I have a younger family member that needs to get out of a bad situation, so he’s coming to stay with my wife and I for a few weeks. We’re used to eating a lot of “meals for two,” and aren’t really used to making larger dishes or things that need to stretch out to accommodate more people. All I can think of are pasta dishes like spaghetti, and then “large batch” things like chili.
What are some recipes and basic dishes that go a long way that we could make while he’s here?
Since I have a family on the go, it is not always easy to know where we are eating, when we are eating and who is coming. We have to be flexible and quick when it comes to meal prep. We have found that when we have people staying over, it fits in well with our modular meal system. I know that this may sound unappetizing because of all the frozen and prepared foods, but when you are in our situation, it almost has to be this way.
What we do is store a few types of frozen proteins (chicken, pork, beef steak, hamburger, shrimp, sausage and fish), a few types of frozen veggies, a few types of sauces (ex: asian stir fry, spaghetti sauce), a few types of pasta, a few types of rice, 1 bag of potatoes, one bottle of oil, one bag of flour, a few types of canned diced tomatoes (mexican style, italian style) and finally a few types of that pop’n can bread (biscuits, french).
With these key ingredients, you can make multiple combinations and adjust the amounts easily for the people that happen to be there or you can make enough so that there are plenty of leftovers. Ex: you get one protein, chop it into pieces, put it over one type of rice, and micro one type of veggie. The next day you get one type of protein, chop it into pieces, stir fry it with veggies and sauce and that is it. The next day you get some other kind of protein, chop it into pieces, dredge it in flour, fry it in oil, micro two potatoes, cut them in half, and pop a can of bread. Rinse and repeat using different combos in different amounts (I am assuming you have butter and basic spices).
Of course there are some days when we know that we are all going to be together and we are going to have time to cook something complicated. On those days I may pick up the necessary ingredients fresh and we have fun cooking together!
Use whatever recipes you’re used to, but double the ingredients. Unless he’s a teenager, in which case triple the ingredients and don’t count on having any leftovers.
Some suggestions:
Breakfast for dinner meals like pancakes and waffles with sausages and eggs.
Baked potatoes with toppings. Chili is hearty. Broccoli and cheese is another good one.
Taco night. Using beans as part of the filling makes this even cheaper.
Frittata (like a baked omelet).
Sandwiches with soup or salad.
Hot dogs, cole slaw.
Foods you can reconstitute work very well for saving money, too.
For example, if you buy a rotisserie chicken (or roast one yourself, which is very easy), you can eat roast chicken one night, then either a chicken casserole, which makes a ton of food and makes good use of frozen or canned veggies, or tacos or quesadillas the next. You should be able to get at least two meals for three out of a chicken, if not more.
If you get a bag of dried beans, you can make them in the slow-cooker, then have black beans and rice one night and add in some corn kernels (fresh or frozen) and partially mash the beans and mix with an egg and some bread crumbs to have black bean cakes (either as sandwiches or on their own) another night. You can do something similar to this with most fish, too - eat it on its own as a filet one night, then separate it with a fork, mix in an egg, some breadcrumbs and even leftover mashed potatoes and have fish cakes.
Soups are great, too - they go a long way. Chili, as mentioned earlier, works really well (you can make chicken chili from the rotisserie chicken or black beans above). So does turkey and potato chowder. It’s very filling, but you can make it from ingredients from other meals to save money.
I eat this soup daily, it keeps in the frig for about a week. It can be a good addition to whatever else you are serving (sandwich, baked potato, rice, salsa and chips, etc)
Vegetable soup. Makes about 18 - 1 cup servings
1 - 46 oz. can V8 juice
1 - 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes
6 medium stalks of celery (approx. 1 cup)
1/2 medium cabbage, red or green (approx. 6 cups)
1 medium onion (approx. 1 cup I use sweet onions such as Vidalia)
6 medium carrots (Or pre-sliced to equal 1 1/2 cups)
2 medium green peppers (approx. 2 cups - red and/or yellow can also be used)
1 envelope of Lipton Beefy Onion Soup Mix
1 - 14 oz. can Swanson’s Lower Sodium Beef Broth
1 beef bouillon cube or package
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper… or to taste
Chop and dice veggies. Add all ingredients into a large stock pot. Add water if necessary to bring liquids to almost twice the depth of the veggies in the pot. Bring to a boil, and stir as needed. Cook on low heat for about 2 hours… or untilall the veggies are soft.
Other seasonings such as curry, parsley, or any other spices or herbs to suit your taste.
I don’t know how feasible this is, but I’m going to suggest cooking the exact same amount of food, and splitting it three ways instead of just two. At the end of this, everyone will still be alive, and probably a bit healthier for it. (I know I would.)
Here’s a trick I came across to spread one sauce into 2 or 3 meals.
In a big pot, put in some chopped garlic, olive oil, and basil. Add 2 or 3 cans of crushed tomatoes (usually less than $2 apiece). Let it simmer for a while, add a small amount of salt, sugar, and pepper to taste. Presto, you’ve got a ton of pasta sauce.
Then, once you’ve had your pasta, add spicy mustard, brown sugar, tobasco sauce, and quite a bit of Worcestershire sauce. Bingo bango, now it’s barbecue sauce. Pour it over some cut up chicken parts (thighs are the cheapest and most flavorful) in a dish, bake for a while, barbecue chicken appears.
Cereal, hot and cold are cheap and “stick to the ribs”
Microwaved baked potatoes, pancakes, eggs are all cheap meals.
Jelly sandwiches, toast, english muffins
Frozen pizza and ten-packs of frozen burritos are cheap.
And you aren’t really a kid’s host without potato chips and ice cream.
The husband and I just spent about $80 on groceries for the next two weeks. Our basic foodstuffs have more of an Asian bent just because that’s our preference.
Our staples:
Rice (get the bulk bag)
frozen chicken thighs
feta cheese
Vienna sausages
tuna
soy sauce
Kraft Mac and Cheese (79cents a box!)
2 cans green beans
broccoli
Milk
butter
cereal in the bag
Recipes
Rice + any one of the meats + soy sauce
Mac and Cheese (you only need a couple tablespoons of milk and butter) + a veggie.
Rice + Feta + soy sauce
cereal + milk
If you’re going balls out,
Rice + meat + feta + soy sauce
As you can see, we eat a lot of rice. You can make one big batch in the morning and then eat it down through the day.
Today, we splurged $5 on 2 hotdogs and 2 sodas from Costco. Celebrate!
I have a 12 year-old who eats like he’s 49, and these are some things that keep “the stomach” and my wallet relatively full:
Protein:
Get a 7-blade chuck roast. 7-Blade chuck is one of the cheapest cuts of beef out there, but can be made flavorful and tender with a little prep time.
Get a dutch oven (I got one from Wal*Mart as my first “post-divorce apartment warming gift”).
Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Brown the roast in the Dutch oven (Medium heat) on the stovetop with a little bit of oil.
Remove it from the heat, and turn off the burner. Pour off most of the oil (you will have some of the original oil plus the fat in the oven).
Season the meat (I like a mix of salt, pepper, and garlic powder). Pour about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of liquid in (Orange Juice is really nice, but a cola will work as well). You could add a splash of liquid smoke or bbq sauce. as well.
Cover the Dutch oven and put it in the oven for 30-35 minutes. Remove the Dutch oven, and let the meat rest for a few minutes. Open that bad boy up and enjoy!
Starches (I mean Carbs):
Real Mac and Cheese (Elbow mac, sharp and mild cheddar, Velveeta, butter, evaporated milk).
Quesadillas. Go to your local latin market. They will be cheaper and more flavorful. You can use the cheese you didn’t use from the mac and cheese, and some of the beef from the 7 blade.
Potatoes. If you’re trying to eat cheap, you’ve got to get potatoes.
This is a great idea if the OP is hosting an 8 year old, not so good if the kid’s 17 or into sports. The amount of food an athletically inclined teenage boy can burn through is amazing.
Start looking now for chicken on sale to put in the freezer and use later. Baked chicken and potatoes can be pretty cheap, and provide leftovers. Don’t forget you’ll need to provide lunches for the kid if he doesn’t eat on the school lunch program.
It would help if you could elaborate on your typical meals, but here’s some suggestions:
Use frozen vegs in the largest bags. This way you can add a couple shakes of peas to some canned soup, or make a whole pan of creamed peas, and still have some left for next time.
Make your normal meal and just add two vegetables (one root, one green).
Hammer out things like chicken breasts and pork chops and then cut them in two. Voila, two servings into four!
Serve soup as a first course, then small servings of your normal meal. All you’ve added is a 50-cent can of soup. (well, maybe $1.25 for the good stuff!)
To the 3-meal chicken suggestion above I’ll add: Boil the carcass, then pick out the bones and ‘chicken boogers’. Add noodles, and whatever leftover veggies are in the fridge. Add herbs/spices to taste (Marjoram is great). Ta-da! Meals 4 and 5.
Search you-tube for “Depression cooking”. That old lady is wodnerful, and very wise.
Good luck, and God bless you for doing this!
ETA: Google “Angel Food Network” the frozen meals suck, but it’s a great way to get cheap basics.
Cheep hot dogs are one thing. I generally hate them because they were almost the only meat I had one year.
Potatoes on sale right now can be cheap. It really depends on what this person will eat. I know when your starved you’ll eat stuff you don’t like, but that’s not the point of this thread is it. It would be nice to have an idea of what foods you eat.
Just talking to a gardening neighbor right now could bring in some fresh food. I know Anybody stopping at my place will be allowed as much tomatoes, zucchini and apples as they can eat at home right now. I’d give away some other stuff if I knew they would really like some in limited quantities.
Rice, almost nothing is cheaper than rice and rice is pretty bland. You can flavour it with pretty much anything.
Well any sort of stir fry is really easy. Some veggies a wok, some rice, some beans or some meat. Spice it however you like with soy, garlic, pepper and whatever else. You can also use noodles.
Sandwiches are always good. You can make hamburgers or tacos.
One thing I am a big fan of is rice and beans with eggs. Make your prefferred kind of rice. Take some canned beans, I use Goya, two cans or one of the big cans probably is best as having leftovers is great. This can serve all three of you for less than $ 5. I like to spice the beans with cumin, coriander and garlic. You can serve with salsa or without, or with any kind of hot sauce really. The kind of beans is up to you. I’ve done it with butter beans, hominy, chick peas, black beans, red beans, pinto beans. Basically whatever is in our pantry. I like my eggs over easy and like to mix up the running yolks but you can make them scrambled if you like. You could cut up bits of jalapeno or other peppers if you want. Throw in some veggies. Really easy to get creative with.
Macaroni and cheese with hotdogs was a staple of my childhood. I also doctor ramen up a lot. An egg or two, some spinach or other greens, some soy, some garlic/pepper hot sauce (just a dash) the flavor packet some pepper and a bit of olive oil to bind the spices to the more solid bits.
You could probably find a pretty simple hummus recipe online somewhere. Hummus and Tahini is awesome, maybe a Turkish salad or some tabouleh if you’re into cutting up the herbs and veggies.
If you want to get a little fancier enchiladas are really easy to make. take corn tortillas and fry them in canola oil. Only long enough so that they are soft and easy to roll. Fill them with cheese or beans and cheese or meat and cheese. Cheese being the main idea. The sauce should be some kind of spiced tomato paste. Finding recipes online should be easy. I flubbed my last one so I won’t go into specifics. I liked it and ate it all but it wasn’t amazing. The sauce will contain things like cumin, coriander, cilantro and garlic mainly. It should also have onions. The sauce is the hard part, you need to cook it long enough so that the onions really cook down into the sauce. You take the rolled tortillas make a layer, cover it with more cheese pour sauce on it, then make another layer of rolled tortillas put another layer of sauce and then pour cheese on top of it. IIRC 425 in the oven for 25 minutes is good.
Not specific recipes but maybe this will give you some ideas.
WHERE do you live? Here in SoCal, the Costco hot dog and soda lunch is priced at a buck-and-a-half.
Do they have a tip jar at the snack bar window, or something?
Anyway, to the OP: if you do have Costco (and a membership), they’ll sell you a HUGE pizza for ten dollars. Coupla dinners for three in one of those.
Any kind of bean or lentil soup is cheap to make, filling, and can be done in a large slow cooker and frozen. Lentil cook pretty quickly; I can make a huge pot of soup in less than an hour. Lately, my favorite is Turkish red lentil - fry a diced onion and 3 - 4 minced garlic cloves, add 1 T paprika, 1 t turmeric, 1 cup red lentils and fry for another couple of minutes, then add 8 cups water or stock, maybe some celery seed, and cook until the lentils fall apart (30 - 45 minutes). If you want a thicker soup, you can add 1/2 c. bulgur or some leftover rice. Toward the end, add 1 sm. can tomato paste, salt & pepper, some hot pepper (crushed, whatever you have on hand), and 2 T crushed dried mint if you want a little twist. If you want, you can add cooked chickpeas at the end.
There are all kinds of lentil and bean soup recipes out there, though - some use a bit of lemon juice, or parsley, or of course there’s the old American standard flavored with bacon or ham instead of tomato and mint. A bowl of that and some good bread, and I’m usually pretty full!