Favorite Budget Meals/Go To Meals

[bk1]

Since we have been talking about meal planning, what are your go to meals/budget meals? Recipes for bonus points!

[Deleted]

I'm a big fan of salsa chicken in the crockpot. I get a bag of frozen chicken, add in some salsa, a can of of black beans, and some chili powder and cumin. Once it's cooked I shred it and use it for tacos, on top of salads, or over rice. It lasts a few days

I also like chili, again in the crockpot. Skinny taste has a bunch of different recipes. Most have some kind of meat in them but you can keep that out and add more beans to make it more filling.

[estrellita]

I'm looking for easy freezer meals too.. either for the crock pot or pan, doesn't matter.

I'm in need of ideas so I'm following this! One of my favorite easy things is to make rice with a bouillon cube and a little butter. So simple and so yummy. Maybe not super healthy but it's good!

[ewall]

We do a lot of beans/rice/salsa dishes because they are so interchangeable.

For example:
$1/can of (organic! lol) chickpeas, seasoned and roasted with onions/pepppers
$1/can of (organic! lol) black beans, seasoned and cooked on stove top with onions/peppers
$1/bag of white or brown rice
$2.50 jar of salsa
$1/bag of frozen peppers and onions mix

That gives us two dinners for $6.50. Any leftover salsa gets saved for another meal. Plus we still have rice because one bag lasts forever. You could get it cheaper with bagged beans cooked in a crock pot. 

Variations on this:
Chickpeas with $2.50 jar of curry simmer sauce (I need to make the sauce myself, haven't bothered trying, but I imagine I could do it cheaper.)
Black beans and quinoa (more expensive than rice, but still goes a long way)


Two bean tamale pie. Less than $6 gives us two meals because we always have leftovers. You can google the recipe.
$1/can of black beans
$1/can of pinto beans
$1/can of diced chiles
$1/green pepper
$1/onion
$1/cornbread
Garlic
Cheese - whatever we have on hand
Salsa - whatever leftover we have on hand
Recipe calls for vegetable juice. We don't bother. We simply add in some hot sauce and water.
Sometimes we splurge on sour cream...add another $1

Must have staples in our kitchen:
Jarred garlic. I'm sure fresh is better, but IDGAF!
Lemon and lime juice.
Olive oil. Nothing fancy.
Spices: cumin, red pepper, I can't think of anything else right now?
Frozen peppers, onions, spinach, broccoli

Half of a $2 box of Barilla Protein Plus pasta and a $3 organic meatless jarred sauce. $4 for dinner. We use the remainder of the box for next week's pasta night.

$5 frozen (organic! spinach! it's almost healthy, lol) pizza is always a good thing to have on hand for those nights when you need something ASAP. $5 is way cheaper than anything you would pay for takeout.

[estrellita]

We do like to stock up on frozen pizzas but then we're lazy and eat that first, lol. Our favorite cheap pizza is Orv's and my GD friendly (aka probably healthier) is Connie's. I agree that it's not the best but way cheaper than delivery! Even Papa Murphys take and bake is cheaper!

[pooh8402]

Beef stew
Goulash
Ditto cheap frozen pizza. We love Totinos combination pizza, less than $2 each. Not healthy in the least but it is cheap and easy!

[ewall]

Mmmm goulash! pooh8402 that's one of my faves.

[Deleted]

Some of our go-to cheaper meals:

Split pea and barley soup
Ground turkey with veggies - carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, garlic, and spices, served with rice
Pasta with a pound of ground beef and a jar of sauce, very easy
Chicken and rice casserole
Beef stew with potatoes, carrots, and peas
Chili
Borscht - potatoes, beets, carrots, cabbage
Baked sweet potatoes or baked butternut squash served with beans, rice, or quinoa - very cheap
Baked ziti/mostaccioli
Breakfast for dinner - eggs, pancakes, etc
Sometimes Kraft mac and cheese lol

I only used the Crock Pot once, so I'm going to start trying out different recipes and see what I can throw together.

[Deleted]

A few more ideas:
Chicken and veggie stirfry with rice
Taco bar - easy, filling, pretty cheap, and good for leftovers

[grover]

We stock up on Market Days individually wrapped chicken breasts at $10 for 12. They are perfectly portioned and easy to defrost for quick meals. Most often well marinate two (using a small amount of a $1 bottled marinade) and pair with a box of frozen veggies and trader joes $1 brown rice.

We do frozen pizza Fridays ($3.50 for red Baron).

Breakfast during the week is scrambled eggs and sausage. It's filling and cheaper than dunkin donuts.

[HoneySpider]

We do a lot of meat & veggie meals - grilled chicken & veggie, meatball & veggie, italian sausage & veggie, hamburgers & veggie. DH does a good job with using seasonings, marinades, etc to make them really flavorful.

I like things that give us 2 meals like southwest eggrolls & baked ziti. Once the weather cools off I'll do more bakes/casseroles and we'll put chili back in the rotation.

We do tacos and quesadillas here and there. Typically if we buy tortillas we'll do 2 meals that use them so we use the whole pack of tortillas.

We also like to do salads with grilled chicken.

Breakfast for dinner is our quick and easy fall back - we typically have eggs, frozen breakfast sausage, and bread on hand. A frozen pizza is our other one. Sometimes we'll just do sandwiches or grilled cheese and soup.

[anyastroud]

this stuff is delicious. and pretty cheap 

•4 chicken breasts (defrosted)
•1 large can or Cream of Chicken Soup (or two small cans)
•2 boxes of Stuffing mix
•1 cup Sour Cream (we used light)
•1 small package of frozen green beans
•Crockpot
•Non stick cooking spray



1.Spray the crockpot with non stick cooking spray
2.Place the defrosted chicken breasts in the bottom of the crockpot as your first bottom layer.
3.Next tear open two boxes of stuffing mix (we used the Stove Top Chicken flavor), pour the dry mix over the raw chicken.
4.In a separate bowl, mix together the soup and sour cream. Top this mixture over the dry stuffing mix.
5.The last layer will be the frozen green beans.
6.Now add about 1 cup of water to the top of this mix.
7.Cook on high for 4 hours or cook on low for about 7 to 8 hours.
8.Tip: About ½ way between the cooking time use a fork to fluff the stuffing mix. This will allow the water to drop through the soup mix and create a steam to cook the stuffing. Add less water if you prefer a dry stuffing or add more water if you like it really moist.

[awick14]

I love this thread. So many good ideas.

Our go to meals;
(DH is a hunter so some of these are cheaper for that reason, if we don't have any wild game in the freezer I buy all meat from Costco or if it's on sale at another place.)

-bbq chicken, rice and frozen veggies
-homemade burgers
-lots of simple casseroles in the winter/colder weather
-crock pot meals, made in double batches if possible
-cheap frozen pizza
-sandwiches
-soups
-chili

I add more veggies to meals and less meat, it makes it filling without the increase in cost.

I buy a lot of stuff in bulk if I can. We have 2 deep freezes so storage isn't usually an issue.

We also do a veggie garden in the summer and I can a lot of it so that it lasts into the winter.

I make sauces for spaghetti and such from scratch:
-spaghetti= 1 large can of tomatoes, small can of tomato paste (or a larger can opened and divided into ice cube trays and I use 3-4 cubes per recipe), onions, peppers, and spices. Place tomatoes in food processor and blend to consistency you want. Place everything into a pot and heat. Easy and cheap.
-Alfredo= melt some butter, add flour, when thickened add milk (not cream, cheaper and healthier) once at a boil take off heat and add parmesan cheese.

[bk1]

So many good ideas!

I only buy meat when it is on sale and I portion it out and freeze it. Meat is so expensive and I just can't mentally spend the money for full price. 



When I use to make taco meat (had to change it because of DH's diet) I would do:
1 lb hamburger
1 can of corn
1 can of beans
mexican rice

and I would mix all of that and use it as the base meat. One pound of meat stretched a long way doing it like that. Now DH can't eat the beans or corn but still adding the rice helps. We would eat it for 2 meals and with the rest I would make burritos for the freezer for quick lunches.


I'm getting ready to go make my version of "shephard's pie". 

1 lb hamburger
frozen veggies (1 bag mixed or parts of different bags)
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
seasonings

Brown hamburger in a skillet. Add that and everything else to crock pot. Cook 7-8 hours on low. I will bake some sweet potatoes to go with it. 

We almost always have ingredients for beef stew and goulash. 

I bake extra chicken when I make it and the first night we eat chicken breast with veggies or whatnot, and with the leftovers I make a cassarole or something like that to make it stretch further.

We eat fish at least once a week. Not the cheapest but healthy and super easy and fast.