Please share your 1 all time hands down favorite thriftyish meal

[ittybittycoconuts]

....unless you have 2 we all cant live without.

[blackbirdmama*3]

Subbing! My kids have become bottomless pits

[petuniajo]

Hmmm,

I really love me some tamale pie. And lentil tacos. I'll go find my recipes...

[junebug2311]

Wraps. With eggs. You can literally throw ANYTHING into a wrap and it will taste good. Great way to use up old veggies. You can do eggs, tomatoes, avocado, broccoli, onion, red peppers, green peppers, corn, black beans, chick peas, rice, cheese, bacon, ham, turkey, chicken.. Anything. Awesome way to use up things in the fridge.

[petuniajo]

I changed my mind, lol! Curried lentil soup is my favorite lentil dish (and is super thrifty). Though tasty lentil tacos are a close second--check it out on allrecipes.


Curried Lentil Soup
2T Olive Oil
1 Large yellow onion, chopped
Baking potatoes, peeled and chopped (I use about 2 small potatoes)
Carrots, peeled and chopped (however much you like)
1 bag frozen, cut spinach
2T curry powder
40-50 ounces of veggie or chicken stock
2 cups red lentils, rinsed and drained

Heat oil in a heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, potato, and carrot and saute until veggies begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Mix in curry powder and stir until fragrant--about 30 seconds.

Cover pot, reduce heat to med-low and simmer until lentils are *almost* done (I check after about 20 minutes, but which time they are usually pretty soft, which I don't mind). Add spinach and cook until lentils are done (I did about another 5-10 minutes).

Tamale Pie

Ingredients
• 1 lb ground meat (Turkey or ground beef)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic finely minced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 can diced tomato with green chiles (like Rotel)
• 1 can whole kernel corn, drained (I usually use a package of frozen, or I buy ears of corn on sale and cut of the corn and freeze them, and use that)
• 2 cans beans of choice, drained and rinsed (I think kidney and/or pinto work well)
• 1 package taco seasoning (or you can of course use your own—lots of recipes online)
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1c shredded cheese

For Topping
• 2 boxes of corn bread mix prepared according to box (the small boxes—I think the name is Jiffy? They are 8ish ounces each and cost like 40 cents)

Directions
• Combine meat, onion, bell pepper, and garlic in pan to cook completely. Drain off any fat that might have come from your mixture then add the taco seasoning and chili powder
• In A large bowl, pour your meat mix and add can of tomato, corn, beans, and mix to combine.
• Pour into a large casserole or a 9X13 pan
• Top with 1c shredded cheese
• Pour your cornbread mix over top so it starts to seep into the mixture.
• Cook according to directions in your oven of the cornbread mix.

[lynn97]

Beans & cornbread! I use a ham hock and pinto beans and make cornbread with a Jiffy mix. Boom! Dinner for about 5 bucks!

I am excited to try the tamale pie posted - yum!

[AfWife8405]

I don't know if I love it because it's thrifty or because it is just so darn easy.

Salsa Chicken:
Preheat oven to 400. Place chicken of any kind (breast, thigh, whatever) and any amount in a casserole dish. Dump a jar of salsa on top of it and put it in the over. After about 15-20 minutes sprinkle with cheese and put back in oven until cheese has melted and chicken is fully cooked. Serve over rice.

Thriftiness depends on how much you pay for the chicken, how much cheese you use and if you got your salsa on sale with a coupon.

[amcess721]

These quinoa burgers are so good! We do them with a side of a fresh veggie (like cucumber slices). I think the only "pricey" thing in them is maybe the cheese? Other than that, it's pretty cheap stuff.

[bohemianxchaos]

Shephard's pie is my go-to. You can throw just about anything into it. Brown some meat, mix it with gravy or a condensed cream soup and some veggies (or not), top with mashed potatoes, brown in the oven for 40 mins or so. Voila.
Seriously, any casserole is a win for me, because I can beef it up with extras. Last night I made a chicken alfredo type of casserole, but amped it up with loads of broccoli and cauliflower, and totally snuck in some pinto beans, which meant I didn't have to use so much chicken.

[d_arnold]

I just tried a great recipe from Skinnytaste.com

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/07/w...-zucchini.html

It was super easy and affordable because it's a meatless dish. You can really add any kind of veggies. I think next time I'll even add a can of white or black beans.