A recipe list of quick to fix meals with the ingredients stocked in the cupboard make it easier to avoid buying mixes and visiting fast food drive-thrus.
This page contains the following solutions.
The I HATE TO COOK book! Imagine seeing a title like that! I found this little book, published in 1960, and was curious with what kind of recipes it would have from 50 years ago, a time I thought all women loved to cook! It's really a book about "quick" dishes or meals.
This recipe is fast, easy to make and delicious, especially great for those of you who have young children to feed and are pressed for time. The adults in our family like it as well.
I have found a quick and healthy meal solution that is better for you than processed foods or take out. When you are grocery shopping pick up a package or two of fresh chicken tenders that can easily be cooked up for a speedy meal.
I save the black microwave containers that frozen packaged food comes in. When I am making casseroles, chili, etc., I fill them.
Making meals ahead and freezing them in single-serve sizes can save you time and money. And, homemade freezer meals will be lower in fat and sodium than store bought ones.
Do you ever have difficulty deciding what to make for supper? And then having it all ready at the same time?
Make your own quick meals by making a large batch of soup or casserole and freezing meal-size portions for later. You will save on high-priced last minute fast food purchases.
You are tired after spending the day working. But, the age old question is, "What's for dinner?" Do you have an option for dinner tonight? Here is a quick dinner that you can make that is satisfying and easy to do.
This is a great quickie recipe. Mix partially-drained green beans with mushroom soup. Add corned beef hash. Pour into casserole.
Busy Mother's Casserole. Combine all ingredients and place in refrigerator overnight in a covered casserole. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
What is the cheapest meal you have and how is it prepared? I need the required ingredients and a description of the taste. I am a Nigerian in Michigan, U.S.A. I arrived 5 weeks ago. Thanks for your urgent response.
By OLUWATOSIN from MI
I don't eat meat, and my food budget is very small, my favorite cheap meal is rice and peas. You can make a big pot or a little pot depending on how many you need to feed. You use a serving of peas for every serving of rice, I wish I could be more exact with the amount of ingredients. I cook my rice with a couple of veggie broth cubes, I add onions, garlic, or basically any aromatic vegetable I have. Sometimes I only have garlic, sometimes I have peppers and tomatoes, but you can use whatever you have on hand.
The easiest meal I make is using my crock pot. Put chicken breasts in the pot, pour a can of cream of celery or cream of mushroom on top and let it cook throughout the day on low or high if you want it cooked a bit sooner. The chicken is always fall apart moist and delicious. You can add some onion soup mix in, some vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower and serve over rice or egg noodles. My family loves it with corn muffins.
Peanut butter sandwiches are a cheap source of protein, no cooking needed. Eggs can be made any way you like. Rice and beans make a complete protein. Cook a large pot and eat for days.
Tuna Noodle Recipe
Cook a bag of noodles in pot of water and drain.
Add two cans cream of mushroom soup to the noodles in pan.
Add three cans tuna drained of liquid.
Add a can of peas drained or half bag of frozen peas.
Add half a jar of mushrooms(no juice) as an option.
Add one half stick of margarine.
Cook until all is hot and stir to mix well.
Serve. Lots of leftovers for other meals.
Description: All soft food and creamy
Vegetable Soup
one bag of mixed frozen vegetables
one can tomato juice
I understand a budget. Here are some ideas I do.
Homemade sushi. The Noris is cheap and you can fill it with whatever you wish. I use brown rice instead of sushi rice (healthier and cheaper. I buy in bulk.) Fill it with shredded carrot, some avocado, cucumber, and fake crab. I also use left overs, shredded chicken, pork, stuff like that. Easy lunches and easy to roll too. Comes out to a couple of bucks per meal and has all the nutrients needed. Make all snacks. Granola bars, etc. You get triple the amount for 1/2 the price of store bought.
Hi, and welcome to America. I think it is so brave to move to another country! The first meal I thought of was cabbage and noodles. It's hard to describe the taste. I think it's delicious. The meat is savory (I like to use breakfast sausage, and I like Bob Evans brand, but buy the cheapest) and the cabbage is naturally sweet. The ingredients are all fairly cheap, and it makes a big pot that warms up well. If you need to make it cheaper, you can leave the meat out, and just cook the vegetables and noodles.
The ingredients are:
1 large onion
1 head of cabbage
1-1 pound bag of egg noodles
1 pound of sausage, ground meat, or bacon
peel and chop the onion. Cut the cabbage in quarters, and cut the core out. Then cut it into slices or chunks. Break the meat up and brown it in a large pot. When it is getting brown, add the onion and cabbage, and cook over medium heat, stirring occassionally to keep it from sticking. When the cabbage is starting to get wilted, add a cup of water, and cover the pot with a lid. When the cabbage is nearly done, cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain the noodles, and stir into the cabbage mixture. You can add a hot pepper, if you like things hot.
If you could let us know what kind of foods you like and what your cooking skills are, it would help. Do you have enough pots and pans to cook a few things at the same time? Or just one of two, limiting what you cook and how much. I hope that someone here in the States is helping you with shopping and everything else. Bless you, and much luck to you.
If I were you I would start with food similar to what you are used to cooking in Nigeria. The larger grocery stores would probably carry that. If your budget is really tight I suggest you first look for a "Shop and Save" or "Aldies" type store. You will need salt, pepper and red pepper, sugar, flour, coffee and tea if you drink it and cooking oil. You don't say if you are an accomplished cook or just starting out. These are basic items. Next go to the library near you and get a card, or just look in the cook books section and find one on economical cooking. Eggs are always good and inexpensive and can be fixed many ways. Rice comes in many forms here but your best bet is to buy it in bulk (large bags cheaper than small boxes).
I also welcome you to America! Not knowing what sorts of foods you like makes it difficult to share recipes so if you let us know what you like (like what kind of fruits, veggies meats, pasta, soup, spices, etc.) we can give you oodles of recipe ideas and you won't end up making food you don't like that ends up being thrown away. I have hundreds of really good tested recipes and many of them are really inexpensive and am more than happy to share some with you if you let me know what to look for. :-)
I also know you're going to get homesick at times for your native dishes so here's a link of Nigerian recipes that have been adapted to foods we readily have available here in America:
www.foodbycountry.com/
With all that being said, if you like chicken you might like this simple recipe. It takes awhile for baking but it's really tasty without being overwhelming:
Extra Celery Stuffed Whole Chicken
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, giblets removed
6 cups stale bread, torn in pieces including the crust
6 tbsp butter
3 cups celery, diced
2 tbsp onion, chopped
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp salt
1 cup chicken broth
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in large saucepan and add celery and onion. Cook while stirring until soft and yellow. Add bread and seasonings and toss together until well mixed. Allow to cool. Add the liquid and mix lightly. Stuff in to the dressed chicken and bake for 2 to 2 1/4 hours, or until juices run clear when piercing with a fork.
Pasta with sauce! Choose your pasta, cook according to directions, heat up a jar of sauce also from the grocery store. Put the sauce on the pasta and eat and enjoy.
You've ordered pizza, picked up subs 3 times this week, you're low on patience and are totally out of noodles. The kids are melting down because they are hungry, what are your top 3 "Make in a Flash" meal solutions outside of breakfast for dinner? I'm looking to spice up my 'in case of emergency' recipe file.
By mo from Madison, WI
I keep a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables in the freezer for occasions like this. Cut some pork or chicken into small pieces so they cook up quickly in a little oil. Better yet, save your leftover meat and keep it in a container in the freezer for when you need a quick meal. Then I mix in some chicken broth and soy sauce and throw in the frozen veggies and cook for a few minutes more. Serve over rice, which takes less than 10 minutes to cook. It's quick, easy, healthy and it tastes good, but the best part is there is very little to clean up.
Another one of my favorite "quick" meal ideas is using the crock pot. When you get up in the morning, toss your ingredients in the crock pot, then when you get home in the evening, dinner will be waiting for you. Or if you don't have time in the morning, you could get the crock pot ready the night before, and put the crock part of the crock pot in the fridge. Then in the morning, just take it out, put it back in the crock pot, and plug it in. You can find many quick and easy crock pot recipes on the internet.
Any spare lunch meat you have can be a quick way to dress up a pasta or rice dish and make it into a meal. It saves the extra step of cooking up some meat.
Apart from pasta and rice, the most important staples for me are canned tomatoes, new potatoes, and cream of mushroom soup. A can of tomatoes cooked up with some herbs and spices makes an inexpensive sauce that's ready in minutes. Canned new potatoes are versatile and nothing makes a better meal on a cold day than fried potatoes with onions and ham. Cream of mushroom soup can be a quick gravy or pasta sauce, or just plain soup! Along with a selection of frozen vegetables if I have these things on hand I can always whip up a quick meal.
Grilled cheese and soup or french fries.
My quick go-to meal when I am frazzled is Salmon Patties. I use one can of Honey Boy Pink Salmon and two cans of Starkist Chunk Light Tuna (it makes the fish flavor more mild to add tuna). Mixed with 2 farm fresh eggs, a sleeve of saltine crackers (or a cup of oats for a whole grain). Using a large spoon, I make small, oval-shaped patties and fry them off in canola oil in a cast iron skillet.
This recipe makes about 2 dozen - plenty for our family of 5 with some leftover for my lunch the next day (I like them cold too). We eat ours with ketchup (you know it counts as a veggie now). I pop whatever frozen veggie I have on hand in the microwave in a glass covered bowl with a tablespoon of water and butter to steam it. Mac N Cheese goes well with this meal too. Canned goods are not great to eat all the time - too much sodium, but in this case, I like to think the Omega-3s and 6s make up for the sodium!
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
I am looking for quick, easy, inexpensive dinner ideas.
What meals can I make during the day that all I have to do is heat on the stove or toss in the oven quickly when I get home?
