Cheap groceries- Angel Food Ministries

[EMTGuard]

OK. Photo time. We are back from church.
This is what we got this month.

1.5 lb. New York Strip Steak
(4 x 6 oz.)
2 lb. Chicken Breast Stir Fry
(Boneless/Skinless Chicken
Breast Chunks)
2 lb. Breaded Breast Fillet
1 lb. Steak Fajita Strips
20 oz. Supreme Pizza
28 oz. Jumbo Beef Patties
With Gravy
1 lb. All Meat Hot Dogs
10 oz. Individually-Wrapped
Cheese (16 slice)
1 lb. Mixed Vegetables
2 lb. French Fries
12 ct. White Corn Tortillas
1 lb. Rice
15 oz. Peach Halves
6 oz. Pancake Mix
32 oz. 2% Shelf Stable Milk
Dozen Eggs
Dessert



By the way, dessert this month was Apple Pie. YUMM!

[EMTGuard]

Send the pie my way, I'll take care of it for ya'! Hoping to do Angel Food next month, we weren't able to get the order in on time last month.

We gave the blueberry pie to a friend this week. She used to live next door but failing health forced her to loose her job and eventually her home. She moved in with some friends but eventually moved in with her very elderly stepmother. She's living on less than $500 a month in disability plus food stamps plus what her disabled stepmom gets. Not much money for groceries. When she moved out of her trailor about 4 years ago she asked us to hang onto some of her stuff since she had nowhere to store it. We stacked her stuff in tote boxes in a corner of our livingroom where it's been waiting for her to pick it up. This week she finially showed up to get it.
After loading her stuff in her car I started loading up a grocery box from our well stocked pantry. When she said she like blueberrys we knew she was taking that darn pie home. In addition to that she got all those boxes of Jiffy Blueberry Bisquit mix and the blueberry pancake mix Angel Foods keeps giving us. Then we added more stuff. Remember all the stuff I've stocked up and documented in the Cheap Meats thread? We gave her some of that.
It was like we were a food bank. I just opend the cabnates and let her find what she wanted. You like Hormel Chilli with beans? Here are 3 cans of that. Like green beans? Have a few cans of those. What else? Carrots? Sure, lets put a couple cans of those in the box. Mac&Cheese? We got cases of it. Let's toss a few boxes in. Still some room in the box. Like Ramen? Nope? OK, let's see, Cereal? Good, here's a box of Cherrios.
And so on......
She left with our blueberry pie and a cardboard box full of other food so her shelf at home isn't so bare.
One of the benefits of buying in bulk or buying multiple items and stocking your pantry is that if you have an emergency you are able to feed yourself. Another benefit is that if the emergency is someone elses' you are able to feed them. So everything worked out.

[officerchick]

Send the pie my way, I'll take care of it for ya'! Hoping to do Angel Food next month, we weren't able to get the order in on time last month.

[EMTGuard]

This is what I just picked up from the church for this month.

Dessert was a blueberry pie. Yuck.

[officerchick]

More info here. (Disclaimer - the link is to another forum. I'm not endorsing, yadda yadda yadda, just sharing the info for any interested.)

[officerchick]

I ran across this on another forum. I have to say, it's a bit worrisome. If anything were to happen to Angel Food, it would negatively impact a lot of people.

[EMTGuard]

Just got home with the Febuary 2009 regular menu box.
It contained....

1.5 lb. Sirloin Strip Steaks
(4 x 6 oz.)
2 lb. Tray Pack Chicken Breast
1 lb. Boneless Pork Chops
2 lb. Breaded Chicken Nuggets
28 oz. Salisbury Steak Entrée
12 oz. Sliced Bacon
1 lb. All-Meat Hot Dog
1 lb. Stir Fry (Broccoli, Red Peppers & Onions)
1 lb. Carrots
8 oz. Breakfast Cereal
32 oz. 2% Shelf Stable Milk
35 oz. Crinkle-Cut Fries
7.25 oz. Mac ‘n Cheese
1 lb. Rice
1 lb. Bean Soup Mix
Dozen Eggs
Dessert

Our dessert this month was a pineapple pie.

[EMTGuard]

Do you remember what type of desert you got last month? Was it the fruit pie? If so what flavor did you get? We got Peach. It's still in the freezer. We'll probably have it next week. We got little snack packs of cookies this month. They will be welcome in my lunch box.

[integrator97]

Regarding the earlier discussions about the value of a typical menu box, I brought this up with a couple of the church volunteers. One mentioned that a lady at a neighboring church actually did a price comparison while shopping at the local Wal-Mart. She came up with an average of about $60 based on what Wal-Mart would charge for comparable items. Sometimes a little more and sometimes a bit less.

I agree. We didn't get it this time, but I think it's generally worth at least 1/2 again what you pay.

[EMTGuard]

Just got home with this month's $30 menu. The contents list was-
1.5 lb. Ribeye Steak (4 x 6 oz.)
4 lb. Leg Quarters
1.5 lb. Beef Patties (4 x 6 oz.)
18 oz. Cheese Filled Manicotti
2 lb. Pork Rib Strips
1 lb. Chicken Breast Fajita Strips
1 lb. Ground Turkey
1 lb. Broccoli
1 lb. Peas
6 ct. Oatmeal Variety Box
2 each-Regular, Maple Brown Sugar and Apple Cinnamon
32 oz. 2% Shelf Stable Milk
8 oz. Blueberry Muffin Mix
12 ct. White Corn Tortillas
1 lb. Pinto Beans
7 oz. Chicken Flavored Rice & Vermicelli
Dozen Eggs
Dessert

On the way home we stopped at a grocery store for a couple of other things and saw a Cub Scout troop holding a food drive. So we donated the Chicken Rice and Vermicelli and the Oatmeal Variety Box.
When we got home we laid out everything and subjected it to a 2X power Cat Scan.

Sorry for the poor photo quality but the camera was set on the wrong focus setting and I didn't realize until everything had been put away.
Regarding the earlier discussions about the value of a typical menu box, I brought this up with a couple of the church volunteers. One mentioned that a lady at a neighboring church actually did a price comparison while shopping at the local Wal-Mart. She came up with an average of about $60 based on what Wal-Mart would charge for comparable items. Sometimes a little more and sometimes a bit less.

[EMTGuard]

Officerchick,
Did you get a box this month?

[EMTGuard]

I will admit, I don't do a whole lot of grocery shopping. But it doesn't seem like you're getting that much food for $30. It seems like you could get higher quality stuff that you want, just by buying things when they are on sale.

I've had the same thoughts off and on. My better half is the one that found this and is the big fan of it but I have questioned the value before. One of My projects for this coming year is to do some comparison shopping and compare prices of similar items on sale at Wal-mart, Albertsons, etc. Keep in mind that the AFM box is only a small part of our monthly food purchase. We still make regular trips to the local grocery stores. I am always looking for sales to buy stuff. A good example is the thread I started about Cheap Meat. I only buy meat items when on sale and also canned goods such as veggies, beans, etc..

[mjw064]

I will admit, I don't do a whole lot of grocery shopping. But it doesn't seem like you're getting that much food for $30. It seems like you could get higher quality stuff that you want, just by buying things when they are on sale.

[EMTGuard]

Here's what the menu for a regular box ($30) was for this month-

1.5 lb. Choice Cut Beef Roast

2 lb. Breaded Chicken Tenders

2 lb. IQF Chicken Breast

1.5 lb. Pork Chops (4 x 6 oz.)

1 lb. 80/20 Lean Beef Patties (4 x 4 oz.)

28 oz. Salisbury Steak Entreé

1 lb. All Meat Hot Dogs

1 lb. Carrots

1 lb. Green Beans

1 lb. Rice

24 oz. Steak-Cut Fries

32 oz. 2% Reduced Fat Shelf Stable Milk

7.5 oz. Mac and Cheese

14 oz. Chicken Broth

7 oz. Corn Muffin Mix

Dozen Eggs

Dessert Item

Here's what it looked like when we got home and unpacked the box.


By the way, The food isn't the only thing in the box each month. Remembr that this is a church based program and is a way they minister to others. So every month they include a 6-8 page magazine titled "The Servant". Each church can add other items based on it's budget. This month we got a New Testament bible, a pamphlet from Billy Graham titled "Christmas, Steps t Peace with God", a cookbook put togethr by the church where we pick up our box, a Christmas card done by one of the children from the church, a calander for the month of January 2009 with events at the church and a printout of next months AFM menu. I almost forgot, we also got a sprinkler of seasoning mix put together by a churchmember.
I decided that this month I'd document these "suppliments" as I call them along with the regular box menu items. Here's a photo of those items.

So that's all of the Angel Food Ministries boxes for this year.
Are you or your family buying boxes from AFM? Are you getting any of the specials? What do you think of the price for the menus? Is it a bargin for the items included? Feedback? Opinions?

[integrator97]

We just picked ours up, and got one for my daughter too. The same as yours right down to the brands. We also got Little Debbie football cake snacks. They had too many, so we got 8 boxes each of 6 cake snacks. Probably cause we have a Little Debbie factory about 10 miles away.