When living on low income, what are some really good, but cheap meal recipes?!
When living on low income, what are some really good, but cheap meal recipes?
I've been living on two meals a day for a month now, trying to survive, and with recent price jumps on everything, I can no longer afford to buy the typical boxed foods or anything. Even bread and milk has become too expensive. I'm trying to get food stamps, but thats still in the works. I currently don't work because of a medical disorder and my significant other is doing everything possible to make money. What are some other healthy but cheap alternatives/recipes to meals?
Answers:
By the way, powdered milk is cheaper than regular milk
French Onion Soup
Cook Campbell’s or Lipton’s onion soup according to package directions but with an extra large onion sliced into the soup.
Put a piece of stale bread at the bottom of individual covered bowls. Fill with soup and put slices of mozzarella cheese sliced from a whole ball of cheese on top. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve with salad and French bread. Serves four.
Beans and Rice
Cook rice according to package directions.
Saute slices of onion and garlic in a pan. Add two 15 or 16 oz cans of black beans. Stir and heat thoroughly. Serve over rice.
Chuck Roast in Foil
Take a 4 lb cheap chuck roast. Place on a large piece of aluminum foil. Sprinkle dried onion soup all over the chuck. Wrap in the foil and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 2 ? -3 hours. Serve over rice or noodles
Baked Ziti
Cook ziti noodles according to package directions. Drain well. Mix in a covered baking dish the ziti, a jar of spaghetti sauce, half a large package of grated mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle the rest on top. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Meat Spaghetti Sauce
Brown 1 lb ground beef. Remove meat and brown in the fat (draining some off first) chopped onions and garlic. Add 1 large can crushed tomatoes, a teaspoon of sugar to cut the starch, fresh chopped basil and a dash of dried oregano. Then add meat. Simmer for 20 minutes and serve over pasta.
Roast Chicken Dinner
Clean innards out of chicken and refrigerate the parts for chicken broth later. Sprinkle chicken with rosemary and place in center of a baking dish. Place pieces of sliced potato and carrots around the chicken in the baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes and serve. The grease from the chicken cooks the vegetables and they are very tasty.
Chicken Piccata
Take 2-4 boneless chicken breasts and beat them with a tenderizer. Rub flour on them and sauté on both sides in olive oil. Remove chicken. Then brown chopped scallions in pan. Add 1 cup chicken broth (you can use the instant kind that is sold with spices) and bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add 3 Tbsp of lemon juice (bottle from supermarket) and continue to boil. Pour the sauce over the chicken and pasta.
Fettuccine Alfredo
Cook fettuccine pasta according to package directions.
Melt one stick butter, mix with 1 cup half and half and one package grated Parmesan cheese and pepper. Add pasta to pan, stir well together and serve.
Chili
Saute one pound ground beef, remove, drain off some fat and sauté one medium onion and chopped garlic. Add one 28 oz can crushed tomatoes, 1 tablespoon chili powder. Simmer 5 minutes, then add one 28 oz can of chili beans. Heat through (another five minutes) and serve with rice.
Apricot Baked Chicken
Brown chicken parts (cut into 8ths) in skillet. Mix 1 cup apricot jam or jelly with 2 Tbsp mustard. Spread over chicken parts and bake for 1 hour.
Left Over Chicken Dishes
Chicken a la King. Slice chicken into small pieces, heat up with cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup. You can add sliced mushrooms and sherry if you want.
Chicken Cacciatore. Saute onions, garlic and peppers in olive oil. Slice chicken into small pieces and add chicken with a jar of tomato sauce. Heat and serve with pasta.
Chicken Noodle Bake. Cook noodles al dente. Mix in a casserole with chicken cut into small pieces, ? cup chicken broth, cooked peas and a can of cream of mushroom soup. If you want you can sprinkle cheese on top Bake for ? hour.
Apple Snacks
Using an apple corer, core and slice apples. Place on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with brown sugar and bake 15 minutes.
Ziploc omelets
Use ingredients such as: cheese, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc. Any leftovers chopped up. Add selection to zip loc bag and shake. Be sure to get the air out of the bag and zip it up.Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes. You can usually cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot. Open the bag and the omelet will roll out easily
Velvet Corn Soup
6 cups vegetable or chicken stock*2 egg whites
1 14 oz. can cream style corn2 Tbsp cornstarch
3 scallions, thinly slicedfreshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp rice wine or dry sherry
Bring stock to a boil in a large pot. Add the corn, scallions and rice wine or sherry. Stir and bring to a boil again. Meanwhile beat the egg whites with a fork or whisk until foamy. Pour them into the boiling stock, stirring with chopsticks until the whites become frothy. Dissolve the cornstarch in ? cup of cold water and stir into the soup, continuing to stir until the soup thickens, about 1 minute. Season to taste with pepper. Serves 4-6.*Okay to use Swanson canned broth, but do not add salt to this
Noodles and sauce are always cheap!
Buy a head of broccoli or whatever fresh vegetable is on sale and steam it. Put salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil on it and eat it with rice. Also cook up a pot of red beans and eat with rice. I come from a region that has been poor forever and now the price of everything is going up here too. These meals will fill you up, make you healthy and are fairly inexpensive. We were on food stamps and now are not eligible anymore. I miss those stamps. Well it is like a credit card. Good luck to you.
when u go 2 this website type in cheap meal recipes in the recipe search
Spaghetti
Eggs
Salad
Potatoes
Macaroni
Soup
I was raised on hamburger, macaroni, and fresh garden vegetables which only cost the amount of the seeds, time weeding, and watering. If you can not do a garden, then cook from scratch.
When you cook from "scratch" you will be amazed at how much you will save. Boxed foods are a rip off and usually not that good for you because they are full of fillers and chemicals. Check your local farmers market for cheaper prices and oriental groceries for a good price on food items.
If you are new at cooking and want some simple recipes, go get a Betty Crocker cookbook. It is full of basics and you can't go wrong if you follow the directions. It will be a source and companion for cooking for years to come.
Lots of ideas but will require more work. Like buying a bag of potatoes and preparing mashed, fried or baked. Buying noodles in packages and making your own versions of Hamburger Helper would be helpful, buying the jar cheese and just adding your own seasonings actually is cheaper and you can make more of it and store it in the fridge or freezer longer. And always, always go with store brand products if you can. They are just so much cheaper and the quality doesn't always stink. There are also some deals on frozen meals already made, be sure to check those out. Also homemade soups or stews, check around online for some free recipes but the soups are cheap and with some crackers or a roll - friend you have a meal! I hope your food assistance comes through for you. I know how that can be. Take Care.
Does your town have a food bank?it is where low income families can get food for free.Go to your Church they can help you.As far as recipes, stew goes a long way.I buy a steak and chicken.Marinate them, cook them slice them and freeze them.This way you only have to supply bread and cheese for a steak and cheese or chicken and cheese sandwich.I buy canned veggies also when on sale.They often have more nutrician than fresh veggies.Good luck, I'm sort of in the same boat.I'm single tho.
#1, Believe it or not, boxed foods are the most expensive and unhealthiest way of eating. But fresh vegetables and Ground meats. Rice (25lbs + bags) are the cheapest way to buy starches. canned tuna is also a great way to get protein, typically a store brand six 0z can goes for less than 4.50/can and can make a meal for two adults. Jello, with fresh fruit is a excellent filler. Put the word recipe into Yahoo search engine.
#2, TRY to get a job, of ANYKIND, don't fall to the liberal machine and get food stamps....... I know you can do it on your own!!
GOOD luck and I hope fortune smiles on you soon!!!
"been there and done that," rice is cheap, mix it with any canned soup (without noodles.)it works and it tastes different every time. also pasta ,elbows are usually the cheapest, also mix with a soup cream ones or cheese or tomato, and if you have any money tuna and hamburger. breakfast stuff would be eggs or oatmeal . Get a job in any fast food restaurant, and you can usually bring home something from there too. good luck
Ramen Noodles are where its at! 10 for $1 where I live. Thats like 3 days of food for one dollar! Also, go for store brand cereals. Near me, Cambells soups are 10 for $1. If you need a drink and have some sugar at home, get those cool aid packets they are i think 10 for $1 too. Peanut butter and jelly if thats not too much even if its a once a day thing. Heck, its summer, so you could probably find berries and make your own jelly for free. Go to your local gardening center and grab some seeds and grow your own fruits and veggies. Seeds are 10 to 15 cents a pack and you wont even be ingesting all of those nasty pesticides! Boxes of pasta are 99 cents. Get one or two of them and you could so pasta in oil with some salt or if you have three extra backs, grab some tomato sauce. I work at a pizzeria, and what we do is, at the end of the night, we sell all of our slices that we woulda have thrown out for like two dollars or something like that. Maybe go to some pizzerias and ask if you can set up something like that.
try some caseroles they are a dollar stretcher and they can be good too, goulash is easy to make really and taste good
First, 2 meals a day is not that bad, as long as you have all the nutrients.
Second, those boxed foods actually turn out more expensive in the long run.
My advice would be to try to buy dry items in bulk (rice, pastas, beans, etc., and cook only what you need). Add your own seasonings.......
Buy your meats in family sized packages. It might seem like alot at first, but if you separate and freeze into portions for yourself and sweetie, you will save money.
Shop on Tuesday. You think that's crazy, but the food ads usually come out on Wed., and the have marked down foods the day before. There's nothing wrong with the food, just not at it's "peak" and if you prepare or freeze, you will have more for less money.
Forget hamburger helper. It's not cost effective. Make your own. Brown your ground meat, add your favorite seasonings, add pasta, add water, cover and simmer until pasta is done.
Buy fresh/in season veggies. Peppers can be roasted, peeled and frozen, onions keep a long time in a cool dry place (do not store with potatoes....the enzymes in the onion will cause fresh potatoes to sprout faster). Lot's of fresh produce is cheap this time of year, take advantage of that.
Instead of using meat (which is costly), take advantage of rice, pasta, and use meat more as a condiment, using little pieces or slices mixed with the rice or pasta instead of a huge steak etc.
Another tip.......to save money. You often see those big cans of tomato sauce, soups, etc. Buy them, open them and put into containers, them freeze (almost free containers......save your plastic containers with lids, yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, etc., wash well, fill and mark...a piece of tape and pen work fine, seal and freeze...when used, repeat with next item.)
If you have any space in your yard, plant a few vegetables. Nothing beats fresh.........and a packet of seeds only costs a few cents. If you don't have garden space, you can get some potting soil and use any clean container to grow tomatoes, herbs, and such a large variety of things. Containers can sit on a window sill or on your porch, too.
Pasta, bulk beans and rice, store brand frozen veggies.
In college there was never any left over money after books and tuition were paid. So every Sunday we made a big pot of beans.... Lima or pinto, threw in some onion and some sausage links for seasoning.
Dried beans are so cheap ( 49 cents a bag) and make a big pot. You name the bean, and we cooked it !!! Rice and pasta are also cheap and you can find a hundred ways to fix them and stretch that dollar.