If I Only had $30…

Homemade Green Chile Stew. This is one of our favorite meals from New Mexico. This particular day we used leftovers from Chile Verde to make the stew. It was delicious. The homemade tortillas make it infinitely yummier.

Because we had to live so incredibly frugally over the last ten years, I feel like we have become budgeting experts. People would often ask, while I worked in retail, how I was able to NOT spend money. The answer was simple: It’s easy if there is no money. Our bills were covered and we were fed. That was all we needed and we learned to appreciate a much simpler lifestyle.

Whatever money was left over from paying all of the bills was what we had for groceries, gas, and entertainment. Sometimes our weekly food budget was $100 but there were many times when we only have $25 left for food because life just always seemed to happen. Here is an example menu and grocery list we would have if we only had $30 to spend on our meals. This is going to use current prices in Las Vegas and we strictly bought off brand products because those pennies add up quickly. Since these ultra slim weeks didn’t happen all the time, we always had surplus from previous weeks and had a stocked fridge/pantry of items we didn’t need to buy weekly. So this specific menu is assuming we already have flour, sugar, spices, syrup, cheese, BBQ sauce, salsa and ground beef frozen from buying in bulk before.

Menu

Sunday: Late breakfast parfait and early dinner of Taco Soup
Monday: Lunch - Leftover Soup Dinner - Pinto Beans with tortilla chips
Tuesday: Lunch - Leftover Soup Dinner - Bean Burritos with leftover Pinto Beans and homemade tortillas
Wednesday: Lunch - Apple Parfait Dinner - Ham Steak with Eggs and Toast
Thursday: Lunch - Cobb Salad with leftover ham Dinner - Omelettes with leftover ham and cheese
Friday: Lunch - Salad Dinner - Pancakes
Saturday: Lunch - Parfait Dinner - BBQ Chicken Legs with mac and cheese and green beans.

Breakfasts: Cinnamon sugar toast, yogurt, and oatmeal

Grocery list

2 lbs Chicken legs - $4.00
Ham Steak - $3.75
2 lbs Pinto Beans - $1.84
Dozen Eggs - $1.78
Margarin - .88
Bread - .88
32 oz Plain Yogurt - $1.92
2 lbs Apples - $1.40
Lettuce - $1.48
Sour Cream - .88
Pancake mix (optional $1.68) or can make from scratch with on hand ingredients
10 Packets of instant oatmeal - $1.54
Craft mac and cheese - .98
Green Beans - .50
2 cans beans (pinto or black) - $1.50
2 cans corn - $1.00
2 cans diced tomatoes with green chiles - $1.30
2 packets of taco seasoning - .88
2 packets of ranch seasoning - $1.50
Tortilla chips - $1.74

Some alternative budget friendly meals would include: Scrambled egg sandwiches, spaghetti and marinara, tostadas, tacos, quesadillas, fideo soup, baked potatoes, waffles, easy stroganoff.

Pro Tip: these items in off-brand are great - Great value brand toilet paper, sandwich and gallon bags, off brand laundry detergent works well, and trash bags.

But try to avoid buying these items offbrand: Skin care (super dry and itchy skin not worth it), dish detergent (you’ll rewash soooooo many things), dish soap (you’ll use half a bottle to wash one load) and don’t buy the cheapest laundry detergent because you’ll ruin your clothes (mystery stains everywhere… mid range is great!) Splurge a little on sponges for the sink too. Cheap ones just fall apart.

Add bonus : Recipes to help make some of these items!

• Taco Soup

  2 lbs Ground Beef
  2 cans corn/drained
  2 cans beans/drained and rinsed
  2 packets of taco seasoning
  2 packets ranch dressing mix
  2 cans rotel/ blended to remove chunks if you prefer
  Enough water to thin to desired consistency
  
  Brown ground beef. Cook ground beef until done. Then add all remaining ingredients into a pot and either simmer on low for 30 minutes or let sit in crock pot 4-6 hours. Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, tortilla chips and (optional) diced onion/cilantro.

• Flour Tortillas

  4 cups flour
  1 1/2 tsp salt
  1 2/3 cups hot water
  1/4 cup melted butter
  
  In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the water and melted butter. Using your hands, mix the dough until it is a cohesive ball and all the liquid has been absorbed. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time, as needed. (The dough should be soft and play-doh like in texture, but not sticky.)

  Transfer the dough onto your work surface and knead it about 10 times until it becomes smooth all over.

  Divide the dough into 12 equal balls then flatten each ball slightly into the shape of a hockey puck. Flour each piece of dough on both sides then set them aside and cover them with a towel.

  Heat a large nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat.

  Roll out each piece of dough into an 8-inch circle then transfer it to the hot pan. Cook the tortilla for about 1 minutes then flip and continue cooking until golden brown spots appear on both sides. Transfer the tortilla from the pan into a towel and cover it while you roll out an cook the remaining pieces of dough.

  refrigerate/freeze extra dough if needed.

• White Bread (2 loaves)

  5 1/2 to 6 cups of flour
  1/4 cup sugar
  2 packets instant yeast (4 1/2 tsp)
  2 tsp salt
  1 1/2 cups water
  1/2 cup milk
  2 tbls butter

  Combine 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix until combined. Combine water, milk, and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 15-30 second increments until very warm but not hot to the touch (120 - 130 degrees F. Butter will not melt completely). Add to flour mixture.

  Beat 2 minutes at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Add 1 cup flour; beat 2 more minutes at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in just enough remaining flour so that the dough will form into a ball.

  Knead on lightly floured surface or in stand mixer with dough hook until smooth and elastic and springs back when lightly pressed with 2 fingers, about 6 to 8 minutes. Cover with a damp towel and rest dough for 10 minutes.

  Cut dough into 2 equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a 12 x 7 inch rectangle using a rolling pin. Beginning at the short end of each rectangle, roll up tightly. Pinch seam and ends to seal. Place, seam sides down, in two loaf pans that have been greased with butter. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in warm place until doubled in size, roughly 45 minutes.

  Bake in preheated 400 degree F oven for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans by running a knife around the edges and invert onto wire rack. Try not to eat them both in one day.
  

  For Nutella bread:
  Spread 2-3 tbls Nutella on the dough when it is rolled out in a rectangle. Continue recipe as normal.