These aren’t fancy, virtually no cooking required. It’s only my daughter and I… and I work 6 days a week… this is usually our weekday stand-bys. She doesn’t complain, so hey.

Soup – with salad/baked potato/grilled cheese

Pancakes/Waffles/French Toast – with scrambled eggs or hashbrowns

Fried egg on an English muffin – with hashbrowns

Tuna wraps – with chips/fries/baked potato/soup/vegetable

Spaghetti

Baked spicy chicken - tomato sauce/peppers/onions/Tabasco
baked until done - serve over white rice

Goulash – macaroni/tomato sauce/cubed potatoes/hamburger/peppers/onions/salt and pepper - serve with bread and/or salad

Tuna cakes – same as salmon only with tuna

Oatmeal – with biscuits

BLT’s or Sausage LT’s

Soup beans and cornbread

Potato soup – if you want to go really cheap, leave out the ham and cheese

Big salads – with lettuce, tomato, boiled egg, maybe a little ham and cheese – serve with crackers/grilled cheese (f you omit the cheese in your salad)/baked potato/bread

Also:

Bean and cheese burritos - with spanish rice

Easy Nachos - beans/tortillas baked crisp and broken up/tomato/sour cream/cheese/salsa

Homemade chicken pot-pie.

I got the recipe for a really easy (and cheap) one on this site. I can't remember the ladies name who posted it... but I tried it and it was good. It requires frozen pie crusts...

Edit: Do you have a Kroger near you? I have tried a lot of their brand name products and there are quiete a few of them that I like just as well as the name brands.

My crew likes to have Homemade Lunchables--crackers, cheese, a little sandwich meat add some cut up fresh fruit and they are in heaven...

They also enjoy the following--


Tater tot hotdish
Pizza goulash--Subsitutue chopped up Pepporoni and no Ground beef
Nacho's--with refried beans on them
Beef Stew
Chili & Corn Bread

__________________
AMOAMOM :love:

One of my favorites is brown rice and lentils cooked in the rice cooker. They both take about the same amount of time to cook. I use chicken bullion(sp?) and maybe a bit of onion powder for the quick version. If I want to make the gourmet version I will saute a bit of garlic or onion. Bacon is good too, but mostly I am happy with the plain version. I use about a cup of lentils and a cup of brown rice and cover it with an inch or so of water.

To me this is the ultimate cheap comfort food.


Barb C

Great idea from mommy2mercedes, check what's in your pantry and freezer, especially b/c if you cook it now you don't have to move it w/ you later! If you're stumped w/ what you've got and how to use it all, give us a list, we'll figure it out for ya!

Dh is starting his summer semester at school so on the nights he is out I am not making 'meals' for the little ones... this week we are having


breakfast for supper, beans and hotdogs, homemade pizza, mac n cheese and keilbasa, sandwhiches and cut up veggies and dip...

Frugal side dishes:

Baked beans
baked potatoes
any vegetable
potato salad
deviled eggs
corn casserole (I use Paula Dean recipe)
french fries, tater tots
rice

buy the cheapest roast (pork or beef) that is in the store, season with salt & pepper or steak seasoning (yum) and throw it in the crockpot with a little bit of water at the bottom. Cook it all day (or night) long and savor the results of time. add veggies/potatoes on bottom if you want.

leftover roast:
~bbq sandwiches on toasted buns (get those from the day-old bread store)
~stroganoff (really cheap and super easy)
~use in fajitas/burritos/quesadillas, etc. if you're not going to eat them in the next few days, make them up and freeze them for a quick meal later
~trash soup/stew - make a soup with all the leftover veggies from the week, a can of potatoes, leftover meat. whip up some biscuits or have the kids help me homemade rolls or garlic bread/breadsticks to go with.

other ideas:
~eggs anything. as long as you don't have to buy egg substitute, meals with eggs will be cheap cheap. hit sites like bettycrocker.com, kraftfoods.com, allrecipes.com, bisquick.com for quick recipes.
~you can dress up a box of mac/cheese by adding veggies, meat leftovers, etc.
~put leftovers in a muffin tin (with liners in each cup). freeze as you fill them and put frozen cups in a freezer bag to store. have a leftover smorgasboard for dinner one night - bust out all the muffin cups and stick them back into the tin, heat through in the oven, and let the kids go wild picking from a whole buffet. Add a salad (fruit or green) and some garlic bread and you're golden.
*have popcorn (kernal vs microwave kind will be WAY cheaper and last you far longer), cookies, etc on hand for snacks so you can get by with less for dinner. You may gain a pound, but you'll get through the hard time with a full stomach.

__________________

These are AWESOME ideas!!! This list should be pinned! lol

__________________
[center]
~~Ember~~
Mommy to Bailey 10/02, Brooke 9/04, & DJ 6/06

Ham steak, mac-n-cheese, veggie
Egg wraps (scrambled egg, cheese, onions, peppers, ham on buritto) add salsa
Homemade waffles or pancakes w/juice or milk
Pasta w/spaghetti sauce (omit the burger), garlic bread, applesauce
Ground turkey, rice & cheese wraps (add whatever you like) Cook ground beef, cook rice - then combine. Add cheese, salsa, etc in your wrap.
Tuna casserole (cream mushroom soup, tuna, corn or peas or both, wide noodles) Cook noodles then add the rest until mixed well.