Cooking Meals For a Young married couple

[Disney Ontario]

Hi. DD 21 just got married in Aug and is having trouble planning thier suppers on a very TIGHT BUDGET, and buy the time she is done work at 6:00 who feels like cooking??? We try our best to help them out, but Dh has just got back to work after a month from our accident, and we all know insurance company, they take forever to get the money out.

 

[rlovew]

Some simple and inexpensive dishes:

Sausage and Rice
1-2 cups cooked white rice
1 package sausage links (you can also use traditional sausage and cook it)
spaghetti sauce

Directions:
chop up sausage into small pieces and mix with rice and spaghetti sauce.
Heat until all of it is hot.

I serve this with vegies and it is less than $5 for the meal.

Chicken Chip Bake:
1-2 cups cooked chicken chopped(you can use leftovers from a roast, poach breasts, ect)
mayonaise
1 cup chopped carrots and celery (use whatever is in season- crunchy vegies that cook well)
crumbled potato chips
seasoning (salt, pepper was what mom used but I am sure others will be good too)
shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Mix together chicken and vegtables and coat with mayonaise.
2. Put mixture in a baking dish (for 2 I use 2 small dishes- single serve rather than a large pan)
3. bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees
4. add a layer of crumbled chips and then a layer of cheese
5. return to over until cheese is melted and everything is heated through (about 5 min).

I wil try to think of some more simple meals.

One thing I did when we were both working and first married was to make things ahead and freeze them so all I would have to do once I returned home was stick it in the oven. I was working retail so on nights when I was going in later in the day I would remove the nights meal and leave it in the oven with instructions for heating tempture and time on a sticky note on the outside along with the time to start it so we could eat together once I got home.

Rebecca

 

[Kae]

I use www.kraftfoods.com alot. Go to the budget tab click on 1 bag 5 dinners. I have gotten some great recipes from there.

Kae

 

[MazdaUK]

buy her a crockpot she can prepare some "dump" dinners at the weekend (see crockpot thread) , load it in the morning and come home to fixed dinner! If her oven has a timer then a casserole and baked poptatoes will work as well (get it really cold/frozen overnight before putting it in the oven). Also try recipezaar "Once a month cooking" recipes - loads of them use mince and/or pasta (which is economical) - lifesaver!

 

[pittsburghmarc]

Many pan sauces can be made in the time it takes your pasta noodles to cook.

This is over-simplifying, but...

1. Put the noodles in boiling water
2. Heat olive oil
3. Add any protein, in small pieces. Such as beef, chicken, pork if you like.
4. After meat is safely cooked, add any veggies you would like and garlic if you'd like.
5. Sautee til veggies are tender.
6. Add cooked pasta to sauce pan.
7. Take off heat and toss with parmesan cheese and herbs such as basil or sage.

 

[disneyhand]

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I found a pork shoulder Blade Boston Roast on sale at my local market for $.99 per lb. Bought 3.50 lbs = $3.50.

Threw it in the crock pot in the morning w/ garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, pepper and 1/4 c water. These were all free on hand items.

Cooked on high for 6 hours. Removed bone and fat then shredded the meat.

Dumped in a bottle of bbq sauce from pantry, probably cost about $1.00 on sale.

Served on hamburger buns maybe $1.50.

can serve with many inexpensive sides; coleslaw, baked beans, tater tots, small green salad, fruit etc. All easy and cheap.

We had it with coleslaw. It will be two meals for us and it was cheap, easy and delicious. My husband kept saying how good it smelled while it was cooking and my daughter said "It smells like the fair in here!".

 

[donaldduck352]

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I found a pork shoulder Blade Boston Roast on sale at my local market for $.99 per lb. Bought 3.50 lbs = $3.50.

Threw it in the crock pot in the morning w/ garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, pepper and 1/4 c water. These were all free on hand items.

Cooked on high for 6 hours. Removed bone and fat then shredded the meat.

Dumped in a bottle of bbq sauce from pantry, probably cost about $1.00 on sale.

Served on hamburger buns maybe $1.50.

can serve with many inexpensive sides; coleslaw, baked beans, tater tots, small green salad, fruit etc. All easy and cheap.

We had it with coleslaw. It will be two meals for us and it was cheap, easy and delicious. My husband kept saying how good it smelled while it was cooking and my daughter said "It smells like the fair in here!".

I done this.It does'nt get any easyer for A great meal!

 

[Disney Ontario]

Thanks foe everything so far. Would yous believe that they got 3 crockpots for shower/wedding gifts and she loves making cheesy scalloped potatoes in it.
And Kraft Canada, our other DD17 has being making our suppers do to our car accident and the insurance company is paying her for 12 weeks to take over my basic duties. We love the meals she has found.

LOVE Kraft Canada.