Quick, easy money saving BUDGET MEALS

[disneydani1]

Hey everyone!
Just wondering if any of you would like to start a thread on quick, easy, money-saving budget meal recipes? It would be kind of fun knowing you may be helping another Disney family save some money while dining on your very own recipe! So, what do you say?

 

[jkmmah]

OK, I'm game...

Here's a very simple one I threw together the other night and I loved it! I made it so it would fit into my Weight Watcher lifestyle but you could use regular soda instead of the diet to get the same results.

BBQ'd Black Beans and Corn

Saute 1/2 a chopped onion in some non stick spray. Add a little bit of minced garlic and saute until it's all soft. Add 1/2 C. diet cola and 1/2 C. ketchup. Let it boil up, then turn down the heat so it can simmer. Throw in a can of black beans (rinsed), and a can of whole kernel corn (drained). Let it simmer, uncovered for aobut 20-30 minutes, or until the sauce is as thick as you like.

If you want you could add in some cooked ground beef to make it heartier. I love it both ways. It's really good served over a bed of lettuce for a BBQ salad.

Enjoy!

I look forward to reading others' recipes!

 

[TNKBELL]

Not really a recipe, just a thought... How about a good old fashioned breakfast, waffles, omelets,toast,hashbrowns. juice? We do this at least 1 day a week, my Dks love their waffles slathered with peanut butter! Pancake mix is so cheap and even cheaper homemade and who can beat the price of eggs? You can also add potato hash browns or cubed. Potatoes are also usually less than $2.00 for a 5lb. bag. Another variation on the egg thing.. Quiche (My Dh won't eat it though ) you can put in ham or sausage and you can make a shredded potato crust with a little butter and bake that first and then add the rest.Great thread idea!!

 

[pjlla]

Baked potato night..... one large baked pot. for each person and lots of topping choices... chili (maybe leftover from another meal), cheese sauce (quick and easy to make), broccoli and cheese, bacon (only as a condiment), sour cream.

I add extra "fillers" to lots of casseroles and such to stretch them.... extra macaroni in my tuna casserole makes it go much further and it is not as rich. (Sadly, I haven't made it in quite a while, as DH eats very few carbs now.)

Homemade soup.... save the carcass from a whole chicken, or even the bones from a cut up chicken.... boil in a large pot of water with a hunk of onion, a few peppercorns, bay leaf, carrot.... let boil down to about half volume. Strain broth carefully. If there was any meat remaining on the carcass, add it to the broth. If you want to eliminate fat, chill the broth and skim the fat from the top before continuing. As far as soup ingredients, I am very liberal.... whatever is handy goes in. Canned, fresh, frozen, leftover veggies.... Zucchini, corn, beans (green, black, or kidney), carrots, celery, onion. I put a starch in such as potatoes, rice (precooked) or macaroni (precooked so it doesn't absorb all the broth). Even if it only has a little chicken in it, we are still very satisfied with it.

I have a great Mennonite cookbook with lots of THRIFTY recipes. I will take a peek at it later and let you know what I find!................P

 

[grlpwrd]

Yes, potatoes with toppings, soups, and breakfast-for-dinner are great.

Others:
- You can buy a whole chicken fryer and stretch it to last several meals. Boil it for chicken soup and save the meat for other dinners like chicken and dumplings, chicken quesidillas, chicken salad, etc.

- Yes, eggs are versatile and cheap, too. You can make quiches, omelets, etc.

- Pasta dishes are good and relatively cheap. You can use less meat or forego it and cook a batch of your own sauce which makes it even cheaper. Ramen noodles are also versatile and you can make dishes out of the noodles without using the seasoning packet. Recipes are floating on the web.

- Rice dishes could be frugal, too. Rice mix recipes like the kind you buy in the store can be found at http://busycooks.about.com/library/recipes/blconveniencemix.htm

- Of course, salads or stirfries can be good, frugal dinners, too, especially if you grow your own veggies.

- www.miserlymoms.com has a collection of frugal recipes, too.

HTH

 

[rkmassa]

Taco Soup
1 Lb. ground chuck
1 can whole corn and juice
1 can chili beans and sauce
2 cups tomato juice
1 (14 oz) can tomato sauce
1 pkg taco seasoning mix (envelope)

Brown and drain ground chuck. Add corn and juice, chili beans and sauce, tomato juice, tomato sauce and taco seasoning mix. Cook together until hot. Simmer until ready to serve. Top with grated cheese, sour cream, corn chips, and shredded lettuce.
*I double this recipe and used my crock pot.*

Yummy, and goes a long way.

 

[emer95]

I totally agree with the poster who mentioned growing your own veggies! I love my vegetable garden. For less than $20 we get a bounty at the end of summer. There's nothing I love better than going barefoot into my backyard and figuring out what to make for dinner. I buy potted veggie plants and share w/friends & family. I don't really need 6 zucchini plants, after all.
The BBQ black beans dish sounds delish! I'm going to buy beans tomorrow and make it!

 

[DisneyCrazyX5]

My sons love egg burritos. Scrambled eggs, cheese, wrapped in a flour tortilla. My husband and I like to add lettuce, salsa, black beans or sour cream. Anything you have in the frig. that would be good on a burrito works. It is a quick, cheap meal and we usually have all the ingredients on hand.

We also like taco rice. Brown ground beef and add taco seasoning. Add I can of chopped tomatoes and 1-2 cups of rice. (amount depends of number of people you need to serve). Ths is great in taco shells, burritos, or on chips as a taco salad.