My two teenage girls and I just moved in with my sister and her two very big (not overweight) teenage boys and one 10 year old girl who eats just as much as her brothers. My sister works and I am the stay at home mom. I am use to cooking for 3 med. appitites (four if spouse is in town), they eat out of just whatever due to her jobs hours. Between the two of us we bring in a small amount of income to spread amoung every day living, and now we have to feed 8 of us on an everyday basis (9 to 13 people depending on who's here). I need a menu that is for the who month along with shopping list in order to have food all month I must do most of the shopping at once (we only get paid once a month). I need the menu to post so the family knows what they can and can't eat or we get to the last few weeks of the month and food is hard to streatch. I know I went on and on, but I really need help in a big way. Thanks to anyone who will help me not pull my gray hair out...
1. Have you considered the SHARE program? (self-help and resource exchange). You can find more info at www.sharecolorado.com. It's a program that extends to many states. I'll bet if you call their 800 number, they'll be able to tell you if there's one in your area.
AHARE lets you buy reduced-price groceries in exchange for volunteering in your community. Anyone -- even Bill Gates! -- can participate.
Even if you don't find a SHARE program near you, you can get menu ideas at their web site. (Look in the Host Site Forms category.)
Shellieelyse, you should try the program to help people it is in most areas. It is a program where you can purchase food for the month cheaper through a church. It is called Angel Food Ministries. Go to this website to check it out. It is great program everyone can do if it is in your area. It is in a lot of states. http://www.angelfoodministries.com/hosts.asp
I hope this helps you and others, you can purchase food at a cheaper price for name brand foods. I know people who do this and they save a lot on food too.
Both Share and Angel Food ministries are excellent ways to stretch the budget. But I still use old stand s like pancakes and waffles, strata's scrambled eggs with lots of veggie and little meat fill in. My family loves breakfast for supper Homemade soups with beans to stretch the meat, meatloaf with oats to stretch. | For lunches and breakfasts I'd mix leftover bits of cheese and meats mix with cream cheese( bought on sale) and celery& onions & spices . I used my processor so they never knew what was in there
__________________ Before you Act: Listen
Before you react: Think
Before you spend: Earn
Before you criticize: Wait
Before you pray: Forgive
Before you quit: Try
Shellie, I totally relate. When my DS was young (and still today) he was and is a bean pole. But, he can out eat any small army! I remember when he was in Kindergarten. The teacher told me he was eating everyone else's lunch. She said he ate several trays of food. I believed her because I fed him at home. So, I told her that I would be glad to pay for extra trays or send a large lunch. She told me not to because my DS was hitting kids up as the finished and all they had left was veggies and other food they did not like and were going to through it away untouched. Since, I have had many people ask me how in the world I was able to feed him, I know he is a huge eater.
You can always put a large roast in a crockpot. I used to make a large stew and keep it for munching in the fridge.
Potatoes, rice, and pasta help stretch the food budget. I also like Angel Food Ministries. Our order will arrive tomorrow morning as a matter of fact. To the kids, it is a like a holiday when the food arrives. You have to plan ahead and order ahead. We have tons of oatmeal, applesause, chicken nuggets, pork chops, frozen vegetables, boneless chicken, and so on. We have to have plenty of freezer space in order to get a month's worth of food, but it is way cheaper than store bought.
We are a week behind you Debora as our AFM comes in next Saturday.
Anything you can make yourself you will save money and it will be healthier take potatoe chips you can get a 11oz bag or chips or a 10lb bag of potatoes make your own and still have many meals worth of potatoes left. Homemade potatoe chips don't have all the preservatives and salt that the store bought has.
I shop twice a month at the bread store where I can get 3 loafs of still currently dated bread for the price of 1 loaf at the grocery. I pick up for my two sisters as well when I'm there so we all save. Bread freezes well so when I can get it cheap I get several loafs.
A small plot of ground will get you many veggies and herbs also. If you only have a flower bed make it work for you.
Roberta, I am a week behind me too! lol We went to pick up our order and nobody was there. I even had it written on the calendar too! Now, I realize I was on the wrong week. lol
my advice is beans in the crockpot and more beans and rice
have you been able to start a garden? plant two weeks apart, row by row so you can harvest all season
if the kids can work at a farm this summer, they will probably also be able to eat at a farm table, at least ours did, farm table is good food and lots of it, see about that, they may also be able to bring home produce for everyone else, some of the sustainable ag farms will trade work hours for food
have you considered dumpster diving behind groceries and bakeries? we had a regular following at Gemelli's Bakery, and it has become something of a cult, status, or cool thing to do, and I can vouch for the bread, is terrific, and check out the reduced baked goods at the back of every grocery store, day old there or day old on your counter, doesn't matter, drink with some iced tea or dip in hot tea, it will still taste good.
__________________
Ellen in PA
"God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of love, power, and a sound mind."
Last edited by ellenmelon; 04-18-2011 at 09:22 AM.
Pay attention to the things you don't buy---pop, chips, snack cakes, etc. They have no nutritional value and can really use a big chunk of your budget!!
I only had 4 in my household, but this was it:2 ten-pound bags of potatoes, 4 boxes spaghetti noodles, 4 jars of sauce, 2 bags dried beans(usually pintos and white), big box of tea bags, 8 cans of tuna fish, two dozen eggs, yeast and flour for breads(or a trip to the day-old store if I could), 4 lbs ground beef, 2 bags grated cheese(chunk if it was on sale and grated myself), 3 jars peanut butter and a jar of jelly, powdered milk for yogurt and yogurt cheese, 2 bags of rice, 4 packs tortillas(or handmade if I had enough flour after bread), a big jar of salsa, and four cans diced tomatoes. That was for the month--weekly included things like milk and produce-lettuce, tomatoes, green pepper, celery, and onions. And apples, oranges, and bananas.
breakfasts were pancakes and fruit or yogurt and fruit or breakfast burritos
lunches were pb&j sandwiches or dinner leftovers along with a salad
Dinners were spaghetti, tuna melts with fries, chili, veggie soup with beans(with rolls and a salad) and tacos, bean burritos, baked potatoes topped with chili, veggie fried rice
Snacks were fruit, cut-up veggies, yogurt or the smaller leftovers that weren't enough for a whole meal. And hard-boiled eggs!
We would make things like Spanish rice to go with the tacos and garlic bread for the spaghetti, etc. I would toss some rice into the soup, and use the leftover chili for burritos. It was tough, but we did it. Keep in mind that this was over the winter and my garden wasn't in. During the summer it's much cheaper!
__________________ Be the kind of woman that, when your feet hit the floor in the morning, the devil says, "Oh crud. She's up!"
Monthly Menus on A Budget 
My two teenage girls and I just moved in with my sister and her two very big (not overweight) teenage boys and one 10 year old girl who eats just as much as her brothers. My sister works and I am the stay at home mom. I am use to cooking for 3 med. appitites (four if spouse is in town), they eat out of just whatever due to her jobs hours. Between the two of us we bring in a small amount of income to spread amoung every day living, and now we have to feed 8 of us on an everyday basis (9 to 13 people depending on who's here). I need a menu that is for the who month along with shopping list in order to have food all month I must do most of the shopping at once (we only get paid once a month). I need the menu to post so the family knows what they can and can't eat or we get to the last few weeks of the month and food is hard to streatch. I know I went on and on, but I really need help in a big way. Thanks to anyone who will help me not pull my gray hair out... 
Ellen in PA 
Be the kind of woman that, when your feet hit the floor in the morning, the devil says, "Oh crud. She's up!"
