It's been a while-post your favorite frugal dinner ideas

[Quiver0f10]

Inspire me :D

[laughing lioness]

popcorn:001_smile: - seriously, every Sunday eve.

Chicken soup with homemade noodles or dumplings

biscuits and gravy

salad with toppings- dried fruit, nuts, seeds, cheese, meat, boiled eggs, etc.

Pancakes

[Chris in VA]

My mil raised 6 kids basically by herself for about 4 years until she remarried--and they didn't have much after that, either.

One of her meals was Cabbage and Noodles. She'd brown a small head of cabbage (chopped) and an onion (chopped) in enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Cover the pan while frying, stirring often and adding a little water if it's getting too brown.

Cook a pkg of egg noodles and drain. Pour cabbage/onion over noodles, adding salt and pepper and mixing well. If too dry, add a small amt of butter or water.

Cheap and actually, pretty good! You can make your own noodles, if you want, by using 2 eggs and 2 cups flour. Just beat the egg with a fork, stir in the flour, and add enough warm water to make a soft dough. Roll the dough out fairly thin and cut into 1-2 inch squares. Let dry overnight or at least a couple of hours, turning them over several times.

[74Heaven]

BASIC FRUGAL TACO SALAD

1-2# seasoned and cooked taco meat (dep on family size)

lettuce

shredded cheddar cheese

salsa and/or salad dressing

 

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS

tomatoes

olives

avacado slices

onions

fritos corn chips OR tortilla chips

sour cream or plain yogurt or guacamole

 

Heat/cook the taco meat. Drain fat off. Put back in large saucepan, add in everything *except the lettuce, sour cream, chips and cheese*. Then when everything is warmed and mixed well - add the the last ingredients - stir gently to mix about 30 seconds. Serve hot. (I often add the chips and lettuce and cheese at the table.)

 

The basic version is frugal. If you go heavy on the meat and/or cheese, it is very filling meal and inexpensive. If you go heavy on the lettuce (and lighter on the meat and cheese), it is cheaper and makes the meat/cheese go further.

 

Of course, the optional ingredients up the cost, the price and the taste!

 

Lisaj, I'm sure everyone has this recipe but it is my "what to fix for dinner" when I am out of taco shells, wraps but I have hamburger, cheese and lettuce. It is good!

[Laura Corin]

Saute an onion with a couple of rashers of bacon (chopped) and a few cloves of smashed garlic in olive oil. Add a fat handful of green beans (whichever kind you can find on special offer) and a few fresh tomatoes (skinned and chopped). Put about a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar in, then pour in enough boiling water to come half way up the beans. Add herbs (dried mixed is fine), salt and pepper (not too much salt, because of the bacon) and simmer until the beans are soft (beyond al dente). Serve with whole grain pasta.

 

You have to spend money on the fresh veg, but you save on the low meat content - the bacon is just there as a seasoning really.

 

Laura

[hornblower]

This is a concept, not a recipe:

 

serve soup as a first course at most dinners

 

Soup is generally a cheap meal & a way to use up the meat etc from previous meals. Dumplings or noodles can give volume to even the thinnest broth. (& as someone mentioned in another thread recently, any time you roast poultry, cook the carcass afterwards to make stock)

 

This means that your main course protein - whether it's a meat, poultry, fish or vegetarian, can now be smaller (should be about the size of the palm of your hand or smaller).

 

Soup is filling and nutritious. For littles, at my house, having two courses also means that if they don't like one, they can choose to just have the other.

[chiguirre]

Cabbage and Noodles was one of my mom's standard dinners. The only thing she did differently was to add a bit of bacon for flavor. It's actually quite good.

 

One of our favorite dishes is spaghetti with plain yoghurt and tuna. Add in about 2 tablespoons of lemon or lime juice to about 1.5 cups of yoghurt and 1 7.5 oz envelope of tuna per pound of pasta. You can also add capers but they're not essential, and a good grind of black pepper for the more mature palates.

[iquilt]

Goulash:

1 lb. ground beef

1 large can diced tomatoes

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

1/2 lb. shredded cheddar cheese

oregano and basil

 

Combine in large dutch oven, bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Filling, frugal and feeds a lot of people.

 

We also have a lot of soup in the winter, bake some homemade biscuits and my family is very happy. Also breakfast for dinner is always a hit around here and frugal, too.

[Wendi]

As someone else said, breakfast for dinner is usually quite cheap.

 

Baked potatoes with "toppings" (bacon, shredded cheese, green onions, sour cream) served with a simple salad.

 

Pasta tossed with butter, parmesan cheese, and broccoli (toss the broccoli into the boiling water with the pasta).

 

Grilled cheese and soup.

 

Spaghetti is a pretty cheap meal, too. You can make a meatless marinara, or use whatever ground meat you have. For garlic bread, top whatever bread, hamburger or hot dog buns, etc., you have with butter, garlic, and salt, then bake in oven for a few minutes.

 

Chicken hash: leftover cooked, chopped chicken, leftover cubed cooked potatoes (boiled or baked), chopped carrots, chopped onions. Saute until hot and potatoes are browned, then top with shredded cheddar.

 

Homemade pizza.

 

Wendi

[Erica in PA]

I love reading these ideas! Simple, fairly frugal meals are our standard fare. Here are a couple of ideas:

 

Red Beans and rice-- Brown a clove of garlic with 1/2 c. onion and a bay leaf: add 2 cups chicken broth, dashes of worcestershire sauce and hot sauce, whatever spices you like, some ham or Canadian bacon, and 2 cans of kidney beans. Simmer for 20 min. then serve over rice with more hot sauce on the side.

 

Bean Burritos-- cook pinto beans in crockpot with 1/2 onion and spices; Puree in food processor; serve on flour tortillas with cheese and salsa

 

Sloppy Joes- ground beef, ketchup, mustard, sugar, worcestershire sauce; salt and and pepper on hamburger rolls

 

Chicken Piccata-- 1/2 chicken breast per person, in lemon sauce, over angel hair pasta

 

Ham and string bean soup- 2-3 cups ham cubes simmered in half a pot of water for 2 hours; then add 3 cans potatoes and 3 cans green beans and heat for another 30 min. This sounds like it wouldn't be good, but it's a PA Dutch specialty and it is delish!

 

I make lots of soups too, and breakfast for dinner.

 

I really think a key to frugal cooking is buying whatever is on sale, keeping a pantry stocked with inexpensive basics (like pasta, rice, potatoes, etc.),and then making whatever you can from those ingredients. I rarely buy an item simply just to make a particular recipe anymore, and I know that I'm spending a lot less than I used to when I would write down recipes and go out and buy all of the ingredients for them.

 

Erica

[Alessandra]

-- thin spaghetti with olive oil, garlic and parsley

-- a great pasta sauce is onions cooked down until they have caramelized

[Once]

I love these recipes, I hope you do to.

 

This recipe is for Pork Tourtier. It is not so much cheap but filling. I use it as a brunch and it will hold my kids until an early dinner.

Fry 1 1/2 lbs ground pork with

1 or 2 onions chopped fine

1/2 cup boiling water

1 clove garlic chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 or 2 stalks celery chopped

1/2 teaspoon sage

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1 clove ( be ready to take it out at the end before the mashed potatoes get added)

 

Cook over low heat, stiring often, until half of liquid is evaporated. Cover and cook about 45 minutes and most of liquid has evaporated.

 

Meanwhile, boil and mash 3 medium sized potatoes that have been peeled (I often used mashed potato leftovers) Mix both together well and let cool.

 

Spoon into pie shell and cover with top pastry shell and seal closed. Brush with milk and cut in vent holes.

 

Bake at 450* for 10 mins and the turn down to 350* for 30 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Serve with ketchup and fruit for desert. This will keep the kids full for half a day. Yum!

 

This one is for baked oatmeal. It is a whole lunch with some fruit or yogurt.

Mix 1/2 cup brown sugar with

1/2 cup melted butter and

two eggs.

 

Add 3 cups oatmeal (old fashioned or quick oats)

2 teaspoons baking powder

pinch of salt

1 cup milk.

 

Mix well and pour into greased pan. Bake at 350* for 30 mins. Serve by pouring whipping cream over it or with fruit and yogurt.

 

Happy cooking!

[LauraGB]

Beans and Rice?

2 cans black beans (or 3-3 1/2 c cooked beans - even cheaper)

1 jar salsa

some cumin and chili powder

a little water (about a 1/2 c)

Bake it for 30 min at 350F, top w/cheese and onions, bake a little longer and serve over brown rice.

 

Soup. Veggie/barley, creamy potato, pea soup. Serve w/homemade bread and a salad.

[joannqn]

These are our favorites. I gave links to my blog or eHow articles as appropriate. I've been focusing on money saving recipes/tips at both.

 

Burritos made with homemade refried beans & seasoned chicken

Burritos made with homemade beans & ground beef

Chicken taco salad

Ground beef taco salad

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Southwest Chicken and Rice

Rubber chicken (Whole chicken used for 3 meals)

Rubber turkey (Thanksgiving turkey stretched into 20+ meals)

Sub sandwiches on my homemade bread

Chicken fetticini alfredo using homemade alfredo & cup up chicken breast

Homemade popcorn chicken & mashed potatoes

 

My homemade refried beans cost the equivalent of 35 cents a can and makes about 8 cans worth. Beans can be frozen after they are fried used later. To reheat, bring to room temperature and heat in sauce pan. Add water if they are too thick.

 

I stretch both whole chicken and turkey to get as many meals out of them as possible, making both very frugal choices, especially the turkey. Turkey meat can be substituted in almost any chicken soup recipe.

 

I buy my chicken breasts when they are on sale for $1.99 a pound or less. Then I use two half breasts to feed all five of us. That makes our chicken about $1.99 per meal.

 

Pasta alfredo makes a great, quick lunch or dinner and is cheap when you make the sauce yourself.

 

Homemade Alfredo Sauce

Melt 2 T butter in sauce pan over medium heat.

Add 2 T flour. Stir to make roux.

Add 1 cup milk. Stir constantly until thickened.

Add 1/4 to 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese. Stir to melt.

Salt and pepper to taste.

 

If I don't have parmesan, I add grated cheddar instead.

[Quiver0f10]

Thanks for all the ideas and recipes!

[Jenny in Florida]

I realized after I typed it that the title might sound snarky, and I absolutely don't mean it that way. I'm genuinely curious.

 

How inexepensive does a meal have to be to be considered "frugal?" In other words, how much may it cost per person?

[sweetbaby]

My dc's fav is Tator Tot Casserole. You can find it here.