looking for meals that will feed my whole family
emj1978
Posts: 61
that are cheap. just found out that I will have to make what I usually feed our family on for 2 weeks will have to last us for 4 weeks. I am going shopping on Wednesday and need cheap, as healthy as possible, meals to feed my family. Anyone with large families or just any kind of savvy stretching a buck that could help me out? I'm kind of panicked! I have 4 kids(2 in diapers), and a dog & a cat to feed. Please help me! I will go skim the recipe section but I would like responses specifically to this post if anyone is willing and able:)
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Replies
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skinnytaste.com0
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Not exactly calorie-wise, but if you're just budget trimming for a week-- rice and beans go a long way, and taste ok, too. I mix white rice and refried beans. You could add beef or chicken for protein.0
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If you generally use ground beef in recipes, you can typically get ground turkey cheaper. Its leaner, you will just want to season it a little more than you would beef for flavor. If you have an Aldi where you are, that's a good way to stretch a budget too0
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I definately need an up to date eye test!
:noway:
I read your topic as "Looking for MALES THAT WILL FEED MY WHOLE FAMILY"0 -
skinnytaste.com
Thank you, I'm on there skimming through now and I already see some things I think all the kids could/would eat and that would be filling and probably not too expensive!0 -
I definately need an up to date eye test!
:noway:
I read your topic as "Looking for MALES THAT WILL FEED MY WHOLE FAMILY"
LOL! I bet that made you about jump off your chair! LMAO0 -
Although this receipe is veggie it would work just fine with real sausages. It is very filling and very cheap (i dont use the red wine) and my 2 who are 3 and 5 love it.
http://cauldronfoods.co.uk/recipes/main-courses/sausage-lentil-simmer.cfm
I do serve it with crusty bread if i am not dieting otherwise it is nice with some steamed green veg.0 -
Not exactly calorie-wise, but if you're just budget trimming for a week-- rice and beans go a long way, and taste ok, too. I mix white rice and refried beans. You could add beef or chicken for protein.
Thanks, I guess if it comes down to it, I can just tailor my exercise around how many calories I'll eat...it would just take some planning:)0 -
Buy cheap staples like rice and dry beans. Try to go meatless at least one night a week, because meat is expensive. Breakfast for dinner is usually inexpensive, and fun for the kiddos. Stay away from deli meat and pre-packaged foods, as those tend to be more expensive -- BUT, if you see a really good sale, go ahead and get them. Canned and frozen veggies are *sometimes* cheaper than fresh, but check the prices at your store.
And use your leftovers! Example:
Day 1: Whole roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, corn.
Then on subsequent days, you use the leftovers to make mashed potato pancakes and chicken salad. You can freeze the corn in a container with other leftover veggies and make vegetable soup when you get enough veggies. You can boil the chicken carcass to make chicken stock (I've never been successful with that though, but I always try!).0 -
I have 4 kids too (and 2 in diapers too)... American chop suey is easy to make and fairly inexpensive... and if you make a whole box of elbow macaroni and don't mind leftovers, it will last you a couple of days... Maybe use ground turkey instead of ground beef... and if you don't want pasta (make it just for the kids)... you can have the turkey, 1/2 cup of sauce and mixed veggies...Rice and beans are a good choice too... you can use the brown rice... good luck... and if I can think of anything else, I'll post it....0
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If you generally use ground beef in recipes, you can typically get ground turkey cheaper. Its leaner, you will just want to season it a little more than you would beef for flavor. If you have an Aldi where you are, that's a good way to stretch a budget too
Really?! I thought turkey was more expensive, I didn't realize it was not only healthier but cheaper too! Good to know!
I do have an Aldi here and I've heard other rave about it but I'll be honest, I haven't had alot of luck there but the kids and I might head over there today and scope it out and see if maybe the one near me has improved any. All I ever see there is sodas, cheese puffs, and frozen junk. lol0 -
I have 4 kids too (and 2 in diapers too)... American chop suey is easy to make and fairly inexpensive... and if you make a whole box of elbow macaroni and don't mind leftovers, it will last you a couple of days... Maybe use ground turkey instead of ground beef... and if you don't want pasta (make it just for the kids)... you can have the turkey, 1/2 cup of sauce and mixed veggies...Rice and beans are a good choice too... you can use the brown rice... good luck... and if I can think of anything else, I'll post it....
Oh, thank you! I was thinking pasta with veggies and small amounts of meat would probably be my best bet for filling, long-lasting, and inexpensive0 -
If you really need to keep to a budget simple things like eggs, beans, tomatoes, ( or even sometimes cheese....shock horror!) on toast are good. Or jacket potatoes with a healthy filling. I make a mean tuna and mushroom pasta which consists of pasta ( measured out mind you, it's easy to go over on cals!), condensed mushroom soup and a can of tuna. Omelettes? Spag bol made from scratch? Own brand basmati rice and chicken korma? ( made with quorn or chicken and either from scratch or a ready sauce [ sometimes you can get good offers on these types of things if you're not too fussy!)]) Stir frys using whatever you have left in the fridge and noodles? Fish fingers and beans for the kids? Ham salad sandwiches for lunch? We eat fruit for pudding, sometimes with a scoop of own brand vanilla ice cream for a treat. Generally it's much cheaper to try and make things from scratch. I hope this is of some help. I know it's not easy. I constantly find myself spending too much on food!0
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Buy cheap staples like rice and dry beans. Try to go meatless at least one night a week, because meat is expensive. Breakfast for dinner is usually inexpensive, and fun for the kiddos. Stay away from deli meat and pre-packaged foods, as those tend to be more expensive -- BUT, if you see a really good sale, go ahead and get them. Canned and frozen veggies are *sometimes* cheaper than fresh, but check the prices at your store.
And use your leftovers! Example:
Day 1: Whole roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, corn.
Then on subsequent days, you use the leftovers to make mashed potato pancakes and chicken salad. You can freeze the corn in a container with other leftover veggies and make vegetable soup when you get enough veggies. You can boil the chicken carcass to make chicken stock (I've never been successful with that though, but I always try!).
Yeah, we only eat meat 2 or 3 nights a week as it is because of how expensive it is to feed my family already. lol Veggie soup, good idea and especially for this time of the year!0 -
Pasta and rice go a long way for the price. Get out your supermarket sale paper and shop from there. If you have coupons, even better. If it's not on sale, It's not on the menu. Walmart may have chicken breast on sale this week. You can generally find Chiken leg quarters for $.99 a pound which can be baked/barbequed or cut up and put in a casserole. A good one my family likes is cheesy chicken casserole that's on the cambells cream of chicken soup can (or the website).0
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Oh, I forgot. Canned tuna and chicken are inexpensive, and great for protein. You can use them in lots of things from sandwiches and casseroles to simple dinner salads. My kids like tuna straight out of the can on crackers. If you have a Dollar General near you, they typically have canned tuna and chicken fairly cheap, although I will warn you not to get the Van Kamp's tuna (I think that's the name). It says it's made by the Chicken of the Sea people, but it doesn't taste very good for some reason.0
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The bags of frozen chicken are much cheaper than the foam trays of fresh. I usually get those. I like to make salsa chicken in the crockpot and you can serve it with rice or even alone and it makes quite a bit. Just frozen chicken breasts, a jar of salsa, fajita seasoning to taste, and a can or two of beans of your choice. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Its awesome and super easy.
Spaghetti is also one of those fairly cheap staples that you can dress up as much as you want. I like to get a cheap jarred sauce and stretch it with a lb of lean ground beef, a few cloves of garlic, half a chopped onion, and a green bell pepper. Season with italian seasoning, garlic salt (we love our garlic!) and, if you like a bit of spice, some cayenne. Really stretches one jar out, and you can take leftovers for lunch or freeze the rest of the sauce for a later date.
Soups are also nice and pretty cheap. They are usually filling and easy on the calories. Even the Panera Cream Cheese potato soup recipe from food.com has about 350 calories per serving and it's FILLING, and not very expensive. We've been eating off one recipe for a few days now. So good. Whew, sorry for the book! My ideas aren't particularly original, but I hope it helps a little. Best of luck!0 -
If you really need to keep to a budget simple things like eggs, beans, tomatoes, ( or even sometimes cheese....shock horror!) on toast are good. Or jacket potatoes with a healthy filling. I make a mean tuna and mushroom pasta which consists of pasta ( measured out mind you, it's easy to go over on cals!), condensed mushroom soup and a can of tuna. Omelettes? Spag bol made from scratch? Own brand basmati rice and chicken korma? ( made with quorn or chicken and either from scratch or a ready sauce [ sometimes you can get good offers on these types of things if you're not too fussy!)]) Stir frys using whatever you have left in the fridge and noodles? Fish fingers and beans for the kids? Ham salad sandwiches for lunch? We eat fruit for pudding, sometimes with a scoop of own brand vanilla ice cream for a treat. Generally it's much cheaper to try and make things from scratch. I hope this is of some help. I know it's not easy. I constantly find myself spending too much on food!
Yeah, it is easy to go over and my 2 girls are fussy. I'll eat anything that will stand still long enough, lol, and my sons are the same way, but my girls don't eat eggs, they won't eat beans, my older daughter says cheese hurts her stomach, oy! lol I like the idea of potatoes with a healthy filling! We eat a good bit of rice and pasta already and I had forgotten about stir frys...my husband hates them but since he's gone it doesn't really matter I guess. lol0 -
The bags of frozen chicken are much cheaper than the foam trays of fresh. I usually get those. I like to make salsa chicken in the crockpot and you can serve it with rice or even alone and it makes quite a bit. Just frozen chicken breasts, a jar of salsa, fajita seasoning to taste, and a can or two of beans of your choice. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Its awesome and super easy.
Spaghetti is also one of those fairly cheap staples that you can dress up as much as you want. I like to get a cheap jarred sauce and stretch it with a lb of lean ground beef, a few cloves of garlic, half a chopped onion, and a green bell pepper. Season with italian seasoning, garlic salt (we love our garlic!) and, if you like a bit of spice, some cayenne. Really stretches one jar out, and you can take leftovers for lunch or freeze the rest of the sauce for a later date.
Soups are also nice and pretty cheap. They are usually filling and easy on the calories. Even the Panera Cream Cheese potato soup recipe from food.com has about 350 calories per serving and it's FILLING, and not very expensive. We've been eating off one recipe for a few days now. So good. Whew, sorry for the book! My ideas aren't particularly original, but I hope it helps a little. Best of luck!
Thank you! I am going to look into some soup recipes on the website someone posted above!0 -
Hungy-girl has some great meals. The Lasagna Cupcakes and Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas are family favorites around here.0
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Oh, I forgot. Canned tuna and chicken are inexpensive, and great for protein. You can use them in lots of things from sandwiches and casseroles to simple dinner salads. My kids like tuna straight out of the can on crackers. If you have a Dollar General near you, they typically have canned tuna and chicken fairly cheap, although I will warn you not to get the Van Kamp's tuna (I think that's the name). It says it's made by the Chicken of the Sea people, but it doesn't taste very good for some reason.
I need to check our dollar store because I go in Dollar General a good bit just to get little hair things or cheapo things to do with my kids but I never look at the food items. Most of us like tuna, except my fuss pot 9 y/o daughter, but maybe I could try her on the canned chicken. Thanks for the tip on Van Kamp's. lol0 -
One more thing, and then I swear I will stop procrastinating and get up and work out. :laugh: Check out www.hillbillyhousewife.com. A couple of years ago I got TONS of cheap meal ideas there. Not all the most health-conscious, but they'll get you through until payday.
Now I'm out! :laugh:
Edited to fix the URL.0 -
Pasta and rice go a long way for the price. Get out your supermarket sale paper and shop from there. If you have coupons, even better. If it's not on sale, It's not on the menu. Walmart may have chicken breast on sale this week. You can generally find Chiken leg quarters for $.99 a pound which can be baked/barbequed or cut up and put in a casserole. A good one my family likes is cheesy chicken casserole that's on the cambells cream of chicken soup can (or the website).
If it's not on sale it's not for dinner...yes, I live by that motto alot! LOL My 11 y/o said if nothing was ever on sale we'd never eat! hahaha I'll have to look for the cheesy chicken casserole. I use all the coupons I can that come from teh local sale papers and I scour sale papers all the time. What usually gets me more than anything is the varying tastes in my family and trying to make everyone happy. I'm gonna have to toughen up on these kids I guess! LOL0 -
Although this receipe is veggie it would work just fine with real sausages. It is very filling and very cheap (i dont use the red wine) and my 2 who are 3 and 5 love it.
http://cauldronfoods.co.uk/recipes/main-courses/sausage-lentil-simmer.cfm
I do serve it with crusty bread if i am not dieting otherwise it is nice with some steamed green veg.
Thank you, that sounds great!0 -
use ground turkey instead of beef its lean and healthy. I use it to make meatballs to go with spaghetti. You can use it for tacos too which my kids love. Tacos are so easy to make. Raman noodles are cheap and filling for kids my daughter practically grew up on noodles and paste. I also make a homemade chicken soup just boil a piece of chicken in 2-3 cups of water until its falling apart add somee frozen vegetables season to taste add cream or milk to taste my son loves the soup aswell. You can try making homemade pizza'sthey are easy to make too. Before I used to make homemade lasangne's but I think there are some nice selections out there. You can serve that with some bread. Good luck0
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I definately need an up to date eye test!
:noway:
I read your topic as "Looking for MALES THAT WILL FEED MY WHOLE FAMILY"
---BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!0 -
I forgot to mention I try to go by the food pyramid and serve food to my family like they do in school with some fruit and vegtables on the side and later some dessert aswell this fills them up. Eggs gritts and semolina based products can keep kids full for a while too.0
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If you generally use ground beef in recipes, you can typically get ground turkey cheaper. Its leaner, you will just want to season it a little more than you would beef for flavor. If you have an Aldi where you are, that's a good way to stretch a budget too
At my grocery store lean beef and turkey are always at least a dollar more than regular beef...which is why america is obese0 -
Yeah, unfortunatly, the cheap stuff isn't too healthy...
My go-to for cheap meal weeks is to make a big batch of chili in the crockpot. It's enough for dinner that night, a couple of lunches and a dinner of sloppy joes. That's just for me and hubby but I bet you could still get two meals out of it. The recipe I use is on food.com, just google "Debbie's crockpot chilli" and it's the first link that comes up.
The most expensive part of the chili is the hamburg and you could even go cheap with that since you have to brown it before putting it in the crock pot so you could just get 80 or 85% lean and drain the grease off. And if your crew likes spicy, add diced tomatoes with chilis. If they don't like beans, puree them in your blender before hand - you get the nutrients but not the texture and it actually makes the chilli really thick - YUM!
I like the idea of roasting a chicken or even a ham - you can get a ton of meals out of either!
As hard as it can be, plan every single meal and don't deviate no matter what.
Good luck!
ETA: Just wanted to add, the ground turkey that's cheaper isn't necessarily a better choice than ground beef. Make sure you check the fat content, etc on the labels, don't just assume that because it's turkey that it's leaner and healthier.0 -
CHEESY CHICKEN AND RICE CASSEROLE
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular, 98% Fat Free or Healthy Request®)
1 1/3 cups water
3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (about 2 ounces)
1.Heat the oven to 375°F. Stir the soup, water, rice, onion powder, black pepper and vegetables in an 11 x 7 x 2-inch baking dish.
2.Top the rice mixture with the chicken. Cover the baking dish.
3.Bake for 50 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender. Top with the cheese. Let the casserole stand for 10 minutes. Stir the rice before serving.
I know all about picky eaters! Everybody wants something else. Nobody likes the same things. I say, when times are especially tight, eat it or don't eat... ;-)
**Edited to say: Like I said before, use whatever chicken parts. I don't usually use the breast anyway. I prefer dark meat...0
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