Visit the Weston A Price Foundation's website and you'll see that all boxed/instant cereals are bad for you.  Why? because of the extrusion process (flakes and puffs are formed at high temperatures and pressures causing fragile oils to become rancid and renders certain proteins toxic).  Our ancestors soaked their grains like oatmeal in water or milk overnight before cooking to remove phytic acid.  Oatmeal with a little organic butter and real maple syrup is delicious or add a little organic cream with cinnamon (tasty and satisfying) 

I used to shop at Wal-Mart all the time. Three years ago I started shopping at Aldi's.  For a family of four I can grocery shop for under $200 a month, and this includes meat and fresh vegetables.  They have wonderful veggies.  A head of lettuce is only .89 compared to a $1 or more at other places.  It really makes a huge difference.  Their items are made by the retailers so you are buying the same thing at a fraction of the price!  Their quality is great and they back it up!

I have two meat-loving adult male bottomless pits in my home, and then the rest of the family! Here are my meat tricks for better health and frugality.

1) I have been very impressed with the results I've had with draining and rinsing fatty-grade ground beef. This article shows you how: http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/reducedfatgroundbeef.htm

2) Mix 1 cup of oatmeal or 1 1/2 cups of cooked beans into every pound of ground meat. We have not noticed a significant taste difference, but the meat goes much further and there's a good deal more fiber in it with the oatmeal or beans. Just last night I made shepherd's skillet with oats AND beans mixed in with the ground beef rinsed as described above . . . and it was absolutely delicious.

3) I cannot over-emphasize the importance of a price book. I have been STUNNED to find out the differences in prices I was paying. For example, I had been routinely paying $3.49 USD for 1.2 lbs of Honeysuckle White 85/15 ground turkey. When I began keeping a price book, I found stores selling that exact brand and grade and weight ground turkey for $2.76 . . . and then on sale from that to $1.99. If I had had my $1 off coupon with me that day, I would have gotten ground turkey for $0.99 instead of $3.49.

Joyous:

Mix 1 cup of oatmeal or 1 1/2 cups of cooked beans into every pound of ground meat. We have not noticed a significant taste difference, but the meat goes much further and there's a good deal more fiber in it with the oatmeal or beans. Just last night I made shepherd's skillet with oats AND beans mixed in with the ground beef rinsed as described above . . . and it was absolutely delicious.

Tofu works well for this too - especially in anything with spices or flavor, as the tofu (cubed or curd - looks like cottage cheese) will pick up the flavor of whatever it's in. 

Dear All, Textured vegetable protein ("TVP") works best of all at stretching ground meat ....  It's another soy product.  Yours in Him, Deb

Where can you find TVP?

Tvp can be found at your local health food store. Whole Foods carries it also

TVP I've found almost anywhere if they have an "organic/natural" aisle.  

Sorry I dropped the ball on replying to this--I was offline mostly for a while due to just plain busy!! Thanks for the link!