Low cost, High nutrien recipes for family?

Question

I want some low cost, tastey, recipes to fix for my family. I am soooo tired of hamberger helper and mac and cheeese. I wish I could fix them somwthing a little more adverntursome, but we have a tight budget.

Answer 1

Rice and beans are a safe bet, nutritious and good, and there is a lot of variety inherent in them. You can add different spices, make soup, throw in pasta to make sauce, make red beans and rice with smoked sausage, the options are just about endless.

Answer 2

Here's a few ideas:

Beans & Rice: There are so many kinds of beans: baked, pinto, cuban black beans, great northern, canellini.

An easy recipe w/ 4 ingredients: 1-2 small cans of red beans (or kidney beans), slices of smoked sausage, 1 chopped onion and white rice. Saute' the onion and sausage together, add in the red beans, heat through and serve over rice.

Tofu: It is a very low cost source of protein. You can stir fry it with vegetables, grill it, use it in soups. There are different textures. Your family might not like it but it's worth a try. If you think of it as a very neutral food item you can use it for many dishes like you would yogurt.

Lentils: Can be used in stews and soups. Cheap and filling.

Answer 3

Easy Chicken & Noodles
1 pkg of egg noodle
1 lb boneless skinless chicken, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 c sliced mushrooms
1 can cream mushroom soup
1 dollop sour cream, optional
salt/pepper
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30-45 minutes

Cook noodles acording to the package. (you can sub with rice if you want)

While the noodles are cooking, in a skillet add 1 tsp of oil. On medium heat sautee the onions and mushrooms. Add the chicken and sautee for 10 minutes.

Add can of cream of mushroom soup into meat mixture, mix well.
Lower heat to med/low. Cover and let cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occassionally.

When meat is cooked, turn to low. Add a dollop of sour cream and mix. Cover and wait for noodles to be cooked.
Drain the noodles, and serve meat over a plate of noodles.

Answer 4

Pan fry some chicken, skim off the grease, cut the meat off the bones. Stir fry a variety of veggies; carrots, sliced cabbage, garlic, onion, etc. Use a little worchestshire or sweet/sour sauce.

Answer 5

Red beans and rice (mix), corn bread (jiffy brand mix) and wllted greens or frozen green beans or peas. That is a $7 meal, assuming you need to buy eggs for the corn bread and garlic to throw in the greens. That should serve 4.