Cheap Meals

nun69

nun69

New member
so load me up with some of your favorite cheap meals (I am feeding 4 adults and 3 kids that range from 11-5)....some that I have are:

1. grilled cheese
2. meatloaf
3. breakfast for dinner
4. spahetti with garlic toast


but other than that, I am really out of ideas.....and in need of some :)
 
I make lasagna roll up that are so good and pretty cheap too!!

Box of Lasagna Noodles (you only need about 10). I can get two meal s out of a box.
Jar of Ragu
15 oz tub of ricotta cheese
8 oz mushroom (optional you can leave out if no one likes them)

Boil noodles and drain
dice up mushrooms in food process
mix mushrooms, ricotta cheese, 1 egg in bowl
spread mixture evenly among noodles
roll up and place seam down in a pan with some ragu on the bottom.
top with remaining ragu
Sprinkle with mozza cheese if wanted
bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes
Serve with crusty bread, garlic bread salad!!

Filling and cheap!!!!
 
These are my "budget" meals, I try to do one a week:
Calico Beans (basically beans, bacon, & ground beef with a sloppy joe-type sauce YUM. It's DH's fave and pretty cheap to make)
Anything with pasta...
Loaded Baked Potato & Soup night
Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup (homemade or store-bought)
BLT's (or BLTE's) with tater tots and milk shakes
Hot ham & cheese sandwiches or Tuna melts with tossed salad
Tuscan Soup (spinach, rotini, white beans, carrot, onion, chicken broth) with bakery bread
Any kind of meatless homemade soup with noodles + bread + fruit salad or tossed salad
Scalloped Potatoes with ham (crock pot)
Leftover veggie stir-fry served over Jasmine rice
homemade pizzas
quiche with whatever I have on hand (cheese, veggies, ham or bacon)
 
Meatloaf muffins (Keira loves them, she's not crazy about regular meatloaf)
1 lb ground beef
1 box stove top
2 egg whites
1/2 cup water

Makes 12 muffins, Mix together and divide into 12 muffin cups that have been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
Serve with ketchup on top, if desired.

Chinese Goulash, probably double it
1 lb. extra lean ground beef
1 med. onion, diced
1 lg. green pepper, diced
4 oz. can mushroom stems & pieces, drained
14 oz. can bean sprouts, drained
1 packet brown gravy mix
1 cup cold water
salt & pepper, to taste
Methods/steps

In a large skillet, brown ground beef; add onions and green peppers, cook until tender. Season with salt & pepper. Stir in mushrooms. Add brown gravy mix and water, stirring well. Simmer over medium heat about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, allowing mixture to thicken. Add bean sprouts and simmer for another 5 minutes. Serve over hot rice, if desired.


And then another thing I love, Inside out peppers is what I call it.
1lb ground beef
2 cups cooked white rice
1-16oz can tomato sauce
1/2 onion (diced)
1 bell pepper (diced)

Cook ground beef w/ onion & pepper. Add salt & pepper to taste, mix in rice and can of tomato sauce. I like this because Coop doesn't like ground beef, so I give him rice, Keira doesn't care for the tomato sauce, so I take her portion out before adding the sauce.

Homemade Pizza, I just found that Jiffy Brand Pizza crust is amazing! And its 58 cent a box here at Walmart. Bakes up so crispy.
 
Pancakes with a fruit salad, or eggs with a can of roast beef hash. Or fried spam sandwiches -- white trash I know, but I admit that we love it!
 
nun69 said:
so load me up with some of your favorite cheap meals (I am feeding 4 adults and 3 kids that range from 11-5)....some that I have are:

1. grilled cheese
2. meatloaf
3. breakfast for dinner
4. spahetti with garlic toast


but other than that, I am really out of ideas.....and in need of some :)
Click to expand...

Crock pot chili!
Split pea soup or lentil soup!
We're trying a chickpea curry tonight. (As long as you have the spices already in your cupboard, it's mostly canned chickpeas and diced tomatoes. You can add onion, a bell pepper, cauliflower, peas, whatever you want and serve over rice. Lots of slow cooker recipes for this. I am sitting here enjoying the aroma of dinner tonight!)

If you're willing to eat vegetarian, cutting meat out saves quite a bit on meals.
 
This is a crowd pleaser Angie

Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

I'm making it tomorrow...I double the recipe! My oldest is home and he's having friends over for football. I make a pot of rice and they top the rice with it. I just bought ranch dressing mix in bulk at the grocery store, so that saves some there.

I found this recipe on Pinterest:
http://pinterest.com/pin/98586679314090998/

I have no idea how much a roast will cost (I'll keep an eye out for a sale) and then found brown gravy mix in bulk too. Those things can get pricey.

I know these probaly aren't super budget meals, but because I have all men in my home, I like to make sure and have meat in my meals.
 
Once a week we roast some sort of meat (ham, roast beef, or a chicken) and that makes one big meal, soup for a few days and some sandwiches. I think planning meals that you can use the leftovers for another few meals can save a lot money.
 
I used to have this big list of meals I could make for $2 or less. This was about 10 years ago so prices have changed and now I'd say most of those meals are $4 or so now but I seem to remember that the list contained spaghetti, chili, grilled cheese and soup, tuna casserole, pancakes, omelettes, and a few others that I can't think of now.

I'm working on my meal plan for the next two weeks. Potato soup is a good one that isn't costly. We also like pinto beans cooked with some sort of beef or pork. You can use scraps or even soup bones and still get a good flavor. My grandma used to take chunky chicken soup and pour it over rice as a meal. It went a lot farther that way and one can fed 3 kids, my mom and my grandma.
 
Jenn Barrette said:
Once a week we roast some sort of meat (ham, roast beef, or a chicken) and that makes one big meal, soup for a few days and some sandwiches. I think planning meals that you can use the leftovers for another few meals can save a lot money.
Click to expand...

I like to do this too. We'll have like Beef dip sandwiches & then beef & noodles, or just pot roast and beef & noodles. Those are a few of the meals I've been making every month & everyone loves.
 
I do the big cut of meat too but I usually don't have it for a first meal....that's the trouble with having a large family...it would be gone the first night!!! *lol* But if I can find them BOGO free we'll have a roast!!

We get whole chickens from my dad, they are about 5 to 6 pounds I'd say and that will make 3 meals for us. Usually soup and 2 casseroles!!! Then I use the bones to make my broth....just cut up a few carrots, celery, onions with it!! You can get those chickens for like .88 cents a pound at Wal Mart or our Giant Eagle carries them for .99 cents a pound!! that's super cheap!!

Another thing that helps us Angie is actually eating a serving!!! :D :D Once we started "dieting" and eating healthy stuff goes a lot further now!! That means only 3 to 4 ozs of meat, half a plate of veggies and 1/4 of the place grain!!! Now instead of needing a 3lb roast a 1.75lb roast feeds us perfectly!!! *lol*

I've also cut out a TON of junk food....and really not even junk food just snack food!! I use to give my kids like tons of choices for snacks and those suckers add up!!! Now I only buy one type of snack and they have to eat it till it's gone. So they can always have apples, bananas, carrots if they choose and I always have muffins in the freezer but then I only buy (for example) a bag of pretzels. The next time I'll buy a bag of animal crackers. The next graham crackers!! You can't believe the savings!! *lol*
 
for us:

chili
spaghetti
pulled pork on garlic toast/bread(we get one container heat in microwave and serve on garlic bread. It fed five and costs around 2.50 a container when BOGO free)
hamburgers & fries
hotdogs/baked beans & mac & cheese
stew in crockpot


I wait til the Winn Dixie by us has BOGO free on meats. Every week is different though. So one week it'll be ribs, next chicken, next steaks. So I stock up on them and save on food a lot that way. Also Winn Dixie always has a deal where is you buy say two frozen pizzas for like 8 dollars you get a two liter of soda (sprite), garlic bread, and ice cream free. Its like 14 dollars worth of free food when you spend 8. We sometimes go to Albertsons when it was open (not sure it still is) and get buy one get two free on meats. They always have some sort of beef, pork and chicken on that deal every week. I do not eat a lot but I have two big guys that usually do so for us our cheap meals are probably less then what you have to feed.
 
ok so I shopped today and bought all the ingredients for these meals :) thanks girls :)
1. spaghetti
2. meatloaf in muffin tins
3. inside out peppers
4. Chinese goulash
5. crockpot chile
6. crockpot cream cheese chicken chili
7. crockpot bacon cheese poatoes with grillede cheese
8. ham & bean crockpot soup with cornbread
9. crock pot garlic pesto chicken
10 chile colorado burritos
11. chicken quesadillas
12. Pork Loin and apples
13. French toast bake
14. breakfast for dinner
15. lasgna rolls
16. beef roast

so if you girls have an great side dishes, hook me up :)
a few side dishes that I have are:
1. veggies
2. fruit
3. macaroni salad
4. red beans and rice
5. rice
6. mac n cheese
 
My go to cheap and fast meals are:

Chicken tacos (using corn tortillas) and using little fixings already on hand.
Ground beef and corn bread casserole. Really delicious and hearty.
You know, good ole rice and beans with a little chicken on the side if you want.
Spaghetti for sure.
 
For sides Ang I make a huge batch of white or Jasmine rice at the beginning of the week. Then we heat it up and mix it in things during the week, serve as a side and I make Fried Rice with it too. Super cheap! Fried Rice with a little diced meat and veggies could be a meal in itself.

Beans are super cheap too! You can get dried, soak, rinse and then cook in the crockpot.

I get bags of frozen whole green beans when they are on special for 99 cents each. It will be 3 nights of side dish for us, maybe 1-2 for you. I just heat the green beans with a little water so they steam up then saute with a little butter and garlic. You could also mix in some diced/cooked leftover potatoes for something heartier. My kids also like the green beans sauteed with butter then a little terriyaki sauce or soy sauce. You could mix them with some carrots or other veggies for more variety.

Baked potatoes are easy and cheap. You can cut them in half if you want smaller servings.
Other potato favorites are chopped potatoes mixed with a little oil and some Lipton Onion Soup mix - just roast for about 45 min in a 350 oven. You can do the same kind of roast with different spices and with sweet potatoes.
Dice the potatoes, toss with veggie oil, roast 350 oven for 35-40 minand then mix with some cheddar cheese and a couple pieces of chopped turkey bacon - kind of a potato skin casserole.
Mashed potatoes and the kids could help make those pretty easy. If you make a big batch you can save some for a second dinner and make a hamburger stew (like a sheppard's pie inside) and then ladle it over the mashed potatoes. Even chopped turkey slices with gravy is good ladled over mashed potatos and it's really a one dish dinner - serve with a little canned or fresh fruit.

Fresh fruit - right now apples are cheap so either fried apples or just cut apples served with dinner. Same with any other in-season fruit. I just cut it up and serve it with dinner as a side.

Jiffy Corn bread muffins, or any other kind of semi-homemade bisquit muffins.
 
yari said:
My go to cheap and fast meals are:

Chicken tacos (using corn tortillas) and using little fixings already on hand.
Ground beef and corn bread casserole. Really delicious and hearty.
You know, good ole rice and beans with a little chicken on the side if you want.
Spaghetti for sure.
Click to expand...

Would you share your recipe for ground beef and corn bread casserole?
 
side dishes (depending on whats in season...we live in the sunshine state so we get stuff cheap direct from the growers LOL):

watermelon
corn on the cob
green beans
peas
cinnamon apples
french fries (baked not fried)
baked potatoes
mashed potatoes
homestyle potatoes (can you tell we like potatoes? LOL)
mixed vegies
salad
macaroni salad
cornbread with pecan butter (really yummy...butter+honey+pecans)
garlic toast
hominy(although Im the only one who eats it)
grits(again only one who eats it)

thats all I can think of right now. I am not a huge vegetable fan.
 
you guys totally rocked this thread.......tonight I made
meatloaf muffins
mashed potatoes
mac n cheese
sliced pickels...

it was pretty much a hit for 4 out of 7 of us, but the other 3 ate the side dishes....so it actually went fairly well.....I will definetley be making them again! My DD's boyfriend ate 5 by himself :)
 
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