Need help with budget menus

[rbramblett]

I need help! Every week I try to make a good detailed grocery list based off of the menu's I created. The problem is, I hate to cook and find myself driving home from work and thinking tacos sound a lot better than what ever weird thing I had planned does. I need menu ideas that are quick and easy. I live with DH 40 (meat and potatoes farm kid) DS 8 (picky, picky) DS 5 (I'll try anything once) and me. I am trying to spend around 100-125 per week, but am blowing it everytime with all the extra stops. I know I need more will power, but hoping some decent receipes might help too!

 

[Mouse House Mama]

If you take a Saturday and prepare a bunch of stuff it will be easier. Chicken cutlets are great fro making different meals.

Fry up a bunch. Kids and adults love these. Make some mashed potatoes or biscuits and a veggie and you are set.

Make Chicken Parm. You just need an Italian Bread.

Chicken cutlets with stuffing on top. Bake it all together.

Breaded Chicken cutlets with asparagus and mozzarella on top.

 

[DevilDuckie]

Make tacos!

Brown some ground beef with chili powder to taste. (I get the cheap stuff and drain off the excess fat.) Corn tortillas are cheap. Chop up a tomato, some lettuce and some cheddar cheese for toppings. Add sour cream and salsa for a feast!

If tacos are what you crave, just make them yourself.

 

[LuvTigger]

Someone gave me a Rachael Ray cookbook, "Express Lane Meals" that might be good for someone like you who doesn't have a lot of time.

What I like about this book is she recommends stuff you should have in your pantry at all times. She does say not to try to buy it all at once, but pick up a few things each time you go to the store to stock the pantry. As far as the recipes, they assume you have all of the pantry ingredients, although there is a little "reminder" box on the side that lists what you should already have, and there's another small box that lists the other non-standard ingredients to purchase in the "express lane" (basically the idea is that if you have all the standard pantry stuff, you only need to pick up 2 or 3 extra items per recipe).

The recipes vary in terms of the types of food and amount of time to prepare, which is also nice because if you have more time, you can try other recipes.

Unfortunately, it's not easy for me to practice what I preach since I've been eating out a lot, but I am stocking my pantry and will be starting this soon to try to save $$$!

The other thing I do to save time during the work week is to make something on Sunday like a casserole or lasagna or something that could easily be reheated and eaten throughout the week. Another thing I learned from Rachael Ray that really helps is to wash fruits and veggies as soon as you get home from the grocery store so all you need to do is go into the fridge and you can start chopping away. (Of course, there are exceptions such as mushrooms and berries.)

 

[Plantlady]

If you take a Saturday and prepare a bunch of stuff it will be easier. Chicken cutlets are great fro making different meals.

Fry up a bunch. Kids and adults love these. Make some mashed potatoes or biscuits and a veggie and you are set.

Make Chicken Parm. You just need an Italian Bread.

Chicken cutlets with stuffing on top. Bake it all together.

Breaded Chicken cutlets with asparagus and mozzarella on top.

I was going to suggest this too...

If when you're making a meal.. double it, and freeze the second one. Then, when you have an "I don't want to cook" moment.. just pull one out of the freezer.

I also find it helpful to use my crockpot. I'm ok filling it up first thing in the AM, then, when I come home from work, and my meal is done.. I tell myself it's silly to want to go out to eat, when I'm already done cooking!

I also let everyone have a part in planning my menu. You would still have to cook it of course, but at least one of your family members (who ever picked that nights meal) is so happy.. it seems worth it.

 

[las3888]

Maybe this is lame, but we do a lot of 'sloppy joe's...I just buy 'manwhich or whatever is on sale ($1-2), buns ($1-$2), ground beef, and then maybe make a little corn on the cob or frozen corn. You can also throw out a handful of potato chips (okay, not incredibly healthy, but a treat and will draw the young ones in). You can always make dinner salads with it too.

I also ditto the tacos...I make it even easier...I used canned chicken (I like Sam's Club and buy in bulk there)...just shred the chicken, use lawry's taco seasoning or whatever you like, throw in some water and let it simmer...chop up lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, add shells and a little sour cream...voila!

Also, with the sloppy joe's, you can ground the beef and then let them simmer with the manwhich in a crockpot...then at dinner time, all you have to do is scoop them in a bun.

Good luck...

 

[luv2nascar]

crockpot is super easy - cheap and good tasting. Whatever you put in there tastes good after 8 hrs. I love a whole chicken, quartered red potatoes, onions, celery, and carrots in there. Spices and broth and you are good to go. Best part is the left over can become soup, stew, or something else.

 

[estherhead]

I make menus too, but I also have "fall-backs" that are super easy so that when I'm just overwhelmed (like today) I can break out the comfort food & still be in budget. Hotdogs & frozen french fries tonight. Not classy, but EASY. Spaghetti and Texas Toast. Then I have the things on my menu too. For me, this works well.

Even on a night that I'm just "cooked" I always have cans of green beans & boxed mashed potatoes. I have dh pick up KFC chicken & a bit of gravy (sometimes they throw it in for free) for $8.00 while I heat up the green beans & potatoes in the microwave. Healthy? Perhaps not, but it satisfies the whiner (I don't WANT to cook tonight, WAAAAHHH!) in me without breaking the bank.

 

[StephMK]

All my kids know is quick & easy. They are picky so I get tired of trying to figure who will eat what. I know I could force them but I hate to eat things I don't like so baby steps/taster bites work for them for now. I also keep a few frozen pizzas bought on sale in the freezer. Cheaper than take out, not healthy but not awful, quick & EVERYONE will eat w/o complaint.

Sometimes it's just easier to buy a few of those less healthy/junkier/fast food type meals to have around for the nights you're tempted to eat out. I consider tacos fairly healthy -beef, cheese, tortillas, sneak in some beans & salad. One of their favs is chicken cut up & cooked in a pan with some Italian dressing. Broccoli & rolls or noodles & we're good to go.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I keep a calendar of all my meals so I can look back on it. Different colors for liked, loved, and please don't make again. Also I will buy a frozen cheese pizza. I will put fresh veggies on it and cook it up. I keep the picky people part plain cheese. I serve with a salad and fresh fruit. This is our movie night meal. I personally only eat one piece of the pizza so we only need to buy one.

Also, I just plain refuse to allow myself to go into a fast-food place. If I want Chinese, I take another side road home and get a large glass of water til the craving passes...

 

[buzz5985]

This past Sunday I BBQ'd steak, chicken, pork loin, sausages, hamburgers. We have enough for our dinners this week, and a lot of the chicken will be thrown in a salad for lunchs. A couple of nights each week we have fish - but I cook that fresh, also on the grill. We do this a lot during the summer.

 

[dpratt68]

I have always been afraid to cook fish (basically because I don't know how) How do you cook it? I especially love scallops

 

[ZPT1022]

Do as I say, not as I do ...but....

if I were you I would try putting something together the night before. Knowing that you just have to come home and pop a lasagna in the oven will make it seem like much less of a chore than having to come home after working all day and still having to cook. Before bed or before you leave for work in the morning arrange everything for the night's meal. Whether that means putting together a casserole, marinating something as a main dish and putting the sides together, or putting all the ingredients in the crock pot insert. Knowing that it is there might just make it easier to pass by the take out- more than half the work (or all of it with the crock pot!) is already done. Plus if you stop when something is already waiting, you will waste what is waiting at home. I don't know about you but I *hate* wasting stuff- it's like throwing money away.

 

[kismet1003]

This may sound like a stupid question, but I am very interested in taking a portion of my day sunday to make a good portion of meals for the week.
My question is...once I freeze them, how do you prepare the food? Do you let it thaw in the fridge the night before than heat in the oven or stove top or do you heat from frozen?
Obviously, I've never frozen cooked food before

 

[rbramblett]

Thanks for all the great ideas.

 

[Liberty Belle]

One meal I have when I don't feel like cooking is kielbasa, mashed potatoes (if I'm tired, I used instant), lima beans, and saukraut. It's not the healthiest meal, but it's filling, cheap, and easy.

Another thing I do is buy salad fixings and raw veggies and chop them up on the weekends. They're good for snacking and if you're not wanting to cook, you can throw them all together (along with some cubed ham or something) and call it dinner.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

This may sound like a stupid question, but I am very interested in taking a portion of my day sunday to make a good portion of meals for the week.
My question is...once I freeze them, how do you prepare the food? Do you let it thaw in the fridge the night before than heat in the oven or stove top or do you heat from frozen?
Obviously, I've never frozen cooked food before

You could heat it frozen or thaw it out on the counter or in the fridge. Either way works.

 

[Disneefun]

I've been spending a good bit of time lately perusing campbellskitchen.com. There are a lot of quick and easy recipes on there that use their condensed cooking soups and broths. Most are things a lot of people will eat -- simple pasta and rice dishes-- that don't require a lot of effort and are cheap to make. I've gotten a ton of casserole dishes off of there and you can reduce the cost even further by buying the store brand of whatever soup is required. Most of the recipes will also work with the reduced fat and/or sodium varieties of the soups, making them good if you're conscious of those things. Most of the things I've made from there have like a 5-10 minute prep time and then cook for 30 minutes or so. Easy, fast, and can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for later.

 

[mnasmom3]

I'm a huge crock pot fan. You can use the cheapest cuts of meat and end up with a great meal. Yesterday I roasted a $3.xx chicken with 1/2 bottle of $1 Aldi's Italian dressing and it turned out really yummy. I made garlic mashed potatoes and green beans. The whole meal might have ended up costing me $6 tops and that fed 5 of us with leftovers for dh's lunch today.

 

[extremesoccermom]

Someone gave me a Rachael Ray cookbook, "Express Lane Meals" that might be good for someone like you who doesn't have a lot of time.

Rachael Ray was my first thought also. I love the food network and have my online recipe box full of Rachael Ray (30 Min Meals), Sandra Lee (Semi homemade), Robin Miller (Quick Fix Meals) and Ellie Krieger (Healthy Appetite).
These ladies make alot of quick and healthy meals that require very little time and are fun to make. My kids, DS18 and DD13 as well as DNephew6 love to help me, which makes cooking more fun.
Of course I do have my fall backs when I am tired or what I had planned just doesn't sound as good as it did earlier:
Frozen Pizza and Salad
Spaghetti (sometimes w/frozen meatballs or white sauce and precooked shrimp), Garlic Toast and Salad
Grilled Cheese and Soup
Breakfast (sausage, pancakes) the kids favorite
Smoked Sausage, Mashed Potatoes and Veggie

I also love homemade mashed potatoes but I really hate the prep work of peeling and taking the time to cook them so on the weekend I prepare a 5lb bag of potatoes and freeze a couple of big bowls for reheating. Simply pop it in a covered casserole and heat in the oven while a small roast or chicken breasts are baking. When I cook a whole chicken usually in the crockpot I take the leftover bones and make a broth that I divide into one cup containers and freeze to use as is or make a quick gravy.
I love the Once a Month Cooking website and follow some of their plans. One week I will do beef, one week chicken.... depending on the sales from that week. I now have enough freezer meals that I can mix it up during the week and not overload on one type of meat