Need help with a 2 week menu.

[Kodieh]

It's also good to make meals that is more than enough for the family for four nights of the week and then it's an organized left over free for all come Friday. That elevates a lot of the "McDonald's is easier" routine.

Hamburger helper is a GOD SEND if you buy bulk HB and freeze it one and two pound portions.


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[heathers*bps]

Cheap quick meals:
Beef stroganof
Tacos or taco salad
Lasagna
Sloppy joes
Baked chicken and veggies
Stews ( that can be thrown in crock pot )
Stuffed peppers
Meatloaf
Mexican lasagna

I could go on and on. I love to cook ( though I'm no master ) but we have a home cooked meal almost every night of the week. We have a family of 5, so I know how to eat good ( healthy and yummy! ) on a budget. www.allrecipes.com is one of my favorite websites for recipes, as I like to try new things.

I always buy meats in bulk, or atleast try my hardest. Frozen or fresh veggies is what I always buy. Cheaper and healthier than canned. Watch your local grocery store flyers for sales.

If you want recipes to anything I've listed above, I'll be glad to share

[kitedemon]

One thing that I have found helps a lot is your starch item. Rice is mine of choice as it is easy. I bought a rice steamer and set it with the build in timer so it is basically ready for supper. More rice and less meat cuts costs quickly. It still is healthy and the steamer makes it very easy. I often do kebobs of some sort, marinate them during the day and toss them on the BBQ, This with rice and a veg is quick (10 min to prep the meat in the am and rice) and 10 min to cook or less. Easy and quick.

[dreese88]

Breaking down chickens is a great way to do this..I can post a video of how to do it efficiently if you'd like me too. just let me know, I'll probably go to the store on Sunday.

Buying family packs or primal cuts of meat and breaking it down is also a good way to cut costs.

Also in order to keep the quality of meals up I usually eat pasta one night a week and that should be less than $5 for a meal. Breakfast for dinner is also great and inexpensive. Bacon and eggs or pancakes are just as great at 7:30 pm as 7:30 am

[Mike41793]

Damn heather you got some good ideas up there too!

I wish my mom cooked like doolittle or heather lol!

[DooLittle]

Cheap quick meals:
Beef stroganof
Tacos or taco salad
Lasagna
Sloppy joes
Baked chicken and veggies
Stews ( that can be thrown in crock pot )
Stuffed peppers
Meatloaf
Mexican lasagna

I could go on and on. I love to cook ( though I'm no master ) but we have a home cooked meal almost every night of the week. We have a family of 5, so I know how to eat good ( healthy and yummy! ) on a budget. www.allrecipes.com is one of my favorite websites for recipes, as I like to try new things.

I always buy meats in bulk, or atleast try my hardest. Frozen or fresh veggies is what I always buy. Cheaper and healthier than canned. Watch your local grocery store flyers for sales.

If you want recipes to anything I've listed above, I'll be glad to share

I like allrecipes too! They have a cool "spinner" app. I really like meatloaf too, I actually use a handful of uncooked oatmeal in mine instead of breadcrumbs. And you cam microplain carrots and zuchinni into it for some extra veggies. How do you make your Mexican lasagne? With pasta? I make a sort of "pie" in a pie pan, layering soft tortillas shells, taco meat, and nacho cheese sauce, then when done layering, top with grated cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes. Then you can serve with green onions, sour cream, and diced tomatoes. If yours is different, please post I would like to see it!

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[Mike41793]

Alright this thread seriously needs to stop lol

Im not sure what makes me drool more... This thread or the Female Keepers thread...

[DooLittle]

We will get ya some napkins.....

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[Anatopism]

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/fo...ilantro-101154 - Black Bean, cilantro, cumin, & garlic.

throw in some cheese, and slap into a tortilla. All the ingredients are inexpensive, I find you really don't need to add any salt, and it's healthy

On a note about stuffed peppers... sometimes they can be expensive, but if you get them at a good time, stuff with brown rice and chorizo (cooked down with an egg to make it less saucy), with permesan cheese.. so good! And filling.

[Vasiliki]

I love cooking. But my meals face two huge obstacles.

1. I spend 2 hours driving to and from work each day, and sometimes I hit up the gym for an hour on my way home as well. This cuts into my time like CRAZY!

2. My boyfriend is often on shift work at night, so when I make dinners I need to make dinners that reheat decently, and I always try to make leftovers so that he has something he can take to work the next day as well.

What this has forced me to do is really analyze what it is I'm doing. I will typically write out about 2 weeks worth of meal ideas for dinner (breakfast and lunch are typically 'fend for yourself' kind of thing at our place, haha). Then I'll take that list and break it down, analyze the ingredients and figure out what I can make back-to-back to use my time and ingredients the best way possible.

For instance:

Chicken Stir Fry one night (Veggies, chicken and rice)
Tacos the next night (Veggies, chicken, tortillas)
Taco pizzas the next night (Veggies, beef, tortillas)
Meat pasta (Beef, veggies for salad, pasta sauce)
Stuffed shells (Pasta sauce, salad, shrimp, spiniach)
Ham & Spiniach quiche (Shrimp, ham, spiniach)

.... Each meal tends to share a common ingredient, so I'm only prepping or cooking something once. Typically because I'll make more at one time, I can buy in bulk, and use leftovers in meals the following day or make extra dinner that we can portion for lunches.

A great idea is to find simple recipes that you enjoy, and price them out! See what it takes to go into it. Then keep a master list of what each meal costs to make. If you're having a bad week, then go by your cheapest meals!

My favorite and cheapest is:
1 lb of lean ground beef ($6-8)
1 chopped onion ($0.25)
seasonings such as parsley, salt, pepper, soy sauce, a touch of hot sauce, etc
2 cups of uncooked elbow maccaroni (under $2)
2 cans of Cambells Tomato soup ($3)

Cook the beef, onion and seasonings together. Drain off excess grease. Add the two cans of cambells tomato soup. Keep on heat until it's thoroughly warmed up. Don't burn it, haha. At the same time, cook the pasta in it's own pot. Once it's all done and drained, combine the two and toss to coat.

Serve this with some veggies or a salad and you're good.

This serves my boyfriend for two helpings at supper, one helping for me, and enough for us to both take lunch the following day. So about $3 per serving?

Stuff like that is pretty quick and easy to throw together. Just take notes! Even if it feels like you don't have time. I write down dinner ideas while I"m at work on post-its, haha. Go home, go through some recipe books, tweak things and make myself a master 'Go To' list for meal ideas.

Once you get the hang of it, it gets easier for sure.

And don't worry about getting it 100% right every time. Some weeks ARE going to be more expensive for food. So do the best you can, but don't feel bad about yourself if you can't make the goal every time. Food is a very hard thing to budget.