Cheap dinner ideas?
 

Arrrgghh - We're broke, and we're hungry, and I need some cheap ideas for a decent dinner. I can't think of anything besides spaghetti, and I really don't want spaghetti, again . . . help me please?

Omlettes are pretty cheap - -also a good way to recycle leftovers
(just some eggs, some filling, and some toast or potatoes on the side)

Red Beans and Rice
2 cups red beans, undrained (dried are much cheaper than canned, but canned are easier)
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons seasoning salt
bay leaf
pinch sugar
cayenne pepper, to taste
cooked rice
1/2 lb smoked sausage, I use Keilbasi
Combine all incredient. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until done. Serve over rice.
Large link smoked sausage, added at the last 30 minutes gives delicious seasoning and makes a complete meal with hot fluffy rice and tossed salad.


Lentil Loaf
1 onion, chopped fine
1 tbsp. oil
2 c. cooked, drained lentils
1/2 c. whole wheat bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. thyme
2 tbsp. whole wheat flour (white flour is fine)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. water
2 tsp. vinegar
2 tsp. Soy sauce
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute onions in oil until transparent and slightly browned. Mix ingredients and place in a greased loaf pan. Bake for 30 minutes, covered, then for 10 minutes, uncovered.

Ramin noodles with hot sauce !!

Sandwiches! Buy a huge loaf of french bread for about $1, get a package of meat and cheese.

If your supermarket has precooked meats (like Albertsons has roasted chicken, turkey, spare ribs, roasts etc) look for the ones that are day old. Like bread, day old meat is cheaper and there is nothing wrong with it.

Lots and lots of salad. Buy the greens separately and mix them yourself. cucumbers are cheap. Spend a little money on good dressings (big bottles that will last a while) and maybe even some feta cheese. Pair it with the cheap french bread and or the precooked meat and you're set. You can do a lot with a precooked chicken, like salad, tacos, burritos, sandwiches...

Experiment with your pasta. Use olive oil and herbs to create different dishes. Buy a big jar of chopped garlic or ginger. It lasts forever and it goes with almost anything. Experiment with fruits and veggies that are in season. See what's on special at the market and the look online for recipies.

You can usually eat well if you're willing to go meatless sometimes. Splurge a bit on things like dressings and oils and herbs. Think of experimenting as an adventure.

Fried Rice -- don't really have a recipe, and you don't really need one. Take some cooked rice, chop up some cheap veggies (hell, peas and carrots from a can will do). If you have any meat, add that. Fry in a pan with oil, crack a couple of eggs in it, and serve when the eggs are done, with soy.

Beans and rice go a long way. Think burritos, with onion, cheese, salsa- fresh if possible, but jarred sauce is convenient.

Potatoes are cheap and can be used in numerous ways - baked, mashed, diced up and fried - good with eggs which are also cheap, as pointed out previously.

Chicken thighs are cheap, especially when bought in the jumbo packs. Whole chickens are also cheap.

buy the thighs....

pour some teriyaki sauce into a bowl.

toss in chicken and coat with sauce.

bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes until chicken is done.

Ahhh. Thank you all! Unfortunately, the fried rice idea wasn't there before we made our final decision: Tuna noodle casserole. Well . . . it was a bit dry. Edible, but dry :) Gonna have to try these ideas out soon!

Homemade pizza is a great treat and you can do it pretty cheap. Buy the pizza dough that comes in a bag (you mix it with water, let it rise 5 min, then kneed it and spread it out). less than a dollar a mix, pizza sauce is less than a dollar a jar and makes about 2.5 pizzas. The cheese is the only expensive part but if you get it on sale for shred it yourself it helps. When feeling really cheap we just eat cheese - feels like a treat or see what else is in the fridge that works as toppings - sandwich ham for instance.

Also microwave burritos are super cheap when you buy them in the freezer section of the grocery store but to many of those and your waist line really starts to grow.

black beans and rice... diet of broke champions!

From your lips to God's ears! They are the BEST!

How about 'make your own tacos' with flour tortillas, lettuce, tomato, grilled meats of your choice, hot sauce, melted cheese,

Mac and cheese with hamburger mixed in, anything goes further with noodles, cream of mushroom soup can conceal the identity of most things too. I'm a big fan of the chicken thigh idea too

Simple tuna casserole:
Lg can Tuna
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
Sm can peas (optional)
Milk
Wide noodles
1/4 c butter (margarine)
Prepare:
Cook noodles as described, drain and set aside.
Heat tuna, soup, one can of milk, and peas to boil (salt and pepper to taste). Add noodles. Voila - tuna casserole. If you want to fancy it up - throw in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Poor Man's Hamburger Helper:
1 lb. Ground Beef
1 pg. Ramen Noodles

Recipe:
Brown Ground Beef, add sauce mix and noodles. It works. Vegetables as an option are prefered.

You can make a lot of soups with a can of chicken broth - I use swanson's "natural goodness" with no MSG. Soups are filling, preserve all the broth from whatever you're cooking so it doesn't go to waste, and have that comforting "home" feeling that helps make up for the lack of money.

Put in whatever you can get together, potatoes, rice, leftovers, vegetables, stewed tomatoes, spices of course, whatever meat you have - I call it "What-I-Got Soup." It's just about always good. I'm kind of broke right now too, so I bought a package of stew meat at Costco for under $3 a pound, split it up into meal-sized packets and froze it. Then I made fajitas with salad (heavy on the salad and veggies for cost efficiency). The next night when I had some still left over I added carrot, potato, zucchini, etc. and made a soup out of it - the fajita spices made for a rich and flavorful soup. You could also do meatball soup or sausage soup - you can get a really satisfying meal with a small amount of meat this way.

Another soup idea is cream of potato soup - it's cheap, rich and filling. You can use veggie flavoring cubes from the store (try to find something better than generic bullion) to add body to the broth. Simmer potatoes with celery and onions, then mash with milk, salt and pepper to make a thick soup.

Yet another soup idea is Asian-style noodle soups or egg drop soup. Start with the same chicken broth, cook for a while with grated ginger and maybe a touch of garlic (if you want). Stir in an egg or cook some asian-style noodles, top with Chinese cabbage, bok choy, carrots, peas, green onions, bamboo shoots, etc. I cook this stuff seperately in a pan first. Add in some chicken or tofu for protein. The only thing is it's so much better with sesame oil, which costs a bit, but a bottle lasts forever.

Stir-fry with noodles (I just buy the Mr. noodles packets and use those)

-Fry some garlic and a bit of oil (olive or seasame are what i use) in the bottom of a pan
-Cut up and add any vegtables you want to the pan
-I like celery, zucchini, sno peas, carrots, yellow peppers (or green or red), and tomatos
-add some extra firm tofu cubes(im a veg), some almonds or chick peas
-let it simmer for a bit
-add any other spices, I like cajun seasoning or red pepper flakes
-cook the noodles and add those to the pan
-mix that stuff up and throw it on a plate

This only takes about 10 minutes to make and you can always make extra for lunch the next day.


A quick snack for lunch that is yummy:
-cut a bagel in two
-add some marinara sauce
-put some cheese on top (chedder is my favourite)
-put in the toaster oven or the oven (on broil)
-its done in a few minutes

Use corn tortillas for a better flavor. Fry 'em in oil for an even better flavor.


How about an artichoke? They're cheap, and one always fills me up. Steam it, peel the leaves off and dip 'em into butter/garlic/lemon juice sauce. Then cut out the heart and eat that.

Garlic chicken pasta is cheap. Cubed chicken breast, garlic pieces (from a fresh clove), and a TINY bit of salt. Brown that, then pour in 1/2 cup to 1 cup (depending on how much chicken you make) of white wine (get the cheapest white they have) and let that reduce until you have a nice sauce. Put it over pasta and sprinkle with parmesean cheese. Tastes really good.


Homemade soups are cheap, easy to make, and taste a lot better than the pricey Campbells variety.

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthr...ight=tetrazini

cheap and great as a leftover cold - enjoy

Here's a great idea. When making frozen pizzas, put fresh chopped garlic on it first. It makes it 10 times better.

the dilemma I run into is making a cheap dinner that is reasonably healthy and filling at the same time. It's very tough to pull off...

Just tried the Lentil Loaf...fantastic, Thanks!

Did it again with some minor changes...great base to jump off...thanks again.

Mac cheese

Lima beans

Butternut squash, cut in half, baked, top with butter and brown sugar = Heaven