How to feed a family of 4 for under $80.00 a week?

Question

Any kind of meun that would be healthy but kid friendly as well. On a VERY limited budget. Please any weekly menus that might help? I am not a great cook and need some help.

Answer 1

pound of macaroni, can of cream of mushroom, lil milk, and if u have it chedder cheese, hotdogs. Cook macaroni , drain mix milk soup and cheese,in a 2 qt dish top with hotdogs bake 30 minuters till bubbely,(mom called that hotdog/ mac bake)

London broil or any other cuts of steak, cheap steaks will work too. Thinly slice them put in a fry pan with onions, add water ot beef broth and let simmer for about an hour or so, add a jar of gravey serve over rice or pasta or egg noodles and a veggie.

Can of Tuna, cream of mushroom soup, can of peas frozen peas, egg noodles..........Drain tuna, mix with soup and half can of milk(I add cheese in mine kids loves it) and peas, cook egg noodles and mix and bake for 35-40 minutes on 350, serve with bread and butter

spaghetti, cook it anyway u like, I add peppers, mushrooms, canned diced tomatoes spag sauce, cooked hamburg and or hot sausage links crumbled and spaghetti or other noodles if U don't have spaghetti. bread and butter

BBQ chicken, with rice cooked in chicken or veggie broth, add some fresh veggies to give it a taste,

mac and cheese deluxe add a lil sour cream with pouch and slice some smoked sausage and mix with it and bake it

bulk hamburg , make patties and wash and clean potatoes and chunk them, place in a plastic bag and add some paprika, garlic powder, salt pepper, onion powder and bake in oven for 40 minutes turning once to make potatoe browns

mom's shephards pie(everyone is different, but hers was cheap raising 5 kids in the 70's with just a 100.00 to spend on 7 ppl a week)................brown hamburg with onions place in a casserole dish and add a can of cream style corn and can of whole kernal mixed and top the hamburg, add mashed potatoes on top and bake it 35 minutes on 350

boil chicken pieces with bones add some spices like celery leaves, onions garlic(powder or chopped or minced) bay leaf. Boil for about 3 hrs till meat slids off bone. Drain with a strainer the meat and juice. Keep broth, strip chicken put meat aside, add some peeled diced carrots, potatoes, and chopped celery and add water enough to cover veggies, cook till tender add meat to pan, and if u have bisquick mix, make some dumplings I add again shredded cheeseto my dumplings and srop them in let them fluff and ejoy, great as left over too for lunch the next day.

Make meatballs, add a can of either cream of chicken and lil milk or cream of mushroom to meatballs, simmer until sauce thickens some, cook egg noodles an make a cheap meatball stroganoff, top with a lil sour cream if u desire

scalloped potatoes..............6 peeled and sliced potatoes, onion sliced and cut in half. layer potatoes then onion till u finish with potaotes...........4 tbsp butter, 4 tble spoon flour, melt butter in sauce pan add mar/butter, salt pepper, till thick and pastey. Add slowly 4 cups of milk.....whisk as ur adding. once all milk is added, bring to a soft boil and pour over top of taters and bake about 1 hr on 350. I always add a pad or 2 of mar/butter on top so it don't crisp up to fast,,,,,,,If u have ham of any kind, deli, or ham steak, my brothers love it with Spam,lol I wasn't fond of spam, or u can make it with porkchops .

I hope this helps u out some. I was trying to remember what I used to make and what mom made, I am also on a limited budget with 2 kids as well, and I make just a hair over to get food stamps, so you people thinks that food stamps is the way, it is IF U get accepted for it. Some people are not able to get them., and its not easy getting another job when U got young kids at home. I know I been there done that.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

For one thing, you're much better off cooking from scratch -- or at least mostly from scratch -- both economically and health-wise. I'm single and feed myself for under $20.- a week, so my ideas might work for you.

Shop bargains; I decide what I'm going to eat this coming week based largely on what the stores have on sale. Watch the sales. Eat veggies and fruits that are in season; that's when they cost the least.

Use as few commercially-prepared items as possible. Use a slow cooker if you have one or can find one secondhand somewhere.

Use ground turkey instead of ground beef. If you get the ground dark meat (or mainly dark meat) it's really hard to tell the difference once you get the spaghetti sauce or sloppy joe sauce on it. Honest! Save the ground beef for the occasional hamburger night.

Use plenty of chicken. Buy a whole one and cook it. You may be able to get two meals out of it if you make two casseroles (or a casserole and a soup) with it.

Go to Google or Dogpile and search for "budget family recipe ideas." You'll be surprised at how many other moms also need this info, so there's lots of it available.

Answer 4

Well I do not know where you are located, where I am located at we have a grocery store called Food City, they have store brand "VALUTIME" dinners that are tasty and somewhat healthy for a $1.10. That's, pretty cheap. Also, one local Wal*Marts in my towns always has Healthy Choice dinners (the smaller dinners) on sale for a $1.34, thats almost 60 meals for 80 bucks. If your family does not eat a lot then that would be plenty. Also, you could always buy ramen, they are only 25 cents a cup. Also, with all do respect you may want to try to get some assistance so you won't have it so rough.

Answer 5

OK well, I do NOT support box meals, as they are horrible for you. I would say macaroni and cheese [from a box is alright, it isn't that horrible for you and probably cheaper for you] you can add some ham or ground beef to it for the protein. buy whatever veggies are on sale that your little ones will eat and cut or cook depending on the veggie, and serve alongside. make sure you always check the sales and buy whatever you need at the store that has it the cheapest. this does require a little extra but you do save a lot of money. another good thing is to get like a bundle pack of chicken and freeze part of it. the part the you arent freezing, cut up in tenders or strips, dip in some flour seasoned with salt and pepper and pan fry [just to brown them] and then you can finish off in the oven. serve with dips like ketchup or mustard or ranch dressing and enjoy. it is yummy and relativly healthy because you are not deep frying it

Answer 6

I work at a place called my girlfriends kitchen. Its a meal preparation kitchen where you can go and make from 3-24 meals for less than 250$ which is really cheap when you break it down each serving is only 3.00$!!

Anyways you should check it out. You can buy 12 meals (large serves 8) for 225$, half them ( half serves 4), and have 24 meals! You can buy them at the beginning of the month so save 225 from your budget and then freeze the meals and then you will always have a meal for dinner and still have some money left each week for other meals......

just an idea. its a good deal....

Answer 7

This can be done, I know from my family experience, but it's tough. It'll be easier if you have enough to shop for "staples" all at once. I just bought a 20 lb. bag of potatoes for $4. Rice can be bought in large quantities for fairly cheap as well. Soups are great because they make a little meat go a LONG way. My mom used to make ramen noodles as a soup and put an egg in for each family member (poach the egg in the water before you cook the noodles).

Its the time of year to start gardening, do you have access to a plot of land? Your own vegetable garden can stretch your budget a long way, particularly since most vegetables can be frozen for use over autumn and winter. Peas will give you early summer vegetables and strawberries can stretch the budget for fruit. Corn comes ripe later in the summer, as do tomatoes, carrots, beets, onions, zucchini, and squash. $20 of seed will give you hundreds of dollars worth of vegetables later.

When looking at store-bought vegetables, cabbage is going to be your best friend. At $0.29 - $0.49 / lb, its one of the cheapest vegetables that can be purchased fresh. It can be pickled (saurkraut), chopped and served cold with carrot shavings (cole slaw), fried with apple juice or brown sugar or mustard. Canned

The hardest part is making food stretch and not get boring. A crockpot will be your best friend as it will enable you to slow-cook a tough cut of meat (cheap) so that it is tasty. You'll then have lots of broth left over (the juices) that can be used to make a soup base. You could also buy a whole turkey at a time, serve roast bird Sunday, then Tuesday have a hotdish (casserole) with the leftovers, Wednesday serve creamed turkey, and Thursday make a turkey-noodle soup.

Another "stretch" I've learned is to grate up zucchini and carrots into spaghetti sauce. It gives the sauce that meaty consistency people expect while saving on the expensive hamburger ($3.00 / lb???!!!). This really works well when you're getting vegetables from your own garden.

It may help to bake your own bread as five cups of flour us usually cheaper than 2 loaves of bread.

I can't give you menus directly, but are your kids eating lunch at home or at school? Do you get free/reduced lunches? Can you apply? If not, its still not the end of the world. A cheese or peanutbutter & jelly sandwich with an apple and a whole carrot one day, soup and an orange with the other kind of sandwich the next.

You might find the website www.tasteofhome.com to be helpful. Your local library might even have a subscription; they have at least one super-cheap menu every issue. Another great site is www.basic-recipes.com (for example, the golabki http://www.basic-recipes.com/veget/cbbg/cabbage7.htm is a dish I grew up eating, considered a peasant staple).

Best wishes!

Answer 8

Wendy's dollar menu. Yes, it is fast food, but you can make healthy decisions there. They have salads and burgers. You can now get a turkey sandwich and yogurt in a kids meal. Also, try buying some tortillas and shredded cheese. You can make quesadillas with that, and kids love them. To make quesadillas more interesting, add some salsa, chopped tomatoes, green peppers, or onions; and canned or fresh chicken is always good. You can also buy refried beans in a can to make burritos. Breakfast can be very simple with bisquick pancakes. Kids love them with chocolate chips added. Hope this helps :)

Answer 9

Paleo diet its a diet based around eating real food unprocessed and organic. Learn here https://tr.im/Ghe9Y

Whether you have or not, what you probably don't realize is that it’s the fastest growing “diet” in the world right now. From celebrities, chefs, elite athletes. Even fitness experts is eager to try it or adopt it.

And for good reason, because no other diet or eating plan provides so many benefits so fast.

Answer 10

Breakfast for dinner is good. Homemade pancakes if you're up to it. Krusteaz is good for a mix. Eggs are always a cheap source of protein. And a carton of eggs will yield 6 servings for 2 bucks or so. Through in a few slices of bacon (store brand of course) and youre good to go.

Answer 11

there are lots of meals you can prepare cheaply and they are healthy and kid friendly. buy a whole chicken (its cheaper)for roasting, you can also cut it up for frying. you can also buy the roll turkey burger for burgers, meatloaf, spaghetti, chili, or lasagna. have a pizza night (get a couple of the large frozen pizzas) have a hotdog and burger night. there are plenty of sides you can have like mac and cheese, there are lots of flavored rice, pasta, and potato side dishes and of course a veggie. check your weekly store sales papers to also help you with some of the things to purchase.