favorite cheap meals thread?

[umami_mommy]

i looked but didn't find a cheap meals thread.... can we start one? we have scaled way back on our food budget and i need ideas!

i found a place to get organic, pastured meat locally that is very cheap ($3.00 for ground beef, $2.50 for ground pork) YAY! but we are still eating lots of veggie meals.


here's one of my favs:

Megadarra (Brown Lentils and Rice with Caramelized Onions)

Megadarra (me-ga-DAR-ra) is immensely popular in Egypt, as it is in
the rest of the Arab World. (Elsewhere, the dish is pronounced mu-jah-
DRA.) It's served either warm or at room temperature as a mezze, or
appetizer, often accompanied by yogurt. Large quanities of dark
caramelized onions are the best part.

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
7 cups vertically sliced onion
4 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 cups lentils
1 1/4 cups long-grain rice
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add
onion; cover and cook 15 minutes or until soft, stirring
occasionally. Uncover and increase heat to medium; cook 25 minutes or
until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Keep warm.
While onion cooks, bring 4 1/2 cups water to a boil in a large
saucepan. Add lentils; cook 20 minutes or until tender. Stir in 1/2
cup caramelized onion, rice, salt, and pepper. Cover, and cook 25
minutes or until lentils and rice are tender. Spoon lentil mixture
into a shallow dish; top with remaining onion. Drizzle 1 tablespoon
oil over lentils.

Yield: 11 servings (serving size: 1/2 cup)

[velochic]

Sure, there is a thread that has been going for nearly two years over in Frugality and Finance and has over 300 posts of great frugal meal ideas:

http://mothering.com/discussions/sho...d.php?t=520224

[umami_mommy]

i would love to see some creative and healthy recipes here.

last night a friend brought over savoy cabbage and carrot ribbons sauteed in coconut oil. i thought it was delish and would have served it as a meal with some roasted chi chi beans and rice.

[umami_mommy]

here's another recipe. Dh pretty much hates beans, but will eat them like this. i serve this with corn bread and broccoli:

Soup Beans
Makes 8 servings, 3/4 cup each
Ingredients
1 pound pinto, yellow-eyed or other dried beans, sorted and rinsed (2 ½ cups)
12 cups water
8 ounces finely diced ham (about 1 ½ cups)
1 medium onion, peeled
1 clove garlic, peeled
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
Instructions
1. Place beans, water, ham, onion, garlic, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper in a large Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the beans are very tender and beginning to burst, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. If necessary, add an additional 1/2 to 1 cup water while simmering to keep the beans just submerged in cooking liquid.
2. Remove from the heat; discard the onion and garlic. Transfer 2 cups of the beans to a medium bowl and coarsely mash with a fork or potato masher. Return the mashed beans to the pot; stir to combine.