What are your favorite budget friendly meals

[arnold]

Now that summer is here I need some new ideas for budget friendly meals. Were a family of 6 (4 young kids). I just can't bring myself to cook up a big roast and mashed potatoes for dinner when it's 90 outside. Were big into proteins, veggies, and fruit. I'm not a big fan of serving up a big bowl of pasta for dinner. I do frittatas sometimes but I think I'm in need of new recipes for them. I'm also a big salad person but again, I'm tired of the same salads over and over again. So, what are your favorite budget friendly, summertime meals.

[BarbecueMom]

Our cheapest summer meal is where we stay outside in the heat so long that no one is hungry for dinner, just ice water.

 

Makes for a rough morning when everyone wakes up starving, though. ;-)

[starwarsmomma]

In the summer, we stick to using the crockpot, the microwave, a little bit of the stove and alot of GRILL! :D

 

 

Are you willing to grill outside?

This is a kid/adult favorite-- we even made it for mothers day and both my parents and inlawas begged for the recipe.

*note we usually do the kabobs of meat only, and other kabobs with veggies only-- they cook more even that way.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Yummy-Honey-Chicken-Kabobs/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=kabobs&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

We use onions, tomatoes, zuchinni, mushrooms, bell peppers, sometimes fresh pineapple...etc...

 

I buy the chicken when it's on sale for $2 a pound or less, but you didn't say exactly how budget-friendly you wanted...

(I CAN do cheaper, and often do! LOL)

 

 

Salad is cheap. I often grill up a few chicken breasts or thin slices of beef fajitas then put on a salad. Kids will usually eat the meat only though. LOL

 

 

Tuna is affordable. You could do tuna melts inexpensively.

 

Yesterday, I made something new that I assumed the kids would hate, but they actually liked it--

Tuna mixed with garlic hummus

toast bagels, spread tuna mixture on it.

Top with fresh slices of tomatoes, onion.

I thought the kids would hate it as they refuse to eat hummus alone, but this they gobbled up.

 

We do alot of quesadillas, tacos, bun pizzas (in the toaster oven), homemade corndogs (super cheap if you do it yourself!), grilled pizzas

[mrs.m]

Tacos! Make them on the stove top. I change it up, taco salad, hard shells, or soft tortillas. We also like chicken brats on the grill with a side of baked beans, watermelon, and carrot sticks.

[applethyme]

During the summer we eat breakfast for dinner often. Its quick and easy. The kids love eggs and pancakes. I also make omelets and "cheese pizza" which is just an open omelet sprinkled with cheese and serve it with some fresh fruit.

[HomeschoolMamaOfTwo]

Stir Fry

Kabobs (chicken, pineapple, peppers, onions is a fave here) with salad or rice or whatever you prefer

Red Beans & Rice w/ Sausage

Cobb Sandwiches (my family loves these, like a fancy blt of sorts, english muffins with sliced turkey, bacon, avocado, lettuce, tomato, provolone, and ranch), we usually have grapes and carrots on the side

Quinoa salads?

Blackbean Avocado & Lime Tacos (blackbeans cooked with onions and lime then on tacos with avocado and other toppings, super yum)

Homemade Sloppy Joes

[bolt.]

Barley!

 

Pearl barley, cooked not-to-mush, and well rinsed makes a very nice flexible, cheap(!!!) and filling pasta-like meal or side dish.

 

It works hot with toppings like...

- spaghetti sauce

- cheese whiz

- ranch dressing

- butter and seasoning salt

 

It also works cold in any way you would do a 'pasta salad'.

 

My favorite cold barley salad (with cheap protien)...

 

- Faux Crab, chopped finely

- Pearl Barley, cooked, rinrsed, cold

- Ranch Dressing

- Dill Pickle Relish

- Salsa with Garlic

- Garlic Salt

- Lemon Juice

Optional: Veggies to Taste (cucumber, tomato, celery, peppers...)

[bolt.]

Potatoes are cheap too. Lots of flexibility with potatoes.

 

Tacos are a nice cheap meal: I make the meat filling in a large batch (with some oats as filler/binder) then freeze in meal sized packs. Works with shells or on salad.

[KungFuPanda]

I just did taco salad on Wednesday, then yesterday I took the leftover meat, bell peppers, tomatoes, black beans, and onions and tossed them in the crockpot. I added a can of tomato purée and chili seasoning and we had chili with baked potatoes. The potatoes baked in the other crockpot, so it was a cheap, easy couple of meals for us.

[Slartibartfast]

I like making cold spring rolls when it is unbearable. I julienne different types of vegetables, have some herbs like thai basil or cilantro, and some sauce. I serve them with cold cooked shrimp. I just let everyone make their own.

 

It is refreshing on a hot day and it isn't too costly, I often just grab a small packet of precooked shrimp from the seafood area of whole foods and that is more than enough.

 

I also make taco salad often.

[arnold]

Wow, all great ideas!!! I can cook just fine, I just have problems coming up with new ideas.

[FaithManor]

Brown up 4 oz. of ground beef with taco seasoning, let cool.

 

layer romaine and butter lettuce with black beans or pintos, top with ground beef, drizzle ranch dressing on top, then sprinkle a small amount of cheddar cheese on top of that, and dump 1 cup of salsa on top of that.

 

You can give each person just a few tortilla chips to crush for "croutons".

 

This is very popular with the kids. I also give them small chunks of chicken breast and baby red potatoes to push on to their "hot dog" cookers whenever we are burning leaves or tree branches, they roast them over the coals until almost done and then add chunks of red pepper to complete the kabob. They sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic during the roasting process and then sprinkle fresh grated parmesan or asiago as soon as the food comes out of the fire.

 

The boys are fire bugs - they come by this fault naturally as Dh is king of things that go "Poof". So, anything that I can possibly think of that can be roasted over an open fire will result in their desire to clean up the yard of every possible twig, plus a good begging for me to clean out the file cabinet of outdated paperwork that should be disposed of, and thus....all the cooking heat is kept outdoors.

 

One of our favorite camp foods is ham packets. We take a slice of roasted ham and layer slices of onion, diced carrots, asparagus spears and cubed potatos, spice up with our favorite grill seasonings, and wrap up in a couple of layers of aluminum foil. We toss them on a piece of sheet metal over the fire pit. Yum, yum, yum...

 

Faith

[Thia7278]

I still will do a roast in the crock pot, I just cook my potatoes on the side burner that came with the grill. We do eat more fresh veggies instead of frozen. A lot of grilling-hot dogs, keilbasa, hamburgers, steak, pork chops, chicken thighs/legs, cut up a beef or pork roast and have boneless ribs, sausage on a roll, shishkebobs. Sides include tri color pasta salad, macaroni salad (with a white dressing), green salad, potato salad, mac and cheese (crock pot), beans (crock pot), fresh veggies, fruit, stuffing (hello stove top).

I also will do things with ground beef and serve over pastas. I cook once, we can eat twice-same size fam as yours.

Now, I'll go read this thread and see what other ideas I can get.