Each week, I read posts from a handful of my favorite money saving blogs. Every now and then, I’ll stumble on a line that goes something like this, “This month I ended up with $128.36 left in my grocery envelope.” Gulp. Seriously? I get excited if I have $2.83 left at the end of the month. And odds are that I will splurge and buy a bag of Sunchips with it. Preferably French Onion.
Kudos to those of you who have extra change rattling around in your grocery budget. I am seriously impressed. More often than not, when the end of the month rolls around, I have zip left in the ol’ grocery envelope, and we eat pancakes for dinner.
It’s not for lack of planning or effort. I am a hard core menu planner and from-scratch cook. Each Monday morning I sit down and sketch out the week’s dinners. I check my pantry and freezer and cookbook, matching up recipes with store deals and seasonal produce. Like many of you, though, I’m working with a slim budget and hungry appetites. I love the challenge of making the former feed the latter, even if I don’t have $128.36 to show for it at the end of the month.
To spare your family from eating cold cereal or ramen noodles for the next three days, Kate and I have pulled together a list of our favorite end-of-the month dinner ideas. Some use just pantry staples. Many add a handful of fresh ingredients. Some cook all day in a crock pot. Others can be thrown together in ten minutes. All are easy to make and delicious to eat.
Pasta Dishes
Spaghetti with Roasted Marinara Sauce
Chicken with Tomatoes and Garlic – I made this for dinner last night without setting foot in the grocery store first. It was super simple and delicious.
Macaroni & Cheese – This is my favorite recipe for classic Mac n’ Cheese from scratch. I skip the baking step so it’s extra creamy and cheesy.
Breakfast for Dinner
Pancakes – Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes or Oatmeal Pancakes
Biscuits & Gravy
Waffles – I’m a big fan of Bob’s Red Mill whole grain mixes
Eggs, Bacon, Hashbrowns, and Toast or Muffins
Super Simple Suppers
Simple Roast Chicken – When whole fryers are on sale around .70/pound, this is an incredibly easy and economical main dish.
Pizza – I keep a stash of toppings (shredded cheese, pepperoni, ham, sausage, olives, pineapple, etc.) in my freezer at all times to make assembling pizzas a snap. My pizza dough loving heart belongs to Artisan Bread in Five Minutes. Or call in the Pillsbury Dough Boy for back-up. Your secret is safe with me. Whatever method you prefer, you can have a delicious pizza on the dinner table in no time flat.
Quiche
Tacos or Taquitos or Burritos or Enchiladas
Shepherd’s Pie – I have been on the hunt for the perfect Shepherd’s Pie. After four mediocre attempts, this recipe is the next one on my list.
Vegetarian Combinations
Rice Bowls with Citrus Soy Dressing
Rice Bowls with Spicy Curry Sauce
Find more vegetarian dinner ideas here.
Crock Pot Creations
Pulled Pork Sandwiches – Serve these on Moomie’s Beautiful Burger Buns, and your husband will shower you with diamonds and roses. Or… do the dishes and put the kids to bed, which I’d take over diamonds any day of the week.
Simple Beef Stroganoff
Soup’s On
Tortellini Soup – This is stockpile soup at its best.
Six Can Chicken Tortilla Soup – If you can operate a can opener, you can make this soup. Mix and match ingredients to fit your pantry and preferences. Take it up a notch by topping the finished soup with some tortilla chips, sour cream, and/or avocado slices
Cheddar Corn Chowder – Comfort in a bowl.
Rice & Beans
This list is just a start, but hopefully it’ll give you a few ideas to tide you over until payday and also inspire you in the new year. Find tons of weekly menu plans here.
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When anyone mentions shepherd’s pie, I have to share this recipe. It’s from a cookbook called Fit and Fresh by Mia Elliot, and it has recipes specifically for a diet I have to follow. I’ve made this several times with a variety of substitutions. One of my favorites is subbing the turkey for Field Roast apple sage vegan sausage using vegetable broth for a vegetarian version. Apples have been super cheap (I’ve been going to Chuck’s in Vancouver) and you can pretty much throw in any veggies you have already.
Turkey Shepherd’s Pie with Apple Parsnip Mashed Topping
(Serves 4)
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 lb. 93% lean ground turkey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups leeks (white and light-green parts only), halved
lengthwise, rinsed well, and thinly sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup thinly sliced, peeled carrot
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 cup frozen peas
1 lb. parsnips, peeled and sliced
1 lb. Fuji or Gala apples, peeled and sliced
1 cup water cooking spray
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. To prepare the mashed
apple-parsnip topping, combine the parsnips, apples, and
water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce
heat to a simmer, cover and cook until parsnips and
apples are fully tender and there is very little liquid left
remaining. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and
add 1 tablespoon butter and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt.
Purée until smooth.
To prepare the filling, bring the chicken broth to a boil
in a small saucepan. Add the sliced carrots and boil for
two minutes. Drain, reserving chicken broth and carrots
separately.
Spray a large skillet or Dutch oven with cooking spray
and set oven medium high heat. Add the ground turkey
and a 1/4 teaspoon of salt and stir until crumbled and
fully browned. Transfer turkey to bowl and set aside.
In the same large skillet, heat the butter over medium
heat. Add the sliced leeks, mushrooms, garlic, thyme, and
1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring constantly until the
vegetables are tender and golden brown, about 8 minutes.
Sprinkle evenly with flour and stir in the broth. Simmer
until thickened, with a gravy-like consistency, about 4
minutes. Add the carrots, peas, and turkey, stirring to
combine.
Transfer the turkey filling to large casserole and evenly
top with apple parsnip mashed topping. Bake until filling
is bubbling and the topping is beginning to look golden
brown, about 20-25 minutes.
Nutrition- Calories: 463, Fat: 15.1g, Saturated Fat: 6.3g, Sodium:
660mg, Cholesterol: 96mg, Carbohydrates: 55.6g, Protein: 28.4g,
Fiber: 11.8g, Calcium: 12%, Vitamin A: 124%, Vitamin C: 57%
The Prudent Homemaker has a series on her blog called “Feed Your Family for 40 cents a Day”. No joke. She does this (40 cents per person per day). Her website also has some really good recipes.
The Prudent Homemaker recently did a series on her blog entitled “Feed Your Family for 40 cents a Day.” No joke. She really does this. Lots of good recipes on her website, too.
Here is our shepherd’s pie recipe that I have finally perfected. It is a family favorite and fairly easy to prepare.
Shepherd’s Pie
Servings: 6
4 potatoes
1 pound ground beef
1 diced onion
1 diced red bell pepper
3 cloves diced garlic
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup milk
3/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 (9-ounce pie) tin pie shell or make your own
1 (15-ounce) can cream-style corn (Can substitute cream of chicken and frozen corn/peas for cream of corn)
1/2 cup cheese
Microwave potatoes until tender about 12 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown the ground beef and onion in a large skillet. Add allspice, paprika, sage, and cayenne pepper. Add bell pepper. Drain excess fat.
Mash potatoes with butter, milk, salt, and pepper.
Spread the beef mixture in the bottom of the pie shell. Pour the cream-style corn over. Spread mashed potatoes to cover the top of pie. Bake for 30 minutes. Add cheese (optional) in the last 5 minutes of cooking.
tonite i’m tripling the 6-can tortilla soup and will be providing dinner for 2 other families as well as my own… i’m excited to try it, it looks simple and yummy and will be great to give to my inlaws and cousins with some bags of salad and french bread…
Thanks for all the great suggestions, and a particular thanks going to the initial Frugal Living post that had a LOT of great links to really “basic” recipes.
“Basic” is actually good for those of us with limited kitchen skills who are trying to be better at learning how to do real “from scratch” type cooking, instead of just throwing something in the microwave .
I guess I’ll be the first guy to post on this particular thread, and report I’m preparing a variation/combination of the best of the two pizza recipees linked in the original FLNW posting, and will be serving it up for tonight’s University Of Washington Huskies bowl game event on TV (go Huskies!).
Best wishes to the writer of Frugal Living, as a number of her planning and preparation tips have been instructive and valuable in helping out this old retired guy in getting better in understanding all the stuff that us guys never figured out earlier in life.
–Bill
Seattle
I found the recipe for Elephants Tomato Orange soup by accident one day. I LOVED the soup to begin, but it’s crazy how simple it is to make at home! If you have canned tomatoes and oj in the freezer you can make their soup! Delish! http://www.grouprecipes.com/73108/elephants-tomato-orange-soup.html
I am just starting to get on the bandwagon of planning out our dinners weekly. It is pretty hard sometimes to have the motivation to cook though, since my feet and back still remember our lovely time in the kitchen together. These are possibly some of the easiest dinners to make and I (feet and back give thumbs up) thank you!
I forgot to mention that some of my easy recipes are featured on my blog. Every Monday I post my menu and my dinner shopping list.
I found myself with some puff pastry I didn’t want to get freezer burn on and waste and I had a package of bacon and a package of hillshire chicken sausage I had to use or lose. I chopped then fried up the bacon (whole pkg.), drained and put aside. Did the same with sausage, combined them back in the pan, added a diced small onion and a drained can of diced tomatoes, heated them all up and then put half the mixture in a sheet of puff pastry, closed it up, pinched the ends and middle and brushed with egg and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Put in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes.
So awesome that my husband and I ate the entire thing!
Taco Bake…Typically, I always have these items on hand. It is quick. It is easy. And it is always a hit in our house. Can’t beat that! I feed a family of 6 (often times 7 if you count my oldest daughters boyfriend)
Taco Bake
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, drained
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
8-16 ounces shredded cheese (Cheddar, Monterey, whatever you like best)
1 bag of corn tortilla chips or 8-10 tortillas
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a medium skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef and drain fat. Add the diced tomatoes with green chile peppers and taco seasoning mix . Let simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
In the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish, place a layer of tortilla chips OR tortillas.
Cover with a layer of the meat mixture then a layer of cheese. Repeat until the top layer is cheese.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.
If you do not use tortilla chips nor do you want to lay the tortillas on the bottom, you can just layer accordingly without those items (which is what I usually do).
Then you can roll the mixture into a tortilla like a burrito adding a dollop of sour cream and salsa. OR you can put on top of the tortillas chips for “nachos”.
Pair with some spanish rice (brown rice mixed with a little bit of salsa) OR southwestern corn (corn mixed with a little bit of salsa).
Thanks for the post – I cannot wait to try the chicken w/tomatos – looks wonderful.
I am not much of a cooker and after job hunting all day the last thing I want to do is laundry and figure out dinner.
You ladies are like Fairy Godmothers – keep up the great work! Thanks again…
When inspiration runs low I usually turn to some variation of fried rice. Add some meat, veggies, egg, and spices and we have a one pot meal, easily varied by the type of meat and spices used. If we had to eat the same thing every day, both my husband and I would choose homemade fried rice!
We have been eating on this all week: http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/main-courses/slow-cooker-green-chili-pork-tacos/
Tacos for 2 nights and nachos last night. This meat is DELICIOUS…and so easy. It’s really a dump it in the crockpot and go type of meal…pork roast, jar of salsa and lime juice. I also add a can of hot chilies, I think it adds flavor, with all the meat, it doesn’t make it spicy at all.
We had so much leftover from Christmas that I’ve been cooking foe the freezer for days. We had to cancel dinner because my youngest and I both came down with respiratory “stuff” and fevers. Needless to say, the 10lb ham was a lot for a family of four……so were the 3 dozen rolls.
My family loves Macaroni and cheese so we added the leftover ends of the Christmas ham – it was delicious and there are three more in the freezer. Tonight I’m trying a savory bread pudding with chicken and rosemary. The bread was leftover from the Christmas rolls. If it’s tasty, I’m going to try to prebake some and pop it in the freezer.
I could eat breakfast for dinner every night. I was going to make fish tacos last night but my fridge was full of leftovers so we kind of had a short order cook night, whatever we pull out of the fridge and mix up, heat up, whatever. Kid had quesadillas and chicken fried rice, hub had a warm ham sandwich and a burrito, I had potato soup and a burrito. Yes, we’re weird, but it worked and the refrigerator is clean.
I too feel the same way this time of the year. I too plan meals and cook from scratch and after Christmas I just don’t want to cook, I don’t even want to shop! In the past it would have meant that we just scrounged around the pantry for ramen or something similar.
This year though I found two saving graces which meant I didn’t even have to put together much of a healthy meal. First is leftovers! I know a lot of folks don’t like them but it is already cooked food, you just have to mix it into either another dish or preheat it and in this household we don’t mind either! Plus, I don’t waste food and I know the meals are good and good for you already!
Secondly this week, since leftovers really only cover so much, my freezer meals have been vital! I always keep at least three different types of meals in there and it has been a lifesaver to pull out a meal that I just have to cook in the oven or crockpot and make some rice or couscous or pasta to go with it.
And the breakfast idea is one we use too. I do breakfast for dinner once a week. It is yummy, it is inexpensive and we all love it!
For my house it would have to be a nice roast t(hat has cooked in the crock pot all day long!), with mashed potatoes & gravy, veggies & some type of bread. I’m getting hungry thinking about it! Yum. I think I will try your Six Can Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe it sounds good too 🙂
I have a simple shepherds pie recipe from down under that you use puff pastry (preferred) or a pie shell if you want. Total comfort food and everyone loves it.
This is right up my alley right now… I have absolutely no drive in the dinner department after the holiday rush. Not to mention, hubs, toddler and myself are all at varying stages of a nasty head cold (and have been for over a solid week) so my days are definitely not spent dinner planning. I haven’t been grocery shopping yet this week, either, so every day we run out of more stuff. (Am I the only one that fell behind in the grocery department while focusing on the amazing Christmas gift deals instead? Oops.)
Thank goodness I’ve got a fair sized meat stockpile in the freezer. I’ve been combining frozen meats with a pantry starch of some sort (two nights ago, chicken and rice- last night, spaghetti and meat sauce). These are great recipes you’ve shared, and you hit on one of my favorite go-to meals of all time… the 6 can chicken tortilla soup. It’s basically the same recipe I use, and I try to always have at least one of each of those cans on hand so that I can throw a batch of soup together in 20 minutes. I always top with sour cream and shredded cheese, and if I actually PLANNED to have this meal, I try to pick up cilantro, tortilla chips and (this is the real splurge and I don’t do it often) fresh avocado to slice on top. I’ve also served it over rice for a hearty meal. Easy and yummy.
One of our favorites is also the best comfort food — grilled cheese and tomato soup. We’re always stocked up on tomato soup and have learned to be creative with the grilled cheese — sometimes using the panini maker and rolling string cheese in tortillas, using up shredded cheese, slicing whatever is left on a brick of cheese, using leftover french bread, garlic bread, you name it. It’s always yummy! 🙂
With all of the deals on chicken that I find, I make a huge crock pot of chicken with some mild SW spices and tomato sauce thrown in there and then package it all up in the freezer in smaller portions. Then, 1 minute in the microwave is enough to thaw it out. If I’m short on time or creativity one night for dinner, one of my favorites is quick and easy baked chicken flautas.
Pre-heat the oven for 400 degrees
Spray a few flour tortillas with cooking spray
Scoop the chicken down the center and roll ’em up!
Back until light brown and crispy
I like them plain, but you can probably add other ingredients to suit your own taste 🙂
Dip them in sour cream with salsa, guacamole or whatever!
Serve with any sort of beans with cheese (I’m always stocked up with both of these items with all of the good deals)
Quick, easy, yummy, low fat and packed with protein and healthy fiber!