Looking for quick, cheap dinner ideas/recipes...

No way in hell I would accept the damn invites!:razz:

Seriously, RAMEN NOODLES?:lol::lol::lol:

Yes, seriously.

I work long, long days, and the kids eat at school and at their after school programs. Dinner in our house is a formality, not a necessity..but by necessity it must be quick, easy, cheap. I'm not running a restaurant, I'm trying to instill a habit in my family, save some money, and teach the kids how to use a stove.

I'm a cook, too. I know it's essentially cafeteria food we're talking about here, though a little better because I'm making it, and it's in small batches. But when I think of my childhood, where we had spectacular food...but not consistency....and my best friend's childhood, where they had meals like this...EVERY SINGLE NIGHT..I pick my friend's method. All the kids in that family still maintain the tradition of a sit-down dinner every single night. It's the activity, not the slop, that matters.

So I deliberately am choosing a really simple menu that I can stick to, and the kids can help with. I make wonderful bread, gourmet pies, and I can do marvelous things with meat. But I don't want to teach them to eat. I want to teach them to maintain a schedule, plan out the week's meals, and focus on the event, not the chow. Food is what we take in to keep us alive, it doesn't have to be a feast every day of the week.

I don't know how she does it, but my daughter can go into the kitchen and 20 minutes later have a wonderful meal including dessert on the table. She cooks with her crock pot a lot, and she makes a lot of salads which are inclusive of meat.

She stayed with me several weeks this summer while I was sick and I was in complete awe of her skills. She cooks with soup, rice, chicken broth, etc. And she makes sandwiches with frozen precooked chicken patties and burgers, but she puts a sensational sauce on them as well as things like sauteed onions and various colors of sweet peppers.
She also has some great veggie dishes which include meat so two birds with one stone there. She uses Stovetop Stuffing as a side, and she mixes it up with a can of mushroom soup. She cooks casseroles and soups and freezes them in individual servings.

It is all tasty and filling.

Chicken Spectacular is one I like and use a lot when I have company coming:

Chicken Spectacular Recipe - Allrecipes.com

I love cooking for my mom when I visit her. She's diabetic and doesn't eat as she should, so I like to cook early in the am for her. I come up with stuff to tempt her too...
 
I have committed to creating weekly menus. I'm on week three and I'm running out of ideas. I want to have 5 weeks, then we can just rotate.

My menus per day usually just have two items; the entree and one side. Spaghetti & salad, meatloaf & potatoes, Oriental Casserole and...well I think that one stands on its own.

I found it yesterday and can't wait to try it. Super simple, I think it will be a hit, SUPER cheap. Cook 4 packets of ramen, add oil, fry some ground turkey, add 2 packets of the seasoning to the meat, add 2 packets of the seasoning (and some frozen mixed veggies) to the noodles, then mix the whole shebang.

I work and I have a daughter learning to cook, so I'm looking for simple, super cheap, not many ingredients. We don't get home until 6 pm or so at night, so I'm not interested in recipes that need all sorts of prep and special ingredients.

So does anyone else rely on a menu to feed their family? I got tired of always having to scramble and never knowing what we were having. I want to have it laid out so we know when we go to school and work what we're going to have that night, and I can make sure we come home with whatever we might need.

Tonight we're having swedish meat balls and carrots. I'm using gr turkey, cream of mushroom soup (I know, I know, but it works for some things) and egg noodles (and sour cream). Carrots are about the cheapest veggie going if you buy the big dirty ones and cut them up. I cook them in the microwave, super easy.

Pears for dessert, but we don't always have dessert.

Roast, any type. Salt and pepper to taste, brown it in a skillet, chuck it in a crock pot set on medium or high with carrots, potato and onion and walk away until dinner time the next day.

Beans, what ever type you like with the appropriate amount of water, two table spoons of chili powder, onion 1 pablano pepper, OR one 16 oz jar of your preferred salsa per pound of beans and what ever meat you prefer. Put it all in the crock put turn it on and walk away until dinner time.

Take chicken thighs, remove the skin and dip them in ranch dressing, and roll them in Italian bread crumbs. Bake them in the oven until done.

I can make all those for under $10.00 and feed five.
 
I love to make roast in the crock pot...further along in my menus I have a crock pot roast followed the next day by lunch of roast sammies, something the kids love, and then the next night, a small, simple stew.

I don't put spuds and carrots in the crock pot. I throw the roast in with a packet of gravy mix and a can of cr of mush or chicken soup, usually, makes a great gravy.

I also don't usually brown it before I put it in the crock pot. I can even put a frozen roast in there and have it turn out just fine.

If I'm cooking it in the oven, I season it, oil the pan (I use a cast iron chicken fryer) and throw the roast in at a high heat for a while until it gets brown, then cover it and turn it down, put some water in and let it cook for a few more hours.

And I LOVE liver and onions. I remember we used to have it fairly regularly in our house growing up but since I'm the only one who likes it in my adult house, I hardly ever cook it anymore.

Safeway has a sale section in the meat department...I scope that out pretty thoroughly whenever I'm there.
 
Baked Brie

1 round of Brie any size.
Remove rind from the top. Heap sugar free apricot preserves on top. Microwave until it is all gooey and melted! Serve with your favorite crackers.
 
Eye of Round

1 Eye of Round
1 can mushroom gravy
1 packet of brown gravy mix

Wrap the eye of round in foil. Cook 1 hour per pound. Cool in the foil and refrigerate over night. Slice in 1/2 inch slices and put in a shallow baking pan. Prepare the packet of brown gravy mix per directions. Pour the brown gravy and the can of mushroom gravy over the slices. Heat in the oven for 30 minutes or until all is warmed through. Serve.
 
Oh yum. Yum yum yum.

I love blue cheese and smoked oysters on crackers, or with good bakery bread.

Oysters! We can have oysters! I'm adding oysters to the menu.
 
Yum sunshine. I make a swiss steak very much like that, only with canned tomatoes and onions instead of the gravy mix and soup....

I've made it with meat that I dredge in flour and fry and then put in a pan with the other ingredients and the cook, and without. It's yummy either way.

And eggplant parmesan...fry egg plant, layer with marinara and cheese...bake...yummy.
 
Yum sunshine. I make a swiss steak very much like that, only with canned tomatoes and onions instead of the gravy mix and soup....

I've made it with meat that I dredge in flour and fry and then put in a pan with the other ingredients and the cook, and without. It's yummy either way.

And eggplant parmesan...fry egg plant, layer with marinara and cheese...bake...yummy.

My kids always like swiss steak. I just used round steak, pounded in black pepper and flour. Browned it. Poured tomato sauce over and perched wedges of onions on top. Let cook about 30 minutes. I always salt beef after it cooks. My father taught me that to salt beef before cooking it makes it tough.
 
okay fast and cheap...chicken breasts......put in oven dish.....pour italian dressing over it....then add soy sauce...cover and bake....i normally take the breasts out and brown them a bit ...be sure and turn the breast half way thru....

left over pork, chicken, shrimp

cook rice

2 tab soy sauce
6 tab vingear
2/3 rd cup of sugar

mix well.....add the meat and veggies.....it will be thin veggies are pineapple, onions and green peppers the onions and green peppers need to be sauted

cornstarch and water add the cornstarch till it thickens serve over rice
 
Honey Lime Chicken

Arrange chicken pieces in a baking pan. Pour the juice of two limes over. Salt and pepper. Drizzle with honey. Sprinkle with rosemary. Bake until cooked through. 30 - 45 min. turning half way through. Baste and add a little more rosemary.
 
No way in hell I would accept the damn invites!:razz:

Seriously, RAMEN NOODLES?:lol::lol::lol:

Yes, seriously.

I work long, long days, and the kids eat at school and at their after school programs. Dinner in our house is a formality, not a necessity..but by necessity it must be quick, easy, cheap. I'm not running a restaurant, I'm trying to instill a habit in my family, save some money, and teach the kids how to use a stove.

I'm a cook, too. I know it's essentially cafeteria food we're talking about here, though a little better because I'm making it, and it's in small batches. But when I think of my childhood, where we had spectacular food...but not consistency....and my best friend's childhood, where they had meals like this...EVERY SINGLE NIGHT..I pick my friend's method. All the kids in that family still maintain the tradition of a sit-down dinner every single night. It's the activity, not the slop, that matters.

So I deliberately am choosing a really simple menu that I can stick to, and the kids can help with. I make wonderful bread, gourmet pies, and I can do marvelous things with meat. But I don't want to teach them to eat. I want to teach them to maintain a schedule, plan out the week's meals, and focus on the event, not the chow. Food is what we take in to keep us alive, it doesn't have to be a feast every day of the week.

I don't know how she does it, but my daughter can go into the kitchen and 20 minutes later have a wonderful meal including dessert on the table. She cooks with her crock pot a lot, and she makes a lot of salads which are inclusive of meat.

She stayed with me several weeks this summer while I was sick and I was in complete awe of her skills. She cooks with soup, rice, chicken broth, etc. And she makes sandwiches with frozen precooked chicken patties and burgers, but she puts a sensational sauce on them as well as things like sauteed onions and various colors of sweet peppers.
She also has some great veggie dishes which include meat so two birds with one stone there. She uses Stovetop Stuffing as a side, and she mixes it up with a can of mushroom soup. She cooks casseroles and soups and freezes them in individual servings.

It is all tasty and filling.

Chicken Spectacular is one I like and use a lot when I have company coming:

Chicken Spectacular Recipe - Allrecipes.com

Reminds me of our leftovers after Thanksgiving tradition. Cover bottom of 13x9 pan with turkey. In a big bowl, mix leftover gravy, 2 large cans of cream of mushroom soup, and a bag of croutons. Pour over the turkey, cover with tinfoil, bake at 350° for an hour. Awesomely delicious.

*Only use one can if there's a lot of gravy.

** reheat and serve mashed potatoes as well, if there are any.
 
Red cabbage is a great dish too...I'm trying to figure out a way to scale it down because the only recipe I have calls for a whole head, and it makes a big dish. My daughter loves it but even she can't eat a whole head of cabbage...

gosh it makes the house smell good tho...

Ingredients

  • 1 medium head red cabbage, cored and sliced
  • 2 large tart apples, peeled and sliced
  • 1 medium sweet onion, sliced and separated into rings
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 cup cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 6 whole peppercorns
  • 2 whole allspice
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoons cold water

Directions

  1. In a Dutch oven, toss cabbage, apples and onion. Add water, vinegar, sugar, butter and salt. Place the peppercorns, allspice, cloves and bay leaf on a double thickness of cheesecloth; bring up corners of cloth and stir with kitchen string to form a bag. Add to Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1-1/4 hours.
  2. Discard spice bag. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth; stir in cabbage mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened.
You can serve it with anything...like weiner schnitzel (Austrian chicken fried steak). Veal, beef or pork cubed cutlets, chicken fried w/white sauce...yummmmmy.
 
And though it looks/smells/sounds elaborate, it's super cheap. Pork cube steaks are almost free, and so is cabbage. The rest of the stuff is in even the most scanty pantry....
 
hobo pies....take a pie of bread...butter one side.....spread pie filling just about to edge....top with another butter slice of bread and grill....kinda pinch the edges of the bread together....before grilling....
 
Remember the destitute tea party I was talking about? I make little tarts sometimes...pie crust with jam slapped on it, and folded over. But I'm always looking for ways to make the cheap white glue bread from the store palatable.

Pie crust is shortening or lard, flour, salt and water. It doesn't get much more simple than that...
 
sometimes it is the most simple things that foul us up.....

this is kinda more for adults....

butter garlic....clams....angel hair pasta...french bread

melt the butter put in the clams.....put in sliced garlic and herbs

cook angel hair pasta

drain pour in bowl....pour the clams and butter over the pasta.....

you got a kinda nice adult meal on the cheap
 
Don't forget the BLT. The precooked bacon cost a buck and change at wally. That and a bag of chips with an ice tea. feed the family for around 6 bucks and 30 worth of cooking.
 

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