Money Saving Mindset- Group Journal

Budgeting
1626

I’m struggling with meal planning and food budget, and need ideas.
I think my current struggle is that we don’t currently HAVE much in the way of pantry staples to use up.

This is literally what we have on us as far as ingredients:
  • 1/2 full bag of dried black beans
  • mostly full bag of dried brown lentils
  • 1/2 loaf of multigrain bread
  • 2 eggs
  • a bag of onions
  • 2 cans of coconut milk
  • 1 can black beans
  • 1 can chick peas (I may make chickpea salad with this and eat it on aforementioned bread)
  • some green onions
  • dregs of some lettuce, possibly still edible?
  • a few taco shells
  • about 1/2 block of cheese
  • a couple of taco shells
  • some dried cherries
  • assorted condiments - mayo, dijon mustard, sriracha, green curry paste, bottled lime juice
  • assorted spices

As far as already made food, I have:

  • 1 tupperware of tofu/veg curry
  • about 1/2 pint jar of green curry lentils
  • the creamy red pepper pasta I just made. Probably 3-ish servings but Boyfriend will probably eat some

I think what is throwing me is, it’s April but warm and humid? So the usual cheap hearty fare that I would be cooking right now in Chicago, like chili and stews, doesn’t sound good. I’ve been leaning heavily on Mexican/Tex Mex food because I have so damned many beans. I have been eating a LOT of beans lately. The lentil curry I made turned out awful and I’ve no idea why.

And I keep thinking, like, what the hell is it that I used to even cook and eat for myself? I must just have moving brain.

Rough ideas for stuff that hopefully will be cheap:
  • frittata (need eggs, potatoes, veggies)
  • pasta with roasted veg (need pasta, veggies, parmesan or goat cheese for topping if not too expensive)
  • spinach salad (if it’s warm may as well lean into summer salads. Need spinach, and some sort of nuts to sprinkle on top, will also put the parmesan or goat on it)
  • chana masala (need chick peas, tomatoes)

Anyway, this is a ramble. Maybe you all could chime in with something tasty and vegetarian/vegan and frugal that you’ve made lately? That would help, I think.

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1627

If I were you I’d start collecting all the vegetarian creole recipes I could and go to town on the ingredients that are best in the area. Double bonus is it’ll switch up your meals for a while too and naturally stock up your pantry by buying new ingredients (plus shopping sales). I’d probably also make a master list of everything I’d like to have in my pantry so I can keep my eyes peeled for relevant sales.

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1628

Oooh - you could make jambalaya and leave out the chicken/sausage, or replace them with shrimp!

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1629

Totally! Red beans and rice could easily be veggified, so could greens, dirty rice, okra, maybe even po boys but with tofu, etc. I’d hit up some restaurants too, to get extra ideas!

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1630

I don’t eat seafood either but I have made jambalaya with vegan sausage before! Yum.

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1631

This is an excellent idea! Not sure I have time these days to properly make roux but red beans and rice or jambalaya or etouffee could all be do-able.

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1632

There are probably lots of local specialities you haven’t even tried yet too!

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1633

We’re in Autumn. I’ve got chopped chicken thighs defrosting in the fridge because I am going to attempt a chicken cacciatore. I am unsure if I’ll try a stovetop or oven version. I probably need some other dinner to get through the week…

We’re going away on Friday and will need to take our own food for Friday - Sunday, about a half hour drive so I can easily take homemade food in a cooler bag. Ideas so far:

  • Hommus
  • Veggie sticks
  • Crackers
  • Muffins
  • Loaf of bread
  • Cereal for breakfast
  • Milk

It will still be a public holiday on Monday, so we have frozen pies for dinner then.

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1634

I’ve been googling and I now want to eat ALL of these things.

Check this one out: Vegan Muffaletta Casserole

Except that’s a ton of processed shit, and fake meat/vegan cheese is also expensive, and… that’s not actually what goes on a vegetarian muffuletta? I had one a couple weeks ago and it was loaded with mushrooms and peppers and eggplant and I think squash. Maybe I can adapt it? And use actual cheese because that was on there too.

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1635

You can make vegan meat so easily! I make Seitan all the time, and veggie sausages from beans. Recipe looks good though!

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1636

Okay! We are back to savingish! Yesterday I even turned down an excuse for takeout for a boxed Mac n cheese.
Today -
Oatmeal
Green smoothies
Boiled eggs
Pancakes
Fruit
Yogurt
Pizza 3-4 ways (keto crust, raw vegan crust and cheese, and in paratha- then as our last one was finishing SIL showed up with her family and pizza )

Started yogurt in the instapot

Tomorrow- prep bean chili enough to freeze
-chicken drumsticks, baked tofu, asparagus and salad

Wednesday - eat bean chili

Thursday - salmon with zoodles
Leftovers as tacos or pizza

  • breakfasts lunches and snacks
    Oatmeal, pancakes, yogurt, tacos, crackers and dips, green smoothies and fruit

I’m also drafting out a new weekly plan of breakfast being porridge, smoothies and eggs
Lunch being tacos, pancakes, pasta or crackers and dip

Trail mix by my bed and also in the kitchen for random hunger

Iced green tea in the fridge

I also need to make a batch of energy balls and restock trail mix soon - those are Thursday jobs

Baby stuff

So far we don’t have to buy much more for baby. The only thing I’m figuring out is diaper storage- right now they are in a big Rubbermaid storage tub. So we could keep doing that, and just use a caddy or basket with a few days worth. Or get a bar cart.

And I want to get two glass baby bottles in case we need to supplement. We got newborn diapers yesterday and will get postpartum diapers next box store trip

I found unscented everyone soap and lotion on sale at a health food store and got two of each! I was going to order online and this is a way better deal (11.99 each!). When we get close I’ll pull anything scented out of the bathrooms and replace with these. I still need to grab a handful of unscented bar soaps, some of our are unscented and some aren’t, but they are also mixed ingredients which is a little dicey if there’s a reaction.

I feel like there ‘should’ be more shopping but there just isn’t much we need to do! For some of the bigger sizes we’ll need a few pieces, but for the small sizes we seem really prepared.

The last planned spending items are new socks for me and polo shirts for G. Daycare shoes for :lion:.

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1637

I started it on the stove to brown some ingredients and then moved it to the oven. It’s delicious and is an immediate addition to our staple foods. I want to try cooking curry like this too. I used an enamel baking pan so it could move from one to the other without making other things dirty.

I’ve started buying mostly red onions. They cost more but they don’t hurt my face, so I actually cook with them. That is cheaper than takeaway!

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1638

I should note that I also need recipes right now that are QUICK because overwhelmed with moving tasks. Some of these fancy delicious-looking roux-based Creole dishes that I am eyeing might not be a prudent choice right now! :rofl:

I think I am going to start with red beans and rice; that can be done in an Instant Pot and does not take a ton of ingredients that I do not have.

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1639

There’s some ideas here Easy meals

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1640

How was I not aware of that thread?
It sucks to have to avoid processed food though. Would make things a lot easier; like, I don’t do jarred pasta sauce any more, or premade hummus, or frozen pizzas or burritos since the sodium is just off the charts. (I mean, hummus isn’t THAT bad, I guess, but a serving size is 2 Tbsp? Who in hell only eats that much hummus! :rofl: )

Egg-based stuff would work though! Eggs are cheap. Potatoes are cheap.

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1641

Not that it helps you now, but think how much earlier there’ll be tomato harvests now to make jarred sauces. (Hm, maybe make a note of it on your calendar now? I know canning keeps you very busy.) And even if your garden only has a little bit other people will probably have too much - gardening gods willing, I will probably have zucchini coming out of my ears in a few months. Of course now I’ve probably jinxed it and they’ll all get eaten by squirrels or rot on the vine or something, lol.

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1642

My neighbor keeps telling me how well peppers are going to do here! I only have 1 sweet pepper plant though (it was free). Might want to get myself a sweet banana pepper; those are like $3 at the farmers market and they went WILD in Chicago so I expect better results here.

I already have 2 gallons of strawberries in the freezer for jam, once we are settled in and I can think about canning. $15 for a flat of local strawberries IN APRIL, yes pls!

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1643

I love Everyone lotion! I was buying Babyganics which came in smaller bottles. I usually use scented but I also buy unscented for when I want to add tea tree oil.

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1644

You don’t have to follow every recipe 100%! You can always just modify to make things faster. I look at each recipe like: “what can I take away and use from this” rather than “what will be too difficult about this” and I think that shift might help for you? Recipes can be used for inspiration!

For sauces and hummus and salad dressing and replacing all those salty convenience foods: I’d just batch cook and freeze them. If you create a schedule of doing one each week (week 1: tomato sauce; week 2: curry starter, etc.) then eventually your freezer will have all the easy stuff you need. First I’d create a list of allll the things, including stuff like bouillon mixes and dry things since you can just mix them yourself. Then I’d schedule it out so you only have to do one a week.

Have you looked at all the cheap food in your area yet? You literally live in a food paradise IMO! Like if someone asked me for my top food destination in the USA I’d probably say New Orleans. There is delicious cheap bread everywhere there, which could be used for very basic quick veggie sandwiches. I bet there are so many other things too. I think approaching it with “what can work for me” will be more fruitful than “what won’t work about this recipe/idea/food”!

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1645

I have really been impressed by the in season produce for sure. It is cheaper than Chicago and actually tastes good! I have not found cheap bread but also haven’t really looked for it. I’ll put that on the list, there is a bakery down the street I have been meaning to check out.

Making a list of batch cooking is an excellent idea. Right now I am just flailing about and literally cannot remember what I even used to make.

I wonder if one can make roux ahead in large amounts or if it would get gross?

My homemade hummus always comes out terrible. I suspect because I don’t have the patience for peeling chick peas which is supposed to improve the texture. But I do at least have my food processor back now!

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