I have no idea on the bags for the Food Saver as far as cost. Our kids gave us quite an assortment along with the Food Saver so we have not had to buy any yet. I don't know about boiling in the bag either. I am just using this to store food in. I think it does keep food longer in the freezer. Sorry that I cannot answer your questions.

In some states your food stamps allotment is sent to bi-monthly. So her $17.00 could actually be 34.00. Still, it is pretty difficult to feed a family on these monies.

There are some for sale on AMazon - they do say safe for boiling. They seem to be about 25- 50 cents each.

Did anybody mention cabbage yet? It's one of the least-expensive green veggies, in season. Healthy too. Boil it, or eat it raw as a salad. You don't need to put mayo with it!

And for those in rural areas, how about harvesting from nature? There are naturalist groups that do "wild edibles" hikes and will tell you what to collect, and how to safely do it.

Do NOT eat the mushrooms, though, unless you really know what you are doing!

I just now thought of this - if you have an Indo-Pak shop, they tend to have lentils at pretty good prices.

I also get some of my flour, corn meal, etc. at Sprouts where I can get it by the pound (and cheaper).

Amen to cabbage!! We get a big head and it lasts us for weeks. DH likes some in a sandwich instead of lettuce.

And double ditto to "don't eat wild mushrooms"!! Did you know most mushroom experts, the people who write the books and teach courses on the subject, eventually die from mushroom poisoning?

My foolproof method to tell if a mushroom is safe to eat --



look for the word "mushrooms" on the packaging.

LOVE IT!!!

So unhappily true, lol. I love morelle (no doubt spelled wrong) mushrooms. The look alike is sooooo deadly, lol. Not going hunting for any outside the produce department.

You know those side tables for the living room that are about 25 inches high? I have one of those filled with bags of rice. It sits in our dining room. I buy the rice in 15-25 lb bags and repackage in gallon sized baggies. We do get the more expensive jasmine or basmati instead of the cheaper white or brown rice, but it comes out to be pennies per pound difference.
When cans of spaghetti sauce was $.44/can, we bought a hundred cans. We still have plenty of them, but I always check to see if they go on sale again! I wish we'd gotten 200 cans! I buy the restaurant sized cans of mushrooms and freeze any extra after the can is opened.
I buy most of my fresh produce at the flea market or farmer's market. Last time we got tomatoes 25 pounds for $10 about an hour before closing time. My husband did not want me to dehydrate them at first, so some of the ones on the bottom of the box got molded. Next time, I'll dehydrate half of them and let him enjoy the rest of the bounty! I love "sun dried" tomatoes on pasta!
We eat a lot of pinto beans. I buy taco mix ($.25 ea) by the box at the grocery store to flavor it. I soak the beans on the weekends. It's not unusual for me to have 5 jugs filled with beans and water on the counter! I put a few cups in the slow-cooker with garlic and a pack of taco mix and water and cook on slow for 8-10 hours. I freeze the rest of the soaked beans. I have a box in the freezer that is filled with bags of beans that are already soaked. In the morning, I can throw one of these bags in the crock pot and have dinner ready when I get home!
I dabbled in making my own tortillas, but I don't have the time to mess with it. I buy them at the Dollar Tree for 10/$1. We usually make tacos or burritos or "whatever we have on top of a tortilla" for dinner or cut them with the pizza cutter and fry them for nachos. I buy bags of frozen vegetable mixes for $1 at Kroger. We have a rice cooker and we rinse rice and put it in the cooker with water and some oil and put the veggies on the steamer lid that came with it. It takes about 20 minutes. I add some soy sauce and an egg, if we have it (most of the time, we don't!) and it's a delicious dinner for pennies!
Another cheap meal that uses the frozen vegetables, if I can buy hot dog buns cheap, is grill peppers and onions and sprinkle mozzarella cheese on that and pile it all on a bun. Less than $3 for 12 sandwiches.

I have lots more ideas, but I have to go get ready for work!!!

I have seen quite a variety of canned goods, staples and even brand name frozen goods at our dollar store, and have seen people loading up on them.