What is the cheapest meal you can put together, on short notice?

Question

It needs to be heathly.
This is for a friend in Mississippi on Food Stamps.
For a family of 5. (2 adults & 3 children between the ages of 5 -11)
They like all veggies & fruits.

Answer 1

Dried beans and pea soup with some bisquits or corn bread would be adequate and nutritious. End meal with Redneck (no kidding) Peach Cobbler.

Recipe:

Pre-heat oven 425*
Put 1/2 stick margarine on bottom of large baking pan.
1 cup s.r. flour
1 cup sugar
1cup milk
1 large can sliced peaches
1 cup water+ 1/2 cup sugar

Bring peaches to a boil on stovetop. Add water-sugar mixture. Bring back to boil and turn it down to simmer. Keep it simmering till use.

Mix flour & sugar together and mix in the milk. Pour onto the baking pan. Remove peaches from heat and drop peaches & liquid by large spoon onto batter. Distribute evenly. DO NOT STIR! Place in oven & bake 30 minutes or until brown.

This can be eaten warm or cold.

Another quick, cheap soup: Put 1/2 lb. crumbled raw hamburger into 3 qts of water +1 lg. can tomatoes or tomato sauce, add 1 1/2 lbs peeled, cut potatoes, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 bay leaf (optional), 1 medium onion, 2 stalks celery or can use celery seed. Salt & pepper to taste.


Cook until potatoes are almost done. Add 1 can w.k. corn and 1 can sliced carrots. Finish cooking till done.

Tip: Instead of 1 lb. hamburger in Hamburger Helper, use 1/2 lb. meat. Comes out just as good and can be used with all flavors.

Answer 2

My fiancee always has family passing through town so I always make goulash. (Don't know if I spelled it correctly.) Some people call it Marzetti. Just ground beef or chuck, some prego sauce, green pepper, onion and mix with macaroni. This will go a long way and it is good. Sprinkle with some parmesan or Romano cheese. With a nice salad and some garlic or crusty bread. Fruit salad for dessert. To save more money used canned fruit as fresh can sometimes be expensive.

Answer 3

Frozen teriyaki vegetables with chicken on top of yellow rice is pretty good. It has to be semi-cheap; my mom made it for thirty people once!

Cut four boneless, skinless chicken breasts into small chunks (thumb sized-ish).
Put a touch of oil in a large pan or electric skillet.
Cook the chicken until it's white on all sides.
Follow the directions for the teriyaki, except don't add any oil. (The oil from the chicken should do.)
When there's about ten minutes left for the teriyaki, cook the rice according to the directions.

The best part of this is that extra vegetables can be added to the teriyaki mix. My mom likes to add about a cup of broccoli more to the mix because it catches the flavor well... not to mention, it's very good for you :D Water chestnuts are also good to add.

This is probably one of the few package dinners that is absolutely excellent! My mom likes to get the Bird's Eye mix, but they're all pretty good.

Much luck to your friend!

Answer 4

Pasta and tomato sauce is quick and easy - especially if you buy the sauce.A salad is a nice side to add.
Or whip some chicken and veggies together, stir fry and toss with cooked rice.
Do some hobo dinners - carrots, onions, potatoes and burgers, all wrapped in foil in baked.

Answer 5

Spagetti

Answer 6

Beans and rice with steamed veggies or fresh tomatoes sliced up-nutritious, delicious and extremely cheap.

Answer 7

Spaghetti Bolognaise is really cheap to make and it goes a long way,besides Kid`s love it.Hope you find what your looking for.

Answer 8

My vote would be for for ground turkey chli with beans, corn bread and a salad!

Answer 9

well the cheapest and quickest meal i can think of would be spaghetti. maybe some garlic bread.

Answer 10

broccoli , cheese and rice ! and buy some catelopes and cut into chunks and serve with some cool-whip !