Need SERIOUSLY BUDGET meal ideas!!!

[BellaNoche]

Hi folks! I really need the dirt cheapest meal ideas you can come up with. We are in a real crunch financially right now so I need to cut my grocery bill. I have a family of five one of which is a teenage boy . So it has to be a good amount of food! Thanks!!!

 

[fabfive]

I use stew meat put in my food processor to chop up a bit and make veggie soup. My kids take this for lunch at school rather than buying lunch. I also use my crock pot with the stew meat and make beef stroganoff over egg noodles. I have also began making my own pizza and calzones right down to the dough. If you use round steak, and pound it thin, you can make a great swiss steak in the oven very easy and inexpensive.

I will continue to think on it and if I come up with anything else, I will post it.

 

[problemchild718]

I am with you-some really tight $$$ times right now, family of 5-2 teenage boys! Do you use coupons? I save ALOT with them.
We have been doing alot of crock pot meals (see thread) because I can use cheaper cuts of meat and the meal gos a long way.
We also have a soup/salad/sandwich night. Sometimes we have breakfast for dinner (eggs, pancakes, ham -left over from prior meal), homemade pizza night.
Shepards pie, pasta dishes. I don't buy prepackaged snacks or drinks. We switched to Malt-o-Meal cereal-much cheaper. We also eat whats on sale-I make my meal plan around what have on hand and whats on sale

 

[Darcy03231]

I try to cook things I can get two meals out of. A couple of them are:

I make up a big batch of spaghetti sauce and meatballs and a big salad. One night we have meatball subs with salad and the next we have spaghetti and meatballs with salad and garlic bread.

Cook a good size turkey. On night one have a turkey dinner. For the second night I cut up the leftover turkey and put it in gravy with mixed vegetables and serve over biscuits. We also have enough left over for turkey sandwiches and I make turkey noodle soup (which gives us a third meal).

Cook a large ham. On night one have ham, baked potatoes, vegetable and salad. On night two cube the ham and add to macaroni and cheese and add a package (or can) of peas and serve with the remainder of the salad.

If your family doesn't like to eat the same things in a row each night, you can do the meatballs on night 1, turkey on night 2, ham on night 3, spaghetti & meatballs on night 4, turkey w/biscuits & gravy on night 5 and ham w/macaroni on night 6.

 

[happily single]

Homemade mac and cheese
$.50 for a box of macaroni or ziti
$2.50 for a block of cedar chesse

Boil macaroni
heat about 1-2 tablespoons of butter/magarine in a sauce pan, throw in same about of flour to make a roux (spelling). Add cedar cheese (which has been cut into small cubes to make melting easier)
Add some garlic salt, pepper and milk or cream to make a smooth mixture, stiring a lot so that hte cheese doesn't melt. When all the cheese is melted add to macaroni and bake (with or without breadcrumbs) until golden brown

I just made this tonight
Cheap, filling and good

 

[fabfive]

Yes, I do coupon. I started this about 4 months ago. I save a ton of money on laundry soap, shampoo, deoderant, tooth paste etc.

I also use the ads to plan my meals. One thing I have done recently, is to buy the roasted chicken in the deli ($2.99 to $3.99) and make my own chicken salad rather than paying 7.99 a pound in the deli.

 

[Green Tea]

Baked potato bar. Bake the potatoes, put out chopped red peppers, cheese, herbs you might have growing in pots, diced tomatoes, crumbled bacon, whatever you have and let everyone fix their own.

 

[stahshee]

here is a cheap meal that my kids love fratata (sp) you will need 1-2 cans of potaoes drained and sliced . Fry them in oil or butter
( get them crispy)
then drain again .
then place them in a large skillet
add broccoli ( it will still work with out it)
add some cheese slices 3-4 (what ever kind of cheese you like or have.


in a seperate bowl beat 3-4 eggs and 1/2 cup of milk. Poor mix over potoes and broccoli and bake for 25- 30 min ???

 

[stahshee]

Homemade mac and cheese
$.50 for a box of macaroni or ziti
$2.50 for a block of cedar chesse

Boil macaroni
heat about 1-2 tablespoons of butter/magarine in a sauce pan, throw in same about of flour to make a roux (spelling). Add cedar cheese (which has been cut into small cubes to make melting easier)
Add some garlic salt, pepper and milk or cream to make a smooth mixture, stiring a lot so that hte cheese doesn't melt. When all the cheese is melted add to macaroni and bake (with or without breadcrumbs) until golden brown

I just made this tonight
Cheap, filling and good

add 3-4 spoon fulls of salsa to the cheese mix and it becomes Mexican Mac and cheese . I love it!!!!!!!

 

[acename]

46 oz can of tomato juice
2 cans of black beans
1 can mexican corn
1 package of taco seasoning
1 package of ranch seasoning

I left it in the crock pot for about 4 hours on high. I got about 10 bowls out of it too.

 

[rdevine10]

The best things I do for a budget in the meat department is:

Cook a tureky, ham, large chicken etc and you can get several types of meals out of it.

Example:

1 night of the meat as roasted etc

Then use some to do the following:

Quesadillas make with leftover meat

Soup(make homemade from some leftover meat) & Sandwiches

Make them into "salads"... eitehr as a topping ontop a garden (like chef salad) or Chicken salad, turkey salad, etc. We add chickpeas to ours to "make it go a little further", but its really DH's Grandmothers recipe and she lived through the depression and never wasted a thing!

Also, I will pick every last darn piece of meat off the bones too!

With ham, you can also have eggs and ham for dinner one night too.

You can search online for more recipes for "leftover" meats, there are TONS of them.

(We always call our whole chicken meal, welfare chicken, as I can get 3 meals from a 6 pound chicken for our size family, and I get them when they go on sale for 69 to 79 cents a pound.

I try to cook low cost and not a lot of processed foods. So, its a lot of sale shopping and meal planning (HUGE cost cutter), coupons, and budget recipes.

 

[BeckyScott]

The 3-day-rubber-chicken. In your case, it might take 2 chickens, but still cheap.

First night, baked chicken and baked vegetables.

Second night, pick off the pieces and make either chicken salad or some sort of Mexican (chicken nachos, chicken burritos) or Italian (chicken with pasta) or Chinese (stir-fried rice and chicken)

Third night, boil everything else, strain and pick off any meat you can, dump in any leftover veggies, and make chicken soup.

 

[Magic2000]

Here's an inexpensive meal my family likes, and I can usually get at least two meals out of it!

1 lb of ground meat (or ground turkey)
1 can corn
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes
2 pks ramen noodles

Brown ground meat & drain. Add corn and rotel tomatoes. Simmer for a few minutes. Add the ramen noodles (first break into smaller pieces) Mix; and cook until the noodles are tender.

The first night, I may serve this with corn bread. The next time, I'll serve with a salad or biscuits.

 

[MiNNiE2185]

Heres one I love.....
Cook rice, add tomato sauce, canned pinto beans, and hamburger meat...serve on corn tortillas and top with cheese and sour cream...Yum!

 

[extremesoccermom]

Here are a couple not really healthy although you can add a salad, veggies, bread or fruit on the side. You can also easily double these for the bigger appetites.

Hot Dog Soup
Saute diced med onion and green pepper in a little butter or EVOO
Dump in one can of Campbells (or Store Brand) plain baked beans, one can of pineapple chunks and one package of hotdogs. Heat through.

Goulosh
Brown 1lb hamburger meat and drain. Prepare a box of mac and cheese as directed on box. Mix hamburger into prepared mac and cheese and add one can of diced tomatoes. Extra cheese can be added also.

We also like breakfast for dinner. Pancakes or eggs and sausage. YUM

Spaghetti with or with out meat.

Tacos

 

[StephMK]

There are lots of casseroles that use rice or noodles. I think those are great for stretching meat while being filling. I can make a huge pan of hot chicken salad that will last through dinner and some lunches. Big pot of cooked rice, mix in some cut up chicken, celery, water chestnuts if you like them, spices, cream of mush soup, mayo & milk to make it semi soupy. Cook 20 minutes & ready to go. I don't know why but we just love it & it's my fav comfort food.

Chili would be another good, easy cheap way to fill up a bunch.

 

[alliedogsmom]

1 lb chopped meat
1 large green pepper, diced
1 large onion, diced
2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste
1 lb elbow macaroni
salt
pepper
parmesan cheese

Cook elbows, drain and rinse. Set aside. Brown chopped meat, drain. Remove from pan, add pepper and onion, cook until tender. Add in chopped meat and cooked elbows and 2 cans tomato paste and 2 cans water. Mix all together, heat, add salt, pepper and parmesan cheese to taste. Makes a large pot full, alot healthier than Hamburger Helper, heats well in a microwave, and tastes even better the next day if there are any leftovers! You can even get by on less than a pound of chopped meat if you have to.

 

[Siouxstone]

I don't know how serious your situation is, but if you go to www.hillbillyhousewife.com, she has a $45 emergency menu and a $70 everyday menu that has some great ideas. It is based on a family of 5 or 6 people. Most of the $45 menu is meat free. It does require cooking and making milk from powder. I've baked the family bread from this site before and made the homemade tortillas. The bread is really good and hearty.

We usually have a beans & rice meal once a week because everyone loves them and they are crockpot friendly. We love red beans & rice, black beans w/rice, tomatoes & cheese, and black-eyed peas served over yellow rice. We serve with tortillas, cornbread or rolls.

My fav red beans & rice recipe:
1 lb dried red beans
1 med onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded & diced
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon cajun seasoning- I like Tony Chachere's
4 slices bacon
2 cups cooked rice

Pre-soak beans overnight. Combine beans, onion, bacon & 6 cups cold water in the crockpot. Cook on high 4 hours. Add bell pepper & seasonings, cook for 30 more minutes. Pour in rice or put rice in individual bowls.

 

[mickeyfan2]

When a whole chicken is on sale I buy one and roast it with carrots, potatoes and an onion. Have the chicken for dinner and then take the left overs and boil them. This makes a great chicken stock. Let it boil about two hours. strain the broth and all the extra meat put back in. Throw out everything else. Then the next day have homemade chicken soup.

 

[twooley2]

I made chicken pot pie the other day and kids loved it.
Use cream of chicken soup 4 cans
1 c s cream
left over chicken cut up
sm bag or can of mixed vegetables
mix this and pour into a baking dish
than make a mixture of pioneer baking mix and milk
por over top and cook at 350 till golden brown

you can do the same with sloppy joe mix and hamburger to make the baking mix be useful for several things

the baking mix also makes pancakes and buiscuts