5 Foods to Stretch Your Food Budget (2024)

Before I get into the details, let me give you a couple real-life examples.

My Great-Aunt Virginia told me once when the girls were little, “I always knew we were waiting on payday if we had popcorn more than one night in a row.” To which I sweetly replied, “Aunt Virginia, you just made my day, because we’ve always been blessed to have something to go with our popcorn for dinner, and now I don’t feel so bad about it.”

Another example, when work hours vary. Once quite recently, we had two slim paydays in a row, and the usual amount of bills. By employing the 5 P’s, I was able to feed our family of 4 for half of our normal weekly grocery budget, because they helped stretch what we already had. We also have weird schedules, especially in the summer, and the 5 P’s make it easy to leave leftovers for whomever is late getting home for supper.

So are you ready? Here are our 5 P’s of Grocery Savings: Potatoes, Pasta, Pizza, Pancakes, and Popcorn. In the world of super-low-carb dieting these are not popular nowadays . . . but rest assured, I’ve done some research, and none of these by itself is going to do you in. So let’s talk about the finer points of how these 5 P’s can fill you up, keep you healthy, and stretch your food budget.

Potatoes:These are one of our favorite things to stretch a meal…especially if you are running short on meat. We use potatoes for standbys like hash browns, and mashed potatoes, but our two favorite ways are cooked up in the cast-iron dutch oven with some vegetables and a little leftover meat. In one variety of our dish (which we nicknamed goulash, even though it’s not,) I cube up 2 pounds of baby red potatoes, cook them most of the way with a little butter, and then add a third to a half pound of leftover ground beef, and a bag of Kroger’s frozen “Three pepper and Onion Mix.” Everyone just adds their favorite cheese or herbs when they scoop it out into their bowl. In the other version, I start with the potatoes, then add a half pound of chopped up leftover chicken, and about a pound of green beans. This version is delicious topped with barbecue sauce!

Pasta:This one is Arlene’s specialty. For several years now we have had the one-pot, one-bag philosophy to easy dinners. Someone (usually Arlene) boils up a one pound bag or box of pasta (which we buy for $1) and then everyone picks their own topping. Spaghetti sauce, alfredo, cheddar, butter & herbs, etc. You can use part of a jar of sauce, then date it and put it in the fridge for the next time…as long as it’s not too far off! Of course, we often have spaghetti with ground beef in the sauce, but pasta come in so many shapes, why limit yourselves?

Pizza: Yes, this is my second favorite food . . . right after pumpkin pie! Back in high school my friends were surprised when I told them I ate leftover pizza whenever I was hungry, even at breakfast. Now that the girls are growing up, if I want leftovers, I need to make 2 pizzas, but this is still a huge money-saver in our house. Here’s how: first, buy the shredded mozzarella cheese on sale, and then freeze the extra until you’re ready to use it. Each of our pizzas use about 8 ounces of cheese, so to make 2 pizzas, I need a pound, or about 4 cups. Since I can frequently stock up when it’s on sale at $4 or less a pound, I can make a pizza for about $3, or two for $6. Secondly, make your own crust. It’s super easy! Here’s what you need for ONE pizza, if you’re like us and make 2, just double it! Pizza crust recipe: 3/4 cup warm water (not scalding, just really warm,) 1/2 tsp. rapid rise yeast, 2 cups flour. Really, that’s it! Mix it up in a medium bowl, knead it a little with the back of your mixing spoon, spray the outside of the dough ball (we use olive oil) and let it rise, covered with a kitchen towel, for about 45 minutes. Then spread, top, and bake @ 425 degrees for about 12-15 minutes. The third tip in saving money on pizza…stop buying pizza sauce! Just use a few tablespoons worth out of that jar of spaghetti sauce you only used part of last week. If you want to fancy it up, sprinkle a little crushed, dried oregano & parsley on it before you add your other toppings.

Pancakes: This is Daddy’s dish to make, even though any of us CAN make it, Kurt enjoys the making process the most, so we let him! Out of syrup? Use apple butter, or strawberry jam. If you add in a tsp. of cinnamon, these make great midday snacks! Our simple recipe, adapted from the Betty Crocker cookbook: 1 egg, 1 cup flour, 3/4 cup milk, 1 Tbsp sugar, 2 Tbsp oil, 3 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt…optional 1 tsp cinnamon. Note: we usually make a double batch, like I said, they make good snacks! (If you make a double batch, you’ll only want to put in 5 tsp of baking powder, and you might need a little more milk.)

Popcorn:Invest in a good air-popper! We like the ones from Presto. In 19+ years of marriage, we are only on our third one. Target and Kohl’s both usually carry them…and someone is bound to have a sale soon-lol. We buy the organic bagged popcorn kernels from our local Trader Joe’s store. We used to buy the 25# bags from a food co-op, but the co-op became inconvenient, and we are at TJ’s frequently enough to always have some on hand. We use ‘spray-butter’ and sea salt to season ours most of the time…with an occasional batch with parmesan cheese.