How do you make cheap meals for a family of five?

Answer 1

While we are only a family of 3, I do always try to make meals that serve 6...just in case someone is really hungry. Of course, I also love having the leftovers, either frozen for a later date or for lunches, leftover night, etc. I'll add my tips, hope some will help!

We have Kroger stores here that sell frozen veggie mixes for a $1 frequently. I always add one of those to our meals, cheap but keeping up nutrion values.

Chicken pot pie: I use 2 bags of those frozen veggie soup mix, a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup, some milk and the Heart Smart Bisquick as a biscuit topping. I use 2 left over grilled chicken breasts or some leftover roasted chickens. We like the pastry crust topped one better, but the Bisquick one OS much cheaper. It feeds the 3 of us two meals out of one dish, so you should have plenty.

I buy bulk of whatever is on sale and a good value. Sometimes our Kroger will have ground turkey for $0.99 a lb. I have bought 25 at a time when it's on sale. We use it for most dishes that call for ground beef, except Hamburgers.

My family loves red beans and and rice in the crock pot. I use 1 leftover grilled chicken breast and two Johnsonville brats andoiulle sausages. I get the brats for $2.99 a pack, with six in each. I separate them when I get home and get three meals out of each pkg. I soak my own red beans, but have made it with canned beans in a time crunch. I chop up the sausages really tiny to spreaad them out, and do the same with the chicken. We buy rice in bulk, so it's just as cheap.

I make Harvest soup all year long, not just in cold times. You serve most meals hot, why not eat soup year round? I add a whole head of cabbage, lots of carrots, onions, and celery. I only add 1 lb of ground turkey to the whole pot, which we eat on for at least 2.5 dinners. I add one large crushed tomatoes can and season to taste.

We have meatless spaghetti once a week. I use jarred sauce, but add tons of veggies to bulk it up.

One of everyone's favorite meals is 'Slop in a pot'. I take all of our soon to expire veggies from the fridge, add a can or two of beans and a little TVP(textured veggie protein that looks like meat, found in health food stores). I saute in a pan, add a little chili powder, cumin and garlic powder. I serve it over rice, usually left over from red beans and rice night, and everyone loves it. It's lighter and tastes great in many different variations.

When bacon is on sale, buy a bunch, semi freeze and chop finely. Freeze in small handfuls on a cookie sheet. When a dish needs some bulking up with meat, toss in the frozen bacon. The meal will taste like it has all the meaty flavor of much more meat than actually in it.

When we do have certain leftovers, we have open faced sandwich night...usually on a weekend. We arrange any meats, sauce and cheese over a piece of bread and broil. Everyone gets to make their own, some add tomatoes, veggies, some don't. My daughter loves the barbq sauced ones while my husband loves the taco sauced ones. Serve with some veggies and fruit and it's a great meal.

Carrots are still pretty cheap, so I keep those sliced and ready to eat in the fridge everyday. They make a great side dish or snack.

Apples are always a great side dish and come fairly cheap in bags. With carrots and an apple, your main dish needn't be so large.

One of my favorite sites is Hillbilly Housewife. While I'm far from a hillbilly, there are a lot of money saving recipes and shortcuts there that I use a lot. The convienience food shortcuts are really handy. Their grape jelly recipe is easy and great, you know exactly what's in your jelly...unlike prepared kinds at the store.

Good luck!!

Answer 2

Pan Lasagna, because it's really cheap and really large. Also, each serving is huge! Buy bread and toast it and viola, you have a fancy meal!!