Simple Dinners on a Budget

cSo now that I'm a student again, we'll be on a serious food budget.

I will *try* not to buy junk food. What, exactly then, is junk food?

To me, I define junk food as any food that is not necessary to sustain a person's dietary needs in a day.

For example, if you go to the food store and you only have $20 to spend on food for your family of 4 for a day would you buy chicken, bread, pretzels, icecream and a juice drink? Probably not. For breakfast, you might buy cereal ($4-$5); lunch might be sliced turkey ($2.5), cheese ($2), loaf of bread ($3); dinner could be chicken ($5), rice ($2) and green beans ($2). That's pretty basic, but for $20 there's no room for "junk food," even if most people wouldn't consider pretzels to be junk food. The truth is, we don't *need* pretzels, or food similar to that, to live off of each day.

So, here are some examples of lunches and dinners I've had the past few nights:
casserole: chicken, can of cream of chicken soup, shredded cheddar cheese, 1/2 cu of sour cream, 16 oz. bag of "california" mixed vegetables and french fried onions (an extra that could've been spared); and pre-made, store brand biscuits.

chicken ceasar sald wraps (soft tortilla shell); two for me, three for husband, one for daughter

a similar casserole: chicken with cream of chicken soup, a little milk, fresh mushrooms, and french fried onions; baked red potatoes (with a slice of butter); rice; and the same biscuits.

turkey hot dogs (7 g fat per dog, 10% saturated fat, 580mg sodium) on a roll (1 g fat per bun, no sat. fat, 230mg sodium per bun, 4g protein) with mustard and ketchup

mac 'n cheese with two chicken dogs cut up in it

we splurged one night and bought dinner for $30 (including a $5 tip) at a hamburger joint: hamburger (beef) with blue cheese and bacon and onion rings (about 12), chicken fingers, and a turkey burger with fries. I removed alot of the melted blue cheese because it was over-kill.

leftover casserole

Breakfasts have been: a cup of Kashi or Smart Start cereal (I measured one cup) with a 1/4 cup of orange juice. Now I know what you're thinking: "A quarter cup of orange juice? Who drinks just a quarter cup?!" I do. Because read my other blog, ."Watered Down Juice." I've gotten used to low-sugar drinks and a quarter cup of OJ is just enough to satisfy my quench for OJ in the morning.
Mid-morning I'll brew a cup of coffee and sip it all day. I bought raw sugar for coffee and tea so I won't be using white sugar any more, yeah! I also drink water throughout the day. I get thirsty alot.

We have chocolate leftover from Christmas, so I've nibbled on that here and there: but just one or two squares at a time