Can I feed our family of nine people on only $200 in March by being creative and using what is already in the freezer and pantry?

A few years ago, my husband and I decided to get out of debt and we were almost able to do so by using the system in Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover“. When we were close to our goal, a series of circumstances beyond our control including an unexpected crisis with the adoption we were in the middle of, a real estate holding disaster, the area of my husband’s work being hit hard by the economy, and one of our daughters becoming gravely ill, led us back into a debt as large as the one we had just clawed our way out of. Dave Ramsey’s system is not a “get-rich-quick” scheme or a strategy of getting out of debt easily. It is hard work and just as it took time to get into debt, it takes time to get out of debt.

After we descended back into debt, we abandoned Dave’s system, largely because my husband’s income could not be counted on and because of how overwhelmed we felt. Even though we knew the system worked, we were afraid to look at the numbers (ie: the truth!) and create another budget and debt repayment plan. Things only got worse. Burying your head in the sand helps no one!

Finally, we decided that we would begin Dave’s Total Money Makeover again on the first of March. This week, I sat down to run the numbers and fill out the worksheets and come up with a plan. What I found is that we will need to be very creative to find extra money to put down onto our debt. I came up with a few ideas and the first is a grocery challenge, whereby we could cut $1000 off what we normally spend a month for groceries, cleaning supplies, and toiletries and apply that onto a debt. The way we would do this would be to eat out of our pantry and freezer and buy as few groceries as possible for March.

I have set the amount we are allowed to spend on groceries at $200 for March. Considering that we have seven children, including two teen boys and two pre-teen boys, this is no small feat! What I did was to inventory everything that is currently in our freezer and pantry. I then tried to create as many meals as I could from that list. My goal was to come up with 31 suppers and 31 lunches.  Breakfasts will be oatmeal and perhaps eggs or pancakes on Sundays (if we can fit syrop into the budget!)

Dinners:

Chicken Fried Rice

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Mexican Lasagna

Not-so-chili pasta

Basa topped with Salsa, Rice, and frozen vegetables

Shrimp Stir Fry *will need peppers and mushrooms

Chili

Chicken Teriyaki, Wild Mushroom Rice, and Corn

Beef Hash

Soup made from leftovers

Asparagus and Asiago Quiche

Cod and French Fries

Tamale Pie

Frittata and Hash Brown Casserole

Sweet Chicken Tostadas *will need tostadas

Tortellini Soup

Meatballs and Rice

Soup made from leftovers

Beef Hash

Lemon-Mustard Chicken, Basmati Rice, and Green Beans

Chili

Ham, Scalloped Potatoes, and Peas

Tamale Pie

Beef Stew *will need potatoes and carrots

Lemon Mustard Chicken, Green Bean Casserole

Meatballs and Rice

Teriyaki Chicken, Wild Mushroom Rice, and Creamed Corn

Macaroni Casserole

Pinto Tortilla Soup

Baked Pasta *will need mushrooms and peppers

Beef and Bean Burritos *will need peppers

Voila!  31 Suppers!

For the lunches, the list is mostly soups, (Pumpkin Soup, Minestrone, Black Bean, Mushroom Cheddar, Lentil Soup, Tomato etc.), Bean Casseroles, and Pastas.

Snacks will be the most difficult, but I do have some baking in the freezer that can be used and some of the applesauce left that I made in the Fall.

The only things that are on the” approved list of things to buy” are milk, eggs, Good-Night diapers for Dancing Queen, and the few items needed to finish the above dishes. I am excited to see how it goes!

Not only will this free up a big chunk of money to put towards a debt, it will also clean out the pantry and freezer and ensure that none of the food gets wasted!

I think that this grocery challenge will really get our new financial life off to a great start. I will let you know how it goes!

Here are some of the soup recipes I will be using:

Crock Pot Tortellini Soup

Soups Using Leftovers

Spicy Lentil Soup

Healthy Lentil Soup

Update: You can now read the Grocery Challenge results.

Saving money on our grocery budget is a huge priority for me trying to feed my husband and I and our seven kids.  Stretching leftovers by turning them into soups is one of the ways that I accomplish that.

Whenever I make a chicken meal, I add one extra chicken breast.  When dinner is done, I cut up the leftover chicken and scoop that, along with all the leftover sauce into a bag.  So if we had teriyaki chicken for supper, then the leftover chicken once cubed gets added, along with all the teriyaki sauce or marinade.  Next, I add whatever side dishes are leftover into the bag.  This usually means vegetables and rice or potatoes.  Even if there is just a handful of peas leftover or two pieces of cooked carrot, they go into the bag.  Nothing goes to waste.  This bag then gets sealed and put into the freezer.  If I have time to make the soup that night or the next morning, then I put these into a pot instead, but usually, they go into a freezer bag.  The freezer bag gets labelled with the type of meat and the name of the sauce it was in.

I have a few variations that I make on the recipe, but the soup will taste different every time because the sauce on the chicken will add to the flavour, as will the seasonings that were on the rice and vegetables.

Leftover Soup

Here are two basic recipes leftovers turned into soup.  At the bottom, I will also add a few tips.

Leftover Soup Recipe 1

1 chopped onion

8 carrots, cut

6 chopped and peeled potatoes

1/2 cup of barley

2 cups of mixed beans

2 cans of tomato soup

3-5 cups of water

bag of leftovers

seasonings: pepper, parsley, basil, oregano, etc. depending on the soup (see below)

Saute onion.  Add other vegetables.  Add everything else and simmer for about one hour.

Leftover Soup 2

1 chopped onion

2 tsp. minced garlic

whatever vegetables you have in the pantry or freezer (carrots, peas, zucchini, green beans, celery, corn, etc.)

28 oz. can diced tomatoes

5 cups vegetable stock (you can make your own by saving the water you have been cooking your potatoes and other veggies in)

bag of leftovers

seasonings: pepper, basil, oregano, chilis, chipotle, bay leaves, etc. depending on the soup

Saute onions and garlic.  Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer.

Tips For Using Up Leftovers:

Use the bag of leftovers as your base for determining what flavourings to add to your soup.  If you are using a leftover tex mex chicken, then corn and black beans are good additions and chipotle spice works well.  If you are using leftover meatballs, then a tomato based soup with Italian seasonings usually works well.  For leftover curried chicken, adding more curry, along with peas and rice goes well.  For teriyaki or honey mustard chicken leftovers, an Asian inspired soup is delicious.  You can even add noodles in the last few minutes of cooking.  A minestrone type of soup with zucchini, green beans, kidney and/ or white beans, small pasta shells, tomatoes, and Italian seasonings work well with a blander leftover chicken or beef.  Leftover roast can be transformed into a beef barley soup.

Making soups from your leftovers is so cost effective.  It can stretch that one extra chicken breast to feed an entire family for another two meals.  It also uses the sauce and small portions of leftover vegetables that would probably otherwise have been thrown away.  Using this method can prove to cut back on your grocery budget significantly, especially if you make your own stock and buy some of the other ingredients in bulk.