Healthy Dollar Meals

I have shopped frugally for years.  This began when I was raising my three children on a very tight budget.  Several things I did (out of necessity) are still the way I operate today.  1) I grew a large garden; learned how to can and freeze food.  The purchase of a pressure canner paid for itself time and again.  2)  I picked food (fruit, vegetables) at local farms and orchards that offered food to pick.  These foods were canned and frozen.  3) I shopped at grocery stores only after reading their circulars for that week; then I purchased only those items on sale (unless I absolutely needed an item that was not on sale).  My mother taught me the Depression era saying, "Use it up; wear it out.  Make do; do without."  We lived by that.  4) I planned our meals from the "store in our home".
Our grocery bill for a family of five, plus a dog and cat, was never more than $50.00 a week.  Out of that $50.00, I saved a few dollars to purchase the fresh fruit and vegetables for canning a freezing.


One item I would like to suggest. I've not seen this before.   During harvest, look for a place where pumpkins are being sold reasonably.  Cut them in half; remove the seeds; place in a baking dish cut side down and bake at 350 degrees until the pumpkin is tender.  After cooling, remove the skins (which come off quite easily) place in a blender and blend.  Store in containers for use and freeze.  One and one half cups is enough for a pie; one cup for pumpkin bread.  This can be quite economical.  I have been able to purchase pumpkins for approximately one or two dollars from a local farmer.  I can make about six pies out of a medium sized pumpkin..

I found baby eggplants (8 for 99 cents) and stuffed them with ingredients I had in my home. See how

"around" $1 means an average of a meal. The breakfast is .24 so that gives you "around" .76 for the other meals. To me around means anywhere between $.75-$1.50 give or take when you divide overall. The recipes also say "if you have it" for some of the ingredients. I think the whole idea is these are bases and the idea is to adapt them to what you already have, including the staples. I also think people use excuses not to give it a try because it "really isn't" a dollar a meal. Also, prices fluctuate depending on where you live and if things are on sale. give it a shot---what do you have to lose but weight and a few less dollars?

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