Mama is broke right now! Cheap meals?

Ecy

It's a yucky month for the dollars and I need some cheap meal ideas.

Please share any of your cheap meal ideas that are at least semi-healthy.

Thank you!

pepomntpat

I love this blog:

www.cheapcooking.com

I have used a lot of the ideas, specifically the meatloaf which is largely vegetables and I use the chicken stock recipe and use the cooked chicken to make quesadillas or pot pie. Stock I use for anything calling for stock. It's good. 

Littledeer84

One that we like is toastadas. We put (canned) refried black beans, cheese, shredded cabbage, sliced hard boiled eggs, and sliced jalapenos on them. I usually add a little siracha hot sauce and soy sauce too, which we already have at the house. It is one of our go-to cheap meals.

Karschingham

I got this from a commercial and it's AWESOME.

Grilled chicken shredded and mixed with bbq sauce and rolled up into cresents w/ cheese I served it with mashed potatoes and a veggie..delish.

Ecy

Thanks! Great ideas...keep 'em coming

numeria11

Pulled Pork  in the slow cooker:

3-5 lb Pork Shoulder or Butt (both cheap in large quanities) Cut into large chunks cut out the worst of the big chuncks of fat.

1 C. Ketchup

1 C. Mustard

1/2 C. Brown Sugar

1/3 C. Water

Mix all wet ingredients in a bowl and pour over meat in a crock pot.  Simmer on low for 7-8 hours then shred with forks.

Chicken and Salsa:

1 Whole chicken (3-4 lbs)

1 can of Hot or Spicy Salsa (needs to have kick or you won't taste)

1/3 C. Water

Salt and Pepper to taste

Put chicken in crock pot, pour salsa and water on top.  Cook for 7-8 hours.  Remove bones and skin.  Drain off as much fat as you can from liquid.  Shred chicken and mix with broth/juices.  Serve on Tortillas for tacos or over rice. 

ETA: Both of these make a TON of food so you can easily freeze the left overs and get 3-4 meals out of each one.

MrsCodeMonkey

Huevos Rancheros:

https://www.realsimple.com/m/foodrecipes/browseallrecipes/skilletpoachedhuevosrancheros00000000027548/index.html

Sorry...no clicky! But it's a yummy recipe. I use a bit of shredded cheese on top instead of sour cream.

smerka

We do black bean burritos with Taco Bell Fire Sauce.  Quick and cheap.

smerka

And breakfast for dinner.

sbartschke

Crock pot chicken with stuffing

Prepare 1 box of stuffing according to package

Put stuffing in bottom of crock pot

place 4-6 chicken breasts on top of stuffing

pour 1 can cream of chicken soup on top

Cook for 4 hours.

We had this for dinner last night and it was soo yummy!

mammcg88

Stuffed peppers with rice and ground beef. I will add any veggies I have to the beef mix too. 

 https://allrecipes.com/recipe/stuffed-peppers-4/

Printergirl

budgetbytes.com

Seriously in love with her blog right now!

mejane123

Crock pot pulled chicken.  DH and I use 1 really big chicken breast, but I guess 2-3 smaller ones would work, and about half a bottle of Sweet Baby Rays.  That gives us enough for four sandwiches.  We don't eat anything with it, but you could always throw together a salad.  

And ditto PP, definitely breakfast for dinner.  

Also, I buy that pizza dough in the deli section that comes in a ball in a plastic bag.  It's normally $1.79, but goes on sale for .99 a lot.  A small can of tomato sauce with garlic salt, oregano, and marjoram, plus about half a bag of shredded mozz makes for a dinner that costs about $5.  Sometimes I make a calzone with it instead of pizza, or divide it into 4 and make mini pizzas, which can be fun for the kiddies.  We do a small hamsteak and some canned pineapple if we feel like getting creative.  

Definitely keep an eye out for meat on sale, too.  Last week I spent $30 and got 8 pork chops (1.99 lb), 4 lbs of chicken (1.79 lb w/in store coupon), two packages of stew beef (2.50 lb), and a 4 lb chuck roast (1.99 lb w/in store coupon).