I don't know about you, but I have several fall back entrees that I use whenever I'm stumped for what to make for dinner. They are also the meals that my family likes the most.

In tough economic times, how do we make those same dishes cheaper?

~ Up the quantity of the starch. When I make my stuffed peppers, I use slightly more rice and slightly less ground meat.

~ Go with homemade. Instead of canned sauces and gravy, make my own or use a less expensive packet mix. Again, using the stuffed peppers as an example, I usually use canned beef gravy. Instead I might use homemade beef gravy or a cheaper beef gravy packet mix - or go 50/50 with the canned gravy.

~ Buy only when the ingredients are at their target low price. My husband sometimes asks for stuffed peppers when green peppers are $1 each It is really hard to make a big batch when they are that expensive.

Any other ideas?

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What if you made like a stuffed green pepper casserole? Basically all the same ingredients but in a casserole dish with bell peppers cut into strips or diced and mixed in so you could get buy with using less peppers.

In the summer I grow green peppers and then cut them into strips and freeze them for recipes later. I know you can't do that now, but maybe next year.

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The stuffed peppers aside, I was thinking more along a challenge to see if we could lower the costs of our die-hard family-favorite meals. For instance, I often use canned chili beans to make a quick chili over rice meal. What if I didn't make the meal so quickly and, by planning ahead, decided to use dried beans?

In casseroles, perhaps reduce the quantity of a higher priced cheese and use a bit of a lower priced cheese (Monterey Jack instead of mozzarella or cottage cheese instead of ricotta.)

People have done all sorts of tricks to reduce the cost of a meal. For instance, the English make yorkshire pudding to soak up the roast beef juices. You get the taste of more roast beef without actually consuming more of the expensive meat.

__________________
"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

My blogs:
Oh!: http://oh-cookie.blogspot.com/
The Foundation Club: http://thefoundationclub.blogspot.com/
12 Months to a Homemade Christmas: http://12monthstoahomemadechristmas.blogspot.com/
Experiences, Not Things: http://experiencesnotthings.blogspot.com/

If you'd like to be friends on Facebook, PM me.

I regular reduce the amount of meat or chicken in a meal. I don't like a lot of meat, so often I'll just pick the chicken out of a casserole or stirfry or whatever and leave it for my husband and I'll just eat the veggies.

You can add bread crumbs or rice to things like meatballs or meatloaf to stretch it.

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It's not what you make; it's what you spend.

Have you ever tried homemade noodles for a noodle casserole or lasagna? They cost pennies to make, and all you have to do is roll them out and cut them. Try mixing 3 cups of flour with an egg, then add enough water to get a rough dough. They only need to be boiled 1or 2 minutes. I love fresh pasta!