The macaroni dish was the last straw. By the time the cashier finished ringing up all the ingredients the bill totalled $67.22. For a dish that wasn’t even the main course. My girlfriend and I are going on a diet. Not to lose weight, but to save money. Instead of the usual $300-plus a week we spend we’re limiting our budget to $50 for the two of us for the entire week. We both love food too much to subsist on a diet of instant noodles, however, so I’ll turn to some of the country’s best chefs for their favourite budget recipes.
Here are the ground rules. Pantry staples, flour, butter, oil, are fair game. Breakfasts will consist of oatmeal ($0.99/lb.) or toast with honey. Lunch will be leftovers from the day before or canned tuna ($0.99) sandwiches. I’ll focus my energy on making healthy, delicious and affordable dinners.
Day 1: Poached Eggs with Salsa Verde and Cayenne Hash Browns. “The key is being a good shopper,” chef Andrew Milne Allen of Zucca restaurant in Toronto tells me when I ask for his tips on getting through the week. “Waste is your biggest enemy. I’d start by seeing what’s in your pantry.” Taking his advice I dug up a few potatoes from the back of the cupboard. Those will become hash browns. There are four eggs that I’ll poach and I can make a sauce by blending up the cilantro and parsley in the crisper with some oil and water. Grocery Bill: $1.98 (one pound of oatmeal and a can of tuna for future use).
Day 2: Crispy Skin Sardines with Arugula and Tomato Fondue. Chef Jason Shubert of Only on King, in London, Ont., suggested this one. He advised me to “get some sardines, they’re $4 a bag. Reduce a can of tomatoes ($1.27) down with olive oil and chopped capers ($2.99). Toast some bread ($2.49) and rub it with garlic.” Cleaning the sardines was a nasty job, but they were excellent, subtle and delicious after being pan-fried skin side down until crispy. Grocery Bill: $10.75
Day 3: Navy Beans with Collards and Chorizo. Went to the market to stock up on a few things including a couple of apples for tomorrow’s oatmeal and a bottle of Argentinian wine ($7.45) that we’ll try to stretch over two days. I’m going to cook up a batch of navy beans and get some chickpeas soaking for tomorrow. The legumes cost less than a dollar a pound and one pound makes the equivalent of three cans. The ingredients in the market inspired this dinner. I cooked off some collard greens ($1.79) with onion and garlic and chorizo sausage ($2.48) and mixed the beans in at the last minute. It worked out really well and I look forward to making it again. I’ve seen dishes like this in restaurants sell for close to $20. Grocery Bill: $14.39.
Day 4: Marrow on Toast. Root Vegetable and Chickpea Salad. Nico Schuerman of Chambar restaurant in Vancouver came up with something I never would have thought of. “Cut up some root vegetables and roast them in the oven with a bunch of marrow bones,” he said. “You can eat the roasted vegetables as dinner and tomorrow simmer the bones and leftover veg into a hearty soup.”
How cheap are marrow bones? When my girlfriend went to the butcher to get the marrow bones he just gave them to her! The smell of those free bones roasting alongside all those vegetables was too much to handle. We mixed the roasted vegetables with the chickpeas into a hot salad and ate the marrow straight out of the bone on toast with salt. It was incredible. We’ve got piles of root vegetables left over, too. Grocery Bill: $7.47
Day 5: The Kindness of Others. There’s still plenty of soup left, but I froze it as we scored an invitation to a friend’s birthday dinner. We brought the leftover root vegetable and chickpea salad to share and some flowers in lieu of wine.
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OMG $300/week? It was time for a reality check! Most of us need one.
Now if we could only convince every Tom-Dick-and-Harry earning minimum wage that they are NOT entitled to a 3000 sqft house with the latest SUV’s in the driveway and a large flatscreen TV.
I can definately relate to some of the comments here…..but dont knock some of the other ideas because they are not what you expect. It really does pay to be creative and try new things, including seal meat from a friend if you can get it! As for the comment made by c vail….you can bet your last buck that if he/she had the choice between freshly cooked veggies and marrow bones as opposed to surfing a dumpster they would be happy enough to have a suck on that bone! 300 bucks a week shows no regard for your money, I suspect this must include eating out or order in. Lots of extras here that can be shaved off the budget, obviously not concerned with economical meals.
Ah, how I would love to spend 50/week on groceries.
I’m lucky if I spend less than 30/day for ONE PERSON in Nunavut.
But when 4L of milk costs $14, what are you going to do. Really?
http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2008/11/contest-how-much-did-that-cost-at-the-northern/
i thought you could always go hunt some seals and polar bears :)
I assume that was just a poor attempt at humour, as your comment comes acrooss EXTREMELY inappropriate?? Maybe you should just stick to comments about the subject of discussion… just a thought.
Good one!
WOW! $14 for 4 litres. I thought $4 in Alberta was expensive. How do you do it up North?
Frankly, it’s not easy.
There is a foodmail program available… where you order groceries from a select store in Winnipeg who will ship them up once a week … and the shipping is subsidized (though still pricey at times… last time I bought 300 dollars worth of groceries and the shipping was 80 of that). Though planes have been canceled (mechanical) already twice this week, which means the order I made last Friday is already 2 days late. Mmmm… rotten veggies.
But not all food is covered… only nutritional food (which seems subjective. You can order frozen pizza but not cranberry juice). And buying a week’s worth of groceries for one person one week at a time is tricky.
Often you just end up at the Northern buying 10 lbs of potatoes for 20 bucks because you forgot. And that adds up too.
Give me a break…sardines?…marrow?…..i would rather surf thru a dumpster!
What NORMAL person eats that crap?
$300 is just plain ludicrous.
I personally don’t have time in the morning to blend cilantro and parsley, let alone cook a full hot breakfast. Muffin and a banana as I walk out the door.
Give me some real tips, something I don’t already know….what a waste of time…
I can’t believe the number of people who think that this challenge is absurd. I do agree that some of their food choices are strange, but I do agree with the concept. I’m sure many of us are fortunate to have a job today but who knows if we’ll have one next month. What will we eat then? Maybe then, we will reconsider taking that extra 30 minutes in the morning to make a cheap breakfast.
Me and two friends in Edmonton have challenged our selves to eat on $80 for the month of February and follow the Canada Food Guide. Google “The Working Poor Diet” to read our daily posts.
How did that go? Did you manage to stay within your budget?
yeah I think I can actually challenge you people and make other receipes for meals at lesser than 50 nux as well as enough to feel a whole family. For starters I can try to learn to make flour tortillas with beans made from scratch( not from the can) as well as rice and maybe buy a whole bag of chicken from sams or walmart. Walmart usually has some good sales though. The chickpea stew sounds promising though.
$300??? I don’t even spend $100 a MONTH on food!!! I think I spend maybe $75 for the month, its called dollar-days at No Fills!!!
I think that the $300.00 a month food tab probably includes a wine and alcohol. We are a family of 4 and don’t spend $300.00 on food per month. We do the dry legumes though. They are healthier and it makes several meals for a $1.00
Miranda…they spent $300 A WEEK, not a month!
Even more preposterous…
There is no WAY that this couple will eat like this every week. The food is way too obscure! And it’s obvious there are no children in the picture… Yes we can cut back: buy meat that’s been reduced and freeze it, shop at No Frills dollar days and stock up, use coupons, watch the flyers for the best bargains, trade in your AirMiles for gift certificates (we did!). It can be done.
Getting my 4 year old to eat sardines is rediculous! I agree with brew 333, give us some recipes that normal people with children can use!!
Tomatoe fondue, give me a break!!
If you cook up a big pot of oatmeal you can dine on it for days. Just refridgerate it.
$300 a week.? I feed 4 people for a month on that.And… much of it is certified organic.
wow 300 per week! I spend 80 for 3 of us and I still think we can cut corners
He did not specifically say $300 a week on groceries. Could be going out to eat a lot.
I think it comes down to buying food as close to it’s natural state as possible, and learning to enjoy cheaper cuts of meat/veg (you can get a pack of chicken drumsticks for less than $2.50 – just use some shake and bake, roast nice and hot, and it tastes great!) – or roast a whole chicken, throw in some carrots and sweet potatoes…and I have to believe that whole food is better for you than anything processed.
Yes I agree with you J. However as I discovered on the Working Poor Diet that were are doing in Edmonton (Google it), I often felt that the cheaper cuts of meat were a waste of money. Too fatty and not satisfying. Superstore in Alberta, I think its called Loblaws in Ontario, often has meat at 50% off if you go first think in the morning. I bought ground beef and a utility chicken and managed to get by very well for the entire month. 24 hours to go until we are finished.
It’s very inspiring. For myself, I always grocery shop when I’m hungry, and wind up with stuff I just don’t need. I’d love to save on food.
Fasting is always an option too… :)
Personally I think that most of the recipes sound good (except maybe the marrow!), and the reason they sound so strange is that they are coming from professional chefs. If you’ve ever watched any Food Network shows you’ll notice that they can be pretty creative a lot of the time (for example Iron Chef), and I think this couple probably ate unique things on a regular basis. I would be willing to make a few of these things, though granted my kids would not eat them!! We found the best way to save money on groceries was to go semi-vegetarian, basically no beef or pork, just chicken twice a week and the occasional seafood. A box of frozen chicken breasts is about $30 and that will last the whole month for the 5 of us. $10 worth of fish will last 2 months. Our favourite cheap meal is black beans and rice, and it’s super easy to make too. This couple was just trying to show you that you can be creative and thrifty, there’s no need to jump down their throats like so many of you have.
How do we get the recipes?
i was a full time student and worked part time. Here's a tip, rice, dried beans, and lentils cost next to nothing when you figure out the cost per meal. Add fresh fruits, veges, eggs, and the occasional fresh meat and $50 a week can be done. Oatmeal is cheap and easy, but like someone else commented there is nothing difficult about making crepes, biscuits, or pancakes from scratch. Stick to the basics and learn to cook, its amazing how much you save when you buy nothing that comes in a box or can, is processed, or junk. You'll be much healthier for it also.