Grocery shopping among other things long

jkkg317

So I never really moved out of that instant meal crap, partly due to DH insisting it would cost to much and partly because DH has never loved my cooking so I figured, why bother?  Well we're about a month away from when I would like to start Danny on solids and I plan on making them myself and would like to start cooking regular food that is not ramen or something similar. I want to start incorporating family dinners soon, because I have fond memories of it as kid, even though it would be just the baby and me some nights. DH is willing to let me do this i I can find a cheap way to do it. So where does everyone get their recipes, I need something easy because I don't have a lot of time (code for patience), and I need the ingredients to be somewhat similar that way I am not shopping for meals which is expensive. I'm trying to make a lot of changes in our family and I don't feel like DH is completely into it, I think he doesn't like the idea of changing what we're doing now but I just see us setting these awful examples for the baby. I have decided to give up cable so we can afford a better apartment, with a w/d and omg a dishwasher and it's going to save us like 111 dollars, which is amazing because I had no idea we were spending that much .  Idk, if any of you switched after baby do you have any suggestions to make it easier. I am just tired of living like a college student.

KatieKim0815

Family dinners are key IMO. I use allrecipes.com. If you want really easy recipes for a dinner w no hassle = crockpot!!

SammyJJo

I agree with pp.  Plus check out 5 Ingredient Fix and Rachel Ray - both have websites you can raid for easy meals.

MrsFv20

since only two of us are eating, I cook a full recipe and it will last us 2 or 3 nights. So if you don't mind leftovers, it really is inexpensive to cook and eat healthy.

Here's one site I get ideas from:

https://www.5dollardinners.com/

Carilyn

It's hard to know what cheap is to you/your family.  We spend about $300-$400 a month on groceries (including household things like soap, detergent, cleaning supplies, shampoo, etc).  We usually go to Costco once a month and get things like laundry detergent, frozen chicken breasts, cheese (we go through a lot of cheese...my DS' favorite food!, whole chickens, etc), then spend about $75 a week otherwise.

For sake of ease, I try to cook up a bunch of chicken breast at a time and then use it for a few meals (chicken fried rice, chicken broccoli casserole, or just chicken breast with BBQ sauce and some rice and veggie as a side).  I'll also cook up some ground turkey and use it for tacos one night, then nachos the next.  I also love making roast chicken with potatoes or rice and that usually lasts two dinners as well (you can get them for about $5 a piece) or make a chicken soup with it the next night (pick the chicken clean, boil in chicken broth, add frozen peas, carrots, corn, etc, salt and pepper to season, then serve with some pillsbury biscuits or bisquik biscuits).  I'm not a fan of cooking and I'm all for simplicity and meals that we can use a few times through the week.  I also second the crockpot meals.  Kraft foods has some fairly simple/quick recipies on their website that I've used before https://www.kraftrecipes.com/home.aspx

SnoopyLuv

Let the crockpot be your friend.

https://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

I also try to replicate things we get when we go out to eat. My newest accomplishment were these chicken tenders:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/neelys/tonys-chicken-tenders-with-honey-mustard-sauce-recipe/index.html

They were super easy and we just had some mac and cheese and peas with it. Super easy!

jkkg317

Thanks for all the advice I can't wait to start using it  

emward

I know a lot of communities have fruit and vegetable packages that you can buy at a reduced rate once or twice a month. You usually can't be picky about what you get in the basket, but it might be something to look into?

hoping4sticky

Also look into coupons you can save a ton. 1ht

jkkg317

hoping4sticky:

Also look into coupons you can save a ton. 1ht

I'll be honest I have no idea how to use coupons, that's bad phrasing, I have no idea how to go about collecting, how to organize them, any time I try I get so overwhelmed which makes me mad because I can save soooo much money 

Ananke

You could try e-mealz.com.  It's pretty cheap and they plan out weekly menus complete with grocery lists.  They have multiple menus to choose from too.  Their menus are made to help reduce waste and help save money.  I'm going to start using their vegetarian plan once I reincorporate dairy back into my diet.