Comments on: Poor People Food

By: Christy

Christy — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 02:27:44 +0000

I have enjoyed reading all of the poor people food ideas. I feel sad because our food supply is very void of nutritionally dense foods in the first place but the nutritious foods are especially unaffordable for those who cant afford the even higher priced healthy foods (like different grains, flours, & veggies.) My goal is to raise my own chickens for eggs & meat, maybe a cow one day, and currently every year I have a garden. You can learn how to garden online & from experienced people. Currently, I try to skip the bad food (sodas, snack foods) and buy the nutritious foods, lots of brown rice, barley (grains u can cook like rice) seasoned with bullion or cooked in broth, a whole chicken instead of cut up(its cheaper), veggies that are in season, plus what i grow & store, make biscuits cornbread from scratch (it is very simple.)

By: t zhande

t zhande — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:31:24 +0000

thats good dishes for the poor

By: debbie

debbie — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:43:16 +0000

my grandfather died at a early age and my grandmother was left to raise 6 kids by herself, what she alwasys told us was if you need to make alot of food cheap, make soups, stews, and spaghetti, she always had a big garden, she needed one to feed her family, she was from sicily and i tell you that woman could make lard taste good if she had to (she usually put that in a pie crust) she always said that chicken was cheap and to make the best homemade soup you need a fatty fowl, every sunday was spaghetti and meatball day, we also ate a lot of pasta fagoui, everthing was from scratch, we all learned how to cook, stuff peppers were cheap enough to make, after i grew up and had my own family and lost my husband i remembered and cook from scratch, i have my own garden too, when times were especially hard and we had to get the government cheese we made macaroni and cheese or brocolli and cheese sauce to accompany a meal, i remember when i had to go to wic and they would give healthy cheap meal ideas they suggested tacos stating that you can make them for about 2 dollars a person, we grew up poor but we were never hungry, pasta is a good filler and a cheap meal , you can also take spaghetti sauce and add just 1/2 pound of hamburger and make a meat sauce, it you can make your own sauce that will cost you about 5 dollars and will make about 3 or 4 meals for 3 people

By: heather

heather — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:28:24 +0000

I am married with children, 3 of em. here are a few of our penny pinching faves. 1. Tostadas- get a bag of 10 for about $1 in the mexican aisle. we put refried beans on them and then lettuce and tomato salad on top. 2. BBQ Chicken- I buy whole chicken on sale and boil & debone it, then I add bbq sauce to the chicken and put it on hamburger buns. if whole chicken is not on sale, then i get a bag of frozen chicken strips and put them in the crock pot with the bbq sauce. 3.Salad- I get 2 bags of fresh express salad, mix it up and divide it among plates, then I put popcorn chicken on top.4. and here are a few things i do for the kids- i buy a really healthy cheap cereal like plain shredded wheat and then i buy a box of yummy cereal like frosted mini wheats and mix them together. another thing i do is buy a half gallon of yummy chocolate milk and mix it with skim milk, half chocolate and half skim. that chocolate milk is so thick anyways. and finally, after dinner or for a snack, i get a bag of mixed frozen fruit, it’s healthy and fun and takes them a while to eat it.

By: candytree

candytree — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 23:02:14 +0000

my husband and i have been married for 17 years and have 6 children. most of those 17 years have been rather lean but i can tell you what i do. i cook everything from scratch! i make my own bread, cakes,pies,noodles, gravy..everything! stock up on flour, sugar, spices, and other things..buy a big bag of potatoes, a 5 pound roll of ground beef, a whole chicken and some margarine, along with a big container of oats, some onions, carrots, celery, a head of cabbage, and you have enough to eat on for a week! also, get a big can of “nido”. it is a dried whole milk powder and let me tell you, it is the best thing for baking!
i also raise chickens and you keep the girls for eggs and the boys mean more meat for the freezer. i also put in a garden and that helps also. we are a family of 8 and we live on about 1400 a month. if anyone wants any recipes or free sewing pattern ideas, or just plain encouragement through the hard times, feel free to add me on myspace!

By: Rose

Rose — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:58:41 +0000

Now ditcheres wutchy do iffin yunt sum good vittles…

Gitchi sum Pinto Beans, ye gotty startah lookin em real good now….iffin ya sees any lil rocks, why ye gotsta put em in a lil smaller bowl, same goes fur dem lil ugly lak beans.

Den wutchy do is ye soak em in hot bawlin water fur a spell..bout an hour.
Take dem der beans off dat der stove n den ye rench em real good.
Gitchi a ham hock , jowel bacon, ever yunty use, Cut dat up n putchy a lill bit o lard, oil, ,ever yunty, and fry it up a peak, bout 15 minutes. Gittem juices and grease outta der.
Now, fill dat der pot up bout 3/4 over dem beans.
Put that cooked meat ontop of em.
Bawl on med heat, witchy lid on der fur bout an hour.
Take that lid thur n startah lettin em bawl down, soak up all that liquid .
Once ye sees it gettin to bout an inch over dem beans, gittchy sumur water and putchy bout a cup n haf. Keep onah doin dis for about nudder hour .

Now looky hur .. Wal ye doin ye beans start cuttin dem taters. cuttem kindly thick, or thing, Now ye gonna use that there grease from earlier. Ceptchi gonna add a bit of lard ur oil to it.
Ya need at least an inch of grease in ye pan all together.
Med high heat, n ya can checkit when ye drop a lil bite of that tater in that grease..
Puttem in when its splatters …cover for 15 min, then ye turn em, cook uncoverd for 20 minutes on med heat.Season fur ye taisters

Cornbread…
Jiffy Mix.

I really like this though. I grew up on it..
Thought I would make it fun. It sounds just like my end of the south!

Bellah- You can emal me for cheap recipes and how to make it last longer.. Maybe. Anyway I can < I will try to help… countrybumpkin2u2@yahoo

By: Bellah

Bellah — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:31:09 +0000

My family has been havin it real rough lately. My husband got laid off last year and Now I have became disabled. My mother has had to move in with us due to her health and well being. I have a seven year old daughter who plays sports. I am the ONLY bread winner, ” If you can call it that” I get 700.00 a month in Social Security Disability. So, $400.00 rent, $200.00 utilities, $100.00 monthly house hold items/Hygene. And If I am lucky I can get a house cleaning job once a month for My daughters football because they allow me to make payments it turns out to be there about $10-$15.00 a month. I clean cheap so I will get the jobs. I have managed to work out a deal with her Martial Arts Instructor, I clean the Dojo twice a week for the cost of her monthly bill.
However, It is starting to really give me much more added pain and much more stress. I have a rare type of disability that has to do with muscles. We live in the state of Kentucky. We are allowed 228.00 per month in food stamps. Which by the way I NEVER thought I would be using to buy food for my family.

So sorry to lay it all out there. I came upon this website and I guess it all came pouring out of me. I havent vented in a very long time…..

Anyway, my question is …..
Does anyone know how I can make 228.00 feed us for a month?? There are 4 of us.

Thank you.
And once again, I am sorry

By: Chloe

Chloe — Sun, 31 May 2009 01:36:33 +0000

i love helping the poor it just warms my hart to do that

By: Rod Lucas

Rod Lucas — Thu, 21 May 2009 03:44:55 +0000

Great post. I am just starting my blog as well. Do you find it hard to have something to say, because I don’t feel like natural writer and it seems to come natural for you.

By: Corey

Corey — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:17:07 +0000

Just to Hi and I looked it up too. But not much here.

By: GE

GE — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 03:13:36 +0000

Here is an easy recipe for mejadarah

http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/mejadarah

By: Alice

Alice — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 09:00:16 +0000

I bake my own Whole wheat pita bread , make my own nonfat yogurt from skim milk with some powdered milk added and a little yogurt starter, and make mejedarra. Saute a chopped onion and some garlic, boil lentils till almost done, then add rice, more water if needed. I season with salt and pepper, and voila! Ican feed my family of 15 for about $6.00. This is how the Palestinian refugees have been living for years.

By: Aubrey

Aubrey — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:49:54 +0000

I always go to free sample websites,and check their “food” section.You can laugh,but I’ve gotten free granola,cereal,olive oil,pet food,(not to mention the feminine items).I cooked Sheperd’s Pie last night with a bag of frozen veggies from Dollar Store,and a mashed potato mix I got from a free sample.
Campbell’s website has proven to be really useful,also.The variety of things you can do with canned tuna and cream of mushroom soup is staggering.My husband and I are both students,so I’ve had to turn into MacGuyver in my kitchen.
Egg noodles,boiled and left in about 2 cups of chicken broth(cheaper Walmart brand),cheddar cheese,tuna,peas,1 cup milk,a dash of soy sauce(or worchestershire,or steak marinade like Moore’s or Dale’s)—It’s great,cheap,and lasts at least 2-3 days for 2 people.
I buy all the canned fruits and vegetables I can at the dollar store,you can always find good use for them.
Eggs are incredible!Full of protein,and really filling.You can buy some cheap deli ham and american cheese,you can have omelets,or make ham,egg and cheese sandwiches (I call them Aubrey McMuffins).
And Walmart always has 86 cent GV brownie mix,which is really tasty.The Dollar store’s chocolate graham cookies are really good for a dessert,too.
Being “poor” really can bring out your creative side.I guess you’d call that a “silver lining”.

By: eric

eric — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:49:55 +0000

I think that imagination, willingness to learn new things, keeping a well stocked spice rack (don’t worry about buying top shelf), and utilizing local ingredients are the most important steps to eating (even thriving) for very little. In Miami where I’m from, rice and beans are very cheap, filling and most importantly delicious, a meal in them selves! I avoid major markets and shop at dollar stores for canned goods and corner stores and fruit/veggie vendors for other items. Learn to stew meats and you can buy the cheapest, toughest cuts and literally eat for a few dollars a day. I hope this helps.

By: Carla Banks-Williams

Carla Banks-Williams — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:32:12 +0000

Dahl sounds very tasty. I have become interested in Indian and other middle-eastern recipes, because they really do seem to do a lot with less.

By: Carlos

Carlos — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:53:02 +0000

do not add too much water. You want it to be thick like a super thick stew, not soup.

By: Carlos

Carlos — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:51:49 +0000

forgot to mention, don’t add too much water. You don’t want soup, but a super thick stew consistancy.

By: Carlos

Carlos — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:49:48 +0000

I support myself and my partner on $8 an hour. One of our favorites is dahl. It’s an indian dish, but very easy, cheap and nutrious. What we do, is sautée about 3 chopped potatos in oil until almost soft. Then add whatever chopped veggies we feel like. usually jalapenos, an onion, fresh garlic, cauliflower, carrots, and jalapenos. We add salt, pepper, tumeric and a lot of curry powder. When the vegetables are almost cooked, we add lentils and water. On medium heat, we constantly stir the dish so the lentils don’t burn on the bottom. When the lentils start to absorb the water and float, we lower heat and stir occasionally. When the lentils are completely soft, it’s done. Serve over rice (we prefer jasmine or brown) Adding peanuts and fresh chopped tomato really make it good. This dish usually lasts us a few days and we don’t tire of it. Not bad for about $10 for 2 people to eat for 3 days. The great thing about this recipe is you can change the veggies and spices around, add more, add less, whatever you want. Also, it is VERY healthy, tasty and cheap.

By: Carla Banks-Williams

Carla Banks-Williams — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 04:43:43 +0000

Some of these recipes are good but they are only good for people in certain areas. Plaintains, for example, are very expensive where I am. Spices are expensive, too. I could buy meat for what these exotic items cost me. I am in the middle of nowhere, Middle America, and I have at my disposal corn, beans, cheap white bread, canned soup, etc. Sometimes buying ingredients to make things myself is way more expensive than buying the cheap, already-made version from Wal-Mart or the Dollar Store.

By: Carla Banks-Williams

Carla Banks-Williams — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 04:39:30 +0000

I have had the same struggle, trying to find what people typically eat who are on extremely tight budgets. I have even done searches for other countries to no avail. I really appreciate your doing this. I wish I had thought of it myself.

By: Kayla

Kayla — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 02:51:34 +0000

For Jeanette Hill..
I found several versions of your “Butter Roll” on a southern / soul food web site.

http://chitterlings.com/cgi-bin/chit_index.cgi?noframes;read=25749

By: Jeanette Hill

Jeanette Hill — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:58:20 +0000

I stumbled across this website looking for an old southern desert recipe that my grandma used to make called a butter roll. Which is a desert that is made from practically nothing but rolled out bisuit dough (from scratch) with cut up butter and sugar rolled up placed in a large baking pan, with bioling water poured over it and baked in the oven until done.
It has the taste of a “high class” desert, but it has such humble beginnings. This is what poor Southerners made their families back in the day. As a child I ate a lot of it and boy was it good!!
I wished I had paid more attention to grandma but at 5 years old I was not ready for the kitchen yet. But my grandfather was a hunter as well and there was always fresh game in the winter.
I would love to help complile a recipe book, we may have been poor but we lived off the land and ate well.
A Southern Girl

By: John

John — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:26:57 +0000

Lentils, I can’t say it enough lentils are one of the cheapest legume out there. Get a 1 pound bag add water and boil until they are soft. I used to stir them into a paste that I would use as a filler for almost anything. They are incredibly high in protein and fiber, and absorb most any taste. If you are making tacos you can use half the meat and fill the rest with the lentil paste. Its easy to flavor once its soft just stir in any sort of sauce or spice. It’s like refried beans, but healthy for you.

By: ramona

ramona — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:30:28 +0000

thanks for posting the generic pancakes, i like pancakes and my father loves sunflower seeds.i buy my seeds at the health food store because i know they are fresh. and i will try them on the brownie mix.

By: Steffanie

Steffanie — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:52:56 +0000

I recently discovered that generic pancakes are extra good and cheap if you sprinkle sunflower seeds without shells roasted and salted on your pancakes before you flip them while cooking is very delicious! The seeds take the place of meat. You can get the sunflower seeds at the dollar general store for a 1.15 for a nice size bag. I usually buy ten bags at a time and that can count as my protein for several weeks ,feeding 2 adults. I sprinkle them over salad, potatoe salad and pasta salads or just munch them as a cheap protein snack. I love them sprinkled heavily over cheap brownie mix before baking! Its a cheap alternative to walnuts for your brownies or oatmeal cookies. sprinkled over generic ice cream,and on banana splits instead of nuts is good and i eat this even when not on a budget! Steffanie