Economical Dinners

I'll ignore the "my husband has me on..." except to say that it sure would sound better if you said "my husband and I are keeping to a budget..."

Anyways, you are what you eat and cheaper food doesn't typically equate to healthy eating, although fortunately the price of organic produce has come down over the years, the price for high quality meat has not. You might buy the book (or get if from the library) by Michael Pollan ("In Defense of Food") for your husband so he realizes that you'll likely lose any potential savings in the food budget to healthcare costs down the line. Pollan highlights that the chronic health problems in the U.S. are due almost entirely to the western diet (including cancer). He also notes that Americans now spend far less of a percentage of their budget on food than they did in the past. And, folks in other countries that have lesser occurences of these chronic health problems spend a higher percentage of their income on food. Also, the foods for which there are coupons are rarely (if ever) healthy foods (or real food).

That all said, Costco does have good prices on some healthier foods such as organic/free range chicken, organic frozen blueberries and some organic produce (salad, carrots and if you're luck berries sometimes). Also, some produce isn't so important to be organic like bananas, pineapples, etc. (i.e., things that you peel before eating). Whereas others really should be organic - in particular berries, potatoes, carrots, etc.

I stretch the organic chicken by making fajitas with lots of veggies and slice thin and grilling. Also, a meatless dish once or twice a week using beans, rice, etc. is quite economical. And, if your husband is a meat and potatoes guy this will help him quickly realize what he is getting when he restricts the food budget ;) You might also try to find a local coop for your organic produce.

I can't give you dollar amounts, but I agree, go meatless a couple of nights per week. Beans and tortillas, nachos made with beans, rice etc... is very healthy if you make the beans yourself by boiling the beans instead of using refried beans. We also like to have breakfast for dinner once in awhile. Omelets, scrambled eggs, fruit salad, vegies in your omelet, etc... Pasta dishes are less expensive too. Nothing wrong with tuna, chicken or egg salad.... especially in the summer.

Portions......serve a healthy portion and no more. A healthy portion of meat should be about the size of a deck of cards. So if your husband is eating 3 chicken breasts at one meal....he just ate a 3 night budget.

Try Sprouts if you haven't already... they often have specials. Last week all their chicken breasts were $1.99/pound. No hormones, etc.. It was beautiful meat. Buy plenty and freeze it.

Hope that helps a little. Domestic Management is no easy task. I often wanted to switch with my husband in our roles.... just for a week. I knew he would run screaming back to his day job once he saw all that I did.
My Best,
P.

i am in a budget too all i do is buy frozen veggies,bags of chicken breast and box of fish fillets,i use brown rice,i buy everything every two weeks

one night we have brown rice with fish and salad
anothr night we have grill chicken breast with slice potatoe with cheese

breast chicken with salad

cesar salad with chicken

i choose ground turkey as ground meat

we are 3 adults and 1 kid(6 years) so we buy aprrox. 140.00 every two weks

I have several recipes (10) that average $2 per serving. We tried one tonight and not only is it AWSOME, but it really was less than $2 per serving! If you are intersted, I would LOVE to forward them to you!

Here is some info that can help you calculate price per serving: http://www.netcastles.org/hardtimes/?page_id=298 It seems like nowadays people are aiming for $2 or less per person as a budget meal. That site has links to a bunch of sites that have price per serving info, too.

One of the most difficult issues we have every week is trying to put food on the table. We can easily go through the motions at times and get in the car and drive our lovely little ones from school to gymnastics and back to home but to create a meal at the end of the day, that requires planning and thought...who has time or energy for that!

I am a foodie through and through but not every meal can be gourmet and if it was, my kids would never eat! So I try and use fresh local ingredients that are in season to prepare delicious meals to keep my kids sitting at the table. Well, my oldest is 4 so I pretty much have to tie him down to his chair to keep him seated but you know what I mean.

Please check out my Market Menu each week for what is on sale in our local grocery stores and a listing of great menu ideas that you can make for your family.

It Takes a Village...
Where Dallas Moms go for Food, Family and Fun

http://www.ittakesavillagedallas.com/It_takes_a_village/M...

I agree with Mary B. Cheap food is not the way to go and "hubby and I are on a budget"

Example: I shop for ALL my meats at Hirsch's in Plano. He has the best quality around. Yes, I pay about $12 for 1 steak, HOWEVER....the 1 steak feeds my family of 3. That meal consist of baked potato, freshly sliced tomatoes and steak.

I spent about $100 at Hirsch's last week and the assortments of steak, ground beef, home made Italian sausages, and pork chops will be plenty to feed my family over a month. I know I am getting high quality products with no fillers, etc. Gary has weekly specials that are great to take advantage of and I do that. Sometimes I go in and spend $200+ but I am stocked up in my freezer.

Costco is another place I frequent as well as Market Steet. I stock up on the items we enjoy. Costco has great prices on butter, oils, sugar, spices, pastas, etc..

I make a home made marinara sauce that my family and friends love. I keep a jar in my fridge. We have pasta, 2 Italian sausages are enough for us at 1 meal, chicken parmesan (2 chicken breasts).

We do eat smaller portions, especially at night. I agree with the other response....if your hubby is eating 3 chicken breasts that is 2-3 nights meals.

Homemade chicken soup, vegatable soup, tomato basil soup.

I freeze a lot, so when I find a good deal somewhere, I stock up and freeze it.

I keep about a 6 month supply of food in pantry and freezer in case of emergency.

I'm not necessarily on a budget...I just try to make good choices on foods that we enjoy and make sure we use them. We have 1 night a week of "clean out the fridge".

Good luck!!

Don't skimp on quality. Try Meatless Mondays (bean or vegetable soup and homemade bread, pbj, spaghetti carbonara), breakfast for dinner, google "budget friendly recipes".