Cut Food Cost down

I am planning on one of those 12v ice chest for cold drinks, lunch meat, etc. Canned Tuna, Fresh Vegatables & Fruits, Oatmeal for breakfast.

I plan on a small hot plate of some sort to warm stuff on.

Since I have been out of work for two years, I got to go on the cheap too.

 

Ok, HOW are you spending $100/week on food? What are you buying? Folks, I don't spend that much for 4 people for a week. Now, before you say but you are at home...currently, I'm cooking on a campstove.

What cooking devices DO you have? Ways to keep stuff cool? What are you drinking? Where are you buying your food?

Does your truck have an inverter, if so, what wattage? Do you have any devices you can bring from home?

 

I work during the day and only eat one meal and that's when I'm done...Sometimes I eat light, sometimes I want a nice sit down meal...IMO, driving and eating 3 meals a day is a recipe for obesity or health issues unless you have "one of those" metabolisms(and I hate you if you do LOL)...

 

I did a search for Truck Driver workouts and truck driver eating healthy. There is a guy that has a great set of videos on this, but don't remember where. The food he usesi is cheap, so you will save money. Just google, i bet you find it.

 

That cost you a $100 a week?

 

well i cook off of a griddle its easy to clean up easy to maintain and you can cook whatever you want off of it. I have to change up what i eat or i just get burnt out fast. Through out the week i eat just fruit for my morning meal and never really eat lunch. When dinner comes i am ready to eat last night i made some salsa and took some left over chicken i had in my fridge and two tortillas and some cheese and made two quasidillas topped with some home made salsa cheap and easy

 

canned and microwaveable food = lots of sodium and lots of $$. Stay far away.

Now, you can buy a 5-6# pack of chicken breasts from WM for ~$2/lb. You can put a little seasoning on it, lemon pepper, cajun, pick one. You CAN m/wave this. Or, invest in a Coleman campstove. Blah blah blah, cooking in the truck w/ propane ($6 for a 2pack of bottles). Do it outside if you feel iffy about this. If you cover your 8" skillet (frying pan) with a lid, your chicken will cook faster. Cut up chicken, let it cool, now you have enough chicken for a whole week, lunch AND dinner. (Well,5-6 days, if you want to eat 8 ounces of chicken at both lunch and dinner.

So far: $11 for chicken, $0.50 for lemon pepper (I buy the cheap stuff).

Now, what are we going to put the chicken with? Well, you have a microwave. Get some rice, white is fine, brown is better (for you). Cook that up in the m/wave.

32 oz brown rice = $1.28. That's enough for a week.

Ok, this is gonna get boring, huh? Well, you already eat fruit, so toss in some fruit with the meal. Budget about $10 - $15 for fruit. While you are at it, get some frozen veggies. They heat up in the m/wave pretty quick. Budget $10 - $15 for the veggies. Potatoes can be had for $3 - $5 for a 10lb bag. That works too. Baked potatoes are the bomb. (Use your veggie budget).

So, now we add $20 - $30 for veggies.

Add some oatmeal, $2.50 for a week, max. I toss in fruit, dried coconut, dried fruit, whatever strikes me that week. FYI, oatmeal made with bananas .... so good. Put the bananas in when you start cooking. Gets kinda creamy.

Coleman Camp Stove is $50. You can buy an 8" skillet for about $10. Not sure about a lid, but in a pinch a large oven safe plate works. (Not recommended by me, but I have done it.)

Food: Chicken $11, Seasoning $0.50, Rice $1.28, Fruits and Veggies $20-$30, Oatmeal $2.50.

The propane should last you a while. We go thru a 2 pack about every 2 weeks or so, depending on how much we are microwaving that week.

By the way....this feeds THREE of us for a week. If JCW is home, I'll buy more starch (pasta, ramen).

You do know there are other ways to cook ramen than heat up water, add noodles and high blood pressure in a shiny foil packet, right? Do an internet search...awesome stuff.

Load up on the basics at home. Rice, Oatmeal, spices, pasta. Grab perishables once or twice a week, chicken, milk, veggies, fruit.

Don't walk in hungry, shop the outside ring of the store, (except rice/pasta).

On home time, cook up some meals, put them in serving size containers and load your fridge.

I have only given you ONE way to go here. For my family, I make 12 - 15 lb batches (entire recipe, not the amount of meat) of chili. That's dinner for a week, or put it into serving containers and freeze it for later.

Maybe I should write a cookbook or something.