Summer is here, frugal ideas for kids meals

[schellie69]

Hello,
with summer here now, I have to come up with some frugal meals, and frugal fun to keep the kids feed and busy this summer, does anyone have any ideas or recieps that might help. I have some but not very many and I know that they will get sick of hotdogs and mac n cheese. things that i have already done to save money is
gone to powdered milk
got a jug of chocalote to make chocalote milk (50 glasses for $2.81) with the milk and that it cost 17 cents for a glass
kool ade bought on sale for 10 for $1.00
water,
poweade bought on sale for 59cents each
meals so far are
hotdogs
pigs in the blanket
mac-n-cheese
breakfast skillet meals(made homemade)
muffins (for snack, breakfast) made homemade
grilled cheese
going to make doughnuts
fridge dough for other breads
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, made with homemade peanut butter and homemade jelly
pasta salads
fruits (when they are cheap)
any one got anyother ideas.. thanks for any help with this

[Libby]

Pam, have you tried varying your recipies? You listed pasta salad - vary it by doing one with a oil based dressing and the other a creamy based dresssing. Different spices, veggies, meats combo's? Fried chicken isnt only tasty when served hot *winks* Think cold fried chicken for picnics. Also my fave was making my own 'lunchable'. Id buy deli meat cut thicker with deli cheese and gourmet crackers with fresh fruit and a pudding cup for a lunch. Mind you I'd have a snack 2 hours later but it was fun and tasty!

[slowtypinwoman]

How about egg and chicken salads? We love them here and they are cheap when you use leftover chicken. Eggs are always cheap. English muffin pizzas are a cheap kid friendly meal too.

[sunshine]

tuna salad in hoagie roll "boats" with cheese slice "sails"

deviled eggs

breadsticks with pizza sauce for dipping

fondue type foods-- bread cubes, etc for cheese sauce, fruits for chocolate sauce- and so forth.

[Bups]

Growing up - on hot summer days, my father (the cook in the house) would make something we called a cold plate - we never had A/C so he didn't want to use the oven and heat the place up more.

He would set up the plates with a pile of coleslaw, a bunch of lettuce leaves with a scoop of cottage cheese on top, a dinner roll, some olives & pickles, some sliced cheese & some deli meat - kind of a picnic on a plate - we often had fresh fruit salad afterwards.

You could change this up to whatever your family likes or what you have on hand.

On busy nights we often have fried eggs (either in sandwiches or not) they are fast & frugal.

I saw in the store a couple days ago something called crispy wraps - you know what they were? large romaine leaves!
It suggested that you place any filling hot or cold in them and then wrap - you can do that with any leftover meat and veg - without having to buy the designer lettuce - use what lettuce you have around - my "meat & potatoes" DH likes these with thinly sliced leftover steak, strips of red pepper & onion and some hat sauce - nice and refreshing on a hot day.

Best of luck.

Kim

[Mumzy]

The children have started to make quesadillas on their own. Ds changed it up to adding chilli, cheese, hot sauce and sour cream to make a burrito.
Smoothies cover some of the fruit and dairy for the day.
Water, water and water. Sometimes we add a splash of lemon. Sun tea.

[miss_thrifty]

* we also make pancakes or french toast for meals to cut back and keep the heat down
*slushies are my favourite withthe kids, frozen juice ones and the instant pudding mixes make great tasting snacks, especially when they're not relly hungry and its too hot.
*cucumber sandwiches
*ant on a log(celery P.B. and choc chips)
*tortillas with either jam and p.b. or cheese whiz on it and roll up

[starsapphire]

This is a hot dish but its easy and delicious and kids really like it.

Deep Dish Mexican Pizza

1 can refrigerator biscuits
1 large jar or so of mild salsa
1 can sliced black olives (or 1/2 can whole olives sliced)
6 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Open and separate the refrigerator biscuits. If they are the small ones, cut them in half. If they are the large ones, cut them in quarters and put them in a 9 x 13 lightly greased baking dish. Sprinkle on top the olives, onions, garlic and cheese. Pour the salsa on top of everything. Mix lightly, cover with foil and bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes, until the biscuits in the middle of the pan are cooked through (adjust time and cooking temperature as necessary for your oven).

You could make this early in the day when its cool, and reheat individual servings in the microwave for lunch or dinner.

[Monroe on a Budget]

Make your own frozen treats / popsicles with the lemonade or fruit punch mix. There was a plastic mold kit in the 1970s that some of us moms would remember -- it's easy enough to replicate that concept with bowls or containers you might already have.

[IndigoMom]

When grapes are on sale, buy lots and freeze some - they're like bite size sorbet pieces. If you have young kids, seedless would be best - and of course the sweeter the better!
Watermelon sorbet 4-c diced watermelon, 2Tbs honey, blend, freeze and serve. YUM. These can be frozen into fruit pops as well.

[dean]

String cheese, pepperoni and cheese and cracker plate, make your own peanutbutter and crackers, or cheese and crackers. (Buy a big box of cheese crackers at the dollar store or Big Lots, a can of spray on cheese, and a jar of peanut butter) Let the kids do the assembly.
Watermelon, cantalope, honeydew. Cut into chunks and store in a big bowl. Take out individual servings.
Hard boiled eggs, sliced. With a ham roll-up. (Just a slice of ham rolled up)

[Thevail]

For little kids, I used to make this for my daughter and her friends.

# of Used popsicle sticks = to the # of children.
2 cubes cheese per kid
1/2 hot dog cut into 3 pieces per kid

Make shish ke bob, send children outside to run around lawn eating cheese and hotdog off the sticks!

[elphie]

pizza quesadilla- tortilla, sauce, mozzarelly, pepperoni, fold in half and bake- this is a big hit at our house

homemade "lunchables"- crackers, lunchmeat and cheese cut into cracker size pieces

veggie patties- chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans) smashed with finely chopped onion and bell peppers, cumin, dash of lemon juice, form into patties and fry in small amount of oil- these have a crabcake like consistency

homemade pizza "lunchable"- biscuits smashed flat and pre-baked, pizza sauce, mozzerella, pepperoni

peanut butter on celery sticks

bean burritos (you can even make homemade refried beans)

leftovers

You can mix cut up hot dogs or a can of tuna or chicken into your mac-n-cheese to give this meal variety.

on the side:

applesauce and canned fruit when you can't find fresh fruit cheap

celery and carrot sticks dipped in ranch dressing

Use a wide vegetable peeler to make thin potato or sweet potato slices, spray lightly with oil and bake until crisp for homemade potato chips.

[Grainlady]

Here's a great web site that will give lots of lunch ideas; and will also encourage the kids to start learning about foods and food prepration.

Kids a Cookin

http://www.kidsacookin.ksu.edu/

[norcalmommy]

During the summer we make alot of fun stuff.

-Home made pizza dough, then make mini or silly shape pizzas.
-Yogurt pops, just use yogurt and sliced fruit. We have a Popsicle mold that we found at Walmart.
-Fun Popsicles - In a Popsicle mold, freeze a little bit of juice at a time, then add another flavor, freeze more, repeat until filled. Layer fun flavors, blue Gatorade, cranberry, lemonade, add chunks of strawberries. Limeade and cherry kool aid is really good too. We like to use yogurt too.
-Warm up peanut butter in the microwave for about 15 seconds. Add a few drops of maple syrup to it, or cinnamon, honey, etc. Stir it up and serve with apple slices, celery, carrots, crackers, etc.
-Wraps - tortillas and whatever you have - PB&J, lunchmeat, cream cheese and strawberry slices, etc.
-Veggies and salsa.
-Baked potatoes with cheese and broccoli.
-English muffin pizzas or sandwiches. I bake eggs in a well oiled muffin tin, then make egg/ham sandwiches on and english muffin.
-Pita pocket sandwiches.
-Fruit dip - Take one serving of flavored fruit yogurt and mix with a tub of cool whip. My kids will eat fruit all day when I give them this.
-Spaghetti - I will make a large batch, then freeze lunch sized portions. Easy, easy.
-Phylo dough bites. I cut the dough into squares, then make different fillings, fold in half , pinch edges and bake. My kids and DH love manwich filling, ham/cheese/broccoli filling, pizza filling, etc.
-dessert quasadillas - Get a flour tortilla and lightly butter it, then sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on it, or peanut butter and honey and fold in half. Put a little bit of butter in a frying pan and cook on both sides. You can serve it with cool whip or by itself. My kids and nephews think this is the best thing ever, lol. Its SUPER cheap.