OK- Bring on you cheap dinner ideas!!

[m4star]

DH and I are on a really TIGHT budget this month (due to our vacation to Jamaica next month). We have $160 to buy us 2 weeks of groceries. So I really need your cheap dinner recipes/ideas.

Thanks!

[DmOrtega]

When we get low on money, tacos (Burritos) work for us. Either cook up some beans or buy canned beans. Cook up some chicken. Put onto a flour tortilla, add cheese and heat in the microwave. Add salsa, salad mix and sour cream. Your set. Usually a couple of tacos are fine for dinner for each of us. You can round it out with milk and fresh fruit.

Here's link to Lindrusso's Sante Fe Chicken . This is good and will feed 2 people for a week.

http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?threadid=13003

[tracey67]

You could buy a big chicken (you can usually find a really big one for way under $10) and use this for 2 or 3 meals: have regular roasted chicken the first night, then use the leftover to mix into some sort of baked dish or - like DmOrtega suggested - into burritos or tacos.

There are tons of baked chicken options. I think CL has a good one for BBQ Chicken Pot Pie, or you could mix the chicken with pasta, spinach and a white sauce for a type of "chicken florentine". Maybe do a search of the Recipe Finder or BB for "baked chicken" options?

When we make burritos, we often make them with just corn, rice and beans. Just add some spices and they're still really flavorful. Serve with some refried beans and a salad for a complete meal. I think I calculated once that the burrito part came out to roughly .40 a burrito - you can't get much cheaper than that.

And while you're watching your pennies, just keep thinking about all the fun you're going to have in Jamaica!

tracey

[Mandy]

I understand what you mean, my husband went back to school.
:cool: So I'm the only one working for now. When we get tight I try to stick to reicpes that include the same basic ingredients, like was mentioned before. A whole chicken is a great idea.

One thing we do is at the end of the week when I have several scraps to finish up, like a half of tomato, some green onion, peppers, a few slices of cheese, etc. is make an egg omelet, or a fritatta. Oh, another good one is tomato sauce over pasta. You can used fresh tomato (which should be cheap this time of year), and add some garlic, onion, olive oil, herbs and then serve over pasta (that would also be good for lunch the next day). Another idea is a stir-fry served with rice. With a stir fry you can do a bunch of veggies, and just a little bit of meat, that's a good way to streach your meat out.

That's all I can think of right now, I'll let you know if I think of anything else. Think of it this way: you can go on a little diet before you hit those Caribbean beaches! :D

PS- where are you staying in Jamaica?

[Natasha]

Chili, chunky soups (hot or chilled) with wholegrain breads, veggie burgers, stir-fries with seasonal veggies and tofu, etc. are some things that come to mind off the top of my head.

[AndreaU]

We always stretch the food $$ with various Mexican-inspired dishes (quesadillas, enchiladas, etc.), big salads with fresh bread on the side, and stir fry! Anything can be stir fried- meat or tofu and pretty much any veggies you want. Add noodles (vermicelli or plain ol' spaghetti works just fine) to stir fry to get that grain food group.

[vbak]

Buy a nice, large roasting chicken. Roast it in the oven, and save the drippings. Have the roasted chicken for one meal. Make chicken and noodles with defatted drippings and chicken broth. Add some mushrooms and finely minced carrot. Use the chicken carcass and skin to make chicken soup. One large chicken and 3 meals. Vicky

[Little Bit]

My favorite 'make a lot' dish is usually chicken: Boil up a big bird in a big pot full of water, celery, peeled carrots, caramelized onions, etc. When the bird is done, remove the meat and vegetables, then put the bones back in the pot to keep simmering gently to enrich the broth. Use the meat for chicken and dumplings, chicken salad, etc. (We usually use the dark meat for dumplings, white for chicken salad.)
If you don't want dumplings, try soup, using the broth. (Pasta and rice are wonderfully cheap!)


Dried beans are very economical and nutritious, try some red beans and rice. One pound of red beans, a smoked ham hock, a few more veggies, yum!

Also, in case you need further tasty inspiration, here's a thread with loads of bean ideas:
http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5462

Hope this helps!

[Ohioan]

Ah, Little Bit, I can't believe you got in ahead of me with the suggestion about BEANS. :D But yes, with a stockpile of dried beans, rice, and an assortment of pasta shapes, the tight budget stretches out marvelously.

If you consider the beans/grains combo a substitute for meat (and you can flavor the combo the same as you would a slab of meat), the cost per pound is incredibly lower, and you get more servings per pound into the bargain. I always figure 1/3 cup each of dried beans and uncooked rice per portion, or 1/3 cup of beans and 2 oz of pasta. When you figure how many of those portions you get out of a pound, you're definitely stretching the dollars.

Cheers,
Phoebe

[Alisa]

Phoebe: I was going to suggest bean dishes but it felt like treachery somehow....

[BosunsWife]

Either I'm really cheap and haven't figured it out yet LOL, or you all eat a lot better than we do. $160 for two weeks of groceries? I spend $120 for two weeks and that feeds three people. Alright, I have the benefit of the commissary, so add on an additional $20 bucks...

Lets see, what is a typical weekly menu in our household. Monday, DD and I ate the couscous salad from the July issue I think (it had chicken, basil and tomatoes in it), last night we had grilled chicken breasts which I cut up and put in a big romaine lettuce salad and I served it with a couple of slices of Rosemary Bread I bought at Costco. Tonight we are having some soup that was in the freezer - Chicken Tortilla soup - pretty inexpensive to make if you do your own stock especially. Hmmm! I'm seeing a theme here, we eat a lot of chicken. I'm not sure what tomorrow night will bring, but Friday I'm planning on that Creamy Pesto Rigatoni dish that someone (sorry I can't remember the name) posted earlier this week.

We eat meatless at least once a week (generally using beans as protein). We eat ground turkey more than hamburger, but I don't know that one is any more expensive than the other. My biggest splurge is to buy fresh fruits and veggies. I spend more time in the produce section than anywhere else. To save money on meat, I buy in bulk at Costco or Sam's Club.

Breakfasts are usually homemade wheat toast, yogurt and fruit. Lunches are either leftovers (for me) and pbj or pbhoney on whole wheat for DD. DH eats on the ship for lunch during the week.

I find that I spend less on groceries (or stick to my budget) when I make a menu up for the week and stick to my grocery list. Whenever I deviate from my grocery list I spend at least $20 more a week.

[Jewel]

I also felt blasphemous for mentioning beans, but now that Phoebe already brought her ideas to the post, I can just 'chime in'! ;) Beans and whole wheat pastas do it for us. Lots of ground beef fixed in all kinds of interesting ways...meatloaf, Swedish Meatballs with noodles or rice, enchiladas, lasagna, and even manicotti! I stuff my manicotti with ground beef, italian sausage and mozzarella, so it always ends up being a cheap meal!

Break out the crockpot and make a few stews and chilis, for lunch wraps are cheap! A package of flour tortillas goes a long way! :D

[Peeps]

Little Bit - do you have a tried and true Chicken & Dumplings recipe that you could share?

[JKS]

I guess we're cheap too. We spend $85 per week to feed four! When we're trying to cut back from that, we eat "breakfast for dinner"--scrambled eggs and toast and fruit or pancakes or German pancakes. We also do baked potatoes with all kinds of veggies or chili on top. Hoppin' John from the one of the Moosewood cookbooks is yummy--the smoked cheddar is kind of expensive but goes a long way and is great on salads and pizza. And at this time of year, I would bet you could find a neighbor or two who would be thrilled if you would take a zucchini, cucumber, and tomato off their hands. Saute the zucchini in a bit of oil with herbs or seasoned salt, stir in the chopped tomato, toss in some mozzerella, slice the cucumber on the side with S&P and serve with pasta, rice or barley. -- Practically free!! Good luck!

[JKS]

I'm making minestrone (vegetarian) tomorrow. Beans, free veggies, and a bit of pasta. Serve it with fresh warm bread--------Yummmmmmm.......cheap, low-fat, high fiber, tons of healthy veggies, AND delicious. What more could you ask for?

[Little Bit]

Treachery? Blasphemy? How can linking the wise words and fabulous recipes of The Bean Queen to my own humble posting ever be interpreted as anything but an act of loving kindness shared with the world? :D LOL! You guys are SO funny!

Actually, I was remembering the grim truth that my sister seldom cooks beans. :eek: There was a time some years ago that she could hardly afford anything else to feed her three growing kids. (Living just outside D.C., husband in the Navy, no money ... ) I don't think she's ever recovered her taste for them. (If she'd had The Bean Queen's inspiration, this tragedy might have been averted!)
I'm only happy to be able to do my meager bit in the service of The Bean Queen for hungry people everywhere.


Hi Peeps!
Chicken and Dumplings? Recipe??

Well, okay, here goes, but remember this recipe does NOT create puffy dumplings. (Learn about those from another source, if your preferences fall along those lines. I pretend no skill in that area.) Treat the dough well and your dumplings will be gorgeously tender, abuse it and they will be rubbery and tough. (Only YOU can prevent dough abuse. :p )

Step ONE: Take about one and a half cups of All Purpose Flour, season it a bit with some salt and pepper, mix it with about 2/3 Cup of Milk and a bit of olive oil to quickly make a soft dough. (If you prefer not to use milk, just use cold water, but be SURE to use the oil, it helps keep the dough tender in the final product. If you're feeling decadent, add a bit of melted chicken fat instead of oil.) The dough should be rather soft. If it's too dry, add some more liquid. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to rest and chill while you get the chicken cooked.

Step TWO: Take one dead chicken, rinse it well, remove the neck, giblets, liver etc. and save them for another purpose, another day. (Cornbread dressing, anyone?) Put the chicken in a big pot of lightly salted water, to which you've added several stalks of celery, maybe one peeled carrot, a bunch of parsley, a few whole peppercorns and half an onion. (Brown the cut edge of the onion in a skillet if you wish, it adds color to the stock.)

Simmer the chicken and vegetables together until the chicken is tender. (If it smells like a plain old dead chicken simmering in the pot, add a few more stalks of celery. I particularly like to use the heart of the celery and some parsley for this purpose, since it is so fragrant.)
Remove all the meat and bones and vegetables from the stock. Pull all the meat from the bones and reserve, discarding bones, vegetables and chicken skin. (Strain the stock if you prefer, at this point.)

Depending on my inclinations, I either use all the chicken meat for the dish, or just the white meat, or just the dark meat. I like having the chicken meat to use for salad or sandwiches, other people just want more meat in their chicken and dumplings, especially at family dinners. (Just make sure to remove all the skin and all the vegetables. The vegetables have done their part and flavored the broth. At this point they are too overcooked to stay in the dish.)

At this point you'll have: 1 ball of dough in the fridge, 1 big pot of broth, simmering very gently on the stove, lots of chicken meat off the bone (and lots of chicken bones and other stuff to discard.) Depending on your dough skills, you might want to chill the chicken meat in the fridge while you roll out the dough, just to be on the safe side.

Remove the dough from the fridge, roll it out thin on a floured board, and cut into long strips about an inch wide. The dough should be moist and soft, but not soggy. Make sure to roll the dough out with enough flour that it doesn't stick to your work surface or rolling pin. If the dough stretches out a lot and springs back, the dough needs to rest a bit longer, or the dumplings will be tough. This isn't deadly, but most people don't actually prefer chewy dumplings. :o If the dough is just nice, soft and relaxed, the end product will be fine.

Check the broth, to see that it's simmering gently, then pick up a dough strip, tear off a piece about 3 inches long, and drop it in the pot. Keep adding 3 inch strips of dough, picking up another strip from your work surface as you go along. (If you cut the dough strips into 3-inch segments on the work surface, this works too, just remember that you'll have to pick up each and every one of those things, one at a time, to put them in the pot.)
Make sure to keep the stock simmering gently. Remember to keep the dumplings stirred up and separate, so you don't create a giant ball of dumpling in the pot. (No, you won't be able to convince anyone you did this on purpose, LOL!)

When you've added all the dumpling strips, add the chicken meat of your preference and simmer gently until the dumplings are done through.

You'll need to check the final product for salt. If the dish doesn't have enough salt, it isn't fit to eat, if there's too much, again, it isn't fit to eat. Better to err on the side of too little and add more at the table.

The final dish should be slightly soupy. The extra flour on the dumplings will cook in the broth and thicken, but shouldn't make things too thick. (If so, just add a bit of water to thin things down.)

For leftovers, I like to add a bit of extra water to the pot, and stir it in. The dumplings will soak up extra water overnight and you want to avoid creating lump-o-dumpling in your storage container. Things will thin out when re-heated, and you'll be glad of the extra water. (Remember you've created broth that'll congeal when it chills, so adding a little extra water to the leftovers just keeps things moist.)

If you'd like to reduce the amount of fat in the dish, make preparations a two day affair, so that you have time to chill the dough and the broth and remove the fat from the top of the broth. This is easier, if you can manage not to eat the chicken in the interim. (If that happens, just make soup! Use the dumpling dough, just as above and add a few veggies to liven things up if your family demands it.)

Just as a reminder for those who are truly unfamiliar with ‘chicken and dumplings,' this is a dish that in its' final form consists of only three things: Chicken meat, dumplings and broth. The vegetables exist solely to flavor the broth and aren't included in the final product.
Serve with biscuits, vegetables, iced tea and a healthy appetite.

Oh, I do prefer my chicken and dumplings with a good bit of black pepper, it keeps things lively, but you might want less in your own preparations.
(Sorry this is so long-winded, but I'm going to be away from the BB for about a week :( and wanted to make sure I didn't leave anything out.)

[Paula H]

Wow, you're all rich! I feed two on the equivalent of US$100 a fortnight (not including lunches for one of us), including loads of lite soy milk for myself, and lettuces for our rabbit. We live on chicken - agree with buying a big roaster and serving it a million different ways. Also I use lots of fresh veges and pasta to stretch things out. Also I make up the pasta sauce recipe below - it's enough for a small army, and can be served different (or frozen) over different nights (add lean mince to some, add different vegetables to some, serve it with rice or potatoes instead of pasta).

Tomato Pasta Sauce

A great sauce on its own, or add to it! I add zucchini, mushrooms, spinach, or whatever other vegetables catch my eye to make a thick, filling meal. You can also add lean mince to create a bolognaise sauce.


2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
7 1/2 cups canned tomatoes
3/4 cup tomato paste
2 teaspoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons freshly chopped Italian parsley

Serves 8

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.

Add onion and garlic, and saute until onion becomes very soft, about 10 minutes.

Turn heat to low. Add remaining ingredients except parsley. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 45 to 60 minutes.

Add parsley, stir, and cook 5 more minutes.

per serving:
Calories: 93.5
Fat: 2.0gm (0.3gm saturated)
Calories from fat: 16.8%
Carbohydrates: 9.4gm
Protein: 3.5gm

[MrsReber]

Pasta, pasta, pasta!! We make clam sauce, pasta with veggies- a tbsp of olive oil, chopped tomatoes and any veggies you want! Vodka sauce, regular marinara sauce, alfredo sauce. I think pasta is the most versatile food there is. Oh, and it also goes well with beans ;) !

We have omlettes for dinner and english muffin pizzas. Sometimes just grilled cheese and tomato with some soup. Reubens are good, too. And, of course, pizza- you can make your own dough or buy refrigerated dough then add whatever toppings you like. Tacos are a staple for us. The kit is only a few dollars in the store and we have lots of chop meat (made from venison and pork - dh hunts). Oh, and let's not forget lentils!!!

[tammy/MN]

these were a staple of my childhood in maine, it was "chinese pie" and "american chop suey"...i'm not sure why they had asian themes, they were definately not asian, but they could be found at most mom & pop restaurants. here goes...

chinese pie:

brown a # of hamburg w/ a few shakes of worshestershire sauce. put into loaf pan, top w/ can of cream-style corn, & top it all off w/ leftover potatoes, sprinkle w/ salt & pepper & a few daps of butter. bake, or nowadays, microwave until all hot, about 5+min micro, maybe a 1/2hr in 350 degree oven.

oops, forget to say, do not stir. serve w/ bread & salad.


american chop suey:

brown a # of hamburg w/ onions, green peppers & mushrooms, w/ a few shakes of worchestershire sauce. boil about a # of macaroni, elbows or shells are the best, drain pasta & add to browned hamburg mixture. mix in a can of stewed tomatoes, can of tomatoe sauce & can of tomato paste. heat thoroughly. we always add tabasco sauce, top w/ parm cheese, & serve w/ bread & butter.

these were, & still are comfort foods for us. you will be amazed at how this really won't be a stretch for you to be on a food budget. there were weeks, a few years back, where we only had about $50 a week to serve a family of 4, all 3 meals no less. you won't believe the stuff you actually have on-hand in your pantry & freezer that you can use. ;)

tammy

[olive101]

Just a comment about money spent on food. I know this has been a topic before, but I spend about $100 for two people per week, which does not include alcohol. This feeds us for 3 meals a day for 5-6 days. We do not eat meat, and eat seafood about once a week. I would be interested in sharing with others both my menu for the week and my grocery bill. Anyone else game?

Also, several people mentioned rounding out the meal with salad. It is expensive!!! This week I bought 2 heads of romaine and a small box of mesulin which cost $7.00 in total. It yielded enough lettuce for 4 sandwiches and 4 tiny side salads. Ok, half the mesulin was rotten, but I probably threw out enough for 1-2 small salads. So, here I am venting about the expense of lettuce and also wondering why others have suggested it as part of a low cost meal. :)

[m4star]

So many great suggestions!

And just so you all know, we are NOT rich. $160 for two weeks feeding 2 includes things like laundry detergent, paper towels, toilet paper, shampoo, soap, and cat food & litter. I'd say that roughly $10-$20 per week goes to these non-food items.

Mandy- We are staying in Montego Bay at the Sunset Beach Resort.

Olive- I'm totally game for compairing menus and food costs. I go shopping tonight, so I'll post a new thread tomorrow with all the info.

[tracey67]

olive101 - I can kind of understand what you're saying about salads being expensive, but there are ways to cut the cost and in the whole scheme of things I really don't think they break the bank.

For instance, this week I bought a bag of 3 heads of romaine, a box of grape tomatoes, and a cucumber. Total cost - $5. For the two of us, this is enough to make 4-5 side salads. Even once you add in the cost of salad dressing - the cost per meal isn't much more than $1 for the both of us. Unless you're on a REALLY tight budget (IMO, this would be less than $50 per week for two) - I think the suggestion of a side salad still fits into a cheap (and healthy) meal.

[Peeps]

Little Bit - Thanks so much for your chicken and dumplings "instructions" - very thorough! I know it seems very basic but I've still got a lot to learn about cooking and don't know some of these basic things yet - but I'm getting there thanks to you guys! Now if I could just deal with the whole chicken thing - the thought of the giblets and all that (even just reaching inside the chicken to get them) skeeves me a bit - I've never bought a whole chicken before! I think I could do this recipe with parts though or maybe even get brave and buy a chicken!
Anyway, thanks so much for sharing it, I appreciate it!

[BosunsWife]

I agree with Tracey67. Even in Hawaii I can get a package of six romaine hearts at Costco for $2.99. I usually add some cucumber and tomato. Not very imaginative, but fits the bill for an additional fresh veggie and satisfies my salad craving.

[JanetB]

Peeps -
Roasted whole chicken is the best - and not really as gross as it sounds. If you get the big oven stuffer roasters - ie Purdue or something like it - the majority of the gross work is done. It giblets and the neck come in a little waxpaper bag - you just grab it and chuck it. You still have to clean the inside of the chicken - but most of the grossness is gone. I got a friend of mine over this "grossed out buy cleaning it thing" a year ago. We found the best answer for her was to wear rubber gloves. She was fine as long as it was not barehanded.

And, I stand by the idea that if it is a big enough bird - you get a few meals out of it. So - it is the ideal food for cheapie meals.

Janet

[tammy/MN]

don't rule out turkeys as well, they can be pretty cheap & the left over meat can always be frozen.

i need my salads daily, to stay satisfied. we had chinese food last nite, didn't get alot--no veggies, & i was still hungry afterwards, i missed my salad.

someone mentioned in another thread how she ate her salad at the end of the meal, she tended to overeat at the end of the meal, picking at the leftovers, so she switched eating her salad at the end instead of at the beginning, & it works.

[Peeps]

JanetB- GREAT idea on the rubber gloves - you may have something there! I have rubber gloves all over the place since I swear by them to keep my hands/nails in good shape - I have a housecleaning pair, a pair for doing dishes - why not a chicken cleaning pair! I will say the whole giblets bag thing, even though its a bag, still grosses me out to no end. My other concern with a whole chicken is being able to get all the meat off - it seems a bit like surgery trying to get all the little bits of meat off the bone. I hated chicken on the bone as a kid since I'd always get scolded for leaving tons of meat - when it seemed that I spent forever trying to get all of it off!
Maybe someday soon I'll get up the courage to buy my first whole dead bird but I think I have a ways to go. I eat meat rarely and only just recently started buying boneless chicken pieces - and even then I have to plop them right in the pan from the package without touching them or looking at them too much!

[Leanne]

Originally posted by Peeps
My other concern with a whole chicken is being able to get all the meat off - it seems a bit like surgery trying to get all the little bits of meat off the bone. I hated chicken on the bone as a kid since I'd always get scolded for leaving tons of meat - when it seemed that I spent forever trying to get all of it off!


The trick there is to then boil the whole bird to make chicken broth for chicken noodle soup! The little bits usulally fall off into the broth. :) - This is also a good way to stretch your budget.

[kima]

Just wanted to share three of my all-time favorite cookbooks- especially because they are packed with tasty, cheap everyday dishes. My copies are battered, stained, and scribbled in. I love them!!
Whole Foods For the Whole Family iss published by the International La Leche League. This was my bible when my kids were small and I still love it. One of my dearest friends edited the bread section and I can honestly say you won't find better bread recipes anywhere. This is a must for young families but I use it all the time and my girls are young adults.
The More with Less Cookbook by Doris Longacre is a classic. With contributions from Mennonites around the world the recipes are quick and cheap. The book's philosophy is very inspiring.
Extendinig the Table.. A World Community Cookbook is a continuance of More with Less- great and authentic recipes from around the world. I particularrly love the Indian section.
I am sure most libraries carry these- give them a try- I can't imagine my own cookbook shelves without thwm!:)

[Little Bit]

Originally posted by Peeps
Little Bit - Thanks so much for your chicken and dumplings "instructions" - very thorough! I know it seems very basic but I've still got a lot to learn about cooking and don't know some of these basic things yet - but I'm getting there thanks to you guys!

Hi again Peeps! I'm finally back on the boards after an ENTIRE WEEK away!
Good luck with your experiments in the kitchen. I'm happy to share my recipe. Hope it's coherent. I typed it kinda late at night, LOL!
By the way, you can make chicken and dumplings with just a few chicken breasts, if you'd like. It works better doing that if you have some broth already available to supplement the dish. (I dislike the canned varieties, especially for chicken and dumplings, mostly because of the salt issue, but also for whatever flavor it is that canned broth has that homemade doesn't. Maybe you could cook a bit of celery in the canned broth just to help the flavor?)
My family revolts at the very idea of using just the chicken breasts, mostly because it reduces the amount of left over chicken and dumplings available for future feasting.

Did I forget to mention that they don't freeze well at all? (You wind up with chicken and a floury broth soup. Not bad, but not exactly dumplings!)

[Peeps]

Thanks Little Bit! (Welcome back BTW, I noticed you've been absent for a bit glad you're back!) I have some chicken thighs in the freezer - do you think I could use those and canned broth to make chicken and dumplings? I'm still not sure I could handle a whole chicken - the other night I tried cutting up some boneless chicken thighs and I could barely handle that - it still makes me shudder to think about it!
But if I could just dump the thighs in the broth that might be an easy way for me to get started with chicken and dumplings! I know, I know, I'm a big cooking baby!

[JHolcomb]

Dang. I feel like a spendthrift. DH and I spend about $120 a week and it's just us. Granted, it's not just groceries (I refuse to set foot inside a Wal-Mart, so all cleaning supplies, personal products, etc are bought at grocery store), but still. OK, I do pack his lunch every single day and I eat lunch here every day. We also eat breakfast at home, buy expensive coffee, artisinal milk products, and organic fruits, veggies, and meat when possible. OK, so this week I only spent $90, and that included the expensive coffee, so maybe I'm still trying to catch up on stuff that I had to throw out when we moved. Ya think you have everything you need and then you realize his favorite razor's missing. There's $10 right there. Or half of your spice collection spilled out when you moved. $20 easy. Oh, and that includes alcohol. I tend to buy things on sale, so I may have spent $120 a week for the past month, but the bill will go down a lot because I have a freezer full of food now. Thank God.

Anyway, I know it's been said already, but beans. Beans beans beans. Bree's Lentil Soup from Sept. 01 is good and it fed us for 3 days. It cost maybe $3.00 to make, and that was using all organic ingredients and homemade stock.

The chicken idea is good too. I just made soup stock and used to meat to make a chicken salad. Also, homemade tomato sauce (ok, jarred is cheaper than dirt, but if you spend an extra dollar or two you'll actually want to eat it) works on anything. Spaghetti and meatballs is good for a dinner and then lunch for two (meatball subs) tfor a couple of days. The leftover sauce can be used on homemade pizza, which is soooooo cheap if you make your own dough and leave off the meat. I would say that costs maybe 2 bucks for 2 servings.

I use the chunky tomato sauce recipe from CL Complete, but don't like it chunky, so I puree. As for meatballs, I more or less follow the first one listed in CL Complete, but use half ground turkey breast, half lean ground beef instead of what they list, and instead of using tomato sauce as a binder, I use egg. Oh yeah, I make 'em a lot smaller than the recipe says. I get about 45 out of that recipe. Good luck!

[Little Bit]

Hi again Peeps!

Thighs are a great choice! I've made small batches of chicken and dumplings with no problem many a time when I just had to have some comfort food. It might even be a better way to get started. (Find out how great they taste and you'll have to have a bigger batch.)

If the 'dead bird' thing grosses you out, why not try freezing the bird pieces? They won't be so mushy that way. I keep chicken breasts and thighs frozen in the freezer so I can pull out one or two, so it's no great hassle to snag 'em.
One thing to watch with thighs though, is fat. There's a fair amount of fat in and under the skin, especially with the cheaper mega-packs of thighs where I usually shop.

I've been trying to think what to cook tomorrow, now that I'm back home. Hmmm ... We haven't had any chicken and dumplings in at least THREE weeks! Yikes!

Happy cooking!

[karole]

what about carrots??? for salads--or to cook==what about squash==at this time of year? what about apples at this time o year---for salads. what about potatoes? what about cooked cereal? like oatmeal from the co-op? what about cabbage for salads? forget lettuce--it is now a rip off.

[Wendy w]

I posted this a long time ago but it is really good and cheap. This recipe came from a friend of my Aunt's who grew up in Italy. I used to make marinara with everything but the kitchen sink until I tried this. It freezes well, and also makes a great pizza sauce. There are no exact amounts so you use as much onion and garlic as you like. Have fun in Jamaica Melinda!

Rose Sutter's Marinara Sauce

chopped onion
minced garlic
tomato paste
tomato sauce (use larger can than the tomato paste)
1 can of water (use the tomato sauce can)
Pecorino Romano (I like this best, but you can use parmesan or asiago if you want)

Saute the onion and garlic in saucepan until translucent, add the tomato paste and cook until almost burnt (it will become "crispy").

Add canned tomato sauce and one can of water, bring to boil, simmer 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Add Pecorino Romano. Use over a medium shaped pasta like moscatoli.

[islandgirl]

Ever thought about a ham? I don't know if you're a vegetarian or not, but a bone-in ham can be a very cost-conscious choice. Sunday, bake the ham with whatever glaze you like, pair it with mashed potatoes and veggie and salad and its a feast. Over the next week, use the meat for breakfast (sandwiches, pan-fried with eggs, on the side of pancakes, waffles) whatever you like. For lunch, you could do ham and cheese sandwiches, ham salad, or add some diced meat to a pasta salad or make the ham and cheese scones (CL) to go with a salad. When you're down to the bone, soak some beans, sautee some veggies and make a great soup. Buy a great loaf of bread (or even better, bake one), and you have a great dinner, and probably a few lunches. Not a bad dividend of that initial purchase. And because it can be used in all sorts of different situations, with different flavorings, you're not left saying," Not ham again!". good luck!