Along the line with saving money at the grocery store, I'm curious, what is your favorite inexpensive meal? I need some ideas or I should say some changes! I'm sure most people would welcome them too? I used to when my children were small take a can of tuna and a can of cream of celery soup, mix together, heat and serve over rice along with some peas on the side. I no longer use canned soup so don't fix that anymore but it is a cheap, easy meal for those that do. Three of our favorite cheap meals now are zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, garlic and onions and some oregano and basil simmered together and served over brown rice. My husband loves this and that is our main dish when we have it - no meat! Another favorite is the bean soup I make. I use several, 9 or 10 different kinds of dried beans, and cook long till done and then add a small amount of chopped lean ham for flavor and simmer a little longer. Another one is blackeyed peas served over brown rice. What's yours?

-- Barb in Ky. (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), October 16, 2001

Answers

Inexpensive favorite meal. At a point of finical distress earlier this lifetime I found that the refrigerated biscuits, the 5 in a pack at 5 for $1.00 could be quarted, rounded, deep fried, seasoned with a thick chicken bullion sauce and margarin if I had it equaled a $.50 cent supper.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), October 16, 2001.

I like my own version if fried rice. Cold rice, 1 or 2 carrots chopped, 2 or 3 stalks of celery chopped, half an onion chopped, 1 or 2 scrambled eggs and some crumbled bacon. Stirfry the veggies. Stir in the rice and a little soy sauce til heated. Add the eggs and bacon, stir and serve. Oh yeah, I also add thawed frozen peas with the rice.

-- Jo (mamamia2kids@msn.com), October 16, 2001.

One of our favorites is ham, green beans and potatoes cooked in the crockpot. I use home-canned greenbeans, and home-grown potatoes which are basically free (except a little labor and minimal cost for electric), then I add about 1/2 pound of ham which I buy on sale (sometimes as low as $.89 a pound). Add a loaf of home-made bread, and some iced tea and you have a meal for 6 people for under a $1. I like to think up meals that I can fix for less than $1, and I have a pretty good list. I will post some more later. I don't want to take over here!

-- Melissa (me@home.net), October 16, 2001.

Hello Barb, Curried beans and rice! Sincerely, Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), October 16, 2001.

We generally eat meals that are not complicated and fussy. All of us love roasted vegetables. I still have some small potatoes from when we dug up potatoes this fall. I just put them in a casserole dish, drizzle with olive oil, add chopped garlic, salt and pepper and put in the oven for 1 hour. I served that with a big salad from the garden, and cottage cheese with apple butter on top. We have fresh pears right now for whoever was still hungry. Chunk up root vegetables such as turnips, parsnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes or winter squash, onions, carrots and whole mushrooms if you have them. Take a couple tsps of maple syrup, a little sesame oil, a little grated ginger, and a dash of red pepper sauce. Bake in a 400 degree oven till brown and tender. These are really good. Honey instead of maple syrup is also good.

-- vicki in NW OH (thga76@aol.com), October 16, 2001.

Yum, yum, I can't wait to try these. Melissa, I'm waiting for more from you and everyone else too. If each person on here posted just one (More is even better!) what a lot of ideas we would all have!

-- Barb in Ky. (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), October 16, 2001.

My favorite meal i would have to say is making chicken noodle soup. Put water in a pan, add some elbow noodles, chop up some carrots, onions, and chicken peices and put them in the water. Cook the vegetables and add some chicken boulion ( flavouring). Another good snack, is mixing cocoa , sugar and margarine together , putting it in the microwave. Mixing it until its chocolate syrup. Have a really cold glass of milk waiting and drop the syrup in. Don't mix it, just let it get hard, then use a spoon to eat the chocolate and drink the milk. =)

-- jillian (sweetunes483@yahoo.com), October 16, 2001.

I'll go Mexican here and suggest refried beans on tortillas. Now-a- days we make our own tortillas, but when we lived in Texas we could get a bag of 50 for about $2. Heat beans, spread on tortillas, top with on-sale cheese, lettuce and tomato from the garden, and either a drizzling of ranch dressing or a spoonful of salso. This year we tried growing our own pinto beans, with some success. Tortillas with peanut butter and jelly make a good lunch.

We also like Jo's fried rice idea; I fry the rice in a little oil with chopped onions and garlic (we grow our own) until the rice is browned, then stir in leftover cooked hamburger or bacon, corn, tomatoes or a little tomato sauce, a cup or so of water for every half cup of rice. Cover and simmer for a half hour or so until the rice is done.

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), October 16, 2001.

Cathy please post how you make the tortillas. My brother always says he is going to show me, he likes to cook and has lived in many places out west, but when he comes in he never has time. You can add it here or start a new thread as many may be interested.

-- Melissa (me@home.net), October 16, 2001.

Fried rice seems to keep cropping up..I do it too and use either leftover chicken or meat such as pork or beef (whatevers left over really). Another yummy is vegetarian chili over rice..very filling. One favorite with my husband is pate chinois, a type of shepherd's pie. You brown your ground meat of choice and layer it in a baking dish. Layer canned cream style corn on that and then top with mashed taters. Mmmmmm good! Spaghetti is another cheapie when you use homegrown ingredients or those on sale.

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), October 16, 2001.

One of our favorites is what I am fixing tonight. I take a jar of my canned chicken and a jar of canned broth and cook potatoes, carrots, onions and celery with it and add any left over veggies in the refrigerator like peas or corn. Thicken with flour and place in large baking dish and cover with baking powder bisquits and bake at 350 degrees until the bisquits are done.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), October 16, 2001.

beans and cornbread, and beans, rice and cornbread, and beans, fried potatoes, and cornbread. buy the beans and rice in bulk, the cornbread is homemade, right now 10lbs of potatoes has been as much as $3.99 or on the low side 2.99, so I haven't bought many potatoes lately except sweet potatoes are in season here, I got 30lbs for $3.00 noone here is crazy about them, but I fix them anyway, I've even fried them before, they're not bad and oh so good for you. I guess my cheapest meal would be purple hull peas (I grow), cornbread, (from scratch) and rice, but tonight the kids have ask for mac and cheese to go with it, so now I know what I'm fixing for dinner.

-- Carol in Tx (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), October 16, 2001.

Around here it is called hobo burgers. For each serving We make hamburger patties, slice one large potato, slice one carrot and add an onion and a stalk of celery and 1 table spoon of butter or margarine. For each person we wrap this in aluminum foil and bake on the grill for 45-60 minutes or in the oven for 45-60 minutes at 350 degrees. It does not take long to make and is easy when we are busy. Jenn

-- Jenn (normaj3@countrylife.net), October 16, 2001.

We have chickens, so it's anything made with eggs. Scrambled, fried, omelets, quiche, french toast, egg based casseroles................. Before the chickens it was creamed chipped beef (using that thin sliced stuff in the plastic packages, less than 50 cents each - a splurge was using 2 packages!)on toast, green beans on the side.

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), October 16, 2001.

Creamed peas and eggs on toast-or mashed potatoes. Make a white sauce...add cooked peas and/or chopped hard boiled eggs...salt,pepper and a little cayenne...serve over toast and or mashed potatoes (leftovers work well)

-- Cindy (S.E.IN) (atilrthehony@countrylife.net), October 16, 2001.

My favorite thing to make is bbq chicken. I buy leg quarters which are very inexpensive and make my own sause (when I have time). I add green peppers onions and any other kind of veggie. homemade chunky applesauce and mashed potatoes make a quick delicious meal. Putting chicken in the crock pot makes the chicken very tender.

-- mindy (speciallady@countrylife.net), October 17, 2001.

Red beans and rice. I make a HUGE pot for supper one night and then the next night I add peppers and tomatoes to it and serve with cornbread; the third night if any is left, I add a cut up slice of ham (saved from some other meal and frozen) usually there is nothing left for a fourth meal.

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), October 18, 2001.

I like to scramble a dozen eggs, cook some sausage, and bake a can of biscuits. I can feed a family of 4 this way for about $3. Sometimes I mix up a package of white gravy to go on the eggs and biscuits. We love to have "breakfast" for dinner!!!

-- Kerrie (ganes7@wmconnect.com), October 11, 2002.