Meals on the Cheap - under $2 meal ideas - Page 17

[CarsonBookworm]

I mix Brown Rice, Canned Corn and chicken taken off of the bones (Just 2 drumsticks) and put pepper in it. Saute in a little olive oil.....that's a good dinner for us!

[beansricerevolt]

Originally Posted by SherryR

it's almost funny (not really) to see how cheap things were just 2 years ago.

I was thinking the same thing!

[karne]

Originally Posted by Rebecca

My favorite cheap recipe is my version of a restaurant meal I LOVE!

Cuban Breakfast

1 can black beans (spiced with taco seasonings, onion and garlic to taste)
2 plum tomatoes, sliced
2 slices mozzarella cheese
4 eggs cooked over easy
dollop of sour cream

Cook the beans however you like them seasoned. I like this dish with a mexican flavor, so I use cumin, garlic, onion (taco seasoning, essentially). Spoon the beans onto a plate with a slotted spoon. put a few slices of tomatoes on the beans, and the mozzarella cheese on the tomatoes. Cook the eggs either sunny side up or over easy if you don't love runny eggs. Pile them on top on the beans/tomatoes/cheese, and put it all under the broiler for a couple mins, until the egg firms up and the cheese is melty. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a hearty side of toast.

YUM!!!! I make this dish often for guests, for any meal they happen to be around for.

This sounds so good! I am going to make it for dinner soon.

[akwifeandmomma]

Bumping for more meals on the cheap!

[missmich]

Wow! What an old thread! LOL An oldie but a goodie I think!

[lil_earthmomma]

oops! I'll try that again!

[lil_earthmomma]

Well tonight I made an incredible meal on the cheap!

Left over rice
2 cups torn up spinich (could easily use frozen)

Saute 2 cloves of garlic in 2 tbsp butter (or olive oil)
add 2 tbsp flour to make roux
add 1/4 cup parmasan cheese (I used the cheepy stuff)
throw in 1/2 cup milk, allow to thicken, add spinich, allow to wilt, add rice and heat through.

Salt and pepper to taste.

You could add left over chicken, shrimp... pretty much anything! We just had it as is, and it was SO yummy.

[Blooming]

Originally Posted by lil_earthmomma

Well tonight I made an incredible meal on the cheap!

Left over rice
2 cups torn up spinich (could easily use frozen)

Saute 2 cloves of garlic in 2 tbsp butter (or olive oil)
add 2 tbsp flour to make roux
add 1/4 cup parmasan cheese (I used the cheepy stuff)
throw in 1/2 cup milk, allow to thicken, add spinich, allow to wilt, add rice and heat through.

Salt and pepper to taste.

You could add left over chicken, shrimp... pretty much anything! We just had it as is, and it was SO yummy.

This sounds really good, thanks.

[MamaPam]

Tomato Curry Soup
In saucepan, melt: 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
Add: 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. curry
1/4 tsp. onion powder
Stir with whisk until thick and bubbly.
Gradually add 46 oz. 100% tomato juice and 1/4 cup sugar

We add more curry but I'm not sure how much more. We also make grilled cheese or cheese quesadillas usually with this.

I'm not sure of the total cost, but it is super cheap for us because we can get the tomato juice, and cheddar cheese to top the soup and for the grilled cheese on WIC.

[hummingmom]

Indian-style: Make a curry with potatoes and your choice of other vegetable(s), and serve it with sliced hard-boiled egg on top.

Scandinavian-style: Basic split-pea soup, simmered with a small amount of reasonably healthy sausage/hot dogs (left whole). Slice the meat and serve it with the soup.

Thai-style: If you have fish sauce and peanut butter on hand, a simplified version of Pad Thai can be made very cheaply. Our local Asian mega-mart often has rice noodles for $0.50/12 oz., coconut milk for less than $1/can, and green onions and cilantro for $0.33/bunch. At those prices, you could make a huge batch (enough for multiple meals) for under $5, including a little tofu or ground chicken if desired. [Coconut milk has lots of good fats and "staying power", but you can make Pad Thai without it. We actually prefer it that way. Just substitute regular milk or water.]

If you made a less-than-huge batch of Pad Thai -- and ended up with leftover tofu/chicken, coconut milk, green onions and cilantro -- you could add a can of straw mushrooms, some stock, and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice (or even vinegar, in a pinch), and make a Thai-style soup to serve with plain rice. [Again, the coconut milk is optional.]

German-style: Spaetzle is super cheap -- basically just a flour and water dough, made into little dumplings that are boiled in water and drained. The spaetzle can be served with butter, applesauce, cream sauce, gravy, or pretty much anything. Children like them, and they make a nice change from noodles.

[Tilia]

Originally Posted by MamaPam

Tomato Curry Soup
In saucepan, melt: 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
Add: 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. curry
1/4 tsp. onion powder
Stir with whisk until thick and bubbly.
Gradually add 46 oz. 100% tomato juice and 1/4 cup sugar

We add more curry but I'm not sure how much more. We also make grilled cheese or cheese quesadillas usually with this.

I'm not sure of the total cost, but it is super cheap for us because we can get the tomato juice, and cheddar cheese to top the soup and for the grilled cheese on WIC.

Sounds delish, I am going to try this one! The off-brand tomato juice costs me $1, so this recipe is under $2 for me.

[kalisis]

Originally Posted by hummingmom

Thai-style: If you have fish sauce and peanut butter on hand, a simplified version of Pad Thai can be made very cheaply. Our local Asian mega-mart often has rice noodles for $0.50/12 oz., coconut milk for less than $1/can, and green onions and cilantro for $0.33/bunch. At those prices, you could make a huge batch (enough for multiple meals) for under $5, including a little tofu or ground chicken if desired. [Coconut milk has lots of good fats and "staying power", but you can make Pad Thai without it. We actually prefer it that way. Just substitute regular milk or water.]

Do you have a generalr recipe you follow?

[hummingmom]

Originally Posted by kalisis

Do you have a generalr recipe you follow?

Not really; I usually just poke around online to find a recipe, and then make a bunch of alterations based on taste or what's on hand.

This blog post, and this one, both have simple and flexible instructions for making something resembling Pad Thai. The first one also has some useful comments. They'd probably be good starting points.

[mnnice]

Originally Posted by hummingmom

Thai-style: If you have fish sauce and peanut butter on hand, a simplified version of Pad Thai can be made very cheaply. Our local Asian mega-mart often has rice noodles for $0.50/12 oz., coconut milk for less than $1/can, and green onions and cilantro for $0.33/bunch. At those prices, you could make a huge batch (enough for multiple meals) for under $5, including a little tofu or ground chicken if desired. [Coconut milk has lots of good fats and "staying power", but you can make Pad Thai without it. We actually prefer it that way. Just substitute regular milk or water.]

If you made a less-than-huge batch of Pad Thai -- and ended up with leftover tofu/chicken, coconut milk, green onions and cilantro -- you could add a can of straw mushrooms, some stock, and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice (or even vinegar, in a pinch), and make a Thai-style soup to serve with plain rice. [Again, the coconut milk is optional.]

I'm going to have to try this because it's one of my favorite resturant dishes. Also I've been growing sprouts at home and you can make a big mess mung bean sprouts for almost no money. Limes are in season too and I have tofu and the tale end of carrots from my garden that I should use up too.

[transformed]

who is freaking sick of spaghetti!!!???

[Norasmomma]

I got one I made tonight and I think it will be delish.

This would feed 4 comfortably(2 adults and 2 kids)

Ham and cheese baked ziti

8 oz ziti(or other hollow pasta)
2 cups milk-used 1-12oz can evap. milk and 1/2 cup milk(from powdered)
1 cup ham diced
dash of salt
1 clove garlic chopped
1 tsp dijion mustard
2 cups cheese grated
1/2 cup APF(used WW)
butter or oil-2 tbsps

boil water for pasta-melt butter or oil in pan on med-saute garlic. add flour, salt and whisk until bubbly. add milk gradually, heat until boiling, add cheese(1 1/2 cups) and melt. add in ham, mustard and pasta-toss to coat. put in a baking dish and top with remaining cheese and bread crumbs if desired. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Now this may not always be cheap(and may never be for some). for us it was because we had all ingredients and they were bought super cheap.

Here's the breakdown:

1/2 lb pasta-.50(bought Barilla ziti@ $ store $1 a lb box)
ham-.50(ham was on sale 2lb ham was 2.00*for natural ham* super deal)
can of milk-.50
cheese-.75(or free if it was WIC)
oil or butter-.10-20
mustard-.10
garlic-.5

Alright it *probably* was close to 2.50 for the meal, not quite 2.00, but super close. Yummy comfort food for cheap. Plus many of these ingredients are on sale now, so it could be made for pretty inexpensively. HTH.

[hmkrueger]

Bumping for more since I got nuthin'! I make most things from scratch, but I'm pretty bad about cooking to suit our moods rather than the sales flyers...

[BetsyS]

bump

[Rebecca]

Stratas are cheap and easy. Delicious too.

Cube a loaf (or however much you need) of bread and cover the bottom of a baking dish, a few inches deep.
Chop whatever veggies you like in an omelet. Broccoli and onion and mushroooms are particularly good IMO. DH likes peppers. Sprinkle them on top of the bread cubes. My family likes cooked sausage with the veggies.
Shred some cheese. A cup? A few handfulls? Depends on how much you like. Spread it on top. Beat about 6 eggs. Pour it over the entire thing. Refrigerate overnight.

Bake an hour at 350.

[lolar2]

That's what I needed! A strata formula! Thanks.