Now that John and I are super thrifty (we were already pretty thrifty before), we planned some very cheap meals this week. Guess where I got my ideas?
I thought back to my childhood...what did my mom feed me when she and my dad had a little kid? What did my aunt Cathy fix for dinner when she and Kent had just had their first baby? And so here is our menu for the week:
Soup and Grilled Cheese
I chose the Mrs. Grass chicken noodle soup that comes in a box and probably has tons of MSG. But it was very cheap and it's one of my childhood favorites. No one makes grilled cheese like my mom. What in the world does she do to make it so good? I've never figured it out. We have to make our grilled cheese with wheat bread, which is definitely not nearly the same. But it'll do. And we don't use butter or Country Crock like she does. It's Smart Balance spread instead. We may need to eat cheap like our parents did, but we can make some healthier choices.
Spaghetti
My mom and grandmother got off really easy with this one, because it was always my favorite thing for dinner and practically the cheapest thing in the world to eat. We make it with no meat but get multigrain noodles with extra protein. Score.
Tater Tot Casserole and French Cut Green Beans
This was my favorite thing that Cathy made, and my uncle Kent would trick me into eating gallons of green beans. Since I have been pregnant, I suddenly can't stand fresh or frozen vegetables and can only muster eating vegetables from a can, which is repulsive to John and kind of makes me feel guilty now that I know how bad canned vegetables are. But, it's either canned veggies or none at all. I finally found a recipe for tator tot casserole because Cathy insists she doesn't really have a recipe. I need recipes. I can't just guess.
Totino's Pizza
Not a childhood favorite, but John's favorite cheap meal. These frozen pizzas cost $1.00. They were on sale this week for that price, but usually they're only 1.20 or something. Great deal. They taste like elephant ears with pizza toppings. Not the healthiest choice, but we're going for cheap here, folks. It may be a good idea for those of you that have starving teenage boys at home. :)
MY FAVORITE!
John hates tuna and is kind of appalled by my "Let's eat macaroni and cheese everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!" attitude lately. So, for lunch this week I am eating My Favorite. That's the title. I ate it for lunch all the time when I was little. It's Kraft Macaroni and Cheese with a can of mushroom soup and a can of tuna. It's good hot or cold or lukewarm and it's good for any meal, any snack, at any time of the day or night. It's the best food in the world.
If you have cheap meal suggestions for next week, please send them my way!
Sunday, March 09, 2008
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11 comments:
The cheapest meal I know of is Chicken Pot Pie. I can't believe that wasn't one of your childhood favs!!
Also there is:
Potatoes, Eggs, and Cheese skillet meal. Add a little bacon or sausage to complete the meal!
There is the yummy-tasting Beans and Weiners Meal!
I have been making Italian Chicken Penne'. Cook your pasta, saute boneless chicken (either from a can or cut up chicken fillets) in a skillet, adding Italian dressing to it as it cooks. Add the chicken to your pasta after it has been drained. Cut up some tomatoes to add. Serve while hot and top with mozzaralla cheese!
I also make Texas Garlic Toast to serve with it....YUM!!!!! Goes well with steak too! This is my favorite food of the month right now!
Cathy
Oops! I forgot to tell you to mix Italian Dressing into your pasta after it drains!!! Duh
Pot pie is one of my favorites, but I can never cut the noodles thin enough. Grrr.
How do you make the potatoes, eggs and cheese skillet meal? What do you add when?
Start by frying any type of potatoes in a skillet with butter. I use potatoes I've sliced, or frozen hashbrowns or canned diced or sliced ones....whatever kind floats your boat. If you are going to add sausage or bacon, go ahead and fry that in a separate skillet while the potatoes are cooking. When the potatoes are ready...add your meat and mix up. Use two or three eggs (depending on how much you are making). Pour eggs over everything in the skillet and mix up. Only takes a minute for the eggs to cook. You can add onion, salt and pepper to it. Shut off your burner. Pile it all into the middle of the pan and flatten it out like a small pie. Cover the top with shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese (I use both!!) Enjoy!!!!!!!
This is a favorite meal for me and Kent....we like it for breakfast, lunch or supper!
I like my pot pie thick. It is so easy and cheap to make that I used to make it as a snack. Bubble pizza is cheap to make also. I am a casserole person myself but JR doesn't care for them. I think you can pretty much throw anything in a casserole dish and bake it and its good. I will hunt you up some recipes.
John is not a casserole fan, either. Or meat loaf. Where do these people come from?
Be careful eating tuna while you are pregnant - at least keep it to a minimum. There is plenty of mercury in it which can be very bad for a baby.
I know, I know. As long as I stay away from albacore, I'm pretty much in the clear.
I used to eat mac 'n cheese with tuna in college all the time!! In my truer hillbilly moments...I would eat it straight out of the pot with a fork. :)
If you do sink so cheap as to buy a giant pack of Ramen noodles and after 2 weeks of eating them you think you'll scream...there are a bunch of good recipes out there for a (cold) purple cabbage and ramen noodle salad. SO GOOD! Plus, it keeps pretty well in the fridge and cabbage is always cheap. I hate cabbage cooked, but this salad is fab.
Thanks, Autumn! Cabbage is even on SALE this week. It's like less than fifty cents. Haha.
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