I have 100 dollars to my name for 7 days of meal and gas for myself and three kids, got cheap meal ideals?

Question

I need some real cheap meal ideals to feed myself and three kids ages 10, 9 and 3 off of less than one hundred dollars over the next 7 days for breakfast and dinner (plus buy gas). A company made a mistake and took too much money from my checking account which overdrew my account. However, they still have not given the money back and w/ all the fees I incurred I will proably never see my grocery money again! My kids have beenn complaing already of being hungry b/c I have to limit food to make sure it can streach. I had to cut out sending school lunches this week, send them to school for breakfast. I am suppose to get food stamps and I got approved but the case worker said she will get around to it when she feels like it. Got super cheap meal ideals?

Answer 1

Whole chickens are wonderful meals!! You can buy a big enough chicken, I buy one that feeds 5 people with leftovers, for 3 dollars at Walmart!!

Answer 2

Man, that sucks! I'm sorry this happened to your family. Do you have any adult family member or a friend who could float you a little cash? That'd help ease the stress at least a little bit.

But here's my suggestion for your $100: It really all depends on how much gas you need. I'm hoping you won't need any more than $40 to get you through the week. That leaves $60 for food...

unlike most people, I won't sacrifice nutrition because I'm broke, so I'm not going to suggest McD's or a steady diet of Kraft dinner.

First, do you have staples like flour, sugar, oats, bread, peanut butter, jelly, milk?

If you have this stuff, you can make your own bread... you may just need to buy some yeast.

If you don't have oatmeal, you can buy rolled oats in bulk from a lot of grocery stores and many health stores... and it's CHEAP! I pay between 50 and 80 cents/pound of rolled oats... and that's organic! You could prepare that for breakfast (or any meal) all week with mashed bananas or apples and cinnamon (I'll usually simmer the apples with a little butter and cinnamon, then add the water/milk, and oats for a delicious, filling, and nutritious meal).

You could also make a huge pot of chili. Canned tomatoes, sauce, paste, and beans are relatively inexpensive around here. I can email you a recipe if you want - just let me know if you're interested. My daughter LOVED this "hamburger soup" I made last week - brown some beef with an onion, add a can of diced tomatoes and 2 cans beef broth (plus 1 c water), celery and carrots, some pepper, thyme (you can skip if you don't have it), salt, barley, and parsley... OMG yum! and it makes a lot.

Along the same vein, you could make a big pot of spaghetti sauce and serve it over pasta. And I just found a recipe for stuffed baked potatoes - bake the potatoes, then take a thin slice off the top, scooping out the insides (with enough to leave the "shell" in tact). Brown some ground beef with onion, drain, then add whatever you have (sour cream, Worcestershire, garlic, chili powder, etc.) and mix together. Stuff back into potato shells and sprinkle with cheese. bake at 350 for another 10-15 minutes.

In a pinch, my daughter just likes a big serving of pasta with a little garlic sauteed in butter.

I think if your shopping list looked something like the following you'd be ok for 7 days.

oats
1 bag apples
1 bunch bananas
1 gallon milk (maybe 2 - if your kids drink that much?)
1 bag of medium-sized potatoes
1 or 2 lbs ground beef
2-4 lg cans tomato sauce
2-4 lg cans diced tomatoes
2-4 cans of beans (kidneys, pintos, whatever you like in chili)
cheese
celery
carrots
beef broth
pasta
butter
garlic

I really hope that helped at least a little bit. And I hope that company makes good and returns your money. At least talk with the bank, explain the situation, and see if they'll forgive the fees.

Good luck!

Edit: There are some great answers in here! Like, I can't believe I forgot The Incredible Edible Egg and rice! A staple around here when we were especially broke was fried rice. There you go - rice, eggs, a bag of frozen veggies, and some soy sauce (and sugar, ginger, garlic, and onion if you have it)

Answer 3

Name Of 7 Days

Answer 4

Get yourself a whole chicken. The first night, roast it and serve it with rice and frozen veggies. Make gravy from the pan drippings to stretch it even more.

The second night, shred the leftover meat while gently boiling the bones to make stock. Put an onion, carrot and a celery stalk in the pot too. Skim the foam, then fish the bones and veggies out. Add frozen veggies, leftover meat, beans and some kind of starch (noodles, rice, potato) and serve soup. Grilled cheese sandwiches are great, or homemade tortillas or bread.

Skimp on milk this week. It's totally unecessary. It's nice, but it's not necessary.

Pancakes with oatmeal and applesauce in the batter, served with bananas and eggs.

Tuna is great, as well as peanut butter. Beans are another staple here, especially when money is tight.

Homemade pizza can be very cheap, and the kids will love to make it themselves.

Ask for help. Ask anyone who might be able to help you. Right now, I would feed your whole family supper tomorrow night if you can all come over before hand and help me tidy up this house! Churches are great resources. Ask the kids teachers if the school keeps a stash for seasons of need. I was in charge of my school's stash when I worked there, and I had a hard time listening to the "rules" about who got food and who didn't. I gave food to anyone who was hungry, including siblings and parents. We all have seasons of need.

Answer 5

spaghetti. When we're between paydays pasta goes far. You can feed a family of 8 a spaghetti dinner for less than $6.00. Breakfast for dinner if you've got eggs in the fridge.. fend for yourself night where people get creative in the kitchen, usually that means one of my kids is eating cereal for dinner :) Whole chickens are cheap at Walmart and once they're cooked you can make soup with frozen vegetables. A big favorite here is chicken and rice. Bags of rice are usually pretty cheap.

In the future, its a good idea to keep some staples on hand for payday. When chicken is on sale, I buy in bulk, so that I can put some away in case I can't afford it the next time.. I usually always have some frozen pizzas in the freezer, and when I make casseroles, I freeze leftovers into individual portion size bags. I know it doesn't help you much now, but its a good habit to start.

Answer 6

100 dollars 7 days meal gas kids cheap meal ideals

Answer 7

Food bank!! You can't cut kids meals because their growing. If you do, the body will start getting the nutrition from their muscles. Call your local WIC office, and tell them your situation, they always have contacts. Also, call the state back and ask to talk to your case workers manager, they can't talk to you like that, and you shouldn't feel that you have to put up with that. Local churches will help you also. I'm so sorry, I've been there before with my son! Bananas are usually 49 cents a pound and apples will be in season soon; Cantaloupe in the summer, usually 25 cents a pound, and celery is usually about 45 cents a pound. Here's a yummy recipe:

heat the oven to 350,

put a whole chicken in a oven safe pan, season with seasoning salt and add about 30 big chunks of garlic right under the skin all over chicken and put a pat of butter on top/

cook for about 1hr 30 min (covered until the last 15 min), until chicken is done, cook some rice, and serve! Feeds a big family, and leftover chicken sandwiches are great!!

Answer 8

Pasta (like spaghetti) with canned tomato sauce

Soup mixes or cans of condensed soup you add water to

Baked Potatoes - incredibly cheap!

French Toast or Pancakes - You can get a loaf of bread and a carton of eggs for under $3. Who says you can't have french toast for dinner? Three bucks to feed your family and the kids will see it as a treat.

Note: Top Ramen is incredibly cheap but is also high in sodium and calories without adding any nutritional value whatsoever, so I wouldn't recommend it.

You also need to get some fruits and veggies in your kids' diet and those can be sort of expensive so I would recommend going to the food bank for that. If you really don't want to go to the food bank, though, apples will often be on sale this time of year, and carrots and celery aren't that expensive.

Answer 9

PASTA, buy some ground beef, $5 worth, 4 boxes of pasta if on sale $4 and a jar of pasta sauce $1 brown the beef, add the pasta sauce, cook for 15 mins then pour over cooked pasta, this could last two nights as pasta if filling and you can make a lot, eggs $2 for a dozen bread$3 scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast for at least two mornings, milk $5 cereal $5 would also do breakfast or snacks at night. Soup for lunches, once you have the basics you may be alble to feed them with nourishing food for the week till the money is put backinto acc, hope thlis helps and good luck to you and your family

Answer 10

Spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, some fruit, apples or bananas, milk, instant noodles you can sometimes get 7 for a buck and of course, Walmart Superstore if you live near one, has some great deals. Big Lots has food in quantity and sometimes you can get Chef Boy R Dee ravioli, etc really cheap. You can (and should) try food banks and explain your situation they almost always have food and of course, since we're near Thanksgiving, you might be able to get a whole turkey dinner for the family. Churches are always good resources too. Now, let me ask you this: Who does that food stamp witch think she IS????
When she gets around to it???? You got approved, go back there and talk to someone over her and get those stamps; YOU ARE ENTITLED to receive. She has NO RIGHT to talk to you that way; she only WORKS there, she is an EMPLOYEE and YOU are the ONLY reason she even HAS a job! Go to the supervisor or a different case worker and get your stamps!!!!

Answer 11

If there is a microwave at the school, some really good microwavable meals, but I don't know the name of it. Depending on where you live, cereal and milk, the big bags. Make a big home cooked meal that can last a couple of days. It's getting colder so you should make something like chili, or Chicken noodle soup. My mother used to make a big crock pot full of home made chili and we would eat of that for about four days. Also, it's okay to make soup and freeze some of it, so later you can thaw it out and reheat it. Tastes just as good as when you originialy cooked it.