Cheap groceries- Angel Food Ministries

[N. A. Corbier]

Investigative Cats are Investigating.

Not bad for 25 bucks.

[EMTGuard]

Investigative Cats are Investigating.

Not bad for 25 bucks.

They raised the price. It was $30 dollars. Still a good bargain considering the amount of beef and other meat they are including now.

[CAP]

OK, first off, I'm not trying to spam the board.
Second, while the link I'm posting in this thread is to a religious group I am in no way endorsing that church or trying to evangalize to anyone on this list. As a very vocal Atheist I'm the last one who would normally bring up using the services of many church based aid programs.
Heck, I'm the guy who wears a Atheist cap out and about.
See?

Just took that here at my desk.
So if there's any problem with this thread I am perfectly fine with the moderators moving or removing it. I posted it in the General Discussions for greatest coverage.

ANYWAY....
The point is that we have had discussions here about how hard it is making ends meet while employeed as Security Officers. Many of us are barely scratching by. We look for ways to save money on the the things we buy.
Recently I read a newspaper article about a local church which had become part of the Angel Food http://www.angelfoodministries.com/default.asp network which is available in about 32 US States. It's not free. The deal is that it's like a bulk buy program. Local churches take orders for "menus" that are sent out each month and the orders are filled in Georga and shipped to the local churches to be distributed. Similar to the FDA commodities food program but without the requirements to be below the poverty line. Instead, you buy pay for the groceries, usually about $25 average. Because of the bulk buy they use you receive about $50+ of stuff.
A typical menu may look like this-
(4) 5 oz. Ribeye Steaks
(1) 3 lbs. Breaded Frying Chicken
(1) 2 lbs. Salisbury Steak Entree w/ Gravy
(1) 24.5 oz. Supreme Pizza
(1) 2 lb. Chicken Chunks
(1) 24 oz. Pork Roast
(1) 16 oz. Chicken Breast Fajitas
(1) 12 ct. Corn Tortilla
(1) 15 oz. Pork & Beans
(1) 16 oz. Fresh Carrots
(1) 24 oz. Homestyle Hashbrowns
(1) 16 oz. Corn
(1) 16 oz. Bean Soup Mix
(1) 5.5 oz. Pancake Mix
(1) 7.5 oz. Mac & Cheese
(1) 7 oz. Lasagna Dinner
(1) Dessert Item

That's about $25. You can preorder as menu menus as you want for $25 each. You can also spend about $18 each on Special Menus which are offered each month. Here's what was offered this month for us....
** One or more specials available only with the purchase of a regular unit. **
OCTOBER SPECIAL #1
Meat Combo Box - $18.00
(4 8-oz. T-Bones, 2 lb. Ribeye Roast)
OCTOBER SPECIAL #2
Strip Steak Special - $18.00
(4 8-oz. K.C. Strip Steaks, 4 8-oz. New York Strip Steaks)
OCTOBER SPECIAL #3
Family Convenience Meal Special from Golden Cuisine - $18.00
(Five Delicious Individual Dinner Entrees with 2 sides per meal: Cheese Manicotti, Macaroni & Beef, Beef Pattie & Gravy, Chicken & Noodle, Chicken Breast & Mushroom Sauce, Includes five breads, five milks, ten margarine cups, and five desserts.)
In a couple of weeks the orders arrive at the church, you show up with a big cardboard box and they send you home with your order.
You don't have to be in a specific economic range. As long as you have the money you can buy in. They even accept Food Stamps. If a godless hethen like me can take part, anyone can.

So, I drove out to the nearest church in the program last week and put in my order for one box. I'll get off work in a couple of Saturdays and stop by on my way home and pick up my order. I picked up a couple of fliers while at the church and passed on the info to my fellow Security officers. At least one of the Scale Operators we work with ordered a box also.
To learn more about the progam check out their website at http://www.angelfoodministries.com/default.asp .
There you will find tabs to click to find out if the program is available near you.
I hope this has been informative and useful to some here on the board.

Steve

I hope you didn't wear that hat to the church!

[EMTGuard]

Nope. It stayed home.

[NRM_Oz]

EMT that is not a good, mate. It is a good point to build your groceries from and with the cost of living, petrol (gas) and other expenses, $$$ has to come from somewhere so if you can save somewhere to balance the books, even better. We have hundreds of community clubs ranging from lawn bowls and football clubs, to exservices, community, national, and workers clubs. They are not for profit subsidised by the thousands lost in poker (slot) machines but a cheap place to eat and drink with good quality meals. Often to get you into the club, they have meat raffles where you purchase tickets and they draw the numbers out giving out prizes. Some times you can get a $20.00 fruit / veg pack to meat boxes, laundry stuff and monster deals of almost a cow. With cost of living it helps make your wages stretch a bit more.

[EMTGuard]

Another month has passed and I just picked up my latest box of stuff from Angel Food.

1.25 lb.
Sirloin Strip Steaks (4 x 5 oz)
2 lb.
Salisbury Steak Dinner Entrée
2 lb.
Split Chicken Breasts
2 lb.
Breaded Chicken Breast Fillet
1.5 lb.
Meaty Beef Ribs
1.5 lb.
Pork Chops (4 x 6 oz.)
12 oz.
Philly Steak Portions
12 oz.
Peanut Butter
4 oz.
Chicken Noodle Soup (makes 64 oz.)
9 oz.
Frosted Corn Flakes
16 oz.
Frozen Fresh Corn
16 oz.
Frozen Fresh Carrots
2 lb.
Fresh Onions
2 lb.
Fresh Potatoes
15 oz.
Sliced Pears
1 lb.
Black Eyed Peas

Dessert Item

What's in the big brown box?
Well, I also got a Chicken Meat Special-

10 lb. Chicken Combo Box - $18.00
(2 lb. Breaded Frying Chicken, 2 lb. Chicken Tenders, 2 lb. Chicken Wings, 2 lb. Grilled Individually Quick Frozen Chicken Breasts, 2 lb. Chicken Breast Chunks)

Once I got the box open this is what I had-

$30 for the regular menu and $18 for the Special.

[EMTGuard]

March 29, 2008 food box

I got off work this morning at 6am and by 7 I was parked in the church parking lot putting my seat back for a nap before getting in line to pickup my menu this month.
This months box consisted of-

1.5 lb. Top Sirloin Roast
2 lb. IQF Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1.5 lb. Boneless Pork Fillet
2 lb. Breaded Chicken Breast Strips
1.5 lb. Boxed Lean Beef Patties
4 lb. IQF Chicken Leg Quarters
16 oz. All Meat Bologna
16 oz. Ground Turkey
24 oz. Steak-Cut French Fries

16 oz. Frozen Mixed Vegetables
16 oz. Frozen Green Beans
10 ct. Waffles
32 oz. Borden Shelf-Stable Milk
16 oz. Blue Bonnet Margarine
15 oz. Pork and Beans
15 oz. Marie Callender’s Soup
7.5 oz. Macaroni and Cheese
1 Dessert Item

The Dessert Item was a Chocolate Pie. Yum.
Keeping with the tradition of this thread I took a photo-

Additionally we bought a Meat Special.

MARCH SPECIAL #3
10 lb. Chicken Tenders Box - $18.00
(10 lb. Breaded Chicken Breast Tenders)

As you can see, before putting the chicken away we performed a Cat Scan. The Cat approved so into the freezer the chicken went.

[NRM_Oz]

With 2 retailers having 80% of the grocery business in my state, it has caused a major ruckus with our National Competition group comparing costs of groceries in the USA and in Australia. Biggest shock was aussie beef imported from Australia and being sold at 1/3 the cost of what we would pay for it here in the shops. Most items were 1/2 the cost of items in Australia.

A few places are buying in massive bulk from the farmers and opening up their own low cost non profit grocery places to give the battlers some stability in their cost of living and making their dollars go further. Stupidly, most of this food would be landfill or plowed back into the ground by the farmers as the big suppliers would refuse to take these items as say the banana's were 1/2" smaller than would suit their quality control.

When are we going to see your recipes EMT with your monthly checklist of ingredients ?

[N. A. Corbier]

Probably grabbing AngelFood next month, which for our region (including EMT's) will be Faijta night and pasta night.

Its not a bad price.

[EMTGuard]

When are we going to see your recipes EMT with your monthly checklist of ingredients ?

I don't really have any recipes to speak of. I eat a pretty boring diet. The bologna is going on bread with mayo and mustard. The beef patties are going on buns with mayo mustard lettuce, etc. I don't eat chicken so my better half, Tena, has chicken most nights while I'm at work. I mostly catch ground beef when it's on sale and do Sloppy Joes like I had last night. You've seen me fixing them in my Cooking at Work thread. Then I put hamburger in Hamburger Helper. I do hot dogs or Delgorno Pizza some nights.

[ronnieb]

[QUOTE=N. A. Corbier;42348]
Also, WTF is wrong with Bread these days? Why is bread up to 3 dollars a loaf? This isn't fancy nuclear derived artesian bread (which any of us could make ourselves), this is freaking white bread!

Go find a bread outlet. QUOTE]


I am fortunate enough to have a bread outlet 2 minutes away from me. I haven't paid top dollar for the cheapest food source for mankind for awhile now.
I also have two half decent produce stands within ten minutes of me that have prices at 1/2 what the grocery store charges.

I fervently endorse getting a Foodsaver. I buy things like meat and cheese in bulk and vacume pack it. For steaks you freeze it first and then seal it up (so the juices don't corrupt the seal). I just had steaks I sealed up 14 months ago that were good as new.
Cheese keeps for months and months in the fridge if you vacume seal it after each use. I opened a 1/2 block of colbyjack bought in december that was vacume sealed when opened and continually resealed until last night when we finished it off. Just as good as when it was bought.

[NRM_Oz]

1 thing I have posted before are the 365 days a year Asian bakeries who open EVERYDAY of the year. The bread can go from cheap stuff good for a day or better quality stuff but still 1/2 that of the good stuff in grocery stores. Everyone knows you can get fresh bread rolls for lunch or picnics on a Sunday or even Xmas Day if you want to from 0500.

Cost of flour has tripled in Australia because of the drought in the last 12 months but once a staple food is now considered more of a non basic food item. I was lucky that I worked next to a meat wholesaler so we would order what we wanted - paid the $3.00 to have it packed in dry ice (all 8 of us would order on pay day) and just take it home to freeze or eat that night).

[EMTGuard]

After about 6 months of not purchasing boxes from Angel Foods we are going this morning to pick up an order. We ordered one regular box which is ..

REGULAR BOX
1.5 lb. Ribeye Steaks (4 x 6 oz.)
4.5 lb. (avg) Split Chicken Breast Family Tray Pack
26 oz. Heat and Serve Meatloaf and Brown Gravy
1 lb. Chicken Breast Fajita Strips
1 lb. Boneless Center-Cut Pork Chops (4 x 4 oz.)
1 lb. Fully Cooked Meatballs
1 lb. All Meat Hot Dogs
1 lb. Frozen Sliced Carrots
1 lb. California Blend Vegetables
1 lb. Pasta
28 oz. Marinara Sauce
48 oz. Hawaiian Punch
32 oz. Borden 2% Reduced Fat Shelf Stable Milk
12 ct Corn Tortillas
One Dozen Eggs
One Dessert Item

We also got a special which was-

OCTOBER SPECIAL #4
10 lb. Breaded Chicken Tenders

Photos to follow... as always.

[SecTrainer]

After about 6 months of not purchasing boxes from Angel Foods we are going this morning to pick up an order. We ordered one regular box which is ..


We also got a special which was-

Photos to follow... as always.

What does this cost now, EMTGuard?

Another tip: Switch to frozen vegetables. Just as nutritious and cost about half or maybe a bit more than half of what fresh veggies cost. You gotta take out a bank loan for ordinary fresh vegetables these days, and it doesn't seem to me they're as good as they used to be. I gave the grocer the title to my car last week for four yellow corn-on-the-cobs, and they were very tasteless.

Also (this is kinda funny): I was watching the NutriSystem ad last night and saw where they said their meals cost less than $3 apiece. If that's true, it's pretty cheap. I made chicken noodle soup from scratch the other day with cornbread. I put a lot of veggies in this soup, the pasta, etc. and I use a whole chicken. When I figured it out, it came to a little over $3.10 a meal. I ate a meal at McDonald's not long ago that I remember very well would have cost about $3.50 a couple of years ago and it was over $5. Anyway, less than $3 a meal is pretty good so I might call NutriSystem even though I don't need to lose weight (well, much!) and hope it's not just some ad gimmick.

[EMTGuard]

What does this cost now, EMTGuard?

The regular menu box was $30 and the meat special was $18.
Here's everything they had for October-
http://www.angelfoodministries.com/menu_0810en.asp
and here is the menu for November-
http://www.angelfoodministries.com/menu_0811en.asp