What do you do for cheap family friendly-dinner
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
I can't think of anything we ate because it was budget friendly, but it must have been. My Mom hated to cook, but her crab marinara was to die for. I still make that when I can afford it.
Kayelle
Chef Extraordinaire
There's creamed tuna on toast, but then there's my
Fancy Creamed Tuna
1 small onion, chopped
2 ribs of celery, thinly sliced
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
4 Tbs. butter or margarine
4 Tbs. flour
2 cups of whole milk, or 1 C. of canned milk with 1 C. chicken broth
1 or 2 cans of drained tuna
2 or 3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas (optional if kids hate them)
Lemon Pepper, and seasoned salt to taste
Saute the onion, celery and mushrooms in butter till nearly tender. Add the flour and cook for a minute or two to cook out the flour taste. Add the liquid slowly while mixing and bring to the simmer for a few minutes to thicken.
Add the tuna, chopped eggs and peas. Gently mix until hot and the peas defrost. Season with lots of lemon pepper and some seasoned salt to taste.
Serve on toast, or rice, or my favorite...mashed potatoes. __________________
Fancy Creamed Tuna
1 small onion, chopped
2 ribs of celery, thinly sliced
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
4 Tbs. butter or margarine
4 Tbs. flour
2 cups of whole milk, or 1 C. of canned milk with 1 C. chicken broth
1 or 2 cans of drained tuna
2 or 3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas (optional if kids hate them)
Lemon Pepper, and seasoned salt to taste
Saute the onion, celery and mushrooms in butter till nearly tender. Add the flour and cook for a minute or two to cook out the flour taste. Add the liquid slowly while mixing and bring to the simmer for a few minutes to thicken.
Add the tuna, chopped eggs and peas. Gently mix until hot and the peas defrost. Season with lots of lemon pepper and some seasoned salt to taste.
Serve on toast, or rice, or my favorite...mashed potatoes. __________________
larry_stewart
Master Chef
Back in the day, when money was an extreme issue for me, our meal budget was about $3 a meal ( for 2 people). This was back in the early 90's. I was a student then, newly married and a much less experienced cook. 3 days of the week we would have spaghetti because pasta was 3 boxes for 1$ ( and when on sale, you could get them for 4 for 1$). And francesco Rinaldi jarred sauce was $.99.
Another weekly dinner would be the Broccoli and Cheese lipton rice ( which was 2 for $1.50). Id enhance it with more broccoli and a little more cheese ( which at the time brought the total price to about $3).
Pierogi and ravioli were another staple as they were under $2 a box at the time.
Soups were also common since a pot of soup could go a long way. Split peas were $.99 and we would either go to the Italian Market in the city ( the one Rocky jogs through in Rocky 1 ) to buy produce , getting like 6 pounds of bananas for $1, or 3 pounds of grapes for $1. We then found a place called Produce Junction, which even had better deals on produce. We'd spend about $13 on produce, and come out with 2 huge boxes filled with fruits and veggies. Since sunday was my only day off, Id spend all day cooking up the veggies for the week, so they wouldn't spoil.
I remember I would have the cooking shows on ( as background noise) all day while I was studying. Usually Jeff smith or Julia. If a recipe came along that I was interested in ( no internet at the time, so no way to just search it), I would copy the recipe in the margins of my notes or even on the inside covers of my school text books. Id even write my weekly menu in my books as well. I still have my books. Once day ( when Im not lazy), I should dig them up and see what recipes I wrote down at the time, and what one of our weekly menus looked like.
Luckily, Im in a different situation now, so $3 is not my limit. But, if I see something that is more expensive than it should be, i won't by it just out of principle. I often laugh as Im walking out of the store because I've changed my menu in the past, just because broccoli was $1.75 each in stead of $1.50. That extra $.25 was enough to piss me off and rearrange a planned dinner.
But this frugalness also forces me to be more creative in the kitchen. Almost like an episode of chopped, where I have to make do with what i got ( no time limit of course).
If I thought about the common things I have cooked in the recent past, Pasta dishes, soups and Pizza are probably the 3 basic dinners ( for me) that are the least expensive to make and offer the most variations. Unfortunately, being forced to reduce my carbs, and my wife now adoption a vegan diet, Im once again forced to be more creative. But I like the challenge cause things never get boring.
Another weekly dinner would be the Broccoli and Cheese lipton rice ( which was 2 for $1.50). Id enhance it with more broccoli and a little more cheese ( which at the time brought the total price to about $3).
Pierogi and ravioli were another staple as they were under $2 a box at the time.
Soups were also common since a pot of soup could go a long way. Split peas were $.99 and we would either go to the Italian Market in the city ( the one Rocky jogs through in Rocky 1 ) to buy produce , getting like 6 pounds of bananas for $1, or 3 pounds of grapes for $1. We then found a place called Produce Junction, which even had better deals on produce. We'd spend about $13 on produce, and come out with 2 huge boxes filled with fruits and veggies. Since sunday was my only day off, Id spend all day cooking up the veggies for the week, so they wouldn't spoil.
I remember I would have the cooking shows on ( as background noise) all day while I was studying. Usually Jeff smith or Julia. If a recipe came along that I was interested in ( no internet at the time, so no way to just search it), I would copy the recipe in the margins of my notes or even on the inside covers of my school text books. Id even write my weekly menu in my books as well. I still have my books. Once day ( when Im not lazy), I should dig them up and see what recipes I wrote down at the time, and what one of our weekly menus looked like.
Luckily, Im in a different situation now, so $3 is not my limit. But, if I see something that is more expensive than it should be, i won't by it just out of principle. I often laugh as Im walking out of the store because I've changed my menu in the past, just because broccoli was $1.75 each in stead of $1.50. That extra $.25 was enough to piss me off and rearrange a planned dinner.
But this frugalness also forces me to be more creative in the kitchen. Almost like an episode of chopped, where I have to make do with what i got ( no time limit of course).
If I thought about the common things I have cooked in the recent past, Pasta dishes, soups and Pizza are probably the 3 basic dinners ( for me) that are the least expensive to make and offer the most variations. Unfortunately, being forced to reduce my carbs, and my wife now adoption a vegan diet, Im once again forced to be more creative. But I like the challenge cause things never get boring.
tenspeed
Executive Chef
And here I thought tatties were small tramp stamps!
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
[emoji38]
Cooking Goddess
Chef Extraordinaire
But this kind of thinking/acting enables you to retire early. We were frugal too. We were pretty set for Himself to retire at 62. Then we realized we could end up being together 24/7.
He kept working until he was laid off a year later. At least we weren't caught short when he was kicked to the curb...
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
That's not odd. We all do that. Me googling a dish that I'm unfamiliar with doesn't always yield the result you intended, though. I'm simply suggesting that describing your food with a little more detail than just the Swedish name of it is more likely to lead to discussion about it. That's what we're here for, right?
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