Chicken Thighs, and the Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

It’s getting harder and harder to come up with complete suppers for $1.50 per person. I’m still shooting for that, and I’m still going to focus on supper, but I’m going to include either one breakfast or one lunch meal each week, too. I call it supper, because that’s what we called the evening meal when I was growing up and that’s what I still call it today. “Dinner” to me is a special meal that can be served either at noon or at night, like Thanksgiving Dinner or Christmas Dinner or sometimes a special dinner when there’s company. But for just the family, it’s supper.

The average food stamp benefit in Indiana in 2014, after the 5.5% cut the end of 2013, is about $4.15 per person per day, or $125.00 for the month. “They” usually put that in terms of just under $1.40 per meal, but that seems silly to me. The way most of us eat in America, the meals just don’t cost the same. Instead, I figure $1.50 for supper, $1.25 for lunch, and $1.00 for breakfast. That comes to $112.50 for the month. The extra $12.50 is to cover the cost of things that you have to buy more of than you need that month, like the whole jar of mayo when you only need part of a jar.

I’m going to shoot for no more than 50 cents per person for breakfast and no more than $1.00 per person for lunch, which would leave some extra for supper when there just isn’t anything on sale. Or for a snack some days, if you’re so inclined. At least to start with, I’m going to stick with not including breads and other starches, like I do for supper. That means I won’t say to just eat a bowl of oatmeal, or a peanut butter sandwich. You already know that you can eat cheap meals that way. My breakfasts and lunches will be eggs, meat, cheese, veggies, and sometimes other dairy and/or fruit.

But, since I do still rely on the sales – such as they are! – for my recipes and menus, here they are.

First of all, don’t forget the Farmers Market, especially if you have Food Stamps! You can double your Food Stamps by converting up to $18 a week of them into Market Bucks. You get two Market Bucks for each Food Stamp dollar, up to a total of Market Bucks per week. Then you can use the Market Bucks to shop anywhere at either the main Saturday market or the Tuesday market. Food at the Farmers Market isn’t cheap when compared with grocery store food, but it is healthier, supports the local producers and is better for the environment. And the Market Bucks makes the Farmers Market prices competitive with the conventionally produced, less fresh and frequently shipped thousands of miles food you buy at the grocery stores.

Aldi has mangos for 39 cents each, multi-colored peppers for 50 cents each in the three packs ($1.49 per pack), Tomatoes on the Vine for 99 cents for 24 ounces, or about 65 cents a pound, and blueberries for $1.49 per pint. These prices are good through Tuesday, June 10.

Marsh has chicken drumsticks or thighs for 87 cents a pound in the family packs. There’s more meat on a thigh (less waste) but there’s something extra satisfying about gnawing on a drumstick. I guess the kid in me still hasn’t grown up. Sour cream is $1.39 a pint after a 50 cent ecoupon. Prices are good through Wednesday, June 11.

Kroger has Roma tomatoes for 99 cents a pound, limes for 79 cents each, and two bunches of cilantro for 99 cents. Eggplant and English cucumbers (the long skinny “seedless” kind) are 99 cents each. Prices are good through Wednesday, June 11.

IGA has whole boneless pork loin for $1.99 per pound, and they’ll cut and package it for free. There’s a limit of two “with additional purchase” but it doesn’t say how much that additional purchase has to be. The special on pork is only good through Saturday, June 7. They also have salad dressings four for $5.00, or $1.25. This price is good through Sunday, June 8.

This week’s supper recipes and menus will feature the chicken thighs for 87 cents a pound from Marsh. Two average thighs, including bone and skin, run about three-quarters of a pound, or twelve ounces, according to something I read online, which would be three pounds for a family of four. They vary considerably in size, though. I’m going to figure on about a pound of raw chicken thighs, with bone and skin, per person. That should be between two and three thighs and something over a cup of boneless skinless cooked chicken. However, I’m also going to give myself some leeway because I’ll be figuring the costs based on four pounds of chicken instead of three.

The first recipe, GARLIC LIME CHICKEN, combines garlic, lime juice and herbs to make a tangy marinade. Chances are you have everything but the lime juice and the coriander (and the chicken, of course) on hand. Get the lime juice in the bottle, like ReaLemon, only lime. There should be a store brand that’s cheaper the ReaLemon brand. Either one will be cheaper than fresh lime juice, which would of course be best. Kroger has fresh limes on sale this week for 75 cents each, and there’s about two tablespoons of juice in a medium lime. That means that it would take about four limes, or $3.00, to get the half cup of juice that the recipe calls for. (That’s according to howmuchisin.com/produce_converters, by the way, a site I use a lot. It usually doesn’t make a lot of difference how many cups or tablespoons or ounces in a piece of produce, but sometimes it does, like here where we’re relying on the lime juice for a big part of the flavor. Or when I’m trying to figure out how many cups of cabbage I’ll get from “half a medium head of cabbage” – which is four cups of shredded cabbage, or eight cups from a medium head which is two pounds. In case you’re wondering.)

The chicken is going to cost about $4.80, which only leaves $1.20 for the rest of the meal. A can of green beans is 49 cents at Aldi, and half a head of lettuce is 55 cents, also at Aldi, the last time I checked. Two tablespoons of salad dressing per person, or half a cup total, is 35 cents at Aldi. That comes to a total of about $6.20, which is just a bit more than my goal of $1.50 per person, or $6.00 for a family of four. But then the chicken thighs will probably run a bit less than eight ounces each, so there should be a small savings there. It should come in at right about $6.00.

Mark Bittman is perhaps best known for his How to Cook Everything: 2000 Simple Recipes for Good Food. It’s a huge book – 1056 pages, and the shipping weight, according to Amazon, is 4.6 pounds! The next recipe, DEVILED CHICKEN OR PORK CHOPS, comes from a smaller cookbook, his The Best Recipes in the World, which is only 768 pages, with a shipping weight of only 3.9 pounds. The original recipe calls for EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), but pure olive oil is cheaper and I can’t tell the difference. If you have EVOO and you want to use it, I’m sure Mark Bittman (and Rachael Ray) would approve.

The olive oil and mustard will run about 50 cents, and the chicken will run between $2.60 and $3.50. Let’s say $3.00 for the chicken, bringing the total cost of the dish to $3.50. How about an ear of corn each ($1.34 at IGA through Sunday, or $1.49 at Aldi through Tuesday), to go with it, and MANGO SALSA, which, with mangos and cilantro on sale, should be about $1.00. Total cost for the meal – right at $6.00, or $1.50 per person.

Have you ever read those articles in women’s magazines about dishes you can whip up from things you always have in your pantry, fridge and freezer? I don’t know whose pantry, fridge and freezer they’ve been looking in, but it seems like there are a lot things that “everyone” has that I don’t have, and sometimes never have had. Anyway, The $21 Challenge is a lot like those articles. The idea behind the book and the website http://www.simplesavings.com.au/21dollarchallenge is that most of us have enough bits and pieces in our pantries, fridges and freezers to feed our families for a week with just $21 and some creativity. They give several recipes using those things that “we all” have on hand, including this recipe for FRENCH ONION CHICKEN. The original recipe calls for a packet of Onion Soup mix, and you can use a packet if you have one. Or you can make your own for a fraction of the cost of the commercial mix. Don’t forget that you can buy most herbs and spices a lot more cheaply by buying tiny dabs of them from Bloomingfoods than by buying the cans or jars at the grocery stores.

Using four pounds of chicken thighs (don’t forget to save the skin to make CHICKEN CHIPS) and homemade Onion Soup Mix, a batch of this will cost about $4.75. Serve it with COLESLAW for another 20 cents per person, or 80 cents. And you’ve got the tomatoes and onion that the chicken cooked in that you can serve as a hot vegetable. You might want to add another can of tomatoes to the sauce and cook it just long enough to heat it through. You may need it, and then again you may not. If you do, it will cost another 59 cents (at Aldi) and bring the total to about $6.15, or to right about $6.00 if your chicken thighs are bit less than 8 ounces each.

Budget Breakfast – Breakfast for 50 Cents per Person

And now for the inexpensive breakfast. I’ll keep it really simple since this is the first week. Three eggs scrambled in 2 teaspoons of butter comes to within fractions of a penny of 50 cents and is a filling and nutritious breakfast. Eggs are supposed to be cheaper during the summer, but it sure hasn’t happened this year. They were 79 cents a dozen at Aldi around Easter (admittedly, they were on sale then) and they’re $1.69 a dozen now. Almost double. They’re still a good source of protein and lots of other nutrients, though, and they’re very flexible. I go through a lot of them.

Menus for a Week on a Budget, and Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

April 25, 2014

The sales aren’t great this week. IGA has ground chuck, in three pound or bigger packages, for $2.99 a pound. Honeysuckle fresh ground turkey, 93% lean, is also $2.99 a pound. Shredded cheese is $5.00 for three 8-ounce packages, or $1.67 each. Cauliflower and bunched broccoli are both $1.99 each. How good a price this is depends on how big they are. Prices are good through Sunday, April 27.

Aldi’s ad is unusual this week in that the only food shown is vegetables and one kind of meat. The rest is mostly yard and garden related stuff. Grape tomatoes are 99 cents for 10 ounces. Baby carrots are 79 cents a pound. Mushrooms are 89 cents for 8 ounces. Multi-colored peppers are two for $1.29. Cucumbers are 99 cents for a three pack. Prices are good through next Tuesday, April 29.

Marsh has sweet corn, ten ears for $3.00, or 30 cents an ear. Ground chuck in the family pack is $2.99 a pound. Chicken leg quarters in the family pack are 79 cents a pound. Johnsonville cooked brats or sausage is two 14-16 ounce packs for $6.00, or $3.00 each. Prices are good through next Wednesday, April 30.

Kroger has boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.99 a pound. Fresh green beans are 99 cents a pound. Eggplant is 99 cents each. Breakfast sausage is $2.79 a pound. Assorted cheeses are $3.79 for 12-16 ounce packages. A good price for 16 ounce packages, not so good for 12 ounce. Pints of cottage cheese are three for $4.00, or $1.33 each. Prices are good through next Wednesday, April 30.

It’s not a great bunch of sales this week, is it? Some OK prices on meat, but nothing fantastic. The vegetables at Aldi are the best of the bunch. Doesn’t really leave much room for budget cooking. However, that’s what we have to deal with so, so I guess there’s no point in complaining. Even though it does feel good to do so, sometimes.

I was trying to decide what meat to feature today, and nothing jumped out and said, “Use me! Use me!” I just talked about pork chops a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve talked about chicken a lot, and that’s as close as it comes to good specials this week. So I decided to do something different. I’ve been giving recipes and menus for about three individual meals per week, but there are 21 meals in a week. As I’m sure you know, especially if you’re trying to feed a family.

I decided that this week I’d give a whole week’s worth of menus, trying to keep it within the average food stamp benefit received in Indiana. I’m not sure exactly what that is, but the benefit actually received in Indiana was $132.46 per person per month in 2012 (according to the feds) and it was reduced by about 5.5% last year, so that would take it down to about $125.17, or about $4.17 per day, or about $29.21 per week. Since I’m going to do menus for a week and I’ve been assuming a family of four, that would be about $116.83. That’s as close as I can figure to the average weekly food stamp benefit actually received by a family of four after the cut last year. Anyway, that’s what I’m using as my goal.

So, here’s the deal. I would try to come up with a week’s worth of menus for a family of four, using this week’s ads and current prices for everything not on sale, and keep it below $116.83. And I would stick with my goal of eating just meat, eggs, vegetables, and dairy. No fillers like bread or rice or pasta or noodles or potatoes or beans or things like that. I had no idea when I started whether I’d be able to do it. No, that’s not really true. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to do it, given the dismal state of the weekly ads. At least, not without a lot of tinkering and cutting.

I was very pleasantly surprised. It actually came together very easily, which it doesn’t always do, even when there are great deals. I’m very fortunate that I don’t have to rely on food stamps, but I have done the Food Stamp Challenge several times, sometimes for real and sometimes on paper. Which is not, of course, the same thing as eating on a food stamp budget because you have to. Even on paper is seldom comes together this easily.

How did I come out? I’ll give you my menus and shopping list in a minute, but I’ll give the basics first. It came out to $105.90, or an average of $3.78 per person per day. That’s what I would have had to shell out at the store. For example, that includes a quart of half-and-half, even though I only need two cups this week. But mostly I used up everything I “bought.” I did go back and make some changes that way, so I didn’t end up having to buy a second jar of something if I only needed a couple of tablespoons. And I assumed that I had a few things on hand, like mustard and Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper that I only needed a little bit of.

One more caveat, and then I’ll get into the nitty gritty. I eat very low carb. I believe that it’s the healthiest way for me to eat. That doesn’t mean it’s the healthiest way for you to eat. I’ll leave that up to you and your health care professional. But these menus are based on a low carb eating plan. There’s no cereal or bread or potatoes or rice or pasta or noodles or so forth, but there are lots of vegetables and probably more meat than you’re used to. And definitely lots more eggs and fats! Don’t freak out about that. There is a lot of research that shows that dietary cholesterol isn’t a problem as long as you keep your carbs way down. I’m not a doctor or a dietician and I don’t give medical advice, but from what I’ve read, if you eat a lot of carbs, don’t eat a lot of fat. If you eat a lot of fat, don’t eat a lot of carbs. These menus are low carb and so it’s all right for them to be high fat. Just don’t add a bunch of bread or cookies or dried beans or whole grains or whatever to it and expect it to be healthy.

Okay, now to the menus, and a couple of recipes, and then a shopping list. I’ll tell you where I’m buying things, and if something isn’t on sale this week, I’ll tell you what I used for the cost and why. I didn’t go out and check the price of everything not on sale, but almost everything is on sale and the other prices are pretty current. Again, this is for a family of four for a week, and assuming that you are providing all of the meals. No school lunches, no skipping meals, no eating out, etc.

The menus include a lot more eggs and fat than you’re used to, but also a lot more meat and vegetables. And you’re right – very little dairy and no fruit. That’s intentional, and again, there’s science behind that, but that’s probably the hardest thing for people to accept about eating low carb. If you feel that you need to add milk, make it whole milk, and for fruit use melon and berries if at all possible. Cantaloupe are on sale this week.

There are only three recipes for the whole week, which is actually a lot more like the way I actually eat. I’m much more likely to throw a pork chop in a skillet and nuke some broccoli than I am to fancy things up with a recipe. So three recipes. First, JOE’S SPECIAL, which is a scramble of hamburger, eggs, mushrooms, spinach, onions, and, sometimes, parmesan cheese. It’s a classic from the 1930s or so from San Francisco. Second, HAMBURGER VEGGIE SOUP, which is exactly what it sounds like. Use whatever vegetables you happen to have on hand or are on sale. It makes lots. A dollop of sour cream is good in it, but then a dollop of sour cream is good on just about anything. And finally, SAUSAGE AND MUSHROOM QUICHE. A dollop of sour cream on top of this is good, too.

Now for my shopping list, showing you what I bought and where and for how much. (Remember, this is all on paper; this isn’t my real menu for the week. I’m using up stuff in my freezer and pantry and buying as little as possible this month.)

So that’s how I build a menu out of what’s on sale. It very rarely comes together as nicely and as easily as it did this time. And I know that there can be a world of difference between works out nicely on paper and what works out nicely in the kitchen and on the dining table! What makes it work is the eggs at 79 cents a dozen (if they’re back to their old price of $1.59 a dozen they’ll cost almost $5.00 more), the chicken at 79 cents a pound (though Walmart’s usual price has been ten pounds for $6.90, or 69 cents a pound, which would save over a dollar, even after buying the extra pound), and the great prices on the veggies. Pork chops for $1.59 a pound helps, too. If the ground chuck weren’t on sale, we could have gotten regular ground beef for around $2.50 a pound, so the sale on ground chuck is nice but not critical. And you’ll notice that I didn’t include any coffee (or tea, for me) or desserts or snacks. You may feel that these are important for you and your family. If you have kids (and I am assuming a family of four) then you may need to include snacks. It’s a far from perfect menu, but I hope that you can get some ideas of things that you can include in your meal planning process to help you plan healthy, appetizing meals on a budget.

Weekly Shopping List

Here's my shopping list for the week of April 28, based on the sales that week. This is assuming four people who eat all three meals a day at home, for one week. Twenty-one meals in total. It comes to a total of $105.92. Not bad, huh?

ALDI

6 dozen eggs at 79 cents per dozen (price when I was there on Monday)

1 pound butter at $2.19 (advertised price)

3-1/2 pounds of mushrooms at 89 cents for 8 ounces (advertised price)

3-pound bag of onions for $1.49 (they’re usually about that at Aldi’s)

3 heads of lettuce at 99 cents per head (I’ve seen that price there a lot but not sure it’s current)

4 1-pound bags baby carrots at 79 cents a bag (advertised price)

2 heads celery at 79 cents a head (price when I was there Monday)

8 cans of tuna at 68 cents per can (price when I was there Monday)

1 30-ounce jar of mayo (price the last time I checked there, about a month ago)

4 10-ounce packs of grape tomatoes (advertised price)

2 3-packs of cucumbers at 99 cents a pack (advertised price)

1 pint sour cream at $1.29 (I think that was the price)

1 quart half and half for $1.49 (they may have raised the price to $1.69 recently)

1 can diced tomatoes for 59 cents (price when I was there on Monday)

1 can green beans for 49 cents (price when I was there on Monday)

1 jar salad dressing at $1.39 (price the last time I bought some)

KROGER

4 pint (16 ounce each) cartons of cottage cheese at 3 for $4.00 (advertised price)

1 pound breakfast sausage for $2.79 (advertised price)

MARSH

19 pounds of chicken leg quarters at 79 cents a pound (advertised price – family pack)

12 ears of sweet corn at 10 for $3.00 (advertised price)

3 pounds ground chuck at $2.99 per pound (advertised price – family pack)

1 package (14 – 16 ounce) Johnsonville brats at 2 for $6.00 (advertised price)

IGA

1 head cauliflower at $1.99 per head (advertised special)

3 pounds ground chuck at $2.99 per pound (advertised special – same as Marsh)

8 ounce shredded cheese at 3 for $5.00 (advertised special)

2 bunches broccoli at $1.99 each (advertised special)

WALMART

1 pound sunflower seeds (price the last time I got them)

2-1/2 pounds cabbage at 59 cents a pound (I think that was the latest price I paid there)

1 head garlic estimated at 60 cents (it’s sold by the pound so it varies)

1 28-ounce bag frozen spinach at $1.97 (I think that was the latest price I paid there)

THINGS I ASSUME YOU HAVE SO NOT ON SHOPPING LIST

2 tablespoons mustard

2 tablespoons lemon juice (bottled is what I use)

4 teaspoons vinegar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon oregano

Dash nutmeg

Salt and pepper

Menus for a Week for Four for under $110.00!

So here are the menus that I came up with. They're not exciting, but they are good and they are filling and they are nutritious and they are cheap! Three meals a day for a week for four people - for just $105.90. And that's assuming you have very little to start with other than things like salt and pepper, mustard, and a very few other condiments.

MONDAY

12 eggs scrambled in 4 tablespoons butter (3 eggs per person)

Salad of 1/2 head lettuce, 1 pound carrots, 1/2 head of celery, 4 cans tuna, 4 hard-boiled eggs, 3/4 cup mayo (1 can tuna and 1 egg per person, plus veggies and mayo)

4 pork chops (2 pounds), with a pound of mushrooms and 2 onions sautéed in 4 tablespoons of butter, and half a head of lettuce with half a cup of salad dressing (one 8-ounce pork chop with vegetables and salad with 2 tablespoons of dressing per person)

TUESDAY

1 quart cottage cheese and 8 ounces sunflower seeds (1 cup cottage cheese and 2 ounces sunflower seeds per person)

Salad of 1/2 head lettuce, 10 ounces grape tomatoes (that’s one box), 1 cucumber, 1/2 pound baby carrots, 4 cups chicken (meat from4 leg quarters, cooked and boned), and 3/4 c salad dressing (1 cup chicken and 3 tablespoons dressing per person, plus a bunch of vegetables)

1 pound brats, 4 ears sweet corn, 4 tablespoons butter, salad of one pound cabbage with 1/2 c mayo and 1/2 onion (1 brat and 1 ear of corn per person, with a tablespoon of butter per person for the corn, and some cabbage salad)

WEDNESDAY

12 eggs scrambled in 4 tablespoons butter (3 eggs per person)

Salad of 1/2 head cauliflower, 1/2 head celery, meat from 1-1/2 pounds pork chops, 1/2 c mayo, 1 T mustard, 1 T lemon juice (meat from 6 ounces of pork chops per person, plus the veggies and dressing)

4 chicken leg quarters (1 pound each), 1 bunch broccoli with 2 tablespoons butter, salad of 1/2 head lettuce with 10 ounces grape tomatoes and 1/2 c salad dressing

THURSDAY

1 quart cottage cheese and 8 ounces sunflower seeds (1 cup cottage cheese and 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds per person)

Soup of 1 quart homemade chicken broth (made with the bones from the chicken), 3 cups chicken (meat from 3 leg quarters at 1 pound each), 1/2 bunch chopped broccoli, 1/2 pound sliced baby carrots, 4 ounces sliced mushrooms, and 4 eggs (1 cup broth, 3/4 cup chicken and 1 egg per person, plus the vegetables)

Joe’s Special (scramble of 1 pound hamburger, 1 onion, 2 cloves garlic, 14 ounces (half of a 28 ounce bag) frozen spinach, 8 ounces mushrooms and 6 eggs), salad of 1 cucumber with 1/4 c sour cream and 1 t vinegar (4 ounces hamburger, 1 egg and lots of veggies per person)

FRIDAY

12 eggs scrambled in 4 tablespoons butter (3 eggs per person)

Salad of 1/2 head lettuce, 10 ounces grape tomatoes, 1 cucumber, 1/2 pound baby carrots, 4 cups chicken (meat from 4 leg quarters at one pound each), 3/4 cup salad dressing (1 cup chicken and 3 tablespoons dressing per person, plus the veggies)

4 pork chops (2 pounds), 4 ears sweet corn with 4 tablespoons butter, salad of 1 pound cabbage with 1/2 onion and 1/2 cup mayo (1 8-ounce pork chop and 1 ear of corn with 1 tablespoon butter per person, plus cabbage salad)

SATURDAY

12 eggs scrambled with 8 ounces of mushrooms and 1/2 onion sautéed in 4 tablespoons butter

Salad of 1/2 head lettuce, 1 pound carrots, 1/2 head of celery, 4 cans tuna, 4 hard-boiled eggs, 3/4 cup mayo (1 can tuna and 1 egg per person, plus veggies and mayo)

Soup of 1 pound ground beef, 1 onion, 8 ounces mushrooms, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can green beans, 8 ounces cabbage, 2 cloves garlic, 1 cup celery, 1 pound baby carrots (4 ounces ground beef plus lots of vegetables per person)

SUNDAY

Quiche of 6 eggs, 1 pound sausage, 8 ounces cheese, 2 cups half and half, 8 ounces mushrooms (1-1/2 eggs, 4 ounces sausage, 2 ounces cheese, 1/2 c half and half per person plus mushrooms)

Salad of 4 cups chicken (meat from 4 leg quarters at 1 pound each), 1/2 head cauliflower, 1/2 head celery (less the cup of celery that went into Saturday’s soup), 1/2 cup mayo, 1 T mustard, 1 T lemon juice (1 cup chicken and 2 tablespoons mayo per person, plus veggies)

4 pork chops (2 pounds), 4 ears sweet corn with 4 tablespoons butter, salad of 10 ounces grape tomatoes and one cucumber in 1/2 cup sour cream and 1 tablespoon vinegar (1 8-ounce pork chop and 1 ear of corn with 1 tablespoon of butter per person, plus the salad)