What low-budget recipes/meal ideas do you have?

Question

I'm on limited income, and get $150 in food stamps. I'm looking for tasty recipes/meal ideas that could have the following criteria: few ingredients, cheap ingredients, recipes that can go a long way, recipes that freeze well, vegetarian/healthy, easy to make, etc. Please list all ingredients and directions. Thank you.

Answer 1

I would buy frozen fries, fresh vegetables, burgers, things that you can get more than 1 use from, pastas, lasagnas and soups..........

1 lb spaghetti
salt
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, sliced
6 small hot red chili peppers (or generous qty of crushed red pepper)
1 tablespoon Italian parsley, chopped

Cook the spaghetti in abundant salt water following manufacturer’s instructions, tasting for readiness from time to time.
While the pasta is cooking, pour the olive oil in a skillet and add the garlic and red pepper. Turn the heat to medium.
Sauté the garlic briefly, but turn heat off before the garlic could begin coloring.
When pasta is al dente (firm but not too soft or overcooked), drain and transfer to a bowl.
Top with the oil-garlic mixture.
Spread the chopped parsley on top (if desired). Toss thoroughly and serve at once.

Answer 2

I spend about $90 a week on groceries for 3 people. I by very little meat or dairy products and rely mainly on veggies, grains and beans. Plus, for health reasons I make everything myself. In other words, there is little prepackaged food in our house just things like canned beans and tomatoes. I also spend all day Sunday cooking for the week so I don't have to worry about it later. It you can cut out most meat and expensive prepackaged stuff, your budget should be pretty good. One great place for recipes is vegsource.com . There's tons of ideas there. Here's one yummy recipe I found there:


Bean And Rice Burritos




Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
28 ounces pinto beans, canned --
-- drained and rinsed
1 cup Cooked brown rice -- -OR-
- up to double this amount
1 dash Chili powder
1 dash Garlic powder
1 dash Cumin
3/4 cup Water
6 Tortillas
-----TOPPINGS-----
1 Iceberg lettuce
--chopped and dried
1 bn Scallions -- chopped
1 tomato -- chopped
--ripe
2 cups Salsa --

Place the beans in a saucepan and mash with a potato masher. Add the
cooked rice, spices, and water. Heat 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Heat the tortillas quickly (just to soften) in a preheated skillet, toaster oven, or microwave. Tuck in the top and bottom edges, roll into a burrito, and serve immediately, topped with additional salsa if desired.

Answer 3

Make Over 200 Juicy, Mouth-Watering Paleo Recipes You've NEVER Seen or Tasted Before?

Answer 4

Okay first of all, I say whole roasted chicken is the way to go... what I do on occasion is buy 2, and roast them at the same time. One of them, I will season both INSIDE the cavity, and out, maybe stuff some butter, lemon, and rosemary inside the cavity and in between the breast and the skin.... the other, just season with salt and pepper. Blast them initially at a HIGH temp, like 500 degrees. Drop it down to 350 after about 15 minutes, and roast until they reach an internal temp of 155. (I know they say 160 but i figure the residual cooking will take it up there, you don't want a dried out bird!) Let them cool.

Now, with the lemon one, serve as is, and shred any leftover meat. (I'd serve with a rice pilaf, saute about 1/2 cup onions in butter and olive oil, add about a cup of rice, saute until rice is golden brown, add 2 cups chicken broth*, bring to boil, drop temp to simmer and cover.... should be done in about 15-20 minutes) and maybe steamed or canned veggies, depending on your preferance.

So, now you've had dinner one night with the roast chicken, and have shredded chicken for tomorrow night. Go ahead and put in the fridge. Tomorrow night, saute some sliced onions until soft, and add shredded chicken. Take one can of stewed tomatoes, with juice, and add to pan. Add about 1/2 cup chicken broth, and season. This is now a pretty good filling for chicken tacos. Tomatoes, lettuce, cheese etc are usually things people keep on hand at all times, therefore no special or costly ingredients.

With the other whole roasted chicken that's in the fridge, go ahead and do whatever you want with that! Take some canned tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, salt and pepper, bay leaf, dried oregano, and simmer together for a while on the stove, add pieces of the roast chicken and heat through, serve over white rice. Or cut up the chicken before roasting, and have good ol' fashioned fried chicken with mashed potatoes.

Chicken is so versatile, and you can plan a few different dinners around a couple of low cost whole chickens! If you're looking for more good, simple, rated, and easy recipes, check out some food websites, like allrecipes.com or cooks.com, for techniques on cutting a whole chicken up, I suggest food.com.

Hope these help a little!

* I usually buy chicken bouillon as opposed to chicken broth, you can get a pack of 8 for less than 2 dollars, and that's equivalent to 16 cups of broth.... I use beef and chicken broth instead of water in a lot of recipes, to add a little more flavor. Just boil 2 cups of water in the microwave, drop in one cube and let sit a minute. Cheaper than canned broth, and a space saver as well. Try Knorr, there often on sale.

Answer 5

MILDRED'S EASY CHEAP CASSEROLE

1 (8 oz.) cheese whiz
1/2 c. milk
7 oz. spaghetti, break in thirds cook and drain
2 tbsp.butter
10 oz. cooked broccoli
1 c. chopped chicken or turkey
1 (4 oz.) can mushrooms, drained
2 tbsp. chopped pimento
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. sage

Combine cheese and milk mix. Toss spaghetti with butter. Combine all ingredients Mix well. Spoon into 2 quart casserole. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. Stir well before serving. This is easy cheap and good.

Answer 6

Migas II
SUBMITTED BY: SHELLSHOCK


"This was my husbands favorite breakfast growing up in a Mexican household. Now we make it all times of day and even our kids always ask for seconds. Very simple, inexpensive, and quick to make. I sometimes add hot pepper sauce, or ingredients you would like in a omelet, but my husband prefers it the traditional way."

Original recipe yield:
5 servings

PREP TIME 10 Min
COOK TIME 10 Min
READY IN 20 Min
PHOTO BY: BRIANADORAN US METRIC

SERVINGS About scaling and conversions

INGREDIENTS
4 teaspoons corn oil
12 (6 inch) corn tortillas
6 eggs, beaten
salt to taste
DIRECTIONS
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Tear corn tortillas into bite size pieces, and fry them in the skillet, stirring constantly, until they are just starting to get crisp.
Pour the eggs into the skillet with the tortillas, stirring until the egg is cooked through. Season with salt to taste. Serve immediately.


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NUTRITION INFORMATION
Servings Per Recipe: 5

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 271

Total Fat: 12.6g
Cholesterol: 211mg
Sodium: 346mg
Total Carbs: 30.4g
Dietary Fiber: 3.2g
Protein: 10.2g
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Powered by: ESHA Nutrient Database

Answer 7

From Costco, we buy a case of soy milk. This we use with our oatmeal each morning -- and to make an occasional cup of chai.

Breakfast: From a local health food store we get oatmeal in bulk form (plus some oat bran because we add to the pot 1 tablespoon for each 2 servings).

Lunch: Buy inexpensive package of sandwich baggies with the fold-over tops. Purchase a few fresh fruits in season that you can eat raw. (Mushroom, zuchinni squash, carrots, bell pepper (red & green), broccoli, celery etc.). Cut up an assortment into finger food size and pack into a sandwich size baggie each day for lunch.

Dinner: Measured amount of meat or meat substitute. Buy salmon patties and veggie burger patties at Costco. Freeze the package. Dinner is one patty of either and one serving of fresh greens tossed in a pan with about one tsp. olive oil & garlic with soy sauce to season lightly.

Or you can buy a few pounds of ground turkey or beef and make a meatloaf (ground meat, little minced onion, a grated carrot, little catsup, few drops soy sauce, little chopped celantro -- bake 350 in oven until done) on weekends and store it in your refrigerator to eat during the week for dinner -- or pack for lunch with raw veggies.

If you prepare your food from scratch, it's always fresher and better -- and CHEAPER. I haven't made the veggie burger myself yet, but found a great recipe from another blogger and intend to make it one day soon.

Since I retired, and went on a good diet, and cut way down on buying packaged prepared foods and restaurant food, our food budget dropped way down. Also, I lost weight (abdominal fat still going away) and feel a lot better.

Answer 8

budget recipesmeal ideas

Answer 9

Please check out this website. She has a great section on budgets adn food when facing a lay-off or a stoppage of income. She has great ideas AND recipes!

http://www.ellenskitchen.com/faqs/improv.html

Answer 10

I know how you feel... been here myself and still is....
spaghetti
tuna casserole
green bean casserole
chili
mac and cheese