Frugal Dinner Meals

[dawny75]

This thread reminds me of something all three of my kids love (it's rare that all 3 love anything!).

Prepare the macaroni & cheese from the 33cent box of macaroni and cheese. Brown and drain ground beef or turkey (we use about a pound). Add a can of chopped tomatoes (don't drain), and the prepared mac/cheese to the ground beef. Simmer til it's the consistency you want. Looks and tastes like HH. Also good with a can of green beans mixed in or on the side.

We usually have it with canned fruit mixed with yogurt (1 heaping teaspoon - any flavor) or cool whip (1 heaping teaspoon).

Think I'll put in on January's menu now that I've remembered it! dawny

[MrsManiac]

Thanks for posting that recipe. I just bought a LOT of mac-n-cheese(10/$1!!) and am trying to figure out what to do with it. The kids would just eat it plain(that's why I bought so much lol) but dh and I like a change once in a while--and I have tons of leftover turkey!!

[4moms]

Hi craftybear2001,


Thanks for that tip on storing potatoes in the fridge,never knew that!
There is nothing worst to me than realizes that the potatoes i bought on sale,stored in the bottom of kitchen cupboard are going rotten,I will give that a try.
Hi to all here ,love the recipe ideas for leftovers,with 4 kids and hubbby not too many leftovers here,not now anyhow,just make enough for kids&myself,got fed up with hubby again awalys at firehall or meetings to do with fiehall,so i don't even make enough for him anymore!He comes home from work at5-5:30pm
jumps in bath,makes some small talk about work or weather,comments on being late for this or that at firhall and usually out the door!Used to save supper for him,then ended up eating it for lunch next day!If he can't take 10 min.to eat supper well ,then tough,mind you i'm not a mean person,but this has been an ongoing thing around here!He usually comes home around 11-12 and complaing about being so hungry,well this isn't a fast food place here,he usaully eats toast,then heads to bed!

[MrsManiac]

4moms--you sound an awful lot like me lol!! I have said that to dh on many occassions, "We eat a 6. If you're here to sit down, great. If not, fend for yourself--I'm not running a resteraunt." And I refuse to make him dinner or clean up after him. I don't mind making his lunches for work, but his missing dinner with the family because of "higher priorities" is a whole different matter!

I just got a book from the library with recipes for pot pies. Some are outrageous, but most of them can be made frugally if I were to change a few of the ingredients. But it reminded me to tell everyone that pot pies are a good way to use up leftovers--just mix it all up, throw a crust on the top and bake!

[4moms]

Hi!Nice to talk to you!Isn't that something of hubby's?you know us women are suppose to cook ,clean,take care of,raise kids,some work outside home too&keep hubby happy also.It used to make me so mad when hubby would walk in door and announce he's home(like he must think i'm deaf,),which is usually foolowed by the 2 or 3 screams"dad's home!And I'm just thinking like ,why doesn't he buy a mega phone&announce it to the whole neighbor hood,when he gets outta his blazier,then at least everyone hears it at the same time!!!!!HEHE!

So 1 night about 6 months ago,he cames home from work&says"what's for supper?"I have20 min.,have to bath,&get to meeting at firehall!And i think that was the straw that broke this camel's back!Kids are running around,have toys everywhere,paper from cutting,coloring,etc.AND to top it all off,IT was the 1st dayof(that time of month)!So I was just in a really,really bad mood to begin with,&I have told him before,that this is not a fast food restaurant here!!!!And from then on he knows that I cook fro the kids&myself,and of course to top things off he stays at his firehall with the guys talking&hanging out,
for at least an hour or two after themeeting!

When he does come home,he mumbles about being so hungry and I'm like excuse me,we all ate our supper here!So he usually just has a couple of pieces of taost with p.b. on!Hey I tell him,your 34y/o,if you can't feed yourself,then that's your problem!

It all stems back to his mother&upbrining she did everything for her kids,& I mean everyrthing untilthey were21.Maybe it's just a difference in things verses boy-girl,my mom raised me&my sisters to be well i guess you would call it self-suffient,we had chores&things to do around house when we werearoun 10-12,i believe it started ,also help with the meals&laundry!
I remmember 1 time at his house ,when we were dating,hisyounger brotherof 3 years,then a teenager would go running,hanging out with friends at mall,etc.,would come home around midnight hungry,his mom would cook for him at midnight!
I couldn't believe it! nice chatting wwith you ,hop to talk to ya soon. 4moms

[MrsManiac]

My dh no longer announces he's home. He caught me at the wrong time(Aunt Flo was visiting) and I yelled back, "Who gives a sh*t?". He got the point because the neighbors were laughing, we were so loud. I don't usually swear so he knew not to push the issue.

I guess I'm lucky--my mil raised dh to be self-sufficient. He gets lazy sometimes, but nowhere near some of my friends' hubbies. Just last weekend my friend got her dh's plate at a church luncheon. Not a big deal, except for the fact that he was less than 10 feet from the table, while she was upstairs changing the baby's diaper! By the time he found her, he could have easily just got his own food.

I still haven't done anything frugal--I've been looking over seed catalogs, dreaming of Spring....

[4moms]

:p
Hi!That was a fuuny story about yelling at yor hubby,mine has got that before too,but usually only when he wouls stop somewhere(where he wants to) after work ,before he would come home!And I would add to the phrase and you were to be home an hour ago!


Well need to go check on my 2 y/od ,hasn't been feeling good all week'sick,flu?cold/? She fell asleep about 1/2 hour ago,hasn't got much sllep(neither have I) allweek & hasn't been eating much either(her that is)I've been eating too much all week,that's usual!

And then need to go on here & check our regualar e-mails,signed up for webshots today?Do you have it ?It is alot of pictures from anywhere to scenery to animals to people,I believe it's like a screen saver,it's free to join,& I think they also have certain pictures that you might have to pay to subscribe,but I didn't get into that,don't even now how,I think it might take alot of memory space on computer ,it took a while to download.

Talk to ya again soon,Have a nice night! 4moms

[snowowl551]

I just read all the posts here. All the early recipes bring back memories. the tuna on toast, & welsh rarebit were two things that my dad made for us. I haven't had the rarebit in years! My mom also made the sloppy joes the way someone mentioned. She used the tomato soup with the catsup. We never did like manwich. guess we were used to Mom's.
One of my frugal ideas is for chili. I, too use the cheap cans of beans, tomatoes, ect. Then the second day, I ix a package of Mac n Cheese and add it to the chili for a cheesy chili mac. My mom used to always just add macaroni to the leftover chili, but I like the mac n cheese taste.
Tonights dinner was also a frugal one. Last week I fixed the Cream Cheese Crockpot chicken from the What's for Dinner thread. I used the boneless boobs. Well, I had two left over, so I froze it together with the leftover sauce. Tonight I chopped up the chicken and mixed in all the leftover veggies I save in the freezer. Mixed it all together, then topped it with Bisquick mixed with milk. It was pretty good.

[MrsManiac]

Well, that answers that question lol! I was planning on chili-mac for tonight's dinner. I have some leftover mac-n-cheese and was wondering how well it would work in chili. I know the kids would like it--I just wasn't sure how I would lol!!

Snowow--I've been known to top anything with Bisquick lol!! I've taken leftover pieces of meat, mixed them in with a can of soup, maybe adding flour to make it thicker, and topping it with the Bisquick for a version of "Impossible whatever pie." My family usually gobbles it up, never knowing how easy it was(and how cheap!!) to make!

[LadyLynn]

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to share my frugal dinner menu with you.

Simple tuna fish salad sandwiches with all the fixing.
Chips (optional)
Green salad
Sliced oranges

I usually make my tuna fish salad the way my mom made it.
1 or 2 cans of tuna fish drained of water. Chopped onions, bell pepper, red pepper, celery, 1 or 2 boiled eggs shredded, chopped dill pickles, 1 clove of garlic. Add about 1 teaspoon of mustard, 1/4 cup miracle whip and salt and pepper to taste.

LadyLynn Mom to 4