Dirt Cheap Meals!!

Hi A.! I grew up in GG. Right of Harbor and GG Blvd! Anyway, anything with pasta and sauce is cheap. Anything with beans and rice is cheap too. Also, tonight we are having tostadas which are my quick and easy meal. A bag of like 24 premade shells you can get on sale for 1.50. A can of refried beans is 99 cents. A head of lettuce, 1.00 and a bag of shredded cheese, $1.50. And we don't eat all of it and there is 5 of us, usually have left overs so it would even be cheaper than what I put on here. I hope you get some good ideas. Oh and I understand about the raw meat, I'm not good with it either, sometimes it makes me gag just putting it in my grocery cart and its in a package! lol!!!

Go to all recipies.com and see what comes up with your ingredients.

Depending on your ingredients tacos and stir fry and chili can all be inexpensive and the other flavors can perk up less expensive meats. We put whatever's around in our stir fries (or potatoes, if it's a vindaloo). Brown rice is a good staple to use - better for you than white rice. Beans are good filler for things. If you want a less expensive meat that you don't need to cut up so much but tastes good, try chicken thighs. You can cut them up for other things or cook them whole. My DH does "ginger chicken" which is basically cubed chicken, ginger, and butter. Cooked in a frying pan til it's crispy and golden. Serve with a salad and brown rice.

Breakfast for dinner can be inexpensive. Some day old bread, some milk, some eggs and a little cinnamon and you have french toast. Some fruit (can be canned) and there's dinner. Want to get fancy? Add bacon, hash browns or corned beef hash.

If you like a casserole, try tuna, cream of mushroom (or celery) soup and rice. You can also do tuna melts with a little tuna, some bread and a slice of cheese.

A little cheese, some leftover meat and a couple of tortillas and you have quesadillas for a meal. http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/quesadilla/

If you can work in avocado, that's a nice thing to have. Creamy goodness on chili, in quesadillas, even mixed up with tuna for a mayo substitute.

2 cans chickpeas, 2 cans diced tomotoes, pasta, an onion and some garlic and rosemary

Thinly slice 1-2 onions and chop some garlic and saute in olive oil until they just start to brown. Puree 1 can of chikpeas in the liquid from the can. Add that and the other chickpeas and the two cans of diced tomatoes to the onions and cook at a simmer. Add salt, pepper and chopped rosemary. Serve over pasta. High protein, low fat, filling, cheap and easy to make from the pantry.

Well, anything with beans... I have learned to stretch our meat supply by supplementing beans. So if I make chili I use like 1/4lb of meat and then more beans. Tonight I made tacos and use 1/4-1/2lb of meat and a can of pinto beans (or black beans) and then season that whole thing like I would if it was just meat. Doesn't taste any different, and its better for you and cheaper.
Ranch chicken in the crockpot - chicken breast - 2 large (this would be a good place to use the split chicken on the bone I know you don't like it, I don't either, but its a lot cheaper) 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 pkg of ranch dressing mix, I also added like 1/4 c. of white wine but that could be water or broth too and some chopped carrots I had on hand. Cook on low for 4-5 hrs. Make white rice, shred the chicken a bit and serve or rice. Really good - no effort!

Your request intrigued me enough to do a Google search for healthy dirt-cheap meals, and here's a couple of sites i came up with:
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2010/10/21/20-favorite-dir...
http://www.onlinecollege.org/2009/10/13/100-delicious-dir...

I found a few ideas I'm going to try myself!

As far as some of the ones I make there's scrambled egg burritos, with eggs, refried beans, a bit of shredded cheese with salsa or hot sauce to taste in a warm flour tortilla. Or make them with the eggs and some homemade hash browns.

Soup and sandwich, tomato and grilled cheese is a fave, but peanut butter and honey, with some chicken noodle is pretty good, too.

A pot of homemade soup with a ton of veggies and if you're really trying to save, no meat. Chicken or beef stock will flavor it up, served with some crusty bread (just bought some on the 1/2 price shelf today) a belly-warming, filling meal.

Pancakes, and weiners. Sure you can go with eggs and sausage, but if you find some on sale and serve them with a stack of hot pancakes for dinner, mmmmm!

Rice and beans. I cook pintos and whatever beans strike my fancy with some bacon, onions and seasonings for a few hours, add some rice and cook until the rice is tender and serve with tortillas. I learned in Nutrition class in college that the amino acids that aren't in beans are in rice and vice versa, so it is a complete meal nutritionally.

Baked potatoes with steamed broccoli, cheese sauce (make a bechamel sauce with flour, butter and milk, add some cheese), plain yogurt or sour cream, whatever you want on top, very good.

Quesadillas, cheese melted on a tortilla, folded and cut in wedges, served with a green salad.

OMGosh, A., I just noticed that you're in Garden Grove, I'm in Buena Park : )

Don't know if anyone has mentioned this but; Good grocery stores will cut up the chicken for you free of charge.

((SNIFF...I wish I could get 10lbs of leg quarters for $5!!! They're $3.69 a pound up here on massive sale in bulk.. that's $37 dollars!!! More commonly, they're $5.49 a pound!))

My Cheapest Meals:

- Turkey bought over the holidays for 11cents-33cents per pound. If you don't like cutting it up, no worries. Buy 6-12 of them and Bake the whole thing every month or every other month.

- Pancakes

- Omelets

- ebelskivers

- crepes

- Oatmeal/ Cream of Wheat/ Grits... all 3 can be 'dressed up' for dirt cheap and be a meal

- Quiche

- Spinach Salad w/ Bacon & Hardboiled eggs

- Pasta Carbonara (essentially bacon and egg pasta... I've lived for a month with only bacon and egg as my protein sources... feeding 2 for 30 days on $20 was a reeeeeeal challenge. Bubba Gump'd it here, as well as with potatoes. Fried, poached, deviled, hard boiled, eggsalad, quiche, benedict, asagohan, etc.)

- Pasta, period

- Lentil & Sausage Soup

- French Dip/ Philly Cheesesteak/ Quesodillas/ etc. from leftover roast beef

- Egg Drop Ramen

((You may notice a leftovers, egg, and pasta theme here... because those are the cheapest things around here, I'm very italian with my cooking... meaning I tend to blend one meal into 3-4 meals))

- Udon (japanese noodles, hot)

- Somen (japanese noodles, cold)

- Miso Soup ($6 in supplies makes over 100 bowls of soup, penny a bowl has to be my *cheapest* meal, period)

- Onigiri (japanese rice triangle "sammies")

- Chicken or Turkey Hotdogs (here they're 1.25 for 8, instead of $6 for 8)

- Oh, golly, they things I do with potatoes (bubba gump would be proud). My favorites are Aussie Hot Crash Potatoes, Latkes, & Mashed Potatoes

- Trader Joes Orange Chicken ($4 feeds all 3 of us, which is great for our area price wise, although not my "best" price wise)

- Iced Tea, Hot Tea, etc. for drinks

- Toast w/ honey

- Cucumber sammies

- Fried Rice

- Red Rice & Refried Beans

- Green Rice & Refried Beans

- Hoppin John (Cajun rice & blackeyed peas)

- Pulled Pork (pork in our area is less than everything, usually, I can spend $10 on a roast and feed us for a week on it, but I usually take half and freeze it so I don't start loathing it)

- Meatloaf 6 ways (actual meatloaf, fried meatloaf sammies, stuffed peppers, meatballs, stuffed mushrooms, meatloaf pasta... again, $8 worth of meat loaf = 6 meals = $2 a meal after including mushroom cost, pepper cost, pasta cost)

Make your own sauce. You can freeze it and use it whenever!!

One can of crushed tomato's - saute one onion in olive oil add two cloves of garlic and saute until you get the aroma of the garlic (do not brown) add the crushed tomatos and let simmer of a half an hour. Add Salt to taste - if you like you can add your own spices.

Pasta is the best.

I don't blame you at all. The part about whole chickens that grosses me out is taking the bones out with my hands. I can't feel my fingers with gloves enough to do the job. I feel like I can't get my hands clean enough to take the meat off. So I don't.

My favorite cheap meals... soups made with veggies, pasta, or veggies and rice or veggies with potatoes...obviously a veggie, but more of a starch. I keep the skins on for the vitamins.

Actually, if you like dark meat the 10 pound bags of chicken hindquarters are the cheapest way to buy chicken-- you can usually get them for around $5 a bag-- even cheaper on sale sometimes!

http://www.5dollardinners.com/ has a lot of good healthy ideas!

Cooked scrambled egg in the top roman. Hotdogs or ham in mac and cheese. Chili, salad, bake pot. A stuff bake potato with those steamers you get in the frozen section. English muffin pizzas . Ham and cheese in a tort with a layer of cream cheese .

Pork roasts of all variety. You can get a lot of meals out of them (stir fry, taco meat, plain old roast). We do butcher our own chickens (well, hubby does). Using the carcass to make soup is a must in our house, where home made chicken noodle is the kids favorite. And it's amazing how many meals you can get out of one bird.

I make my own everything, enchilada sauce, pasta sauce, etc. It saves a ton of money (unless of course you coupon and get things for free).

We have pasta with chicken breasts and a red pepper cream sauce that is top shelf delicious and cheap. I buy peppers when they are on sale and chop them up and freeze them. Part of cheap cooking is shopping smart and using a freezer.

Pasta is cheap. Red beans and rice is a cheap side that goes with pork or chicken.

I make a turkey-meat veggie soup thingy that is super cheap and healthy. Just buy a package of turkey meat (I don't eat beef), onions, a thing of tomato paste, and some veggies from Farmer's Market like squash, zucchini, etc. and you've got yourself a meal! YUM!

Cook something of quality vs cheap.

I make my own marinara sauce, not to save $ but because my family prefers mine over any prepared sauce. I know what's in it and I make a huge batch, freeze some for later use. We use a lot of marinara.

Noodles are great, use with marinara, little butter/lemon, etc.

Hearty beef stew with veggies.

I have never cut up a chicken and won't. Too easy to find a deal at my grocer for cut up chicken. Time=$$

Allrecipes.com has a lot of good ideas. Personally, I cook a lot and enjoy it I find recipes we like and alter them to our taste.

I use a lot of cream of chicken soup, boullion, fresh spices.

Good luck!

Well, the first thing that comes to mind is a whole chicken roaster. We bought one for $7.50, and 1/2 of it was tonight's dinner, with rice and green beans and carrots. The other 1/2 will be lunches tomorrow. Then I'll make a chicken soup, and its soup and grilled cheese on Friday night. So for about $12, I'm making 12 meals.

Eggs !!!! - on sale this week for $1 a dozen.
You can make egg salad.
An omelette, can't cook just saute some veggies onion, green pepper, and scramble in the eggs, throw in some grated cheese.
Hard boiled eggs - eat as a snack, cut up and put into a garden salad.
French toast

pancakes - not just for breakfast, make from scratch or use a mix, we use bisquick

Potatoes -
You can always make a loaded baked potatoe for a meal.
Make great side dishes, baked is easiest. Used left over baked potatoes to make home fries.

Carrots -
Steam for a side dish.
Add to a soup or stew.
Keep carrot sticks on hand for a healthy snack
Grate into a salad, macoroni salad, or add to potato salad

Pasta - it's probably the least expensive meal you can make

Ramen noodles - salt content is high so only use 1/2 the seasoning packet
You can add some cut up cooked chicken or add some cheese to make a quick lunch.
The can be served as a side dish to a meal.

Stir fry - you can use whatever type of meat or veggies you have on hand. If you have meat leftover, stir fry up the veggies and add the meat at the end just to heat and serve over rice.

Not quite dirt cheap...

Pork loin - it's always on sale for $1.99/lb. May seem expensive, but theres very little waste. You can make a roast. Slice it and make pork chops. A colleague puts it into the crock pot and makes pulled pork.

Boneless chicken breast - again always on sale for $1.99/lb and there's very little waste. So much you can do.

Stuffed green peppers - I don't actually stuff them
When peppers are on sale, this week 3 small ones for $1.00.
I saute a large chopped onion and 5 cut up peppers, remove. Brown 1lb ground beef, drain off fat. Add back veggies. Add a large can crushed tomatoes and seasoning (black pepper, garlic, oregano), heat and serve over rice. Cost about $6.00 for a meal for 4.

there are a ton of soups you can make, they can be any level of healthy, and are usually cheap to make and you will have leftovers so that helps as well. making your own chicken broth is easy and fairly cheap. anything that will leave you with leftovers. we do a lot of soups, chili is great, meatloaf is easy, yummy and there are alot of ways to make it. lots of rice and beans. ham and beans is an oldie but a goodie. tater tot casserole is super yummy, not healthy at all, LOL..