Cheap Meal Ideas

[Chickysmom]

Crock pot mexican casserole

Submitted by: me2alana

Category: Slow Cooker/Crock-Pot Dishes
Rating:

Total Time: 2 hr
Makes: 6 servings





Ingredients:
2lbs hambuger meat
1 med. onion
1 can enchilada sauce
1 can cream of mushroom
1 can corn (drained)
1 sm. can diced black olives
1 can ranch style beans 1 Tbs. chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 to 2 cups chedder cheese

Preparation:
brown meat, onion, drain gease
mix next 8 ingredients together
add meat to mixture
in a crockpot layer; (1) corn tortallas (2) 1/2 mixture (3) corn tortallas (4)chedder cheese (5) rest of mixture
cook for 2 hours on 10w power



Haven't made this one myself...but I'm gonna! It sounds really good and easy!

 

[TexasCourt]

Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
• 1 (12 ounce) package uncooked tri-color rotini pasta
• 10 slices bacon
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons dry ranch salad dressing mix
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic pepper
• 1/2 cup milk, or as needed
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 (4.25 ounce) can sliced black olives
• 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Stir in rotini pasta and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until al dente; drain.
Place bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook until evenly brown. Drain and chop.
In a large bowl, mix mayonnaise, ranch dressing mix, garlic powder, and garlic pepper. Stir in milk until smooth. Place bacon, tomato, black olives and cheese in bowl and toss to coat with dressing. Cover and chill at least 1 hour in the refrigerator. Toss with additional milk if the salad seems a little dry.


I love this pasta salad! Yum!

 

[lynn71092]

1 pound lean ground beef
1 can (15 ounces) kidney beans
1 can (11 to 15 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
1 10 oz can Rotel tomatoes
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 (28 oz) can tomatoes
1 sm can chopped chile peppers (4 ounces)
1 can (15 ounces) pinto beans
1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing


Brown the ground beef; drain well. Add remaining ingredients and stir. simmer in slow cooker on LOW for 6 to 8 hours. serve with tortilla chips or Mexican cornbread.

You could also make this in a dutch oven on top of the stove.

Should the pinto beans be drained also?

 

[jmminarik]

Our cheapest meal is glorified ramen. I put any veggies I have around in with the water while it is boiling.

We do the same thing after I figured out that the $6.95 bowl of soup in chinatown was mostly just Ramen Noodles with some veggies thrown in. We tend to stick with the crunchier green vegetables such as cabbage, snow peas, bok choy, broccoli florets, etc and use the Oriental flavor seasoning packets. We usually don't add meat.

For those who aren't into the sodium, we've also just used the noodles with fat free low/no sodium broth but that is 5-10x more expensive the chemicals they give you in the bag.

We also plan ahead for a month with a white board calendar (with weeks that move so we're always got the current and next 3 weeks mapped). We usually have lasagna noodles stocked and often Mozzarella, but if not we just keep an eye out for the ingredients going on sale. Last night's lasagna (and tonight's as well) for 2 cost us about $6.00 in ingredients. Would have been cheaper but we decided to buy premade sauce and fix it rather than making my home made gravy which takes hours to simmer.

-Joe

 

[ArielsMommy]

Subscribing!

 

[paslea_pooh]

Should the pinto beans be drained also?

no...just the corn

 

[Chickysmom]

1 pound lean ground beef
1 can (15 ounces) kidney beans
1 can (11 to 15 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
1 10 oz can Rotel tomatoes
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 (28 oz) can tomatoes
1 sm can chopped chile peppers (4 ounces)
1 can (15 ounces) pinto beans
1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing


Brown the ground beef; drain well. Add remaining ingredients and stir. simmer in slow cooker on LOW for 6 to 8 hours. serve with tortilla chips or Mexican cornbread.

You could also make this in a dutch oven on top of the stove.

I have a bag of dried pinto beans I would like to use up. How much would you say I would need for this recipe after they are soaked? And since There will not be any liquid from the canned version, should I add some extra?

 

[Chickysmom]

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/


Haven't got very far through this site but looks like there are tons of great cost cutting ideas here! This was posted on another thread so I wanted to pass along some potentially great info!

 

[Chickysmom]

Chai Tea Mix or Spiced Milk Tea

1/4 cup instant tea


1/2 cup nonfat dry milk

1/4 cup powdered coffee creamer

1/2 cup white or (better) brown sugar

1 tablespoon instant vanilla pudding mix

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

In a resealable container combine all of the ingredients and stir with a fork or a whisk to distribute everything evenly. Store on the pantry shelf. To Prepare: Combine 3 tablespoons Chai Tea Mix with 1 cup boiling water. Stir well to dissolve. Sip and savour.

Cardamom is the ingredient that gives this recipe an authentic Indian flavor. To tell the truth though, it can be expensive and hard to find. If desired you can omit it completely or replace it with an equal amount of allspice. It will not be authentic Chai at that point, but it will be authentic Spiced Milk Tea, which is pretty much what Chai means. Some people add ground fennel or lemon peel to their Chai. I prefer this recipe made with brown sugar, but white sugar is cheaper and makes a prettier mix. Feel free to experiment with the flavors as you see fit.



Not really a meal, I know...but sounds yummy and way cheaper than the prepared Chai Tea mixes! Haven't tried it but plan too!
**recipe from www.hillbillyhousewife.com*

 

[Chickysmom]

Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese

8oz macaroni, cooked & drained
3 c shredded Mild cheddar cheese
1 c shredded Mozzerella cheese
2 eggs
1½ c milk
¾ stick margarine
1 large can evaporated milk
Salt and Pepper

Melt margarine in crock pot.
Layer macaroni and cheese.
Beat eggs and add both milks.
Pour into crockpot over macaroni and cheese.
Top with remaining cheese.
Turn crockpot on low and cook 3 hours. (If cooked longer it may burn on the bottom.)



Found this one over in the Cooking forum....sounds yummy and easy!

 

[Chickysmom]

http://www.30daygourmet.com/eNewsle...rs/Articles_2006_02/Make_Your_Own_Oatmeal.asp


here's arecipe for making your own instant oatmeal....you could either bag it inon large bag or put it in single serving baggies!

 

[funnygarcia]

bumping

 

[suz72]

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/


Haven't got very far through this site but looks like there are tons of great cost cutting ideas here! This was posted on another thread so I wanted to pass along some potentially great info!

Thanks. This site looks great!!!

 

[lillygator]

any more ideas?

 

[disneymom3]

I am definitely going to have to try that Chai tea mix. I just bought my Pacific Chai mix yesterday and that $6.50 price tag has me cringing. Thanks for the recipe. I will let you all know how it turns out.

My big lifesaver recipes lately have come out of the Kraft Foods free magazine I got through some email that was sent to me. Awhile back it had a swap out recipe section that I just love. Basically the chart says, take this meat, this accompaniement (like pasta or rice) and this sauce, which is usually a salad dressing, and combine in any combination. I have used the chicken and ham ones mainly.

Our favorites are to take a couple of chicken breasts, brown and dice them, add to 8 oz cooked pasta--any type--put about 1/3 cup Caesar, Ranch or Bleu cheese dressing and stir together. Then add some cooked vegies in whatever amount you want. I have used everything from fresh brocolli to frozen peas to froz mixed vegies and it all turns out good. I then serve this with fruit or salad and everyone likes it. You can also do it with ham diced up or beef strips. Change out the dressings and vegies that you use and it seems like a new meal.

 

[Marie17]

This is such a great thread....

We are a family of 7 (2 adults and 5 kids from 16 yrs to 7 months) so we can definitely put away a tremendous amount of food daily. Just this week I decided to start cutting the family budget as best as I can. I decided to cut a little bit of paid for drinks (milk, juice, koolaid, soda) with water - what I mean about that is for every drink of something else the next drink has to be a glass of water. This may not seem like alot of savings but when we go through 1 1/2 - 2 gallons of milk DAILY this should hopefully stretch them out to 2 days instead of 1. That alone would be a monthly savings of approximately $90-$100 a month ($3 - $3.39 a gallon per day times 30 days).

I am going to go through this entire thread and print out all the recipes that I believe would appeal to my family.

Thank you for everyone's contributions!!!!

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

This is such a great thread....

We are a family of 7 (2 adults and 5 kids from 16 yrs to 7 months) so we can definitely put away a tremendous amount of food daily. Just this week I decided to start cutting the family budget as best as I can. I decided to cut a little bit of paid for drinks (milk, juice, koolaid, soda) with water - what I mean about that is for every drink of something else the next drink has to be a glass of water. This may not seem like alot of savings but when we go through 1 1/2 - 2 gallons of milk DAILY this should hopefully stretch them out to 2 days instead of 1. That alone would be a monthly savings of approximately $90-$100 a month ($3 - $3.39 a gallon per day times 30 days).

I am going to go through this entire thread and print out all the recipes that I believe would appeal to my family.

Thank you for everyone's contributions!!!!

We're a family of 7 as well, 5 kids ages 10 to 2 years, and I LOVE this idea. Not only for the kids, but DH and I drink alot of soda and I think if we applied this rule to us it would really help us cut down which would be better for our health and our budget. I'm definitely going to give this a shot.

 

[blestmom]

We're a family of 7 as well

Same here, 5 kids ages 16-7. My two oldest, boys who play lots of sports, drink so much milk!! I'll have to give your idea a try...sounds good.

 

[punkin]

Not cheap exactly; actually it is a bit of a splurge for me. We had company this weekend and opened a bottle of wine which we did not finish. I made coq au vin for dinner tonight. It tasted like a million bucks and would be a very good company dish. If I had not used the wine for cooking, I would have thrown it out (we do not drink much).

I guess my point is that I throw nothing out anymore.

 

[winniethepoohsmom]

A big pot of spagetti sauce. Puree, Crushed tomatoes (stock up when on sale) olive oil fresh garlic and onion, oregano, basil. If you add meatballs you can eat them with the pasta or make meatball sandwiches, freeze the extra sauce buy pizza dough and moz. cheese and have a pizza night. Stock up on pasta when on sale. Make lasagna or baked ziti and get a couple of meals out of that. It's easy to make and goes a long way. Oatmeal for breakfast. PB&J for lunch drink more water, buy less sweets and bake when you get a sweet tooth or make jello. I also buy big packs of chicken legs I've gotten them for .69 to .99/lb they're good on the barbie, we get 2 nights out of pack, make some rice a veggie and salad. Linda