~$5 Meal Ideas~

[MamaMegan]

I make a beef stroganoff like meal-- my picky husabnd likes it.

1 lb ground beef (brown with onion flakes, garlic, salt and pepper)
1 can cream of whatever soup
Elbow mac (cook and set aside)

Brown the meat and leave drippings in pan, throw in soup and stir-- may add some milk to thin it out. Let it simmer for 5-10 minutes while stirring. Serve over the noodles.

----
Cheeseburger Casserole

1 lb ground meat
Diced Onion
Salt Pepper, Worchestire Sauce-- whatever you use to season burgers
Tomato
Cheese (slices, shredded, whatever)
2 Cups Bisquick Mix (actually, generic, but I don't know what to call it LOL)
3/4 Cup Water

Brown ground meat and season ilke you would a burger-- add in part of the diced onion. Drain off most of the fat.
Mix biscuit mix and water and put in the bottom of a casserole dish, top with the ground meat mix, lay slices of tomatos and sprinkle remaining onions on top, cover with cheese.

Bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes.

[marvelous]

Great thread. Dinner tomorrow is coming off of this thread.

I got this off of the Kraft website, but it has become one of our "regulars".

Speedy Egg Bake

6 eggs ($0.50)
6 flour tortillas ($1)
2 tomatoes, sliced ($1)
1 cup of yellow cheese (cheddar, mexican blend, colby, whatever you have) ($1)

Scramble eggs and season to taste. Put two of the tortillas in the bottom of a pie plate. Layer with half of the eggs, 1/3 of tomatoes, and 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat: 2 tortillas, eggs, tomatoes. The last layer should be two tortillas, tomatoes and cheese. Bake in 375 oven about 5-10 minutes. We usually just let the cheese melt. Yummy! Even my 15-month old loves it!

[alisonsage]

What great ideas mamas!!!!!

This is my special *Fiesta Chili*

1 lb ground turkey $2 (you could substitute ground beef or even TVP)
1 onion, diced $.35
1 can corn $.50
1 can black beans $.60
1 can hominy $.45
1 can diced tomatos $.65
cumin powder
chili powder

Brown ground turkey in a soup pot, add diced onion. When these are cooked I add my cumin and chili powder. I add quite a bit because DH likes it that way but you acn season to taste Add tomatos, corn, beans, hominy, and a couple of cups of H2O and simmer. I like to serve this garnished w/ cheese and avocados and with whole wheat tortillas

[skayers01]

Originally Posted by Samantha Pork chops pork chops 2cans of cream of mush soup(or 1 lg can) WHITE onion salt+pepper to taste Brown pork chops WITH the chopped up white onion. I cover it for 1/2 the time (to help cook the onions, if the onions brown a little its SUPER yummy!) and 1/2 the time without the lid. Add soup and simmer for a while. Serve over rice. (you can use above recipe for chicken that is really good too, but I dont add the onions)

Me and my older sis (when I was her live-in nanny)use to make this for dinner ALL the time and serve it with rice. I miss it, but dh HATE mushrooms and onions!

[skayers01]

Beef Stroganoff

Now there is a homemade way to make this but I can't remember exactly how I make it. Instead you can just buy Hamburger Helper and replace ground beef with stew meat and cook as directed. I've never liked Hamburger Helper, but this one is pretty good.

When I make it I use a beef bullion, cornstarck, milk and Tony's seasoning (it's like seasoned salt), added to the cooked meat until it tastes good (or edible at least, since I'm not the best cook!) and serve over egg noodles. I think it would also be good over mashed potatoes, but we haven't tried it yet.

[shell015]

OK I have to come back and read and write down all of these but I thought of my cajun pork chops and had to add but it's 3am and dh is wanting me to go night night... Urghhh this DS addiction is getting bad!!!

Cajun Pork Chops
Family size Package of PorkChops
Cajun Seasoning (.50 at walmart or the dollar store)
Aluminum Foil

Preheat oven to 375

Take the pork chops put 1 on a piece of foil... sprinkle cajun seasoning on it.. turn it over and repeat... fold the foil over the chop to make sealed packet. Repeat with all the chops. Put on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 45 minutes. When you get these out they just fall apart they are so moist. No sauce needed. Be careful opening the packet because the "sauce" will just run out.
If you want you can make mashed potatoes and use the sauce for gravy. The chops really don't need it. Open a can of veggies and you got yourself a meal.
May be a little over $5 depending on your family size... BUT still really cheap and really good.
Great Meal!

[lastaats]

Quesadillas!

Just need tortillas, butter (or you can use spray Pam or the likes for low fat), cheese, and whatever fillings you want. Just butter the tortillas, toss them in a pan, add filling, then flip when browned. Serve w/ salsa, sour cream, etc.

Some good fillings along w/ shredded cheese:
Hamburger, chicken, any kind of meat really.
Tomatoes, onions, black olives (or any type of cooked veggie).
Breakfast ones w/ scrambled eggs are pretty good too.

My girls LOVE these. Quick, easy, and cheap.

[Luvmy2boys]

Hi, I am new to this forum, but found a lot of great recipes reading this thread. Here is one of mine that goes over well here.

Brown 1 lb of hamburger (1.88 or more if you use leaner beef)
Drain and add 1 large can of Ranch Style beans (1.25)
Heat through. We serve this sometimes over cornbread (homemade so I really don't know the price) and whatever veggies we have on hand. We also sometimes add grated cheese and/or sour cream.

[ahava'smama]

Baked Potatoes with Broccoli
Add whatever toppings you like!

Herb Chicken and Roasted Potatoes.
Season Chicken with assorted herbs and lemon juice
do the same to the potatoes adding vegetable oil.
Bake until hot and cooked through!

[MomsHelpingMoms]

I've got to say ladies, you have really helped me out this week. I wasn't so much looking for cheap recipies as much as just looking for something different! I hate cooking the same things week after week. So far, from the list, we have had the:

5/6 can soup (Yum with corn muffins!)
Dirty Rice with Ground round
and today, we are doing the Chicken Fricase (sp?) and maybe the quiche too.