I need cheap meal ideas

[midlight21]

Thanks for the recipes TK!

[Tightwad Kitty]

These recipes that I am posting now I have not tested! Let me know how you find them, if you do!

This recipe is part of recipe book that I am compiling ‘Cucina povera Cookbook.'

El cheapo Rice and Vegetables in a Pot ~ main meal

2 cups raw rice
8 cups water or stock
3 cups mixed vegetables, diced - see note
2 teaspoons vegetable or chicken stock powder

Put water and all other ingredients into a large stockpot or saucepan.
Bring to the boil.
Cover and simmer on low heat very gently for one hour or until all vegetables are tender.
Do keep a watch on the water and add more if required.

Note: Mixed vegetables, depending on what is in season and the cheapest at the time. Carrots, yellow sweet potato, pumpkin, celery, peas or green beans. You could use best generic “Mixed Vegetables’ from freezer section (that is already diced), this is what I use when vegetables are expensive along with one or two cups of the above. Serves Four.

Do have a glass of milk or fruit juice with this, along with a piece of fruit to add more nutritional value.

Use brown rice, as it’s a little healthier than white rice, which is just a filler, and gives you very little nutritional value.

Use one cup of rice to two cups of water or stock. From each cup of raw rice you get about three cups cooked rice, enough for 2 – 4 servings depending on the other items that you are serving. Portion serving is 3/4 cup cooked rice.

Note: Remember that Rice and Vegetables are the cheapest meals around if you can get the vegetables for free or almost free! Rice's volume of making 3 cups cooked rice to 1 cup raw rice, makes it one of the cheapest fillers too! So if money is very short put rice on the shopping list.

More to follow

[Tightwad Kitty]

This recipe is part of recipe book that I am compiling ‘Cucina povera Cookbook.'

When Chicken drumsticks come on special at the supermarkets, they make a very economical meal.

This is frugal and delicious crockpot recipe has helped many a family through some lean times and the smell in the house whilst cooking is divine!

French Onion Chicken - Crockpot ~ main meal
(Serves 5)
10 chicken drumsticks
1 large tin whole tomatoes 800g, crushed
1 packet French onion soup
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup water
3 teaspoons chopped parsley (garnish)

Fry the chopped onion in small amount of oil in a skillet for a couple of minutes.
While cooking, put the drumsticks in the base of the crockpot.
Combine tomatoes, soup, soy sauce, water and cooked onion in a jug. Pour over chicken, turn and coat well. Cover and cook on low for eight hours.

Serve with basmati rice and steamed vegetables.

For a variations
Add curry powder or chicken stock powder to spice it up a little.

More to follow!

[Tightwad Kitty]

This recipe is part of recipe book that I am compiling ‘Cucina povera Cookbook.'

Peanut Rissoles ~ light meal

5 tablespoons peanut butter
6 tablespoons cold water
12 tablespoons breadcrumbs (fresh about 5 slices of bread)
1 medium onion (chopped fine)
Mix all together with the back of a spoon until you form a paste like mass.
Form into six – eight rissoles. Dredge lightly with flour and pan fry in a little oil until crisp and brown.

These are great with tomato sauce or gravy, flattened and used as hamburgers in a bun, or cold and served with salad.
You can halve the recipe if you need to too!

WARNING! : Make sure that no one has a Peanut allergy.

Most people that use peanut butter would have bread and onion too!
This one is the most unsual recipe that I have found so far! It's a bit like stretching a peanut butter sandwich to feed three or four. This recipe is idea for empty wallet days.

I must try this one out! ~ kitty
More To follow!

[Tightwad Kitty]

This recipe is part of recipe book that I am compiling ‘Cucina povera Cookbook.'

Ground Beef and Rice Hotpot ~ main meal
The following is a recipe for mince and rice hotpot.

Ingredients:
2.2 lb (1 kg) regular ground beef
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
1 large carrot, diced
1 zucchini, diced medium
1 can crushed tomatoes
2- 4 beef stock cubes
2 litres boiling water
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) uncooked rice

Recipe:
Brown ground beef (a fork is ideal when breaking it up to ensure even browning). Drain the excess fat when the mince has browned, as regular ground beef is notoriously high in fat content. Put to one side while the carrot onions etc are cooking

First, heat a knob of butter in your stove-top hotpot (this adds a lovely flavour to the mix). Gently sauté the onion, garlic and pepper, and then add the carrot. When the carrot has softened, add the drained ground beef mixture.

Add zucchini and crushed tomatoes and stir well. Dissolve stock cubes in boiling water and add to mixture. Add rice and stir, stir, stir! Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring regularly to prevent sticking, adding extra water as required. Serve with garlic bread or rolls.

Note: you can brown the ground beef and cook carrots, onion mixture at the same time. So that both are ready at the same time!

Serves enough to feed family of five (Two adults and 3 children) dinner, plus lunches at work for two and a quick snack next day for the children. So you could get up to six or eight meals from this one depending on size of portions.

Buy regular ground beef when it’s at lowest on special per pound or a kilo. When bread rolls for six or twelve packs are marked down at end of the day! Freeze wants is not used in individual portion.

More to follow!

[Tightwad Kitty]

This recipe is part of recipe book that I am compiling ‘Cucina povera Cookbook.'

Rice with Tuna or Salmon ~ main meal
Here's an idea for a very quick, easy, nutritional and economical meal.

In a large saucepan bring two cups of water to the boil, add one cup of rice and simmer until all water is absorbed.
Add one tablespoon of margarine and stir to melt.
Then add one 15oz (425g) can of undrained tuna or salmon or mackerel and stir well over a low heat.

Serve it with either a salad or cooked vegetables.

Variations:
1. Add chopped hard-boiled eggs.
2. Use pasta instead of rice and instead of butter, use 1 tablespoon of basil pesto per person.
3. Add a tin of diced tomatoes to the pasta and fish and give it a good stir.

Note: Buy the cheapest fish that available if your money is short, here that would be canned mackerel & tuna comes in second.

That's all for now!

[AmberW]

There is a 35 cent per person taco recipe on helpmybudget.com/recipe.htm
It's pretty good and just a few meals like that can free up some cash to treat yourself sometimes. It's also VERY healthy!
Also, try to go meatless for some meals. Obviously there are already pasta suggestions in the thread, those are good alternatives.
Soups are a good way to fill people up and stretch your ingredients. VERY good as leftovers!

[Tightwad Kitty]

Originally Posted by AmberW

There is a 35 cent per person taco recipe on helpmybudget.com/recipe.htmIt's pretty good and just a few meals like that can free up some cash to treat yourself sometimes. It's also VERY healthy!
Also, try to go meatless for some meals. Obviously there are already pasta suggestions in the thread, those are good alternatives.
Soups are a good way to fill people up and stretch your ingredients. VERY good as leftovers!

Welcome to the forum, AmberW on your first post too!
I had a look at helpmybudget site its a good recipe and the site has some good links to other interesting bits of information too! Thanks for info!

[katwoman]

I don't know how this one will be received but this is something that I've been doing since trying to lose weight:

I buy Lean Cuisine, Smart Ones or Healthy Choice entrees when they're on sale and use coupons. Typically, I can score these for .65 - .75 ea. Picking the ones with the most meat and vegetables is key since these meals are portion controlled. At home I cook up lots of whole wheat or lo carb spagetti and brown rice and store them in containers in the fridge. These are used as additional fillers in the entrees. The really nice thing is that the rice and pasta don't need to be cooked any further since I'm taking advantage of the steam from the entree to heat them up.

Tofu and buckwheat noodles would also help as healthy fillers.

This is great for single people who can't justify regular grocery shopping and cooking for one.

[AmberW]

Thanks for the welcome! I am new to the "frugal" lifestyle so I have been reading a lot of threads but have not had much to post yet. Groceries was the first place I started to work on budgeting.

[JoyJoy]

One of the girls I play cards with said she was fixing chili over cornbread. I tried a can of chili over Jiffy cornbread and it was really good and very filling!

[lrjohnson]

Looking for an English recipe, found "Rumbledethump." Brought to a friend's for dinner with success.

Pound of potatoes, peel, chop, boil, mash, but not too fine. Pound of cabbage and cup of onion, saute in 1/2 cup butter. (I think less butter would work-it seemed like a lot, and it was rich.) Fold cabbage & onion mixture into potatoes ion casserole dish, salt and pepper, top with 1-1/2 cups grated cheddar, bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

[Fern]

Amazing. No one i think mentioned goold oly yummy tuna casserole, which i had last night.
Easy, yummy and versatile.

Cook seashell pasta
Combine with a can of cream of anything soup, frozen, fresh or canned veggies of your choice (cook them separately if frozen or fresh), and a can of tuna.
Pour into greased baking dish, Sprinkle shredded cheese, potato chips and/or french fried onions on top.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Voila!