[Jennifer]

Looking for some cheap basic dinner options…
I cook every night and feel like we are in a rut.

We all very much meat, potato, vegetable people and very simple meals that can be tweaked and altered.

[Gina]

I buy ground turkey on sale & stock up. I make Turkey tacos with a dry Taco Bell seasoning recipe I found on-line.

I buy taco shells on sale & then chop lettuce, tomato, onions & olives to dress the tacos.

Those & a can of refried beans are a very filling dinner.

I also use ground turkey for meatloaf. (Walmart has the best price for that where I live) & add in chopped onions, sometimes grated carrot, chopped mushrooms, breadcrumbs, an egg, olive oil, steak sauce or Barbecue sauce (hubby loves that) & there you go.

You can have it for dinner or in sandwiches.

Yum-o!

[Rodelle]

Check out six sisters,ardent michelle mandyinthemaking and julia pacheco on you tube. Alot of cheap meal and meal preps and lots of other good things.

[Chelsea]

I’ve been doing breakfast burritos for dinners this week. I cooked some ground turkey with sausage seasonings and scrambled eggs with spinach.

Topped it with pepper jack cheese and sweet chili sauce.

Throw in potatoes if you want it more hearty.

[Valerie]

Best thing we did is take paper make column for each kind of meat then down the column list what you like to eat / make with that meat.

Hang it on the fridge

[Sandy]

I’m in a ruthless too and I don’t even cook every day. I do like to take leftovers, cut to bite size and stir fry with rice (or noodles) to stretch them.

Thin out that extra gravy as sauce.

[Rachel]

Sausage bake. One sliced ring balogna or kilbasa, onion sliced medium, 2 cloves chopped garlic, green beans (defrosted frozen work fine), baby red potatoes cut into thick slices, 2 tablespoons melted butter.

Seasonings of choice. We use salt, pepper, and a generous amount of good Hungarian paprika.

Stir everything except sausage together in a 9×13 baking pan. Top with sausage.

Cover with foil. Bake at 375 for 70 to 90 minutes – until potatoes are soft.

The sausage juices drip down into the veggies making them even more flavorful. Active time about 10 minutes.

If you buy the sausage on sale, it’s a relatively frugal meal too & it reheats well.

[Leslie]

Buy rotisserie chickens when they are on sale. Make taco soup with the breast meat (taken off the bone and shredded or torn into chunks.)

Eat the legs, thighs and wings on night one with a side of veggies and some bread or pasta.

Have the soup on day 2 and following (it goes a really long way depending on how you make it.)

[Jackie]

I work on doing meatless meals a couple times a week. Mac and cheese, Cacio e Pepe, fried cheesy polenta with marinara, Pasta Puttanesca, Cheesy Beans.

Pinterest is a great recipe source for low cost meals.

[Cheryl]

Chicken leg quarters (drumsticks and thigh together) are inexpensive (usually between $0.69 – .89/lb.)–less price per pound than just the thigh or just the drumstick.

They are easy– just seasoning and roast in oven at 425° for 35-45 min.

Nice crispy skin!

[Bethany]

Hamburger rice casserole- one pound ground beef and 1 medium onion, fried and drained. 3 cups cooked white rice. Mix ground beef, onions, rice together with 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 soup can of milk, 2 TBS soy sauce, 1 tsp pepper, pour into a greased baking dish, heat through at 350.

Serve topped with chow mein noodles, additional soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste. To be really frugal, 2 cups cooked and drained black beans can be substituted for the ground beef. The rice can be cooked with a beef bouillon cube also.

“ ghoulash” or “ macaroni hamburger” and variations: 4 cups cooked macaroni, 1 pound brown and drained hamburger cooked with 1 medium onion sliced, tomatoes of choice- you can used drained stewed tomatoes, a can of tomatoe sauce, 2 cups of pasta sauce, a can of sloppy Jo sauce.

You can vary the flavor profile by using different sauces/ seasonings- Italian, taco seasoning, etc.

Easy stroganoff- brown 1 lb hamburger, 1 onion, drain. Add 4 cups cooked and drained egg noodles, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 soup can milk, 1/2 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt. Salt and pepper to taste.

Note- I cook my ground beef with Worcestershire and a bit of garlic, I don’t have measurements on those, I just eyeball them.

[Mary]

We 2 are meat and potato people. Well, my son is I eat everything but anyway. Sometimes gesture mixed things I
make meatballs with gravy meat loaf.

chicken can be fried grilled cooked in gravy marinated and into airfryer or oven.

potatoes can be airfried into wedges think or thick cit. mashed or oven backed or grated for hash browns.

[Heather]

Salisbury steak
Ground beef shaped into Pattie’s, pepper, garlic powder
Italian bread crumbs, 1 can French onion soup add about 1/4 soup mixture and breadcrumb mixture till moist like meat loaf

Fry both sides remove than add 1 packet brown gravy 1 cup water rhe rest of your French onion soup.Bring to a boil.

Add Pattie’s back and simmer covered 15-20 mins
Serve over white rice, mashed potatoes. Or a lot of times I will just chop boil potatoes than smash when done and put yea over

Swiss steak
Any thin cut steak. Eye of round is good
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 onion sliced
Italian seasoning, garlic powder, pepper 1 bay leaf

2 cans stews tomatoes
1 packet brown gravy
Season sear steak
Remove saute veggies

Add packet of gravy, stewed tomatoes bay leaf bring to a boil simmer with lid on about 25 mins

I also make this recipe a lot in the crockpot optional to sear before hand 6-8 hours low

Cheesy potatoes
peeled and diced potatoes
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 can milk
diced onion
pepper, salt, 2 tbsp butter

Bake covered 350 45-1 hour until potatoes are done

[Author]

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