Low budget food ideas/meal ideas

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  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    Cheap cuts of beef and lamb are great for slow roasting and you get lots of bang for your buck. I don't have it handy but there's a butterbean, pork and chorizo stew I have made many a time that is delicious. Replace the chorizo with some of the spices found in it for the flavour to keep the cost down.

    Also a super delicious lamb, onion and anchovy stew thing. Serve over mash.

    I lived on dahl and homemade flatbreads for about a week once (you could potentially make or buy gluten free?). Really filling and tasty.
  • kavahni
    kavahni Posts: 313 Member
    A giant pack of corn tortillas, and a giant batch of homemade refried beans is my starting point!
    Also, not sure what part of the world you are in, but if you can find a restaurant supply store, like Cash 'n' Carry (not! Costco which is not! cheap) you can get really good deals on food there. If you can find one, set aside enough time to walk up and down all of the Isles slowly. I buy giant bags of pre-shredded low fat mozz (5 lb under $12), which, of course, can be added to darn near anything to doll it up. A six pack of red peppers is less than $5, and other veg are much less expensive. Big bags of beans and pulses are also very cheap. Not everything there is industrial sized, either. They have a lot of standard grocery store sized containers of food at a very significant savings.
    My fave lentil dishes: moosewood cookbook lentil soup with a small dollop of cream cheese on top and a giant handful of chopped fresh tomatoes. Yum. Indian dal. Mock chopped liver made from lentils and eaten as a dip. Rice lentil polou from Laurel's Kitchen, which can also be made into a mighty good stuffed pepper.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    edited June 2017
    Chicken has been quite cheap here in the Southeast this spring. The local supermarket had 10 pound bags of leg quarters for $4.80. I cooked them all up and got enough for 17 three-ounce servings of cooked dark meat chicken to use for lots of meals. That's 27-cents a serving for meat!

    I also made a pot of stock. using the bones, skin, etc. I save things like parsley stems and limp celery hearts in the freezer. Add a few bay leaves and some pepper corns. Ignore it in the oven for a few hours and you get a lovely. tasty soup base for "free."

    One thing to watch out for when looking for bargains on chicken. Look for fresh chicken -- ask the meat dept. in the store if you aren't sure. Pre-frozen bulk bags of chicken are often treated with injected water meaning you aren't so much getting a bargain on chicken as paying extravagantly for water.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    Derf_Smeggle wrote: »
    Root Vegetable Bake

    2 Potatoes
    2 Sweet potatoes
    2 Onions
    2 Parsnips
    6 Carrots
    1 Rutabaga or 2 Large Turnips
    3-4 tbsp Olive Oil
    4 tsp Thyme
    2-3 Cloves of Garlic
    1 tbsp Salt
    1 tsp Pepper

    **Be sure to peel the wax off of the rutabaga or turnips. All other veggies leave the skin on.**

    Cube cut the vegetables into roughly 1" pieces. Thin slice the garlic (powder can be substituted). Mix together into a 15-17" baking dish. Drizzle the olive oil over the mixed vegetables, then add seasonings. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

    Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

    **Alternate Cooking instructions: Using a 6 quart slow cooker, you can mix and season the vegetable. Then set slow cooker to high for 4-5 hours.
    Derf_Smeggle wrote: »
    I posted this in a thread last week. Maybe you can use it, and modify it as needed.

    Legumes
    Quinoa
    Squash (simply microwave in the rind/skin)
    Whole chickens, or rotisserie under $9.00

    Curried cabbage and beets
    1 head of cabbage
    3 beets
    2-3 tbsp Butter
    Curry powder (add to desired seasoning)
    ((Start slow with the curry powder) )
    Large skillet or wok
    Spatula, ladle, or large spoon

    Chop cabbage and cut up the beets. Melt the butter in the skillet. Add the veggies. Stir in with curry powder. Cook at medium heat and stir until beets are tender, but slightly crunchy.

    Hobo Stew
    Large pot
    Ladle
    1/2 to 1 pound stew meat (optional)
    2 cans diced tomatoes
    1 can tomato sauce
    1 small can mushrooms
    1/2 onion
    3 small red potatoes
    3 carrots
    1 bag Winter Blend frozen vegetables
    1 cup frozen corn
    1 cup frozen peas
    1 cup frozen green beans
    1 package frozen asparagus spears
    Salt
    Pepper
    Garlic powder

    Cut up the potatoes, carrots, and asparagus. Dice the onion. You can first brown the stew meat in the bottom of the pot if you are adding it. Then add 1cup of water. Dump in all of the veggies. Add enough water to cover the veggies. Bring that to a simmer. Once at a simmer, add the cans of tomato and tomato paste. Stir it all in. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until potatoes are done. Add info seasoning when it's done and stir some more. Serve.

    Both of these recipes make a lot of food. Takes care of a lot of cooking and is great filler for when you just don't have time or desire to cook.
    These all sound good-thank you!!!

  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    Just wanted to rethank everyone. These suggestions really helped during a tough period. Still a tough period but things are on the upswing thankfully.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    Soufflés! Elegant and cheap. Full disclosure: I do use a TBS wheat flour, but I'm guessing a savvy gluten free cook would know how to substitute. Also, Aldi did cut my grocery bill in half when I started shopping there. Good luck, Elphie!
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    Due to unforeseen circumstances, we are once again on an extremely tight budget (one of my significant other got seriously injured at work and will be out for a while). Looking back on the suggestions from earlier. Does anyone have any additional suggestions?
  • skelterhelter
    skelterhelter Posts: 803 Member
    Do your local farm stands carry reduced produce? I know mine does, but the options change by the day depending on what's going bad. Usually they'll have a few spots on them but nothing major. Huge bags of eggplant, onions, potatoes, celery, and sometimes fruit for $1 a bag! You should see if this is the case in your area. You could load up on potatoes (potatoes are very cheap anyway), purchase some chicken thighs. If you have a variety of spices, anything can work!
  • kittyluvduck
    kittyluvduck Posts: 15 Member
    Potato soup, stir fry, fried rice
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
    When I shop the local grocery store for meat specials each week, I will often try to stock up and freeze whatever is on the biggest sale. Pork loin was on sale in my area for 99 cents per pound. I bought two large ones, I am cutting them into boneless pork chops. I can get 12 chops out of each pork loin. I put some in gallon ziplock bags for the freezer for the future and use 1 batch for a meal this week. Boneless chicken was also on sale for 1.67 per pound. So, I'll get a couple meals out of that as well as freeze some. I keep canned tuna in the pantry for lunches or casseroles. I buy a lot of frozen vegetables for $1 per package for side dishes. Leg quarters in the 10 lb. bag are definitely used here. I take a sharp knife and cut the thigh and leg apart while raw to make the serving sizes easier. I don't buy as much red meat since we need to limit it's use in our diet for health reasons.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    Hi everyone-long time since I’ve been here.

    I know this thread is from last year, but I’m resurrecting it because I could use some ideas for low budget meals/grocery shopping tips. Unfortunately, one of the adults in our house lost their job this week (through no fault of their own) so we have to tighten our food budget significantly.

    Thanks in advance!!!
  • redxxx6866
    redxxx6866 Posts: 8 Member
    I recommend watching this:

    https://youtu.be/zjeY6Bzg6jw
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    Thank you
  • WanderingRivers
    WanderingRivers Posts: 612 Member
    I recommend hitting up dollar tree since everything is a dollar.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    1) Stretch meat with lentils or beans
    2) frozen veggies are your friends (Did you know you can roast frozen veggies -- from frozen -- just like fresh ones? Takes a little longer and there's a slight difference intexture, but frozen cauliflower roasts wonderfully)
    3) Meal plan. But don't plan "meals" as in "I will make this recipe on Monday, and this other recipe on Tuesday, and this third recipe on wednesday." Shopping for individual recipes can be a budget killer. You need to plan your meals across a week or so at a time to be able to use up things and take advantage of bulk package deals.

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