Budget friendly meals and other ideas

[followyourarrow]

From yesterday's randoms, it sounds like we're all feeling like COLAs just aren't doing it compared to the actual cost of living increase we're seeing.  Please share budget friendly meal ideas and if you want, any other good cost savings ideas you've run across lately. 

[sproctopus]

My favorite is the Cheesy White Bean Tomato Bake from the NYT.

[followyourarrow]

Members Mark (sams or walmart) Southern Chicken bites plus Sister Schubert pan rolls, taste just like Chick Fil A at a fraction of the cost to feed a family, plus no Chick Fil A.

[clairebear]

I add lentils to almost anything that has ground beef. I sub a half a pound of ground beef for 1/4 cup dry lentils (Boil for 20 minutes). Healthier and stretches the meal while lowering food costs. My kids call them niblets and seem to have accepted them. 

[jac]

We have tuna melts every other week, if not every week. I loosely follow Ina's recipe:

www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/ultimate-tuna-melts-11887214

I say loosely because jarred tuna is like $8. I use canned.

[lavenderblue]

Feb 23, 2024 9:54:36 GMT -5 jac said:

We have tuna melts every other week, if not every week. I loosely follow Ina's recipe:

www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/ultimate-tuna-melts-11887214

I say loosely because jarred tuna is like $8. I use canned.

Mmmm my kids won't eat this, but I love a good Tuna Melt. I think I'm going to add this recipe to my lunch rotation on the days I wfh. 

[jac]

Feb 23, 2024 9:57:03 GMT -5 lavenderblue said:

Feb 23, 2024 9:54:36 GMT -5 jac said:

We have tuna melts every other week, if not every week. I loosely follow Ina's recipe:

www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/ultimate-tuna-melts-11887214

I say loosely because jarred tuna is like $8. I use canned.

Mmmm my kids won't eat this, but I love a good Tuna Melt. I think I'm going to add this recipe to my lunch rotation on the days I wfh. 

It's really good - the anchovy paste isn't too prominent, just adds a little something.  The lemon and dill were game changers.  

[mofongo]

We like do what we call “eating off the land” lol, which is just scrounging the freezer/pantry and making a meal. Last night we had chicken sausage quesadillas and they were really good! We always have cheese and tortillas, and found chicken sausage in the fridge. I guess we always have chicken sausage in the freezer b/c we’ve also done pasta and chicken sausage, H usually makes a sauce or something. We will have some kind of frozen vegetable with these types of meals.

Other cheap meals:
-Breakfast for dinner
-Eggs and rice with Asian seasoning
-black beans and rice, H makes really good black beans

[litskispeciality]

DH and I just talked about adding Tuna Melt's back in to the rotation. We like them with tater tots and a (frozen) veggie.

I love fresh veggies, but frozen is a bit cheaper.

I had posted a couple of weeks ago we made a beef chilli with hamburger meat that gave us 3 - 4 meals. We made them in to wraps with enchilada sauce, then rice bowls, and mac and cheese. I got recs to add the leftovers to baked potatos, Frito or tater tot pie. The list goes on, or freeze the leftovers and then have them another night you don't feel like cooking.

I switch between store brand oatmeal or store brand Cheerios for breakfast which keeps me full and lasts a while as I only need about half a cup of uncooked oatmeal per serving.

[VillainV]

Feb 23, 2024 9:38:21 GMT -5 sproctopus said:

My favorite is the Cheesy White Bean Tomato Bake from the NYT.

I made the version of this that has green chiles this week, and it was amazing! I added some shredded chicken thighs.

[orval]

I always pick up a rotisserie chicken from Sam's when I am there. They are still $4.99 and I can get at least 2 - 3 meals out of one(family of 3). We usually eat is as is the first time. Then I break the rest of it down, often freeze the rest for later. I make- chicken pot pie, chicken salad, chicken nachos, various pasta dishes with chicken - with the leftovers.

[scm1011]

Feb 23, 2024 10:00:26 GMT -5 mofongo said:

We like do what we call “eating off the land” lol, which is just scrounging the freezer/pantry and making a meal. Last night we had chicken sausage quesadillas and they were really good! We always have cheese and tortillas, and found chicken sausage in the fridge. I guess we always have chicken sausage in the freezer b/c we’ve also done pasta and chicken sausage, H usually makes a sauce or something. We will have some kind of frozen vegetable with these types of meals.

Similarly, most Fridays for the kids we clean out the fridge of leftovers but call it the "blue plate special" (we actually have blue plates with dividers that we use lol). Its always a charcuterie of the small leftover bits from the week - a couple bites of chicken, a handful of beans, some leftover noodles, fruit that survived the week, maybe some cheddar cheese. The kids actually love having a plate of many different little things and it helps with food waste. 

[litskispeciality]

Feb 23, 2024 12:16:23 GMT -5 orval said:

I always pick up a rotisserie chicken from Sam's when I am there. They are still $4.99 and I can get at least 2 - 3 meals out of one(family of 3). We usually eat is as is the first time. Then I break the rest of it down, often freeze the rest for later. I make- chicken pot pie, chicken salad, chicken nachos, various pasta dishes with chicken - with the leftovers.

My husband's old boss used to do this as they cook dinner at work (long shifts). They made fun of the boss and complained they were sick of chicken...but pre-all this new inflation they paid between $3 - 5 a person so...

One recommendation from him was making a chicken salad with cranberries and walnuts (obviously based on taste and allergies etc.)

[snowflurry]

Red beans and rice - super cheap and so easy

Tony Chachere's Red Beans and Rice DINNER Mix (not the seasoning mix) + link of sausage. Total for both $5 and feeds a family of 3.

[eb777888]

A big pot of Posole was like $20 and made a TON. And, it is delicious.

[litskispeciality]

Not sure this actually saves money, but I've started to run our dishwasher over night. I learned on here it has a delay setting, so I can set it during the day and have it run when I sleep. I still hold true you "pay less" for overnight electricity, but I'm not sure that was every true. I also re-configure the dishwasher to make sure I fill every.single.spot before running it to go every other day rather than those "run it every day with half a load!" commercials. DH actually gets irrationally annoyed that you're wasting more money running it rather than waiting for a full load.

Our other appliances are too "old" for this setting, but if you have that option you could say run a load of towels or blankets, non-wrinkable items, overnight and then fold and put away whenever you have time.

I'm also hurting my really bad eye sight by only keeping a light on when I'm in the room. I've found candle light to be very relaxing on weekend nights, and then I don't have to turn the lights on, lol.

ETA: I'm lucky enough to WFH now, so I'm trying to re-wear the same clothes if they don't get too dirty. In theory having less laundry should lead to paying for less water (bill)? At least it makes a little less work for me.

[picksthemusic]

One of our 'struggle meals' or the meal we make when we're too tired to make anything else is migas. It's basically torn up corn tortillas (I usually use 2-3/pp) cooked in some butter for about 10 min, throw 6-8 eggs on top and loosely scramble. Once the eggs are almost cooked, throw some shredded cheese on top and put a lid on it and melt for a bit (~5 min off the heat). Serve with some sour cream, salsa, hot sauce (or be like me and my son, ketchup). You can add in chopped onions (I'd sautee them before you add the tortillas), black beans, or you can put refried beans on top (heated/cooked of course) to make it 'healthier'. But it's a good quick win on weeknights and the kids love it.

[gardengal]

I also do 50-50 with ground meat & beans or lentils. Like for tacos. Or filling for stuffed veg. For chili, since it already has beans, I add some corn.

This week I made cabbage roll casserole (lazy stuffed cabbage) but I used lentils & TVP instead of meat. And my gma’s recipe used tomato soup but I do no salt crushed tomatoes instead. I track my food & it was 29 grams of protein/serving & totally vegetarian with “whole foods”.

Like pp, we also do migas except I extra cheat & use some tortilla chips. We do refried fried beans & sautéed peppers/onions or a frozen veg for the meal. With salsa and/or sour cream/Greek yogurt for topping

Some of my fav bean recipes:
smittenkitchen.com/2010/02/chana-masala/
cookieandkate.com/roasted-cauliflower-and-lentil-tacos/
www.budgetbytes.com/mediterranean-farro-salad-with-spiced-chickpeas/?utm_content=buffer2b5be&utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest.com&utm_campaign=budgetbytesbuffer
(In general, Budget Bytes is an awesome resource!)
www.nourishdeliciously.com/?p=25112
www.gimmesomeoven.com/lemony-orzo-chickpea-soup/
littlespicejar.com/moroccan-sweet-potato-lentil-soup/?utm_source=bloglovin.com&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+littlespicejar%2FRQzi+%28Little+Spice+Jar%29

Favorite tofu recipes:
Tofu nuggets (pressed, drained firm tofu cut into nugget sized pieces, tossed in cornstarch & spice—we often do bbq seasonings, spray with oil, bake or air fry at 400 for 20ish minor until golden. Dip w sauces!)
www.veganricha.com/spicy-peanut-butter-ramen/
minimalistbaker.com/crispy-peanut-tofu-cauliflower-rice-stir-fry/

And my lazy lunch is a microwaved potato (I do white bc I always need more potassium but you can do sweet) with half a can of pre-seasoned beans on top (Wegmans has chana masala, I think Bushs brand has fiesta black bean or Tuscan white bean too) & some easy veg (frozen veg or raw carrots)

[redheadbaker]

If you have leftover veggies you need to use, toss with some Italian seaoning or Herbes de Provence, roast them on a baking sheet.

Make instant polenta, add parmesan cheese.

Top polenta with roasted veggies. Yum.

[katb]

Frittatas are super easy to make and cheap (even when eggs were super high). I use a dozen eggs, some milk/water, veggies I have on hand, and meat if you want - I have used bacon, ham, deli meat, etc.

I serve with sliced tomatoes and done. During the summer, it's one of my favorite meals to make because it's good hot or room temp when all the kids come rolling in

[Jalapeñomel]

Feb 23, 2024 9:38:21 GMT -5 sproctopus said:

My favorite is the Cheesy White Bean Tomato Bake from the NYT.

Any chance you have this recipe?

[litskispeciality]

I forgot that my husband's team does a lot of taco and/or fajita nights. He said they often include a lot of veggies like peppers, onions, things that are cheaper. Not sure if yogurt is less expensive than sour cream, but I've found plain non-fat Greek yogurt a fine substitute, and a bit healthier.

As a kid I loved making grilled cheese out of the wraps instead of bread. Re-purpose whatever you don't use for tacos before they go bad.

DH and I do PB&J and/or various forms of grilled cheese for lunch. I like mine with tomato, avocado, maybe even bacon.

Finally, we do a lot of (veggie pasta) Mac and cheese with hamburger meat or bacon, a veg, and frozen garlic bread. Baked ziti with hamburger meat is easy, cheap, and makes plenty for at least 2 - 3 meals. I loved on that my senior year of college when I had an oven.

[sproctopus]

Feb 23, 2024 19:13:42 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Feb 23, 2024 9:38:21 GMT -5 sproctopus said:

My favorite is the Cheesy White Bean Tomato Bake from the NYT.

Any chance you have this recipe?

https://www.reddit.com/r/52weeksofcooking/comments/fxutaq/week_15_beans_cheesy_white_bean_tomato_bake/

Here's a reddit thread with it! I know the NYT requires a login sometimes. Really easy to riff on this and add extra stuff!

[mrspez07]

We buy a pack of flour tortillas at Costco so we always have that on hand.
Bean and cheese burritos (any kind of bean, also from Costco)
Fajitas
Quesadillas
Soft tacos (with ground beef or chicken)
Breakfast burritos

[mich1]

I usually make at least one pot of soup each week. Frequently, I’ll throw veggies that are on their way out into it. Soups still seem to be almost the cheapest thing to make (unless I’m making seafood chowder, then I’m dropping $50 on seafood).

[cjcouple]

www.mediterraneanliving.com/mediterranean-spiced-rice-with-black-beans-chickpeas/

I like this one because it has 2 different beans and the toppings add a lot of flavor. And I makes a LOT.

Aglio e olio served with a garden salad

Frozen broccoli and cauliflower actually roast up nicely and are a lot cheaper than fresh. just cook at high temp and it may need a bit longer. Just keep checking those.

I try to stock up on chicken as well because it goes as low as .99 a lb bone in or 1.99 boneless.

Black bean tacos and burgers are very easy to make and inexpensive.

[cjcouple]

these are the burgers. They get a nice crunch

sallysbakingaddiction.com/best-black-bean-burgers/

[cjcouple]

this may be regional but I can find a bag of wild caught medium frozen shrimp (from US) peeled and deveined for about $9 - apprx 45-50 shrimp. I am the only one who eats shrimp so a bag can last me quite a few meals. I'd say at least 5-6 meals (shrimp tacos, grilled skewers, in a olive oil pasta, even just cilantro lime flavored with rice). So for me it's less than $2 a meal. But this will depend on your area/pricing/and how much you eat. It's budget friendly for me.

[sadlebred]

Rice bowls.
--Rice
--Veggies (use 3 or so kinds of canned or frozen veggies or leftovers)
--Beans (1-2 kinds or whatever is on sale. I like black or northern beans.)
--Another protein/meat if you want-great for leftover chicken or hamburger
--Whatever sauce is in your fridge like soy sauce, dressing, or just a bit of olive oil.

[bittybomb]

Feb 23, 2024 9:41:59 GMT -5 followyourarrow said:

Members Mark (sams or walmart) Southern Chicken bites plus Sister Schubert pan rolls, taste just like Chick Fil A at a fraction of the cost to feed a family, plus no Chick Fil A.

Costco’s bare naked chicken nuggets also taste like chick fil a! I also grabbed a rotisserie chicken when I was at Costco to order my glasses and my family of 5 got two dinners out of it.