This was my week off from shopping since I'm currently doing the shopping-every-other-week experiment so I spent no money on groceries. And do you know how nice it was to have plenty of food on hand and not have to worry about shopping? I haven't felt well most of this week (a bad head cold combined with being 38 weeks pregnant has left me fairly exhausted most days) so I was so thankful we were just able to stay home and eat from our stockpile.
Before I came down with my head cold, I did have a chance to have a Baking Day (you can read about that here, in case you missed it). I'm so glad I did that because not only did we finish filling up our freezer with snacks and meals for after the baby comes, but it also meant we had some quick and easy snacks on hand for the girls and Jesse to eat while I haven't been feeling well. Also, having chicken cooked up meant I could easily whip up a simple casserole or pizza this week without a lot of effort so we didn't fall back on carryout–something which I find easy to do when I'm not feeling well and haven't prepared some things for the freezer.
One thing I've really been finding recently is that having frozen veggies, muffins and rolls, and cooked chicken and ground beef in the freezer, along with some fresh fruit in the refrigerator, and a number of staples in the cupboards guarantees I'm able to put together a very simple and healthful dinner in minutes, all for a fraction of what we'd pay for picking up something at a restaurant.
Two of our favorite quick and easy meals:
Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole–I cook and freeze up rice ahead of time and use cooked and chopped chicken from the freezer and then add in frozen broccoli, shredded cheese, cream soup, salt and pepper, and maybe butter and an egg or two. Using pre-cooked rice and chicken from the freezer, I can put this together in five minutes or so and then bake it for 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes. While it's baking, I add some rolls or muffins from the freezer, some green beans, and some fruit and you have dinner in less than 20 minutes of preparation time!
Homemade Chicken Salsa Pizza–I use frozen homemade pizza dough and cooked and chopped chicken from the freezer. I just set it out around lunch time and then 30 minutes before dinner roll out the pizza dough, spread on some salsa or barbecue sauce, and then sprinkle on the cooked and chopped chicken, and generously sprinkle with shredded cheese and bake it (more detailed directions here). While the pizza is baking, add some fruit salad and some veggies and dinner is done in less than 30 minutes.
By not shopping this week and by having a plan for simple dinners to fall back on instead of carryout, we saved quite a bit of money this week. And it's these little things can really add up over time to make for Super Savings!
By the way, do you have any quick, easy, and frugal meal ideas your family falls back on during busy weeks or when you are feeling exhausted or sick? I'd love to hear them!
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Quick and easy and cheap!
1. pinto beans made in the crockpot, and cornbread.
2. Leftover pinto beans mixed with a pound of ground beef, a tablespoon of brown sugar, and a shake of garlic powder. Serve with crackers, warm tortillas, or more cornbread.
3. Leftover pinto beans, lightly mashed, mixed with enough flour to make them stick together–make into patties and fry until crisp.
I like to cook a box of pasta (like rotini), chop up some ham and toss it with olive oil and parmesan cheese. Very fast and comforting!
Hope you feel better, Crystal. Only a few weeks left!
For quick, cheap, and easy recipes, I usually resort to one-dish recipes. This post has 65 of ’em, so it might help out:
http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/2009/01/65-cheap-healthy-one-dish-meals-with.html
The following two quick meal ideas are lifesavers for me since I feed teenagers on the go. One is three cheese tortellini that I buy in the refrigerated section. I know that this may seem pricey (around $3-4) but I look for it on sale and keep it in the freezer. Top with spaghetti sauce, add a salad and french bread and it is a great meal in about five minutes. We also like Italian meatball sandwiches. I buy the pre-made frozen meatballs (or make up a batch of my own occassionally). We cook the meatballs in the microwave for 3 mins. Using sub rolls, we put tomato sauce on the bread, top with meatballs or pepperoni slices, top that with mozzarella cheese and broil until cheese melts. This is another substantial meal that is quick and easy and I usually have the ingredients on hand at all times. Hope you are feeling better and now have lots of meal ideas!
Here’s the homemade Macaroni and Cheese recipe I grew up on, and still make for my family.
2 c. elbow macaroni
1/4 c. butter or margarine
1/4 c. flour
2 c. milk
2 c. grated cheddar cheese
Cook and drain the macaroni. I use a littel oil and salt in the water.
In small saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour, forming a “roux”. Gradually add the milk, stirring after each addition, to create a white sauce. Then add the cheese to the white sauce. Cook it on low heat, stirring often, until it thickens. Add the sauce to the macaroni, mixing well. Put it in a casserole dish. (Optional: add some grated cheese to the top of the casserole.) Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes – it will be bubbling at the edges.
Feeds 6. You can half or double the recipe, for smaller or larger crowds.
Hi! I’ve been reading you blog for a while now, as I’ve been trying to learn couponing. I’m still trying to learn the ropes, and everything you post here has really helped. I got some pretty good deals at safeway this week and thought I’d share the link for my brag post, it links back to you because I found some printable q’s that worked for my deal on one of your posts. Hope that’s okay!
We do a chicken, broccoli and rice casserole too. Only I use a can of cream of X soup and mix it with a big spoonful of mayo and a teaspoon or so of curry powder. It’s so good. If you’re looking to change it up every once in a while.
We love the broccoli, cheese, rice bake with a tad bit of curry powder. It uses a bit of mayonaisse too.
My other fave is chicken, italian dressing, pepper assortment(red, green, orange, yellow- whatever you have on hand), and mozzerella cheese over rice or noodles. I marinate the chicken in the italian dressing for a bit and then cook it all up in the skillet. Fast and easy.
My favorite recipe website is My Kitchen Cafe and she recently posted a macaroni and cheese recipe (so did pioneer woman) http://mykitchencafe.blogspot.com/2009/03/skillet-creamy-macaroni-and-cheese.html
I had a great week at CVS. I posted about it on my blog http://journeytoourchild.blogspot.com/2009/04/but-i-do-love-cvs.html
Managed 81% savings today at Wags, without a single coupon!
Adding you to my blogroll right now…thanks for the awesome site!
I’ve listed a couple new easy favorites on my family blog. I am NOT a good cook and these turned out really well–so they should be simple for anybody else. 🙂
http://www.bescrappin06.xanga.com/699350496/easy-recipes/
Link: http://www.savingdinner.com/
I like Mexican Lasagna, it freezes well too. Brown ground beef with onion, then stir in a can of corn (drained) and as much salsa as you want. Put a third of that in a baking dish, then flour tortillas, then spread on a layer of refried beans and repeat. Top with Mexican cheese, bake at 350 til golden and bubbly.
Also, check out the freezer menus at SavingDinner.com, you assemble the meals, but don’t pre-cook them, so they come out tasting like you just made them fresh.
One of my fav recipes that is easy to make but takes a while to cook in the oven is Pepper Jack Chicken casserole.
– Spray 9×13 pan. Preheat oven to 350.
– Take raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenders and lay in pan. I always salt and pepper them, too
– Cover chicken w/pepper jack cheese slices
– Take one can of cream soup (chicken, mushroom, celery) and mix w/one-half can water. Pour over chicken/cheese.
– Melt 1 stick margarine or butter and mix w/your fav box of Stove Top-type stuffing.
– Spoon over chicken/soup/cheese and cover w/foil
– Bake covered for 40 min and remove foil. Cook for additional 20 min.
Bubble and Squeak – Is a tasty, quick, cheap, and an easy meal to prepare. Kids love it, Mums love it and Dads enjoy it! It is made from cooked cabbage, mashed potatoes with some left over bacon and seasoned with salt and pepper. Mix it all together and pat them into patties then shallow fry in a pan. Nice with some Ketchup Mmmm Yum! Yum!
When I buy ground beef, I cook it all with onion and garlic and then freeze it in bags to throw in to spaghetti, beef stroganoff, or to make tacos–all of which are quick.
I also buy turkeys at Thanksgiving, and cook them and put the meat in bags in the freezer. I can pull a bag of turkey out of the freezer to make sandwiches, to top pizza, or in place of any meals where I owuld use chicken: chicken caccitore http://theprudenthomemaker.com/chickencaccitore.aspx
chicken curry
http://theprudenthomemaker.com/chickencurry.aspx
chicken and rice soup
http://theprudenthomemaker.com/chickenandricesoup.aspx
I also buy hams on sale at Easter (77 cents a pound) and have the butcher cut them into steaks for me. They take about than 5 minutes to cook, and I can serve them for any meal (with scrambled eggs for breakfast, with a salad for lunch or dinner, or just a can of green beans and a can of corn, or cranberry sauce).
For breakfast, I’ll make fruit salad http://theprudenthomemaker.com/citrusfruitsalad.aspx
or oatmeal.
For lunches, I’ll make the simplest soups, like minestone http://theprudenthomemaker.com/minestronesoup.aspx
barley
http://theprudenthomemaker.com/barleysoup.aspx
Tuscan tomato bread soup
http://theprudenthomemaker.com/tuscantomatobreadsoup.aspx
or taco soup
http://theprudenthomemaker.com/tacosoup.aspx
On days I REALLY don’t feel good, I’ll open 2 cans of chciken noodle soup, and serve it with dried apricots or canned fruit.
I also have a quick stir fry dish that takes only a few minutes; I took pictures of it this week but I haven’t posted it to my site yet. It costs the entire family less than $2 for the entire meal (for my husband and I and 4 small children; the baby doesn’t eat it yet). I’ll add it on soon to the spring menu!
I’ve enjoyed reading about your money saving ideas. I didn’t take part in your baking day, but it inspired me to get a few things in the freezer last night. A meat loaf and meatballs, baked oatmeal, and muffins (doctered up from a mix).
My easy frugal meal idea: Beans and rice in the crockpot. I use dry beans and add the rice closer to dinner and a can of rotel tomatoes (and a few other seasonings depending on my mood).
We always keep tortillas, canned refried beans, and cheese around. Tacos are such an easy meal if you go meatless. Or you can use already cooked meat from the freezer, and just stir in 2 t. chili powder and 1 t. cumin for about a pound of beef when you reheat it. Or you can make bean and cheese quesadillas in a skillet. Very easy and quick. This is our “fast food.”
My easy/cheap/quick fall back meal would definitely be Taco Soup (http://julieandjohnstafford.blogspot.com/2009/04/also-taco-soup.html)! It’s so easy, just throw it all together and simmer, cheap ingredients, AND it’s healthy! It even freezes well, and serves A LOT. I wish we had a separate deep freeze so I could do more freezer meals. What great ideas! Thanks!
I sure hope your cold gets better soon.
I rely on OAMC too! Check out the recipes I use here: http://dealsquealer.blogspot.com/2008/11/once-month-cooking.html
I also love to have breakfast for dinner. Waffles, pancakes, eggs, even cereal are quick meals. We also got a quesadilla maker for Christmas and love to use this when not up to cooking.
Sorry you’re not feeling well. Thanks for the tips! I make homemade pizza dough, but have never thought to freeze it! I’ll have to try that next time.
You are already the queen of this, but here is what I did in a little over one hour. This is will now give me 15 different recipe ideas…it’s meal planning with a twist…for those who don’t have a day to do the OAMC.
I am folllowing up with all the recipes I did from that. Tuesday will be a yummy fall back – Taco Casserole. 🙂
http://inpassionatepursuit.blogspot.com/2009/03/meal-planning-with-twist_30.html
Here’s one of our favorite simple meals… Crockpot Cranberry Chicken. 🙂
http://www.thefrugalgirls.com/2009/03/crockpot-cranberry-chicken.html
Sorry to hear you’re not feeling well! I got a terrible cough and cold during my 38th week as well. It was not fun at all! Hope you get to feeling better much soon!
http://familyfrugalness.blogspot.com/2009/04/rite-aid.html
Sorry here is the link right to my Rite Aid run!
We rely on once a month cooking for quick and easy cooking. We have a bunch of recipes, along with photos of our dishes, at http://www.engineeradebtfreelife.com/search/label/bulk%20cooking
Hope you feel better soon!
$ Money Savin’ Momma $
Engineer a Debt Free Life
When I dont feel well or just dont feel like cooking I fall back on convenience foods.
Pizza Rolls, fish stick and shells n cheese, Taquitos, toasted ravioli and things like lately.
This is why I am trying to stock my freezer with meals. I have alot of meat but nothing is actually put together so I still have to assemble meals.
I just put some chicken enchiladas in there this week that just have to be thrown in the oven. Gotta start somewhere!
I love frozen chicken breast- it gets so hot here in Cali that I just toss it in the crockpot and I either add an Italian dressing as a marinade, BBQ sauce or lately the free pasta sauce I have been getting. You can also do baked potatoes in the crock too- just be careful not to overcook.
I got a some good deals on Scrubbing Bubbles and Suave this week at Rite Aide! Suave shampoo and conditioner for $0.41.
Soup and grill cheese sandwiches is usually my fallback meal when I’m exhausted or not feeling well, and it’s actually one of the few things my husband can put together without asking me a million questions about how to prepare it. And since his grilled cheese usually turns out better than mine, everyone is happy. Breakfast for dinner is another quick meal that comes in handy.
I always keep the ingredients for tuna casserole in the pantry so I have a quick go-to meal on those nights when I forgot to thaw meat for dinner.
Hi,
Sorry to hear that you feel unwell – I’m now starting to feel tired being pregnant and I’m starting to find food budgeting difficult. My main problem is I don’t feel like eating anything so can’t get a weekly meal plan together because I don’t seem to fancy any of the meals.
We’re having Herby Sausage Hash tonight which according to the recipe is simple and quick. If it is a success then I’ll post the recipe on here.
Katie
I can’t say I love eating out of the freezer. Nothing ever seems as good the second time around and sometimes I lose things in there until they are too old to eat.
I will say that getting a bag of frozen shrimp when it’s on sale, and having frozen veggies, makes for quick meals tho.
Also I take advantage of Catalina deals to have some convenience foods in the house, like canned soup, and then try to keep my family away from them until we really need them!