Need to prepare meals on a tight budget? Here are some healthy ideas!
- Soups can be made with cheap ingredients such as beans, and can be stretched with a bit of water, if needed (just add more seasonings). They also make well in bulk (doubling or tripling the recipe), and freeze well (with the possible exception of cream soups or ones with white potatoes).
- Minestrone can be made with any scraps of leftover veggies you have on hand, even ones not quite at their prime anymore. After your dinner is over, don’t throw away leftover tiny bits of veggies–put them in a plastic container in the freezer. Add to the container anytime you have a couple of spoonfuls of veggies you’d otherwise throw away. When the container’s full, make “surprise soup”! I got that idea from the La Leche League cookbook “Whole Foods for the Whole Family”. Calling it “surprise soup” was my idea, though. I think that name will go over with kids a lot better than “leftover scrap soup”! LOL!
- BTW–dry beans are cheaper than canned, so buy a couple of bags of dry beans and cook them up yourself rather than buy canned. It’s easy to do, and they can also be cooked ahead and frozen, to have ready when needed.
- And please don’t forget my most favorite meal of all–”see-food night”! I’m sure the “regulars” here are sick of hearing about it (please don’t all groan at once! LOL!), but it’s a wonderful way to make good use of leftovers and odds and ends (the last three crackers in a box, and the last slice of cheese, for instance). One night a week, just get out all the leftovers from meals throughout the week, and put them on your kitchen counter–the last two inches of a roast, the last chicken leg, the last 1/2 container of stew–whatever. BTW–the chicken and roast can also go into your soup! Cut them up and freeze them in baggies for the day you make soup, to add a bit of extra protein.
- Anyway, to get back to “see-food night”. After you’ve gotten the “good” leftovers out, and thrown away the ones that were definitely NOT good *shudder*, now check the vegetable drawer. One last apple hiding in there? A few berries in the bottom of the box? Get them out! Celery that you can salvage two good stalks off of? These would be great cut up, with a little peanut butter or the last 1/2 inch of salad dressing in the bottom of the bottle as a dip!
- Now the pantry. Three crackers left in a box? Two slices of bread left in the bag? One lonely can of beets you won’t otherwise really make use of? Put them on the counter (be sure to open the can of beets and put them on a plate, of course)! What might seem like unwanted odds and ends normally can look pretty interesting as a “smorgasbord”! Don’t forget to put out butter or jelly, and a knife, to put on the bread, or it will get ignored.
- Then hand your family members each a plate, and let them choose whatever they like. No matter what they pick, it will be nutritious, so who cares if the five year old picks three grapes and a cracker, right? Right! No one’s starving, no one’s eating junk food, you’re not fighting over them cleaning their plates, you’re making good use of leftovers and foods that otherwise would not get eaten, and you are not having to cook, so please don’t check their plates for the “four food groups” tonight! :) Yes, I know it’s the “Food Pyramid” now, but that just sounded better! :) Plus, if you use paper plates, there’s not much clean up involved, either, so no work for you other than maybe the serving dishes. I’ve done this on occasion myself. Then after they’re all done eating whatever they’re going to eat, decide what’s still worth keeping, and how you’re going to store it, and chuck the rest. Easy?
- This is going to be annoying but… BEANS AND RICE. They can be dressed up and dressed down. A 10 lb bag of rice in CA is $7. Since everyone is bringing up crock pots, you could buy dried beans and find someone who uses a crock to cook them (generally you HAVE to soak and then change the water). Once you get thoese two staples, you can fix up or fix down. You can make dirty beans and rice (Cajun) with the addition of celery, onion, and green peppers. Add tomatoes with juice and cajun spices. The addition of meat is up to you. Beans and rice are protein perfect.
- For Mexican meals, add cheese (if you’re not vegan), chili, some shredded meat and use corn tortillas. Making a chili from this isn’t hard with the rice as “filler” or a binder to make it more hearty.
- The other option is to use eggs (get rid of every other yoke if cholesterol is a problem). There are many egg casseroles that use few ingrediants, but can feed many. My favorite uses a pound of cooked sausage (OK, I use tempeh — soy meat substitute) and a cup or two of shredded cheddar on the bottom of a casserole. You blend together 4 eggs, 2 cups of milk, and a cup of bisquick with spices (usually just salt and pepper) for 1 minute. Pour over the eggs/sausage and place in a preheated (400 degree) oven for 30 minutes. Slice and serve with salad or more bread if you like.
