Nutritious meals on a budget

[Zerbie]

And they're easy, fast too. :)

With the economy as it is, I thought let's have a thread where we share ideas for healthy nutritious dinners that can be made on the cheap.

One of these is an idea from my poor single days. The other just came to me early today, and I have yet to try it, but I think it will be enjoyable.

I'll go first:

Pasta with tuna-tomato sauce

Warm olive oil in a skillet.
Sauté minced garlic to taste (one or more cloves.)
Add a small can of tomato purée.
Add can of tuna.
Stir gently and heat til warm.
Optional: add diced fresh green bell pepper

Serve warm over freshly cooked pasta of choice.

Vegetarian succotash

Simmer some fresh garlic and onion in a skillet with olive oil.
Add:
1 can pinto beans
1 can lima beans
1 can corn
1 can diced, seasoned tomatos
Stir gently and heat til warm.
Season to taste and serve with bread.

Your turn! Share your cheap yet nourishing meal ideas here!
:)

[tymejumper]

This is a good thread. I usually resort to pasta when I have to save cash. The kids love it also!



Pasta and White sauce

Cooked pasta, does not matter what kind


White Sauce

1 cup milk or I use soy milk(silk unsweet)
1 chicken bullion cube or 1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon butter or margarine

Mix and heat up until almost boiling, DO NOT BRING TO BOIL

add 1 beaten egg

continue to stir at a low, not a boiling heat. Stir until it thickens it a bit, about 3 minutes.

1 teaspoon flour mixed with a bit of cold water to make a thin paste.

Add it to the almost boiling sauce, stir until thickened. Do not boil the sauce, the egg will curddle. Use a low heat. Toss with the pasta.

I usually searve it with fruit or a salad. It's very nutricious, you get the basics if you add fruit or veggies. I also look in the fridge and throw the leftovers in it, like mushrooms or if I have some canned veggies, those are great also.


Another quick good leftover user: "leftover Quesidillas"

2 tortilla shells, soft (flour)
2 tablespoons of shreaded cheese
leftover veggies


Place the leftover veggies on the shells, cover with cheese, put on 2nd shell. You can microwave or put in the oven to make crisp. Sometimes I throw a bit of ranch dressing on before I put on the 2nd shell, it makes it taste great.

We don't wast much at our house, we are too poor!:lol:

[Zerbie]

These are great ideas, Rebekkah!!

I am going to try the white sauce, it sounds really interesting and easy. Maybe your pasta and white sauce with mushrooms and peas. . . .

Thanks so much!

Awright, who's next?
:p

[sjbouza]

Wow...a thread for me.

Being a chef I love to cook. However, being in the restaurant industry has burned me out of it.

I do not have any recipies to show you right now, but I do have a few ideas that can save you money on that grocery bill.

The biggest thing I can share is to shop at "salvage grocery" stores. I have seen them in the south, ie South Carolina (Easly area). They are called "Bent-n-Dent". Those places are a great way to buy groceries. We have an Omish run salvage store locally and I do a lot of shopping there. I can buy lots of stuff cheap. Pasta sauces that cost $2 to $3 at the store for $1, pasta for $.25 a box, large cans of tomato paste/sauce for $.50, boxes of cereal for $1.25, the list goes on. Yea they may be dented or a little out of date but the products are just as fine. You may not find everything you need there, but what you can find you can make great meals from.

What I will do is go raid our local salvage store for everything I need to make soups, chili, pastas, etc. I will generally spend about $50 to $70 a month and walk out with enough food for that month plus. I will go home and make HUGE batches of soups, chili, lazagna, pasta, meat for tacos, stews, whatever I can make. I will then bag it all up and stick it in the freezer. It will take me a day or two, but then I just have to pull it out and re-heat it when I am ready.

Sometimes saving time is just as important as saving money. If you can do both then it is a bonus. I will go through some of my recipes and post them here if I find some that will work.

Hope some of you can take advantage of these salvage stores. They are starting to pop up all over the place. They are a great asset to the communities that they are in.

Peace,
Scott

[BenL]

This is a great Lenten dish for those who eat less meat during that season. It's one of my year-round favorites because it tastes so good -- not because it's nutritious or inexpensive, both of which it is.

3/4 cup raw brown rice, cooked
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 lb fresh spinach, chopped (may substitute frozen chopped spinach)
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp wheat germ (optional)
1 tbsp butter or margarine, melted

Combine the cooked rice and cheese. Combine the eggs, parsley, salt and pepper. Add the two mixtures together and stir in the raw spinach (or frozen spinach thawed with extra moisture pressed out). Pour into an oiled casserole. Top with wheat germ which has been mixed with the melted butter. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. Serves four.

Source: Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe.

Variation: We don't use the wheat germ. Instead, we substitute sesame seeds sauted briefly in the melted butter or margarine. They toast up wonderfully in the oven and add a nice crunch to the topping.

[Zerbie]

Heyy, these are great! Thanks, guys. Keep 'em comin'!

Who else has a recipe to share?

[sarahbina]

Brown Rice & Pinto Beans

Really simply that - a perfect protein.

Can be augmented by cooking pinto beans with onion, bell pepper, garlic, and cumin.

I like it with pickled jalapeno slices.

Hint: To make beans more socially acceptable LOL - soak beans overnight - rinse and cook in fresh water. Add a drop of Miracle II soap before cooking. Bring to boil and change water and then cook until soft. Add onion etc. 1/2 hour before beans are done.

[pnggrad79]

I have no recipes, but could I ask anyone if they have one? I want to make a healthy version of angel hair pasta with jalapeno cream sauce. My question is:

How do you make cream sauce? I can chop up the jalapeno easily enough, but have no idea on how to even go about making a cream sauce. A healthy one at that.

Thanks in advance.:)

[keltic63]

here's something I've been doing lately: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Potato-and-Cheese-Frittata/Detail.aspx

It's a frittata, and I find that the recipe is very flexible. I'll add some chunks of leftover meat, or some fresh spinach, or both. Friday night I made this and with some spinach tossed in, then topped it with some shredded cheddar and some pepperoni. (OK, not exactly lo-cal, but it was certainly comfort food for a cold winter night) I cook it in my cast iron skillet, then melt the cheese under the broiler. don't forget to season the potatos with freshly ground salt and pepper.

[tdogg]

I have no recipes, but could I ask anyone if they have one? I want to make a healthy version of angel hair pasta with jalapeno cream sauce. My question is:

How do you make cream sauce? I can chop up the jalapeno easily enough, but have no idea on how to even go about making a cream sauce. A healthy one at that.

Thanks in advance.:)

What about Tymejumpers white sauce? Would that work if you add the jalapenos?


My 'bachelorette' quick chili - good for 2 -3 meals when I lived alone:

1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can diced tomatoes
You can get all the above in lower sodium versions:
Dump all in a pan with all liquids. Add cumin, red pepper or chili powder, seasonings to taste and serve steaming hot with crusty sourdough (day old for savings). If you want meat, cook up some ground turkey seasoned and cooked up with some onion and peppers. You can double and serve to a family.

Mainly a time saver, but if you can find the canned foods on sale, skip the meat it's really cheap. More like soup tho (add flour paste to thicken, or perhaps tomato paste).


I also love to make vegetable soup - whatever strikes me but usually carrots, brussels sprouts, mushrooms, potatoes (unless you add rice or noodles), celery, anything else that sounds good. Cook in diluted chicken broth or vegie broth, add seasonings (sprigs of fresh rosemary if you have a bush of it are great additions). If you want noodles, add top ramen (without the seasoning packet) but I would skip the potatoes. Not real expensive, serves up nice with some crusty bread and leftovers for another couple of meals.

Ben, the spinach recipe sounds scrump-chu-ous!

[pnggrad79]

What about Tymejumpers white sauce? Would that work if you add the jalapenos?


My 'bachelorette' quick chili - good for 2 -3 meals when I lived alone:

1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can diced tomatoes
You can get all the above in lower sodium versions:
Dump all in a pan with all liquids. Add cumin, red pepper or chili powder, seasonings to taste and serve steaming hot with crusty sourdough (day old for savings). If you want meat, cook up some ground turkey seasoned and cooked up with some onion and peppers. You can double and serve to a family.

Mainly a time saver, but if you can find the canned foods on sale, skip the meat it's really cheap. More like soup tho (add flour paste to thicken, or perhaps tomato paste).


I also love to make vegetable soup - whatever strikes me but usually carrots, brussels sprouts, mushrooms, potatoes (unless you add rice or noodles), celery, anything else that sounds good. Cook in diluted chicken broth or vegie broth, add seasonings (sprigs of fresh rosemary if you have a bush of it are great additions). If you want noodles, add top ramen (without the seasoning packet) but I would skip the potatoes. Not real expensive, serves up nice with some crusty bread and leftovers for another couple of meals.

Ben, the spinach recipe sounds scrump-chu-ous!

Well it might work, but I don't know about the chicken broth. The sauce I am thinking of just has milk or dairy. I don't think it has any cheese in it. Any ideas?

[christa08]

And they're easy, fast too. :)

With the economy as it is, I thought let's have a thread where we share ideas for healthy nutritious dinners that can be made on the cheap.

One of these is an idea from my poor single days. The other just came to me early today, and I have yet to try it, but I think it will be enjoyable.

I'll go first:

Pasta with tuna-tomato sauce

Warm olive oil in a skillet.
Sauté minced garlic to taste (one or more cloves.)
Add a small can of tomato purée.
Add can of tuna.
Stir gently and heat til warm.
Optional: add diced fresh green bell pepper

Serve warm over freshly cooked pasta of choice.

Vegetarian succotash

Simmer some fresh garlic and onion in a skillet with olive oil.
Add:
1 can pinto beans
1 can lima beans
1 can corn
1 can diced, seasoned tomatos
Stir gently and heat til warm.
Season to taste and serve with bread.

Your turn! Share your cheap yet nourishing meal ideas here!
:)

I just bought the ingredients for these 2 meals and will probably try them next week (I would try them this week but I am recovering from having all 4 of my wisdom teeth out :eek:) I can't wait! :)

[Zerbie]

I just bought the ingredients for these 2 meals and will probably try them next week (I would try them this week but I am recovering from having all 4 of my wisdom teeth out :eek:) I can't wait! :)

Hey, let me know how they go. :)

I finally tried my succotash idea the other day, and needed to play with it to get it flavorful, and not boring. I found it takes a fairly generous amount of onion and garlic, and I played with salt, black pepper, and a dash of chili powder to give it interest. Let me know what you think, and if you come up with anything creative flavor-wise.

Guess you're enjoying apple sauce and bananas this week, eh?

[christa08]

Hey, let me know how they go. :)

I finally tried my succotash idea the other day, and needed to play with it to get it flavorful, and not boring. I found it takes a fairly generous amount of onion and garlic, and I played with salt, black pepper, and a dash of chili powder to give it interest. Let me know what you think, and if you come up with anything creative flavor-wise.

Guess you're enjoying apple sauce and bananas this week, eh?

It's been yogurt and cottage cheese....what a combination huh :p I will remember to add those extra flavors to make it more interesting :) thank you

[tymejumper]

I have no recipes, but could I ask anyone if they have one? I want to make a healthy version of angel hair pasta with jalapeno cream sauce. My question is:

How do you make cream sauce? I can chop up the jalapeno easily enough, but have no idea on how to even go about making a cream sauce. A healthy one at that.

Thanks in advance.:)




Hey, I didnt read all of the posts so I dont know if someone got you a recipie. Cream sauce is only a dairy milk(skim or low fat, or soy, my preference), a teaspoon of butter and thickner of some sort. I sometimes use flour, but I mix it in cold water first and blend it into the boiling sauce. Or you can use corn starch, same cold water to blend it first and stir into the boiling sauce. Actually, my previous post is a white sauce/cream sauce of a type. I add egg to thicken it and to add protein instead of meat. Cream sauce is pretty easy to make. Just make it lowfat instead of cream which is pretty fattening.