Need cheap recipes for large family

Stay away from boxed and canned!!

Healthier old not any extra time!!

We're a family of eight!!!!

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bump - I need these ideas too! :-)

Get 1 large whole chicken, 1 qt of apple juice and an onion. Rinse off the chicken. Peel & quarter the onion. Put the onion inside the chicken. Put chicken & juice in crock pot. Add water to cover chicken. Season to taste. Turn on. Leave for work. Done when you come home. Serve with wild rice & blanched broccoli.

To make broccoli - cut up head of fresh broccoli. Bring lightly salted water to boil. Add broccoli and turn off heat. After about 5 minutes, remove from water. Toss with 1 pat of butter or margarine and a good squeeze of lemon juice. Salt & pepper to taste.

Recycle left overs into chicken taco casserole. Pull chicken off bones, Add taco seasoning to taste. Layer into casserole pan with canned black beans, corn, peppers, mushrooms, garlic, etc. Top with some tortillas and low fat cheese. Bake until cheese is melted.

Breakfast for dinner...Pancakes (we do half white and half wheat flour), eggs and fruit are pretty inexpensive. Crepes are good, too, with whatever leftovers you have as fillings.

Soups...minestrone and other veggie soups are great for stretching the grocery dollar (and you can add whatever meat you want...we've done it with one chicken breast diced pretty small for 3 people...ground sausage (fried and drained very well so the soup isn't greasy), ground turkey...what have you).

Loaded potato night...great big potatoes and then set out smaller dishes of toppings. Get creative! I've set out sliced hot dogs as a topping once, and now its my sons fave!

Grilled/baked pizza...again, make up the dough, and use whatever you have on hand as toppings.

Hmm...reading this through, we do a lot of BYO type of meals. I think when you present the toppings in pretty bowls or plates, and then let everyone make it the way they like it, the meals seems more festive and there is less for me to do!

not so authentic Puerto Rican beans

jar sofrito or a can of diced tomatoes with green chilis
mixed beans
water
any of these spices that you have already: cumin, parika, chili powder, cayenne, oregano, cilantro, salt, pepper
you can add some chopped bell peppers and/ or onions if you want

cook in crock pot

you can eat it with rice, or you can put some kind of meat in it if you want (it resembles chili if you put lean ground beef in it but I use vege meat crumbles instead and one bag of those will do and its only $3), it's delicious without any meat though and it is really filling food

Try this: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/healthy-recipe-finder#
Under Conveniences check "Budget Friendly", and maybe "Good For Crowds", and then pick the rest as you choose.

I posted one for my Pals on my profile yesterday. Here it is:

I lb hamburger meat browned
1 bag of frozen (Birdseye) peppers and onions or use fresh
3 can of stewed tomatoes
3 can of dark red kidney beans

Brown meat, Cook peppers and onions till soft. Add tomatoes and beans. Let simmer for 10 - 15 minutes.

Each 8 oz serving has only 184 calories!

Great served over rice or with tortilla chips. I add a few beef bouillon cubes, Tony Cashere's, balsamic vinegar and siriacha to mine

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We have a family of 7 - red beans and rice and baked/stuffed potatoes are a staple in our house, especially when we're cooking on a budget.

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Here's a fun, easy, cheap way to make oatmeal, even for family members who don't like oatmeal.

Get a canester of store brand rolled oats and cook them according to directions. Cook up about 6-8 servings. Add a little white or brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins, and pour into a loaf pan. Refrigerate. The next morning, cut into 1" slices and fry in a small amount of butter till both sides have some tasty browning on them. Serve with syrup if needed. Very good and filling. Kids will eat it.

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I always start with the local grocery store ads. I make a plan ahead of time. I figure out our weekly meals based on what is on sale that week. I make my list and head out. I go to the meat section of the sale ad first and see what is on sale, is the least expensive per pound, yet a healthy choice. I then look at the fresh veggies that are on ad and go from there. In my area this week, cucumbers are 50cents, zucchini is 59cents, and cauliflower is 99cents, and the DEAL: chicken leg quarters are 75cents a pound. You can do a million things with chicken and there are so many websites where you can throw in the ingredients of your pantry and fridge and they will figure out a meal plan for you!

5 pounds of chicken to bbq or bake or whatever $3.75
3 cucumbers (for a cucumber salad) $1.50
2 pounds zucchini $1.18
1 head cauliflower $0.99

Bam! Family Dinner for $7.42


(the chicken leg quarters are a bit fatty and require me to trim them a bit and I pull the skin off but at the price they are a great deal!)

Just an example... best of luck! You can do it!

I grew up ridiculously broke and if you don't have a crock pot already, get one. (Sometimes even Goodwill will have a decent sized used one for oh, $5.)

If you're nice enough to meat department people, bakery etc they'll tell you when they put the markdowns out during the day. I've managed to get meat (including full "pot roast" kits with the meat and veg all wrapped up) for half and sometimes less than half of the original price. And don't be afraid to scrounge the day-old bakery rack, since you have six people and it's probably going to be eaten while it's still fresh anyway. There's nice bread choices over there sometimes - I go through those Flat-Out wraps like it's nobody's business and I've found them on the discount rack.

Idunno if they've reopened any of the bread outlets since Hostess is back, but check there. I used to get the Oroweat sandwich thins and the 100 calorie English muffins there for gawsh....maybe a third of what they cost at the grocery.

Pasta. Yeah, it's not glam, but when I went to Wal-Mart yesterday the Newman's Own sauces are right around 2 bucks and they're GOOD. And you really can throw just about anything on pasta.

Literally typing as I think of things here, I apologise for rambling! You probably already know this but take the extra two seconds to get the grocery store's discount coupon card thing if you haven't already done so and CHECK YOUR CIRCULARS.

(Note: I am not really a horse. That is just a troll deterrent.)

Chicken is not always cheap however around here turkey is on .98 a pound. I got a good size turkey for under $10. why do we wait for Christmas when turkey has so many versatile meals.

THANK you! My gram cooked turkey almost year round because it was so much cheaper than chicken - Idunno how but it never ended up dry either... It's one of those things you don't even think of until someone mentions it.