$5.00 or less what is your best meal?

[mrsboz]

What can you make, that is good, not canned stuff, for $5.00 or less.

Broccoli Penne

Boil Penne
Last five minutes throw in fresh broccoli

In another pan cook butter and garlic

On top add cheese. I like Romano.

Easy. Delicious. Inexpensive.

Anybody else have any ideas. I keep saying that I am going to cut down on my food bill, but I can't seem to find any inexpensive dinner ideas.

 

[andymattmom]

Being one who doesn't like to cook $5 footlongs from Subway....eat 1/2 for dinner and the other half for lunch......

 

[acename]

5dollardinners.com is a great website. She cooks dinner everynight for $5 or less and doesn't use hardly any prepackaged or processed items. She has lots of great healthy ideas.

Hope that helps.

 

[WillCAD]

I make a pretty good stew out of canned ingredients.

1lb Frozen boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed - sautee in a skillet or wok with margerine, garlic to taste, salt and pepper to taste, chopped onions and sweet bell peppers to taste (I've done it with no garlic, onions or peppers and it's still good)

1 cup of chicken gravy (jar, can, or powdered, it's all the same)

1 cup of instant rice, cook as directed

16oz can of golden yellow corn, drained and heated (I use the microwave but the stove is just as good)

Mix it all together when it's ready. Amounts listed above make about 2 servings; just multiply to make more.

VEGETARIAN ALTERNATE VERSION:

Just leave out the meat. It's still pretty good.

BEEF ALTERNATE VERSION:

Substitute 1lb of drained, lean ground beef for the chicken, and leave out the margerine and garlic

Substitute beef gravy, brown gravy, or onion gravy (my fave) for the chicken gravy.

 

[tcarr5]

http://www.5dollardinners.com/

 

[happybratpack]

I love this meal...

1 lb ground Turkey ($1.96) in a roll at Walmart
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 can diced tomatoes
Taco seasoning to taste

Cook turkey in skillet, drain. Add corn, beans and tomatoes to turkey and cook, stirring often. Add taco seasoning to taste. Can be used in flour or corn tortillas.

 

[acename]

I love this meal...

1 lb ground Turkey ($1.96) in a roll at Walmart
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 can diced tomatoes
Taco seasoning to taste

Cook turkey in skillet, drain. Add corn, beans and tomatoes to turkey and cook, stirring often. Add taco seasoning to taste. Can be used in flour or corn tortillas.

i do this same sort of thing in the crock pot with chicken breasts. We put ours over rice most of the time.

 

[hambirg]

I'm almost embarassed to say it, but every Saturday I make what I call Garbage Soup. I dice an onion, a couple stalks of celery and some carrots. Cook them just a little and then start adding all the "garbage" left overs from the fridge. I usually add a can of cheap spaghetti sauce and some water, then just seasonings to taste. It ends up being a kind of funky minestrone. This week I had some leftover chicken stir fry, peas and carrots and broccoli. It was screaming chicken soup, so I skipped the sauce and just added chicken boullion (sp) and water. My kids always love it.

 

[minniemair]

Garbage Soup. QUOTE]

Growing up, my Dad called this Icebox soup. Now I do it too, though not as often as you. Freeze leftover veggies in a gladware container and when its full, I make icebox soup!

 

[kimsuenew]

Anyone else? I love the ideas... keep 'em coming!

 

[MEM]

Just the other night I made chicken and dumplings in the crockpot:

One and one half pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
One jar fat-free chicken gravy
One box frozen peas and carrots
Trader Joe's pasta seasoning
One can cheap store brand biscuits
White Jasmine rice

Cook the first four ingredients on low for 8-10 hours in the crockpot. Then about 90 minutes before dinner, cut up the biscuits into quarters, lay on top of the bubbling stew, turn the crockpot to high and cover. I found by trial and error that it takes 90 minutes to cook the biscuits all the way through. Serve over steamed white rice to stretch to feed a family of four including DS14!!!

 

[MEM]

i do this same sort of thing in the crock pot with chicken breasts. We put ours over rice most of the time.

We do this too, except we use a jar of Trader Joe's chipotle salsa instead of the tomatoes and seasonings. We also like to add half a bag of Trader Joe's frozen roasted corn for the smokey flavor.

 

[acm563]

Another take on leftovers.....

Take any cheap refrigerator biscuits, let them come to room temperature and roll them out as thin as possible...Fill with any and every leftovers you have, add cheese if desired, fold over and crimp, then either deep fry or bake...

The same thing can be done for dessert just add fruit to the center, fold over, crimp and deep fry then roll in powdered sugar or glaze....

 

[mrspaha]

Thankfully, my husband loves barbecue chicken, so I make this A LOT! We both like dark meat, so I buy legs and thighs when they're on sale, and freeze them. This week, I noticed Ultra has the leg/thigh quarters for
$.49/lb. I buy the bottled barbecue sause at Aldi's--I think it's 1.19 now, and I always have several bottles on hand. I just put the chicken in a 9x13 baking pan, put some barbecue sauce on it -- maybe a fourth of a bottle's worth on it, cover w/ alum foil and put in a 375 degree oven for about an hour. The last 15 minutes, I take the alum foil off. Then, I'll also make some rice or a baked potato and corn or peas. We always have some bread on hand, so we just have plain bread/toast and butter with it. As a special treat, I sometimes bake some biscuits --get the Aldi brand refrigerated tube (similar to Pillsbury)-- I think the price just went up to .38/can.

 

[ekball]

Breakfast for dinner! Scrambled eggs, potatoes cubed with garlic and salt (pan-fried), sometimes homemade pancakes, sometimes french toast, fruit salad or sliced fruit of some sort (whatever I have that night). Kids love it, DH loves it, I almost always have the ingredients on hand and it is EASY!!!

 

[acm563]

Breakfast for dinner! Scrambled eggs, potatoes cubed with garlic and salt (pan-fried), sometimes homemade pancakes, sometimes french toast, fruit salad or sliced fruit of some sort (whatever I have that night). Kids love it, DH loves it, I almost always have the ingredients on hand and it is EASY!!!

gee...thanks....you just made me hungry.... BF for dinner, always my favorite

 

[briannesmom]

I have quite a few cheap meals. I don't know if they are under $5 but pretty close.

Easy Vegetable Beef Barley Soup
Large bottle low sodium V8 juice
1 lb ground beef, browned (left over roast beef works great too)
Can of carrots
Can of diced potatoes
frozen corn
frozen green beans
quick cooking barley

Brown and drain ground beef (or cut leftover roast in small cubes) throw in pot with bottle of V8, drained canned veggies and a cup each of frozen green beans and corn. Bring it to a boil and add a cup of barley. Simmer about 15 minutes till barley is cooked. I season with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. This also works using all canned veggies but that makes it a bit salty.

Frittatas are also cheap and good. We make them several different ways. I start with a few cubed potatoes (canned works too) cook in a large fying pan until they are cooked through and start to brown add your choice of filling and cook until heated through. Beat eggs (about 6 depending on size of pan) and pour in pan. Put it under the broiler for a few minutes until eggs are set then top with cheese broil until melted.
For fillings we use:
Ham, broccoli, swiss cheese
browned sausage, peppers, onions, cheddar cheese
leftover taco meat, cup of salsa, cheddar cheese

Leftover Chop Suey
I use leftover chicken, turkey or pork tenderloin. Throw leftovers and a few cans of chop suey veggies in pan. Season with soy sauce or hoisin sause and cook until heated through. Thicken with corn starch if needed and serve over rice.

I'm sure I will think of more.

Amy

 

[sueh]

Ham steak
Instant mashed potatoes
corn or veggie

Less than $5 and I use this as my lazy meal.

I menu plan for the week but if I don't feel like having what is planned for the day then we have this.

 

[WillCAD]

Breakfast for dinner!

Ya gotta love Brinner!

 

[blanq]

One of our families favorite cheap meals is Lemon Basil Pasta. I haven't figured out the cost per serving, but it's darn cheap. It's just cooked spagetti noodles tossed with fresh lemon juice, lemon rind, olive oil, fresh basil and parmesan cheese.