Inexpensive dinners

[mnm'z]

^^ As a matter of fact, I was. My dad was on the board of directors for the Wyoming Rodeo (biggest Rodeo this side of the Mississippi - until animal rights were able to shut it down). I was in many various parades, but the biggest was definitely the Tulip Parade sitting on top of the float! Lots o fun and great memories - thanks!

[sharon.gmc]

All of these recipe and the prices make me want to cook at home also but the problem is that I need to learn! All of the things you shared here sound delicious!

[vagabond2]

Originally Posted by mnm'z

^^ As a matter of fact, I was. My dad was on the board of directors for the Wyoming Rodeo (biggest Rodeo this side of the Mississippi - until animal rights were able to shut it down). I was in many various parades, but the biggest was definitely the Tulip Parade sitting on top of the float! Lots o fun and great memories - thanks!

maybe I waved to you too bad about the rodeo, I used to love going to them in TX

Originally Posted by sharon.gmc

All of these recipe and the prices make me want to cook at home also but the problem is that I need to learn! All of the things you shared here sound delicious!

Rome was not built in a day! If you could only see some of my first learning experiences First time I made spaghetti, I forgot the sauce.....so I got ketchup and heated it up, my dad tolerated it, my siblings ate it and my mom in the hospital heard all about it since then I've learned to make spaghetti sauce from scratch.........my advice is to get a kid's cook book.....they are the easiest to learn from

[eightthirty]

I just tried Kraft's 1 bag, 5 dinners shopping list plus recipes. It seems VERY inexpensive, especially with coupons, but I couldn't tell how much one of the bags were because I bought 3 bags along with a heap of other stuff. I'm sure someone here can take a quick look at it and decide if it's a good deal without even doing the shopping! Next time, I'll buy just one bag because I'm starting to stock up on things and I'll let you know. I still have all my receipts so I'll be able to include the cost of what I already have.

[justjess]

I think one of my favorite inexpensive recipes is Chicken Pot Pie, my way

2 boxes Jiffy biscuit mix - >$1
1 16oz bag frozen peas and carrots - $1 or cheaper
Shredded chicken - I usually use 1 1/2 pounds give or take. just eyeball it
1 onion, chopped - inexpensive
2 or 3 potatos, chopped
3 tablespoons flour
italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste

Boil chicken until done, keeping the broth. While the chicken cools, saute the onion and potatos with oil for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the flour and cook for a few seconds then add the broth, a couple of spoonfuls at a time(this part is hard to explain. It all depends on how thick you want the final result to be). Add the salt, pepper, italian seasoning and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and peas and carrots and transfer to a 13x9 casserole dish. Make the biscuit dough as directed on the box (I like to use any left over chicken broth instead of water for some extra flavor). Spoon the biscuit dough over the mixture and spread it out evenly. Bake at 375 until the biscuits are golden brown and delicious.

[ameeker]

Around here the cheapest dinners all center around pasta, potatoes and/or tomatoes. There are 5 of us, but no really big eaters. I can my own pasta sauce and I figure it costs about $.40/quart to make. When ground beef is on sale for $1.69/lb, and I get pasta for $.33/lb then I can make dinner for 5 for $2.42. The funny part is that I always bag up the beef in slightly smaller than 1 pound bags and I never use quite a full box of pasta, so actually less than $2.42. I also like to make a batch of rolls or garlic bread with it, so figure in another $.50 for that (give or take).

Another cheap dinner is loaded baked potatoes. I recently bought a 5lb bag of taters for $1.79 at SAL, and it has maybe 20 potatoes in it. If you figure 1 tater each, that's about $.45 in potatoes, a FREE bag of frozen broccoli, $1.49 for shredded cheese and 1/2 a pound in bacon bits at $1.66/lb, that's $2.77 for a family of five. If you have to throw in the sour cream, add another $.50 (or you could use a free bottle of Kraft ranch dressing).

The other big, cheap and fast dinner is nachos. My family LOVES them. We always have the 2lb bag of chips from Sam's Club, it's $2.58, but about a 1/4 of it feeds the crew, so $.65 for chips. A pound of grilled chicken $1.99 (or ground beef which is only $1.69), an 8oz bag of cheese $1.49, plus a pint of homemade salsa $.25, half a pound of sour cream (or FREE Ranch dressing) and a bag of shredded lettuce on sale for $.98, ta-da dinner (and probably leftovers) for $5.36!

Another really fast prep dinner is baked burritos, takes about 3 minutes (if) of work. I get the frozen ones when they go on sale for 2/$4 and I have a $1 off q, so $1 for the ready-made burritos. I line them up in a pan, dump a jar of homemade salsa over them $.60, and top with a bag of shredded cheese $1.49 and pop them in the oven for 30 minutes. This will feed all 5 of us for $3.09 and leave me with a leftover burrito for lunch the next day. This is a great dinner to throw in the oven on time bake, since the frozen part keeps everything cold for quite a while, I can toss this together, pick the girls up from school, take them to scouts, then take them to a soccer game, and still get home just in time for a hot dinner all ready to eat.

I try and keep the total food cost for the day for the whole family at $10 or less. This is really hard when the kids want to buy the hot lunch at school which costs $2.25 each!!! Argh! Don't these people know how to use coupons?

[Jeana]

Just had to add this one for summer it is delish and inexpensive. plus served cold so great for hot days-no oven.

Spaghetti cooked and drained. Salad seasoning to taste (I just found at dollar general for around $2) italian dressing to taste. Cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, onions chopped small.(Inexpensive during summer at farmers market) The amount would depend on how loaded with the veggies you like it. Mix all and presto! I omit the onions since my little ones dont like them and its still great! My DH loves it in his lunch instead of the same old sandwich.

[chgomom2005]

Originally Posted by twinsplus14me

Yum, we do chicken alfredo a lot too with broccoli florets. I also do shrimp alfredo for DH and I. So fast, easy and yummy! Luckily, 2/3 of my kids don't like shrimp so it's still affordable for me to make it!

I can't stress enough how much of a time saver it is to precook your chicken breasts. I buy them in bulk on sale, cut them into strips or chunks, stir fry with a little oil, garlic and pepper and freeze in zip bags. This way, I can boil pasta, rice, whatever, and have dinner on the table in 20 min. or less. It really comes in handy during baseball season! And, it doesn't take up very much freezer space when it's cooked.

I do the same thing with ground beef. That way it's all done to add to soup, spaghetti sauce, make burritos, etc.

I always freeze just a few breasts together for a few of the crockpot recipes I have....but cooking them to add into sauces, etc. is a great idea! I ALWAYS do that with my ground beef, too! SOOOOO fabulous...again works wonderful for crockpot stuff!

[ncscgirl2005]

Someone on another forum gave me Tater Tot Casserole recipe and it was quite tasty and very Cheap. Even DH loved it.

2 lbs Ground Beef
1 bag frozen Tater Tots
2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup
1/2 milk
1 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
Shredded or grated Cheese

Spread cooked ground beef in casserole dish. Mix soup,milk, and Worcestershire sauce together and spread on top of beef. Spread frozen tater tots on top. Cook 45 minutes. I added my cheese during the last 10 minutes of baking.

It's a really simple recipe that you can play around with to see what works for you.

It cost me less than $5.

[lucyrevenge]

Originally Posted by justjess

I think one of my favorite inexpensive recipes is Chicken Pot Pie, my way

2 boxes Jiffy biscuit mix - >$1
1 16oz bag frozen peas and carrots - $1 or cheaper
Shredded chicken - I usually use 1 1/2 pounds give or take. just eyeball it
1 onion, chopped - inexpensive
2 or 3 potatos, chopped
3 tablespoons flour
italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste

Boil chicken until done, keeping the broth. While the chicken cools, saute the onion and potatos with oil for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the flour and cook for a few seconds then add the broth, a couple of spoonfuls at a time(this part is hard to explain. It all depends on how thick you want the final result to be). Add the salt, pepper, italian seasoning and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and peas and carrots and transfer to a 13x9 casserole dish. Make the biscuit dough as directed on the box (I like to use any left over chicken broth instead of water for some extra flavor). Spoon the biscuit dough over the mixture and spread it out evenly. Bake at 375 until the biscuits are golden brown and delicious.

I was talking to my mom about his today. She was the casserole queen when we were kids so I was asking her for ideas.

Think I will combine hers with yours. Thanks for sharing. Let ya know how it turns out.