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| homemade chicken pot pie might be good.....especially if you make it deep dish. |
| posted by Paloma on 11/08/2008 06:01 PM
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I do a lot of pasta plates (grilled chicken strips and alfredo, grilled chicken pasta with regular sauce and penne noodles) home made chicken soup i use legs because they are cheap.taco salad, burritos, just brown meat and drain put in a jar of salsa and mix put in tortillas and cheese and done.
i use a lot of rice i do stir fry use the stew meat cut it up even more and cut up an onion bell peper or the dollar bag of stir fry frozen veggies put on rice and done...
i have tons i feed 3 adult a teenager and a 13 month old daily every other weekend i have another teenager and during the summer i have my step daughter and she is 11 so it is up to 7 i feed.
I always buy sale meats and plan my dinners with that. whole chickens are great to just bake. |
| posted by Kristhal on 11/08/2008 06:37 PM
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| I hear ya Amanda! We just recently purchased a house and money is tight. We have discovered a great grocery store called Aldi, which is like 40% cheaper than regular stores. It's all generic brands, but it takes the same to our family and saves us some money. Maybe you could see if there is something like that by you? The other comment about pasta is true, you can make tons of easy pasta dishes for cheap. Make a huge amount on sunday and you have leftovers all week. My husband did that with lasagna one day and it was great. Also, look at the specials in the groceries stores in your area, a lot of times you can get everything you want on sale. Good luck, let us know how it's going! |
| posted by Katie on 11/08/2008 07:12 PM
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| Money is tight for me too and my daughter is so picky she rather not eat. I buy a lot of the boxed side dishes, snacks and house hold items at the dollar store. They taste the same to us and saves me lots. Then I buy meat in bulk, break it down and freeze it. I am great full that i am on a food ast program for kids under 5yrs that provide me milk cheese ceral eggs and juice so i dont need to buy them as long as i go to my appointments for it. Maybe there is a program where you live for minor ast like that. |
| posted by Becky on 11/08/2008 07:31 PM
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| It can be really tough! But I've found that "fillers" help. like if I make taco meat, I add a big can of black beans to make it go further. Also there is a section on allrecipes.com for budget cooking that has great tips on how to save $$ w/o skimping on nutrition and taste. |
| posted by Beth on 11/08/2008 08:15 PM
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| Paloma.is that potpie cheap? how do u make it?all u ladies have great ideas!ill look up that website.and ill try the fillers.i try to buy whats on sale.but its hard to plan meals.for family of five.we eat alot too! lol.plus my kids have to take lunches everyday.we dont qualify for a brake on hot lunches at school.so im always buying fruit rollups.fruit snacks.chips or crackers.and hostess or little debbies* and fruit is so expensive.i dont even try to buy organic anymore. |
| posted by amanda on 11/08/2008 08:56 PM
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| Paloma.is that potpie cheap? how do u make it?all u ladies have great ideas!ill look up that website.and ill try the fillers.i try to buy whats on sale.but its hard to plan meals.for family of five.we eat alot too! lol.plus my kids have to take lunches everyday.we dont qualify for a brake on hot lunches at school.so im always buying fruit rollups.fruit snacks.chips or crackers.and hostess or little debbies* and fruit is so expensive.i dont even try to buy organic anymore. |
| posted by amanda on 11/08/2008 08:56 PM
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I am a single mother of 4 small children, so I know how it is. Spaghetti is always a good cheap meal (we usually have at least once a week)
I also buy meats in bulk on sale, and separate into freezer bags and freeze. Chicken is usually pretty expensive unless I get it right before the expiration date and they have it for real cheap, but if you freeze it it wont go bad. Or you could cook it and then freeze and when you're ready to make your dinner it would take less time if the meat is precooked.
Since my children are smaller right now (all under 5) I can make some pretty simple dinners and they're happy.
Chicken Nuggets w/ Corn & Mac N Cheese
Spaghetti w/ garlic bread & salad
Tacos (dont usually have sides w this)
Meatloaf w veggie and mashed potatoes
BarB Q chicken w veggie and rice
I usually get canned veggies for dinners, but I also buy raw baby carrots for snacks. I get canned fruits too for a snack or with dinner but they are pretty expensive. The only raw fruits I usually buy are bananas, grapes, apples, and oranges. and sometimes strawberries or exotic fruits but they are usually too much. |
| posted by Amy on 11/09/2008 07:32 AM
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you can add about anything to mac and cheese to make it a meal...tuna, hot dogs, salmon (usually on sale around lent), hamburger, turkey, chicken, tofu. Any sort of meat product and veggie goes good with it. Just add some spices and it is great. It is like "helper" meals except WAY cheaper.
Lasanga is always cheap and easy and goes a long way. You can also add things to ramen noodles and they make good meals too. |
| posted by Katie on 11/09/2008 10:11 AM
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| savingsangel.com ,go there and watch the film.we have 8 in the family right now and we are def having a hard time with groceries.seems BP Bush Petroleum doesnt want to lower deisl so that the food will go down again.wont want ppl w their new raise to be able to afford anything extra for their kids. |
| posted by Lexi on 11/09/2008 11:43 AM
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| I also go to yahoo.com and seek out alot of recpies for hamburger.tasteofhome.com /pillsbury.com. |
| posted by Lexi on 11/09/2008 11:45 AM
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| I was going to say the same thing as Katie. Get the mac and cheese and add half a bag of frozen veggies in the pasta water and it makes it so much fuller and you don't even need to add a salad b/c the veggies are there already. i do any fro. veggies that are on sale, the mixed. veg, or the broccoli. i prefer the mixed veg. myself b/c my family is diverse and they don't all like the same vegetables so this way, with the mixed veggie bag, everyone gets something and the pasta actually tastes gourmet rather than plain ole mac n cheese. i use a half bag of veggies for one box and it comes for my husband and me, so if you have four, a family size box and 1 bag of fro. veg. |
| posted by Lalitha on 11/09/2008 05:42 PM
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