~$5 Meal Ideas~

[CrunchyMama0607]

Less than $5 B'fast!

Maple Oatmeal

Cook oatmeal according to package directions except substituting milk for ¼ of the water. During final minutes of cooking, stir in 1 tbsp of maple syrup per serving. Serve while hot.

[rebelbets]

Southern Hamburger Steak with Onions and Gravy

* 1 pound ground beef
* 1 egg
* 1/4 cup bread crumbs
* 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
* 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1 cup thinly sliced onion
* 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1 cup beef broth (I save money by making my own broth using bouillon cubes)
* 1 tablespoon cooking sherry
* 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, pepper, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and Worcestershire sauce. Form into 8 balls, and flatten into patties.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry the patties and onion in the oil until patties are nicely browned, about 4 minutes per side. Remove the beef patties to a plate, and keep warm.
3. Sprinkle flour over the onions and drippings in the skillet. Stir in flour with a fork, scraping bits of beef off of the bottom as you stir. Gradually mix in the beef broth and sherry. Season with seasoned salt. Simmer and stir over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, until the gravy thickens. Turn heat to low, return patties to the gravy, cover, and simmer for another 15 minutes.

*I double the gravy and serve over mashed potatoes.

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Chicken Divan

2 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/3 cup milk
shredded cheese (I use cheddar)
frozen chopped broccoli
breadcrumbs

Cover the bottom of a casserole dish with a layer of frozen broccoli. Next, layer the shredded chicken evenly on top; follow that with a layer of cheese. Mix soup and milk in separate bowl (season with garlic, pepper, onion powder, whatever) and drizzle evenly over the top. Top with a layer of breadcrumbs. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or until broccoli is cooked through. Serve over rice.


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Authentic New Orleans Red Beans and Rice
This is my standard meal I take to families who've just had a baby. It's super cheap, high in iron, and it makes a ton. And it freezes wonderfully and is absolutely delicious. It is one of my most often-requested recipes.

1 pound dry red kidney beans
1 bell pepper, chopped
3-4 stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup dried parsley
1 Tbsp. Sugar
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. Cajun seasoning
1/4 cup oil (I prefer olive oil)
*1 chicken bouillon cube (optional)
*1 can/bottle of beer (optional, but adds great flavor)
Sausage of your choice (I use the cheap smoked at Wal-Mart)

Soak beans in cool water overnight. The next morning, drain beans and rinse well. Throw them into your crock pot with all of your ingredients except your sausage. Cover with water. I cook mine on HIGH all day long, but my crock pot is as old as the hills. When I've fixed them in a new crock pot, cooking all day on LOW has been sufficient.

After 8 or so hours, stir your beans really well, mashing some of them as you can (they should be nice and soft). This will make your beans nice and creamy. Mashing is key. Add more liquid if necessary.

Chop your sausage into little disks and saute on the stove until nicely browned. Add the sausage to your beans (I add the sausage grease, too, as it's yummy), stir and you're set. Serve over steamed rice, and be sure to have plenty of cornbread on the side.

*I've made this plenty of times without the sausage and chicken broth, and it was just as good. You can definitely make it totally veggie without sacrificing flavor.

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Salmon Croquettes
My 19-month-old son loves these!

1 14-oz. can salmon, drained, flaked and deboned
3/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
2 eggs
1 tsp. garlic powder (I use 1.5 tsp, but I like a lot of garlic)
1/2 tsp. onion powder or 1 finely chopped onion
1.5 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. dill weed (I sometimes omit)
salt, pepper
splash of milk
a few generous shakes of parsley flakes

Combine all ingredients in bowl and mix thoroughly. Form into smallish patties and fry in a few tablespoons of olive oil, 2-3 minutes on each side or until nicely browned.

If I feel like being healthier, I make salmon loaf instead of croquettes. Just omit the Italian breadcrumbs and add 2 cups rolled oats instead. Mix everything together and press into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for an hour.

[CrunchyMama0607]

yumm, i love hamburger steak! thanks!!

[mamatutugirls]

I don't know the real name of this so I call it my honey chicken recipe.

I usually buy a bag of frozen chicken breasts and then take a few out the night before I need them...

preheat oven 350.

you will need:
4 chicken breasts
1/2stick butter
1/2c honey
1/4-1/2 c. mustard. yellow or spicy. I mix both together
2tsp. salt
2tsp. curry powder, I use a tad more

melt butter in pan, stir in rest of ingredients and add chicken. Coat chicken with mixture and bake in oven at 350 for about 35 minutes. Serve over jasmine rice, or any kind you would like.
I usually do peas and salad as well....

These are ingredients most have on hand usually it's the chicken you have to buy which is cheap.

[CrunchyMama0607]

Taco-Rice Cassarole:
1 lb. ground beef
1 sm. green pepper, diced
2 med. tomatoes, diced
1 envelope of taco seasoning
4 c. cooked rice
4 oz. cheddar cheese

Brown hamburger and set aside. Saute peppers and tomatoes in l tbsp.
veg. oil until cooked part way. Add meat and taco seasoning to vegs.
and l/2 c. water and cook in skillet until water is absorbed. Add
rice and mix in cheese. May top with sour cream, lettuce or whatever
toppings you prefer

[CrunchyMama0607]

Italian hamburger skillet.

Basically, brown up some hamburger meat with an onion and garlic. Add a can of tomatoes (I use a quart of home-canned, but do what you like, depending on how tomatoey you like it, and how far you need to stretch it), then add cooked bow-tie pasta. Top with parm cheese. You can also make this with rice by draining the tomatoes, adding water to the tomato juice to make 2 cups, then adding the liquid and 1 cup of uncooked rice to the hamburger. Cover, cook 20 minutes, then top with cheddar, and you have a hamburger rice skillet.

(copied and pasted from meal planning sec. of mothering.com)

[rebelbets]

This one is so easy and cheap, depending on the ingredients you use. My husband surprisingly loves it, and he's very much a meat and potatoes kind of guy. It's really yummy!

Spaghetti alla Ceci
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

1 pound spaghetti (I use whole wheat)
Salt
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 3 turns of the pan
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped (I use 1.5 tsp. garlic powder)
1 (14-ounce) can, chick peas, drained
1/2 teaspoon dry thyme, eyeball it
Pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
1 (14-ounce) can, crushed tomatoes
Handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped (I use dried parsley)
Grated Parmiginao-Reggiano, to pass at table (I use the cheap Kraft in a can)

Boil water for pasta, salt it, and cook spaghetti to al dente.

While spaghetti cooks, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, 3 turns of the pan, crushed red pepper flakes and garlic. Place chick peas in food processor and pulse grind them to a fine chop. Add chick peas to garlic and season them with thyme, salt and pepper then saute them for 3 to 4 minutes. Add wine or broth and cook down 30 seconds or so then stir in tomatoes and adjust seasoning. Drain pasta and toss with sauce. Top with parsley and grated cheese.

[sdevonh]

Here's one for the veggies. This is what I used to live off of when I was a poor college student. (Now, I'm just a poor married SAHM. Ha! )

Brown rice or Pasta or Cous-Cous
with
Frozen veggies of your choice defosted and
added to
MF Spicy black bean burger, salsa and fat free sour cream or
MF Tomato Basil Burger or
My favorite! About 1/8 c each fat free sour cream and tomato sauce mixed to make a pink sauce.
Obviously these are single serving recipes, but you can double or triple for the family.

Quesadillas are fast, cheap and easy. I make them in my George Foreman without any butter/spray to keep the calories down.
I make my husband a quick and easy shepherd's pie w/
Ground beef (.50-1.00)
Frozen peas and carrots (.75)
Jar beef gravy (1.00)
2 bags Mashed potato mix (1.00)

Love this thread!

[sdevonh]

I thought of another one!

Spicy Sundried Tomato Pasta

Boil water and prepare 16oz bowtie pasta (or your favorite shape).
Roast 2 red peppers, under broiler turning occasionally until blackened. Put in paper bag for 5-7 min and then peel off skin. (This is so much cheaper and tastier than buying those oily jarred peppers.) Chop pepper finely and add to saute pan over med heat w/ chopped sundried tomatoes. Cook a few minutes and then add 1/2 pint heavy cream and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes. Bring to bubble, reduce heat and let simmer for a few more minutes until it thickens. Drain pasta and toss with sauce. So good!

[ShannaMarie]

We had the BBQ Cups from page one of this thread last night. DH and the boys LOVED them. My 4-yr-old ate 3 (!?!) all by himself, and DH called me from work to say they he couldn't wait to have them leftover for lunch, so he ate early.

I wrote down the ingredients thinking I needed a can of corn for the recipe, not realizing it was just a suggested side dish. I can't really stand canned corn alone, so I googled for a recipe to dress it up a bit. I found one on Recipezaar.com and tweaked it:

Corn in butter sauce
2 cups frozen corn kernels (I used one can corn, undrained)
1/4 cup butter (no subs!)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon sugar (or more to suit taste)
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt (or use 1/2 teaspoon white salt, or to taste) -I used regular table salt
fresh ground black pepper (to taste)

In a microwave-safe bowl or casserole dish, combine all ingredients; cover with a lid.
Microwave on (HIGH) for 4-5 minutes, or until corn is tender, and sauce is bubbling, stirring 2 or 3 times.

It was YUMMY!