Eating Well on a Budget

[Dahlia]

Maybe you could save money going out to eat if you ate fake food at a fast food restaurant? You can get a "burger" or a " taco" for a buck, but really what is it!? I've read that the "meat" is largely made of sawdust. Who knows what else!? Save money now, have big hospital bills later!

Some of us do a LOT of food preserving while and after growing a LOT of produce.

That process is certainly a Good Start to saving money. What else would be healthful and practical? There was something on the teevee recently about eating out to save money on the food budget. Really? Wow. What are people bringing into their kitchens for that to be true?!

Our most economical food purchases have to be the rice and pasta. And then, that's how these two gardeners eat. Sure, there is animal protein in our diet also but there are lots of ways to serve rice and pasta with vegetables mixed in or along side. Not only is there great variety to pastas but we sometimes have rice with couscous or cornmeal, just for a change.

Think money-saving

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

Maybe you could save money going out to eat if you ate fake food at a fast food restaurant? You can get a "burger" or a " taco" for a buck, but really what is it!? I've read that the "meat" is largely made of sawdust. Who knows what else!? Save money now, have big hospital bills later!

fast food prices aren't all that great any more. for the same price we paid a few weeks ago for a Whopper, Fish sandwich and a coke we could have bought 3-4 lbs of ground chuck.

 

[digitS']

Like curry? Our use of curry seasoning is usually limited to doing a change-up on just a regular pot of stew. I have been curious as to what goes into the little jars of curry powder or paste that we buy. Here are some ideas on that using a few veggie ingredients that are probably coming out of our gardens right now.

The Guardian

Aside: We won't need to have all nutrients from the same dish. And, calories are important, too! One complaint about vegetable dominant meals is that people may feel hungry again in a short amount of time ... and snack on unhealthy choices .

Steve
nigella?? i didn't know that!

 

[seedcorn]

@ducks4you nice list. Wish my wife would do #4 as we throw away $K’s of bad food/year. She is an addict to buy whatever food is n sale-then we eat at best 1/2, pitch the rest.

On #13, May I suggest replacing diet with a life style change. Diets never work. Diets are yo-yo’s. We put extra pounds on by diet and life style change-we get much more sedentary as we age. Need to examine our food consumption (both amount and type) and lack of energy spent. Change that and the average American will become healthier and in shape-yes the average American is in shape-pear shape-not a good thing except for pears.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

While my wife loves the puppies, I balk at paying 32 dollars a pound for Chewy's chicken. Since I like making chicken stock, I will buy thighs and such, cook them for stock and then pass the protein along to the puppies in puppy loaf or biscuits. Sometimes by itself. I flour a lot of things like oatmeal and dried legumes so they are not getting wheat flour. If you do not cook with salt, leftover rice and veggies make good ingredients too.

 

[Dahlia]

In response to Flowerbug-

fast food prices aren't all that great any more. for the same price we paid a few weeks ago for a Whopper, Fish sandwich and a coke we could have bought 3-4 lbs of ground chuck-
I replied:
Way healthier too if you make your own!

 

[ducks4you]

fast food prices aren't all that great any more. for the same price we paid a few weeks ago for a Whopper, Fish sandwich and a coke we could have bought 3-4 lbs of ground chuck.

OMG you are SO right, Although when I was doing lots of loan signings and driving distances, I would often buy a $6 lunch at McDonald's. I have a business card and write my meals off (Always the day I have a signing, in the case that I am audited.)
Recently, DH and I left the house late to eat before our security detail at church. There is a local diner that serves nice meals. Their setup is all booths are attached and they make/serve food on the other side, so no waiters carry food in between tables.
This restaurant had a line, so we went across the street to the McDonald's there. They were short staffed, brought me coffee in a crummy paper cup with a loose lid. I burned my finger tying to get the lid on and spilled ALL of my coffee, whicn they didn't refill! (Now, I know why they were sued over that coffee spill.)
~$30 for a crummy breakfast, and the last time I had bought a burrito from them it was an inch longer.
Fast food is Very expensive today!!
Last Sunday we left early and ate at the diner. The price was the same ONLY bc DH left a nice tip, but the food was great and my coffee was in a cermic mug.
I will only accept paper plates from DD's, while they wait to fix their dishwasher.

 

[seedcorn]

OMG you are SO right, Although when I was doing lots of loan signings and driving distances, I would often buy a $6 lunch at McDonald's. I have a business card and write my meals off (Always the day I have a signing, in the case that I am audited.)
Recently, DH and I left the house late to eat before our security detail at church. There is a local diner that serves nice meals. Their setup is all booths are attached and they make/serve food on the other side, so no waiters carry food in between tables.
This restaurant had a line, so we went across the street to the McDonald's there. They were short staffed, brought me coffee in a crummy paper cup with a loose lid. I burned my finger tying to get the lid on and spilled ALL of my coffee, whicn they didn't refill! (Now, I know why they were sued over that coffee spill.)
~$30 for a crummy breakfast, and the last time I had bought a burrito from them it was an inch longer.
Fast food is Very expensive today!!
Last Sunday we left early and ate at the diner. The price was the same ONLY bc DH left a nice tip, but the food was great and my coffee was in a cermic mug.
I will only accept paper plates from DD's, while they wait to fix their dishwasher.

Understand the reason to be upset with fast food but that jury should be run out of country for awarding her that settlement. Travesty! Lawyers that take those cases should lose their license.

 

[seedcorn]

We’ll have to agree to disagree. She should have gotten nothing. Putting any hot or cold object between your legs is a really bad decision she made. Can’t cure stupid & shouldn’t penalize a business. Why we have warnings on things like “don’t put a plugged in line in your mouth”. (I have no love for McDee)

 

[ducks4you]

And, YET, Still serving a boiling hot beverage in a paper based cup that isn't insulated.
LOTS of restaurants serve piping hot coffee/tea. Paneras, for example, gives you your hot drink in a similar type of cup with an outside liner. It's a little bit hot, but doesn't burn your fingers when you handle it. Same as McDonald's, in house dining means that you have to carry it to your table.
Needless to say, I've never been fond of McDonald's and it's unlikely I will dine there for breakfast again.
I also don't eat at Denny's any more. When restaurants were forced to display nutritional information I saw that ALL of the meals had 2K-3K+ grams of salt. DH can't take that much salt in a Day, much less one meal, so we no longer eat there.
Another restaurant that we eat regularly is a "Tavern", local, 20 minutes away, and they are really an eatery. I like to eat there Saturday night and have a $1/glass of beer on tap to drink. They serve the beer practically overflowing, and we often have to sop it up with a napkin.
They were excited a couple of years ago bc they had purchased their own machine to slice steaks, and they go by the "Gordan Ramsey" model, a limited menu with certain regular daily specials. W and TR they serve a really good fried chicken meal. They use a light breaded coating, so it's Chicken Fried, instead of Bread fried on Chicken, like most places make, especially fast food places.
Saturday, their special is Prime Rib, 6 oz, - 12oz, and they have a creamy horseradish sauce served with it (by request.)
Also on Saturday you can order a twiced baked potato, until they run out, and being mostly a family operation, they are closed on Sundays.
EXCEPT, they now have a single Sunday in March, where they serve corned beef as a fundraiser for the local police/fire department.
Critiques aside, I am FEARFUL that the IRS is going to go after locally owned restaurants to try and shut them down.
Why? bc they are small businesses and will pay up the extortian $.
The chain restaurants can afford to lobby the RATS in D.C. for mafioso type protection.
When Obama was using the IRS to terrorize us, the luxury that Americans could afford was going out to eat.
Now, it's getting too expensive.
Small businesses are in trouble. 30% of NYC's restuarants went under in 2021.
Americans, time to pray.