recipes for two on a tight budget

mejones0423 · January 2015

I need some ideas for me and my fiance, were on a tight budget but definitely want to stay healthy without depriving ourselves help?

AshZie · January 2015

We like to make our own version of Chipotle burrito bowls. Last night I microwaved a 2-serving pouch of a brown rice & quinoa mixture and separated it into two bowls. I heated up a can of low-sodium black beans on the stove seasoned with some garlic powder, dried onion and a little hot sauce & added that to the bowls. Threw in a little frozen broccoli that I microwaved, topped it with chunks of chicken cooked in salsa in a frying pan over medium heat, and a sprinkle of shredded mexican cheese. It's very quick, filling and easy to modify to your liking! It is one of our go-to dinners. The rice pouches & canned beans are more expensive than buying large bags of dried rice/quinoa/beans but they come in handy when you are short on time. Make it cheaper by buying the dry ingredients. I also bought a whole chicken than I was able to portion out into 4 separate meals for the two of us

I also make another version of the above. I will use brown rice, teriyaki marinated chicken, peas, water chesnuts and peanuts or cashews for an asian-style bowl.

You could also make a big batch of chili or soup which is especially easy if you have a crockpot. You will get several meals out of that and can stretch it by eating with a big salad. It also freezes well so if you don't want to eat the same thing for a week, you can store it for another time.

purebredpolly · January 2015

Of you have a dollar tree near you, they have a freezer section. In it they have bags of frozen fruit, and frozen vegetables. $1 for a bag, you just can't do that at most grocery stores.

I also suggest oatmeal. A big container for a few dollars, feeds two breakfast for quite a long time. Healthy, filling, and is open to a lot of flavor combination.

Krueger92 · January 2015

Chicken and rice!

cheezcakeqq · January 2015

I like making a big portion of chicken soup with vegetable. On Day 1, eat it just like that. On Day 2, add some (cooked) rice and make something like a very soupy risotto. On Day 3, same as Day 2 but add some tomato paste, just for a change of flavor. Pretty simple, quick and frugal but I think they taste pretty good, especially if you sprinkle some parmesan cheese right before you eat.

acmanna · January 2015

I used to look through sales ads and go from there..Walmart price matches so that can help too. Pick a meat on sale and toss it in the crockpot. Rice, potatoes, beans, eggs are fairly inexpensive. You can get inexpensive frozen veggies and a few cheap fresh veggies.
What are you buying now? What things do you like? We all have different taste.

sheepotato · January 2015

Red beans and rice, you can make a giant pot very cheaply (I usually only put in one sausage and half a chicken breast per 6 servings and it still feels 'meaty') and refrigerate or freeze the servings cheaply and it's very filling. Also Chili, sometimes I make it without ground beef (or chicken if it's white chili) and it's still as filling and less per serving.

There are a lot of mexican dishes, soups and indian curries you can do the same with (I like making a pan of enchiladas and freezing them separately. I try to cook big batches on the weekends and fill the fridge and freezer for days when I have less time to cook.

mercurysfire · January 2015

sweet potato, black beans (spiced w/cumin and chipotle), rotel tomatoes (or store brand) some salsa and bacon (or turkey bacon which is about half the price) and maybe a little cheese. I miss this one, but hubs can't eat beans anymore.
roast a chicken (or get the chicken quarters- a little more work to skin and debone, but usually about $1/lb) and make some hummus (or buy a tub) and some corn tortillas and make a taco type thing.
- i usually just get a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store and you can get about 4 servings off of it. although you can get the all natural chickens sometimes for less in the meat section. also good for making tortilla soup.
a breakfast thing i started making to take to work-in a baking pan cover the bottom with frozen potatoes o'brien (check serving sizes and adjust from there) then brown a tube of light breakfast sausage and spread across the potatoes, top with eggs (I scramble them first, but have also just cracked them on top) season and pop in the oven at about 400 deg, until eggs are done. i usually break this up into 8 servings and use about 12 eggs 1lb of sausage and about 1/3 of a large bag of potatoes.
a light breakfast or lunch- 1 tub 4% greek yogurt (or 0% if you want) 4 oz of crystallized ginger chunks cut up into tiny pieces, lemon zest. use a full serving of yogurt for a pretty good meal-esp if your using the 4%, 1oz of ginger and zest of a lemon and then top with 1 tbs of crushed walnuts. (i ate this for breakfast for like a month. crazy good.)
if any of this makes less sense than it should, you can always pm me. i haven't finished my coffee yet....

bunnywestley81 · January 2015

I always check out the reduced section when I'm in any food shop! I pick up loads of bargains, fruit n veg is usually fine so long as you eat it in a few days and other things can be frozen.
My last best deals - slow baked tomato and olives 44p (was £2.50) little gems 2 for 20p (was £1) 3 Fage 0% fat greek yoghurt 22p each (was £1.05p)
Soup is also an awesome way to go. I make butternut squash and random veggie soup regularly, just veggies, stock and whatever else is lurking about like lentils, beans, chickpeas, tinned tomatos... usualy get about 6 meals and pretty low cal!
Xx

secondnature81 · January 2015

I used to follow poorgirleatswell.com. Looks like she hasn't updated in awhile, but there are still lots of recipes there.

AshZie · January 2015

I second the dollar tree idea. If you have "99 cents only" stores around you, they have a decent produce section along with refridgerated and freezer items. I get frozen berries for $1 for my smoothies there.

ceiliaaleen · January 2015

We're a family of six on one income so I understand a tight budget

we do lots of smoothies because frozen fruit is more frugal. Lots of legumes, brown rice, and oatmeal. And I always price match circulars at Walmart! Whatever is healthy and on sale is what we base our meals of of. Sometimes it's chicken sometimes it's fish. We don't do much red meat. And whatever fruit is on sale is what we have for that week

having just a mixture of different ingredients around helps me stay creative with our meals.the fam loves it! (Most of the time) I say just shopping sale items saves tons! Hope that was helpful.

Gidzmo · January 2015

cheezcakeqq wrote: »

I like making a big portion of chicken soup with vegetable. On Day 1, eat it just like that. On Day 2, add some (cooked) rice and make something like a very soupy risotto. On Day 3, same as Day 2 but add some tomato paste, just for a change of flavor. Pretty simple, quick and frugal but I think they taste pretty good, especially if you sprinkle some parmesan cheese right before you eat.

The nice thing about making a large pot of something is that you can cook once, then eat for several meals.

Soup is not the only item that lends itself to this.
Meatloaf
Hamburger patties (burgers one day, patties with mushroom sauce the next).
SOME pasta (think lasagna)

The dollar stores are good, too, as are the marked-down shelves at the regular stores.

TripZeros · January 2015

I feed myself, my 2 year old son, and my husband off of a tight budget. My grocery list staples are usually cheese, black beans, kidney beans, frozen veggies, fresh veggies, lettuce, eggs (18 pack), whole chicken, bananas, squash, deli sliced turkey, and ground turkey. Depending on what my meal plan calls for, I add in what I need.

An example from this past week's meal plan:
Canned beans/veggies are usually $o.60-$1.00. I use them for protein bowls, chili, tacos, or in salads.

Whole chicken usually lasts for two meals. One day we'll have roast chicken with squash, or sweet potato, the second day we'll have chicken/black bean quesadillas with salads.

Eggs are great scrambled with sauteed onions/mushrooms/bellpeppers, and a slice of cheese melted on top. Fried egg sandwiches. There are thousands of egg bake recipes that are delicious and inexpensive.

Squash is great stuffed with brown rice, ground turkey, some onion, and a sprinkle of cheese.

Ground turkey for tacos with shredded lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and a side of beans (or squash). Turkey chili (usually lasts a couple days) and jiffy corn bread. Mozzarella stuffed meatballs and a side of veggies.

Tilapia is usually very cheap. I made fish tacos with it tonight. It's not my favorite type of fish, but for $3 it was good. I bought a bag of shredded cabbage ( the coleslaw bag, without the sauce), tomatoes, limes, onions, cilantro, corn tortillas, light southwest dressing, and grilled tilapia. On the side was... more squash because we love it, but you could pair it with beans, rice, or another veg.

Turkey panini with deli sliced turkey, tomatoes, onion, cheese and baked sweet potatoes on the side. The bread I used was Don Pancho flat bread (it was in the tortilla section).

Soups are pretty inexpensive to make, or buy canned.
Pinterest gives me great soup ideas.

kygirlalways850 · January 2015

Try this website. She lists the price per serving. Recipes are really good. http://www.budgetbytes.com

PowerfulHunt · January 2015

Check out Leanne Brown's "Eat Well on $4/day"

https://41aac1a9acbe9b97bcebc10e0dd7cb61ef11502c.googledrive.com/host/0B9c5aT4eSlRfMzVpbC0xemtkSlE/good-and-cheap.pdf

hamo1987 · January 2015

Hamburger/turkey soup.... soo easy... a pound of ground meat of ur choice... a can of. (All all juices are used from the canned items) can of corn, can of green beens, can of italian stewed tomatoes, half a diced purple onion, black pepper to taste and a few splahes of franks hot sauce... 150 calories for a nice sized bowl, cooks in under ten minutes, and suuuuuper filling... my kids even love it... we use double the cans of veggies, still only usong only a pound of meat, because it freezes very well... we are a family of seven, and hubby takes left overs :-) but an average fam of four would do well on just single cans and a pound of hround meat.... had it last night in fact. :-) and for lunch today. :-) taste better the next day too... can also be done as a crockpot meal. :-) u cant mess it up, u can put canned carrots in it also, hubby just cant have them so we dont anymore. :-) the juice the veggies are packed in become the broth.