Cheap dinner ideas

Pizza? [], wait wait, water and chips!!!!! hey you wanted cheap and didnt mention anything about the crappy part []

ORIGINAL: espencer

Pizza? [], wait wait, water and chips!!!!! hey you wanted cheap and didnt mention anything about the crappy part []

ROFL!! I also meant appetizing, cheap dinner ideas.

Like the kids would go for water and chips. They would need veggies too.

--Sara

Sara... it would probably help to know the ages of all your kids AND what foods they WON'T eat![]

Off the top of my head hear are 2.. but again you will have to look closely at the carbs for Deacon...

1) Sloppy Joes (just be sure not to use the CANNED mix, use the seasoning packets as I think the cans are loaded with sugar.


2) Mexican chili:

  1 pound ground beef 1 medium onion chopped 1 tablespoon chili powder ½ teaspoon ground cumin 2 cans diced tomatoes (undrained) 1 can pinto beans, drained ½ cup (or less) of mild salsa ½ cup shredded cheese 3 tablespoons sour cream Black olives (optional)

  Combine meat and onions and cook until brown. Add in chili powder and cumin stir fro 1 minutes. Add tomatoes, beans and salsa and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes.

Tacos are pretty cheap too.  Instead of using a full lb of meat, use 1/2 lb and saute green peppers and onions with the meat.  You get more veggies and they might not notice.  I box of shells is about $1.50, and I usually have left over cheese, lettuce and tomatoes in the fridge at home []

I have a few regular cheapies in my rotation. Tuna casserole is a good one. A couple cans of tuna, a couple cans of the healthy recipe cream of mushroom soup, some dried diced onions and a bag of egg noodles. Add milk to make it nice and runny and bake until hot. Less than $5 to feed 4 with leftovers. I prefer it with a bag of frozen peas, but hubby doesn't because that's not how *his mom* made it! [:-]

I also make a southwestern chicken skillet. Slice up two or three chicken breasts and brown. Add a can of chicken broth and a cup or two of salsa, a can of whole kernal corn and rinsed and drained black beans and bring to a boil. Add a cup of brown rice and continue to boil, covered until rice is tender. Top with shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream if desired. Less than $10 and very filling. We always get two meals out of this.

Rubber Chicken is also a favorite. No - it's not chewy! Just keeps bouncing back into new meals like a bad check! [linkhttp://www.savingdinner.com/archives/recipes/rubber_chicken.html]Rubber Chicken[/link]

Easy Crock Chili is the only chili my kids will eat. They don't care for spicy stuff and this has a sweet taste to it. Just take a can of black beans and a can of navy beans (drained and rinsed), a bag of frozen corn, a jar of your favorie salsa, a package of taco seasoning, and a diced sweet potato and throw them all in the crock pot all day. Great with a salad and corn muffins. Very healthy, easy and super-duper cheap, too.

My kids love chicken soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. They also love chicken Caesar salads. We have a lot of marinated chicken on the grill with different rices, rice pilaf and spanish rice are their favorites. I notice if I slice the chicken up into chunks, they seem to take less and eat more vegies.
 
Chicken pot pies are cheap to make. I use the roll out crusts and it is so easy to make.

Stir fried anything over rice. Sauted anything over potatoes. Buy rice and potatoes in bulk=cheap.

The anything can be a little meat (whatever's on special at the market) and a bunch of veggies, like broccoli, carrots and cauliflower, or snap peas, green beans, and cabbage. I buy whatever's in season, since it's cheaper (and more environmentally friendly).

For stir fry I keep some soy sauce, rice vinegar and Asian hot sauce on hand to toss in, and sometimes I add peanut butter to make peanut sauce. The other thing I like to use is miso paste for a lighter healthier sauce.

For saute, sometimes I use just olive oil, garlic, lemon, and herbs, but sometimes I'll throw in paprika and milk, or cream, for a heartier taste. Adding almonds is yummy too.

Happy meals: $2.30 per
Tuesday night Von's pizza special: 2 lg cheese pizzas for $5, add topping at home.
Von's roast chicken: I forget, but often on sale, cheaper than making at home!

Tacos are pretty cheap too. Instead of using a full lb of meat, use 1/2 lb and saute green peppers and onions with the meat. You get more veggies and they might not notice. I box of shells is about $1.50, and I usually have left over cheese, lettuce and tomatoes in the fridge at home

 
oh yeah.. tacos might be a good idea sara since now they have "low carb" tortillas so you can make soft tacos for the kids. My step kids loved taco night at our house with soft tacos when they were young because they liked to 'build their own" .  Also if you want a change from ground beef in tacos then buy an inexpensive roast to crockpot with taco seasonings and then shred the meat or a quick alternative is canned roast beef shredded and used in tacos. 

breakfast for dinner is cheap and quick too.  Eggs or egg substitute, breakfast meats in small portions, potatoes if you want.  fruit for balance

For a really cheap, easy and quick dinner: 
 
1lb ground beef, two cans of irish potatoes, one package brown gravy. 
 
Brown the beef, boil potatoes, add the potatoes to the meat and the brown gravy mix.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Serve up with a side veggie.  (add onions or peppers to the ground beef to spice it up-you can also add fresh corn for a more color, and to change up.)
 
Quick and easy spinach:  Take an entire package of spinach leaves, put into aluminum foil (make it into a pouch and seal it up) add a pinch of salt, some butter, a dash of balsamic vinegar, brown sugar (if you want) and put it into the oven while you cook whatever main dish. 
 
After about 15 minutes the spinach will have cooked in it's own juices.  Be careful when you open the package-it's going to steam.  Serve hot, garnish with feta cheese. 

Casserole:

• 2 bags of cut broccoli
• 2 cans of condensed cream of chicken soup
• 2 2cup bags of shredded cheese
• about 5-6 boneless, skinnless chicken breasts, thighs, or tenders (tenders you need more b/c they are small)
• some minced onion and/or Lawry's seasoning salt if desired

Put chicken on a plat and defrost in the microwave.  Then cover it loosely with plastic wrap and microwave for 5 minutes.  Turn the pieces over and mic again for 5 minutes.  Boil or steam the broccoli until thaw.  Cut up the chicken into little bits and spread them on the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  I sprinkle a little minced onion and some Lawry's salt on it, but you don't have to.  Spread the broccoli cuts on top of the chicken.  Spread the soup on top of the broccoli.  Put one bag of cheese on the top.  Bake at 350 for 45 mins.  Use the other bag of cheese to add more individually (I like LOTS of cheese, hubby not so much).

Costs:

• Soups - $0.69 per can
• Broccoli - ~$1.19 per bag
• Cheese - ~ $1.50 per bag
• Chicken - I dunno exactly b/c we ge two huge bags of frozen boneless, skinless chicken breast thigs or tenders for $17 (it's always on sale with two) and it lasts us several weeks making these casseroles and eating chicken 1-2 times a week.

I just thought of another good one that I've used before,
 
I use the cheap stew meat, and brown it with onions, garlic or whatever.  I'll take ramen noodles and make a double batch. 
 
After I remove the meat from the skillet, I'll deglaze the pan with a roux made from either flour and butter or cornstarch and water. 
 
I plate the noodles, scatter the beef on top and spoon the sauce over top. 

Just take a can of black beans and a can of navy beans (drained and rinsed), a bag of frozen corn, a jar of your favorie salsa, a package of taco seasoning, and a diced sweet potato and throw them all in the crock pot all day. Great with a salad and corn muffins. Very healthy, easy and super-duper cheap, too.

YUM! I'm going to have to try that one.

Salsa shrimp or chicken and pasta.  Get some frozen veggies and saute in salsa and put over cous cous, rice, pasta or eat alone.  I use the little salad shrimp too.
 
Also, use a soy based sauce (I like yoshida) and stirfry veggies and chicken or shrimp in it.