Cheap Meals
Home made Almond Milk
ALMOND MILK RECIPE
1 C Almonds (Soak overnight in water in the fridge, then rinse them off)
Put Almonds in a blender then add:
4 C water
1 1/2 T Maple Syrup
Dash of Salt
Couple drops of Vanilla (optional)
Blend on high for about 4 minutes. Strain through cheese cloth, then store in a quart bottle with lid.
The recipe says to discard the pulp, but I freeze the pulp and when I have enough, I dehydrate it to make almond flour. Works in any dish that calls for white or wheat flour, and it's very nutritious and high in protein. I also make a quart jar that isn't strained through the cheese cloth, my husband loves this pulpy milk for his smoothies.
Cheap Meals Contents
- Home made Almond Milk
- Cutting our food budget
- Hamburger Num! My kids and husband love this!
- Cheap but very tasty chocolate chip cookies
- Handy Hint of the Week
- Roasted Chicken
- RECIPE EXCHANGE
- Burritos made with TVP
- Cooking cheap meals from scratch as opposed to pre-packaged foods
- My favorite cheap cooking videos
- Cheap Meals Twitter
- How do you feel about cooking from scratch?
- Do you think any of these books would be helpful? Cast your vote
Cutting our food budget
Ok, so the first thing we have to do is cut the food budget. I remember a day when hamburger was a cheap meat to stretch the food dollar. That no longer is true. The same with chicken. The prices keep going up and up. Our family needs protein so what do we do?1. Make the switch to beans and other forms of protein
2. Use powdered milk instead of regular milk
3. Go back to cooking from scratch (Avoid processed and prepared foods)
Forget the boxed scalloped potatos. Time to start peeling and slicing the potatos and making it from scratch. Home cooking from scratch saves tons of money on your grocery bill
You can feed a family of 4 for only $45 a week if you know how. Find out more
Recipe of the Week
Hamburger Num! My kids and husband love this!
I found this at easy-meal-planning dot com
1 lb hamburger or 1/2 lb plus soy protein
I can cream of mushroom soup
Two tbls Soy sauce (I use Braggs Amino Acids) same flavor, no salt or other soy ickys
1/2 bag tator tots
Preheat oven to 350
Brown hamburger (add water to soy protein then mix in with hamburger)
Add one can cream of mushroom soup
Add two tbsp soy sauce or Braggs
Grease baking dish
Add hamburger to baking dish (I also add peas)
Layer the top with tator tots
Bake for 15 minutes
Serves 5-6
Costs about $4 ($3 for hamburger and $1 for generic tator tots)
Chicken Pasta Bake
This Chicken Pasta Bake makes good use of leftover chicken. Alternatively, you can simply fry some slivered boneless chicken breasts. This dish is quickly assembled and makes a hearty meal. Pesto is a great addition to the sauce - it gives big flavor and intensity without having to do lots of work.
The quantities of this recipe are generous. It makes an inexpensive dish for feeding a crowd - either informal entertaining or a large family. Alternatively, you can make it in two baking dishes and freeze one. Freeze leftovers in small plastic containers and then haul them out for the school lunch boxes.
Use short pasta which will keep its shape for this Chicken Pasta Bake (spaghetti and linguine just don't work here!). Good choices are conchigilie (shells), farfalle (butterflies), fusille (screw shape), orecchiette (little ears) and rotelle (wheels). These are robust enough to take chunky extras like chicken. Tubular pastas, such as penne (pens), rigatone and maccheroni are good choices - the white sauce will find its way into the hollow tubes.
The addition of capers is optional. However, the capers give a piquancy to the dish. You could substitute chopped pickled gherkins or olives.
Fry the mushrooms in a pot. This way, you can use the same pot to make the white sauce.
Ingredients:
1 lb / 500g pasta shells, cooked until 'al dente'
1 lb 10 oz / 750g boneless chicken breasts, slivered
1 lb / 500g mushrooms
4 oz / 110g butter
4 oz / 110g flour
4 cups milk
6 tablespoons basil pesto
1 oz / 30 g capers, chopped (optional)
2 oz / 60g breadcrumbs
3 oz / 90g parmesan, finely grated
Method:
Fry the mushrooms in a little butter until they are golden brown. Don't overcook them or else they will shrivel up and become watery. Keep on one side.
Lightly fry the chicken. Do this in 3 - 4 batches so that it browns. It needn't be cooked all the way through as it is going to get another cooking. Keep on one side.
Add the rest of the butter and allow it to melt. Add the flour and stir until you have a thick paste (a roux). Cook for a minute. Slowly add the milk, stirring all the time until you have a thick white sauce. Allow it to bubble, but avoid burning the bottom of the pan.
Add the pesto, pasta, chicken and mushrooms to the white sauce. Pour the mixture into a baking dish. Sprinkle over the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. Bake for about ½ hour until the top is golden brown and crunchy. Serve with a big green salad.
Source(s):
http://www.easy-meal-planning.com
Cheap but very tasty chocolate chip cookies
Ok, were cutting the budget but we still want to provide treats for our family. This chocolate chip cookie recipe is 100% delicious and cheap to make!You will need:
Cheap box of yellow cake mix (Can buy for a $1)
chocolate chips (The cheap generic brands works great)
1/2 cup of oil
2 eggs
That is it!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a bowl combine the entire box of cake mix with the oil, eggs and chips.
Mix then add to baking tray by the teaspoon full.
Bake at 350 for 8 minutes
Yields about 24 cookies
Enjoy!
Handy Hint of the Week
At the end of every week, add all leftovers in the fridge to a large pie crust and make a delicious home-made pot pie
Roasted Chicken
Most grocery stores now carry roasted whole chickens. They range from $5 - $8. I buy a whole chicken, bring it home and de-bone it. I find that I can get 3-4 meals out of this one roasted chicken which makes the original price worth it. Great for casseroles, enchiladas, soups, salads, etc. Also, the leftover chicken freezes well for future meals
RECIPE EXCHANGE
This site has been getting a lot of hits in the past month, which tells me there is a real need for cheaper meals, just as I thought. Let's help each other out and post recipes. Have a dollar stretcher that your family loves? Please post it here and share it with everyone else. Let's get the cheap recipes rolling!
Burritos made with TVP
This one is really cheap to make, you can find TVP in the bulk items section of your grocery store
** 1 cup plain or unflavored TVP granules (Textured Vegetable Protein)
3 tablespoons dry onion
2 tablespoons dry bell pepper (optional)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon oregano
2 beef bouillon cubes
Combine the TVP and all of the other ingredients in a resealable plastic container. I like to use zip-lock bags. Label and Seal and the container. Store on the pantry shelf. This is enough for 1 package of mix. Make several at a time for the most convenience.
** You can find TVP in all the regular grocery stores. It's in the ethnic isle. Product from India. If you go to an Indian market, they'll have it there too -- often in boxes or in the bulk section. Super cheap too as it's not marketed to the 'urban healthy crowd'.
To Prepare:
1 package TVP & Bean Burrito Mix
1-1/2 cups tap water
15 ounce can refried beans, or 2 cups cooked pinto beans, mashed with a fork or potato masher (they needn't be smooth)
2 tablespoons oil
8 or 10 flour tortillas
In a skillet combine the Mix and tap water. Stir the mixture over medium heat until it boils. Reduce the heat to low, so the mixture only simmers. Add the refried beans, or mashed pinto beans and the oil. Simmer the mixture for about 10 minutes, or until it thickens up to a good consistency. Spread the filling onto heated tortillas. Add salsa, sour cream, cheese, sprouts, guacamole and anything else that suits your fancy. These are quite good, and very easy. Makes 4 or 5 servings.
Cooking cheap meals from scratch as opposed to pre-packaged foods
Ok, sure, it's easy to grab that 99 cent box of macaroni and cheese. But if you have more than yourself to feed, you better grab a couple boxes.. So now you paid between $2.00 and $3.00 for one sitting. OR, grab a bag of macaroni or other pasta for the same price and have enough for two meals. The LDS church has a cannery in most towns where you can purchase a large (coffee can size) can of powdered cheese for about $7.00 - $20.00. I found this can lasted me for an entire year! I used it for every recipe that called for cheese.Soy goes a long way! Next time you make meatloaf, add some soy to it so you only need to use about 1/2 a pound of hamburger. The great thing about soy is it takes on the taste of what you mix it with. Another great benefit...it's packed with protein!! My son is lactose intolerant. Instead of paying $4 for a half gallon of soy milk or lactose free milk, I make my own soy milk out of soy beans and water. For $2 I end up with 5 gallons of milk he can drink. Leary of soy? Try using TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) You can find it in the bulk containers at the grocery store
Cooking from scratch saves $$$ on your food bill!!
Do you think any of these books would be helpful? Cast your vote
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