Who cooks and grocery shops? I need help

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Where are the meal preppers and grocery shoppers?
I need guidance and advice in a bad way.

(Lunch, breakfast, dinner, AND snack ideas)
There is me, my so, and a 2 year old. We have a budget of 700 dollars a month.
Here’s the kicker one of us parents is a super picky eater and has never grown up with family made meals on a regular basis and things spaghetti and bean burritos are a daily thing. Also they despise the idea of meat and wont eat steak, chicken, etc if it is just a hunk of meat.
The other parent was raised around southern cooks and casserole and the whole shebang but was never really taught any recipes and although they are a great cook they cannot come up with things to eat, just can cook the hell out of anything.
The little one will eat just about anything to be honest.

I need more than chicken and rice casseroles. Or shredded beef quesadillas. Or broccoli and cheese weird lasagna soups.
I need main course, 2-3 sides, and lunches and breakfast. I need it all!!!

That said we also are going to be in a studio apartment for a while and we will only have a single or double skillet burner. a crock pot, air fryer, microwave, and i could use an oven during the day but im not sure about access to it everyday or even at dinner time specifically.

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When I first started cooking I would look at what was cheap / on sale / in season and then Google around that. Try some recipes that fit what you have and look easy and make a note of what works. Now I can see one cheap veggie and think of a couple of dishes that would fit it.
I like dishes with lots of nutrition, like coleslaw with added tuna can or ham, veggie soups with egg or tofu in, etc, that I can make a big batch of to last a few days.

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I sympathise. It’s not easy when there are so many moving parts to putting food on the table every day. You could start by tweaking meals which you know will be eaten with no fuss, to make them more nutritious or varied. If it’s spaghetti, try starting the sauce with finely chopped onion, green pepper and grated carrot; then simmer tomatoes or passata as usual. The sauce will taste very similar but will have the added veggies. If it’s a casserole, try adding cooked beans. Make salads with new vegetables (adding one at a time so picky eater knows what’s new and can give an opinion). Sandwiches can be made healthy, with whole breads, hummus, some protein like tuna or egg, lettuce and tomato… Most fish can be pan-fried and turns out tasty. Steamed broccoli, carrots or sweet potatoes are quick to make and you can dress them with a simple vinaigrette.

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what you could do is make a list of foods to buy for each meal like:

breakfast:
-cereal
-toast
-eggs

lunch
-sandwiches
-chips
-fruit

dinner
-hamburger helper
-frozen pizza (idk)
-salad

then just purchase the items you need to make each entree.

just through trial and error we got good at buying what we like and only as much as needed so we weren’t wasting throwing food away.

it’s better if you figure out what works best for you and your household

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Cooking and grocery shopping, my 2 favorite things.

I cook most of the meals for my family (4).

For breakfast, I have oatmeal, with banana and honey every day. I will also make eggs, hashbrowns, veggie sausage and toast for wife and kids.

For lunch, I premake my meals a week at a time: chicken, brown rice, veggie (cauliflower, broccoli or brussel sprouts). I add a little Japanese BBQ on the rice and chicken to add flavor, and a little furicake on the rice.

Dinner: I try to buy things that can be used across multiple meals. For example:

Spaghetti: I use a jar of prego, a can of diced tomatoes and a can of tomato sauce. Some frozen meat balls. Add in sautéed diced onion, green, red and yellow bell pepper, and mushrooms. This will make enough sauce for at least 3 days.

But only use half of the veggies, save the other half for chicken fajitas.

Use the left over spaghetti sauce and make a pasta bake with pene pasta or rotini. Throw some mozzarella on top to change it up a bit.

I use a lot of chicken. Wife doesn’t like to eat meat, especially when its a big chunk or on the bone, so when I cook it, I first split the breast into 2 (the long way), then pound them until they are the same thickness (about 1/2 inch). Season with salt, pepper and/or a rub seasoning. Then put on cookie sheet and bake for 18-19 minutes at 400°. They should be around 270° and will be fully cooked while remaining juicy and tender. After they cool down a bit, I slice into strips and store in the fridge, ready for use.

Other meals I use the chicken in would be pesto pasta: (Rotini or farfalle pasta), pesto, sun dried tomatoes, asparagus, chicken, parmesan cheese. Its quick, easy, tastey and makes enough for several meals.

I could go on, but gotta get ready for work.

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What’s the families like favorite kind of foods?? Like Italian, Mexican.. then I can list off a bunch for anything that I personally do :slight_smile:

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Check out samsung food. Its free but with adds. You can find new recipes with filters of all your requests, it gives directions, shopping lists, and nutrition. You can easily schedule meals for the week and add the ingredients to a shopping list. Its been a gamechanger for me.

When in double crockpot meals!!

Screenshot_20250730_112012_Google Play Store
Screenshot_20250730_112012_Google Play Store1056×418 68.1 KB

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Not sure where you’re located but if you are in the U.S., I highly recommend Aldi’s (or whatever is similar in your area). When I have unexpected expenses and need to crunch my dollars, I go there and spend half of what I normally do at my local Kroger chain. Aldi’s has high quality, seasonal, and some ethnic food products too. They also have premarinated or prepackaged meats/fish/meals that you can whip up quickly for those days where you just need a break.

I can’t give you cooking advice unfortunately because it’s only me and I don’t have to think about cooking for anyone else. :sweat_smile:

Good luck! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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I loooove cooking and trying out new things. But I also know it can be stressful if you run out of ideas, money or time.

If you can afford it, try out a meal kit delivery service like Hello Fresh or Gousto. Make use of introductory offers or vouchers. Choose recipes with good reviews that you don’t know how to make. Try out a variety of new things this way. You will be able to recreate what worked for you after cancelling the subscription. You get to keep the recipe cards.

Watch cookery programmes on telly to get inspiration. I love the Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond. She makes a lot of family favourites and I learnt quite a few US staples from her.

Jamie Oliver is a great watch, too. Especially the 30 and 15 minute meals. Watch the food channel and see what celebrity chef speaks to you and just go from there.

I live in the UK and every month I pick up the free magazine from Tesco supermarket. They have 5 meals for £25 section.

https://realfood.tesco.com/5-easy-family-dinners-for-25.html

My top tip: always keep pizza in the freezer, in case your experimental cooking turns out to be inedible… it happens to the best of us.
:squid:

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Mark Bittman has frequently written about how it’s possible to eat cheaply and healthy at the same time.
One premise as far as fresh vegetables go is to get things when they are in season.
Something else that is not in this article which is basically three types of meals, is to use frozen vegetables and frozen fruits when you can.
Grocery list.
Breakfast foods.
Oatmeal and fruit. Nuts if possible.
Lunch. Wraps or breads and avocados, hummus, peanut butter, cheese, beans.
Dinner and for any time all day. Rice, beans, quinoas, etc, vegetables, potatoes, salads, fruits.
Since you have a household with different tastes, maybe everybody needs to write their favorites on a piece of paper, columns for each person, and see where y’all match up the best.
Cooking and preparing meals does not need to be complicated. You do not need a lot of equipment or appliances.
A stove top and a microwave are great.

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Tzatziki dip is so good on nan bread, pita and all veggies. Sounds like your into that kinda stuff.