If you had 200.00 to spend on food for the rest of January

I'd probably start with cheaper cuts of meat....ground beef if you like it, chicken, etc that you could stretch by making casseroles or stir frying etc.    Maybe soup stuff (either make your own or find deals) and eat with grilled cheese sandwiches.    Lots of pasta.  We eat fresh fruit and veggies and that could be expensive, but I was just at Meijer today and they had some amazing deals on fresh veggies and blackberries 2/$1.     Not sure how your pantry is stocked but maybe try to base meals around what you already have.   Baked potatoes or baked sweet potatoes would be filling and somewhat cheap.    Meijer (again) had Kellogg's cereal cheap and if you bought 4 you got a free gallon of milk.  

We could easily live off our stockpile, just buying fresh produce and milk.  If I had to start with nothing I'd get:

• Pasta
• Frozen veggies
• Frozen chicken breasts
• Ground beef
• Fish filets
• Bacon (a little goes a long way for flavoring)
• Eggs
• Cheese
• Sour cream
• Rice
• Canned tomatoes
• Jarred spaghetti sauce
• Pantry staples (flour, sugar, etc)
• Onions
• Garlic
• Celery
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Bananas
• Milk
• Orange juice
• Whatever was on sale at the store as "loss leader" items

I also use a lot of chicken base for soups, stews and making basic roux instead of canned soups.  If you live near an ALDI store you can get everything on the list above for well under $75.

That's about how much I have left this month, too.  Luckily I have a decent stockpile.  I second aliadam's soup suggestion, because I'm stocked up on canned beans, tomatoes etc.

I'm planning to buy:

cheese

ground beef

corn dogs

fresh veggies and fruit

milk

juice

eggs

bread

I shouldn't need to stock up on anything else, but that will get me through the month.

I could do it off of my pantry and just buy milk, yogurt, cheese and eggs.

If I was starting fresh I would serve lots of pasta (spaghetti, ziti, goulash), breakfast for supper (pancakes, french toast), sandwiches (pb and j, grilled cheese), cereal, eggs, maidrites, sloppy joes, and soups. 

I would serve a lot of chicken and pasta type meals.  One boneless, skinless chicken breast can serve the whole family when you put it in a pasta dish.  Chicken breasts are only about $5 a bag.  Spaghetti with meatless sauce is cheap.  Cereal at Aldi is cheap.  Egg salad and PBS sandwiches are good lunches.  Make sure you are eating everything, no wasting food.  Leftovers make great lunches.

We will probably only have about $100 for the last two weeks of January. I have not begun my menu planning yet, but I know I have a lot of meat in my freezer. So I will buy vegetables and the stuff I need to finish of meals.

Like BBQ sauce, cheese, bread, school lunch stuff for Ds. Also, french fries, tator tots, milk, sour cream, and a frozen pizza. Most of my budget goes to the fresh and frozen vegetables I buy.

Probably no meat, but then again I have enough to tide us over in the freezer.

I am in the same boat as you...I do have some pantry items. I have about 40 jars of spagetti sauce and about 20 boxes of different types of pasta so we will be having spagetti for sure. I went to Walmart a couple of days ago with my money in an envelope and I spent $75. I bought:

1 gal skim milk

1 1/2 gal buttermilk...(I make buttermilk biscuits)

1 jar of mayo

1 jar of peanut butter

1 jar of dried beef (to make dried beef over toast..it is only a $3 meal for 4 and we have left overs)

3 two liters of pop (soda)

40 POUNDS OF IDAHO POTATOES...OVERSTOCK on sale for $2 for 10 pounds) Praise the Lord..potato soup for sure

Bleach

2 bars of soap

pepper

2 pounds of butter

Lettuce

8 pound bag of Florida navel oranges

hotdog buns

1 loaf of 40 cal bread

2 loaves of reg bread

1 discounted loaf of garlic parmesan bread ( to eat with spagetti)

2 (1lb packages) of discounted ground beef) to use for chili on night and burritoes another night

2 (4- packs) of discounted Black Angus Beef patties ( to bake in brown gravy and serve with mashed potatoes)

1 family size 1 lb package of smoked ham sandwich meat.

Look for sales and like Kim said..lost leaders. Sometimes I will go in a store with blinders on and ONLY buy the lost leaders and then leave. Just make sure your family will eat what you buy. It doesnt matter how good a deal is if your family won't eat it it is just a waste of money. Keeping the checkbook, debit card and credit card helps also.

Also there is a website called 5dollar dinners..check it out for ideas.

Joyce

I love 5dollardinners.com.

I forgot about things like macaroni and cheese. You can make that and do add in's like creamed corn, tuna and peas, pepperoni and a little pasta sauce.

Hamburger Helper if your family will eat it.