Your Favorite Inexpensive Meals

Trying to avoid cans and mixes, can be a hindrance to inexpensive meals.
Most all canned tomatoes have no sodium and even chefs use them because fresh tomatoes have a short growing season. So, I have defended my inexpensive meal, lol!

Greek spaghetti.

A clove or two of garlic, chopped
2T olive oil
1/2 cup of chopped green onion
2 cans of tomatoes with basil, oregano and garlic
Sliced Black olives
3 TBLS lemon juice
1/2-1 cup Feta

Spaghetti.

Sauté garlic in the oil and then add the rest. Cook over med heat about 15 mins while you cook the spaghetti.

i'm kinda using someone else's, lol
i just boiled my turkey carcass from thanksgiving while we were all iced in, and used the broth, took off the edible meat, added the baby carrots i had in fridge and cut up celery. then two cups of brown rice. my only seasoning was salt & pepper. omg so freakin' good. my fam & my friend loved it. score! :) lol i was kinda proud of myself! :)
can't get more any whole foods or cheaper than that!

One of my favorites... though it does involve a pouch of dry Italian seasoning...

Put chicken breasts down the center of a baking dish.

Cut potatoes (whatever kind... I like red.) into chunks and put on one side.

Put green beans down the other.

Either put pats of butter over everything, or brush with olive oil (butter tastes better...)

Sprinkle pack of dry Italian seasoning over everything.

Toss in the oven at 375 until chicken is done.

This is a Mexican dish that is very inexpensive.

It is called Fideo. This looks like a lot of instructions, but it is pretty quick to prepare.

You will need a large skillet with a tight fitting lid.

You will find this pasta in the Pasta section, usually in a Yellow box. Or you can use the thinnest angel hair pasta, just break it up into about 2 inch pieces.

It can be made with or without meat. Usually ground beef is what is used, But I have used Ground turkey.

Brown and drain a pound of ground beef with a chopped medium white onion and 2 shredded Zucchinis, 1/2 tsp salt. 1/2 tsp ground black pepper 1/4 ground Cumin 1 pod of fresh garlic, chopped. . Once cooked Put aside in a bowl.I use a Pyrex 6 cup measuring bowl.

In the skillet add 2 TBLs oil. Olive oil is great, but any cooking oil is fine (my grandmother used to use bacon drippings!). Once the oil is heated add the box of Fideo. Stir until the pasta is browned.

Add 1- 14 1/2 oz can of whole tomatoes with the juice and a can of water, OR 1 1/2 cups of beef Broth. (this will steam and sizzle, so be careful when adding. Stir until the pasta is covered and then add the cooked meat, Zucchini to this pan, stir.

Allow this mixture to come to a boil. Cover, turn down the heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes Do not open the lid during this time.

Spoon into bowls, enjoy!

Oven stuffer roaster (when on sale).

Meal 1 -
roast the chicken,
roasted potatoes - scrub potatoes and cut into uniform chunks, coat with a little olive oil and season with whatever you like and have on hand, pepper, garlic powder, season salt and place on a cookie sheet, bake for about 35 minutes
in place of potatoes you could just have white or brown rice
any type of veggie you like - carrots are good

Meal 2
use the left over chicken as part of another meal

Meal 3
use the carcass to make soup

Stir fry is very inexpensive. Boneless skinless chicken breast is always on sale for $1.99/lb. All you need is one pound and you can use the rest of the package for another meal. Use whatever veggies you have on hand or that are on sale.

Chicken pot pie. We use thighs, make stock from the bones, make home made dough...I use the barefoot contessa recipe. I skip the boullion cubes--way too much sodium. Last time i made pies, I spent 10 bucks and I made 18 dinners. I kid you not :-) can't get cheaper than that, and it's even good for you!

Red beans and rice

Chicken scampi
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-scampi-ii/

serve over rice

It also freezes and reheats easily if you want to make double batches, although it cooks in 15 min as long as you have thawed chicken.

Tacos

Homemade Soup (use the crock pot)

Spaghetti, salad w/a lot of things mixed in & garlic bread

Casseroles

Soup. I just made chicken barley.

2-3 chicken breasts, celery, an onion, parsley, 5-6 large carrots and a box of barley for a giant pot of soup? That's cheap.

brown lentils and cracked wheat bulgur cooked in a pressure cooker with chicken broth. Then pan fry onions with an ample amount of olive oil. mix the two together, season with salt pepper, and garnish with parsely.

its called mujadderah. the NYT ran the recipie recently. Tastes awesome with pickled turnips, pickled carrots, or say a nice salad with a strong vinegary dressing.

best,
F. B.

Lentil soup (from the Laurel's Kitchen cookbook) is my go-to meal. 2 cups dry brown lentils, 2 carrots (chopped), 2 stalks celery (chopped), 1 onion (chopped), 1-2 potatoes (chopped), 8-9 cups water. Put these ingredients in a largish pot and bring it to a simmer. I then add the seasonings; I use 1-2 cloves crushed garlic, 2 bay leaves, 2 TBSP olive oil added after the water have come to a boil and you have removed any scum on top. Cook about an hour at a low simmer. At the end, I add 1/2-1 tsp dried oregano or thyme (your call), salt to taste, and 2 tsp red wine vinegar. Total cost of ingredients is maybe $3 and you've got a tasty, filling, nutritious soup which will last at least two meals, maybe more.

Pretty much what the other's have said...casseroles, soups, tacos, etc...Mostly I use all fresh ingredients...I would say I use minimal canned or processed.
BUT, this one does have canned clams and canned tomatoes. It is for Spaghetti with Clam Sauce. I do not use salt in it ( I almost wonder if the amt. called for is a typo, it's so much in this recipe). Also, the canned clams do have a fair amt. of salt, and for that reason, lots of times I will only use one can...just to get the flavor.

And I don't use white wine...just water or apple juice, if I happen to have it on hand in place of the wine.
So, I do improvise, but this is the basic recipe I use.

My kids love it too and it's not fishy tasting at all. Just flavorful. Just thought I would add it in case you were looking for something a little different, even though it's not totally can free. :)

http://www.marthastewart.com/330129/marks-spaghetti-with-...