My menu has gotten pretty stale, despite my frequent visits to Google and Pinterest. I try to do a couple of 'expensive' meals a week (you know, with meat in them, and A SIDE!...) but I need a few more budget-friendly meals. I have found myself falling back on spaghetti a lot... ($.89 for the sauce... $1.00 for the noodles... Dinner cost $2.00! woo-hoo! (add $.25 for the veggies I toss into my DD's bowl...lol.)
So, does anybody have some meals (they don't have to be great... but remotely healthy would be nice...) that are around $5.00 or so that they would like to let me in on? :)
Also... What is the best way to shop for meat? I always wind up buying it from the grocery store, and I can't help but wonder where I could try to buy in small bulk? (I miss my deep freezer. :'( Too bad we don't have room for it here!) Back home, I always knew someone willing to sell half a cow, or could contact my local butcher for cheaper, high-quality meat... So I have never had to worry about the cost... Now I'm breaking the bank just to make a roast for Sunday dinner!
We love breakfast for dinner. Things like eggs, pancake mix, bread for french toast, boxes of frozen breakfast sausage, muffin mix don't cost a lot. I usually add fruit which is a little more costly but you can always use canned.
We had a deep freeze growing up. Same sort of thing. Sigh.
As far as meat goes, find out what day your grocery store restocks, and go the day before. Take a step back, and look for brightly colored tags - at my grocery store, they are orange, at my mom's they are yellow - these are for meat that needs to be used or frozen the same day or the next day, and is heavily discounted - sometimes half off or more. At our house, that's dinner! It means meal planning needs to have some flexibility - spaghetti tonight or....ooh! Pork roast! Spaghetti can wait till tomorrow!
Sloppy Joe's
Instead of "spaghetti" try the sauce on bow tie pasta... or those mini shell pasta. It makes it a bit different. That's what I do, instead of spaghetti noodles.
Omelettes
Buy bottled Teriyaki sauce.... and then use it to marinate chicken or ground beef (to make teriyaki patties). This sauce can be used for so many things... and it makes it different. Or even use it to make stir fry.
I buy meats on sale.... or in bulk from Costco then I portion it out into freezer ziplock bags, then stick it in the freezer. To then use for anything.
Or, I ask my Butcher at the local grocery store, when certain meats are gonna be on sale, and he always tells me. Then I go buy it at that time. And make my menu for that.
There are other things, but my brain is not working today too well.
Every week, I make a menu and shop according to that. And I am budget minded. But we still eat healthy and I cook from scratch.
One thing though... cook using basics and stuff that you'd always have anyway. Instead of buying certain ingredients per a recipe, that you wouldn't otherwise use. Because then, you'd be wasting it and not using it all. And I also make things, that do not require a lot of ingredients.
Also, Asian foods/recipes, are known for being healthy... but the "meat" is not a MAIN course. It is usually a part of the dish in side type amounts. So a little goes a long way. And it is very tasty.
OR, make homemade soups. I do that a lot. Its not expensive. And per the meat you buy in bulk or on sale, you just chop it up and incorporate it into the soup. Thus, the meat goes a long way. But the other things in the soup, like the veggies or whatever, is also taking up the bulk of the soup. Anything can be used to make soup.
Baked Potatoes
Sloppy Joes
MuShu Pork
Soup & Sammies
Egg drop ramen (I HATE this, kiddo loves it)
Tuna in Tomatoes (Again Hate/Love... Scoop out tomatoes for something else... Stuff with tinned tuna)
Biscuits and gravy
Chicken Quesodillas (& BBQ chick Q's... Paint tortilla w BBQ sauce, then cheese and chicken)
Chicken enchiladas (all leftover ingredients)
Quiche (eggs, milk, cheese)
Soup (initially pricey, but a good 30+ meals out of 1 pot... Plus pot pie, Shepards pie drops this down to a buck a meal)
Samosas (stuffed shells w/potatoes, spices, peas
Curries & rice
Pancakes
Chicken hotdogs (1.25 for 8, plus buns... Instead of $5 for 8)
I miss my butcher, too!!! And my deepfreeze just died :P I USUALLY buy 6-12 turkeys over the holidays (11 CENTS per pound, instead of $11!!!). That equals 1 roast turkey every or every other month. Also equals lunch meat, ground turkey for tons of stuff, soups, smoked legs, etc.), and similarly when things go on sale. Good thing I'm not Jewish/Muslim... Because pork country ribs went on crazy sale (99cents per pound, instead of 5 per pound being the next cheapest meat option)... So I'm cooking a LOT of pork this month. (spice pork burritos, mu Shu pork, pork masitas, Cuban sammies, pulled pork sammies, teriyaki, etc... Most with 1-8th a pound per person per meal).
DO google 1/8th a cow for your area... That's how most bulk moo is sold to the public. I can only find grass finished (pricey), but corn finished tastes a gazillion times better and is FAR cheaper. Or at least, it will be before this drought screws up anything corn related price wise)
If you like fish (tilapia), I have a good easy recipe that just requires tilapia, parsley, lemon and butter. You can see it here on my blog - http://melosculinsaryadventures.blogspot.com/
enjoy!
My cheap, quick and easy meal is tostadas. I buy the premade shells (about $2 for 24), head of lettuce ($1), a can of refried beans ($1) and shredded cheese ($2). (We use leftover hot sauce from Taco Bell or salsa) We always have lettuce and cheese in the fridge. This is enough for at least 2 meals, and there is 4 of us. Everyone LOVES them and you basically only heat up the beans, so its no cook. =)
Hi J., I blogged about feeding a family of four on a budget a while a go, perhaps there are some ideas in there for you! http://heyyougetreal.com/momblog/how-can-i-feed-a-family-...
B.
We like chili and stir fry/vindaloo (the major difference in our home being potatoes). Both take a meat base (and inexpensive meat like chicken thighs can be really yummy in a stir fry) that you add to based on what you have and are good for leftovers and have a lot of veg in them. We buy curry sauce and spices on sale and store them. If we want an expensive treat, we use buffalo for the chili. Not so much room in the budget? Hamburger of a higher fat to meat ratio or less meat.
We also do a pasta dish with bacon, spaghetti noodles, Parmesan and egg. Cook the pasta as you normally would and after draining stir in an egg or two. Then crumble in bacon (or bacon bits but the real ones, not the crunchy ones) and sprinkle on Parmesan.
Quesedillas can be short order friendly and you can do just cheese, cheese and meat, cheese and veg...
I've found that I can get a nice round steak for about the same price as a package of hamburger! If you tenderize and season it right and broil it, it comes out extremely tender - like a more expensive cut of meat.
We also like chicken tacos. I can get two really good sized boneless, skinless chicken breasts that will be enough meat for 7 - 10 tacos.
I also get the pork steaks that are fairly inexpensive. I season, coat with flour and brown - about 4 - 5 minutes on each side over medium heat. Remove the meat - drain the oil - return the meat to the pan. Then mix up 2 packages of brown gravy mix and pour over the meat. Bring to a boil and simmer while boiling potatoes for mashed potatoes. Makes a good meal and it's relatively cheap.
Shepherds Pie:
Ground meat (whichever is on sale) cooked with a little gravy
add sauted veggies on top (again, whatever is on sale)
mashed potatoes on top
I make bean and meat burritos from scratch. I soak a bag of pinto beans overnight, then boil in broth with onions and garlic. Then I mash everything when the beans are really soft. I freeze some and fry some in with the meat (about a half pound). I had cheese and green chile sauce to the burritos and bake.
The homemade beans are very healthy, I virtually put no fat in them and they taste very good.
