National Frozen Food Day 2025 is on Sunday, March 2, 2025: $200 of food for 30 days?

Sunday, March 2, 2025 is National Frozen Food Day 2025. Dietitians Online Blog: March 6, National Frozen Food Day Once food starts to thaw

I usually spend $35-40 a week for food. That does not include eating out. When you are conserving money or on food assistance - eating out is not a good use of your limited resources.

I think the best thing about being on a food budget is to do it well - you end up eating better food, because you can't afford to eat a lot of processes and pre-packaged food.

Typically the first thing I do is figure out how much protein I need for the week. I figure this is the most expensive part of the week, so I figure out how many portions I need - and then I buy what is on sale that week.

Same goes for fruits and vegetables - i buy what is on sale. There is ALWAYS foods in both the meat and produce department that are on sale - never buy at full price if you can avoid it.

I buy white potatoes and sweet potatoes - they are inexpensive and filling. Diced white potatoes are great roasted in the oven with some seasoning and it tastes "gourmet." Make oven fries if you miss fast food French fries.

If root vegetables are on sale that week, (especially in the winter) then I make root vegetable stew. If i have any left over meat - it goes in as well. Some bouillon cubes, root veggies, extra meat and barley makes for a very inexpensive and filling meal and I usually make enough for two days. Since it is mainly left overs and water - it is like getting free meals.

Winter squash are inexpensive and filling.

Do you like rice porridge? (Congee, jook, etc) that is another great way to use up leftover veggies and meat. Congee is good for any meal.

Miss fried foods like chicken nuggets, fish sticks, etc? Then learn how to bread using cheap bread crumbs and egg wash and fry on the stove. It is fast and simple to do.

I don't do a lot of dried beans - as you can get them canned as much the same price. They are good in soups, salads and of course - hummus. All very cheap to put together.

Want something sweet? Buy flour and sugar from the bulk food aisle - and get the recipe for "brownies in a cup" or any of the "cake in a cup" it is just a few ingredients (flour, sugar, oil, water, salt, egg, vanilla extract or cinnamon) and you can whip up an individual serving of cake in the microwave, in a coffee mug in under 2 minutes. The recipes are in on the Internet.

Ramen noodles - buy them when they are on sale and stock up. You don't have to use all the seasoning packet if you don't want to - and add veggies to it. Pasta is very cheap - if not available in the bulk foods aisle, get it from the dollar store. Canned sauce is cheaper than sauce in jars - and spaghetti sauce is only cheap to make when you grow your own tomatoes so just stick to canned sauce. Alternately - make spaghetti with olive oil and garlic (plus a little salt and any dried green herbs you have) for an authentic Italian meal.

Another trick with the Ramen noodles is to save the seasoning packet and put it in the water for white rice. This makes great fried rice the next day, too.

Every town has a bread outlet run by the local bakery - get day old stuff here for less than half of retail - or cheaper! Buy a few loaves at a time and freeze what you aren't going to use right away.

You can do it - it does take some planning, but many people eat on less money that $200 a month.

Another option - unless you have health issues, consider fasting one day out of the week and drink only water that day. It is great for your health and your budget.

How much food would 4 astronauts eat?

The food is one thing....its the water they'll need that is mixed with the dried food that has the most weight.....here is a bunch of info on food for astronauts from the web:

Space Food History

Early Project Mercury food tube and dry bite-sized snacks with gelatin coating

The food that NASA's early astronauts had to eat in space is a testament to their fortitude. John Glenn, America's first man to eat anything in the near-weightless environment of Earth orbit, found the task of eating fairly easy, but found the menu to be limited. Other Mercury astronauts had to endure bite-sized cubes, freezedried powders, and semiliquids stuffed in aluminum tubes. Most agreed the foods were unappetizing and disliked squeezing the tubes. Moreover, freeze-dried foods were hard to rehydrate and crumbs had to be prevented from fouling instruments.

The astronauts complained and on the Gemini missions eating improved somewhat. The first things to go were the squeeze tubes. Bite-sized cubes were coated with gelatin to reduce crumbling, and the freeze-dried foods were encased in a special plastic container to make reconstituting easier. With improved packaging came improved food quality and menus. Gemini astronauts had such food choices as shrimp cocktail, chicken and vegetables, butterscotch pudding, and apple sauce, and were able to select meal combinations themselves.

By the time of the Apollo program, the quality and variety of food increased even further. Apollo astronauts were first to have hot water, which made rehydrating foods easier and improved the food's taste. These astronauts were also the first to use the "spoon bowl," a plastic container that could be opened and its contents eaten with a spoon.

The task of eating in space got a big boost in Skylab. Unlike previous space vehicles for astronauts, Skylab featured a large interior area where space was available for a dining room and table. Eating for Skylab's three-member teams was a fairly normal operation: footholds allowed them to situate themselves around the table and "sit" to eat. Added to the conventional knife, fork, and spoon was a pair of scissors for cutting open plastic seals. Because Skylab was relatively large and had ample storage area, it could feature an extensive menu: 72 different food items. It also had a freezer and refrigerator, a convenience no other vehicle offered.

The Shuttle Food System

The kinds of foods the Space Shuttle astronauts eat are not mysterious concoctions, but foods prepared here on Earth, many commercially available on grocery store shelves. Diets are designed to supply each Shuttle crew member with all the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) of vitamins and minerals necessary to perform in the environment of space. Caloric requirements are determined by the National Research Council formula for basal energy expenditure (BEE). For women, BEE = 655 + (9.6 x W) + (1.7 x H) - (4.7 x A), and for men, BEE = 66 + (13.7 x W) + (5 x H) - (6.8 x A), where W = weight in kilograms, H = height in centimeters, and A = age in years.

Shuttle astronauts have an astonishing array of food items to choose from. They may eat from a standard menu designed around a typical Shuttle mission of 7 days, or may substitute items to accommodate their own tastes. Astronauts may even design their own menus. But those astronaut-designed menus must be checked by a dietitian to ensure the astronauts consume a balanced supply of nutrients.

The standard Shuttle menu repeats after 7 days. It supplies each crew member with three balanced meals, plus snacks. Each astronaut's food is stored aboard the Shuttle and is identified by a colored dot affixed to each package.

Food Preparation

On the Space Shuttle, food is prepared at a galley installed on the orbiter's mid-deck. The galley is a modular unit that contains a water dispenser and an oven. The water dispenser is used for rehydrating foods, and the galley oven is for warming foods to the proper serving temperature.

Almost Like Eating At Home

An Apollo spoon bowl package before rehydration and opening

During a typical meal in space, a meal tray is used to hold the food containers. The tray can be attached to an astronaut's lap by a strap or attached to a wall. The meal tray becomes the astronaut's dinner plate and enables him or her to choose from several foods at once, just like a meal at home. Without the tray, the contents of one container must be completely consumed before opening another. The tray also holds the food packages in place and keeps them from floating away in the microgravity of space.

Conventional eating utensils are used in space. Astronauts use knife, fork, and spoon. The only unusual eating utensil is a pair of scissors used for cutting open the packages. Following the meal, food containers are discarded in the trash compartment below the mid-deck floor. Eating utensils and food trays are cleaned at the hygiene station with premoistened towelettes.

Crews have reported that the Shuttle food system functions well in space. It consists of familiar, appetizing, well-accepted food items that can be prepared quickly and easily. A full meal for a crew of four can be set up in about 5 minutes. Reconstituting and heating the food takes an additional 20 to 30 minutes about the time it takes to fix a snack at home, and far less than it takes to cook a complete meal.

Pantry

A supplementary food supply that provides approximately 2100 Kilocalories per person for two extra days is stowed aboard the Shuttle for each flight. Pantry items are flown in addition to the menu in case the flight is unexpectedly extended because of bad weather at the landing site or some other unforeseen reason. During the flight, this food supply provides extra beverages and snacks. The pantry items also can be exchanged for menu items in flight, but all unused food packages are retained in the pantry so they will be available in case they are needed later.

Shuttle Extended Duration Missions

The length of Shuttle missions has steadily increased from the first mission in 1981 of 2 days, to 14 days for STS-50 in June, 1992. Missions beyond 10 days are called Extended Duration Orbiter (EDO) missions. In order to accommodate the weight and volume of trash generated by the food system on these longer missions, it was necessary to develop new food and beverage packages. A trash compactor was also developed to reduce the volume of the trash, and the new packages were designed to be compatible with the compactor.

The beverage package is made from a foil laminate to provide maximum barrier properties for a longer product shelf life. A septum adapter is sealed in the package after the beverage powder has been added. The septum adapter holds a septum which interfaces with the galley water dispenser for the addition of water, and with a straw for drinking the beverage. Although the beverage package was designed for use on EDO missions, it has replaced the square polyethylene beverage package on all Shuttle missions. The EDO rehydratable food package also is made from flexible material to aid in trash compression. The rehydratable package consists of a flexible bowl and lid with the septum adapter for adding water from the galley. Velcro on the bottom of the package holds it in the meal tray. After adding the required amount of water to the package, it is placed in the oven if the food is to be served hot, or directly onto the serving tray if it is to be served cold. The top of the package is cut off with a knife or scissors and the contents eaten with a fork or spoon. The EDO rehydratable food package was tested on STS-44, and used for all of the rehydratable foods on STS-49 and 50. It has now permanently replaced the rigid square rehydratable package.

Shuttle Galley

The Shuttle galley was redesigned in 1991 to reduce the weight and volume and to update the electronics. The redesigned galley weighs one-third less and occupies one-half the volume of the original galley. The new galley delivers hot or cold water from the rehydration station. The hot water temperature is between 155 and 165deg.F. The hot and cold dispense quantities can be selected in one-half ounce increments up to 8 ounces.

The forced air convection oven heats food and beverages by conduction with a hot plate or by forced convection. The temperature of the oven is maintained at 160 to 170deg.F. The oven holds 14 rehydratable packages plus thermostabilized pouches and beverages.

Orbiter's Food Lockers

Meals are stowed aboard the orbiter in locker trays with food packages arranged in the order they will be used. A label on the front of the locker tray lists the locker contents. A five-section net restraint keeps food packages from floating out of the locker in microgravity while still allowing items inside to be seen. Velcro strips secure sections of the net, making it easily opened and the food items readily accessible to the astronauts.

Food is packaged and stowed in the locker trays in Houston about a month before each launch. Stowed food lockers and shipping containers are kept under refrigeration. About 3 weeks before launch, the food lockers are shipped to Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. There they are refrigerated until they are installed in the Shuttle 2-3 days before launch. Besides the meal and pantry food lockers, a fresh food locker is packed at KSC and installed on the Shuttle 18 to 24 hours before launch. The fresh food locker contains tortillas, fresh bread, breakfast rolls, and fresh fruits and vegetables such as apples, bananas, oranges, and carrot and celery sticks.

Space Station Food System

Space Station will become operational on a full time basis with a crew of 4. Later, the crew size will grow to a maximum of 8 people. The crew will reside in the Habitation Module (HAB). Food and other supplies will be

Birds Eye Frozen Foods?

I think the point they are trying to make is that their food is frozen within hours of being picked, where as fresh veg could be lying in a shop for umpteen days before you buy it, so in effect it is not as fresh as the frozen veg