Cheap meal ideas for a family on a serious budget?

[nelson84]

Saving for Disney World, what are your discount meal ideas?

 

[Darcy03231]

I find it helps to stretch the budget to make a couple of big meals that we can get more than one meal out of. For example:

Cook a big turkey dinner with all the trimmings. I get the following meals out of it: 1) Turkey dinner the first night; 2) turkey dinner the second night; 3) Soup (made from the turkey carcass) and sandwiches; and 4) turket pot pie. We don't eat if four nights in a row, usually every other night.

Another one is to cook a ham dinner. With the leftovers I make 1) ham croquettes, 2) scalloped potates & ham, and 3) 15 bean soup with the bone.

Breakfast for dinner is another budget stretching meal.

 

[58cognac]

I'm right there with you on saving for the trip....
it all depends on what you keep on hand.

We always have:
32oz ready to use jar of garlic
cans of diced Italian tomatoes
pasta
cream of .... soups (mushroom, chicken, broccoli/cheese, etc.)

We have what I like to call "Pantry Potluck" when I don't want to make a trip to the store, and here is a recent success.

I call it ' The 3 B's '

on hand:

previously "quick soaked" 15 bean soup (comes in bags where rice is found) $2.30
1.5# browned ground beef $4.00
small bag of pearled barley $2.49
cream of mushroom x2 $2.00
milk
garlic

I finished cooking the beans in chicken stock/drained, cooked the barley until chewy/tender, while the ground beef simmered with two cans of cream of mushroom soup with equal parts milk and many spoonfuls of garlic(we really like garlic in everything). When all was done, a scoop of barley, a scoop of beef mixture, and a scoop of beans.

Separate from the milk and garlic I always have in the fridge, the total was about $10 and we had homemade French bread with it. The leftovers totaled about 10cups that went into the freezer for another meal.

 

[jessp1021]

Hamburger Helper (when beef is on sale)- HH is on sale at Food Lion 10 for $10
Tuna Helper (even cheaper!!)
Spaghetti or Lasgna..this feeds us twice in one week and everyone says its even better the second time
Stew Beef (add in onion, green beans, potatoes, and carrots) enough to feed for 2 days

 

[dfchelbay]

Saving for Disney World, what are your discount meal ideas?

How many people are in your family? What would you like your budget price point per day for meals be. Then, I can better throw relevant meal ideas your way. What do you all like to eat....and what won't the family eat. Do you require meat and vegetables at all meals, etc.

 

[Green Tea]

I simmer trolls in a crock pot.

 

[kwdw]

When I am trying to cut my food budget - I do more PLANNING of the meals - for maybe as long as a month. I check what is already in the house and what is currently on sale - and then shop to put together all three meals. And I don't go BACK to the store until the plan is over. I swing by a local quick mart to pick up milk - because I can't go to the store and just buy one thing. And I make some meals in bulk - and freeze the appropriate size portions to pull out as needed. There are some great online sites for 30 day cooking.

Another way is to try more vegetarian meals - some can be quite hearty and even meat lovers won't feel like they are missing anything.

Good luck! It's not hard to do - but you do have to make it work for your family.

 

[3goofyboys]

You might check out hillbillyhousewife.com. She has an ultra cheap meal plan that we use from time to time. I make a few changes to make it a bit healthier (like subbing whole grain brown rice for refined white rice), but even then it's still very budget friendly.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Lately, I have been shopping sales and aiming for 50% savings.

We just had chicken parmesan tonight--with inexpensive chicken breasts ($1.66/lb), inexpensive mozzarella (can't recall how I got that--but it was cheap), inexpensive spaghetti sauce (wegmans, 99cents I think) and pasta that was on some crazy sale...plus steamer broccoli that was B1G1, so about $1.25.

I think everything but the sauce was from Harris Teeter.

So less than $6 and a nice filling meal for my family. 5 ate, though my son's were made into chicken nuggets.

I already had breadcrumbs and parmesan on hand.

I am bad about planning meals ahead, so I try to shop and build up the staples and plan as I go around that.

 

[Marionnette]

I simmer trolls in a crock pot.

What kind of *whine* do you serve with that?

 

[ktjohn]

brown 1lb of ground beef in a frying pan
boil 1 box of medium sea shells (pasta) in a pot

when both are finished cooking, drain and then throw it all back in the pot together along with a 24oz can of diced tomatoes. Mix it all up and serve.

That's our cheap dinner, and my family loves it (even though it's probably considered boring).

 

[DawnM]

http://www.budget101.com/budget101-free-ebook/free-ebook-groceries-200-month-2547.html

She has some great ideas. I don't do the beef she does because we aren't big beef eaters, but we do get chicken and eat as much from scratch as possible.....including mixes, salad dressings, etc....

Dawn

 

[TiggerTails57]

This thread makes me hungry

 

[princesslily]

Tuna and noodles
1 or 2 cans cream of mushroom
1 can tuna
1 bag egg noodles
Sometimes I put in shredded cheese!

 

[Lintasare]

I simmer trolls in a crock pot.

Make sure to add plenty of broth and simmer on low for at least 8 hours or the meat is really tough to chew.

 

[cajunbaby1]

At the Dollar Tree here they have added and cold/freezer section. I've gotten several frozen snacks such as a box of pretzels-6 in a box; icee slushies, etc for the kids. They also had dips, microwave pizzas. Those can help save a few dollars. Also i've cut down on paying take out on the way to work and make my lunch.

 

[gillenkl]

Breakfast for dinner - we do pancakes, waffles, eggs, or french toast - add in some cut up fruit on the side. I make my own bread and don't use pre-packaged mixes so that cuts down on the cost too.

 

[HottyToddy10]

Slowcookers are MAJOR grocery budget savers! (Plus they help cut your electric bills!

I always buy whatever meat is on sale and freeze it. Then I have a month or so of meat for really cheap. (In our area, Kroger is best. Walmart is worst for sales on meat).

For example, recently for $75 I bought:
Butterball Turkey (~ 9 lbs)
Bone-in Honey Ham (I think ~9 lbs)
Two Racks of Ribs
3 Packs of chicken tenders
1 Pack of chicken breasts
Pork tenderloin
2- 5lb Rolls of lean ground beef

I also coupon and stockpile my matchups. I buy what I believe we can eat before it expires.
For example:
When pasta went on sale I bought 10 boxes.
Ragu went on sale a few weeks later and I bought 4 jars (only had two coupons or would have bought more).

This works for household items, too! I love getting free toothpaste, shampoo, Tylenol, etc. at Walgreens every Sunday through couponing.

 

[whodat1229]

Red beans and rice with either ham or smoked sausage, whichever is on sale (or both!) I also make a chicken and white bean stew/soup thing to serve over rice. it's pretty much the same method as any good cajun red bean recipe, just sub in chicken for the ham and white beans (navy, great northern). IT mush less expensive to buy whole chicken and debone it, but I admit I don't do that. bone in chicken breasts would be fine.

Chili and cornbread, using whatever ground meat is on sale and draining the fat. Adding a couple of cans (rinsed) of either black beans or pintos makes it healthier and stretches it.

Drunk chickens, using one of those beer can thingies on the BBQ pit (makes a mess in the oven). I buy 2 fryers when they are on sale. I usually eat the dark meat for that meal, then use the left over breast for chicken salad.

my husbands favorite: rice and meat -
1.5 lb ground meat
1 lb sliced mushrooms
1 can beef consomme
1 can french onion soup
1 cup uncooked rice
2-4 Tbl butter or olive oil (butter is best)

heat oven to 400. (you may need to turn it down to 375 after about 20 minutes)

brown meat, add the mushrooms near the end. drain the fat. the meat will finish cooking in the over, so some pink is fine. place in a good sized casserole with a tightly fitting lid. Add rice, soups (if it looks dry, add a little water), and butter cut into chunks. stir to combine. cover, bake 45 min-1 hr. I serve it with salad or a green veggie.

 

[hsmamato2]

just noticed who OP is.... my fave way to save for our luxury tent vacations at WDW (we go 4 times a year)....peanut butter and jelly sandwiches 3 times a day. and not the 'good' peanut butter,the cheap junk. the jelly is like our fruit,and we drink watered down reconstituted dry milk for our calcium.
the kids are still growing ok,so saving this way means we get to go to Disney WAY more often than other folks....it's so worth it.......
protein,it's all about the protein......