You can live practically forever on 25 pounds of soybeans, 25 pounds of brown rice, 10 pounds of cheap dry milk powder, and a bottle of Vitamin C tablets. You probably aren't THAT desperate, however.
When the kids were babies and we were living on nothing I think we sort of started with the diet above, and then branched out to other legumes and grains, adding fresh vegies and fruits based strictly on price, and buying the kind of meat that is usually used for soup stocks. We bought ramen noodles and packaged mac&cheese and used them as cheap ways to add flavor.
Eggs and canned tuna are cheap perfect protein. Meat and cheese are luxuries, used in small quantities for flavor rather than as the basis for a meal. Shopping at the coop makes vegetarian-based food more fun. Casseroles are great for using up leftovers of any kind and disguising the beans and grains. Less obvious, you can mix almost any kind of mushy cooked vegetables in with potatoes and onions and fry them into yummy vegie patties.
Baking your own bread doesn't actually save you much money, it turns out. However, growing sprouts, making your own yogurt from dried milk, and (I swear to God we did this) making your own tofu are all big savings. Ditto for home-made granola and home-baked crackers or flatbread. All of this stuff takes time, though, possibly more time than it's worth unless it's fun for the family to do together.
I thought it was lots of fun, but I was staying home with my babies and had plenty of time on my hands. I remember those days fondly. Now we have enough money to just go to the grocery store and buy anything that looks good, and I'm frequently appalled at how much money we spend on food. We could easily live on a quarter of what we're spending now for food, but we don't have to, so we don't.
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When the kids were babies and we were living on nothing I think we sort of started with the diet above, and then branched out to other legumes and grains, adding fresh vegies and fruits based strictly on price, and buying the kind of meat that is usually used for soup stocks. We bought ramen noodles and packaged mac&cheese and used them as cheap ways to add flavor.
Eggs and canned tuna are cheap perfect protein. Meat and cheese are luxuries, used in small quantities for flavor rather than as the basis for a meal. Shopping at the coop makes vegetarian-based food more fun. Casseroles are great for using up leftovers of any kind and disguising the beans and grains. Less obvious, you can mix almost any kind of mushy cooked vegetables in with potatoes and onions and fry them into yummy vegie patties.
Baking your own bread doesn't actually save you much money, it turns out. However, growing sprouts, making your own yogurt from dried milk, and (I swear to God we did this) making your own tofu are all big savings. Ditto for home-made granola and home-baked crackers or flatbread. All of this stuff takes time, though, possibly more time than it's worth unless it's fun for the family to do together.
I thought it was lots of fun, but I was staying home with my babies and had plenty of time on my hands. I remember those days fondly. Now we have enough money to just go to the grocery store and buy anything that looks good, and I'm frequently appalled at how much money we spend on food. We could easily live on a quarter of what we're spending now for food, but we don't have to, so we don't.