I was reading r/all and came across a post about "what does a $200/month grocery list looks like?" and they are referring to a single person. In the comments I am surprised to know that that was apparently already a low budget. So I thought it might be worth it to share how I do $200 dollars a month on groceries for my husband and I, and also enough to cover my 11mo son's lunches and dinners.
To be fair, my husband and I are both rather skinny, but we still eat quite alot. I am asian and my husband is caucasian and so we have 2 whole cultures of food recipes to work with. We also live in Nevada/Utah and the food costs aren't as crazy as CA. We don't really eat out, we eat a veggie based diet and doesn't care for organic or not. husband occassionally gets lunch from business meetings.
That being said, I considered our diet extremely balanced, especially for our budget. I don't skim on important things.
ASIAN MART:
We bulk buy jasmine rice (50lbs/$25 -- 1lb yields 6 cups of rice - .25/serving). vermicelli ($2/pack - 8 servings) and Dry noodles ($5/pack - 15 servings) from Asian markets in Vegas. It is quality cheap carbs. We also buy frozen dumplings from there because thats $3/30pcs).
Dumpling soup noodles: Boil water, add chicken powder, add dumplings and dry noodles. if bokchoy happens to be cheaper than $1.5/lb I will add some in too.
** Fried vermicelli** boil vermicelli, fry eggs, diced deli ham, and onions. add strained vermicelli and stir fry with soy sauce.
SMITHS: I almost never get meat from anywhere but Smiths. Their Chicken thighs and breasts are always .99/lb.
We do seasoned chicken thighs, 1pc each, and roast potatos, carrots, frozen broccolis, or sometimes mac'n'cheese on the sides. my husband makes BOMB chicken thighs. I don't know his seasonings, think it is salt, pepper, paparika, garlic powder, onion powder. He cooks it in an oven safe pan, and after its cooked abit he throws it in the oven.
Chicken breasts usually comes skinless and its better used in stir-fry. I like dicing them and marinate with shaoshing wine, sesame oil and soysauce. coat it with eggwash and cornstarch and you can make nuggets. I also fry it with garlic+sliced cucumbers or garlic+celery. they go on rice.
They have big things of pork for .79/lb but since they are stuck together with meat glue I usually just ground it with food processer.
things to do with ground pork - pork balls - season pork with soysauce, white peper, and shaoshing wine. add diced onions, roll into small balls and pan fry. goes well with any noodles or rice. - adding protein into any savory stirfries with cucumbers, lettuce or almost any asian vegetables.
Smiths also has 1.17/lb pork roasts, last one I got was $5 for 2 big pieces which we throw one into slow cooker with half a red onion, and heck ton of potatos and carrots. Thats easily 5-6 servings of food. I avoid using the broth because when we are almost done, I use the broth with dry noodles and make another 2 servings of food. thats 8 servings of food that's really healthy, content and less than a dollar per serving.
Another good meat Smith has is pork loins thats 1.37/lb. I got 6 chops for 3 dollars. I make tonkatsu don with it. $0.5 for pork, $0.5 for onion, $0.25 for rice, maybe $0.25 for eggs. and we usually have left overs because the servings are bigg.
We get whatever veggies that are on discount, (corns, peas, and broccoli I just get them frozen) and veggies like onions and lettuces are always stocked up. a head of lettuce is easily enough for 2 big servings with ranch, 2 scrambled eggs and 2 slices of deli ham (get bacon bits if needed). if we happened to bulk cheese on sale we add shredded cheese too)
I know Salmon isn't your usual "cheap food", but I also get frozen ones. it is $12/3lbs in Walmart, and there is usually 8 fillets. thats $1.5/serving. again served with roasted veggies.
We also make veggie stew with celery, cabbage, red onion, potatos and carrots (I'm enjoying one right now) using slow cooker.
We still get Orange Juice because I tutor and I can't afford having not enough vitamins C, even though its 3 dollars and we finish it easily within a week.
we stock up off-brand cereals every breakfast also helps reduce wanting other things and spending extra with it. Husband drinks whole milk ($3/week - we also use it for cooking) and I drink almond milk since I became lactose intolerant after the baby ($1.5/week - great value is cheap).
We almost always have veggies, meat, and carbs for every meal, and it on average we spend $200. My son also eats what we eats unless I skimmed on occasions and eat boxed potato-au-gratin. I usually start the rice cooker with some frozen veggies, any left over meat, with half cup of rice when it happens.
We get straw-berries, apples and other berries when they are on discount. I have a juicer and I make fresh juices for my son.
Thats all the tips I can remember at the moment. but ask me about anything. I definitely have more recipes than this :) and if certain veggies and meat is cheaper in your location I can develop a recipe that can make use of them too.
August 13, 2018 at 01:24PM
