman]

19. Sure

the potatoes I used are store bought russets. I am going to try to grow some this year but we have fairly stiff clay here, I don't know how well they will do.

First I coarse dice a medium onion and saute it with 1/2 stick of butter in the pan until tender. I usually use around 3 lbs of russet potatoes peeled and cubed into 1" pieces, a stalk of celery if I have one cut into 2 or 3 pieces and a bay leaf then just barely cover them in the pan with chicken stock, vegetable stock, or mild salt water. This was some chicken stock I had in the freezer. Bring to a boil then turn the heat back and let simmer until the potatoes are done through, around 15 minutes. Remove and discard the celery and bay leaf. Now I add heavy cream, half and half, or milk until the soup is milky colored around 1 1/2 to 2 cups maybe a little less if I am using cream. I usually put in two or three tablespoons of sour cream, some dried rubbed sage, a little dried rosemary and thyme, and some dried chives. Bring to a low boil over medium heat stirring regularly. When it begins to boil add some cornstarch and water to thicken to desired consistency. Last thing I do is add a couple of handfuls of sharp cheddar then salt and pepper to taste. It only takes around 1 hour to make and we get around 6-8 adult meals out of it served with crusty bread for dipping.

An alternative I have used is to saute the onion with a couple of slices of diced bacon.

Any of these methods, even if all ingredients are purchased including chicken/vegetable stock, should bring this delicious meal in at $2.00 or less per adult meal. This soup freezes well too. Enjoy! :hi:

[shireen]

20. that sounds VERY good!

Thank you! You've inspired me to try it .... :)

[shireen]

21. growing potatoes

How about raised beds?

Found a couple of links:

Growing in containers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/growfruitandveg_potatoes2.shtml
If you’re short of space, try growing potatoes in an adequately drained container that is at least 30cm (1ft) deep and wide. Half fill the pot with multi-purpose compost or good quality, fertile garden soil, nestle two seed potatoes into the top of the compost and then top up with more compost or soil to within 2.5cm (1in) of the rim of the container.

Using old tires, garbage bags, old trash bins ....
http://www.humeseeds.com/potato.htm
... Tires: There are two different methods of growing potatoes in tires. One way is to stack three or four tires, fill them with soil and plant two to three seed pieces about 1 or 2 inches deep in the top tire. The black of the tire absorbs and radiates heat, and there usually is a heavy yield.

Another method is to put a tire on the ground, fill it with soil and plant the potatoes within the tire. Plant two seed potatoes, whole or halved, about 2 inches deep. Once the potatoes have developed 3 or 4 inches of foliage growth, a second tire can be put on top of the first,...

Wish I had a house with a sunny garden, it would be so much fun to try it.

[pipoman]

22. This is one of those foods I can't imagine not liking

both of our 16 year olds request this soup. If you try it be sure to let me know how it goes over!

I am going to use the raised garden system this year. My problem is that non-clay top soil is pretty expensive here. I did buy a truck load and some sand. My plan did not include many potatoes but I may adjust that plan. I may try the tire method using mostly sand and some composted manure I have. Thanks for the links.