henna_muse ([info]henna_muse) wrote,
@ 2009-01-28 07:32:00
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Current mood:determined
Entry tags:budget meals, cheap meals, dinner

A challenge for ya...
I'm trying to plan menus for a family of 4 on $5-$7 per meal. I'm not talking socially responsible, local food; chemical free, organic and fresh food. Just food. Good to eat, reasonably nutritious, and cheap.

    Sausage and Rice
  • 1 pre-packages smoked sausage, sliced

  • small onion, chopped

  • garlic

  • 1 can dices tomatoes (the kind with garlic and basil flavor is extra good)

  • 1 can green beans, drained

  • 1-2 cups prepared rice per person

    • Saute the onion and sausage for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes and beans and season to taste. (I like a little basil and red pepper.) Allow it to simmer until everything is hot all the way through. Serve over rice. If you have a bit of extra money, add mushrooms. My husband loves a slice of provolone cheese between the rice and the rest.


    Eggs 'n' Bread 'n' Potatoes
  • 2 cans sliced nwe potatoes, drained

  • 2 eggs

  • 3 slices of bread (this is a good way to use up bread that's getting close to stale)

  • 2 slices of bacon per person

  • fresh fruit

    • Break the bread into small pieces, about half the size of your thumb. Set aside. Beat the eggs, add a little salt and pepper, and set aside. Fry the bacon in a saute pan. Remove the bacon when its done and add the potatoes to cook in the bacon grease. (I do pour out some of the grease depending on how lean the bacon is.) Once the potatoes are warm all the way through and start to look a little darker, add the bread pieces. Pour the eggs over the bread and stir so that the bread gets soaked in eggs. Continue to stir being careful to scrape cooked eggs off the sides of the pan. Its done when the eggs are cooked to your preference. When we have it, we cook in a handful of shredded cheddar cheese, added at the same time as the eggs. Serve with fresh fruit.

    It's you're turn! What do you do for cheap eats!?!

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[info]scorpionis
2009-01-28 01:38 pm UTC (link)
This *may* exceed $5-7 but it's still pretty cheap.

Broiled Chicken w/Rice & Broccoli
prep/wait time: half hour; cook time: 15-20 minutes
half a chicken breast per person
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. cider or other vinegar
salt/pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 c. coconut milk
1 c. water
1 c. uncooked rice
1 head broccoli

Mix first 6 ingredients well and marinade chicken for at least half an hour but not more than 24 hours. While marinading, make coconut rice (water, coconut milk, rice). After marinading, broil chicken for 5-8 minutes per side depending on thickness. While broiling, cut up broccoli head and place in microwave-safe dish with 1/4" of water: cover and microwave for 4-5 minutes. Drain water, add butter/salt if desired, likewise with rice. Enjoy!

That marinade can be used on just about any meat under the sun, and you can also add a teaspoon or two of curry to the coconut rice to make it a little snazzier. This is one of my 5-year-old's favorite meals.

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[info]ladytetsu
2009-01-28 11:39 pm UTC (link)
oooh, I'ma gonna steal this one!

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[info]ladytetsu
2009-01-28 11:38 pm UTC (link)
barley stew as before, potato soup/stew as before. . .

hmmms. We make homemade fajitas. . . possibly a little over, but if you use lots of veggies, less meat cost. . . we make a mess of it and eat on it for days.

3lb bag of chicken breasts (don't bother getting the cleaned fancy kind, just trim them yourself) $6ish. . . walmart shredded cheese. . . $2.50ish sour cream, bacon, tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions (especially if you already have them laying around) We buy in bulk when possible and then plan to eat several meals at a time out of the bulk thing, cuts on per-meal costs even if you pay for a bigger bag upfront. Anyway, My Super Secret Fakeyjitas!

(I cook for two, so I'd guess, adjust to suit yourselves. . . here's the unaltered numbers)

Trim ~6 chicken breasts, rinse, place in bowl. Add garlic powder (not garlic salt!) and a bit of soy sauce or maggi (maggi's better if you can get it!), mush breasts around until well coated. More liquid is better than less here. Cover, let marinade at least 8 hours.

Fry up plain ol' bulk bacon (I do about 12 strips, but you can lower that, I like my food very salty, weird kidneys) until crispy - fry, don't microwave! Remove from heat, drain, and dice up into a big bowel or whatever. The bacon grease (which is horrible, but also free calories on the cheap!) will become your chicken cooking fat. Drain about 2/3 of the bacon grease carefully, freeze it for later use (free calories, remember!) leave the bits and dust in the fat for best flavor and color on the chicken. Drop the heat a bit to avoid smoking the fat. CAREFULLY (since the breasts are wet and the fat is hot, you may get popped) lay the chicken breasts in the fat, listen for a good sizzle, my stove is set to about 6.5 of 10 (damn electric.) Fry for ~10 minutes, check for color (you can get some killer golden-brown goodness here!)flip and go for ~10 more. Pull breasts from pan, let sit just a minute. Chop breasts up into large plastic bowl or whatever with bacon. If you have a lid, pop one on now, and shake shake shake! Dice up your veggies, make pico or guac, and everyone should be able to self-serve until they're stuffed. You could also sauteé onions and peppers quickly in the leftover fat after you pull the chicken out and mix it right into your chicken/bacon bits mix.

We usually get about 3 meals a piece out of it, and we eat heartily. The cost is probably a touch over what you're shooting for, but it's a great "special event" meal since there is a bit of prep time - and if for some reason you're doing Atkins, you can eat the chicken/bacon/cheese/sour cream mess til you fall over, which we have in the past! This is rich food, so you do get a lot of meals out of it for the price, and except for the whole bacon fat part, there's not a whole lot of processed waste calories. I'm trying to go nutrient-dense on a budget myself. Lean protein, veggies in bulk, and less starch seems to be a good genral rule, but don't forget good fats - olive oil is healthy, has lots of calories on the cheap, and can add mouth to salads or plain veggies if mixed with spices/vinegar whatever. Good fats are DEFINITELY good on a budget, and so are nuts/seeds!

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