Need you're help with recipes for a frugal month ahead...

[rachelMcK]

IF this is in the wrong place, you can move it, not sure where it should go...

Here is the deal. DH and I finally have our emergency fund fully funded and we were going to start paying our loan off. Now our car is on its last legs. Seriously. We need another one soon. I don't want to lose our emergency fund (not all of it anyway) so I need your help.

I need 7 cheap nutricious meals. I mean cheap. My grocery budget is usually $80 a week, I'd like to trim it down to $40-$60 (DH needs his snacks). We don't mind eating the same things every week, we generally do that anyway. I've looked all over for recipes but they all seem to be catch us somewhere (for example, ingredients that cost alot to purchase up front, but last a while). I'm looking for meals with 5 ingredients or less.

If you can help me, I'll love you forever...lol. I want to save as much money in the next month as I possibly can.

Thanks in advance!!

[coltsmama]

Soup and salads or sandwiches are very frugal and filling.
pasta and marinara
I have found that cutting back on meat when times are lean are the best ways to cut back a food budget.
Potato soup
veggie soup
french onion soup
macaroni and tomatoes
tuna casserole
There are just the 2 of you right?
Most of these would make 2 or 3 meals easily for a couple of dollars

[coltsmama]

I also would consider making cupcakes and popcorn for snacks . That would really cut back as well.

[LexTysMommy]

Easy /Cheap Meals :


*Spaghetti is always on top of my list. Make big batch. Add Spaghetti sauce from can(cheap brand) or whatever tomato sauce you have on hand. Add spices. You can add in 1/4 pound of ground meat to add the meaty texture that most men like. LOL. Serve with plain bread toasted in oven with little butter and garlic salt.

---Leftover spaghetti noodles and sauce add in buttered glass baking dish. Add some cheese on top and bake for spaghetti bake another night of week. Add nice salad with that for good meal.

---Leftover meat minus the 1/4 pound for spaghetti. Add small can of tomato sauce ( or leftover sauce from spaghetti) and a can of beans ( kidney, red, whatever you like) and make sloppy joes. Serve over buns either open faced or as sandwich.


*Ham. I buy an already cooked ham and cook it one day. We have ham with mashed potatoes ( make the whole bag) and veggie one night.

---Then with leftover ham. Dice it up and add to a bag of hasbrown potatoes in buttered glass baking dish. Mix some onions and cheese in with it and bake covered on 350 for 50 minutes.

---Leftover ham from that if there is any can make sandwichs or diced up for on top of salad ( like chefs salad)


Hope this helps a little.

[sdrjeolsen]

If it were me, I'd buy a chicken (or if you go this week, a turkey as they are cheap right now). You can cook it, de-bone it, make broth with the bones.

Then you can (with flour), make a gravywith the broth, add some of the meat and put it over rice (cheap) or potatoes( almost as cheap) you could eat that for days.

Another day, add a bag of mixed veggies and make a pie crust (top and bottom) and you have a chicken/turkey pot pie. Should last 2 days for 2 people.

Could make home made egg noodles and have soup one day.

Home made egg noodle pasta is cheap. You can buy a jar of spag. sauce for usually $1 on sale.

Baked potatoes topped with interesting random leftovers go over big at our house too.

As far as healthy eating, add some frozen veggies or salad greens to each meal.

Waffles or pancakes for dinner are cheap too. Can top with fresh fruit to make more healthy.

Good luck, you can make it work!

[LexTysMommy]

What snacks does DH "need"? Maybe we can help with that too.

[lwlynch]

~a pork butt in the crock pot.. i use it first to make on top of baked potatoes and ranch. then i use for sandwiches next. if there is anything left a pizza.
~spagetti with sauce, then take leftovers smoosh into pie pan. Take froz, brocolli mix with garlic powder, salt, pepper, and bog scoop of cream cheese. mix together plop in middle, sprinkle with motz. and bake, spagetti pie.
~chicken (roasted first night) next boil left over carcass, get your chicken broth. I do extra and freeze. then i make soup, chicken pot pie..(top crust, those cheap refrig biscuits)
~refrigerator biscuits,.. make good donuts, cinamin and sugar.
that is just some of mine

[rachelMcK]

Ok the snack are a little odd. I give him a $20 allowance a week for snacks. He usually gets chips, chocolate, juice (cause I don't buy it normally). This was done simply because I would buy snacks for our lunches and then they would be gone in two days because he would eat them all. Then there are no snacks for the rest of the week. Now, he does like to bake (I really don't...ever). Would it be cheaper if he baked cookies and cupcakes etc..not quite sure...thanks!

[lwlynch]

we live by the cake mixes.. i have a sandwich maker which will make them little triangular. you can also get creative and put stuff in them too. then they baggie (after cooled) real easy. Our snacks are also those carrots and ranch. pretzels and ranch. peanut butter and animal crackers. those are all pretty cheap..

[Squirt]

You can make a whole load of cookies for next to nothing. If he likes them fresh, freeze the cookie dough and cook them one sheet full at a time. I made the choc. chip cookie recipe from the back of a flour bag; pretty darn easy. You could always toss in nuts and craisins to make them extra-yummy.

[Kitten20]

A lot of this has already been mentioned, but these are the things we eat a lot of around here when money is tight: spaghetti, baked potatoes (& other potatoes), eggs (scrambled, fried, omelets, ramen/fried rice knock-off), rice, beans, burritos, pancakes, waffles, frozen veggies, mac & cheese, ramen, french toast (again w/ the eggs), etc. Not exactly nutritious, but it works in a pinch and will get you by!

[shoiji]

You should be fine. I remember eating spaghetti for a week when ever I needed to. The turkey idea sounds great since you would have large amounts of meat that could last two weeks. If you made a creamed turkey soup out of the meat you can use it over waffles or pancakes, top it with biscuits for a pot pie or just eat it plain.

[ShadowMom]

hamburger gravy and biscuits - use 1/3 to 1/2 pound hamburger, to stretch it further use 1/2 milk and 1/2 water for the gravy, and homemade biscuits

chicken leg quarters, stew the package and debone it, from that there is
-chicken and noodles
-chicken and dumplings
-creamed chicken (I use store brand canned mixed vegies)over rice or mashed potatoes
-chicken noodle soup
-chicken pot pies

bean burritos
ham and beans (use smoked ham hocks) with cornbread
potato soup
tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches


there's more, but this is all I can think of at the moment.

Andrea

[lisettelovebug]

Some of the things we eat a lot that are cheap:

Italian chili ( http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes...ecipe_id=91551)

Spaghetti - sometimes I use whatever leftover pasta I have in the house

We've recently started eating tuna patties - i think they may also be called tuna burgers. I use 2 cans of tuna, a few eggs, some parmesan cheese and then some breadcrumbs. Then just add any seasonings you want - salt, pepper, etc. Shape intp patties. Put frying / flat pan on medium heat, spray with Pam or whatever you have and throw those babies on there. My 9 year old loves them.

Tuna casserole. I use a white sauce with parmesan cheese in it instead of cream of mushroom soup. Adding breadcrumb/parmesan topping on to it and baking makes it delicious!

Chicken and Biscuits
pound of cooked chicken (cut into pieces),2 cans of gravy, some frozen mixed veggies, a little worchestersire sauce, salt n pepper, Let it simmer until veggies are cooked to taste. Throw it on some biscuits - I use Jiffy mix to make mine.

I also make these recipes quite often:
chicken brushetta bake
http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes...ecipe_id=65546
tex mex shells n chees
http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes...ecipe_id=94497

[redhead68]

What staples do you have in your pantry and freezer? That might help us come up with good suggestions, using items you already have in your kitchen.