Tasty but cheap meals

[GypsyHomesteader]

Yea, I know my name has homesteader in it but I am still learning.

 

I need to recipes for inexpensive meals. As of right now my kitchen is dinky. I don't have a lot of counter space and have no storage. I also have a very small refrigerator so I'd rather not have to stock up on too many cold items. I also would like the meals small enough to not have leftovers... though that is entirely up to me how much I fix.

 

We live in an RV right now so I have no slow cooker but if the meals are cheap enough I could purchase one. With it being summer I'd like to have meals that I don't have to cook but since I don't have much room in the fridge I can't be too choosy.

 

I also don't have a regular oven, I have a toaster oven. I have no microwave. LOL

 

I also have two boys that devour copious amounts of food. I'd like the meals to be "stick to your ribs" kind without being heavy.

 

I consider myself a good cook and have a gazillion recipes at my fingertips but for some reason this kind of thing escapes me. I don't have storage so I Can't stock up like I did when we had a house. I had dried beans, made my own bread and other things. We like living in the RV at the moment but I am still working out the food kinks. Ramen just isn't healthy enough to live off of. Neither is mac and cheese LOL.

 

Have recipes to share?

[Joyofsixreboot]

Beans and the copious recipes you can make with them. Rice and beans seasoned different ways. Pasta and beans. Bean salads.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Corn-and-Black-Bean-Salad/

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mexican-Bean-Salad/

http://italian.food.com/recipe/simple-italian-bean-salad-242758

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pasta-and-Beans/

http://www.food.com/recipe/cuban-black-beans-and-rice-78781

[Liz CA]

If you have a pie dish or glass pyrex, I would pile veggies in it with a spritz of olive oil and some favorite seasoning and cook in the toaster oven. Depending on the size of your toaster oven, you could bake meatballs on a baking sheet or whatever dish fits your oven. Meatballs can be eaten cold as well. I tend to cook things early in the morning or very late at night when the temps are a little lower and then serve things cold with a green salad with tomatoes, avocados, bell peppers, etc. You can also hard boil several eggs in the morning - they make good snacks during the day.

[ashfern]

Lentil stew is very filling. I usually serve it over rice and had a salad on the side. Do you have a grill? You could make food on the grill and not heat up your RV. My parents always had a rack for their grill so they could cook veggies on it. If you "butterfly" a chicken it cooks better/quicker on the grill. Then you could make leftovers into chicken salad. If you don't have a grill you could just buy a rotisserie chicken from the store. Here's a link to a site with a bunch of recipes using rotisserie chicken. http://erecipecards.blogspot.com/p/52-uses-for-rotisserie-chicken.html

[Rachel]

We've started doing burrito bowls ala Chipotle style. Make them as simple of complicated as you would like: chicken, beef, black beans, rice, and chopped veggies like peppers, onion, tomato, avocado. You can make prepare just the amount you need for a meal.

[FaithManor]

Since space is limited, if you can find a bulk food store, I would get dehydrated veggies. Several red peppers diced and dehydrated takes up only about 1.5 cups of actual shelf space, same with celery, carrots, tomatoes, onions, and leeks. These are usually cheap because they can used bruised but still good vegetables that are not pristine for sale in the produce section. These make great soups, stews, and casseroles.

 

Something that I make often for my family which includes three, voractious, velociraptor, Jurassic eating teen boys is a skillet meal.

 

For the five of us, I finely dice spinach until I have a cup's worth, and add three tablespoons of dehydrated red peppers and onions, a sprinkle of celery, a cup finely diced mushrooms, and 2 cups of cubed potatoes to my favorite cooking oil and saute until golden brown. Then I add five scrambled eggs, cook until just done, and sprinkle cheddar or parmesan cheese on top and mix. For a few added calories, the boys will often put a little dollop of sour cream on top. Everyone gets a serving of veggies plus a serving of protein with the added cheese and/or sour cream. Many times they will have an apple or orange to go with so it's a great way to start the day, and usually it makes their foods later in the day last longer than if they have a "carby" breakfast such as granola with milk or toast and jam with fruit.

 

I also stretch a single, large chicken breast by cutting into small cubes and sauting with a little coconut oil plus fresh garlic. In a separate pan I start bean sprouts, water chestnuts, red pepper, celery, and mushrooms in garlic and a tiny bit of oil as well. Once the chicken is done (start it first because it takes longer), I add the chicken and then divide into 5ths and serve over generous portions of cooked rice. Since the boys really like brown rice, I tend to cook 6 cups (dry) at the beginning of the week so that all we need to do is warm when needed. I can usually find a can of bean sprouts for 99 cents and water chestnuts for not that much more. The veggies are cheap - if I do the egg meal as well as the stir fry on the same day, I use half the 8 oz. pkg of mushrooms for breakfast and the other half for the stir fry - so about $1.00 per meal and pennies for the dehydrated vegetables. The eggs at current prices come to $1.16 total, and the chicken at $2.89 for a 1 lb. breast. Rice is again, pennies. So maybe $7.50 - $8.00 for the two meals. Not bad for that many people.

 

Of course the above recipes are assuming you have a stove with more than one burner.

[alisoncooks]

We've started doing burrito bowls ala Chipotle style. Make them as simple of complicated as you would like: chicken, beef, black beans, rice, and chopped veggies like peppers, onion, tomato, avocado. You can make prepare just the amount you need for a meal.

 

We do this a lot!  I have a favorite chicken and a fave sweet Mex. pork recipe that I cook in the crock pot.  

Then we add whatever we want over the course of 2-3 meals:

rice (white or yellow)

black beans or pintos

cheese

sour cream

corn (I like sweet white corn slightly cooked)

avocado

tomato & lettuce

jalapeños

 

Good for picky eaters, too, because I just use a sectioned plate and they get their preferred items seperated.

[Debbi in Texas]

I do think a crock pot would give you a lot more choices. You could cook ground beef in the cp and have taco salad, I make mine with chopped lettuce, drained corn, drained black beans, tomato, onion, rotel and velveeta mixture, and corn chips.

 

You could probably make chicken pot pie in the toaster oven. Potatoes, celery, carrots, and onion, white sauce, chicken and broth. Top with pie crust or biscuits. If you can't cook the veggies with the appliances you have, a can of mixed vegetables can be used. With a crock pot, you could  cook veg or meat in the cp and bake in the toaster oven.

 

Good luck. Now I won't complain about my kitchen.

[Desert Strawberry]

Homesteader here, too. 

Definitely invest in a crock pot. 

A solar oven is a cheap, portable, low-storage option as well. A box oven, too. 

You need to learn to cook outdoors. Anything that can be cooked indoors can be cooked outdoors with proper equipment. This gives you more space and won't heat up your living quarters.

Are you on land? If so, you can start building a rocket stove, fire pit, wood oven, outdoor larder and root cellar. These can be improvised quickly and cheaply.

If you are nomadic, use the facilities that are available and invest in a Dutch oven, cast iron skillet, etc. 

Otherwise, I agree with the above. Dehydrated foods, canned goods, lots of dried beans and grains. You can store a pound of dry beans in the space of two packets of ramen noodles.