Beefaroni A pound of ground beef, a big jar of spaghetti sauce, and a half box of elbows is all it takes.
I'm going to need to go to the dollar store to get some spices, I wish I could find dill weed like I used to, then there is chicken seasoning.... can't find that anywhere.
Amy, I just need to come and take you shopping for a couple of days, we would have a ball. LOL any way another good cheap meal is if you have a Sam's club close by you they have a huge pizza with whatever you want on it for 7.97 cooked. so with two drinks and pizza it feeds us a family of four and we even have leftovers for the girls and I the next day for lunch.
I need to do a better job of cutting down on our grocery spending, too. Here are a few of our favorite simple recipes... Friday Night Veggie Soup INGREDIENTS: 1 bag o'frozen mixed vegetables - I like the "Caldo" soup veggies from our H-E-B store, but any frozen veggie mix will work 3 pounds potatoes - peeled, boiled and diced (or a bag of macaroni noodles) 1 onion, finely diced Any assortment of veggies from your crisper - this is a great way to clean it out! I've used carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, celery... 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes if you like tomato-y soups 1 can tomato sauce if you want it even more tomato-y 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix, 2 packages if you didn't put an onion in it originally garlic powder, or minced garlic cloves, to taste thyme, basil, oregano to taste Enough water or broth (or any combination thereof) to cover everything plus a couple of inches. A couple of bouillon cubes and a splash of soy sauce go a long way if you don't have any broth on hand. If you like creamy soup, evaporated milk Optional: Sausage (mild or hot), ground beef (or chicken/turkey), ham, leftover pork/chicken/beef, or beans (canned or dried) are all excellent in this! DIRECTIONS: 1. Heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil (veggie oil or butter is fine, too) in bottom of soup pan and sautee onions, garlic cloves, and any (raw) meat you might be adding. 2. Dump everything else in (except the evaporated milk!), mix well. Cover with water/broth and sprinkle with spices. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 hours. 3.Serve hot with cold evaporated milk, if desired.
Sausage rice casserole 1 pound Italian sausage 3 cups cooked rice 1 onion, chopped 1 green pepper, chopped 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar 1 can diced tomatoes w/chilies 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan black pepper thyme rosemary oregano parsley marjoram Preheat oven to 350°. Cook rice according to directions. Spray frying pan with Pam, cook onions until translucent. Add sausage and green peppers. Cook until sausage is done. Mix rice, sausage, cheddar, and spices to taste. Coat 9x13 pan with Pam. Spread rice mixture in pan. Dump can of tomatoes on top. Cover with Parmesan cheese. Bake until cheese is melted and juices are bubbling; roughly 20 minutes, but check earlier.
White Chili 2 cans Great Northern Beans 1 can Butter Beans (I don't like these, so I use kidney or cannelloni beans instead) 1 can Navy Beans 5+ cups chicken broth (or vegetable stock or water and bouillon) 2 cloves of garlic, minced 1 tsp salt or 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce 1 T oregano 1 T cumin thyme to taste basil if desired 1/2 T ground cloves 2 bell peppers, sliced 3-4 small tender zucchini squash, cut into chunks 1 large white onion, or two smaller regular onions, chopped mushrooms if desired- about 1-2 cups, sliced 1 c drained canned corn or 1 cup frozen corn – or even creamed corn is good, thickens this up a bit 1 c chopped carrots 1 c chopped fennel (if desired) 1 c chopped celery ***A bag or two of frozen soup veggies works great, too, if you don't want to do all of this chopping!!! Diced cooked chicken breast (omit if making vegetarian/vegan food) Mush up about a cup of the beans to make this a thicker chili. Add chili powder if desired. For a hotter recipe, add chopped jalapeno peppers. Cook in the crock pot for 4 – 6 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. Serve with herbed French bread or croutons… or corn bread! This makes a lovely tasty chili and is very nutritious. Always better the 2nd day. ****This also makes a WONDERFUL chicken noodle soup!!**** Leave out the beans and cumin and add rosemary instead. At the very end of the cooking time, raise the temperature to high again and, when it boils, add macaroni or egg noodles and cook until they are finished. Yummmm!!!
SantaFe Chicken Combine the following in your crockpot: 1 can black beans, drained 1 can corn 1/2 cup salsa After stirring, add: 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1/2 cup more salsa Cook on low for 3 hours. Then add, 1 block of cream cheese Cook one more hour. Serve over rice with flour tortillas. Or, mix rice with rest, shred the chicken breasts, and eat like burritos with lettuce and tomato toppings. Makes LOTS!!!
Broccoli Chicken Pasta Casserole/ Rice Sausage 1 lb of chicken breast or turkey sausage spinach fettuccine or rice, cooked cheddar or pepper jack cheese 1 teaspoon olive oil 1 16-ounce package frozen broccoli flowerets 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons flour 2 teaspoons basil 1 teaspoon lemon pepper 2 cups milk Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, heat oil and stir-fry chicken strips/sausage in oil until browned, about 4 minutes. Set aside. In the meantime, cook fettuccine/rice according to package directions; drain well; set aside. In a large saucepan melt the butter, stir in flour, basil and lemon pepper. Add the milk; cook and stir until thickened and bubbly, whisking often. Remove from heat and stir in broccoli, noodles/rice and 1/2 cup cheese; turn mixture into 5-quart, lightly greased casserole. Sprinkle with remaining cheese; bake uncovered for 10 minutes.
A fantastic cookbook called MORE WITH LESS is a God send to us. It will help you use every little bit that you have and stretch it very far. It is a mennonite cookbook and amazing.
I checked out that cookbook online (Barnes and Noble) and it sounds wonderful. Our local library doesn't carry it so I may just have to buy it!
LOVED THIS! I made some cornbread to go with it and it was wonderful! I didn't make it w/the tomatoes, b/c my hubby doesn't like them. My 2 1/2 year old boy had a blast looking at all the diff. colors of the beans (he did eat them too) and my 10 month old loved it too! It made enough for dinner and a lunch the next day! LOVED THIS! :love:
I made this tonight, but added a can of chicken broth. Wonderfully tasty, not too spicy (which our kids don't like). I cooked it slow in the crock pot all day. I also made cornbread muffins on the side. It was a huge hit with all of us, including our company.
Stuffed peppers the easy way: One box of Zatarans Jambayla Rice. However many bell peppers we prefer red. Sour Cream a couple of large spoons full. Onion Fresh or leftover hamberger, roast,chicken, etc. A couple or few table spoons of picante or salsa your choice of heat, (we do mild). If using fresh meat, cut it up small and brown with oinions until meat is cooked and oinions start to camalize. If using cooked meat, carmalize/sautee onions in butter or olive oil then toss in meat and heat it up. After meat/onions are ready add rice mix, seasoning and water (as on box instructions) then cook until rice is done. Mix rice/meat stuff with some picante sauce and sourcream then stuff into peppers. Bake in oven until peppers are tender. YOu can also spread it out in a pan or caserole dish and put pepper rings or chunks in or on it before baking This is attractive for taking to a potluck if you alternate colors on the rings/slices. I acutally made this for the first time when dh and I were argueing and he was claiming that I did not have anything decent in the house for him for dinner. I had been out working at a client site and he was huffy after being home with the kids so long etc. I looked at the leftovers in the fridge and tossed 2 of these together using fresh onion and a couple of semi wilted peppers. A chunk of meatloaf, the last drops of pace picante, leftover rice, etc became one of this favorites. I gave him two stuffed peppers and a nice salad about 25 minutes later. Funny thing is he thinks that I used to make these along time ago and stopped. Strange. I don't recall having made stuffed peppers for him in the past. One of us has a bad memory.
About quesadillas... One of our favorites is to fill them with refried beans and whatever cheese we have on hand. Then I heat up my big electric griddle and toast five or six at a time. My little guy thinks he hates refried beans, but he wolfs these down. They're really good, and healthy, too...especially if you use whole wheat tortillas, fat-free refried beans, and lowfat cheese. I like to dip mine in salsa, but the boys love to dip theirs in low-fat ranch dressing.
American Style Burritoes Tortillas Hamburger Meat, or CHicken etc. Onions sliced in strips or diced Lettuce (we use green leaf but iceburg is fine) Tomatoes sliced in stips or diced diced Shredded Cheese(s) of choice we like cheddar or cheese blends. Picante Sauce or Salsa Italian Dressing Sour Cream if desired Refried Beans if desired Saute onions the add meat and brown. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Put meat and other ingredients in burrito. I use about a tablespoon or 2 of picante sauce and about a table spoon of sour cream. After putting other ingredients in wrap, I drizzle italian dressing on. I then fold burritoes and drizzle a bit more in the top opening while holding them upright. Alternate: Cheese Burger Burritos. Cook meat with onion and celery. Use American CHeese, and use ketup instead of salad dressing. Alternate: The above combos on french, cuban or other bread loafs is good also. For these I use sliced tomatoes, and larger pieces of lettuce. Alternate: Put the stuff in layers in bowls and serve with corn chips for dipping.
Cheap quick pizza, (reduced carb , sorta) Tortillas Pepperoni slices Tomatoe sauce, homemade, canned or bottled spaghetti sauce, or pizza sauce. (we use homemade sauce that I put in small zip locks in the freezer for this) Shreded moz. cheese or cheese blend. Other Pizza toppings as needed. Put pizzas together toss on cookie sheets and put in oven for a few minutes until cheese is just starting to brown. These come out a little crispy, but still tender if right. If they are soggy, your sauce might need to be reduced the next time.
I love this subject. I have for a long time really really worked on feeding my family healthy on a tight budget. I have found that it really is more about some side issue then just the main meal. A few things I have learned 1. Use a menu, to shop and cook by. You dont' buy things you won't use, and you don't waste food. 2. Clean out your fridge and freezer before you go grocery shopping. Then you don't double buy, or forget soemthing that is in there. 3. Stay out of the store as much as possible. I shop twice a month, that is the only time I go to the store. If I don't have it we don't eat it. 4. Seperate out your grocery budget from your "household" budget those cleaners, dog food etc. Most people are surprised to find out how much they spend on those items once you really watch them. 5. Find out when your store markes down meat and shop during those times. I just bought a fully cooked turkey for .49 cents a pound. Some round steak for .70 cents a pound. Here is how I do it. I feed my family of 4 (and my little guy eats just as much as my husband which amazes me) for 150 a month 1.First I clean out the fridge and freeze, making mental notes of meals that I can cook out of there. and writing down things I need to buy on my list 2. I make three colums of 5 (nubmer 1-15) on a sheet of paper. Then I put meals on them in one colume I put veggie meals and pasta meals. the next I put bean and rice meals. Then the last has meals with meat, and chicken in them. 3. I use that list to finish up my grocery list. Then in the mornings I lay out what I want to cook for dinner chosen off the list. We eat left overs or sandwhiches for lunch. For a while I was listing lunches and snacks. But I didn't use it very much so I quit. 4. I cook a couple pounds of beans at a time and freeze them to use later. Which is cheaper and healther then canned. 5. I buy whole chickens too, I can get 3 meals out of one chicken I spent less then 4 dollars on. I do not use coupons either. Except on hair care items and dog food. And that is just if they are great deals that make it cheaper then the store brand I usually buy. I hope this helps a little bit. I really do enjoy this topic. I have worked really hard to make my family live nicely on a little budget. Aggie
Go to the second hand stores, keep checking to see if they have sandwich pocket makers, I'm telling you, you can make up those suckers in so many ways-- and you don't need all that much filling. My kids like: taco pockets pizza pockets ham & cheese turkey & cheese and I havn't made them any desert ones yet!! DH wants to make them a corned beef one (from the can)
