Eating Cheap :: Meal Planning When You Have Unexpected Expenses

We've had some car and health related expenditures this month which left our already thin food budget even thinner this month.
I'm sure some of you have been there, when the pot gets slashed and you wonder how on earth you are going to feed the troops with the pennies you have left.

Where to start?

Inventory
The first step, like in your normal meal planning, is to hit the kitchen and do some inventory. Check the freezer first for meat.
In my case, I had 2 (small) meals worth of chicken thighs, 2-3 meals worth of pork chops, some leftover cooked chicken in a freezer (enough for soup) and some pepperoni, enough for two pizzas (if I'm careful).
So all in all I could squeeze 7 meals out of it, if need be. Great! But I need enough for 9-10 dinners. And because of the rationing of the meat, there won't be leftovers (maybe some soup, which is only going to be enough for lunch).

In the pantry, I have 1lb of spaghetti (that two meals worth for a family of 4). I have a large loaf of bread, a couple tortillas, some peanuts and other things I can use in meals. I also have plenty of baking ingredients, like flour/sugar etc.

Once you have an idea of what you have, you get a better idea of what you need.

I know that I'll have my son (who I split custody of) for 7 of the next 10 days. So there's an extra mouth to feed for those days. It's also summer vacation, so I'll need lunch food for us both, as well as snacks.
I know I could squeeze 2 spaghetti dinners, one with meat and one without. If I get some angel hair, I could have a cheap meatless meal of the creamy pasta that my family LOVES.
With just a few things, I could round out what I already have and have enough food to make it to the next payday.

Fix a budget
I know I can only comfortably(or uncomfortably) spend $40. I know the market that generally has the cheapest prices in town. I will have to limit my trips to one store to save on gas too.
Now I can make my list of the essentials.

Make a Meal List
You need to do this with recipes handy so you know what ingredients you will need to round out the food you already have. I start with a list of the meat/main ingredient and then find recipes from there.

1. Chicken
2. Pork
3. Pasta
4. Chicken
5. Soup
6. Pork
7. Pizza
8. Gr. Beef
9. Chicken
10. Pasta

Then I decided, one by one, What recipe I'll use on each meal and evaluate my ingredient needs.

1. Sweet and Sticky Chicken (own recipe)
2. Pork Chops and potatoes
3. Creamy Pasta
4. Teriyaki Chicken and Rice
5. Chicken Noodle Soup
6. Pork Stir-fry (either fried rice or chow mien style)
7. Pepperoni Pizza
8. Tamie's Yummy Burritos (own recipe)
9. Roast Chicken Thighs and Potatoes
10. Spaghetti with Italian Sausage

Now I have a rough idea of what I have and what I need. I decided to get a tray of chicken legs to add more chicken and use less pork. I decided to get a tube of Italian sausage to add to the spaghetti. I have some ingredients left over from dinners not eaten from my last meal plan (we ate out more than anticipated), so it was a jumping off point to finding recipes that would work with the main ingredients I had.
Now that I have a meal list, it's time to buckle down and...

Make a Shopping List

With my $40 for 10 day budget in mind, I made a list of the things I would need to feed my family for the next 10 days.
I knew the baby would need milk.($3) I knew my son would need bananas($2) and string cheese($2). I knew we needed mayo($2) and lunch meat($3). I also knew I'd want popcorn($2). I'm already $14 in...
I also wanted a back-up no-brainer meal for a night that I couldn't find the energy to cook (or for a lunch). I chose hot dogs($2), but I decided to try making my own buns.
After buying what I needed...I walked out of the store spending $38.51 (thanks to a coupon on the jar of mayo for an addition $1 off).

My Receipt

Luckily for me, I had a good amount of food already in my cupboards. But if I had to improvise, it wouldn't have been too difficult to make a list with meatless meals using beans, pasta or eggs as a base ingredient.
9/10ths of the battle is won with planning and being creative with what you have in the cupboards. Flour is cheap and you can bake your own sandwich bread or buns.
Making do with what you have can be done if you're careful and you don't have to resort to eating crap to do it.
You can eat healthy, gourmet style foods on a shoestring if you take a bit of time.
The amount of time is nothing when you think about it. I spent around an hour planning the meals for 10 days, and I had to be extra creative this time.
Unexpected expenses happen. I know our next pay period will be tight as well with even more car related expenses coming, but I know I can plan around them and find a way to stay in my budget, even if that budget is only $50.

Cheap Eats :: Homemade Hamburger Buns

About a month ago, I decided to try my hand at making my own hamburger buns. Buying the cheap ones, what I normally do, are good for keeping the calorie count at bay (each bun is about 100-110 calories) but they aren't very good and they are full of preservatives and other nastiness.
The ones that are any good, are out of the price range I'd like to spend. The ones in the bakery section would be the best option, but nothing really beats homemade.
The price to make them can't be beat. A couple cups of flour, some yeast, sugar, some milk...easy.

I found this recipe and photo tutorial on Pinterest. It seemed simple enough.

The results were a success! I rolled them a bit too thin, but they were very good. The flavor was wonderful and my house smelled amazing!
The recipe made about a dozen buns, but like I said, they were thin. Next time, I would expect a smaller yield, but still enough for a couple of meals. I simply froze the rest.

They are especially delicious grilled with a bit of butter. This softened them up, and added some extra flavor. Keeps the juices from your burger, sloppy joes or whatnot, from making your buns soggy.

Tonight, we defrosted a few and made some simple Sloppy Joes. We had some leftover Mac & Cheese on the side. Double your comfort food, double your fun!

Homemade Hamburger Buns: recipe from Eat Live Run 
makes about 10 hamburger buns

Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter, softened
1 cup milk
1 packet dry active yeast (1/4th oz)
2 tbsp warm water (about 100 degrees)
1 egg
1.5 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
3 cups flour (plus a little additional flour if you need it)
for topping—
2 egg yolks + 1 tbsp warm water, slightly beaten
sesame seeds and/or poppy seeds




Directions:
1. heat the milk in a small saucepot over medium heat until bubbles appear all around the sides of the pot. Remove quickly and let cool to the temperature of warm bathwater (about 100 degrees F).

2. In a little bowl, combine the dry active yeast, 2 tbsp warm water and a pinch of sugar. Stir with your finger a couple times and then let sit for about 5 minutes. The yeast should start to bubble a little bit and get creamy/foamy looking.

3. In the bowl of a mixer, combine the soft butter, slightly cooled milk (test it with your finger first and let it cool a few more minutes if it still feels burning hot), egg, sugar and yeast. Mix on low until combined and butter melts.

4. Mix together two cups of the flour and the salt, then add that to the wet ingredients. Mix on high until well blended.

5. Change to a dough hook on your mixer if you have one (this thing always reminds me of Captain Hook…anyone?). With the dough hook on, add the remaining cup of flour and mix on high speed for five minutes. You can add a little bit more flour here if your dough seems especially wet, but remember that this dough is supposed to be sticky!

6. After five minutes on high, your dough should be sticky, but also smooth and elastic if you stretch it with your fingers. Remove dough from bowl and place in an oiled mixing bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot for 2 1/2 hours.

7. After 2 1/2 hours, punch down dough on a floured surface then roll out to 1/2″ thick. Cut circles using a large biscuit cutter or the bottom of a glass. Place circles on a parchment paper or silpat-lined baking sheet. Place another piece of plastic wrap on top and let rise again for 1.5 hours.

Preheat your oven to 375.

Brush the rolls with the egg yolk and warm water mixture then scatter sesame seeds over top. Bake for 20 minutes until deeply golden.

Time:
5 hours

Cheap Eats :: Stovetop Popcorn

As far as a cheap snack goes, homemade popcorn is among the cheapest! 

At Winco, bulk popcorn is around $.85/lb. Every couple weeks I get about 2lbs and I have some stovetop popped popcorn nearly every night. It's moderately healthy, takes a long time to eat and it's quite a satisfying treat.

What you'll need:

A large saucepan or pot with a lid [I use this old pot and it's gross by now. I suggest getting one at a thrift store.]

1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1/3 cup of white popcorn [yellow is good too, but white is fluffier]

Salt to taste

A big bowl!

1. Set your burner to almost high...too little or too high results in tougher popcorn.

2. Add the oil to your pot

3. Add your corn to the oil and put on the lid

4. With the lid on, give to pan a good shake to coat the kernels with oil

5. Shake the pot every once in a while to keep the kernels moving around. This way they don't burn and get even heat.

6. When you hear the popping begin, carefully crack the lid to release steam.

7. Continue shaking the pot carefully

* if you notice the popcorn pot filling up, pour some popcorn out into your bowl and continue popping.

8. When the popping stops or when there is more than 2 seconds between pops, remove from heat and remove the lid.

9. Add popcorn to your bowl and salt to taste.

10. Put on a movie an enjoy!