Julie Bove wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>
> "sf" > wrote in message
> ...
> > On Fri, 11 Jul 2014 08:10:49 -0700 (PDT),
> > wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > If I was going to prune our grocery bill:
> > >
> > > Beans once a week.
> > >
> >
> > I'd be eating beans more than that because there's so much you can
> > do with them. Variety is the spice of life!
>
> Yes. Alas when I was on my poverty diet, I didn't think of beans. I
> ate a Carnation Breakfast Bar or boiled eggs for breakfast every
> morning. I bought the bars when I had coupons. I liked them because
> they contained vitamins.
>
> Lunch at work was spaghetti with red sauce. No cheese. I did not
> have a microwave at home so I made a huge pot and reheated at work.
>
> At home I had peanut butter sandwiches for lunch and dinner. Rounded
> out by canned peas, carrots (no baby carrots in those days) and
> apples. I did grow some of my own things including lettuce and
> onions so I always had salad.
>
> I also ate air popped popcorn for snacks.
>
> About once a week, I went out to eat. My parents paid. We usually
> ate at Sizzler and I took the all you can eat aspect of the salad bar
> seriously. I only ate the vegetables, trying to get my fill of
> things I couldn't afford to have at home.
>
> Thankfully I only had to do that diet for a month. But it was pretty
> well balanced and cheap.
And costs more than a regular scratch cooked diet would. That was all
'fast food' sorts.
I just tossed 57cents of pasta in a pot and boiled it. I added in a
separate pot 2 large (28 oz) cans of crushed tomatoes, chopped garlic,
basil, oregano and black pepper. The cans were 50 cents each. I added
1 lb of Johnsonville sausage which was 4.99 for 1.5 lbs but I had a
1.50 coupon and they were doubling up to 2$ coupons so I paid 1.99 for
1.5 lbs and used 1$ worth.
Spagetti cost: .57+1.00+1.00= 2.57
How much is the result? I have 8 1cup servings. Thats 32cents a
serving and much more filing than a 75 cent carnation bar.
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