Inexpensive family meals....

[bac511]

What are some ideas of inexpensive family meals (to feed 3 with possible leftovers)? What are you staple meals?

[jobycom]

1. Beans and rice.

They work great as leftovers, or mixed into new dishes the second day. You can make a big pot in a crockpot and wander away for the day. Beans can be cooked by throwing just about any spices or ingredients in with them, to mix up the recipes. Good for vegetarians or flesh-eaters. You can combine different types. You can make enchiladas with the leftovers--just wrap them in tortillas, cover with a sauce, and bake. They are the perfect food.

[SacredCow]

2. I use a good bit of chicken....

but always whole ones- the price difference between whole chickens and the already cut up parts is just obscene! I typically use a rotisserie to cook them, seasoned a little differently each time, and can usually make more than one meal out of them (with some veggie and starch sides).

Oh, and on edit- Ramen noodles as a side!!! Yeah, I know- but it doesn't get much cheaper than Ramen noodles, and they can be made edible with a little bit of work!

[UndertheOcean]

5. Ramen noodles is poison. just cook pasta, It's as cheap

[SacredCow]

6. If it were poison, I'd have died during my college years....

I ate it daily, at least. But yeah- pasta is also inexpensive and filling.

[SammyWinstonJack]

21. ...

:evilgrin: Just skip the seasoning packet. The rest is good.

[mainegreen]

3. Pasta and olive oil + garlic + squash + kale

Yum.

Saute the garlic, olive oil and kale together. Separately cut the squash into chunks and broil that.
Mix together with pasta!

[flvegan]

4. I make a vegan manicotti that costs around $7 to make

and will give me 5 meals. I'm not the lightest eater in the world, either. Nutritious, filling, feel-good food.

This does take some time to make, and I usually make this on a Saturday or Sunday night. The sauce is from scratch as well (I don't do jarred pasta sauce). Everything but the actual pasta is organic.

[SallyMander]

8. Recipe?

:D

[flvegan]

10. For the manicotti or the sauce?

My sauce recipe dies with me.

[SallyMander]

12. Haha... ok, then

Whatever you are willing to divulge! :rofl:

I'm always looking for more good vegan recipes!

[flvegan]

13. Okay

Prep the manicotti (or jumbo shells, same dif) as directed. The filling is as follows:

2 lbs of tofu, drained and mushed up. I like to use firm rather than extra firm, as the consistency is "cheesier" in the end.
Then, mix in enough Vegenaise to make the tofu "moist-ish". It HAS to be the grapeseed kind, as that's where much of the flavor comes from.
To that mixture I add my spices. Lots of basil, oregano, thyme and marjoram. Depending upon my mood, I add garlic. Mix that up.
I finely chop a good bit of raw spinach and mix that in.

Stuff pasta with mixture

Coat casserole dish with a layer of sauce, then the pasta, then spoon the sauce over the pasta.

Bake until done.

The taste is quite remarkable and the consistency of the "cheese" is dead on.

[SallyMander]

14. Mmm, thank you!

That sounds great! I am gonna give it a try this weekend. :D

:toast:

[conscious evolution]

7. Shrimp and rice

Krogers sells frozen shrimp for $4.99 lb.That and a box of four cheese rice($1.00-3.00) makes a meal for three with plenty of leftovers.
I put the leftovers in sandwich sized zip lock baggies and freeze or refrigerate.A few minutes in a microwave or boiling water and you have a pretty quick meal.

[Midlodemocrat]

9. Baked spaghetti.

One pound of ground beef
One jar of spaghetti sauce, or make your own,
Whatever kinds of cheese you like, but definitely mozzarella.
One pound of spaghetti.



Brown the beef, add whatever seasonings you like to it.
Boil the spaghetti, drain.
Add the sauce to the beef.

Mix the beef mixture, and spaghetti in a large casserole, top with cheese.

If you like a lot of cheese, you can add it some to the step where you are mixing the beef and spaghetti.

Bake until the cheese is bubbling.

Huge amounts of leftovers.

[bicentennial_baby]

11. Here's one I make fairly often:

Cook up a box of fettucine or linguine.

Sautee chopped green pepper, chopped onion, crushed garlic in olive oil. If you want, add crumbled sausage or hamburger as well. Add your desired amount of Sriracha chili sauce to the sautee.

Drain pasta, toss with sautee mixture.

At this point I also stir in fresh spinach to wilt it and some chopped fresh tomatoes.

Top with black pepper and parmesan.

:)

[Inchworm]

15. I make a version of Billyskank's Pasta weekly

:blush:

The thread is still bookmarked and I often go back to it to see what I forgot. The fennel roXXor. After I made it by the book I started toying around with the sauce.

I add whatever is cheapest that week.
-sausage
-hamburger
-different cheese
-replace olives with bannana peppers and such
-use canned sauce if cheaper than tomato chunk/puree.
-different noodles
-etc...

Here's the link though. Pictures and ALL! :)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=6597420

:hi:

[crim son]

16. I have a bunch since I cook for my family and we are short on cash.

Soups and casseroles are the best - as soon as you get into buying roasts it becomes expensive. For chilis, spaghettis, meatballs, stuffed vegetables etc. I use half ground meat and half TVP. None of the kids knows the difference and it saves a lot of money. I like stirfries with mainly veggies over rice... one chicken breast will do the whole family. We also eat lots of legumes instead of meat in casseroles, etc. The trick is to use seasonings well, so nobody will notice the meal is half potatoes. :)

[Arkansas Granny]

17. My kids used to love my hamburger soup.

Brown a pound of hamburger (or any ground meat you have on hand) with some onion and garlic. Add a can or two of tomatoes and any fresh, frozen or canned vegetables you have on hand. Season to taste with salt, pepper and herbs of your choice. Simmer slowly until the veggies are tender. You can throw in a handful of pasta or rice while it's simmering to make it more substantial if desired. This will serve 4-6 hearty appetites and the leftovers taste better than the day it was made.

[WinkyDink]

18. I love franks-and-baked beans, with good Italian bread. Home-made chicken-barley soup. Tuna

casserole (I use "Golden Mushroom" soup and extra mushrooms).

[sniffa]

19. Goozy - My grandfather's Depression era meal

Condensed tomato soup
Slice(s) of cheese
Slices of bread

Depending on how many kids to feed, add more water. If you could, add more bread and cheese.

[Chan790]

20. Gnocchi

It's potato pasta in a dumpling-like form. It's cheap because you can make it at home without a pasta machine so it just costs what potatoes, flour and an egg costs, plus the cost of your sauce. (I just use stewed tomatoes with a touch of garlic, some basil and some salt. I grow the tomato, basil and garlic myself.) (You can replace the egg with any sort of binding agent for my fellow veg*ns.)

It's labor intensive but a three pound batch will serve three people easily for at least two meals. (I can get two meals out of it and I'm a heavy eater. You'll probably get 2 1/2 or 3 meals out of it.) It's extremely heavy on the tummy...you can probably skip breakfast and lunch the following day.

Cost: $
Labor: $$$ (One plus is that it's as easy to make 20 lbs as 2 lbs and it freezes well.)

No recipe because I don't have a favorite. You can find hundreds online, try a few and find one that works well for you.

[philosophie_en_rose]

22. Fried Rice

Rice, egg, soy sauce, and whatever veggies you have.

[VenusRising]

23. Whole chickens.

We usually bake the whole chicken the first night. The second day, I boil off the carcass and make a chicken stock. If I am making a soup, I use it right away. Otherwise, I pour the stock off into ice cube trays and freeze it to use later. The cubes come out of the tray easily with a knife and store in a plastic bag in the freezer. I then use the meat for potpies, enchiladas, stir-fry, chicken soup, etc. There is so much that you can do with left over chicken meat. This is one of those meals that you can eat off for 2-3 days for 5 or 6 bucks.

[spinbaby]

24. Chili mac

Make chili with lots of beans, serve over macaroni, top with cheese.