What is your favorite $5-7 dinner?

Great thread- but you've lost me already. Im assuming Aldi's is a regional store because Ive never heard of it here in MA. But a gallon of milk is a dollar?? And eggs are 60 cents??
We have Aldi and our prices are nowhere near that here. Must be regional.
 
1. 1 bag fettuccine
2. 1 jar marinara sauce
3. 2-4 chicken apple sausages cut into pieces and cooked on a frying pan
4. parmesan cheese

Cook pasta and top with sauce and mix in chicken apple sausage. Optional to top with parmesan cheese. It should be less than $7
 
How I got through my first year off at college (1999-2000) on $20/week --

1. Spaghetti and ground beef -- $1/each
2. Grilled Cheese -- 25 cents/each
3. Peanut Butter Sandwiches -- Don't remember how much the PB cost.

Sadly, the days of buying 3 Subway Footlongs for $8.99/9.99 and eating for 2-3 days are long gone.
 


My favorite - all milk quiche with roasted veg and fruit salad:)...
Aldi pie crust $.65 (1 of 2 - you can use a scratch one, but I hate making crusts)
5-6 large eggs (1 dozen have been around $.60 at Aldi's) $.30
1 cupish whole milk (1/16 of gal Aldi milk that's been $1 this year) $.06
Salt/Pepper $.10
I like to really fill my quiche high - you can use less egg or milk if you want...
The filling - the family's most popular is ham and cheese or bacon and cheese
- Bacon 1/4lb cooked and diced $1 ($4/lb pack - I buy Aldi thick cut or on sale grocery Smithfield) - ham is cheaper if you like that more
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese 1/2 cup shredded ($2 8 oz - bag or shred myself) $.50
Total Quiche Cost $2.61

Roasted Veg is 1lb veg + olive oil + S&P - Broccoli, Green Beans, or Asparagus are my go-to's for this meal b/c they work so well with eggs - I get each on sale fresh for $1.49/lb or less (green beans are $.99, and broccoli can be $.99 or $1.29) + 1TB olive oil and s&p makes it about $1.65

Fruit Salad - I like a berry base that I add kiwi or bananas or grapes - I make this when strawberries are $1.50/lb
Strawberries $1.50
Other Fruit $1 (1 large or 2 small bananas and 1 kiwi as an example - this will make 5-6 people worth of fruit, so plan accordingly)
You can macerate with a little sugar and liquor, but I like this straight most of the time
Fruit Salad $2.50

Total full meal cost $6.76 (this feeds 4+, but you can just have yummy leftover lunches:)...it feels fancy and decadent, but when you see how little a quiche with a fruit cup and veg costs, you'll practically never pay for it again:)...

If you sub cream or 1/2 and 1/2, your cost probably goes up $.50 or $1, but I love whole milk in quiche b/c it tastes much lighter and I love the light almost "fluff" feeling you get:)...

I also do broccoli and cheese as a quiche and will wrap asparagus with bacon and roast and call that a meal, so this meals has a lot of change up possibilities:)...


Do you know if this recipe would work with Lactaid (lactose free) whole milk? Thank you :)
 
How I got through my first year off at college (1999-2000) on $20/week --

1. Spaghetti and ground beef -- $1/each
2. Grilled Cheese -- 25 cents/each
3. Peanut Butter Sandwiches -- Don't remember how much the PB cost.

Sadly, the days of buying 3 Subway Footlongs for $8.99/9.99 and eating for 2-3 days are long gone.

Wow.... our ground beef is now $3-5 per pound..... ouch
 
Wow.... our ground beef is now $3-5 per pound..... ouch

Prices have gone up and keep going up, some things more than others.

Rotisserie Chicken - 150% (250% if you count the discount Winn-Dixie used to apply later in the day)
Shredded Cheese - 60%
Ground Beef - 50-100%
Sliced Bread - 25-50%
Pasta - 30%
 


Do you know if this recipe would work with Lactaid (lactose free) whole milk? Thank you :)

You know, I don't know, I've thankfully never had to use that product (since we can all have lactose here - knock on wood:))...but what's the harm in trying? Since it's a little eggier than normal quiche, it should hold a lot better...I'd probably start with the milk just at 1 cup (sometimes I go as high as 1.5 cups with whole milk) and see how it goes:)...I'd probably check the cook time at 10 minutes before it should be done and up to 10 minutes after...I might also do a plain quiche with just cheese, so my price lost if it fails is low:)...
 
Pure laziness. Ground beef 90/10 cases are about 80 pounds. I can write in 80 meals using that meat over a certain period. Say we do spaghetti every other week. I know to buy 26 jars of sauce if it goes on sale.

Or you can make it really cheap and freeze it or freeze parts of it.

I buy the Costco pesto in the large jar, take it out and freeze it in ice cube trays and then put it in zip locks. When I need some, I just pull out a cube or two. I use it for pesto salmon, sauces, etc....
 
I'm shocked at some of these prices. I can't get anything anywhere near as cheap around here.
 
Since it uses a national ad, some of the Aldi prices should be the same everywhere, at least on produce...I'm not surprised there's variation on the other products, since I know one thing my Aldi's doesn't follow are the super-low meat prices (thus, I buy meat elsewhere)...
 
This recipe Roasted Vegetable Pasta i made it with 7$
1 medium eggplant, cubed
1 red onion, cut crosswise, quartered and cubed
2 yellow or red bell peppers, cored, seeded and cubed
4 medium ripe tomatoes, quartered
1 package penne or fusilli pasta
3 Tbsp. pine nuts, lightly toasted
½ cup basil, torn
⅓ cup Parmesan cheese

Marinade
Whisk together:

¼ cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. sherry vinegar
2 Tbsp. fresh basil
2 tsp. garlic, minced
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
https://meal5.com/simple-healthy-recipes/how-make-roasted-vegetable-pasta
 
I like to buy the big packs of boneless skinless chicken breasts when on sale at kroger $1.99/lb. Usually runs me about $10/pack, but this is ok bc I can freeze the following and get several meals"
Mexican shredded chicken:
I large pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts (this is usually 5-7 large breast pieces in one of these packs)
1 large jar of salsa
1 package of taco seasoning

Place chicken in crockpot (can even do still frozen instead of thawed) and cover with taco seasoning and then salsa
Cook on high 4-6 hours or low 6-8 hours.
Shred with forks before removing from crockpot.

I freeze in gallon freezer bags and it thaws and reheats well.

Can serve over tortilla chips with cheese sauce and various toppings for shredded chicken nachos, can use for tacos, taco salad, quesadillas, burrito or enchilada filling, I've even been known to serve stand alone covered with a little queso and some refried or black beans on the side. There are 3 of us, and a crockpot full of this will get us 4-5 meals easy.
 
Lentil and brown rice tacos

I love Aldi's, but ours does not have $1 gallons of milk or 60 cent eggs. I pay $2.39 for a gallon which is about 90 cents lower than the grocery store. I don't buy my eggs there, if they were 60 cents I definitely would.

I found this true at both of the "closest to us" Aldi's (45min-1hr either direction). I have never seen eggs or milk that cheap there. In fact, they were the same or more than at my local walmart.
 
Our Aldi prices are much higher than in this thread too. Ours remodeled so I guess they have to pay for that somehow!

Our Aldi remodeled and has eggs for .45 a dozen and milk for 1.67. It's been those prices for months.
I am aware of another Aldi downstate that has eggs .29 a dozen and milk for .98 a gallon.

I just paid .59 for a dozen of large eggs at Meijer tonight.
 
What part of the country are you? I was at Aldi this week and the eggs were 1.99 and milk is 3.99.
 
Are you in a state with minimum price floors? Some states have them on these products...

I don't think that's it. I think it must be regional.
We are in Wisconsin, which as far as I know, has minimum mark-up laws, and we are on the low end of prices for milk and eggs at Aldi.
 

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