Dinner!!!!

blink1021

I am sure this is a tired post but I need the help. My family is on a tight budget for the next 3 weeks which is a little out of the norm for us. Thank you IRS. So I need some ideas for dinner ideas that are budget friendly and that a 7 year old will eat too. I may be asking the impossible, but I only need to feed 3 people and I do have a slow cooker. Any ideas will be helpful since I am striking out. I loved my taco stew but the 7 year old did not. Help!!

SaundraU

Chicken or fish tacos?

spaghetti

brats and burgers

Homemade chicken cashew salad

jamiesadler

you could do chicken noodle soup with whole wheat pasta, its usually the same price as regular stuff. chicken and cheese quesadillas(sp). Generally anything with chicken is gonna be your cheapest best.

Acg67

Chili

pasta

tuna melts

throw chicken and salsa into crock pot, turn on low and let cook. top with cheese for dinner

BLTs

sc1572

skinnytaste.com

brittany33107

I often make individual foil pockets and put in a chicken breast halve with bite sized potatoes, carrots, squash.. and veggies you like really. I just add a little salt, pepper, thyme, and some poulrty seasoning as well. Seal the foil up well and cook at 375 for 45-ish mins. I call it Hobo Dinner. My whole family loves it! Even my 2 and 4 yr old! Very budget friendly!

ItsMeLori

Cooler weather is coming, soups and casseroles are pretty cheap.

musicmint

Soup is good. But don't get Ramon noodles even though they are super cheap because of the ridiculous amount of sodium in them: it is unhealthy.
PB&J is nutricious believe it or not if you want a cheap choice for lunch.

afloggie

skinnytaste.com

Totally this!

hsh0927

skinnytaste.com is awesome...you can also try crockpotgirls.com for slow cooker recipes

lijparsons

Mac and cheese! Pretty sure any 7 yo will eat that, and you can lighten it up with light cream cheese, light cheese, skim or 1%milk, and Whole wheat macaroni. I always have these items in the house, so I could make this any night. My kids love it.

DrPepperLeigh74

Somebody posted a crockpot cheeseburger recipe on here I think last week that is supposed to taste like Mcdonalds Cheeseburgers but it was low cal.. you might try doing a search for the recipe and it looked so easy and I bet your 7 year old would love that:)

rdeich

Check out what is on sale in the produce department, my meal plans are arranged this way.
My local farmers market even has a clearance section for items that must be used within 24hrs.

dls06

Grilled chicken, 4 oz Small baked potato with 1 tsp. of smart balance, Green beans and a small salad with 1 tbls. dressing. :drinker:

sister_bear

Not totally nutritious, but we had pancakes for dinner.

Breakfast for dinner has lots of options. Eggs and toast is good for a cheap, but still nutritious meal. We used to have build your own eggs, so how ever you wanted your eggs and toast, was how my Dad would make it. I could always tell when money was tight because we'd have breakfast all day. lol

I make wraps now and again and they're pretty cheap. You can use leftover meat, I prefer chicken breast cut into chunks. I heat it up in a skillet since it's already cooked and add 1/2 a serving of Hormel Turkey Pepperoni cut into quarters per wrap. I quarter it because I don't like the texture. It's not as soft as regular pepperoni and it bothers me if I don't cut it into bits. Put a 1/4 cup of low fat shredded cheese or use sliced cheese (I prefer cheddar), just long enough to melt it to the meat and then throw it into a wrap. You could use regular bread and skip the wraps. It would be the bomb on toasted bread. My fiance likes to dip his in hot sauce or salsa.

mkallie

Whenever I get really broke I do a lot of pasta stuff -- throw in some frozen veggies to get more nutrients in it. I shouldn't say this on a healthy site, but some of the cheese sauces are really good and not horrible for you as long as you add them in moderation.

Alternatively, if you have pasta and frozen veggies but no sauce, a light coating in oil and some grated cheese is pretty tasty too.

Grilled veggie stuff -- not sure how well your 7 year old would like it, but basically go buy a bunch of super cheap seasonal veggies and chop 'em up, grill them, and use some feta or queso fresco and a touch of salsa... it literally takes 10 minutes to cook and it's really delicious.

I do oatmeal for breakfast, with whatever fruit/berries are in season and whatever nuts are cheap. If you use steel-cut oats and have a few apples and cinnamon, you can throw it all in a slow cooker overnight and it'll be done in the morning. PB&J and some fruit makes a good lunch if the kids are allowed, mostly because PB is cheap and a mufa so it keeps you feeling pretty full. Dinner, potatoes are a good option for starch. You can roast tomatoes and potatoes together (cut the potatoes into little pieces and roast for 20 min at 400-450, then throw the tomatoes on with a splash of balsamic and oil) and throw them on a salad to give it a little more substance.

If you don't hate cabbage, it's cheap right now and can make a week's worth of salads. I like some of the asiany slaws -- can also pair this with fish tacos.

I don't know if you can be flexible enough to hit the store after work, but a lot of times if there's stuff they need to sell that day, it gets marked down in the evening and you can get it for cheaper. That way you can get meats and stuff to cook that night even on a budget.

I make ALL my own dressings now too... it was a challenge at first but it turns out it's easy and a lot cheaper than having to buy them all.

DrPepperLeigh74

I just went to message boards under search and type in crockpot cheeseburgers w/pics and the recipe and pictures of the dish being made and finished are on there, it looks yummy..... hope that helps

kwest_4_fitness

This is an example of what my husband and I buy for ourselves and my teenager every week.

(1 box) Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta $1.50
(1 can) Hunt’s spaghetti sauce $1.00
(1 package) Chicken breast (it always seems to be on sale lately) $6.00 for 3 lbs (@ 1.99 lb)
(2 bag) Steam-in-bag veggies (any variety) $3.04
(6 each) Healthy Choice TV dinners $14.88 (2.48 ea)
(1 package) Top or Bottom Sirloin steak $5.00

(4 cans) tuna $3.00
(3 loaves) Nickle’s 35 calorie white or wheat bread $5.94
(1 jar) Peanut butter (any brand) $2.19
(1 jar) Generic sugar free jelly $1.76
(2 bottles) Parkay spray butter $3.76
(1 box) generic instant oatmeal packets $2.50

(4 ea) Iceberg lettuce $4.96
(2 lbs) Tomato $3.38 for 2 lbs (@$1.69/lb)
(2 ea) Cucumber $1.58 for 2
(3 lbs) Bananas $1.62 for 3 lbs (@ $0.54/lb)
Small bag baby carrots $1.00
(2 4-packs) Fiber One yogurt $4.00
(1 6-pack) Sugar Free Jello $2.98

(1 small jar) Miracle Whip $2.00
(1 bag) Chocolate rice cakes $2.00
(2 4-pack) Hunt’s sugar free jello $2.00
(3 box) Generic fiber bars - Great Value (Wal-Mart brand) are only $2 each, so $6.00 for 3
(2 box) Philly Swirlz Delites $4.00 for 2 boxes
(1 container) fat free/low fat ice cream - usually around $3.00 on sale
(1 bag) Generic fat free mini pretzel twists $1.50
(1 box) Act II or Orville Redenbacher 94% fat free popcorn $3.48
(2 cases) of bottled water $4.94 ($2.47 per case for Wal-Mart brand) (I always refill bottles from the water cooler at work throughout the day, too!)

- From the list above, you have choice of toast & jelly or oatmeal (or you can have both) for breakfast. Bananas go really well with breakfast or a snack between breakfast/lunch.
- For lunch, PB&J, PB& Banana, or tuna fish salad sandwich, or, when you make the chicken, save a few ounces to make a grilled chicken salad. Multiple snack options are available for lunch (jello, popcorn, pretzels, etc.).
- For dinner, spaghetti with salad, grilled chicken breast or steak with steamed veggies and salad, or TV dinner.
- For dessert, Philly Swirlz bar (these are only 14 calories for the Delites) or a dish of ice cream.

About $100 a week for 3 people and "regular" food that even kid wouldn't turn their nose up at.