Favourite Cheap Recipies Thread

You gotta have the spices to bring out the flavor from the bland to tha bold.
Spices are cheap. And well worth it.

OK. Good topic, but give us a little guidance.
I'm thinking maybe ground meat recipes because they can be inexpensive.
Do you have a crockpot?
Am I correct that you are interested in main dish ideas?
Pasta dishes are usually good on a budget and work well with ground meat.

One I make for a quick dinner.

Six boiled chicken breasts.
One can of cream of mushroom.
One can of cream of chicken.
One can of peas and carrots.
One can of biscuits.

Combine chicken, soups, and peas n carrots into a baking dish. Put in oven at 350 until mixture boils. Place biscuits on top of mixture. Bake until biscuits turn golden brown.

This dish is far less complicated than the things I normally cook but it is very easy, quick, and filling.

Quick you say?

Zatarain's red beans and rice is yummy AND quick...

cook the contests of box as directed. In the meantime, brown some ground beef, and add a bit of diced onion if you'd like, and sautee' beef and onion together...pour off grease (if any) into a jar or container that yer gonna throw out (don't pour it down the sink)...

if you like cherry tomatoes or plum tomatoes, chop them up and add to the rice mixture right before it's done cooking, cook a minute or two longer, then add the rice mixture to the beef n' onions and chow down.

brinny said:

Quick you say?

Zatarain's red beans and rice is yummy AND quick...

cook the contests of box as directed. In the meantime, brown some ground beef, and add a bit of diced onion if you'd like, and sautee' beef and onion together...pour off grease (if any) into a jar or container that yer gonna throw out (don't pour it down the sink)...

if you like cherry tomatoes or plum tomatoes, chop them up and add to the rice mixture right before it's done cooking, cook a minute or two longer, then add the rice mixture to the beef n' onions and chow down.

Click to expand...

This post sounds very close to home to me.

This is my favorite home made sweet snack recipe. I have been making this for forty years, and my kids love it.

Half cup extra crunchy peanut butter
Enough honey to sweeten
Heaping teaspoon of Cocoa
Adjust ingredients to suit your taste
Add a small amount of milk to make creamier
I put mine in a small bowl and blend with a spoon
Voila...Your very own chocolate snack!
Nutt'un tuit!

Do you and your wife do grocery shopping and meal planning together? Do you both come from the same region that you now live in? I ask this because when my DH and I were first married, we had some Very Different Ideas about what constituted "expensive". Added to that, I had just moved from the USA to Canada, and had no idea how skewed prices could be. It was very stressful for me, even though I love to cook, because he would question most items. For instance: In the USA, I was used to paying $1.00/lb for butter on sale. Here, I am rejoicing and ecstatic when I find it on sale for $4/ lb, as it's normally $6 or $7 per pound. Chicken here is twice the cost of beef, and ground beef ranges from $4 to $7 per pound. On the other hand, pork tenderloin was very inexpensive, duck, which I had previously regarded as luxury food, was half the cost of ground beef. Where I'm going with this is that there are so many emotional disconnects that go into merging different food styles, and food is very emotional, that clear understanding of what is needed is in order. Also, most common spices and dried herbs can be bought on sale, or at Dollar Tree or similar. Fresh herbs can be grown from seed (again, see Dollar Tree or similar) as can fresh veggies. Super expensive spices that you almost never use (juniper berries, say?) can be bought at a bulk store. (recipe needs three juniper berries? sure. cost: next to nothing. Bottle of juniper berries...lots of money!)

Once my husband realized that the cost of our meals was about 1/2 the cost of a value meal at the local burger place, he began to relax some. It just didn't SEEM to him that we were eating so well on a budget. This may be the case with your wife.

Because our food ideas were different, we compromised in the first year of our marriage and forward all these years. If I wanted a gourmet food, spice, oil, vinegar, etc, and it didn't quite fit into our food budget, he would ask if it could be given to me as a gift (combining the gift budget and the food budget for the item). Of course, being the foodie I am, I was thrilled with that solution. For more expensive every day spices (I admit, though I suggested the dollar store, I do not buy my spices there) you could discuss whether you would like spices given as a gift from your family or hers. DO get her buy-in on this, or it could be construed as criticism and cause a world of hurt in your home, which you do not want. DH and I always confer about what we might put on our Christmas lists. Spices, gourmet chocolates, specialty oils, vinegars, and condiments make for great stocking stuffers!

I know you're asking more for recipes, but that advice needed to be given first.

Recipes? What sorts of foods do you like best? What does she like best? Once a month or so, could your entertainment budget be used to buy special food items for a special menu you agree on in advance, which you cook and clean up after together, possibly themed with a favourite movie (rented free from the library) which you cook and clean up after together, with candles (see the Dollar Store)or flowers (it's wildflower season)? Share some time together relaxing and cooking together, and creating some shared food experiences.

AND now is the time to discuss holiday expectations, food-wise! Her customs and favourites and yours will be merging to create a new tradition. Frankly, I love the idea of cooling off in August by planning our special holiday meals...then at crunch time they are all planned and just need implementing.

OH...AND if budget is truly an issue for you...DO spend the time, together, looking at costs of things...buying a bag of rice and a bunch of spices and herbs may seem more expensive than buying a box of seasoned rice, but look at it in terms of servings you get out of each, and see how much more expensive that box of seasoned rice really is! (DH and I had this discussion re: ex-lean ground beef vs. regular....once he saw how little meat he was left with, ounce for ounce, when cooking them both, he quickly came to see that the usable portions made up the difference in his costs, plus the health benefits of less fat)

PS: Penzeys is the best place for spices, and they do gift certificates!

End lecture: Good luck!

Cheap is not always good, especially when it comes to food. It's cheap for a reason.

A good organic small portioned meal is better than "grocery store deal" meals. You vote with your money.

Also, a organic meal doesn't have to be expensive or complex.

Example:
Lundberg Black Pearl rice (amazing rice) - 50 cents per serving
Grass fed Lamb chops (8oz) - $4
Diced Onions, a few Curry Leaves, a pinch of Sea Salt - $1

$5.50 cents gets you an healthy organic meal without chemicals and pesticides and takes 30 mins or less to make.