Your Cheapest Meal?

My daughter takes the chicken ramen noodles and adds real chicken and veggies to it. It is actually very good and relatively good for you. Probably too much salt but......

Well, I guess we all know MzKitty's cheapest meal! tehehe

(I make my own chicken stock, so I'd have to say SOUP is my cheapest, and most frequent, meal)

:)

Beans and Rice. I don't think you can get any cheaper when you start with dried beans and the 'non-instant" brown rice.

Omelets! Easy and fast! I usually do broccoli and cheese (american & parm). But, you can put anything you like, ham, turkey, peppers, mushrooms, or what ever is in the fridge. Prep all your additions and have them ready to go, like cooking the veggies etc.. before cracking the eggs. Serve with warm bread rolls and a salad. Mmmm cheap and healthy!! :)))

Soup
Pinto Beans and Cornbread
Cereal and Milk
Potatoes and Eggs

I don't know how many people are in your family, but whenever I use my crockpot, there is a bunch leftover... for another dinner or for lunch.

Not sure how healthy but we are a family of 5 and I think this is our cheapest meal: Tostadas! I get the premade shells ($2 for 18 or 24), a can of refried beans ($1), shredded lettuce ($1) and shredded cheese ($2). And there is usually leftovers too. But everyone loves them so they are my quick go to meal when I didn't plan anything and need dinner quick. Good luck.

Way to go on your budget, it's very hard to sacrifice, we're trying to do that now too.

One of my cheapest meals is hamburger stew:

1 roll ground hamburger $1.78 at Wal-mart
onion $0.50
can of italian diced tomatoes $0.99
can of tomato sauce $0.33
canned or frozen mixed veggies $0.50
elbow macaroni (substitute whole wheat) $1.00

Brown hamburger meat, add diced onion, cook until tender, add tomatoes and tomato sauce and water until desired consistency. Add whatever spices you want. Cook for at least twenty minutes, about an hour is desired. Add vegetables and macaroni, cook until tender. Serve!

$5.10 for the whole family!

Variations- add grated parmesan at the end, or add fresh sliced vegetables like zucchini or squash during cooking. For a richer flavor, add beef bouillon or beef broth.

Veggie and beef soup
Bag of frozen mixed veggies, ground beef browned first, V8 juice, beef broth and any seasoning from your pantry Combine all ingredients in a pot and let simmer for an hour

Beans. A pound of dry bulk pintos is about $2.00. Soak them overnight in cold water. In the morning put them in crockpot, cover with cold water, add salt & pepper, I like to throw in a chopped onion. 8hours on low and you have a cheap, lowfat, high fiber meal. My husband is a meat lover so he usually browns up some ground beef to add to his beans. If I make enough we can usually make 2 or 3 more meals off of one crockpot full of beans.

These are things that I always have on hand, and with that, it remains a pretty cheap meal. Serve with side salad.
Hamburger Stroganoff:
1 lb ground beef
1 can cream mushroom soup (reduced fat)
1 cup sour cream (light)
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup onion
Brown beef in garlic & onion. Drain. Stir in soup & sour cream. Salt & Pepper to taste. Serve over hot egg noodles.

Home made bread, slice as thin or thick as you like, add pepperoni and cheese and fry it like you would a grilled cheese sandwich.
Eat it with a big salad. My husband and I love this meal!

Home made soup is very economical. We rarely eat pork so I make soup using a 15 bean soup mix, diced celery, a smoked turkey leg, a diced onion, a can of stewed tomatoes, chicken broth, chili powder and italian seasoning. I put it in the crock pot. I wish I had exact measurements for you but I don't have a recipe.
Serve with cornbread batter that's cooked in the waffle iron and, again, a salad!

Fideo
In the pasta section, purchase 2 boxes of Vermicelli (fideo) ~this will feed 4
1 lb ground beef (or ground turkey)
1 small onion chopped
1 can - 14 ½ oz Whole can tomatoes squashed with juice
½ tsp ground cumin
1 clove of garlic
3 beef bullion cubes (option 3 cups beef broth)
Black ground pepper
2 med zucchini shredded

In a large skillet (will need a lid) or 3 qt stock pot (will need lid)

Brown ground beef with onion, garlic, cumin, zucchini, and black pepper
Drain all fat and place meat mixture aside.

In skillet/pot, heat 2 TBLSP olive oil, add both boxes of vermicelli and brown in the oil.. Stir it constantly until it is browned. Do not let it burn.
Add Beef mixture
Add 3 cups Beef broth (or 3 cubes and 3 cups water)
Pour in crushed tomatoes with juice.

If mixture is not slightly covered with liquid, add water till it is.
When mixture begins to boil, cover and lower heat to low/medium.
Do not lift the lid.
Simmer 18 minutes. Serve in bowls..
Depending on where you live $3.00 to $5.00 feeds 4

Roast a whole chicken (approx $4 - $5).
Add a side of frozen peas ($1, plus a pat of butter)
Add a side of mac n cheese ($1.50)

Will feed a family of 4 or 5. :)

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I sometimes DO cook with ramen. VERY salty, but super yummy.
In one pan, sautee onion in butter, add cooked chicken or diced sausage, jalepeno, bell pepper, shredded carrot, sno peas.

In another pan, put sesame oil and/or butter, add 5-6 packages of already cooked/boiled ramen noodles. Sautee them on medium-low in the butter/oil and let them kind of crisp up. Add about half of the seasoning packets into the noodles (so maybe 3 of the 6 packages). Add green onion toward the end.

In your bowl, put the sautee'd noodles, top with the meat/veg and you have a yummy stir-fry. Ramen: $1, Meat: $2-3, bell pepper (two): $1.50, snopeas $3, green onion: $0.50, jalepeno: $0.10. , so about $9 or $10 total, but it feeds my hungry husband, me, my 3 yr old, and often there are leftovers for my husband's lunch the next day. It depends on how hungry he is. We really like this meal. We go back for seconds every time.

This is cheap.
2 can tuna (approx $2, if bought on 10/$10 sale)
2 packet of butter noodles & sauce mix (1.00 ea./$2 total)

Make noodles as directed. Let stand. Stir in tuna.
Shortcut tuna/noodle!

I remember my mom used to make a super-fast, super-cheap meal...

a can of clam chowder + noodles... toss together, & eat!

i don't know where clam chowder falls in the "healthy food" range, so i don't know if this is helpful at all!

Fried Rice
leftover rice. Soy Sauce. Peas and carrots. a scrambled egg or 2.

Vegetable Lo Mein
Spaghetti noodles. Soy Sauce .88c bag of frozen stir fry vegetables.

add leftover chicken, pork, or beef to either of these, if you have it. Using whole wheat pasta and brown rice boosts the nutritional content.

Sloppy Joe's.
Just buy "Manwhich" and hamburger buns.

or, grilled chicken thighs. On the grill.

Chili.

Cereal.

TELL your Husband, if he does not like the menu.... new cheaper meals, then HE can think of menu ideas, too.

Cheap does not mean junk.
It simply means, buying smart and on sales and in bulk from like Costco etc., for staple items.

By the way, groceries in Hawaii costs a lot.
Whole organic Milk= $8.59 and up, per Gallon, for example.
Cereal = $5.69 and up, per box.
Nectarines - $3.99 per pound.

Make your own of almost everything - even your spaghetti sauce. Freeze half. It will be better, healthier, last longer and be cheaper.

Get things when they are on sale and freeze them if you are not using right away. Investing in a deep freeze was the best decision we ever made!

*tuna noodle casserole
* Hamburger helper (not healthy, so use as a back up!)
* Noodles with butter and garlic
*Lettuce Salads
* Buy fruit and veggies that are in season
* SPAM! (haha - Mz Kitty!)
* Breakfast for dinner - always cheaper

- Chicken or Turkey Hotdogs (reg hotdogs are $5-$8 here, turkey or chicken ones are $1.29). Plus 88 cent buns (regular buns are $4), and home made fries (10lb sacks of potatoes are $3 here)

- Quiche

- Holiday Turkey ((this is to keep in mind over the holidays. Here, they're usually $6 per pound the rest of the year, and lunch meat is $10 per pound. Over the holidays turkeys drop to 11 cents per pound to 33 cents per pound. I buy between 6 & 10 of them and keep in the deep freezer. Every other month I defrost one. Breasts make up lunch meat (I usually get between 6 & 10 1lb ziplock bags and freeze them/ defrost 1 per week), the rest of them make soups, potpies, enchiladas, chili, burgers/ spagetti/ italian sausage/ stuffed peppers/ etc (If I pull off the thighs raw and grind them), etc.))

- Baked Potatoes

- Pancakes (and other breakfast for dinner)

- Pesto Pasta

I second tuna noodle hotdish and bean soup as being cheap and yummy and filling.

Tuna noodle our style is
cook 1 bag of egg noodles
add one can of cream of mushroom soup
add one can of cream of celery soup
add 2 cans of tuna
salt and pepper if needed
top with crushed baked ruffles when eating

We also like stirfry like chicken and broccoli stirfry (just add asian spices).

anything with potatoes- potatoes are cheap and versatile like mashed potatoes with a meat sauce

or crockpot with potatoes, carrots, and celery and beef

buy in bulk, the meat, then seperate it into meal portions and freeze...lots of bulky soups are good because you have leftovers for a day or so. casseroles are good.

Soup-- Ground Turkey roll is 1.40 at Save-A-Lot,

Ground Turkey
Celery
Carrots
Potatoes
cabbage - red is nice for color
Garlic fresh or minced
Onion- Green onion adds nice color
Spinach- small container of frozen chopped is our favorite
We like to add a little chicken boulion for extra flavor
Leeks are nice if you see them on sale
We love mushrooms too and sometimes a can of diced tomatoes.

Mix and match veggies, add a few peppers if you like it spicy.

Make a huge pot of this and it's enough to eat on all weekend for 4-6 people.

If you really need this to go far, cook up a separate pan of rice and put a little in each bowl.

One 16 ounce can of beef broth. (I paid 25 cents on sale)
one cup of rice or pasta. (20 cents on sale [I buy rice 25 or 50 lbs at a time])
Chopped celery (5 to 10 cents. $.33 cents per stalk)
One half onion diced (5 cents 8 lbs/$1)
One can of cream of mushroom soup (optional, 50 cents per can)
one pound of cabbage diced. (25 cents)
4 oz of hamburger ($38 cents per 4 oz)

To reduce costs further, use chicken broth and 4 oz of chicken breast diced instead of beef broth and hamburger. (25 cents)

Serves my wife and I. Any left overs, I put in soup.

To make it even cheaper, add rice to soup. But then you don't get vegetables. I pay 50 cents a can for soup because I shop the dented can bin at my local market.

ADDED: Twinmama mentioned beans. I paid 3 lbs/$1 for dried beans which makes a cheap meal.
Good luck to you and yours.

LEFTOVERS! The most frugal thing you can do is utilize your leftovers! Get creative with them, don't just reheat them. Almost anyleftover meat can be shredded and mixed with BBQ sauce for sandwiches and BBQ pizza. Last nights taco's can be taco salad or taco pizza or maybe the start of a tortilla soup.

And don't overlook ham-- a handful of diced ham goes a long way in adding flavor AND making a otherwise vegetarian dish more satisfying to the carnivores in the family. Plus ham plays well with lots of other frugal ingresients-- eggs, potatoes, beans...

Breakfast for dinner is always good. And take time to make a BIG batch of pancakes or waffles from scratch. A BIG batch makes the same amount of mess as a little batch and you can freeze the extras (freeze them flat on a cookie sheet, then put in a freezer bag, then pop in the toaster to reheat) If frozen waffles aren't the single most over priced item in the store I don't know what is!

Have you checked out http://www.5dollardinners.com/ ? Tons of GREAT, CHEAP, Healthy ideas there! Also google "Menu Plan Monday" for blogs with ideas!

Going vegetarian - at least most of the time - can really help cut expenses.

omlets and fried potatoes.

You can put in there whatever you have so get creative.

I know this won't help you right now but we have a garden, just a little strip here and there and containers in a couple of spots, but it helps the food bill quite a bit. Use pool water, or bath water (as long as there isn't any soap), or the water that has to run before your dish water gets warm. We have herbs growing inside and out and mushrooms as well. We also have sprouts, mostly bean and broccoli.

Good luck!

The cheapest thing is to stretch your meat and buy meat bulk and on sale. I didn't realize this but for dinner I used to prepare 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts for my husband and myself thinking 1 each. Now with a family of five I prepare the same meals with still 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts and we have leftovers. I cut each chicken breast into fourths and now I even have leftover meat for another nights meal. I now use more sides and try to prepare more vegetables sometimes even 2 if you count a small salad. I buy bread even french bread and rolls on sale and freeze if you don't have time to make your own bread. My husband and I even lost some weight. Also don't buy anything other than milk unless it's on sale or coupon.

3.5lbs of 90%Bulk ground beef/ground turkey on sale 1.99/lb about$7- divide into 4 meals and freeze

1st night: Salad, spaghetti and meatballs, bread. Serve salad first. Then spaghetti and meatballs - small kids get 1 meatball. teens and adults 2 meatballs. There should be leftvover meatballs.

3rd night/2nd meal: Take leftover meatballs and make Cheeseburger MacnCheese with frozen/fresh veggies added in or on side.

vegitarian chilli

vegitarian mexican food

If you can go vegetarian it will help. Beans and rice and tofu. Food coop for the fresh fruits/veggies? I haven't tried it but I hear it is cheaper. Avoid pre-made stuff, as it generally isn't cheaper, and doesn't taste as good. I discovered that pancake mix was a waste of money, as are premade biscuits, etc. With eggs, flour, sugar, baking soda, milk, butter & vanilla you can make a wide variety of baked goods fairly easily and cheaply. Buy a chicken and use it various ways. Time to look for the depression-era cookbooks I guess!

Grow all the veggies you can (tomatoes, etc. can be grown in pots if you don't have a place for a garden in your yard). If you have kids make them help you care for the garden. Growing veggies really is worth the effort because you can save a lot of money. I'm not into canning veggies, but I will make things like salsa and freeze it to be used later.

Cheap meals we like are:
(1) homemade lasagna - with or without meat
(2) whole chicken cooked in crock pot all day - always enough for leftovers
(3) egg scrambles with just about any meat or veggies
(4) any type of Shepard's pie with leftover meat & veggies
(5) chicken bake thingy - mix cream of mushroom & uncooked instant rice together and dump over chicken breasts in a baking dish & bake until chicken is done then sprinkle a couple handfuls of shredded cheese over top & serve

The best way I have found to save is to buy in bulk when sales are good and if you can make it yourself don't buy it (pancakes, salsa, etc.). If it's a good meat sale I will buy a ton of it and freeze it. If you don't have a big freezer get one because it will save you money in the long run.

Watch the discounted/clearance/manager specials and find out when they typically put those out so you can be the first to look at them. My store recently had a manager's special for a specific kind of bacon for only 50¢ a package so I bought all (about 20) and froze them because bacon can be used for more that just breakfast.

Good luck!

1. I get a cooked rotisserie chicken at walmart for 3.99 and eat it one day then the 2nd day make veggie chicken soup with mushrooms, tons of onion celery carrots....and noodles and that soup last another 3-4 days....thats probably the yummiest cheapest meal
2. I agree with breakfast foods, eggs and pancakes....you can add fruit to the pancakes and have them one day and then eggs and meat another day....
3. also i don't actually use the seasoning for ramen soup I cook those noodles add some veggies to it and either put a garlic butter sauce on it or a light cheese sauce...so much better and less salty ...
4. Also perogies and veggies
5. any kind of chicken with veggies and potatoes super cheap and you can make it tons of ways
shop at the produce store for vegtabes and fruit tons cheaper than the grovery store

frozen veggies are always good and cheap and you can add them to anything

Salad-add chicken and eggs from previous meals
also i think its silly to make pizza or tacos, it always cost more than ordering...those foods are cheap enough to order....unless you're going to buy tons of hamburger meat and use it to make hamburgers, tacos, spaghetti....

1 lb roll of ground turkey brown in olive oil with a little onion and green pepper---add a bag of frozen mixed veggies--season with salt -pepper-poultry seasoning or Italian seasoning--garlic powder -- add 3-4 cups water and half that of long grain rice. When rice is cooked make a thin white sauce and stir it in. It's really good and you can adjust the seasonings to your taste. Feeds 4-5 with leftovers.
Since rice is good for you and cheep you can stretch the meat by adding more rice.
You can make the same thing using ground beef and adding a can of diced tomatoes -- just remember to adjust the amount of water to cook the rice in.

Breakfast for dinner - a dozen eggs $1,66, a 10 pack of frozen sausage links 99 cents, bread for toast - negligible cost, if you want to splurge, add oranges/clementines.

We love tacos with all the toppings - ev. tops their own taco or tostada and sloppy joes. Don't plan your weekly menus / grocery shopping list until you see what meat is on sale at the store. We can buy chix thighs on sale for .98/lb. some weeks and boneless skinless breasts by Perdue for 1.99/lb. at our local store.

I have a great recipe with Ramen - I only do 1/2 of the meat called for and 1/2 of the seasoning from inside the ramen packets.

Asian Pork and Noodle Skillet
-----------------------------

Ingredients:
2 medium carrots, peeled

1 medium red bell pepper

5-6 green onions with tops (about 1 1/4 cups sliced), divided

2 pork tenderloins (about 1 pound each)

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons Asian Seasoning Mix

4 packages (3 ounces each) oriental-flavor ramen noodles

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 cups water

Directions:
1. Cut carrots into julienne strips using Julienne Peeler. Cut bell pepper lengthwise into 1/4-inch strips using Chef's Knife. Slice green onions; set aside tops for garnish.

2. Using Boning Knife, trim fat and silver skin from pork tenderloins. Slice pork lengthwise into four strips. Thinly slice strips crosswise. Combine pork, sesame oil, seasoning mix and two of the ramen seasoning packets in Classic Batter Bowl; mix well with Classic Scraper.

3. Add vegetable oil to (12-in.) Skillet; heat over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. Add half of the pork. Cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until browned; remove pork from Skillet and keep warm. Repeat with remaining pork.

4. Add carrots and bell pepper to Skillet. Cook 1-2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add water and remaining ramen seasoning packets; stir to loosen browned bits from bottom of Skillet using Bamboo Spatula. Add ramen noodles and white parts of green onions to Skillet. Cover; bring to a boil and cook 4-5 minutes or until noodles are softened. Add pork; stir to break apart noodles. Remove Skillet from heat; let stand, covered, 3-4 minutes or until pork is heated through. Garnish with reserved green onion tops.

Yield: 6 servings

Nutrients per serving: Calories 530, Total Fat 24 g, Saturated Fat 8 g, Cholesterol 100 mg, Carbohydrate 38 g, Protein 38 g, Sodium 1280 mg, Fiber 2 g

Cook's Tip: If desired, 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips, can be substituted for the pork tenderloin.

(C)The Pampered Chef, Ltd. 2006

Store brand mac and cheese with hot dogs. The boxes of mac and cheese at Walmart are $0.50 each, I fix 2, with milk and butter it makes that part about $2. I add the cheapest hot dogs I can find, Rodeo $0.88, and the kids love them....I hate hot dogs.

We buy Hebrew National when we have enough money, they are Kosher and they don't have all those additives, I don't know what all that means about Kosher but they don't give me headaches or upset stomach.

Then I might add in some Mandarin Oranges and some wheat bread. The oranges are about $0.88 and the bread is about $1.25 a loaf.

I take green beans and carrots, FREE from the garden, and saute' them in a pan with some oil. Then I add some fresh chopped garlic and homemade chicken stock to the pan and let it simmer with the lid on until tender. Add a few teaspoons of soy sauce to taste.
Serve over white rice. Voila, cheap and easy!

Try making your own bread, it's fairly easy and is much cheaper than the cost of a loaf of bread and it tastes better too!

Make sure you only buy chicken and beef on sale and stock up on the good sales.

The best money saving tip is to plan ahead, plan out your meals before you go grocery shopping. Look through the circular first and make you menu for the week based on what is on sale.

Congrats on getting out of debt, it's hard but totally worth it!