Cheap meals

tlv204

I need everyone's suggestions for really cheap but yummy  meals. Preferably not macaroni and cheese (although a recipe for homemade mac and cheese would be nice) or ramen.  DH and I eat like scavengers (i.e. mac and cheese and ramen often, throw in chips and fatty dips), and are also trying to save hard core for a house. What do you like to eat that is relatively healthy and cheap? Easy to make would be a bonus, i'm not a chef.

jen629

My favorite cheap meal is ground beef ,campbells vegetable beef soup and egg noodles ( although I now use whole wheat noodles). I brown the ground beef  add 2 cans of soup and boil the noodles. Once everything is cooked I drain the noodles and add it all together. I made this up as a child and my family loves it. You can obviously make it healthier by using leaner meat and whole wheat  noodles but its my favorite crave..or tuna casserole

jajph1974

Check out this websitehttp://www.recipezaar.com/You can search for recipes by ingredient, like whatever you have on hand. I use it whenever I'm stuck.

mocha beans

I'm snacking on homemade bruschetta on little toasts.Chop up some roma tomatoes and some fresh basil.  Add some olive oil, some chopped garlic, and some oregano.  A little dab of salt and pepper.  Let it sit for a few hours to blend the flavors together.  I sometimes add some balsamic vinegar.Tuna melts are good too.  Tuna salad on sliced english muffins with a tomato slice and cheese.  Pop in the toaster oven till the cheese is melty.Oven braised beef:3-4 lbs of beef roast1-2 cans of diced tomatoesHead of garlic, cloves peeledPut it all together in a dutch oven, cover, and pop in the oven at 350* for an hour or so.

Brie2010

We use our crock pot a lot.  Yesterday I cooked a little over a two pound roast ($9 on sale) in the crockpot with a little beef broth, water, and garlic.  We had it last night for dinner just sliced with brown rice, and tonight on sandwiches with baked sweet potatoes and there's enough for lunch tomorrow for FI.  So, 5 meals for about $9.Chili's another good one in the crockpot.  I throw in lentils, crushed tomatoes, apple juice, water, garlic, and ground turkey and just let it go.  About 20 minutes before it's done we season it with garlic powder, chili powder, cayenne, and salsa.  It makes enough that we can freeze about 6 servings for lunches or dinner later.

TraciL10

Layer a greased pan with cooked chicken breast, add some chopped onion, and celery, take cream of celery soup and mix it with some chicken broth til it is creamy, pour that over it, sprinkle a bag of frozen peas&carrots and add some potatoes(cooked but not all the way done) on the top, mix bisquick with milk and pour over the top, bake at 350 til it is bubbly and brown on top

TraciL10

Take cooked chicken breast and mix with (red hot sauce and margarine, the margarine will take some heat out of it, put it on the stove on low until the margarine melts) this sauce and spread it on tortillas and sprinkle on cheese of your choice, throw it on a griddle or frying pay and grill it on both sides

longboatbride

Stir fry broccoli florets (I'll usually steam it a bit first) in olive oli with some red pepper flakes. When tender melt some mozerella on top and toss with angel hair. Another one.Take a pound of ground chicken. Add seasoning (garlic, pepper, ground thyme - whatever you like), an egg, some breadcrumbs, minced onion. Form into nuggets. Roll in additional seasoned breadcrumbs. Bake. Homemade chicken nuggets and so much healthier. Also, add a package of diced mushrooms to a pound of ground turkey, add usual seasoning, make into hamburger patties and grill. You'll get twice as many burgers and they are super juicy with the mushrooms.

The_Fried_Monkey

If you have an A&P supermarket near you, they always have awesome sales on meats.  I buy chicken breasts by the ton when they are on sale.  Also look for farmers markets or fruit & veggie stands.  I just went to one this weekend.  For a little over $20 I got a ridiculous amount of produce.  My fridge is packed.  I'm going to have to cook and freeze most of it, but its so worth it.Best advice my Mom gave me was to eat what is on sale.  Check online weekly and just buy what's on sale.  I have a friend who does this and manages to feed herself, hiusband and 3 kids for under $100 a week.

angie74

buy a crock pot and a crock pot cookbook- it's easy, cheap, and can be very healthy

shellydiane820

This might be gross (fi thinks it is)  I make my own chicken broth and I can drink it.  I will put some in a mug and just drink it or maybe dip some bread in it.  Its low in fat and its lots of protein so it fills me up.

TraciL10

Good advice The_Fried_Monkey, we do that also. Our local meat market has some awesome deals at times on cases of boneless chicken breasts and pork chops, we'll get it by the case and separate it into freezer bags, saves A LOT of money. The best thing we ever bought was a deep freezer from Walmart.

angelandlibby

Ground turkey is usually 1.99 a pound at Shoprite.  I don't use ground beef for anything anymore.  I make turkey meatballs, turkey burgers, turkey meatloaf. 

a_schaal

If your grocery store has an olive/Mediterranean bar, check if they have pesto.  Otherwise, you can make it yourself, or get it pre-packaged, but it's much more expensive this way.Make pasta.  Drain.  Add pesto and some olive oil.  Add toasted pine nuts if you can (olive oil + pan + heat + pine nuts 'til browned, but watch them closely)You can add chicken prepared pretty much any way, but I like to grab some chicken, dust it with flour, then dip in egg, then in a mix of ground pine nuts and parmesan cheese.  Get good parmesan cheese, don't use the crap in the cans.  Heat some olive oil up and throw 'em in.  Cook 'til done, then slice up and place over pasta.Costs about $10 and it'll feed you both for a week.

ricksang

Do you like tuna? I "fry" some canned/drained tuna in olive oil with chopped onions, bell peppers, and seasoning. I put it over whole wheat angel hair pasta and top it with a little parmesan.

sucrets4

We just had yummy burritos, with the fake crumbles for me.  We decided to be 'fancy' and made a can of refried beans, got out some taco sauce, sour cream, shredded cheese and tomatoes.  Holy crap were they amazing!  Usually I'm lazy and just have sour cream and cheese on top. 

JuliaGoolia719

one of our fav crock pot meals....4 boneless chicken breasts2 cans condensed cheese soup2 cans condensed cream of chicken soupcook on low for 8 hrsshred the chicken w a  fork and mix up againserve over biscuits and we can usually eat it for about 3 meals

tlv204

Thanks! I ran off for a while to do some grocery shopping, and I used a lot of the advice   We spent about the same amount we usually do, but instead of chips and junk we actually got meat and canned goods and veggies to make real meals!

ThePinkSuperhero

Beans, I love beans.  And eggs.  Both cheap and delicious sources of protein.  I like to fry up some beans in a pan, and then, on low heat, add some scrambled eggs (w/ milk or cream) and cook together slowly until the eggs are just all together.

SoonToBeMrsDoctorDan

Do you have a Trader Joes near you??  FI works crazy hours and I'm usually too tired to create a feast, so I stock up on the Trader Joes frozen meals.  Usually you just have to heat in a skillet, add something or another.  And Trader Joes is super healthy and cheap.  In NY they don't have wine, but on the west coast they do ... a little bonus

cbell090509

For a cheap meal, I like breakfast for dinner.  I make omelettes with ingredients I already have on hand like peppers, onion, mushrooms, spinach and cheese.  I also like to sautee some onion and garlic, add a can of diced tomatoes, a can of chickpeas, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, lemon.  When it's all heated through I put it on top of some brown minute rice. 

Beadlz

We eat a lot of potatoes.  A baked potato with some broccoli on top and maybe some low fat cheese is always a good cheap choice.  I also like to buy Morningstars fake ground meat, which is fairly inexpensive depending on where you get it, or meatless meatballs, and add that to the mix for protein.