It’s a testament to God’s power and genius in design that our bodies can withstand and adapt to a range of environments, from comfortable (of course) to downright harsh.
As we’re trying to save money now that income is no longer coming in, we’ve been eating the same meals every day. Since we arrived, our staples of life have consisted of:
- peanut butter and banana sandwiches
- plain yogurt with Smuckers blueberry preserves
- Sabrett hot dogs with mustard on slices of white bread
- pasta with melted pieces of cheese
- store-bought chocolate cookies of some sort
CM is laughing (and crying inside a little, I bet) as she looks at this list. There have been little morsels of other foods thrown in, like frozen vegetables or rotisserie chicken last night or Pina Colada Slurpee, but we’ve eaten that same menu for the last 4 days.
I’m amazed because I usually get tired of specific foods after too many consecutive meals. But I have no problem with the menu (though my arteries do), and I don’t see it changing in the near future.
Are there any cheapo foods that you wouldn’t mind eating every day if you had to?
Related posts:
Ok… So you’ve got weiners and bread that’s a great start. You can have the weiners cold on a sandwich with mayo (it’s good.. really) or hot in bread with ketchup or mustard.
Bologna sandwiches are always tops with me (1.99lb makes a lot of sandwiches for 2 bucks plus bread)
And my personal favorite. Goulash. 1 can peas, 1 can corn, 1 lb beef, and an entire huge thing of noodles. A family of 2/3 can stretch it for 4 solid meals.
Potatoes give you lots of options as long as you have a few condiments(bulk brown rice works well too). My hubby used to consider popcorn a meal and would gladly eat it every day -same w/ mac and cheese. Are there other conisderations (kitchen access, etc.) or is it strictly a cash issue?
spaghetti is cheap, easy and good.
flyawaynet – we do hot weiners with mustard. i have bad memories of bologna as a child, but that goulash sounds pretty good…
rowan – strictly a cash issue. and i hope we’re not portraying ourselves as about to go into debt. just trying to be very careful with our money right now.
kristin – mmm… yes, we’ll do spaghetti soon.
It may sound dumb, but if you chop up the weiner into little chunks and make an actual sandwich out of them (even with the mustard instead of cold like I talked about earlier) it gives it just enough different consistancy that you can almost pretend you’re eating something different.
Oh.. and scrambled eggs (12 for a buck makes 12 sandwiches) if you sprinkle bacon bits (one small can goes a long ways) into the eggs before you scramble them it gives you a long lasting after taste so you’ll imagine you’ve just recently eaten.
I have no visions of cool fam in the poor house, I was just wondering if your food choices were limited to things you could say prepare in a microwave or just trying to save cash for that new abode. Goulash sounds similar to a shepherd’s pie – browned hamburger, corn or peas and topped w/ mashed potatoes and baked until heated through-good eats… potatoes, rice and pasta are all good “stretcher” foods. I love soup and crusty bread but it may be too warm still in NY. Hope it helps.
kristin, yes. spaghetti. good call!
but seriously. that hot dog looks SO good!
flyawaynet – those are some creative ideas! the eggs one sounds especially appealing
rowan – yeah, i just want to make sure no one thinks that we’re making light of being in a tough situation when we’re not in a tough situation at all.
tam – it was good. after the 10th one though, they get kind of old.
Black beans & rice! Or red beans & rice! The beans & rice possibilities are cheap and endless. And yes, I might be able to eat them repetitively.
When I was in LA we lived on Totino’s Part Pizzas. You could get 10 for $10. I think they are still pretty cheap.
And Mac and Cheese (made with water) If we could afford milk for it we could have eaten something else.
amy – getting dry beans is especially cheap. we should do that.
chad – a running joke in the Cool Family is that the situations in which we eat a Totino’s Party Pizza very rarely resemble a party.
I’m blogging again. Please adjust your life accordingly!
ps. Mac n Cheese for life!
Welcome back mudpuppy! Pasta and cheese has been sustaining me, as recently as lunch today
I won't lie – I have very refined tastes. Uh-huh. Tastes that include store-brand mac & cheese from a box (water, no milk is right, chad!), and the totino pizza. We've recently upgraded to Jack's frozen pizzas at our house – but Totino's was good enough for many, many years.
Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.
Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Poptarts.
String cheese.
pq – I’m not sure who Jack is, but I guess his frozen pizza is pretty good to displace Totino!
raq – i haven’t had Pop-Tarts in sooo long.
Ohhhhh, Pop Tarts. Raquel, they’re on my “no buy” list. Mainly because I love them so much I will eat an entire box in one day.
I wish I was kidding…
Pop-tarts are a staple of mine these days!! I eat a lot of PB&J, bologna and cheese, potatoes, cheap cereal and cottage cheese. I'm jobless and strapped for cash so i know how it feels!