Grocery help !
Posted by ashles on Jul 10, 2011 · Member since Jan 2011 · 53 posts
I need some ideas of what to get, I am low on money. I have $10 dollars for groceries for the next week. I have about five stores I can go to, and I have a few staples left in my pantry
What staples do you have?
Heres a list of what I have for staples:
Brown sugar (organic)
Jasimine rice 10 lbs
Black beans
Pinto beans
Chickpeas
Canned tomtatos
Cannes tomtato sauce
Pasta
Cereal
Half jar of peanut butter
Seaweed
Organic jam
Refried bean mix
White rice
Brown rice
Soy sauce
Mustard
Panstry flour
Whole wheat flour
Couscous
do you have any spices? oil?
get some onions and garlic.
lentils are nice, too.
make bean and grain combos..
some suggestions:
Mujadara - lentils, rice and camarelized onions
http://desertcandy.blogspot.com/2009/08/mujadara.html
Koshari - tomato-based rice, lentils and pasta
http://www.food.com/recipe/koshari-39446
Venezuelan black beans from Viva Vegan
http://books.google.com/books?id=wB5iQ3f43ooC&pg=PA89&lpg=PA89&dq=venezuelan+beans+%22viva+vegan%22&source=bl&ots=XJMZmai_HC&sig=zp8feLvcr5dhn2IQY6pLKowwIkI&hl=en&ei=dXEbTt6ZFIL-sQK3__nBBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false
onions, garlic, ginger, chili peppers, cilantro. This is the basis for everything I cook.
Either get a thing of yeast to make your own bread, or get a loaf. Or tortillas, and a few peppers and onions to make salsa from your canned tomatoes, for burritos, Spanish rice, etc.
How long is this supposed to last you?
onions, garlic, ginger, chili peppers, cilantro. This is the basis for everything I cook.
onions, garlic, ginger, chili peppers, cilantro. This is the basis for everything I cook.
+1
you have a lot of bean and rice dishes this week :)
maybe pancakes?
nondairy milk ($2-3), yeast to make bread with ($1), onions ($2), whatever apples are cheapest ($1.50 for around 2 lbs, most likely), tofu (if you like it, it's really cheap, under $2, and really versatile), pasta ($1.50 at most), frozen veggies...
Make falafel, hummus, burrito bowls (burritos -tortilla), rice pudding, peanut butter cookies, black bean burgers (and homeade buns to go with 'em, 'cause those are the jam!), homeade spaghetti sauce, Asian rice.. you can do a lot with what you have already. Good luck, being low on grocery money sucks.
If you have a Dollar Tree near you try hitting them up, but maybe have some meal ideas in mind before you go shopping and just get exactly what you need. Dollar Tree has frozen spinach for $1, plus a few other vegan items. You could also try looking into a food bank near you, or I think there some place called Angel Food Ministries in certain states. Good luck!
That's a good list of 'basics' for the pantry... if you had to, you could eat off that for a week. I agree with the advice above: yeast for bread, & make some flatbread & tortillas also, with ingredients you already have (or buy torts & bread only if you absolutely must, if you don't have time to make these things)... assuming you don't have to buy bread/ torts, I'd spend the $10 on a cup or two of nutritional yeast, in-season greens (kale/ mustard/ turnip greens), an onion, a head of garlic, bananas (or in-season fruit; peaches are pretty cheap near me right now-- check your farmers' market), and a couple of herb bunches like basil & cilantro (often like 50 cents a bunch, at farmers' market)... that plus what you've got would make a pretty versatile pantry for the week-- though you might not have the variety of spices/ oils that would be ideal, you'll be able to be nourished and un-hungry.
Another thing that helps me, when I'm cooking as cheap as I can, is to plan ahead: cook a big batch of, say, beans, & then use 1/3 for beans & rice with tomatoes & cajun spices; next day beanburgers topped with grilled onions on homemade buns; next day the last 1/3 to add to a pasta salad or burritos... because it's more labor-intensive to cook from all-scratch (ie cheaper) ingredients, I try to never make 'just one meal's worth' of anything, so I've always got at least part of the meal pre-prepped...
Anyway, good luck! hope the grocery shortage passes quickly & with minimal gastronomic limitations!
Thank you everyone for all the wonderful tips and ideas. In regards to making bread with yeast, I have a bread machine whats the best recipe for like a whole wheat bread. I attempted once and the loaf came out hard like a rock. My grandma gave me some stuff for my pantry like white miso, vegetanle broth, olive oil, yeast, sunflower seeds, some nutritonal yeast. Lots of random spices in mini bags from natural store anything from cayenne pepper to herbal teas. I love spices :)>>>.
I got A CSA share that my boyfriend decide to split with me since he doesn't eat everything from the box.So I've some random produce each week that is secured for the next two months. Yay!
Hotcookmama thank for the tips you gave me , I am a busy person but I could fit in sometime to prepare my meals better so that I can keep my cost low.
In regards to going to food bank , techinal thats out of the question because im consider better off than others becuase how much I make before taxes. But after taxes , and other stuff from my work coming out its just enough to get by.
Once again thank you everyone, more tips or ideas are still welcome. This maybe a temporary thing for me until I can work again complete 40 hours a week. I was placed on leave due to high stress levels cause migraine espidoes that last 24 hr at a time due to high blood pressure.
Big hug to Vegweb community :bear2: :bear2:
:)
I use this: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=39076.0 for bread, and this http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=30763.0 instead of soy/ almond milk for the bread recipe, when I'm strongly focused on budgetary concerns... These are excellent too, tho I haven't tried them in the bread machine: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=5716.0 & http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=15153.0... if nothing else, bet you could make these on 'dough' cycle & then oven-bake, without any problems... I haven't found a flatbread recipe I'm loyal to; if you find one that works especially well, feel free to share back!
PS-- you clearly have a very cool grandma. :-)
PS-- you clearly have a very cool grandma. :-)
seriously! my gma takes me to buy food when i'm hurting but she's never given me miso or nut yeast... i don't think she would even know what those are! RADICAL <3