Julie Bove wrote in rec.food.cooking:

>
> "cshenk" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Brooklyn1 wrote in rec.food.cooking:
> >
> >>On Sun, 24 May 2015 08:52:54 -0400, Gary > wrote:
> > >
> >>> Julie Bove wrote:
> > > > >
> >>>> "Christopher Helms" wrote:
> >>>> > It's a lot easier to spend a hundred dollars on groceries than
> >>it used to >> > be. I try to stay under thirty dollars per trip and
> >>it seems to require a >> > little more creativity every month.
> > > > >
> >>>> $30 would only buy maybe one meal here.
> > > >
> >>> No way, Julie. I also spend about $30 per week or a little bit
> >>> more. That's just for me though. There's no way you are spending
> >>> $30 per MEAL for your family of 3 that don't like most foods.
> > >
> > > I can get 2-3 days for $30 but that's really scrimping, and my
> > > cats wouldn't eat. I think the people who claim they can eat all
> > > week on $30 don't eat very well, or they're lousy at math, or
> > > they lie. Maybe some people don't include condiments, snacks,
> > > fresh fruit and vegetables, beverages, and they live on $1/lb
> > > tube steak... yes there are $1/lb 'meat' tube steaks in the flyer
> > > this week, one can only imagine. Top round beef (not a pricey
> > > cut) runs minimally $5/lb nowadays, feeding two adults a four
> > > pound roast lasts three days here, plus there are salads, sides,
> > > snacks, beverages, etc. A 4 pound roast barely yields two pounds
> > > of edible meat, I don't consider that a lot for six adult
> > > meals... and that's just dinner, what about food for th erest of
> > > the day? I think those with small grocery bills don't do much
> > > cooking, they eat out and do take out a lot. I know people who
> > > don't even have coffee in their house, not even a coffee pot,
> > > they buy lots of coffee out but don't include that in their
> > > grocery bill, not the donuts either... they can drop $30 a week
> > > at Dunkin Donuts easy, that's $30 per person. I shop often, I've
> > > yet to see anyone with a weeks worth of groceries in their cart
> > > for $30, what do your think a pound of bacon, a dozen eggs, a
> > > loaf of bread, a jar of grape jelly, a jar of peanut butter, a
> > > gallon of milk, and three pounds of apples costs, about $30 and
> > > that's not eating very well. The way many here drool over bacon,
> > > fresh seafood, real maple syrup, premium ice cream, polish
> > > butcher kielbasa, stinkin' lamb, ribeyes and the like no way can
> > > they get by on less than $30 a day. I won't mention how many are
> > > always boasting about their $30+ bottles of wine... I buy Crystal
> > > Palace vodka and diet Coke and still my booze bill runs $20/wk.
> > > Only way people can grocerey shop for $30/wk is they ain't
> > > mentioning their food stamps.
> >
> > Oh Sheldon lay off.
> >
> > Most people who use the roughly 30$ a week rule are buying staples
> > and cooking them for real.
>
> I seriously doubt that. Or they are mostly eating beans and rice.
> The steak I bought was just over $10 and that's a meal for two. I
> also bought two packages of beef jerky. That's more than $30 right
> there! What in the world could a person be eating if they claim to
> pay so little?

REal food. Baked potatoes, steamed squash, home made cole slaw,
chicken soup made from a real chicken in a crock pot, pulled southern
BBQ pork, real bread, the list is endless.


> > The most expensive bread i know how to make is a 7 seed rye with
> > buttermilk. It costs 1.47 for a 2 lb loaf (translation, 14 healthy
> > man sized rolls or 18 more regular ones). Now lets assume the
> > biggr ones your eyes always go for ok? 1.47/3=.49 cents for the
> > whole lot per person. It is 10 cents a roll with 4 rolls each and
> > 2 left over. My regular bread costs 75cents for 5 cents a day of
> > bread each. My cheap bread costs 45cents. Same yield.
>
> Pretty sure I could not make it that cheaply. I just made two pizza
> crusts and that was over $3.00. In terms of flour would be about the
> equivalent to two loaves of bread.

I have no clue what you are doing wrong but it takes 4 cups of flour to
make 2 pizza crusts, the same as to make a 2lb loaf of bread.

A 5lb bag of flour has a nominal 20 cups of flour so if you are simple
enough to use the expensive bread flour at non-sale prices for pizza,
yes, you might waste 3$ in flour. Normally folks get the cheap stuff
for what works out as 37cents for 4 cups for a pizza.

> > Thats just a sample.

And an example of where you didn't use the right flour if you spend 3$
on flour instead of roughly 37cents for 4 cups. You don't need fancy
flour for pizza and in fact, it works better with the cheaper types.


> >
> > Shift your eating and get rid of a lb of bacon a week (what a
> > financial waste that one is) and it's more like 1 egg a day at
> > most. I am sure that offends your soul but some of us have to eat
> > more veggies to keep the cholestrol down so instead are getting
> > carrots, squash, snap beans, daikon, cabbage, and fresh greens.
>
> Who eats a pound of bacon a week?
> >
> > We do indeed spend wisely and fit the 30$ range per person. I hit
> > 100$ a month per person usually and yes, we have steak, shrimp, and
> > other goodies.
>
> Then food must be insanely cheap where you live or you don't eat much
> food at all.

No, it is about 10% lower than some other areas but that is all. The
difference is we actually COOK. From real live basic veggies, fruits,
pastas, rices and meats. WE also spend a portion of the weekend (about
1 hour) every other week or 2 to run the grinder so our ground beef
costs generally 3$lb and the ground pork would run about 1.27lb. This
isnt a huge time effort but something done every 2-3 weeks.


> >
> > The average meal here per person is about 2$ for dinner, 1$ for
> > lunch and change for breakfast.
> >
> > That you can't do it, isnt a reason to abuse those who can and do.
>
> Most of us can't do it because food just costs more where we are.
> And most people don't make their own bread. Many people haven't got
> the time to do it. I do sometimes but it takes me all night to do
> it. I couldn't do that very often if I were working. And no, I
> won't use a bread machine. I had one and hated it.

Well, suit your self on the bread making and how long it took you but
dont abuse those who take 5 minutes out 2-3 times a week to make bread
with a machine. As to food costng more, no. I aint buying that. You
are making poor choices compared in cost to mine. It's NOT that
different. You might run a little higher, but not the higher levels you
list.

Sorry Julie, I am not a Julie basher but you've stepped too far out and
you either really don't understand economically shopping or you are
making this stuff up. While i suspect the former, others will accuse
you of the later.
Carol



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