Cheap Recipes

Here are some quick, cheap, and mostly healthy meal ideas. I have collected these from the backs of cans, my favorite food magazine (Everyday food) and websites (like hillbillyhousewife.com).

Enchiladas (From back of enchilada sauce can)

• 4 tortillas
• 1 can of green or red enchilada sauce
• 1 pound of beef or 1 can of refried beans
• 1 and ½ cup of shredded cheese
• ½ cup of salsa

Heat oven to 350. Heat up beans or cook beef, add 1/3 can of enchilada sauce and ½ cup of salsa to meat or beans. Put equal amounts of beans or meat in the middle of each tortilla and roll up, place tortillas seam side down in pan. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce on tortillas and sprinkle on the cheese. Cook for 20 min and serve with Spanish rice.

Spanish rice (From Everyday Food magazine)

• 1 cup of rice (I use regular white rice)
• ½ cup of chipped onion
• 1 T. of olive oil
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes or stewed tomatoes
• ½ t. of Thyme
• 2 cups of water
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil on med-high until hot, add onions and let brown. Add rice and cook until light brown. Add water, thyme, salt and pepper, and can of tomatoes, get it boiling and then turn down to med-low, cover and let cook for about 10 min. Time will vary so check often.

Garlic chili shrimp, peanut noodles and broccoli (From Everyday Food magazine)

Garlic chili oil

• 6 chopped garlic gloves
• ½ t. red pepper flakes
• 4 T. vegetable oil

• 8 ounces spaghetti
• 2 T. peanut butter
• 2 T. soy sauce
• 1 T. rice vinegar
• 1 T. brown sugar
• ½ pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 ½ pounds of broccoli

Mix up the stuff for the garlic chili oil and set aside. Cook noodles and rinse with cold water. Mix together the peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, and brown sugar until smooth. Add to spaghetti and season with salt. Simmer broccoli in a pan with 1 T. of the garlic chili oil with the lid on until done. While this is cooking, mix shrimp with remaining oil. Put the shrimp on a pan and in the oven on broil for 5 min.

Healthier tuna casserole (My own)

• 1 can of Campbell’s Healthy Request cream of mushroom soup
• 1 ½ t. basil
• 1 ½ t. oregano
• 2 cans of tuna (I love Chicken of the Sea, it is chunky)
• 2/3 cup frozen veggies (I use FMV veggie mix because it is cheap and has no lima beans)
• 1 t. pepper
• ½ bag egg noodles
• Sliced or shredded cheddar cheese (enough to cover the top of the bowl)

Heat oven to 400. Cook noodles, while they are cooking mix together tuna, seasonings, veggies, and soup in a med size oven safe bowl. When noodles are done, drain and mix them in the oven safe bowl. Slice or shred cheese and place on top of mixture. Cook in oven until cheese is melted and a little crispy. Should be about 25 min.

Lentil chili (From hillbillyhousewife.com)

• 1-1/4 cups dry lentils (half a pound)
• 4 cups tap water
• 2 tablespoons oil or bacon grease
• 1 to 2 tablespoons dry onions
• 3 beef bouillon cubes
• 15 oz can tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• Dash hot pepper flakes or Tabasco sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Place the lentils and the water in a large pot. Put the pot on the stove and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat so that the lentils are simmering gently. Cook for 30 minutes. Do not add the other ingredients until after the lentils have cooked. If the lentils begin to get dry, or if their water boils away then add more water. You want the lentils to remain juicy while they cook. When your 30 minutes are up, add all of the remaining ingredients. Simmer the chili for 15 to 20 minutes and serve with crackers or cornbread or over rice. Makes 4 servings.

Hoe Cakes (From hillbillyhousewife.com)

• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 cups corn meal
• Any seasoning you like
• 1 tablespoon oil or butter

Boil the water and mix with the corn meal and the seasoning. Heat pan with oil or butter to med-high. Drop ¼ cups of the mix on to the hot pan. Let cook until golden on both sides. Serve with chili or soups of any sort.

Cheap Cooking tips

Last week I wrote about how it is possible to buy healthy food and stay in a budget. My biggest tip was to make your own food. This way you are in control of what goes in to your food. Well, I know that many people are thinking, “That will take forever!” As a person that has been making dinners for myself and my husband for the last five years, four of those years I was a full time college student and three of those years I was also working full time, I know what it is to be dead tried and not have much time.

There is a way to make healthy food for your family that does not take a lot of time. I have some basic rules that I go by to help me when I am planning my meals. First I keep it simple, only three items of food per meal. So for example I would have fish, baked potato, and salad. Second I try to do one protein, one starch, and one veggie. This way you know that your family is at least getting a semi healthy meal. The last tip, (the most important in my opinion) is to never ask what anyone wants for dinner. In my house the cook gets to decide what is for dinner unless it is someone’s birthday. I am not evil about this, I don’t make something that I know the people I am feeding hate, but on the other hand I am not a short order chief. You don’t need to be making separate meals for everyone. It is a waste of time and money. You may also find that just because your spouse or children turn up their nose at something, does not mean they don’t like it. Just yesterday I made cheese ravioli, butternut squash, and salad for dinner. My husband comes in, sees the squash and says “Ewww, what is that”. But I paid no mind to him and served it anyways. He was very surprised to find that he likes butternut squash. This scene plays out often in our home.

I also want to clarify about making food from scratch. I do not mean everything. There are plenty of things that I buy in cans or frozen but it is not the whole meal. Beware of anything that claims to have a whole meal in a bag or box. Side dishes in a box are also something to be wary of but some things are fine. Like canned beans, frozen veggies, frozen ravioli, and canned tomato sauce. You probably don’t have time to make everything from scratch but getting as close as you can is always a good idea. I make my own corn muffins from scratch because it takes the same amount of time as from a mix, tastes better, and is cheaper but I buy canned tomato sauce because it is cheaper and a more efficient use of my time. Once again it just comes down to doing a little research on your part and finding what works for you. Next week I will share some of my quick and mostly healthy recipes.