Virtual Sefer From Oct/Nov 2000

We're going over a rough bump in the road and I need some help with grocery and cooking ideas. The grocery budget is very limited and although I've been through this before, it has been several years ago. I know that I will have to buy milk and some staples, but I would like to keep that purchase as small as possiple. Remember that I have 3 teenagers to feed. I'm not worried about not having food. I need ideas on how to make what I have stretch out and be appealing to teens. I know that I have this to work with:
plenty of turkey (3 to be exact)
dried pinto beans
about 2 lbs. of hamburger
dark meat chicken pieces
frozen blueberries
canned green beans
frozen corn
I need to stretch this out as long as possible and I know that some of you are really creative cooks.

Well, if you need more ground meat, you can always grind up one of the turkeys.
To stretch chicken, I will boil the meat off the bone, and separate it into packages of about 1 cup of meat per meal. I divide some of the broth among the packages and save the rest for soup. I then use the meat for the following: soup, chicken and dressing, chicken enchiladas, chicken and rice, chicken spaghetti, chicken quesadillas, Mexican pizzas (flour tortillas, spread refried beans, a little chicken-heat it up in a skillet with some chili powder, a little cheese, some sauteed onion and bell pepper- put in oven till all melted). You can stretch the meat by adding the beans on the quesadillas and enchiladas.
Turkey could be handled the same way. My mil makes turkey soup from the turkey carcass after most of the meat has been taken off. She would even use it as a base for the red beans. We make turkey chili from ground turkey all the time. Also, if you make broth with your turkeys or chickens, you can use it for flavoring if you don't have alot of tomatos or tomato sauce.
It hard for me to think when I don't have the ingredients right in front of me. I hope this helps.
Connie

Our budget is stretched "extremely" tight these days. I'll second the tortilla idea. They are inexpensive, but great to have on hand. A couple of weeks ago I found packages of butterball marinated chicken breast reduced by half at my local grocers. They weren't old (I'd never do old chicken ), but they had reached the date to sell by. Anyway, I cut them in strips and cooked them on my George Foreman grill, and cooked up a whole "mess" of it at one time. Then, as the kids got hungry, they'd put a little on a flour tortilla, along with some shredded cheese, and popped them in the microwave.
Speaking of reduced meats, that's a great way to make your dollar go further. I rarely pay full price for my meat. My store's butcher marks the meat down on the date that it says "sell by", so if I'm shopping and notice several packages of meat with the next days "sell by" date on them, I make a point of going back in there the next day. I take them straight home to the freezer until I'm ready to cook them.
Another option, though not on your list, is potatoes. We've eaten alot of potatoes in lean times. They're easy for the teens to microwave. Put your favorite topping on them (chili, cheese, etc.) and you have a meal.
Another good thing to keep in the fridge for filling constantly hungry stomachs is pancake batter. My kids love 'em, and they're easy to cook, as long as the batter's already mixed up. Most likely you have the ingredients on hand for pancake batter.
Also, with some of the turkey, you could make up turkey salad, for turkey salad sandwiches.
Good luck. I can empathize with what you're going through!

Renna
Breakfast and lunch burttios. Lunch: beans Lots of potatoes, a little cheese, wrap in either foil or plastic and freeze. You can add meat if you want, or not. Or some both ways. Also, chicken, green chilies, and cheeze. (I am making them as we speak. They really go along way IF you make them ahead and freeze. Boys aren't as tempted to just keep eating because it is in front of them. Breakfast: Sausage, (or sausage seasoning), egg, and LOTS of potatoes. To all of these I add lots of onions, and some hot peppers. I also buy by tortillias at the day old bread store .39 a package. They freese well. When you get ready to make your burttios wrap them in a towel and mirowave for a minute. They will be soft and easy to work with.
Another idea is pot pies. We use the left over turkey from Thanksgiving for our favorite pot pie. Add gravy, and some vegies top with cheese and a crust and you have a great meal.
Hope this helps. Nola
Something we do a lot when money is tight is to have breakfast for supper: fried potatoes, omelettes (w/ leftover veggies and cheese, bacon if we have it. Or I'll make pancakes w/ a couple of sausage links for each person.
Do you have dry milk powder? If it is on hand, be sure to use it instead of fresh milk in all your cooking. So far, we'd rather just drink water than drink reconstituted milk, but maybe your family will tolerate it.
If you have canned tomatoes or sauce, I'd certainly think chili, spaghetti sauce, etc. w/ the ground meat. Even 1/4 lb. of hamburger in chili with a whole bunch of beans tastes good. Just bake some biscuits, cornbread, or yeast bread to make it a terrific meal!
When we are going through times like this, I comfort myself with the knowledge that both of my parents grew up eating pinto beans and cornbread 5-6 nights per week for years and years. Sometimes there might be some corn or greens or okra, but most of the time it was just the beans. They are healthy and did fine. Good luck stretching that food!
Lori

plenty of turkey (3 to be exact)
dried pinto beans
about 2 lbs. of hamburger
dark meat chicken pieces
frozen blueberries
canned green beans
frozen corn
I'm pasting your list so I can think better. Do you have an Auldi grocery store? If you do, you can get off-brand condensed soups like cream of chicken and mushroom cheaper than you can make a white sauce for casseroles, etc. You can also get loaf bread very cheaply there, among other things.
Could you make turkey or chicken and stuffing casserole? I'd make a basic bread stuffing with bread cubes, onion, celery and/or green pepper if you have it, salt and pepper, sage and/or poultry seasoning, chicken or turkey broth, an egg, and a bit of melted margarine if possible. Mix in canned cream of _____ soup and cubed, cooked chicken or turkey. Bake until good and hot and serve with some of your green beans.
A local specialty where I live is Chicken Corn Soup:
Boil your dark meat chicken pieces until falling off the bone. Strain the broth and remove some or all of the fat, if desired. (Save it to make gravy for something else.) Remove the meat from the bones and return diced meat to the broth. Add salt, pepper, and parsley to taste. Add frozen corn and cook a few minutes until the corn is done. Some people add egg noodles to the soup but the purists take it without. Serve with plenty of bread.
Lori

No, Lori, no! Not the cream of icky soup!! Don't do it! :-{ You know I love you, but I can't sit idly by while cans of creamed soups are being talked about. White sauce is definitely cheaper and infinitely better for you health-wise!
Just FYI, y'all. Those cream of whatever soups have hit the top ten UNHEALTHIEST foods to eat--right next to BK's french fries.

My dear Leanne,
I must respectfully stand by my use of canned cream soups. You are right that they are not too healthy and that other ingredients can be used to substitute for them in recipes, but I don't think you can beat the price at Auldi unless you already have the ingredients purchased in bulk from a food co-op or other source. I was only trying to give suggestions to Renda for very, very cheap ingredients she might use to stretch her food, without knowing what is already in her pantry.
I wouldn't recommend them to use all the time, but in an emergency they are certainly better than nothing. Thank you though, for pointing us back to the straight and narrow, and please forgive my momentary foray into the land of sodium and empty calories...
Love,
Lori
Make rice and potatoes a mainstay... for the buck they really fill up hungry stomachs. Someone mentioned pancakes... yup they are great, as are crepes, and our favorite stretcher pre-wheat allergy... bisquits. I would cook up chili stretched with beans and textured protein or a white chili served it with baked potatoes or bisquits or corn bread. This stretches the meat wonderfully. Or chicken cooked up then used with salsa and black beans and the corn in rice. mmmm. chicken or turkey made with the broth and green beans and corn, and maybe homemade noodles with bisquits topping it. turkey or chicken burrito wraps. To stetch the meat in our house we fill the burritos with mexi-rice and beans and corn along with the regular stuff... modeled after taco bells. Soups are wonderful stretchers and will fill them up wonderfully if served with bread or ...you guessed it ... bisquits. a chicken and easy gravy mix can be used on the aformentioned bisquits or in crepes. well that is enough for now...lol
RhondaV
Couple of ideas:
1. Do the Rubber Chicken thing with your turkey. Make a nice turkey dinner, next day pull all the meat off the bones and mix some of that turkey with some of the pintos you have and make burritos, then make a soup out of the bones. I think that is one of my most favorite meals: Turkey noodle soup made from the turkey carcass.
2. Ever heard of TVP? It's texturized vegetable protein and honestly, if you mixed it with your ground beef you would NEVER be able to tell the difference. You could double your ground beef from under $1. Health food stores have this in the bulk bins.
3. Eggs, potatoes are two substantial foods that are inexpensive. Also, beans. Get some bean cook books at the library.
4. To fill in, check a grocery salvage store, buy only markdowns and scratch and dents, and make sure you take advantage of buy one/get one frees and other grocery store loss leaders. That should really help you stretch your budget.
Leanne
Does your local grocery store have a fresh or free policy in there dairy depatment or meat department? Ours has one in the dairy department and over the last 4 weeks I have gotten a lot of dairy products. My deep freeze is now full of juices and cheeses. I have not had to buy milk in that time. We have gotten puddings, cheeses (all kinds in all forms pickles, 12 dz eggs, name brand juices, pillsbury produts, ham slice (it was by the eggs trying to promote egss & ham for breakfast)Yorurt, cottage cheese, ricotta chees, mozzarella cheese fresh pasta, slasa, and so much more. PTL, I have been able to take some of this and pass it onto others and extend the blessing I have gotten.
Now back to your list. Hot turkey sandwiches, spaghetti with less than usual burger, swedish meatballs, beans with rice & cheese. I am not good at thinking of things either with what I have on hand. Not so long ago, maybe 2 months I was in the situation and trying to make a little go along way.

Debbie