Recipe ideas on a low budget?

www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/budget/

http://budgetbytes.blogspot.ca/2012/08/taco-stuffed-shells-1465-recipe-147.html




I want to look thru both of the suggested sites. I just looked for a sec and found this recipe, I think my husband and son would love it and it looks easy and inexpensive. Thanks for sharing

Buying in bulk definitely helps. I make big batches of things and then separate them out and freeze stuff all of the time.

You might try looking up some of the recipes from Depression Era Cooking with Clara!
http://www.youtube.com/user/DepressionCooking
Clara is awesome, I love the history and tales she gives while cooking and I love her recipes! My fav is the Poor Mans Meal.

You can do so many things with pasta - add sauces, veggies, cheese, chicken, or put into soups. Not to mention, 1 lb. costs about a dollar ..and very delicious and hearty. It's the secret of every italian on a budget!

Try buying frozen veggies and adding them to your rice, pasta meals. Also make large batches of soup like vegetable, minestrone, cabbage. These are filling and low calorie.
Buy your meat on sale and try to go meatless a couple days a week.

Dried Beans!! If you have a crockpot they're easy and fast. We use lentils to make a filling for tacos/burritos. Yummy! And I second frozen veggies. You can get them on sale (we just stocked up when Kroger had their frozen veggies 10/$10).

Bump! I'm on a tight budget too and can't wait to look at all the great websites posted!

I love the site www.thegraciouspantry.com. Most of her recipes (I really think all of them are) are clean eating recipes, and all of the ones I have tried have been very good. My favorite is the Clean Eating Lemon Chicken Zucchini. I serve it with brown rice, and it is incredibly filling and delicious.

Other than that, my best suggestion is to get creative. My favorite thing to do now is to take veggies(my most recent adventure was to put eggplant, zucchini, and cauliflower in a pan, spray a teeny bit of olive oil and squeeze some lemon juice on it, and grilled it - BTW it was so yummy!) and grill them...I usually put a little lemon juice on them to give them some extra flavor.

Also, while you can shop at farmers markets. They can be more willing to deal with you on prices, and you can get great quality veggies for very cheap. I don't know if they take food stamps, but if you had an extra 5-10 dollars you could go and find a lot of food.

Other than that, if you can buy any food in bulk that does save money. Maybe also reach out to your local food pantry and see if they are able to assist you.

I just made a cheap, yummy dinner the other night. Brown 1/2 to 1 pound of ground beef, add about 2-4 cups of spinach, cook just long enough for spinach to wilt, then add two tablespoons of soy sauce, a can of cream of mushroom soup, and stir well. Then put it all in a skillet and top with 1/4 cup cheddar cheese. Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes, or until cheese is brown/melty. Cool and serve. I was surprised at how yummy it was.

Sorry to hear about your mom's job! There are lots of ways to keep cost down. It is a good idea to not only make a list for shopping and check items off as you go along, but to also do a menu for the week as well. This way you have less chance of buying odds and ends you may not need. Many grocery stores also reduce price of certain pkgs of meat that are larger quanity, like chicken breasts. You can split them up at home into serving sizes for you and your mom when you get home and freeze them. Also shop the sales! Check several near by stores and only buy sale items. Use coupons. You can still clip coupons when using food stamps, it really stretches your money, You can make your menu while scanning the sale ads. Use store brands. They are just as good as major brands. Make sack lunches with left over dinner items. It saves lots of money and is more exciting then plain sandwich. Dont throw out left overs! You can use things like left over rice, veggies, meat to create a yummy and fast stir fry. Skip things like soda, instead make iced tea with store brand tea bags.I have lots of ideas. If you need more, friend request me or send me a message. Good luck!

try a web search. I like eatingwell.com myself for budget friendly recipes, or allrecipes.com

bump

bump.

Thanks for posting. I can really use the help with this, myself!

My favorite any-time-of-the-day budget meal is eggs poached in marinara over a microwave baked potato. Heat one cup of marinara per person, when it's slightly bubbling, add two eggs per person, pop on a lid, wait about 5-6 minutes. Cut open the tater, put one egg on each half, top with marinara, dig in. Doesn't even need cheese or butter! Potatoes, eggs, and jarred sauce are some of the cheapest pantry staples you can get. The whole thing weighs in a 363 calories with 18 g of protein. I second PoorGirlEatsWell.com. Supercook.com is another great resource. Enter what you have in your pantry, and it spits out a recipe using what you have.

I also like buying whole chickens when they're at $.77/lb. Salt, pepper, stuff with a wedged onion, a stalk of celery, a carrot, and lemon wedges, mix herbs with olive oil and rub in down, especially under the skin. Roast (you can google times & temps for the weight of the bird). Pick the meat off the bones and chop to add to a variety of meals - quesadillas, salad, enchiladas, casseroles, spaghetti, ect. Don't throw away the bones - put them in the freezer, adding carrot tops, onion skins, celery leaves, garlic peels. When the bag is full, put it in your largest stock pot, fill with water, and then boil it down over several hours. Homemade chicken stock that's essentially free because you're making it with things you'd normally throw away. Chill in the fridge, skim the fat off the top, and freeze in incriments that make sense for you. I usually do 1 4-cup (soup) and the rest in 1 cup containers (add to sauces).

Hope this helps!