Dad of two dealing with the shutdown who needs ideas for cheap meals.

21 replies

• mooncrane606·Aug 25, 8:59 PM

  Kids always like pasta

• makestuff24_7_2·Aug 26, 11:15 AM

  Chili, lots of beans. Taco bar (cheap, flexible, easy to remix into different meals). Loaded baked potatoes with different toppings. Soup and stew.

• agnaolds·Aug 29, 3:47 AM

  Look to vegetarian options. Black beans and sweet potato tacos or enchiladas. Sneak a cup or so of lentils or cannelini beans into pasta sauce to bulk up the meal and add nutrition. Make Fri baked potato night and have some fun toppings to make it feel like a treat. Make sure you rub the baked potato with olive oil before baking--so good!

• successful_struggle9·Aug 29, 6:09 AM

  Have you tried asking Chat? Ai to make a meal plan. Can be pretty helpful.

• ms_ankylosaurous·Aug 31, 11:13 PM

  Dried bean in the instant pot.

• perpetualmotionmachi·Sep 1, 12:18 AM

  Male sure to check the flyers for the stores you go to and build ideas around the cheapest deals. And for ground beef recipes, you can substitute ground pork which is often less expensive

• eastern_elk7782·Sep 1, 10:43 AM

  Not sure if you use Pinterest but it’s so so so helpful for meals on the cheap!

• thestandingman_2·Sep 1, 12:27 PM

  Some great ideas. We have some leftover mashed potatoes and Grandma is dropping off some chilli tonight that I want to make a chili version of a shepherd's pie with the leftovers if there are any. Figured it'll be filling and stick around for leftovers itself.

• thestandingman_3·Sep 5, 2:30 AM

  I wasn't aware that was a thing but I will definitely do so. Thanks!

• asparagusoverall8454·Sep 5, 3:44 AM

  Shop only what’s on sale. Beans, potatoes, pasta, lentils. One pot meals like soup, chili or stews that you can stretch out for the week. Hopefully find some meat on sale that can do the same. Shop at discount stores like Aldi or dollar tree.

• u_80sfanatic·Sep 5, 9:11 AM

  Budget Bites has some great recipes.

• zwordsman·Sep 5, 10:11 AM

  Really be careful with that. I do not recommend it. If you look around around folks posting results of that its often not good. You'd be better off looking at youtuve videos with search term imo. But if you use it be aware its an aggregate generator. It does not know you or your area. It pulls info from random sources. So its more a summary of internet statements. Both accurate and people's jokes. So use your head and only use it as an inspiration point if you use it. I do think you'd be better off checking frugal eating yourube channels for ideas and comparing them to your local sales erc

• infamous_mango_1907·Sep 5, 10:51 AM

  I’m very sorry you have to deal with this. If you’re open to checking out YouTube, I highly recommend Dollar Tree Dinners, Julia Pacheco, and Kiki Rough. They all have extreme budget recipes.

• moonbasevicesquad·Sep 5, 12:49 PM

  Food banks my man.

• infinite_bathroom784·Sep 5, 6:23 PM

  Real food fills stomachs. A chicken can stretch many way from a baked dinner to pasta and chicken and chicken soup. Avoid as many packaged foods (not real) as you can. Bake when you can.

• kungpowchick_9·Sep 6, 11:43 AM

  I’m going to say- you should use a food bank in these tight times. That’s what it’s there for. And as someone who donates to my local pantry, I would want the food to feed your family. If it bothers you, when you’re paid and times are better, you can donate and pay it forward. Our government is failing all of us, and unfortunately we can only help each other.

• seaglasstalisman·Sep 6, 12:20 PM

  Seconding the beans. Get them dried because they’re super cheap. Normally they take a long time to prep but it’s super fast with the instant pot. Also bulk frozen veggies are cheaper than canned or fresh where I live. I’m a mom, and my husband and I both lost our jobs at the same time. Took 6 months for even one of us to find a viable job. I had to make one chicken last days and days. An easy way is roast chicken the first day, then throw the carcass, skin, and some meat in a pot with other veggie leftovers for soup, and the rest went in chicken salad with way too much mayo for the week. If you have time, homemade bread costs a fraction of store bought as well. If you don’t have a Costco membership and live near where I live in New York, DM me and I’ll let you use my Costco membership to pick up some cheap staples, depending on what you get, it’s often cheaper than Walmart

• zofesatans·Sep 6, 2:07 PM

  Homemade sheet pan pizza with veggie toppings is cheap and tastes still good the next day. Use a no-knead recipe for ease and flavour. You can also use that type of dough to make rolls and flatbreads in the pan to serve with chilli, curry and soups.

• stinkypieticklebum·Sep 6, 2:17 PM

  Chili herder’s pie!

• weber_mattie·Sep 7, 6:41 PM

  I have been living off peanut butter sandwiches and ramon noodles when I can't afford a bigger grocery haul

• beneficial_crow_5138·Sep 7, 7:12 PM

  Is the 5 yr old in school? Talk to the social worker!