Inexpensive meal ideas

[Bev S]

Wondering if you'd all share your inexpensive meal ideas. I'm really trying to cut back this month so that we have some extra money at the end of the month and thought that one way was to try to plan inexpensive meals this month.

[vmcknight]

Eggs are your friends! I boil a dozen or so every week. They can be deviled, made into egg salad, or just eaten with pickles or fruit. Popeye sandwiches are also a good hot meal.

We get big packs of tortillas from Sam's, freeze most of them. Thaw as needed, warm briefly, roll something up in them (like egg salad, sliced meat, almost anything).

Cornbread is a good filling addition to any meal, I get the rather more expensive whole grain kind, make a batch every week or so. Good for snacks with butter and jelly, good dinner side with olive oil and herbs.

And there's the good ol' tuna salad, tuna fish is cheap. I eat in on rye crackers, very good and nutritious. Mix up the tuna with storebrand pickle relish and mayo, and some Sam's minced onion. Very filling.

[lieweheksie]

Veggie food
One of my favourite cheap meals is homemade veggie soup, use carrots, potatoes, celery, leeks etc
Also good is lentil( split lentis- the red ones not the brown ones) curry
My MIL curries almost anything- spinach, potatoes, aubergines etc
Egg curry is great- make a simple curry sauce, pour over boiled eggs and rice
Oats or toast for breakfast
Eggs and baked beans on toast are great and quick
Pasta is also cheap, some onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes all made into lovely sauce- supper
French toast, again with baked beans is vey filling and cheap
Use your imagination- don;t be bound by what is "dinner" food, eat what you've got and what you like
Hope this helps

[elfinsnow]

Hi Bev!!!
Goulash is cheap- Macaroni/ burger/ tomatoes/ onions/ peppers/ mushrooms/garlic.

We have been hitting roadside stands alot- I made this one night for less than $3
Rotini pasta (or any pasta)- boil and drain
leftover chicken - deboned, no skin-
stir fried in olive oil with garlic
add- 1 zucchini sliced into coins
1 yellow squash sliced into coins
a head of broccoli chopped
(and other seasonal veggie)
green onions
a pepper
cook until veggies are tender
serve on pasta with parm cheese, salt, pepper

Since I made it the 1st time the kids and hubby have been asking for it again!
Terry

[Tree0164]

I use my crockpot a lot-usually 2-3 times a week.

I will throw chicken breast in with a dressing which can be salsa, bbq, italian dressing. I will sometimes add rice or pasta (both cooked) in the last 30 minutes or so.

Use a price book as well-in simple terms keeping track of the lowest prices for certain items.

Hubby won't do plain rice and beans but I can add some chicken in there and he is fine w/that.

[Bev S]

Thanks everyone! I'm starting a price book and hoping that will help. I'll have to try some of these out!

Bev

[DivaJen]

Go without meat when you can. We aim for a vegetarian diet, and I know a nice fringe benefit of it is the money we save not buying meat on a weekly basis.

I've made crockpot recipes that call for chicken with garbanzo beans instead, and it's quite good.

[Savaquid]

Canned chopped tomatoes, salt, ground black pepper, basil and Worcester Sauce.

Heat, in a frying pan; add cooked sausage, sprinkled with thyme. Keep it juicy.

Serve, hot, with crusty baguette.

Quick, cheap and very tasty.

[contrary1]

Rather than a month of inexpensive meals...........I aim to serve a soup for dinner once a week, in addition to a breakfast for dinner and a vegetarian entree each week.
If I do one night with a big roast (or other large piece of some sort of animal), that pretty much takes me through the week then. The meat can be turned into dozens of other meals or packaged for the freezer.
A roast seems expensive when you look at the price tag, but if you look at how much you can get from it, often it turns into quite a frugal plan.

[Ima saver]

How about a grilled cheese sandwich with a bowl of soup? I like hot bread, so rolls and soup fill me up too. Of course our old standby is eggs, toast and hashbrowns with bacon or sausage.

[locolorenzo24]

I'm always partial to a good scrambled egg dish. Just crack a few, season with pepper, a dash of milk, mix with veggies or cheese(spinich and cheddar come to mind), add bagel or toast.

Also, tonight I had homemade french bread pizzas....A loaf of bread from the store(1.50), a can of kidney beans(.60), a can of olives(.84), some pizza cheese (1.00), and green pepper(.50)= 4.44 for about 6 equal slabs of pizza. For one, it'll serve about 2/3 meals...so not too bad.

Try frozen veggies on the stove/microwave, and mix with a box of pasta...Whole wheat fills you up more. I second contrary because a crockpot roast can serve one for almost a week!! To the point where you think...."Roast meat again??" Not too shabby though.

[Tree0164]

I do weekly menu planning which I generally post on this board when I remember.

Rice and pasta are good ways to stretch out a meal. I am moving more towards brown rice and whole wheat pasta, a little more expensive but healthier.

I rarely buy ground beef-I buy ground turkey which needs a little spice. Sometimes I will get some ground beef that is marked down and will add that to the turkey to make some meatballs or meatloaf.

Check the marked down meats. I find it I go to the grocery store before 10am I find more deals. I got a large value pack of pork chops for less than a dollar a lb. I put them in the freezer. Sometimes I will get a good deal on a roast as well. Stew meat is often a good deal. I never find chicken marked down-I just buy boneless breast when it is on sale for $1.99 or less, whole chicken went I see them 69 cents or less a lb which I am finding rarely happens.

[shelbylovesmelby]

Ramein noodles!!! you can make lots of things with it! I make a spicy cucumber soup (of my own concoction), make it into mac'n cheese + a can of corn for cheesey corn, even just adding some canned veggies & some sausage works too.

I agree you can make super cheap meal with eggs. You can make all sorts of omlets, scrambled or hard boiled dishes. And a fun one for the kids & or for a change of pace is "eggs in a basket", take a slice of bread take out half to 3/4's of the guts, butter one side put it in a frying pan (that's got cooking spray on it) and crack and egg in the middle where of the bread. Plus eggs last alot longer than the exp on the carton.

Tree - One of the big chain stores here used to mark down their fresh meats because they were toss'n out $1000 woth a week. Then for some reason it stopped! I used to watch the shelf dates and go shopping for meat a day before the majority was to expire. But can't do that much anymore.
But I do that with another grocery store chain here, they do that with their bakery. So I'm always snoop'n around for expiration dates. Christmas eve I got a dozen frosted cinnamon rolls for $1 a pan instead of the $4. Same with cookie cakes, they mark them down usually the day after a holiday.
I don't know if this is going to be true anymore or not. But Aldi's when they were only 6 days a week here & would close for a holiday you go the day after and alot of times some parishable item or another was marked down. I got a ton of hot dog & hamburger buns for 10 cents last year that way. The store by my aunt didn't have the bread deal but they had tomatos for next to nothing

[mountainmist]

I agree with the posters who suggested vegetarian meals and more particularly, Homemade Soup day.

In fact, at least three times a month, our main meal consists of large bowls of tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches --- and of course, we've got dozens of cans of tomato soup, all purchase at 3/$1 or even less, a quarter a can. But we all really happen to genuinely like tomato soup.

On Homemade Vegetable Soup day, make sure everyone gets a big bowl of tasty soup with an inexpensive sandwich - maybe peanut butter, maybe a tomato sandwich sandwich, or perhaps eggsalad.

Once a month have macaroni and cheese.

If you throw together a cooked diced potato, a cooked sliced carrot, a couple cups of frozen vegetables, two cans of chili beans and about half a jar of spaghetti sauce -- then add water until soup consistency, you'll have a very basic Veggie Bean Soup to which you can make infinite variations, adding your family's favorite flavorings, almost any leftover vegetables or some noodles or some rice or some spice salsa - whatever's on sale, or whatever veggies are seasonal and thus low priced.

Go to your public library and explore the entire cookbook section, you'll find plenty of books that deal with thrifty nutritious meals.

[mountainmist]

I agree with the posters who suggested vegetarian meals and more particularly, Homemade Soup day.

In fact, at least three times a month, our main meal consists of large bowls of tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches --- and of course, we've got dozens of cans of tomato soup, all purchase at 3/$1 or even less, a quarter a can. But we all really happen to genuinely like tomato soup.

On Homemade Vegetable Soup day, make sure everyone gets a big bowl of tasty soup with an inexpensive sandwich - maybe peanut butter, maybe a tomato sandwich sandwich, or perhaps eggsalad.

Once a month have macaroni and cheese.

If you throw together a cooked diced potato, a cooked sliced carrot, a couple cups of frozen vegetables, two cans of chili beans and about half a jar of spaghetti sauce -- then add water until soup consistency, you'll have a very basic Veggie Bean Soup to which you can make infinite variations, adding your family's favorite flavorings, almost any leftover vegetables or some noodles or some rice or some spice salsa - whatever's on sale, or whatever veggies are seasonal and thus low priced.

Go to your public library and explore the entire cookbook section, you'll find plenty of books that deal with thrifty nutritious meals.

[doodles44]

We purchase Lipton sides - I get them on sale for $1.25 or even $1 per package and turn them into a meal. Add frozen or fresh veggies (broc or peas are best) and a little bit of chicken and it feels like a good meal - that's for two of us and it comes to less than $3 per person.

Also, baked potatoes are such a steal and they are healthy as well. You can get them in the 5-lb bags or for more convenience, they have .99 ones wrapped up & ready to heat in the microwave.

[scfr]

Mrs. Dash (Original Blend) is great! I save money because I no longer buy dried herbs that end up getting dumped before they get used up. For most recipes, I just substitute Mrs. Dash for whatever herbs they call for. I add it to steamed veggies and scrambled eggs. I even use it for an inexpensive tartar sauce substitute (mix mayonnaise, pickle relish, and Mrs. Dash --- trust me, it's delicious). I buy a big bottle at Costco and it lasts the 2 of us about a year.

[LuxLiving]

Good meal last night that someone might be interested in making.

Jerked Pork Burritos

Put a pork loin $4.07 in the crockpot and poured on a large can of mild green chilies bought on sale for .50 cents (this would equal two of the small cans I reckon). Mine was frozen solid and I put it on high for four hours. I didn't put any seasoning at all in it but tonight I might add a tsp. of Season All - I'm a big sissy and FrugalSon is as well - we don't eat HOT spicy food. So if you want spicy you'll have to do something else to punch it up.

After the four hours I just used two forks and shredded the meat. Everyone warmed their own burrito shell (pkg of 20 for $1.09) in a hot skillet on the stove for a few seconds. Loaded up some meat, chopped onion (.25), sour cream (.99) and grated marble jack cheese (1.59). These were surprisingly tasty. The crunch of the fresh onions really stood out against the spiced meat. We had burrito shells, sour cream, grated cheese, onion and meat all left over.

This would be an easy recipe for someone who works to load up the ol' crockpot and come home to dinner ready. The guys all ate four apiece and I had three ! Served cold canned peaches and a green salad with it.

We'll be having the leftovers tonight along with the soup we made for lunch today.

[TX__Toast]

Hi Bev,

I too am trying to cut back on grocery expenses as my wedding is inching closer and we try to keep costs as low as possible. (So please share any good ideas.)

My fiance and I LOVE potatoes and they are significantly cheaper if purchased by 5lb or 10 lb bags. Its just the two of us, so I purchase the 5 lb bag. This can be used a couple times. I try to find the bigger ones for baked potatoes (butter and cheese aren't too expensive.) Then in the same or following week make a beef stew with potatos or fresh mashed potatoes. Now that winter is coming up, you can even make potato soup which only requires just one or two. Possibilities are endless.

We obviously make enough to take left overs for the lunch the following day and have saved A LOT of money versus when we would buy lunch daily.

I also buy flour tortillas quite a bit as they can be used several different ways if you want to try a spanish style meal. One bag will usually last several weeks and can be done as burritos, tacos, enchilladas, taco bowls, quesadillas, etc based on whatever ingrediants you have at hand.

I tend to buy mostly seasonal fruit as it is less expensive as well.

Well, those are my tidbits (or at least the ones that came to mind when I read your thread.) Hope this helps and hope others can offer some helpful advice.

Good luck!

[maynard]

I've been living on fried egg sandwiches for most of my life. Quick, cheap, easy, and I still like em after all these years

Toast, 1 fried egg (slightly runny), slice of american cheese. If I'm feeling fancy I'll put on some Jalepenos, or a few slices of bacon, or a piece of salami.

Goes great with a bowl of soup or ramen noodles