Your Favorite Budget-Friendly Recipes

Actually the 10 pound bags of chicken hindquarters are even cheaper than whole chicken!

You can get a TON of ideas at http://www.5dollardinners.com/

And you've already hit the key--using your leftovers! Get creative, don't just reheat. Tacos can become taco salad or taco pizza or nachos supreme or maybe even the start of a tortilla style soup. Leftover chicken or beef can be shredded and mixed with BBQ for sandwiches or BBQ pizza.

Home made pizzas, omelots/Frittatas, and stir fries are great ways to get creative with leftovers

Here's a way to get more groceries for your money...

Angel Food Ministries

http://www.angelfoodministries.com/menus/menu_2011-09_en.asp

This shows you the menu for September. You don't have to be a certain income to qualify... everyone can order. You order once a month, and pick up on a certain date. (Usually you order by the 3rd Sunday, and pick up on the 4th Saturday, but sometimes that changes.)

Most of the food is frozen, however, so make sure you have freezer space. The website says you can save 50% or more depending on the cost of groceries in your area.

This month, (August), I ordered 2 of the $35 boxes... each one had about 15 pounds of meat/meal items, and about 10 pounds of frozen veggies.... pretty good price!

It isn't outdated stuff... sometimes it is the same brands you see at the grocery store.. they buy in massive quantities and cut out the middle man, using volunteers as host sites.

I've been ordering for 2 years, and it has been a big budget saver for us, especially when my hubby was laid off.

Rostisserie chicken ($4.99 at Sam's Club)
Tacos
Spaghetti w/meat sauce
Lasagna
Taco Salad (grd beef, lettuce, corn, mashed up Doritos, Thousand
Island Sauce, kidney beans, onions)
Hamburgers

Grill chicken (more than for one meal)..preferably chicken breasts.
Slice it as you need it.
You can put it on top of a salad: grilled chicken salad (and kids usually love to munch fresh raw veggies with a little ranch dressing...so leave the ingredients of the salad separate on their plate--that's what I did anyway) lettuce, a couple of slices of red bell, cucumber, black olives, etc

You can roll it up in a tortilla with whatever you like (lettuce, cheese, salsa, avocado, etc) and have chicken wraps.

You can dice it and throw it into a quesadilla on the stove: at first my kids liked just chicken and cheese. Now they like the peppers and onions, too. with salsa and sour cream on the side.

Dice it and mix it up into chicken salad (with diced sweet onion, diced red grapes, dice red delicious apple and maybe a little celery, dollop of mayo). Serve in sandwiches or on top of lettuce with wheat crackers on the side.

Then there is always the ground beef. The easiest one I know is a lb. of beef, 1 jar of your fav salsa, 2 cups of shredded cheese: brown the ground beef in a skillet, drain off grease, mix in shredded cheese till melting and stir in salsa. heat and serve. Put it in a burger bun if you want. Or roll it up in a tortilla.

When we are low on cash, I like to have baked potato night (I use by the pound bag potatoes instead of actual 'baking' potatos because even though you might use more than one per person, the whole bag is still cheaper than one baking potato). Broccoli, ham and cheese; chili cheese; philly style; and pizza (mozzerella and pepperoni) are our favorites!

I also like German Burox (if anyone wants the recipe, pm me). It's the cost of a pound of ground beef (chicken or turkey), a bag of shredded broccoli slaw, tortillas (or pita bread), and cheese if desired. So....less than 10 bucks and serves a family of 5 two or three times (you can freeze the leftovers!).

Whole chickens are so much cheaper than already butchered parts. Some whole chickens don't even have the gizzards, etc. in them and most of the ones that do have them in a neat little baggie and you just pull it out and deal with it. So, a cost saving and yummy recipe is to get a whole chicken and stick in the crock pot with other veggies of your choice. I just add some various spices, maybe a splash of wine or apple juice. It cooks down so it's so moist and practically falls of the bone. The veggies are good and healthy and there is usually enough for 2 meals. My kids love it and I love it b/c it's so easy!

A lot of crock pot recipes can be cost saving and make a ton of food. You can make a pork roast like the chicken recipe above too and it's just as good! You can always look for crock pot recipes on line or books in 1/2 price stores and the library!

For a 4 YO...burritos. Slow cook beef or chicken in a crock pot, add a couple carrots, onion, tomato, and celery to add (sneak) some vitamins in there, and make them a "meat & cheese burrito".

After watching the documentary Ingredients this weekend, I am going to be looking at other areas of my budget to cut so I can increase my food budget and purchase local ingredients. Americans spend considerably less on food than any other developed nation, and I believe we're paying the price for it in terms of our health. I don't mean to be harsh, and I certainly don't want you to feel attacked, but if you can look at other line items in your budget to reduce it may be better in the long run.

I buy whole chickens when they are on sale for 99 cents a pound and freeze them until I need them. OR for less work, I also buy boneless skinless chicken breast when they are on sale for $1.99 a pound.

Season the chicken and put it in the crockpot with 1 cup of water. Cook on low for 8 hours.

The chicken is so moist that it will fall apart. Remove the water and shred (or breakup) the chicken. If you used a whole chicken.... you will need to make sure you remove all of the bones.

You can use this chicken for SO many things depending on what you do with it.

- add bbq sauce for BBQ chicken sandwiches.
- add taco seasoning for chicken tacos or salad

The list is endlist and it is the moistest chicken you have ever tasted!