Food Budget - What Are You Eating?

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by Janice

I would like to know what countries you are eating fresh veggies and meat for $3 a day per person. I used to keep a spread sheet of our budget but no longer do. Cook most food from scratch, buy what is the best price on each island. Best we can do is $400 per month for 2 from the Virgin Islands to Grenada.

Jamaica,DR, if you are not afraid to shop in the open air markets...DVC

[bobconnie]

Connie and i have found good fruit and veggies most everywhere we have cruised! Now meat like your used to in the US is not always available!! mostly its leaner, stringier and a bit tough LOL But very useable in stews and soups ect and if ya have a slowcooker it can be made to melt in your mouth!! and a pressure cooker can turn tough beef into some fine kine eatin!! it's off times a little stronger tasting to Americans, because the cattle are grass fed and don't come from a feed lot !! but it's still good if ya try some seasoning!! just our thoughts from our past experince

[zeehag]

hate to be bearer of good tidings---but the meat i foud here in la cruz makes event the meat in san diego look like dog food. this stuff is awesome--almost as good as the beautiful beef we ate in 5 star restaurants in 1960s. i would no t waste a single ounce by mking into a stew--this is burn "onda q" meat, excellent stuff. the mignon filet i buy is deelishus without even salt----and i am a salt on beef kinda soul.

[savoir]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

I do not know the costco / mexico nuances. But if you ever go to Brazil do NOT miss their beef. Man it was delicious. And I am a vegetarian. (Well, most of the time I am.).

b.

It is a wonderful thing to dine in a country where the cows only ever eat that new fangled stuff called grass. YUM ! I agree that it is a little chewier but that is a small price to pay.

Few Westerners get the opportunity.

[callmecrazy]

Originally Posted by savoir

It is a wonderful thing to dine in a country where the cows only ever eat that new fangled stuff called grass. YUM ! I agree that it is a little chewier but that is a small price to pay.

Few Westerners get the opportunity.

I wanted to say something similar. But I figured it would get lost in translation

I used to eat mexican carne (the real stuff) in New Orleans with my mexican friends who had it shipped to them from their buddies in Texas. They went through a lot of trouble to get this meat...

I know that they preferred to spend a lot of time preparing meals and doing everything 'the hard way'. They would always cook the meat as slow as possible... It was absolutely delicious

This same family would buy a live goat, build a smoking box from scrap wood, and slaughter the goat in the back yard (this is the 'suburbs' of NOLA) and cook the thing for 12+ hours.

They really appreciate the preperation and cooking process of the food. Something a few american's might want to understand. It's not 'normal' to just slap a steak on the grill and be done with it in 15 minutes....

And yeah, the whole grass fed thing... Of course it's tougher and tastes different, it doesn't come from a factory farm! And cows aren't supposed to eat corn!

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by savoir

It is a wonderful thing to dine in a country where the cows only ever eat that new fangled stuff called grass. YUM ! I agree that it is a little chewier but that is a small price to pay.

Few Westerners get the opportunity.

the stuff here is tender--havent needed any knives to cut, and has excellent flavor--like the REAL beef we had in 1960s, before re-grading of beef happened(USA) in 1973.

[savoir]

Grass fed beef is fine for steak, you just can't cut it too thick. I guess the max would be 1" for a grass fed sirloin. There is no need to limit yourself to slow cooking. On the other hand a 1" thick topside would be hard going.

[Astrid]

I don't eat a whole lot of beef, preferring chicken or pork or elk and venison, but when I do eat beef, I prefer range fed over stockyard fed. Truth be said, I don't eat a whole lot of meat to start with.

[callmecrazy]

So basically, about $3.50 a lbs for the same meat you would get if you walked onto an organic/non-commercial farm in the US payed about $10 a lbs...

Back in OH, we used to get beef from a small farm. It was some 'special' type of cow that had something to do with producing better meat, but was a smaller cow (therefore ate less, etc... ) making it overall more 'green'.... anyway. This was some high quality sh*t..... It was a very small farm though, no store and the 'store was managed entirely on 'good faith'...You put your money in a jar (no body at the 'store') and go over to the freezer and pick what you want...or pre-order it fresh. Anything from 1lbs to a whole cow.

Anyway, I think that stuff was around $10 a lbs. Probably not much different than what the 'poor' people eat in Mexico

[savoir]

When I lived in Vanuatu I paid $12/kilo for the best cuts. Lean hamburger was $9/kilo.

One day I asked for lean hamburger but the butcher was out of it. The young native girl behind the counter reached over and grabbed some $12 steak, put it through the the mincer and sold it to me for $9.

Cool !

[callmecrazy]

Originally Posted by savoir

When I lived in Vanuatu I paid $12/kilo for the best cuts. Lean hamburger was $9/kilo.

One day I asked for lean hamburger but the butcher was out of it. The young native girl behind the counter reached over and grabbed some $12 steak, put it through the the mincer and sold it to me for $9.

Cool !

I hope you invited her to dinner

[Tbrad]

Originally Posted by callmecrazy

On my usual weekly grocery trips I spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $40. Always a few fresh veggies, usually lettuce and tomatoes, something green. Whatever is fresh and possibly local, like green beans, brussel sprouts, asparagus, etc.. 2 green peppers, a few very small onions or challots, and maybe a sweet potato or two. And I'll get enough fruit to have one or two pieces a day for the week. Usually just banana's and a few apples, or whatever is fresh and local that week. And I always get 3 avacados. And usually some type of tortilla chips for snacking. That's generally less than $20 And provides all the veggies I need for the week.
I usually buy bread, eggs, and cheese. But, often a dozen eggs lasts me more than 1 week. Lately I get the deli's wheat french bread for $1.79 And I'll often get a few 2 liters of generic soda.

Then I buy whatever is needed for my non-weekly stuff. Things like paper towels, soaps, Coffee (my local store has a great deal on 2lbs fair trade coffee from south america for $10). 2lbs of coffee beans usually lasts me more than 2 months just drinking 16oz every morning. Sugar lasts several weeks/months and I usually stock up on it, I get the raw or organic cane sugars...oatmeal, flour, jams, some kind of hot peppers, peanuts, spices, soy sauce, etc... I'm usually well stocked up on this stuff so I'm never buying it all at one time.

Then If I haven't gone over the budget yet, I'll get a few canned goods mainly to keep stocked up things. I try to keep a 1-3 months worth of canned/dry goods on board and rotate them out as I use them.

To stock up on things I use the 'use one, buy two' method... That way I'm only buying a few things each week, yet I stay stocked up. Stuff like brown rice and lentils lasts for many months and are only a few dollars. I tend to have much more than I'll ever need.

That covers my $200 a month budget, but I'm not a vegetarian, so I do buy meats occasionally. I just don't include them in my weekly shopping trip. I'll buy whatever I feel like eating that day. (usually only 2 or 3 times a week), I'll stop and spend about $5-7 on meats that will last 1-2 days. Sometimes I'll get a half-gallon of milk.

A typical day of eating for me is pretty simple. A 16oz cup of coffee (or sometimes tea), and small bowl of oatmeal with raisins and sugar, almost every morning... a banana for a mid-morning snack. A few handfulls of peanuts and an apple for lunch. Then a nice dinner of meats and veggies in some fashion. Yesterday I grilled a $5 ribeye and sauteed some fresh green beans, carrots, and challots... Tonight, since I won't stop and buy meat again, I'll probably have something like an egg/cheese sandwich, or maybe some rice and veggies stir-fry. On the days I don't stop to buy meat (like today) dinner is completely random and usually turns out to be some of the best meals. This is when it's time to get creative and come up with something new, or perfect an old recipe, etc...I'll usually use a combination of canned goods, dried, and fresh produce to come up with something really good. It's usually some type of stew, soup, or stir-fry. Or if I don't feel like cooking, I'll just make some tuna salad and have a sandwich.

I grow sprouts quite often, but not every week. Have yet to go through the 2lbs of mung beans and 1lb of alfalfa that bought more than 6 months ago..

Thats it'. Less than $300 a month, usually closer to $200... I Stay stocked up, eat very healthy and simple. Not beans and rice everyday, but I do eat them often.


I keep my 'entertainment' budget separate from my food budget. So alcohol, and the occasional over spending on dinner falls into this category. Why? Because if I need to save a few extra pennies that month, I know where to cut back and I don't have to scrimp at the grocery.

What?? No cookies? No cake? No Pie??

[callmecrazy]

Originally Posted by Tbrad

What?? No cookies? No cake? No Pie??

No.

On a rare occasion I'll get a pound of ginger snaps... But usually if I want something sweet I'll have a PB&J or just drink a soda. I do buy chocolate, but vary rarely.

Sometimes I make pancakes, if that counts... My coffee and oatmeal are very sweet and mostly satisfy any little sweettooth I might have.

[Tbrad]

Pancakes in the morning and I'm good til dinnertime. Otherwise it's cereal and then some kinda soup or pb and j for lunch. I like potroast or salisbury steak for dinner. Canned spam works for breakfast instead of bacon. Apples and bananas or grapes for the fruit side. I gotta have a healthy supply of Oreos and whatever cake or pie that strikes me fancy. Little or no alcohol. Coffee tea and orange juice or V-8.

[callmecrazy]

Originally Posted by Tbrad

Pancakes in the morning and I'm good til dinnertime. Otherwise it's cereal and then some kinda soup or pb and j for lunch. I like potroast or salisbury steak for dinner. Canned spam works for breakfast instead of bacon. Apples and bananas or grapes for the fruit side. I gotta have a healthy supply of Oreos and whatever cake or pie that strikes me fancy. Little or no alcohol. Coffee tea and orange juice or V-8.

It's my opinion that Alcohol is much more rewarding than cookies/cakes/pies
And probably the same amount of suger/carbs....