Next level of desperation cheap and extremely easy meals

[Anonymous]

Burgers/sandwiches and bagged salad are your friend. Hamburgers, veggie burgers, salmon fillets, turkey burgers, blts, bacon egg and cheese. If you do a big thing of instant pot pulled chicken or pork on the weekend you can make bbq sandwiches, rice bowl, quesadillas, chicken salad sandwiches etc for meals during the week. Serve with lettuce, tomato, avocado, slaw. Grilled cheese and canned soup. Fish tacos with Trader Joe’s breaded fish. Costco meatballs with pasta of under broiler meatball subs. It’s not the cheapest but my kids love cold smoked salmon, cream cheese, cucumbers, avocados served with french bread or crackers (Costco has a reasonably priced pack). Costco chicken tacos and pot pies in the prepared foods section are decent. Also their potstickers (or TJs) - steam with brocolli or bok choy or peas in some broth + soy sauce for a complete meal. I also do a thing with quickly sauted sliced chicken/apple sausage and apples served over grain of choice that my kids like. Falfafel or precooked gyro meat on pita with cherry tomato’s, cokes, lettuce and a quick yogurt aioli are also popular here - or with grilled chicken leftovers.

[Anonymous]

Family of 4 - 2 of which are growing high schoolers.

Chest freezer for the garage - $800. But 1/2 grass fed cow from local rancher comes out to about $10/lb after it aged, butchered, and packed. A bunch of ground beef and steaks, and can make stews with the roast cuts. Will last about 18 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Family of 4 - 2 of which are growing high schoolers.

Chest freezer for the garage - $800. But 1/2 grass fed cow from local rancher comes out to about $10/lb after it aged, butchered, and packed. A bunch of ground beef and steaks, and can make stews with the roast cuts. Will last about 18 months.

We want to do this. Where is your supplier in the DMV?

[Anonymous]

Not the poster but I know people that go to the farmer's market to order meat in bulk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sheet pan dinners are easy. Our go to is salmon with a veggie and potatoes or rice. Ask the staff at the fish counter to cut the salmon in portions for you and they can even take the skin off too (if you ask). Buy pre-chopped veggies in bags. Just switch up the protein, vegetable, and starch for variety. Bagged salad kits are also so easy.

Trader Joe's Salmon is reliably good.

I agree with bagged salads. My kids like Taylor Farms and Dole salads. Especially the chopped cabbage ones.

[Anonymous]

If you make a dish such as a casserole, make enough to freeze a few additional meals. If you prepare taco meat for tacos, make enough for several meals and freeze separate meal portions. Pot roasts freeze very well (just the meat and sauce, but you can quickly boil potatoes and carrots separately). Hot pot roast sandwiches with mashed potatoes on the side are yummy if you want a little variation. On weekends prepare one or two dishes with multiple meal portions. Soon you will have a nice frozen selection of weekday meals to choose from every day.

Invest in a standalone freezer to place all the extra meals. It can go in the basement.

[Anonymous]

Chicken Caesar salad wraps-tortilla, bagged salad, chicken nuggets, side baby carrots

Crock pot-two pounds stew meat, 1 1/2 cups water, brown gravy packet, onion soup mix packet, cream of mushroom can, low all day. Serve over rice with bagged salad.

Homemade subs take five minutes

Fried rice with left over rice and a bagged salad

Big pan of ziti on the weekend

Rice and beans topped with salsa, cheese, sour cream, avocado, cilantro, etc.

Snack night-adult lunchables, any meat, cheese, crackers, fruit, cucumbers…

None of these take any time.

[Anonymous]

Not knocking bagged salads buf they’re not cheap.
Was just at Trader Joe’s and a bag of butter lettuce that might do me 2 meals was 2.49. An entire iceberg lettuce was 1.49.
It’s cheaper to buy lettuce, cucumber etc per meal than buy a bag of salad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Family of 4 - 2 of which are growing high schoolers.

Chest freezer for the garage - $800. But 1/2 grass fed cow from local rancher comes out to about $10/lb after it aged, butchered, and packed. A bunch of ground beef and steaks, and can make stews with the roast cuts. Will last about 18 months.

I was already doing something like this. Sure it saves time shopping (I already mostly gave up shopping in person before RTO and had moved to delivery/bulk purchasing) but how does having a freezer full of meat translate into a quick dinner?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Family of 4 - 2 of which are growing high schoolers.

Chest freezer for the garage - $800. But 1/2 grass fed cow from local rancher comes out to about $10/lb after it aged, butchered, and packed. A bunch of ground beef and steaks, and can make stews with the roast cuts. Will last about 18 months.

How does this make life easier for OP at the end of the day? We have a chest freezer and we stock it with super easy to prepare, microwavable meals and veg.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Family of 4 - 2 of which are growing high schoolers.

Chest freezer for the garage - $800. But 1/2 grass fed cow from local rancher comes out to about $10/lb after it aged, butchered, and packed. A bunch of ground beef and steaks, and can make stews with the roast cuts. Will last about 18 months.

I was already doing something like this. Sure it saves time shopping (I already mostly gave up shopping in person before RTO and had moved to delivery/bulk purchasing) but how does having a freezer full of meat translate into a quick dinner?

This really does belong on a different thread. It's wonderful to do if you can but it's a cooking TIME investment, can be cheap(er). Not extremely easy per the thread title. I grew up with the white packages in our freezer but I had a SAHM who started dinner every day at noon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you make a dish such as a casserole, make enough to freeze a few additional meals. If you prepare taco meat for tacos, make enough for several meals and freeze separate meal portions. Pot roasts freeze very well (just the meat and sauce, but you can quickly boil potatoes and carrots separately). Hot pot roast sandwiches with mashed potatoes on the side are yummy if you want a little variation. On weekends prepare one or two dishes with multiple meal portions. Soon you will have a nice frozen selection of weekday meals to choose from every day.

Invest in a standalone freezer to place all the extra meals. It can go in the basement.

I think this is the secret. Cook once, eat twice. If you're going to dirty up a frying pan browning 1lb of beef, cook 2 lbs and make the 2nd meal alongside the 1st, and freeze the 2nd. Later, move it from freezer to fridge (or defrost in microwave), and you have an easy, quick 2nd dinner with almost no cleanup.

I use the same philosophy when shopping. If it's non-perishable, I buy 2 at once. If I'm making chili and buying a starter kit, tomato sauce and chili beans, I buy 2 of each and store the extra ingredients. If I'm buying a jar of ketchup, salad dressing or nuts, I buy 2 at a time. Same with personal items.

It really cuts your shopping clock hours by a third. Now I'm retired, so maybe this advice is out dated if you order your groceries online for pickup or delivery, LOL.

A tip on the extra freezer - make sure it's frost-free. It's not worth the effort of taking everything out and melting the ice buildup several times a year.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know if it’s still free to download, but Leanne Brown’s Good and Cheap cookbook will have lots of suggestions.

https://leannebrown.com/good-and-cheap-2/


Like many, I start with a base: salad greens, stir fry vegetables, omelets, wraps, fried rice, cellophane noodles — and vary what I add in to make a full meal. Proteins are often pre-made, so they just need to be heated or cooked and added. I’ll typically use salmon, tofu, ground sausage, seasoned, boned chicken thighs, or shrimp. I also use leftovers and takeout — especially when I have a taste for specific flavors or seasonings.


My single favorite quick meal is egg roll in a bowl. There are lots of recipes out there.
Oyster sauce, cilantro, green onions, sesame oil are usually on hand, and really make all the difference with my somewhat repetitive base meals.

[Anonymous]

(1) chicken nuggets on a salad kit
(2) naan pizzas (any toppings you like)
(3) TJs frozen fried rice add extra broccoli and scrambled egg
(4) grilled sandwiches
(5) omelettes and fries

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Random tip to save money: you can put the root ends of green onions/scallions in water on a windowsill and they'll grow you more green onion stems. We've been cutting ours back to use for more than 3 months instead of buying them.

None of these kitchen windowsill tips actually work. They all turn into slimy mush.

DP: I buy green onions a few times a year. Even in the winter, they continue to grow for a couple of months. A bunch of cilantro in a glass of water in the fridge also lasts several weeks. So, yeah, they do work. Or rather, they can work.