FOOD Inexpensive Meals to Prepare

(Mrs Barry here)


We all have to feed ourselves and our families, and very few of us have alot of money to do that nowadays.


I know we've had these threads before, but for those who are struggling right now -- I thought the time might be right to start another one of these threads on how to FRUGALLY feed our families.


What are your ideas for inexpensive meals for the family?


Please post them here.


Folks who are struggling right now can probably use some new ideas for how to keep their families well fed without shelling out alot of moulah...


Thanks in advance for your ideas.

Menu-
breakfast
-oatmeal
-peaches/apple sauce
-milk for kids only. Water for adults.

Lunches
-kids for school-peanut butter and apple jelly sandwiches and carrot sticks
-adults-baked potatoes
-leftovers

Dinners
-Stovetop broccoli/chicken casserole-2 meals
-vege and cheese stuffed baked potatoes
-tuna casserole-2 meals
-chicken and vegetable stew 2 meals

Prep:
-place thighs in enough water to cover them (at least 6-8 cups to make broth). Place in any driedfresh herbs/celery/onions if you have it. You can also prep the carrot sticks and store them in a bag or container and throw the carrot ends into the pan for more flavor and vitamins. Simmer, covered, until meat is thoroughly cooked. RESERVING EVERYTHING-remove thighs from broth, seperate meat from bones, put bones back in broth and simmer a bit longer. This broth will eventually make your chicken and vege stew/soup. You'll want to remove the bones, then store the broth in the fridge or freezer (for later in the week). You'll also want to set half of the chicken meat aside for the same purpose (store in fridge or freezer for making soup/stew for later in week).

-peel apples and SAVE SKINS AND CORES. Place apples in pan with a bit of water (a bit of cinnamon and sugar if you have it). you'll simmer this, covered until apples are really soft and can be mashed down for apple sauce.

-Place apple peels and cores into about 2 cups of water. Simmer, covered for a bit. You're creating your apple jelly. Apples are naturally high in pectin, the jelling agent for jellies. If you have a bit of sugar, you can add it. You can mash the apples and such to extract every bit of flavor and pectin. You'll need this to simmer for at least 30 min. You can also add a bit more water if you notice that there is alot of pulp and it can handle more water. When it's done, you can filter the pulp/water through a coffee filter or paper towel or clean dishcloth and into a clean jar/container. It will jell up on it's own in a bit. You'll have jelly for sandwiches.

-Directions for stuffing/broccoli chicken casserole are on Stove top box. You'll be able to make a double batch of this for two dinners at least. It will use half of your meat. You'll use about 1/2 of your broccoli, keeping the other half for the stuffed potatoes.

-For the potatoes. Bake all potatoes in oven (nesco). You're going to use the broccoli and cheese sauce for these. Gentley steam your broccoli and cut into smaller bits. When the potatoes are baked, you'll cut them in half, scoop out the center into a bowl, using care to save the skins. Mix the steamed broccoli, the potato pulp and cheese sauce gentle in a bowl and then scoop back into skins (add salt and pepper, a bit of butter or margerine if you have it) . You can then freeze these on a baking sheet for quick lunches (microwave) AND you'll want to save out what you need for dinner one night.

-Tuna casserole-You'll gently make the the noodles to al dente state (reserve 2 cups of dried noodles for soup) . Mix cooked noodles, drained tuna and cream of mushroom soup (add 1/2 can of water to soup to stretch in recipe). Put into a casserole or baking sheet. Sprinkle top with dried bread crumbs (if you have it OR parmesan cheese-otherwise leave plain). Bake for about 30 min. Should give you 2 meals. (OH PLEASE NOTE-I don't make tuna casserole so if you have a better recipe or I didn't make this right, tell me please. )

-Your last meal is the chicken soup. If can throw a bouillion cube to throw into the broth you can do this. You'll have the mixed veges and chicken to throw in ANd then the reserved noodles.

Obviously, you might have more in the pantry to supplement this menu. It isn't a fancy menu either but you can see how a few dented items really stretched the budget. A bit of creativity with the apples snagged you jelly for sandwiches.

If things are this tight, you may seriously want to consider a trip to the local food pantry. Just one bag of groceries can significantly increase what you have.

In addition, this isn't covering the recommendations of the food pyramid, but if you can make it one week on this type of menu and manage to save at least $5 that you can use the next week to perhaps find a few more good scratch and dent deals or less than perfect fruit/vege deals that you can put in the freezer or the pantry then you'll come closer to a more ideal menu with more variety.

From my very, very poor days: FOOD BANK TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE

1 box Macaroni & Cheese
1 can tuna
1 can peas
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 little can mushrooms (if you have them)
corn flakes, potato chips, etc. for top (if you have them)
1/4 stick butter/margarine - if you have it, make do with water if you don't

Boil pasta from Mac & Cheese box. In big bowl, mix tuna, peas, powdered cheese, cream of mushroom soup, mushrooms (if you have them) and butter if you have it. Drain pasta and mix into bowl. If too thick, add little bit of water so it's thick, but mixable. Put into greased casserole dish. Cover top with crushed up corn flakes or potato chips. Bake 20 mins. at 350 until hot.

My family loves this to this day.

By the way, this is Mrs. Barry here starting this thread. My husband thought it was a good idea, but he suggested that I do it because I do most of the grocery shopping and cooking for our family.


I'll begin with a few of my favorites.


I know that Barry has posted my recipe for red beans and rice several times before, so I won't put that here.


But another family favorite is something that my home ec teacher called "New England Boiled Dinner," a one pot, complete meal.


How to make New England Boiled Dinner:


Take a huge pot, put water in it, and get that water boiling. Add salt, pepper and other spices into the water as you desire.


Meantime, chop up some cabbage, dice up some new potatoes, and slice some carrots and onion. When the water is completely boiling, add in the veggies.


Got some bacon grease hanging around after the morning's breakfast? I deliberately save bacon grease. This is just one of many meals that a little bacon grease can add alot too.


I save ham scraps from the holiday ham, and add them into dishes like this. They work great.


Every so often, local grocers have sales on pork steaks or whole pork loins. When the prices get down low enough, I buy some (having the store butcher slice the whole pork loins into slices).


If I am going to put something like cheap pork steaks or pork loin slices into the meal, I put the meat into the boiling water ten to fifteen minutes BEFORE I put the veggies into the water. Of course, I usually have to add some more water, but that's easy enough.


If you put some meat into the pot along with the vegetables, you have a complete and healthy meal in one pot.


Personally, I spice up my cabbage with chicken boullion cubes rather than salt and pepper, but that is my choice.


Anyway, hope this helps.

Here are my meals:
children breakfasts cheerios and milk or soymilk
dh and I toast or leftover biscuits with jam or cereal
one breakfast scrambled eggs, sliced potatoes and homemade biscuits ( using flour, salt, margarine and milk)
one breakfast french toast-using bread, milk, one egg and margarine
one breakfast of homemade quiche using 3 eggs, milk or soymilk, onion, cheese and a bit of the spinach.

Lunches
peanut butter and strawberry jam on whole wheat 5 days, grilled cheese two days
apples and carrots, milk or soymilk
dh leftovers sandwiches with sliced chicken meat, slice pizza


Dinners
Cook pinto beans with water and an onion and garlic in the crockpot.

1-Bean burritos-make homemade tortillas, beans and some mild cheddar, lettuce salad with salsa for dressing

2-Beans and rice-cook up rice and add one canned diced tomatoes and seasonings plus salsa.

3-Chicken dinner and baked potatoes, green beans. Baked potatoes with cheese for vegetarians.

4-Mac and cheese and green beans ( use cheese, milk, margarine and elbow noodles)

5-Scalloped potatoes( potatoes sliced with milk, margarine and onion and baked in the oven) and chicken for meat eaters; fried cabbage and onions

6-Spaghetti using l lb noodles, tomatoes, spinach Top with grated mozarella cheese,

7-Pizza- homemade dough-flour, yeast, salt sugar and water, tomato sauce, mozarella cheese and fresh garlic, spinach as toppings

Hamburger/Tuna Helper; 'cause it will work with whatever meat you can find on sale.

What I am trying to show with this picture is that grains and beans etc are the way to go if you are broke. Sprout some for greens for vitamins and cook the rest. Very little meat is needed.

Myself I am just waking up to freeing things like peas so I don't get waste. I make bone soup for four or five days at a time then reheat and add thing like peas and broccoli. I have oatmeal and powdered seeds / grains for breakfast. I take a range of vitamins and minerals also.

........................................................................................



Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp

Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23
Favorite foods: soup with fresh sheep meat

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519_1373680,00.html#ixzz0scQw8dWr


http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519_1373680,00.html


.

Another easy to fix, quick meal is Grilled Cheese sandwiches.


I have people say my grilled cheese sandwiches are the best they have eaten.


Well, I don't know about that, but here's how I do it, just in case you can get an idea from it:


I have found that -- even though whole wheat bread is more expensive than white bread, and we normally try to stick with lesser expensive options around here -- that when it comes to bread, the extra cost of whole wheat bread is worth it.


Whole wheat slices are larger than white bread slices, and they have more bulk to them. So I can feed Barry ONE grilled cheese made on whole wheat bread, and he will be satistfied. If I make the grilled cheese with white bread, he is not full until he eats a second sandwich.


That white bread just doesn't have enough to "stick to the ribs." And by the time that he eats that second sandwich, I probably haven't saved any money by trying to use the cheaper white bread anyway.


I buy my cheese at a Mennonite bakery about 45 minutes from here. They have a food manufacturing and distribution network, and they make their own cheese and market it through that network. The quality is higher, and the cost is not any higher than the regular price of cheese at places like Kroger or WalMart.


I take that whole wheat bread, put one and one half slices of sliced Mennonite cheddar or colby cheese between the two slices, then LIGHTLY butter one of the outsides of the bread. I then put the sandwich in a non-stick frypan greased side down, and turn the fire to medium. I lightly butter the other side while the sandwich is in the fry pan.


Now, here's my secret to why everybody loves my grilled cheese sandwiches:


I take some Lowry's garlic powder, and lightly sprinkle the buttered bread with garlic powder as I grill up the other side. I don't use enough garlic powder to give the sandwich a strong garlic taste. I just add enough to make the sandwich taste great -- just enough to keep folks wondering what I did to that sandwich to make it great!

Great idea, Mrs. Barry. Since I'm looking at $180 to feed the five of us for the next month, I'm looking forward to new ideas!

Some of my cheaper meals are Mexican food. Beans go a long way, either stretching a meal or making a meal built around them. (Annieosage had a thread about making beans recently.)

Something my sister-in-law taught me...she microwaves corn tortillas--it was a different time in my microwave than hers, so you'll have to experiment--so that they become tortilla chips. (I especially like the no fat, no salt added.) You can make tostadas out of them, for a full meal--refried beans, cheese, tomato, lettuce, onion, avocado, whatever you have on hand.

In our area, split chicken breasts often go on sale for $1/pound. I buy several packages, and boil them, remove the skin and take the meat off the bone to use. I also put the broth in the refrigerator, then skim off the fat. There are at least a zillion things you can do with that chicken. You can mix it with pasta and some sort of sauce, make tacos, put it in crepes, a pot pie...you can even use some of the meat, then use some of the meat and the broth with veggies and pasta or rice to make soup. We've mixed leftover chicken with grapes or tomatoes and finely chopped onions to make chicken salad sandwiches with our own mayonnaise.

Meatless meals--or a small amount of meat--go a long way, too. When low-salt bacon is on sale, I split a package and freeze 3/4 of it. Then I cook the bacon (someone...Deena? on one of her frugal threads? suggested baking it in the oven) and I do this, along with a pan of cubed potatoes, then stir-fry them, scramble a few eggs around them and serve them with refried beans and tortillas for dinner. (I suppose you could do this with ham, too.)
I also make cheese enchiladas, and even french toast for dinner. Minestrone soup, minus the meat, is great when it's cold out, and it freezes well, too. We also sometimes have biscuits and gravy, making the gravy over a small amount of hamburger.

Hamburger isn't really very cheap any more, but when it's on sale, I buy several packages. One meal our kids like is cubed potatos cooked in a bit of olive oil with a little garlic and onion, then mixed with hamburger, sprinkled with a bit of flour, then a bit of beef broth. I add veggies from the garden (or freezer).

I hope this helps someone.

Edited...my apologies, Mrs. Barry. It was you, not Mr. Barry, who started the thread. (But I still appreciate it!)

I buy chicken leg quarters when they are on sale. This weekend, they are on sale for 49 cents a pound, the cheapest I have seen in this area for a long while.


Things I can do with chicken leg quarters:


1, Grill them on the bar-be-que. Paint a little BBQ sauce on them when they are near finished grilling, and it is great eating at a small price.


2, Slow bake the chicken leg quarters, painting them with BBQ sauce or else using a can of cream of chicken soup mixed with some water in the pan as the leg quarters cook. Put the quarters in a pot with a tight fitting lid, so that the meat can cook in the steam vapors of the cooking liquids. I bake at about 300 degrees, and almost double the amount of time that it cooks.


3, Boil the chicken leg quarters with chicken boullion or your favorite spices. Take out the chicken quarters after they boil, and chop up the meat. Some of that meat can be used to make chicken salad, and the rest can be used to add meat to the water you boiled in. The rest of it can be put back in the water. Then add some chopped carrots, celery, onion, and maybe some rice or noodles, and voila! You have chicken soup to go along with your chicken salad sandwich.


Or make a chicken and noodle casserole with the chopped up chicken meat, boiling the noodles in the left over water after the chicken has finished boiling.


4, Of course, you can always fry that chicken. Nothing taste better than southern fried chicken!

Chicken Burrito filling

Chicken meat (canned, tenderloins, whatever you have)
1 cup cooked pinto beans
1/4 green pepper chopped (optional)
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 cup of corn (I use frozen.)
Salt
Pepper
Cumin (to taste)
Oregano (to taste)
Chili powder (to taste)
Red pepper (optional)

I don't really measure the seasonings, I just taste as I go. Suprisingly, my family LOVES this. Just cook up your chicken, add the beans and veggies, season, simmer until veggies are done.
You can eat this with cornbread or with tortillas. (Homemade are best!)

Scalloped Potatoes

My family inhales this.

Scalloped potatoes
Spam, or ham (lunchmeat works.) chopped
10 potatoes peeled sliced thin
1 large onion sliced thin
2 cups shredded cheddar


For the sauce I mix in a large bowl
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 can milk
1 tsp dill
salt
pepper
lemon pepper

In a greased 9x12 pan, layer potatoes, onions, spam until it is full...(leave room for the sauce!)
Pour sauce over the cassarole, put cheese on top of the sauce.
Bake in 350 degree oven until cooked through about an hour.

Even when I was a college kid going through school without much money, I'd make pretty nutritious -- and cheap -- meals for myself. I made lots of homemade soups with fresh veggies from the store, which was cheap and healthy.


Or I'd eat alot of salads, which can also be pretty cheap if you don't load the salad with expensive stuff. A basic lettuce salad with a bit of shredded carrot, chopped onion, and a bit of salad dressing really does not cost too much. And since most college coeds are concerned about keeping trim, I'd make that an entire meal.


But Barry -- my husband -- well, he was totally different.


Barry was on a strict budget going through school too. (We were not married back then, so I wasn't yet cooking his meals.)


But he handled the situation totally differently.


Barry is not comfortable in the kitchen. His idea of cooking for himself is the drive through window at Burger King. When I married him, I had to carefully wein him off of fast food. He knows better, now, after years of marriage, but as a bachelor, the only two things he knew how to procure for himself was fast food and cajun seafood.


Barry's idea of a cheap and easy meal was baked potatoes. He'd eat baked potatoes as the only dish in his meal every day, at least once a day -- I kid you not. Sometimes he'd have them drenched with butter and sour cream, sometimes he'd put cheese on them instead. He was only paid once a month, and so near the end of the month, he would eat the potatoes with salt only.


Other meals that bachelor Barry would cook and eat himself included:


Scrambled or fried eggs. With bacon, if it was right after payday, without bacon if it was later in the month. He'd eat fried egg sandwiches alot.

Tuna salad with boiled egg, chopped onion and mayo.

Peanut butter sandwiches, with or without jelly/jam.

Cold cut sandwiches or cold cheese sandwiches. He told me after we got married that he wished he would have thought to make grilled cheese sandwiches, because they are so much better than cold cheese sandwiches. But it never occurred to bachelor Barry to grill that cheese sandwich.

Hot dogs with canned chili.

Frozen waffles with syrup. This is NOT cheap, but since we've married, I have taken to making his waffles on my waffle iron with an inexpensive pancake mix, and that is cheap.

Popcorn. Yeah, that's right. He'd eat popcorn like it was a real stand alone meal! I do NOT recommend that one, but remember, this is BEFORE I married him, and taught him better!

The only good thing that he would fix for himself was boiled Louisiana seafood. He'd fix crawfish or crabs that he caught himself in the canals of south Louisiana. We were both born and raised down in south Louisiana, and we were both taught to catch our seafood and boil it ourselves as early as 12 years old. So when he went on to college, he would stretch the food budget by catching seafood from time to time.



Don't worry, I've taught him to eat better since we got married. He probably wouldn't be alive to hang around this website today, if he had kept eating the way he did before we got married!

We were broke enough at one time that the main groceries we bought were potatoes. We went out to the potato farm and bought them in 100# bags. And we could eat those in a month. We would buy bacon ends and pieces as well. We would fry up some of the bacon then use it and the grease it made to fry the potatoes in. I would also make home made bread. Then have that as well and any veggie that we had at the time. Even if it was pinto beans. It makes a very filling meal and it is cheap as well.

In this area, I can buy generic boxes of stove top stuffing mix at Dollar General for around a dollar a box. This stuff is so easy to make that even Barry the bachelor could do it!


One meal that I will fix this weekend will consist of:


Slow baked, 49 cent lb. chicken leg quarteres cooked in cream of chicken soup;

Generic stovetop stuffing;

A can of green peas or green beans (or else homegrown southern field peas, if the ones in the garden mature fast enough);

A can of homegrown, home canned sliced peaches (or else fresh peaches, if they are still in season) for dessert.

Do not forget the value of kool-aid for the cook on a budget!


Yeah, I know, kool-aid gets a bad rap on prepper boards like this one. Sheeple are said to drink the kool-aid when they can't see danger that is obvious to the prepper's eye...


But what preppers often forget is just how frugal and versatile kool-aid can be.


There are at least two dozen different flavors, so you don't have to get bored drinking the same drink each day, every day.


Kool-aid powder comes without high fructose corn syrup. In fact, you can add in ANY sweetener you want. Pure cane sugar, regular sugar, equal (aspartame), splenda, even stevia.


I stock up when kool-aid goes on sale at 10 packs for a dollar. I use only pure cane Domino's sugar, and wait till it comes on sale.

A huge hit around here is cowboy beans. We are a family of 5, with 3 growing boys. My SIL in TX turned the kids on to this:

You choose your measurements of the following (I've put mine down, but for a cheaper meal, you can use 1/4# meat & double the pintos. or what have you):

ground beef (1#), browned
1 can corn, or bag of frozen (I use either 2 cans or the whole pound of frozen)
1 pint jar pintos
1 large can crushed tomatoes
2T homemade taco seasoning or 1 pkg store bught

Mix in a pan, heat til everything is heated though. We like this over cornbread. YUM!

For this to mean anything we need to know what exactly a person considers a cheap meal. Cost per serving of these things. I've seen people eat some very strange things and consider them to be saving money and cheap when the cost per serving was higher than a well balanced meal. For example--eggs this week are 67 c per dozen for large and ground turkey is $1 per pound. I can make 2 eggs and a quarter pound patty of turkey cheaper than somebody can serve up a bowl of cold cereal and milk. The eggs and turkey will go a long way toward filling the protein needs and nourish the body for hours. A bowl of cold cereal has no real redeeming qualities and I would be hungry in 1/2 an hour. Our meals run 50 cents to a $1 per person. Only time they are higher is on special occassions when we pig out on seafood or steak. We eat two meals per day because nobody is hungry for another meal.

Biscuits (canned, made with Bisquick, or made from scratch) are a cheap and very versatile "fun" food:

1, You can bake flattened biscuits then paint them with a dash of pizza sauce, sprinkle on some mozzarella cheese and maybe a slice of pepperoni, and bake till the cheese is melted. Kids like their own "personal" pizza. Refrigerate unused pizza sauce (one buck at Save-a-Lot), shredded mozzarella and pepperoni slices, so that you can stretch the food dollar further, while making this snack often.


2, You can take canned biscuits and roll them in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon, then deep fry them. Or do you fry them, then sprinkle on the cinnamon and sugar? I remember doing this in girl scouts, but haven't done it since so I don't remember which way it goes.


Of course, you can always use biscuits in more traditional ways:


1, Buttered, with or without jam

2, With either egg and/or sausage on them

3, In chicken and dumplings, to make the "dumplings"

4, With a milk or sausage gravy poured on top

5, As a bread based side dish for a larger meal

The trick is finding cheap & healthy. Here is a wonderful article that could a least give you an idea of what to buy..

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/cheap-healthy-15-nutritious-foods-about-2-dollars

Eggs, potatoes and peanut butter will always be some of the cheapest, most filling and nutrition dense food you will find.

We're using a lot more peanut butter sandwiches in lunches and more microwave baked taters as lunch ( a little ranch dressing or chili on top) or a staple with any small portion of meat for supper. Eggs can add protein to anything and are always cheap. Make french toast, eggy homemade pancakes, scrambled with veggies, crustless quiche, homemade egg sandwiches, egg salad, potato salad, deviled, fried rice, egg foo yong, egg drop soup.

And ALWAYS soup. Use the slow cooker on weekends. I take a tupperware of homemade soup to work every week for breaks, lunch, etc. and have people following me around begging for my leftovers. Add a few onions and potatoes or canned veggies. Primo stuff. The secret is in herbs and seasonings. Last week I made the most wonderful leftover roast chicken/bean/ veggie Italian-style soup. Aroma was to die for and all because of a sprinkle of fennel and basil.

In summer, with the garden, fresh herbs and veggies are everywhere. We give it away and can/dry/freeze a ton. Dinner salads...add a can of chicken or tuna for protein. Stir-fry! Loss leader chicken thighs or $.99/lb. country-style pork ribs, some oyster sauce, homemade sweet and sour...whatever you like, and use up some of that prepper rice. Then make fried rice with the leftover rice and eggs! The chicken thighs/quarters & ribs are also good on the grill. Make veggie kabobs (cut up bell peppers, new potatoes, onion chunks, cherry tomatoes) ...a little Italian salad dressing brushed on the veggie kabobs tastes great and browns up very well.

In the winter, make sure to at least always stay stocked with plenty of potatoes, carrots and onions. Most versatile and cheap veggies, and add many needed vitamins in winter. Shepherd's pie (boxed mashed potato flakes) or biscuit-topped pot pie (I use a 13x9 pan) made with any available veggies, taters, onions, leftover meat chunks or fried burger, bound together with cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup is filling winter fare. Salmon loaf, tuna loaf or turkey burger loaf is a cheap main meat dish for supper. I often get 1 lb. turkey burger or pork sausage rolls on sale for $1.00/lb. Mix a lb. of turkey with a lb. of pork sausage for really good sloppy joe meat.

One other phrase. Loss leaders. Get to the point with your pantry and freezer where that's about all you ever buy at the grocery store. It takes planning and scratch cooking, but is a real cheap way to go. If you are unemployed, you will have time to cook and bake bread. Plan your list for the store every week by the ads in the Sunday paper.

here are tuna recipes I have used that I found on the internet and loved them

Healthy Tuna Recipe #1
Tuna Salad with Lemon French Dressing

I love this recipe served for lunch inside a whole wheat pita bread.

tuna salad recipeStart your next dinner with this healthy tuna salad. It's light yet tasty. This is a slight twist on one of my favorite Weight Watchers recipes. What's my twist, I take away the onions (sorry I don't like onions) and add some additional flavor with natural sesame seeds which have no calories but great flavor.

Ingredients

* 2 Medium tomatoes, chopped
* 8 romaine lettuce leaves (tear into pieces)
* 4 ounces chunk white tuna (drained and flaked)
* 1 tablespoon chopped green onions (optional)
* 2 teaspoons olive oil
* 1/2 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 1 1/2 teaspoons each red wine vinegar and water
* Dash of salt and pepper
* 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsely
* 4 ounces Natural sesame seeds

Directions

* In salad bowl, combine tomatoes, lettuce, tuna and onions (optional).
* In a small bowl, combine oil and mustard and whip until creamy
* Add lemon juice, vinegar, water, salt and pepper.
* Stir to combine
* Pour dressing over salad and toss
* Sprinke with parsley and sesame seeds

Nutritional Information per Servings

* Number of servings: 2
* Calories: 208
* Fat: 12.0 g
* Carbs: 9.0 g
* Fiber: 2.0 g
* Protein: 16.0 g
* Weight Watcher Points: 5


Healthy Tuna Recipe #2
Tuna Stuffed Potato

This Weight Watchers recipe can be used as an appetizer or make it a meal. This is a yummy twist on a twiced backed potato.

Ingredients

* 1 backing potato (cut in half lengthwise)
* 1 can (6 ounces) chunck white tuna (drained)
* 2 teaspoons reduced fat margarine
* 1/4 cup minced onion
* 2 teaspoons flour (divided)
* 1/2 cup plain low fat or fat free yogurt
* 2 ounces low fat cheddar cheese (shredded and divided)
* 2 tablespoons chopped drained canned pimiento
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* Dash of pepper and paprika

Directions

* Preheat over to 350ºF
* Using a nonstick baking sheet, place potato halves cut-side down
* Bake until tender but not soft (about 20 - 25 minutes)
* Remove from oven and let cool
* Scoop out insides of each potato half, leaving 1/4 inch thick shell
* Place potato scoopings in food processor or blender
* Add tuna and pulse mix potato and tuna until finely ground (do not puree). Set aside
* In a skillet, sautee onions in margarine. Add 1/2 the flour and stir quickly to combine. Continue cooking for about 1 minute.
* In small bowl, stir yogut until smooth. Add remaining flour and stir.
* Put yogurt mixture in skillet and stir in 1 ounce cheese, pimiento, salt, pepper, paprika and tuna mixture.
* Spoon half of tuna mixture into each potato shell. Spinkle each potato half with remaining cheese.
* Bake at 350ºF until cheese is melted and potato is heated (about 10 to 15 minutes)


Nutritional Information per Servings

* Number of servings: 2
* Calories: 468
* Fat: 10.5 g
* Carbs: 24.0 g
* Fiber: 4.0 g
* Protein: 34.0 g
* Weight Watcher Points: 9



Healthy Tuna Recipe #3
Tuna Melt Sandwich

Kids will love this quick, easy and healthy tuna melt sandwich. This healthy tuna recipe was submitted by Debbie from Montana. Thanks Debbie for sharing this great healthy recipe.

Ingredients

* 2 6 ounce cans of tuna (packed in water and drained)
* 3 tablespoons mayo or miracle whip
* 1 tsp celery salt
* 1 teaspoon onion powder
* 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/3 cup chopped celery
* 1/4 cup chopped red, yellow or orange pepper
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 3 whole wheat english muffins
* 6 slices low fat american cheese
* 6 slices fresh tomatoes

Directions

* Preheat oven or toaster oven to 200 degrees
* Stir tuna, mayo, celery salt, onion powder, garlic powder, chopped celery and chopped peppers
* Butter english muffins and place butter side up on cookie sheet
* Bake for 3 minutes or until golden brown
* Remove from oven and top english muffin with tuna mix. Top with cheese slices
* Return to oven and back until cheese is melted
* Top with tomato slices and serve

Nutritional Information per Servings

* Number of servings: 6
* Calories: 335
* Fat: 19.2 g
* Carbs: 16.8 g
* Fiber: 0.7 g
* Protein: 23.7 g
* Weight Watcher Points: 8



Healthy Tuna Recipe #4
Tuna Tacos

gluten free cookbook


If you like mexican food, then this healthy tuna recipe is a must try. This tuna recipe may not be your typical mexican dish, but it's a nice change to the traditional beef taco (and tuna is healthier!).

Ingredients

* 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon olive oil or vegetable oil
* 1 cup sliced onions
* 3 galic cloves, minced
* 1 cup each chopped tomatoes and tomato sauce
* 1/8 teaspoon each oregano leaves, salt and pepper
* Dash of hot sauce
* 8 ounces canned white chunk tuna, drained and flaked
* 4 taco shells
* 4 ounces low fat shredded cheddar cheese
* 1 cup shredded lettuce

Directions

* In a 10 inch skillet, heat oil
* Add onions and garlic and satee until soft and translucent (about 5 minutes)
* Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and seasonings
* Cook stirring occassionally for about 5 minutes
* Stir in tuna and cook until heated through
* Fill each taco shell with 1/4 tuna mixture
* Top with shredded cheese and lettuce

Nutritional Information per Servings

* Number of servings: 4
* Calories: 375
* Fat: 13.5 g
* Carbs: 18.0 g
* Fiber: 2.0 g
* Protein: 24.0 g
* Weight Watcher Points: 8

VERY EASY AND CHEAP FOOD...

Oatmeal can provide 30 servings and costs about $2.00. You can add just about any fruit to flavor.

French Toast, Beat an egg or two in a bowl, dip a piece of bread to coat, fry. You can flavor it by adding some cinnamon, sugar, and just a tad of vanilla to the beaten eggs before coating your bread.


Fish Cakes - serves 2 to 3, double recipe to feed 3 to 5

1 can tuna drained
1 egg
2 pieces of bread broken into small pieces, or a handful of crushed crackers

Mix together, pat into small cakes, and fry.


Chicken and dumplings

1. Boil chicken, save broth, debone chicken, add meat back into pot with broth.
2. In a cup mix together some flour and water and slowly pour into broth, stirring vigorously into the broth and cook until broth thickens.
Add seasoning as desired.
3.For the dumplings mix flour and water in a cup again and drop by clumps into broth but not stirring it in this time, cook until clumps are cooked.


Chicken casserole

1. Boil chicken, save broth, debone chicken and spread meat over the bottom of a casserole dish.
2. In a cup mix together some flour and water and slowly pour into broth, stirring vigorously into the broth and cook until broth thickens.
Add seasoning as desired.
3. Add pre-drained vegetables over the chicken in the casserole dish.
4. Pour the broth mixture over veggies in casserole dish.
5. Melt a couple tablespoons of butter in a bowl and add stove top stuffing, toss to coat with butter. Layer the top of casserole with the stuffing.
6. Bake until heated thoroughly and the stuffing has browned a little.
Serve, makes as much as you chose with amount of ingredients used.

Mrs. CW

I'm no expert on cooking, that's for sure, but my grandma taught me a few things, one thing to try, for a change, is leave the spices off the grilled cheese, and serve it with syrup over it. Peanut butter sandwiches, buttered and toasted in the frying pan are great, even better if you mixed honey with the peanut butter, and butter and sugar sandwiches are good, too.
That's all I remember, beyond that I'm a slave to hamburger helper. Good thing there are lots of flavors!

Great stuff!!!

Beans and hot dogs. O love bushese bean varieties.

Just a few bucks for a couple of meals.

Love bisquits and chicken!!

When I was in college and broke I lived on hamburger stew and tuna noodle cassarole. I literally would eat that for a whole week at a time. I even fed other starving students the stew.

I agree about the potatoes, eggs and peanut butter. You can stretch a lot with those ingredients.

Homemade chili is a good one. I use meat, but you can vary the amount you use and use more beans.

Homemade navy bean soup is one of my favorites--beans, some potatoes and carrots, some tomato sauce and a little bacon. I make big batches and can what I don't eat right away.

Spaghetti sauce can be inexpensive. I buy the jars and then add stuff to them. I got pasta today on sale and with a coupon, 2 boxes for 29 cents. You can do regular spaghetti or make variations of baked spaghetti using more cheese.

One of my favorites is to put chicken in a crockpot, pour some salsa over it, add a can of black beans in the last hour. Serve with yellow rice (I can get the little bags of seasoned yellow rice for about 30 cents when on sale with coupons) and flour tortillas. I use the leftovers for lunch the next few days.

When I was in college my roommate and I would make burritos----1 can refried beans, 1 lb hamburger and 1 jar of salsa, put in flour tortillas with cheese and frozen individually. We made 10 burritoes easily and used the rest of the topping on tortillas chips as natchos that night for dinner. We would nuke the tortillas throughout the next couple of weeks as a quick lunch.

Scrambled eggs, fried eggs, quiche, fritatas; homemade waffles and pancakes--make extras and freeze, what do you think Eggos are? Homemade pizza is always good. Cheese is not cheap anymore so when it gets to $1.75 for a bag or 99cents for a block (sometimes at Albertsons) I buy a lot. A whole shelf in my freezer is cheese. You can dress up a lot of stuff with cheese.

This won't apply to everyone and who knows how long it will last ...

Costco rotisserie chicken (large chickens, really good yum) are $5

These will easily make 4 servings (for 2 people = two meals). Lots of fat drippings in the bottom, save that. Save the carcass and skin/meat scraps. Simmer carcass, strain out bones, add chicken fat. Add skin/meat scraps. Freeze. You now have the makings of a great chicken soup to which you can add diced carrots and celery, onions, pressed garlic, a can of cheap diced tomatoes, 1 or 2 cups frozen corn, 1 or 2 cups frozen okra (optional, but thickens the soup), and spices. When it's done cooking, add 1 or 2 cups cooked rice ... and you now have enough soup for another three 2-person meals. Total cost including soup ingredients, about $12 for 10 delicious servings.

First of all, always shop the bulk bins and try to limit what you buy in boxes. Any kind of moist mixture can be served over grits, polenta, farina, quinoa, wheat berries, rice, barley, pasta etc. Toppings could be anything from spaghetti sauce to stew or steamed veggies. TVP can be bought in bulk and used plain in chilis or mixed with ground meat as an extender. TVP is tasty and can be used alone and bought in the bulk bins.
If you love spaghetti sauce but are reluctant to make your own, the least expensive is Hunts in the 26 ounce can. It is generally $.99 vs 3-4 dollars for a brand name jar.

Learn to love beans....buy them dry and soak them overnight.

Learn to love cabbage...they are cheap and nutritious.

If you can borrow a pressure canner from someone, ( be sure they help you if you are unfamiliar with this equipment), you can buy chicken when it is on sale and can LOTS of it in broth for fast and delicious meals. ( I do this several times a year. I watch the store fliers and buy meat when it is on sale)

Instead of cookies for the kids, give them a bag of whole grain cereal to munch on. Or buy popcorn in bulk and use an air popper.

Buy corn on the cob NOW while it is on sale and dehydrate it for later in the year. Or, if you can get frozen corn really cheap, dehydrate that after thawing. Make fruit leathers and beef jerky anytime you can get the ingredients on sale.

Make chili and serve it over elbows. It makes the chili go much farther so you can use it for at least 2 meals if you have a large family.

Instead of using expensive parmesan cheese, ask for the end piece at the deli and throw a chunk of that in what ever you are cooking. It will flavor the stew soup etc without the high cost.

Also, my favorite treat back when times were real hard was Jiffy corn bread mix. Sometimes you can find them for 25 cents....stock up. Corn bread with a little jam can be a wonderful sweet treat when the larder is low.

To add to pasta and sauce...cook an egg sunny-side up and lay on top. That runny yolk adds a lot.

You can also add an egg to soups you make. I do that several ways, both at the end of cooking. For threads of egg in the soup drop the egg through the tines of a fork into the hot soup. Otherwise, add the whole egg and let it poach in the broth.

Cost per serving is an excellent measure, but costs do vary based on location.

I can get that 49 cent leg quarters deal often, but those in urban centers often don't find that. I cut the quarters into legs and thighs and cook them every which way including oven baked, in Indian recipes, on the grill and in soup. I treat them like I would chicken wings--grill and then seasoned sauce on them---since chicken wings are often over $2 a pound now!

Definitely consider dry beans.

Here's a link to homemade hamburger helper:

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf114072.tip.html


When you shop, look at the expiration dates of meat products you would like to buy. Come back the day before or the day they expire. Then cook/freeze immediately. I have gotten serious deals: ground lamb for $2/ pound (my upper limit of meat costs), whole chickens for $3 total, pork shoulder for 89 cents a pound ($7 total) and more.

This might depend on where you live, but what I've noticed in some stores is a large Mexican food section. This is not the grocery aisle "Ethnic" food, but a large segregated section of food that new arrivals from Mexico are used to eating (gotta feed the illegals). Often they'll have a large selection of Mexico spices in plastic bags. Now I haven't tried these yet, but depending on the quality, they are a very good deal. I saw a package of 6 raw cinnamon sticks for something like $4, and about every other spice for 1/4 of what you'd pay over at the name brand spice section. Has anyone tried these Mexico spices? They seem like a good deal.

Rucus Sunday said:

This might depend on where you live, but what I've noticed in some stores is a large Mexican food section. This is not the grocery aisle "Ethnic" food, but a large segregated section of food that new arrivals from Mexico are used to eating (gotta feed the illegals). Often they'll have a large selection of Mexico spices in plastic bags. Now I haven't tried these yet, but depending on the quality, they are a very good deal. I saw a package of 6 raw cinnamon sticks for something like $4, and about every other spice for 1/4 of what you'd pay over at the name brand spice section. Has anyone tried these Mexico spices? They seem like a good deal.

Click to expand...

They are indeed just fine, taste great and are far cheaper than the brand names in bottles.
To add to this train of thought, in the same section you can buy corn husks. Learn to make tamales and you have a satisfying meal. I add all sorts of yummy things to my masa like mushrooms and chicken broth instead of water. For fillings, use ANYTHING you like, leftover stew or shredded pork or cheese...you name it. Steam them and you have a fine meal.

Brown beans with a little syrup mixed in on toast.

Any kind of stir fry when the veggies are in season.

Tuna burgers or veggie burgers.

Kraft macaroni dinner and canned meat fried with a little syrup.

Nothing wrong with having one or two vegetarian dinners a week. You'll even lose weight.

John H

My best friend and roommate from college was (and still is!) Japanese, so we ate a lot of rice. One dish that we pretty much lived on was stir fried veggies and rice. I usually made brown rice, instead of white, and we most often stir fried carrots because they were cheap. A big bowl of rice and carrots is actually very filling.

Another really cheap dinner was steamed or sauted (not sure how to spell this) yellow squash, zucchini, and onions with a little bit of parmesan cheese sprinked on top.

Now days, our cheap dinners consist of eggs and toast from homemade bread, or pancakes and whatever fruit I can find - bananas are usually pretty inexpensive.

Writermom

ETA: Another favorite meal is a bowl of rice with some green tea poured over it (to make like a soup) and then sprinkled with furikake (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=grocery&field-keywords=furikake).

If you are now unemployed, you can no longer afford the convenience of premium groceries. You have time now to learn to budget shop and cook from scratch. Print out a copy of this booklet and use it. Quit buying those overpriced boxes of Hamburger Helper, pre-made and pre-cooked meals and learn to cook good meals for pennies.

http://www.dshs.wa.gov/pdf/Publications/22-146.pdf

Today for lunch I made tortillas from our storage wheat berries, so they cost pennies. Then spread them with peanut butter. We love these! They're also good with tuna or chicken salad on them. To me, whole wheat tortillas are much better than corn, but that's a personal preference.

Someone mentioned biscuits in various uses. One of our very favorite meals is homemade biscuits (I throw in some whole wheat flour to make them a bit more nutritious) - again the cost is pennies. I open a can of roast beef ($1.75 bought on sale), make some extra gravy to go with it (another couple of pennies) and serve over the biscuits. With that I'll serve corn on the cob or beans from the garden (basically free) and either fruit or a salad. Very inexpensive meal and it feeds 4.

I haven't noticed (maybe just missed it) anyone mentioning the white sauce with eggs and cheese in it yet. Usually one of us brings it up on these type of threads. This is something that my family (on my mother's side) has been eating and loving for generations. Just make a basic white sauce or gravy and add chopped eggs and cheese to it. Serve over toast or crackers. You can leave out the eggs (or not) and substitute dried beef also.

Go to the locker plant and get a five-gallon bucket of soup bones. This
costs me about $6.00 currently. Roast the bones for 2 hours at 350 degrees
uncovered. Dump the bones (and drippings) into a stew pot / caldo. Add
salt and a diced onion, and simmer for 4 hours. Pour the stock through a sieve,
return the stock to the pot, add eight cups of barley, some celery and carrots,
and simmer for another two hours.

This is very rich, very beefy, and unbelievably good. Total cost is around
eight bucks and accompanied by some simple Northern Bean soup, can feed
me for a week.

Eggs and toast for breakfast is a favorite. I really love simple good old bean
burritos (made with fresh tortillas, very easy to make), and fresh fruits and
veggies are always super-cheap at the ethnic (Mexican / Chinese) markets
around here.

Soup is a great way to stretch money and happens to be healthy for you
as long as you skim the fat and don't add a lot of salt.

Learning to bake bread and biscuits from scratch is stunningly easy, and
very cheap even if you use some Jiffy baking mix. I love to make bass
en crote, just a bass or trout (or whatever kind of fish you can hook),
roll out some yeast dough into an envelope, put a fish fillet inside, season
to taste (though I don't really season with more than a few drops of lemon),
and bake at 350 until golden brown. Very satisfying, delicious, nutritious
(at least low in fat), and easier than it sounds. Total cost for that meal is
around fifty cents for all you can eat (I guess I'm amortizing in the cost of
bait (self-caught), fishing license, etc.).

You don't have to suck a rusty nail to get good nutrition on the cheap.

Junk food is so much less satisfying than food you made with your own
hands. Not gonna get up on that soap box, but junk food does make us
hungrier.

Change what you eat and you'll save an awful lot of money, live healthier,
and you'll be glad you tried.

-Steve in Burbank

Edited to add: Pasta. Learn to make pasta and you'll be glad you did. Roll out
thin sheets of pasta, put spoonfuls of leftover stew meat, spaghetti sauce,
or cooked squash, grab a biscuit cutter ( I use old tuna cans thoroughly cleaned ),
and you can make some VERY good large-sized ravioli. You can boil these up, or
fry them and call them dumplings. Or deep fry them and call 'em kreplach if you
like. And it's actually very easy and fun to make stretched pasta the way Asian
cultures do. You won't even need special tools. One of my favorite dumplings would
be smashed-up leftover beef or chicken, mixed with cooked onion and potato. Nice!

Lastly, you can make pasta "pockets" filled with chopped-up fruit, a squeeze of lemon
juice, and a pinch of sugar). Pinch them closed, drop in hot oil, fry 'til golden brown.
If you're really good at scrounging, you can usually find black walnuts, chop them up
with some apples, and do the same thing. Old Jewish/Polish thing, but I forget what
my Babcia called it. NOT healthy, but very cheap.

OK, that's it. That's how I eat for $20 a week, generally.

Here's an inexpensive meal:

First thing in the morning, last thing before you go to bed, right before eating any meals or snacks, and just whenever you think about it during the day DRINK A TALL GLASS OF WATER!!!

Most aches/ pains and illness are cause by dehydration and/or inflamation. Being fully hydrated helps cells heal, food digest, skin and muscle elasticity, energy levels, fight fatigue, heals and repairs about any (minor) pain or ailment and will keep you regular and fight hunger.


Drinking 16oz before meals/snacks will help you eat less before your full, and aid in digestion allowing for maximum nutrient benefit, so you dont HAVE to eat more.

Will cut down on medicines specifically pain relievers, heartburn, indigestion and bowel- regularity related medications.

Will clean the digestive tract more efficiently making lower-bowel cancers and conditions less likely/severe.

Will help you sleep, feeling full and hydrated, and preventing late-night digestion issues that keep people awake/ uncomftorable.


And, relative to this thread... will cut back on your food bill!!!! More complete digestion and preventing us from gorging on foods that are passing undigested while still crudding us up and costing us money!!

(almost)FREE WATER!!!

**disclaimer, BM is not a doctor but he did see a guy play one on TV once. And that guy never lost a patient!

I don't know if you have a garden or not but a garden can save you a lot of money during growing season. The cost of a package of bean seeds can provide your family with tons of beans throughout the summer and give you enough to can for winter. Squash, zucchini, cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes etc. will be plentiful if you tend the garden and make sure it gets hoed and watered. Plant renewable sources of food like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and fruit trees. You will have enough to eat, can, dehydrate, sell or trade for other produce from your friends and neighbors. We have a neighbor who can't grow a garden to save their life. We trade fresh veggies for meat. They raise cows, pigs, chickens etc.

Get yourself some chickens and learn how to take care of them. THey will give you enough eggs to eat and sell if you have enough of them. We never have to buy eggs and have eggs for breakfast every day. Eggs are one of the most perfect proteins and fresh eggs are wonderful.

Think long term food for survival. THings may not turn around soon and the .gov programs will eventually dry up. You have to learn how to fend for yourself and your family.

Save Everything!

This is my version of the pioneer tradition of keeping a pot of soup on the back burner of the stove 24/7. Pioneer women just added whatever was left-over from one meal to the soup on the stove. It was different every day.

I keep two gallon-size zip lock bags in the freezer. One is for poultry-based soup, the other for beef-based soup.

Whenever I have a dab of something left over, it goes into one of those bags. One ear of corn that no-one wants to eat? I cut it off the cob and dump the kernels into one of the bags. Too many tomatoes from the garden, but not enough to can--into the bag.

I fixed my son lunches for work--beef/rice casserole, corn, and asparagus. I had half a can of corn and half a can of asparagus left over--into the bag!

That bag of lettuce (mixed greens) in the fridge that is wilted--into the bag!

You bought too much at the farmers market and don't have time to prepare everything before it goes bad? Dice and put into the bag!

Celery tops--into the bag! The odd jalapeno from the garden--into the bag!

The last serving of mashed potatoes or rice--into the bag! The last piece of chicken or the last two servings of brisket--into the bag!

When I need something easy or have extra guests for dinner, I take one of the bags out of the freezer, add chicken or beef broth, and put into the crock-pot. If it needs more meat, I just add a little from one of the smaller freezer bags of cooked ground beef or chicken cubes. If I don't have any of those left, I use a jar of home-canned meat.

You'd be surprised at how good it tastes.

I once made Thanksgiving soup with the left-overs--turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, dressing, cranberry sauce, cauliflower w/cheese sauce, and green bean casserole. It sounds weird, but was the BEST soup I've ever made. We were really disappointed when it was all gone.

You can use boxed dinners as a soup base, too. Usually Curious's MIL makes a wonderful Lasagna Soup using Hamburger Helper...add more water and a can of corn. Something like that. Anyway, it's great!

ETA: Our grocery stores often have wilted produce at a marked-down price. You can get a package of cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and onions for about $1. You don't have to use it that day...take it home, chop coarsely (large pieces) and add it to one of your bags.