Thursday, September 4, 2014

Feed Me Seymore!!!

Today I am going to let you in on my little secret of how to raise 6 kids on a very, very tight budget. When I say tight I am not meaning you middle class people who make $50-$60,000 a year and have two kids and you just can't imagine how people make it with less than $300 a week in groceries. I mean one parent unemployed and one parent going to school full time. The full time parent draws BAH from his GI Bill plus $640 disability from the VA. I mean literally living on $1700 a month. There is no assistance for some people and those people are the ones that figure out real quick how to survive. I will say if you are a health nut, hang this up. Unless you grow it yourself, your not going to find anything in this post about organic. True, it is better for a person, but this is a survival post for everyone who just needs to get by for a while. Here it is. Are you ready for it??? I have two words for you......


Dollar Tree.

Yep, That's It. Total this up for me. Remember everything is $1 there.

  • 1 large can of diced tomatoes
  • 2 cans of chili
  • 1 jar of salsa
  • 2 boxes of saltines
  • 1 large pack of spaghetti
  • 3 large cans of spaghetti sauce
  • 2 packs of hamburger buns
  • 2 packs of chicken patties
  • 2 jars of peanut butter
  • 1 jar of jelly
  • 4 loaves of bread
  • 1 jar of mayo
  • 1 jar of dill pickles or relish
  • 3 cans of tuna
  • 1 pack of tortillas(sometimes I buy 2)
  • 2 packs of mozzarella cheese
  • 1 pack of pepperoni
  • 1 box butter or margarine
  • 1 box of Fiddle Faddle (My secret indulgence)
  • 3 boxes mashed potatoes with brown gravy mix
  • 3 cans of roast beef and gravy
  • 1 can of green peas
  • 2 cans of carrots
  • 2 boxes of ice cream or popsicles
  • 2 boxes of instant oatmeal
  • 1 bag of rice
  • 1 bag of sugar
  • 2 cans of peaches
  • 2 -6 packs of ramen noodles
  • 1 can cranberry sauce
  • 2 cans of chicken
  • 1 tub of cream cheese
  • 2 bottles of shampoo
  • 2 bottles of conditioner
  • 1 tube of toothpaste
Total: $59 a week without coupons

If you are a couponer it can be cheaper than that now that Dollar Tree takes coupons.

Now for the recipes:

Breakfast Rice

1 bag of white or brown rice (Cook in a crock pot)
Mix in 1 c. sugar and 1 can of peaches with syrup
you can add cinnamon if you like. Don't have any? They have that at Dollar Tree as well.


Chili

2 cans of chili
1 can of salsa
1 big can of diced tomatoes.
Heat on stove until hot. Serve with saltines or unseasoned cooked ramen noodles.

Spaghetti

1 Large pack of Spaghetti noodles
2 cans of sauce

Chicken Patty Sandwich

2 packs of buns
2 backs of breaded chicken patties
Self explanatory

Mini Pizzas The Kids LOVE to make these!!!!!
\
1 can of spaghetti sauce
8 tortillas
shredded mozzarella
pepperoni
Layer and bake in over at 350 degrees for 8-9 minutes.



THE BEST CHICKEN SALAD EVER

This one you will have to splurge on somewhere...

1 onion diced(Preferably red)
2 cans of chicken
1 tub cream cheese
2 tbsp.- cranberry sauce
Mix chicken, onion, cream cheese and cranberry sauce together, eat on bread.


Roast Beef Dinner

2 cans of roast beef and gravy
3 boxes mashed potatoes and brown gravy mix
1 can of peas
2 cans of carrots

Mix potatoes as package directs. Mix up gravy mix as package directs. When you are finished with gravy mix in the cans of roast beef in the gravy. Mix peas and carrots together and BAM, you have roast beef with gravy, mashed potatoes, with peas and carrots!!!

Tuna Salad

2 cans of tuna
Pickles or relish
 2 tbsp. Mayo

Mix up and serve on crackers or as a sandwich


There you have it folks! Most of the time there are even leftovers for someone the next day. It is possible to go even cheaper than that, but I tried to give a variety of meal ideas for you to use. I hope you enjoy the recipes.