It's been a while since I've shared some of my own frugal tips. You will notice that most of my frugal tips are food containing. *grin* There is a reason for that. It's about the only thing in our budget that can be budged. Mortgage, gas, electric, water, garbage...we have gotten them as low as we possibly can. Water and electricity we have cut in HALF over last year. I mean exactly in half. And we have MORE family members using more utilities and we do not bathe once a week to accomplish it. So yay! God is good!

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But back to food. It's the one thing in my budget I can always- decrease or increase as means decrease or increase. It takes some creativity and some BASIC kitchen knowledge and the desire to save a few bucks- that is really all!

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Nutrition is very, very important to us. Although we would like to buy organic, we simply do not have the means to do so except on rare occasions. But produce is very important to us. We try to buy in season and as local as possible. I would much rather buy a tomato from a local farmer (even it is not organic) than buy an organic one shipped in from Mexico- how much gas did that trucker have to use to get my that tomato? I cringe! So local over organic and in season produce will assure me that I am getting a nutritious and delicious product.

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Fact. Produce is expensive. How do I afford all the produce I am told I should feed my family? I get creative! Can we only eat fresh and afford it? The answer is, no, we can not. But I do easily spend at least $30 a week in fresh produce! Sometimes more. It is the bulk of my grocery bill, to be honest. We use a combo of canned (only a little), frozen (quite a bit) and fresh (a lot). I can not tell you what would work best for you, but I can share what works for my family and my budget. Which I will be totally honest with you-

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We are a family of five and in September- six! What a blessing! We live in California which, to be frank, is one of the most expensive staes to live in right now. If I told you what we paid for property taxes, homeowners insurances (yes, plural), mortgage, gas, milk...on and on...you would cringe. We receive zero assistance. At this point, although we qualify, we do not receive even WIC. My husband is a very hard worker and is an electrician. He is required to commute daily 120 miles round trip- sometimes more. Our gas bill is sickening. We have no choice. My hardworking man takes care of us with less than $38,000 per year for almost six people. Now before some of you Easterners, go wait that's a lot of money- as I said- our taxes (sales and property and DMV here are crazy)- it is perhaps like making maybe 25K elsewhere. It's not much. But we make do, with glad hearts. We chose to homeschool, we chose for me to stay home...therefor we can not complain of not being able to keep up with the Jones'. That can be fixed- I could place my kids in public school and go to work- problem fixed. We chose a different path and our path is riddled with obstacles. Our food bill as I said is my number one movable bill. So after my little intro into our world...let's do lunch....

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Lunches in my house are sometimes sit downs and sometime...well eating and moving. LOL But I try my best to get in a protein, a grain and a fruit or veggie. That's my lunch formula. I have leetle kids, so they only need a leetle bit of food (yes, I can spell little). So a favorite in our house is a peanut butter and honey sandwich (on whole wheat bread) and a piece of fruit. I like variety- so I do force variety on my kids. Oh they love it (sarcasm inserted here hehe). But those PB&H sammies and fruit are a very healthy meal for a child! They'd eat it everyday if they could. My dh actually does. His preference!

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One way I pack in a lot of veggies, inexpensively is to use these items generously. I even splurge and by these items organic. =0) Carrots, Onions, Celery, and Garlic. I try to put them in everything I possibly can. I buy these every week or every other week- depends on how much we end up eating. These veggies are some of the cheapest available! Frozen spinach- cheap and plentiful. I also add it to anything I possibly can. Potatoes - I splurge here and buy organic but if we ate more I would not. When I buy them, I make menus that I can incorporate taters in, in some shape or form.

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So what's on a lunch menu here?

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Besides the above mentioned sandwiches my crew eats refried beans with a small bit of shredded sharp cheddar. I usually make my own refried beans in my crock pot. I buy dried  beans in 8-10 pound amounts. I also like to make a rice pilaf....fancy way of saying I toasted my rice in a bit of oil with some diced veggies....usually onion, carrot, garlic and celery! If I am making a rice stuffing for burritos or a mexi-side- then I add cumin, a sprinkle of chili powder, some cilantro if I happen to have some...maybe even some chopped tomatoes at the end. Some tomato paste depending on what I am making. I also like to cook up some pinto beans, black beans or black-eyed peas- with many of the same veggies and spices. You can eat them as is, sprinkle cheese on and eat, use as a tortilla chip dip, roll up the beans with some cheese and some of the rice and heat inside a tortilla shell and you have a burrito. Salsa or taco sauce is a good thing to always have on hand if you do this often. You can mash up the beans when you're done and serve as a refried type bean. As long as I sprinkle a bit of cheese- my kids will eat!  So healthy, so cheap and I stuffed a ton of veggies in there! If they are in season I can also afford bell peppers and zucchini and you can also add that to your rice or your beans. Mix the rice and beans after cooking for a delicious side, main dish or burrito stuffing. Combined you need no meat as they are a complete protein. And yes, I often use brown rice for my little pilafs! YUM! If anyone wants a 'recipe' for the above ideas- I can oblige.

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The veggies I most often serve to my crew at lunch- is canned green beans. Some people say gross- but my kids say, yes please!!! They will eat it- zero complaints. I don't care if they eat it as their lunch veggie everyday- I am happy they eat a veggie at lunch everyday. That is one of the only veggies I buy in a can. I usually buy them at Costco- 4 cases at a  time.

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Sandwiches are the other great way I serve healthy inexpensive lunches to my crew. Grilled cheese on whole grain bread, egg salad on whole grain bread, PB&J or PB&H on whole grain bread, the very occasional fried egg on toasted whole grain bread, if we have leftover meats like chicken- that's a treat! We have chicken salad sandwiches- I try to add cooked chopped hardboiled eggs to stretch it. Or add beans or rice (mentioned above) and roll it up into a tortilla! All healthy, inexpensive and when made is large amounts- very little time in the kitchen (except the day you prepare all those beans and rice! Or egg or chicken salads). Remember to try to stretch  those 'salads' and up the health factor by adding shredded carrot, celery or onion. I say shredded because my crew does NOT like to crunch on pieces of celery and the like in their egg or chicken or tuna salads.

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For families that are even larger than my own and have an even smaller budget (I usually spend fewer than $100 per week- shooting for $75) and this includes meats, dairy and veggies and fruit...then you may not be able to afford to try to stuff carrots, celery, onion in everything. But you should try! Even ramen noodles can be made healthier and stretched farther by adding chopped onion, carrot and celery!

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Think basics like rice, potatoes, and beans for lunch. Then think about what you can add healthfully and inexpensively. Then think about what you can add to round out the meal to make it most complete for your personal lunch budget. Remember my formula is protein (this could be meat, egg, cheese, beans), whole grain (wheat bread, brown rice or other grain item) and a veggie and a fruit if you can get in on there!

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Lunch Example:

Peanut Butter & Honey Sandwich served with half a banana (that's a leetle kid serving) and a 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of green beans. I serve ice water only. Kids can have more of anything they choose after they eat all of their meal. My sons usually ask for a peanut butter spoon when done. What's that? It's a spoon with a giant scoop of peanut butter (lol). I sometimes offer that as a snack with a couple crackers and a small cup of juice- a kid fave in our house!

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Much of this you already do, I am sure. But sometimes it's nice to read about what others do, you know?

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If anyone has any of their own ideas, feel free to add them by comment. If anyone has questions- feel free to ask! Planning meals, menus and grocery lists are actually a great source of joy for me! I like using herbs, spices, and zesting up everything I possibly can to 'disguise the fact that we eat rather humbly. My family does not notice that the bulk of our diet is very basic. =0)

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I feel very good about that.

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I will be adding my menu later today -with my shopping  list as I have been lately. I have been seriously considering buying a Bosch mixer- if anyone owns one and wants to share with me if this workhouse mixer benefits you and your family or how it doesn't - I'd LOVE to hear it! Thank you so much for coming by!

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Amy