Since we are now living on about a third of what Hubby was making it is important for me to be as frugal as I can. Frugal is not cheap (I wrote about that
here)...I want the highest quality meals for my family at the lowest possible price. Some really good winter meals are pretty frugal:
Soup/Stews/Chili - Homemade soup can be very frugal, especially if you are making your own stock and using left overs. When I put a whole chicken in the crockpot for dinner, any leftover chicken and carcass go back in the crockpot overnight and I make soup the next day. Keep a plastic container or bag in your freezer and put leftover veggies in it (or veggies that you won't be able to use before they spoil) and use these for your soup.
Here is a recipes for "After Thanksgiving Soup" from the Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn:
1 turkey carcass (you could use chicken also)
4 chicken bouillon cubes
2 ribs celery, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 potatoes, chopped
1 tsp. parsley flakes
1 tsp. black pepper
salt to taste
1 can peas
1 cup uncooked noodles
Simmer turkey carcass in a large pot with enough water to cover. Add bouillon cubes and spices. Cook 45 minutes.
Strain broth and pick meat from the bones. Return meat to the broth. Add remaining ingredients except peas and noodles. Cook until tender. Add peas and noodles. Simmer until noodles are tender.
Beans/Rice - Separate or together, beans and rice are nice and frugal...especially if you use dry beans. Lentils don't need to be soaked and can be cooked with rice for a quick and easy dinner. Here is a recipe for
black beans and rice, and for
lentils and rice.
Breakfast For Dinner - This is one of my favorites and is very easy. Things like omelettes and pancakes are filling and frugal.
Pasta - Pasta is great for frugal meals, spaghetti being one of the popular.
Potatoes - By themselves (loaded baked potatoes) or as a side (boiled, hashed, mashed, scalloped or baked) potatoes can be pretty frugal. I posted a recipe for frugal homemade potato chips
here.
These are just some of what I came up with as I'm working on my grocery list and meal menus. I hope that you find them helpful. You can find more of this weeks Frugal Friday tips
here.
Posts
We've gotten a little out of order since we started ALEKS for math. Boo seems to like to do it, so we'll see if he is actually retaining the information he is learning. He is certainly spending more time on math than anything else right now. But what will happen once the newness has worn off?
