Low budget meals kids will eat?!
Low budget meals kids will eat?
Have you got a low budget easy meal. To feed a family of 6. We're bored with spaghetti bolognaise, pasta bake. Any suggestions?? Cheers
Answers:
This is a complete & healthy meal w/ all the food groups. It is also versatile as you could leave out/add ingredients as needed:
Vegetable Lo Mein
Makes: 4 to 6 moderate servings (double recipe for larger servings)
* 8 ounces udon noodles or Chinese wheat noodles
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 2 teaspoons dark sesame oil, divided
* 8-ounce bag preshredded coleslaw (preferably with carrots included)
* 1 cup fresh green beans, trimmed and cut in half, or frozen cut green beans, thawed
* 15-ounce can cut baby corn, drained, liquid reserved
* 2 to 3 scallions, cut into 1-inch-long segments
* 2 cans beans or 2 packages tofu, cubed
* Vegetable stock or water, as needed
* Natural soy sauce to taste
* Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Cook the noodles in plenty of rapidly simmering water until al dente, then drain.
Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil in a wok or stir-fry pan. Add the coleslaw, green beans, and 1/4 cup of the liquid from the baby corn. Cover and steam for 5 minutes.
Add the beans/tofu, baby corn and scallions and stir-fry over medium-high heat for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are all just tender-crisp, adding just enough liquid from the baby corn to keep the bottom of the pan moist.
Combine the cooked noodles with the vegetables in a serving bowl and toss together. Add the remaining teaspoon of sesame oil, then season with soy sauce and grind in pepper to taste. Serve at once.
Enjoy!
Source(s):
adapted from vegkitchen.com/kid-friendly-re...
Go to www.meals.com. Click on the advanced search option to the left of the page. Then you can choose kid favorites, one-pan meals, under 30 minutes, etc.
Letting the children take part in the planning, shopping and cooking does allot to motivate them to eat the food. For a change I would suggest trying a omelet with multiple ingredients possible. Let the kids choose from the offerings-cheese, diced ham, diced onions, mushrooms-what ever.
I used to take mine to O'Charlies ..they can eat free there . Feed them from the dollar menu , or get them kids frozen dinners . now days though , there is not a whole lot of low budget anything .....
Well, you can always eat like a puertorrican. (I'm puertorrican.)
Go for rice and beans, for variety from pasta. White rice and bagged beans are not expensive. Bagged beans take a while to cook. You could use canned, but canned would be more expensive to purchase. In PR we eat this with some meat, from stewed corned beef to roasted chicken.
Ed Romney in his book, how to live well with practically nothing suggests that food that you need to put a bit more time to prepare is the cheapest. To feed 6, that would be my goal while purchasing food.
Good Luck!
There are 6 of us and we like:
tater tot casserole
sloppy joes & French fries
pancakes & sausage
homemade pizza
roast cooked in crock pot with potatoes,carrots,onions,celery
meatloaf
cheesy chicken bake
chicken pot pie
mac & cheese bake
tuna casserole
mushroom chicken
Breakfast for dinner (eggs,bacon,biscuits& gravy,etc)
BBQ beef sandwiches
enchiladas
chicken fried rice
You can find these recipes by searching online...Good luck!
Have a go at fried rice. All you need is rice.
Plain rice has a new taste with this simple asian-influenced recipe.
Ingredients
3 cups Cooked, cold rice (day-old is best)
3 Eggs
1 tb. Soy sauce
2 tb. Peanut or canola oil
1 can Sliced water chestnuts
1 cup Frozen peas
Cooked chicken or ham (optional)
Preparation
Beat and scramble eggs. Chop and set aside. Pour oil in wok, turn on medium high and add rice. Stir-fry with soy sauce. Add frozen peas, chopped cooked meat (optional), water chestnuts, and cooked egg during last few minutes of heating.
Cook's Notes
Fried rice uses left-over rice, of course, but also makes great use of any left-over vegetables or meats. Try adding snow peas or bean sprouts for a really fresh flavor.
Simple sliced oranges or grapes add a cool finish.
p/s-you can make fried rice with almost anything that you have in your fridge
curried sausages with rice.
My kids love these 2 dishes.
meatloaf with mashed potatoes on top. After I add the potatoes I rebake it for a few minutes. Also I bake them in a muffin tin and sometimes use a cake bag to add the potatoes so it can be fun. Meatloaf is easy
1lb ground beef
1 egg
crackers or oatmeal
1 cup ketchup or ketchup BBQ mix
onion and garlic
Mix in a large bowel and bake in a bread pan or shape it into a loaf
Bake at 350 for about 1 hr
Quiche
Bake a regular crust for 10 min at 350
In a large bowel
Add filling all that is a must 1 2 cups cheese. You can add spinach, chicken, bacon, onion, tomato's that is what we use or you can add ham.
1 small bowel
1 egg
3/4 mayo
3/4 milk... Mix
Pour large bowel ingredients into pie crust and then pour liquid mix over top. bake 350 till golden brown.
I almost forgot this one.....
I make up some taco meat and or chicken and set up a buffett line in the kitchen with tomatos, cheese, sour cream, sauces, cheese dip ect....
I heat a large pan with olive oil and let them walk down the line filling up 1/2 a flour tortilla shell then I fry it in olive oil. They love these. Pineapple and chesse ones are really yummy as well. Although they didnt sound nearly as well as they taste.
Good Luck my kids love these and I most of the time have to make enough for lunch the next day.
my sis and bro preffer pancakes and fried meat ballls good luck:)
Ramen noodles are good. Try hamburger helper. If not that, then goulash(spelling) is also good. Salads can be made in a ton of varieties. Just shop around and see what you can find for a good price. You can make a great meal out of just about anything.