Need CHEAP recipe to feed 4 people

mommy2ans

I need some recipe ideas that are easy and cheap to feed 4 people.

1.....2.....3...GO!

dumb_blondes_rock

I need some recipe ideas that are easy and cheap to feed 4 people.

1.....2.....3...GO!

Go to www.5dollardinners.com
This woman is INCREDIBLE....and her children can't have ,milk or gluten, so she always shows an alternative to them. Saved me when I was in a pinch and had like 20 dollars for a weeks worth of food

SaraTN

Check out FoodNetwork Melissa D'Arabian she does a show and has recipes posted for $10 dinners.

CasperO

3 lb frozen chix breast, $6.50
Bottle of store brand BBQ sauce, $1.50
(chix in the sauce, foil on cookie sheet, bake 350 'til done)
5 lb package long grain rice, $3
(and that'll side dish a LOT of dinners)
lb fresh green beans, $1
Head of lettuce, $1
Big tomato, $2
(Need a little salad dressing, S&P, butter, stuff like that. Kitchen stock stuff)

Dinner for 4+, $15, give or take.

aprueitt

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MzBug

Stir fry? Here the chicken "bits" are very cheap. Add some carrots, celery, onion and snap peas. Serve with rice.

arewethereyet

Cheap, filling but not the best for you . This was our favorite "day before pay day" meal.

1 lb ground beef (lower the fat the better, but the more expensive) personally I would rather have 1/2 lb 7% fat .......
2 boxes of Kraft mac and cheese
1 can tomato soup

Cook mac and cheese as normal
crumble and sautee the beef
drain beef and add to the mac n cheese add the can of tomato soup (can add a bit of milk if you want it creamier0
if you have some grated cheddar it is nice on the top

shrimp/spaghetti/ alfredo

I get the shrimp when it is super cheap-or chicken can be replaced
make the spaghetti and when almost done, last 5 minutes throw in the shrimp
drain once cooked
put hot stuff back in the pan and add a jar of alfredo (they have plain, garlic or even a yellow cheese one that is good)
fluff it all together. Yummo

chilli dogs
can of tomatoes
chili powder
can red kidney beans
1/2 lb ground beef/turky/chicken
1/2 lb grated cheddar
hot dogs (can get really cheap, and buy one get one is on right now!)

these are all favorite cheapies for us!

hroush

3 cups uncooked rice - $.50 ?
1 can coconut milk - $1.50
1 cup water - FREE!
1 small can pineapple tidbits - $.88
1 cup coconut flakes - $ .50
2 chicken breasts (optional)

Steam the rice in the coconut milk and water. When done add the rest of the ingredients. 6 2 cup servings easy.

mdeanne

Something we really like that is healthy and is pretty cheap to make... grilled tilapia fish tacos. Tilapia is cheap, and all you need besides that is corn tortillas, lettuce, tomato, salsa... or you can make a slaw in place of the lettuce. Lots of various recipes online for fish tacos. Hope this helps!

hawaiibound

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chelseagirlfl

Hi this may not be your style but a great couple of sites to try .

www.hillbillyhousewife.com - low budget meals and home making

www.supercook.com - just enter what you have in your pantry and it will give you recipes for just those items

estherguas

Do the Bumpy Bump

meokk

I made a good one last night.....
Turkey Bolognese with Whole Wheat Angel Hair - makes 8 Adult portions

- 1lb 99% fat free ground turkey - $6 (sometimes on sale 2 for 1 so I buy 4 and freeze)
- 2 med onions - $2
- 6 med carrots - $2
- 2 large cans diced tomatoes - $5
- 1/2 tblspn dried oregano (optional)
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup red or white wine (optional)
- 1 1/2 boxes whole wheat angel hair - $3

For $16-19 I'm making 8 adult sized servings AND it's delicious !

Heat oil in large pot
Dice the onions & carrots and cook in pot over medium heat until softened
Add the ground turkey and cook through
over med/high heat add milk and reduce until no liquid visible
over med/high heat add wine and reduce until no liquid visible
reduce to low/med temp and add both cans of tomatoes, simmer uncovered for approx 45 mins, until sauce is thick and not watery

ENJOY!!!!

twinsmomma02

bag of frozen chicken breasts or tenderloins
6 red potatoes, cubed
2 small onions
2 cans of 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup.

Cook in crock pot on low for 8 hours. This is a simple recipe and made my family of three about 10 meals all together!

meana717

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I totally needed the same thing!!

SouthernBell86

Home made chili -

1 cup dry red kidney beans
1 cup pinto beans
1 onion, diced
1 lb ground beef
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce
1 packet of chili seasoning

(All of those things can be bought at sale prices, but that should cost about 6 dollars)

Soak the kidney beans for 48 hours, the pinto beans for 24 hours (this will eliminate any gassy effects), then start cooking the beans in the slow cooker the night before you want the chili. In the morning brown the ground beef, and cook half the onion in with the beef. Stir the beef and onions into the beans, and then add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, rest of the onion and the chili packet.

Serve it with a baked potato to complete the meal and stretch it further.

If you are trying to cook on a budget, I would assume that you stock up on large bags of these types of dry beans when they are on sale, (super cheap source of healthy protein, fiber and potassium!) so really finding a variety of good bean recipes will be key. As long as you soak beans properly they won't give you gas.

I also suggest that you do some stir fry's with beans, rice and a few veggies. Beans and rice combined together form a whole protein, and both are good to buy in bulk at cheap prices.

Another great thing to do is look out for whole chickens on sale, and then cook it in the pressure cooker and save all the broth for other meals, and pick apart the chicken meat to use for two or three meals. If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can put the chicken in the slow cooker overnight and cook it that way. Just DON'T throw away the broth. You can use the broth for all kinds of soups, including making your own cream based soups for cheap casseroles (all you need for a cream based soup is broth, milk, butter and flour). It isn't "glamorous" to debone a chicken that way, but you can really get your dollars worth out of it.

Good luck!

mifire2000

THIS IS SOOO GOOD! ~~~~~ One package chicken breast, one onion, one green pepper, one jar prego spqagetti sauce...one box rogatoni noodles. Cook chunked cut chicken 5 min, add chopped onion n green peppers. Cook till done. Add spagetti sauce. Simmer till noodles are done...put it together and yummy dinner.

weaklink109

Hi this may not be your style but a great couple of sites to try .

www.hillbillyhousewife.com - low budget meals and home making

www.supercook.com - just enter what you have in your pantry and it will give you recipes for just those items

Thanks for posting about supercook. I just looked at it for the first time--fantastic. Every recipe I ran across so far has nutritional info too,--VERY handy!!!

blel0906

Have a family of 4 also very picky eaters,so I've had to get creative husband does not like pasta or Turkey , its taken awhille but he doesn't complain about chicken anymore as long as I avoid breast. Kids don't like Hot Dogs or Fish. Some things we like I don't have per serving/meal calculations, when I cook I like to go quick and easy...Husband is quite a bit more creative (and messy)...These are pre diet but not all too terrible if you eat in moderation. I have been managing to keep my grocery bill between $80-$125 week I rarely use coupons unless I run across one in the store

Breakfast for Dinner

Any of the Zatterans rice mix's Red Beans and Rice, Black Beans and Rice with Keibasa (or Turkey Sausage)I can usually find them 2 for $5. Dirty Rice with ground beef..Yellow Rice with Chicken

Couple sandwich meals- I LOVE French Dips
We came up with this little creation we call Buffalo Chicken Dunk Sandwich Deli Chicken Breast, Romaine Lettuce, a little Maries Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing...use a deli roll and we press the roll in the George Forman Grill...Heat up some Buffello wing sauce and use it for dipping (like the french dip)

The cheap family pack of borritos (serously I think its $4 for 12 at Walmart),,,I jazz them up with echalada sauce, a little shreded cheese, and a dalop of sour cream

Taco night

If you have a local butcher shop check out their prices I have one here I can get 5lbs of ground beef for $10, its chuck but doesn't seem all that fatty cheaper than the grocery and better than the cheap stuff in a tube you can buy at the grocery. I sometimes drain the beef and rise it off after I cook it..

For about $6 you can get a 5lb bag of Chicken Quarters (No big breast fans in my house) We've baked them in a Chicken and Yellow Rice Mix but usually Grill them with some BBQ sauce..

I did try a recipe someone got at a WW meeting for Chicken Breast and it was good, everyone liked it but requested next time I make I use a thiner chicken breast...place the breast in a casserole dish and cover in Ranch Dressing (low fat version) sprinkle with Itallian Bread Crumbs...It was surprisingly really good.

Ribs in the crockpot-throw them in with a can of beer or coke and a bottle of bbq sauce.

Soups my husband makes a big batch of 15 bean soup and we also make a creamy vegitable soup you can find the recipe online by looking for Dolly Partons Creamy Veg soup its Veg all (better with fresh vegi'sbut the canned is easier on the budget) half and half chicken broth some spicesand butter

I only use a pound of ground beef in any of the add beef meals
I keep my eyes open for sales especially on meats which kill the grocery budget.
I buy store brands unless I know their is a quality issue (I was once told the store brands were made by the name brand companies just packaged differently)

WOW didn't intend to go on an on but hope this helps

baypathgradLyns

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mamaleo1976

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msemejuru

Spaghetti and garlic bread
Fettuccine , Alfredo sauce with mushrooms

Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken BBQ
Ingredients:
* 4 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – halfway through shred meat to absorb
* 1 (12 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce Famous Daves or Jack Daniels
* 1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
* 1/4 cup brown sugar
* 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Directions:
1. Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the barbeque sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.
2. Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.

Easy Turkey Burgers
Ingredients:
1 lb extra lean Ground Turkey
4 T Ground flax seeds (or 3T breadcrumbs)
Seasoning Salt to taste
2 chopped Green Onions
1 chopped Green Pepper
3-4 T Salsa (start with 3 and see how mixture feels)
2 Egg Whites

Directions:

Combine all ingredients, mix well, and divide into four. Make into four burgers.

nicolel18

Chicken Enchiladas

You'll need
a few pounds of chicken breast
Can of mexican stewed tomatoes
Packet of taco seasoning
corn tortillas
shredded cheddar cheese
enchilada sauce

Put the whole chicken breasts, mexican stewed tomatoes and taco seasoning in crock pot on low for 5 or 6 hours. By then you can take the chicken out and you should be able to just shred it with a fork. After shredding put back in pot.

Microwave tortillas as directed on package. Fill each tortilla with chicken mixture and roll it up and put in baking dish/pan. Continue to roll as many enchiladas as you need. Pour enchilada sauce* over the enchiladas, sprinkle with cheese and put in the oven until the cheese melts.

*I usually warm up the enchilada sauce on the stove before I pour it over the enchiladas. The enchiladas don't really have to stay in the oven long because you are just melting the cheese so I like the sauce to be hot.

kristilovescake

My favorite easy and cheap recipe is red beans and rice, which is also relatively healthy - yay! You can add meat (ground turkey or beef would work), but I always serve it vegetarian. It's a slow cooker/crock pot recipe and unfortunately I have it in a book at home, so i can only tell you the ingredients and not the precise recipe. I'll guestimate how much I usually put in it, but I typically just start with rough estimates and taste it and add more ingredients if necessary.

-Red beans (or black beans; I've used both) - approx 3 cans, rinsed (or you can use a bag of dry beans, but soak overnight or do 'quick soak')
-About 1/4 cup chopped Cilantro (if you don't like cilantro, you can add parsley or reduce amount or omit)
-Medium onion (I typically use yellow), chopped
-A clove or so of minced garlic
-About half a green pepper
-Tablespoon-ish of olive oil
-1/4 cup or so of water
-A teaspoon or two of cumin, adjust to taste
-Dash salt and pepper, adjust to taste
-How every many servings of rice you need - 4? (cooked separately)

Heat olive oil over medium to medium-high heat, add Onion and Garlic and cook until onion is done. Add cilantro and stir. Add water and cumin and salt and pepper to taste, stir. Add beans and stir then transfer to crock pot. Make sure to do a taste test to make sure you have the cumin/salt/pepper ratio down to your taste. To make easier, you could probably just add the beans to the crock pot then put the onion/water/flavor mixture on top and stir in there. Add more water if necessary so it doesn't dry up, but not too much because it isn't a soup! Cook on low 6 or so hours (I've done as little as 5 hours and also left it up to 9 hours) and then serve over cooked rice.

Best thing about this recipe is that it's pretty simple and you can add/omit what you want to make it how you want. I've added some jalepeno and taco seasoning and cayanne pepper to make a spicy mexican-inspired dish to switch it up.

If you're good (or decent) at cooking, it's easy to switch this recipe up to make it match your mood. Gotta love slow cooker recipes!

Also check out allrecipes.com - I love this site!

francis904

Yesterday I fixed a whole chicken in the crockpot with potatoes and carrots and onion. Tonight we are having Tortilla Chicken soup withsalad and french bread.

Chicken $3.30
3 potatoes <$1?
4 carrots < $1
Onion $.79

Leftover chicken already paid for
Salsa $2
Chicken Broth free (saved from the crockpot)
tortilla chips $2
Cilantro $1
Marked down bread from the bakery depatrment $.85
Bag of salad mix $2.50

2 meals for 4 =$14.44!

Setof2Keys

Chicken Enchiladas

You'll need
a few pounds of chicken breast
Can of mexican stewed tomatoes
Packet of taco seasoning
corn tortillas
shredded cheddar cheese
enchilada sauce

Put the whole chicken breasts, mexican stewed tomatoes and taco seasoning in crock pot on low for 5 or 6 hours. By then you can take the chicken out and you should be able to just shred it with a fork. After shredding put back in pot.

Microwave tortillas as directed on package. Fill each tortilla with chicken mixture and roll it up and put in baking dish/pan. Continue to roll as many enchiladas as you need. Pour enchilada sauce* over the enchiladas, sprinkle with cheese and put in the oven until the cheese melts.

*I usually warm up the enchilada sauce on the stove before I pour it over the enchiladas. The enchiladas don't really have to stay in the oven long because you are just melting the cheese so I like the sauce to be hot.

OK Im going to admit one of my Mom cheats here, but if you're in a real hurry you can buy one of the rotisserie chickens already made. I but 2 of them and Im careful to pull off the skin and fatty parts. It's already seasoned and taste great.

willowglimmer

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tamheath

Great ideas! One thing even my son loves:

Bag of saffron or other good rice
Canned black beans (rinsed)

Cook each of those separately. Top the rice with the beans, then top that with LF sour cream, LF cheese, chopped onion, and salsa. Not only healthy, but cheap and easy! Like me!!! Oh, kidding - couldn't refuse. :glasses:

EMC10

BUMP!!!

asj0901

Yesterday I fixed a whole chicken in the crockpot with potatoes and carrots and onion. Tonight we are having Tortilla Chicken soup withsalad and french bread.

Chicken $3.30
3 potatoes <$1?
4 carrots < $1
Onion $.79

Leftover chicken already paid for
Salsa $2
Chicken Broth free (saved from the crockpot)
tortilla chips $2
Cilantro $1
Marked down bread from the bakery depatrment $.85
Bag of salad mix $2.50

2 meals for 4 =$14.44!

Wow!!!! Way to go! That is less than 2.00 per meal! Impressive

skinnyb450

Bumpity Bump