[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Cheap Recipes? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 9/8/2007 11:23:02 AM EDT
|
My wife and I are on a tight budget, but we are sick of the same recipes over and over. We try to eat relatively healthy, whole grains chicken, tuna low fat beef ect. I know we got some killer cooks on here, so got any good recipes that are cheap and relatively healthy? The wife and I greatly appreciate it! |
|
Cheap huh??? Well using two pounds of human pooh, spread evenly onto greased cookie sheet. Cover entire spread with old newspapers and glaze with used motor oil. Bake at 425 for 40-45 minutes. Allow to cool for 15 minutes and top with finely minced pubic hair left over from last manscaping. Makes 4-6 servings. For a low calorie version use pooh of third world, African nation child. 
|
|
Put a beef roast in the crock pot with a package of italian salad dressing mix. Add pepperoncini peppers and water. Cook until tender. Make sandwiches or serve with rice. Alternately, put a pork roast in the crock pot with a few cans of shittake mushrooms. Cook until tender and serve over rice. Ramen noodles are pretty good, too. Buy the shrimp-flavored ones, and add a few shrimp to them (buy flash-frozen shrimp in the frozen food scetion of the grocery store) plus a few drops of soy sauce. There's an old army dish called 'S-O-S' that is easy to make: Brown a pack of ground beef. Use the grease to make gravy, add the beef back in, stir it up, and serve over toast (uh...shingles). All of the above can feed you for very little $$. |
|
pea soup and corn bread 1/2 cup wheat,1/2 cup whole corn, grind and sift, add 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp backing powder, 1 egg OR 1 tbs ev olive oil. don't over mix. preheat 4 cup crock pot for 5 min then pore mixture into pot leave plugged in for 50 minutes then unplug and let sit for 10, remove bread and add 1 cup split peas, 1/4 tsp salt, pepper to taste, and some ham or bacon meat 2 cups water plug in for 2-2.5 hours stir after 1 hour. |
|
Anything with rice in it is fairly cheap. When I was a college student I came up with a ton of cheap meals using rice as an extender. HECK, 75% of the world uses rice as a primary starch source! The supermarket near me has chicken and pork and beef on sale all the time........I'd stir fry them all and enjoy experimenting with spices. Do you have an ALDI store near you?..........ALDI has nice low prices........"most" of their foods are tasty. Be creative with rice and pasta. |
What sort of stuff do you add to rice as an extender? I use a lot of rice in my shtf food supplies. I eat a lot of it too, but usually with fresh cooked chicken or beef in some kind of sauce. Things I've been storing to go with the rice are spices like chili powder and curry, canned foods, tomatos, soups, stews, some freeze dried "backpacker" foods that I'd eat with a big bowl of rice. I store beans too, but really I don't like the taste of beans all that much so they're more an "oh shit you've got nothing left and you're starving" type thing that I just bought because they were cheap. |
Dude, that sounds awesome.  My dad makes that SOS with chipped beef and toast AND mashed potatoes. I can the diet when I'm home. 
|
|
A pound of Andoulle Sausage, and a pack of Cajun 15 bean soup. Chop Brown the sausage, add a sliced onion. Cook soup according to package instructions, add the meat toward the end. 2 people will eat from this pot for at least two days. It is pretty good, even though it looks like vomit. $6 My kids (not picky eaters) love it. FWIW Alfredo is pretty cheap. Pint of cream, 1/2 stick of butter, cup of parmesean cheese, salt/pepper. Noodles, left over chicken, shrimp, whatever. Serves 4 $5 BTW, I am the fire station cook. 
|
|
Killer potato things use a good no stick skillet, grate chedder chesse directly on skillet to make a lattice work, so you can still see %50 of the pan bottom then grate leftover baked potato's until 1/4-3/8" thick add chives or green onions and sour cream to half of the skillet and flip the other half over when the chesse is browned to your likeing serve imediately. |
| Wedding chicken. Real easy and tasty. Take a pyrex backing dish and layer the bottom with dried, salted a beef, the stuff that comes in the bottle. Put chicken breast down over the beef and add spread bacon over the top of the chicken. Pour mushroom soup over everything and bake in the oven. Don't know about healthy, but damn tasty. |
I agree on both counts. 
|
|
mexican beans 1 1/2 cup beans 3 cups water, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1/2 tsp cummin 1/4 tsp oregano put in 4 cup crock pot for 3- 4 hours depending on the age of the beans, salt to taste. whole wheat tortillas grind 1 cup wheat sift add 1/4 tsp salt and enough water to make a stiff dough roll out a log and cut into 8 pieces and then roll them out with a vodka bottle cook on hot skillet for 20 seconds/side or so serve with beans. |
|
I'm not sure of the exact recipe, but a friend of mine (college student, so tight budget too) made a wonderful meal one night for us...I remember this much: Boil boneless, skinless chicken breast until cooked thoroughly, then cut up into small cubes. Mix the chicken cubes with cream cheese and spice to taste On a greased cookie sheet, roll out biscuits (those Pillsbury ones that look like triangles when flat). Put some of the chicken mix in each biscuit, and roll it up. Bake according to biscuit directions (till the biscuits are golden brown). She served this with homemade mashed red potatoes, and it was delicious, and the whole thing probably cost under $15, and that was for 4 people. With only 2 people, you would probably only need 2 chicken breasts and a package of the biscuits. |
|
Cube up a couple of chicken breasts. In a casserole dish, add 1 cup of uncooked rice, 1 can each of cream of mushroom and cream of celery soup. Add about 2 cups of water or chicken broth. Mix well, then add chicken pieces. Let cook until rice is done. Serve with favorite veggies as side. |
+1 1.25lbs dried split peas, 12 cups water, finely chopped onion, coarsely cubed carrot, salt, pepper, chunks of ham. Put it on the stove at low boil for a couple of hours. Walmart sells the peas for fifty cents a pound; if you can find a farmer who grows them, you can get them for fifteen cents a pound. Likewise beans. Rice is cheap, but is basically 100% starch; not a lot of nutritional value there. Good for mixing up with the beans, though (good ol' red beans & rice). Lentils are cheap too, but I'm not a big fan of them. Turkey is a relatively cheap meat; it's half the price of beef nowadays, maybe less. Avoid the heavily processed foods like "chicken nuggets", "chicken patties", and so on -- you can buy chicken breast meat and throw some sauce and breading on it, and it'll be both cheaper and of better quality. |
That sounds awesome. Now I just need to learn to grind wheat. 
|
|
I get packages of chicken thighs at Costco for under a buck a pound. That is a screamin good deal. Boring old ground beef is over twice that. You can do fried chicken with it very nicely. I also like to cut it into pieces about the size of the last joint of my pinky and then fry it and put it on rice with some peanuts and green onions. Add some rice vinegar, and asian chili paste and it is quite a tasty meal. I'm also a big fan of pot roast. Buy yourself a 5lb or so package of chuck steak ($3lb/ at Costco/Sam's) Brown it and throw it in the crockpot. Then fill it the rest of the way up with cubed potatoes, carrots, and onion slices. Add salt, pepper, and garlic to taste. I also add a few crused chile de arbol peppers for a little kick. Then let the crock pot simmer on low for 8-10 hours. Serve with some home made bread for a very cheap and satisfying meal. You can substitute a locally baked loaf of french bread or italian bread if you don't have time to bake your own bread, but you should really give it a try if you are on a budget and have the time. I also can my pot roast in a pressure canner, and then it makes very easy and cheap lunches for work. One big batch of pot roast will produce a couple of weeks worth of lunches that will be the envy of your co-workers. You also don't have to worry about spoilage this way. |
|
Taters& friends. Alternate layers of Sour Kraut, Colby cheese, thin sliced red spuds, and Kielbasa in a Bread pan(Loaf pan). mix in slices of green and red pepper. Finish with a layer of shredded cheese, cover with foil. Bake@ 350 for about an hour uncover, bake untill cheese on top browns. Usually feeds the wife and I for 2 days, and about 5 bucks. S-28 |
And bake your own bread. Better than storebought, plus it's a hell of a lot cheaper. Oh yeah, and start a garden in the backyard. Ugh. Page 2 belong me. 
|
|
I buy those cheap flank steaks that nobody else wants for cheap at the store.... I put them in a black iron skillet and brown them, then add an onion and some garlic... I season eveything with Tony's and then add some water. Next I stick the covered skillet in the oven @ 250-300 degrees and add a little water as it cooks off... When the meat is falling apart (acouple of hours) I pull it out! Place this over rice and serve with corn bread and vegetables of your choice! I also like my pork... When pork roast are on sale I grab as many as I can afford. In a crock pot I place 1 pork shoulder, 1 onion, 1 bell pepper, 2 cloves garlic, and some Tony's and leave it on HI for a few hours! It will take several hours for the pork to fall apart but once it does you can do anything you want, like serve over rice or make fajita's.... Another thing I do with beef is cube it up, brown it, then add an onion and bell pepper, and some garlic.... can't forget that Tony's and then once everything is right I throw in 1 can of Rotel Tomatoes, 1 can of Tomatoe Suace, 1 can of Tomatoe Paste and slow cook this concoction for a couple of hours.... When you can't stand it anymore, serve over rice or even pasta! And when I'm really really broke, I get some charcoal and cook several different meats on the grill.... place the left overs in ziplock bags and throughout the week use those meats in soups and stuff. The charcoal gives ordinary chicken soup an awesome different flavor! - Clint |
|
Roast or grill chicken/first night eat wings & legs served with a baked potato.Next night serve brest over wide noodles or rice mixed with gravy and a can of peas & carrots. Next night make soupe. This can feed you two for three days for under $20. Slice or cube kilbasa/smoked sausage (what ever is on sale 2 for 1) fry till done drain. Add 5 or 6 cans of red beans one beer spice to taste, (green or hot peppers,onion) serve over rammon noodles or rice freeze leftovers in quart bags should be enough for 2 or 3 more nights. Three days $7 One pound of ground beef with toco mix, 2cups of "cooked rice" mix together. Serve soft shell tacos lettuce cheese, tomato,refried beens whatever you like. $8 two days Two pounds of ground beef or pork three cans of the cheapest spaghetti sauce (what ever is on sale 2 for 1) spice to taste serve over pasta. freeze leftovers in quart bags.$10 four or five days The great thing about freezing leftovers is it saves money and makes the next meal quick Soups and stews are great money savers cheap and healthy. |
| Make beer can chicken in either a grill or your oven. Good and hard to get cheaper than chicken unless you do without meat all together. Learn to make a good meatloaf, allthough I am still working on that. Learn how to cook spagetti and for that pasta. You can eat well and cheap off of pasta. |
|
What do you consider cheap? Flank steak is 6.00 and some change a lb in my neck of the woods. That's not cheap to me. What do you pay a pound for it up in AK? The recipe sounds good though. I usually use flank steak for london broil, and I don't have it that often. On another note I haven't seen any game recipes. Asian spices and sauces add amazing flavor. If you can get them I highly recommend experimenting. To the OP. When you say healthy are you just looking at fat or sodium as well. Lorna's 2 hour chicken 6-8 thighs 1 large tomato 1rib of celery 2 Tbs parsley flakes 6 cloves garlic quartered 1 tsp salt 1/2 cup olive oil/ or vegetable oil 1/2 tsporegano 1/2 tsp black pepper 1/4 tspbasil 1/8 tsp nutmeg In baking dish, mix together olive oil, tomato, celery, parsley flakes, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, basil and nutmeg. Layer thighs on top of mixture, caver and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes at 350 degrees, uncover and bake for additional 15 minutes. Serve with rice or wide noodles. This is even better the second day. |
|
You aren't going to be eating gourmet stuff and still be cheap. I have to feed four kids on a limited budget so here are my fav's. Spagetti Carbonara: some spagetti, an egg, some parmesan, chopped ham, maybe some pepper and garlic= done Meatloaf, swedish meatballs, chili, darn near anything with pasta. And an ex boyfriend's friends cooked this: 4 different kinds of beans (like pinto, garbanzo, red bean, black bean) some chopped onion and garlic, and Kolbaski (sp?) sausage. Throw it all in a crock pot for a few hours. Two people could eat that for days. I suppose you could portion out the leftovers and freeze it. I feed my crew two days with one batch. Oh yeah, try to make as much as possible from scratch. All those pre made mixes are expensive. I rarely by any boxed stuff. Make your own mac and cheese, sauces, ect.... I spend about $400 a month to feed 5 people. That includes laundry soap and whatnot. Coupons are a PITA but help alot too. I average saving about 20-30 dollars a trip with coupons. |
|
cant miss recipe, Mom used to make it alot when we were kids, and things were tight Chicken Scarpariello sliced hot cherry peppers from a jar or red pepper flakes 1/4 cup olive oil 1 red bell pepper, julienned 2 cloves garlic, crushed 2 1/2 lb chicken, cut in small serving pieces(or chicken pieces bought cut) 1 lb Italian sausage links (sweet or hot or both), cut in 1-inch pieces 1 onion, sliced 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed 1 cup chicken broth 1/2 cup dry white wine 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1- 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice 2 potatoes (small dice) 3/4 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced In a skillet, heat oil. Add chicken and sausage in batches; brown on all sides, removing pieces to a plate as they brown. Discard all but 2 tablespoons drippings from pan. To hot drippings in pan add mushrooms, peppers, onion, potatoes and remaining garlic; saute until tender. Return chicken and sausage to skillet. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, the rosemary, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, the broth and wine. Bring to a boil; lower heat and simmer, covered, until chicken is tender, about 25 minutes. Remove chicken and sausage from skillet; arrange on warm serving platter. Goes great over Angel hair, linguine, etc (optional) Skim fat from mixture in skillet. In a small glass measure, mix flour with 1/4 cup water until blended. Stir into liquid in skillet. Bring to boiling, stirring constantly; boil for 1 minute, stirring, until mixture thickens. Spoon sauce over chicken and sausage |
| Get the packages of chicken breasts when they're on sale for $1.99 a pound, some brown rice, some frozen stir-fry vegetables, and some various asianish sauces. Boil some water and put in the rice (brown rice takes close to an hour to cook), then slice up the chicken into little strips and fry it in a HOT HOT wok. When it's done, turn down the heat, throw in the frozen vegetables and sauce, and wait for it to cook. If you time it right, the vegetables will be cooked at the same time the rice is done. You can get fancy if you like by throwing in some cashews and such. |
|
I've got a ton of recipes. Let me know if you want any veggie side dishes too. Turkey Chili olive oil 2 lbs ground turkey breast (or you could use an equivilent amount of cut up turkey breast) 1 large red pepper, diced 1 cup sweet onion, diced 1 TBSP minced garlic 1 can (4.5 oz) diced green chilis 2 cans crushed tomato 1 can (15-16 oz) pinto beans, rinsed and drained chili powder cumin In a large pot pour in enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Add the red pepper, onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is soft and transparent, do no brown. Add the turkey. If using ground turkey, break it up into small pieces as it cooks. When the turkey is cooked, add the can chilis, crushed tomato, and pinto beans. Stir well. Add chili powder, and cumin to taste. (I never measure those so I have no clue how much I add.) Simmer on low for at least 1 hour. Yield: 8 large servings Mexican Chicken 6 chicken leg quarters or breasts, skin removed 1 large jar salsa, as hot as you like 1 large red pepper, diced small 2 TBS cumin 2 TBS lemon juice 2 TBS chili powder 3 cloves garlic, crushed 2 - 15oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed Arrange chicken in 3 qt casserole or large baking pan. Mix together salsa, cumin, lemon juice, chili powder, garlic, and pepper. Pour mixture over chicken. Pour beans on top and cover. Bake at 400 for 1.5 hours. Yield: 6 servings Lemon-Garlic Roast Chicken 1 6-7# whole roaster chicken 1 lemon, scrubbed well and sliced thin 1/4 cup minced garlic 2 cup white wine 1 TBSP each - garlic powder, onion powder, parsley Preheat oven to 400. Rinse chicken inside and out with cold water and pat dry. Remove pop-up timer. Place chicken breast up inside an oven cooking bag in large baking pan. Carefully lift skin of breast and push some garlic and lemon slices under skin. Pour wine over top of chicken and then sprinkle with seasonings. Close cooking bag and pierce twice to vent steam. Cook for 1 2 hrs, remove from oven. Let rest for 15 minutes before cutting. Yield: 4 servings + leftovers Stir-Fried Chicken with Chinese Cabbage 1 1/3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 4), cut into 1-inch pieces 1 tablespoon plus 4 teaspoons soy sauce 3 tablespoons dry sherry 1/2 head Chinese cabbage (about 1 pound), sliced 1/4 teaspoon cayenne 3/4 cup drained sliced water chestnuts 2 tablespoons cooking oil 2 teaspoons tomato paste 1 onion, chopped 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes 2 cloves garlic, minced 3 tablespoons water 1 teaspoon ground coriander 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro or scallion tops 1 tablespoon wine vinegar 1/8 teaspoon salt In a medium bowl, combine the chicken with the 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of the sherry, and the cayenne. Let marinate for 10 minutes. In a wok or large frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderately high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring, until almost done, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan. Add the onion, garlic, and coriander. Cook, stirring, until the onions are golden, about 4 minutes. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons sherry and the vinegar. Cook, stirring, 1 minute longer. Add the cabbage, water chestnuts, the remaining 4 teaspoons soy sauce, the tomato paste, red-pepper flakes, and water and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes longer. Add the chicken and any accumulated juices, the cilantro, and the salt and cook, stirring, until the chicken is just done, 1 to 2 minutes longer.Yield: 4 servings Chicken Provencale For Vegetables: 2 cups cubed peeled eggplant 1/4 cup red or dry white wine, or chicken broth 2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped 2 tablespoons snipped fresh basil 1 medium onion, sliced halved and thinly or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil, crushed 1 medium red sweet pepper, cut into thin strips 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 medium green sweet pepper, cut into thin strips 1/2 teaspoon salt For Chicken: 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (1 pound total) 1 tablespoon olive oil or cooking oil Salt 1/2 teaspoon paprika FOR VEGETABLE: In a large saucepan combine the eggplant, tomatoes, onion, red and green sweet peppers, wine or chicken broth, basil, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Uncover and simmer for 5 minutes more, or till vegetables are tender and nearly all of the liquid is evaporated. FOR CHICKEN: Rinse chicken; pat dry. Place each breast half between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Working from the center to the edges, pound chicken lightly with the flat side of a meat mallet to a 1/4-inch thickness. Remove plastic wrap. Sprinkle chicken lightly with salt. In a large skillet heat the oil and paprika over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 4 to 6 minutes, or till tender and no pink remains, turning once. |
I bought a set from Sam's Club about 10 years ago and it included a small pan, 2 large pans, 1 12" deep pan with a lid and a dutch oven.... I think it came with a griddle too but I haven't seen it in years! You have to season them and it takes a long time to get them "right", it also takes a while to care for them properly but it's worth it! BTW I use the one lid that I have on all of the pans except the small one! The dutch oven has it's own as well! - Clint |
|
Don't buy bread. This easy NO KNEAD recipe has been sweeping the internet and creates bread like you would buy at your local bakery. It is bar none the best bread recipe I have ever encountered. My dad said upon tasting it "I have been trying to make bread like this for 30 years". A good cast iron dutch oven with lid is the secret to to awesome crust as it creates a "mini-oven". www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Ah9ES2yTU Recipe: No-Knead Bread Article Tools Sponsored By Published: November 8, 2006 Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting ¼ teaspoon instant yeast 1¼ teaspoons salt Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed. 1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees. 2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes. 3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger. 4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack. Yield: One 1½-pound loaf. |
I buy the marked down meat... I just bought 2 4lbs beef roasts for under $5/ea.... I'll cook them in my dutch oven like I do the steaks and then throw in potatoes and carrots, maybe a can of corn and some peas and we'll have a bad ass stew.... I usually freeze all of my left overs in portion sizes too! Another thing I do to save money is go to Sam's Club and buy bulk Onion, Celery, Green Onion, and Bell Pepper... I chop them all up and put them in individual gallon sized freezer bags... as I'm cooking I'l pull out a handful of frozen onion, a handful of frozen bell pepper, and throw it in the skillet. It saves time and it's cheaper than buying 1 onion at a time! It also reduces waste! - Clint |
I applaud you on that. Man believe me, I know how hard it is to budget groceries. Thats impressive. |
Awesome! Man you guys helped alot! I found alot of ideas I can use. Keep em comin if you got em! |
| I make pea soup in my crockpot often as well. It is so cheap for so much. I also have found lots of easy cheap recipes from campbell's soup and similar companies. I also make a lot of huge batches of rice and beans. Rice and pasta are the best cause you can do anything with them. I have lots of specific great recipes, IM me if you want some. |
|
My brother is a chef for the NC Pork Council. His recipe for this years expo: NC Pork Spare Ribs and Cabbage Ingredients: 8 spare ribs 1 medium head of green cabbage 1 large vidalia onion 4 nice sized red potatoes (opptional) 1/4 c brown sugar 1/4 c apple cider 6 whole cloves of garlic (halved) 1 tsp crushed red pepper salt and pepper ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Heat large Dutch oven. Season ribs with salt and pepper and brown on all sides, cover with julienne vidalia, garlic and whole potatoes. Leave the core of the cabbage intact, slice into half moon shaped wedges, 6 or 8 and layer around vessel with rounded edge facing outward. Add sugar, vinegar, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. Cover. Turn to low heat and simmer for 2 - 2 1/2 hours until cabbage and pork are tender. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I find cooking like this a great way to enjoy good, hearty comfort food in the summer without heating up the house. Crock pot ok. Not for browning. Buttered and peppered rice is a great side if you don't like potatoes or just want to be a little more Southern. Not exactly health food (ribs aren't exactly lean) but definitely tasty & cheap. |
|
The Frugal Gourmet - Recipes www.angelfire.com/ca2/twarda/recipes.html |
|
We've gotten some killer recipes off the Food Network's website. Might give it a try...there's some really good stuff on there. www.foodnetwork.com/food/cooking/ HH |