Have you ever been in a place where you’ve had (almost) no money and you have to feed your family? Where you have to figure out how to somehow get nutritious food on the table on a super-shoestring budget?
I have. Many, many times. And you know, it never ceases to amaze me how challenging seasons and situations can squeeze you into another level of growth. I’ve seen myself get pretty creative (and pretty basic) with what I cook for my family when times are tough. And that’s ok!
Because let me tell you what I’ve learned.
I’ve learned that when push comes to shove, I just need to get some food on the table. I don’t need anyone’s permission for it to be simple and it doesn’t need to be worth of pinning on Pinterest. And I’ve learned that it’s ok for me to serve the same meal more than once a week, or even everyday!
I’ve learned how to be content because, well, that’s the character trait that a tight budget forms in you.
And if you’ve ever been there, or feel like you’re there quite often, hang in there. That’s why I put this post together-to give you some tips on making super cheap dinners when your budget is tight. And if your budget is not tight, then this small list will still save you a lot of money!
Let’s start with some basics. When it comes to feeding our family real food (as opposed to processed food), there are certain items that stand out as highly budget-friendly. For example, brown rice, bananas, and eggs have a well-established presence in our home because they’re some of the cheapest real foods you can buy. Likewise, frozen veggies, certain fresh veggies (like carrots and broccoli), and beans are all inexpensive.
I have structured this list with these cheap foods in mind. Some of these show up on my meal plans every week. They are not fancy, but no one complains…in fact, my whole family loves them!
So. Here are 10 of the cheapest, yet still healthy meals.
- Scrambled eggs, beans, sliced apples/bananas (you can add whole wheat tortillas and salsa to make taquitos!)
- Eggs, fried potatoes, steamed broccoli: to fry potatoes, first scrub and chop potatoes into small pieces. Then heat up some olive oil in a skillet on medium, add potatoes, and put the lid on. Turn the potatoes periodically. You can also add a bit (like a few tablespoons) of water if they’re looking dry.
- Baked chicken legs and baked potatoes (you can do the baked potatoes in the crockpot so you don’t have to put two things in the oven). To bake the chicken legs, just toss them in some olive oil and spices of your choice. Preheat the oven to 375 and put them in until you check them and meat is not pink. To bake potatoes in the crockpot, first scrub potatoes then poke three sets of holes in each potato with a fork. Put them in the crockpot on high for 3-4 hours.
- Soup and bread (you can make your own soup or purchase canned)
- Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
- Baked chicken legs and brown rice
- Sauteed cabbage with sausage
- Bean tacos and sautéed squash (or steamed broccoli). For tacos, you can use canned refried beans, corn tortillas, and cheese. Heat olive oil in skillet on medium heat. Place a corn tortilla in there and add refried beans and grated cheese in the middle. Close the tortilla. You can cook several of these at once, depending on the size of your skillet. If you really want to stretch this meal, use dry beans and make them in a crockpot. This will give you enough beans to make 2-3 of these meals!
- Egg sandwiches and carrot sticks or buttered peas
- Red beans and brown rice. My red beans recipe is very simple…add a tsp of minced garlic, a whole chopped onion, and two chopped stalks of celery to some olive oil on medium heat. Cook until veggies are translucent. Add two cans of kidney beans, two cans of broth or water, and chopped turkey sausage. Bring to a boil and then simmer. Season to taste.
I know these recipes aren’t fancy, but they give you something to work with. I’ll be writing some posts soon on cooking some basic foods. For now, why don’t you check out Erin Chase’s $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook? There are some ridiculously cheap and easy meals in there!
I hope this gives you some ideas. There are so many more I could have added (another post, maybe?), but you can mix and match quite a few things from this list itself. Do you have cheap meals that stay on your meal plan list every week? I would love for you to share!
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