I need cheap meal ideas/recipes I'm on a very tight budget at the moment. Any Ideas?

I'm on a really tight budget right now due to the fact I'm pregnant with twins and have had to cut back from my regular hours at work. I currently have these items in my kitchen 3 boxes mac %26amp; cheese, hot dogs, eggs, cheese, bread, corn bread mix, 2 tostinos pizzas, and oncore chicken parmagian. What else could I add for $35.00 to last me until the 1st of next month?I need cheap meal ideas/recipes I'm on a very tight budget at the moment. Any Ideas?
35.00 is not much to last for almost a month. Have you checked to see if you are eligible for any government help? Are there any food pantry's that you could go to? There is no shame in going for help when you need it, and honey it sounds like you do.


But back to your question, since you are pregnant you need to make sure that you are eating right. you will need proteins, veggies and fruit.





Chicken ';pick of the chick'; it is leggs, thighs, wings and I think it comes with a breast. Dont buy the boneless, cost too much.


Ground meat- get the family size - cost less per #.


Frozen veggies, just as good as fresh, just not as expensive.


Fruit - what ever your store has on sale or even buy apple sauce.





Potatoes, rice and dry beans and pasta.





With the ground beef - separate into meal size portions and freeze, same with the chicken.





One night you could have meat loaf - season the ground beef with salt, pepper and what ever seasonings you have in your pantry, add a egg to bind it. Serve with a veggie. save any left overs, you can use the left over meat loaf in a pasta dish for another night.





Another night bake enough chicken for your meal, again season with what you have on hand, serve with rice. Save left overs, you can use the chicken and rice in a soup.





here is a web site that you can enter your ingredients into that you have on hand - it then will give you recipes





http://www.supercook.com/I need cheap meal ideas/recipes I'm on a very tight budget at the moment. Any Ideas?
$35 for a month is not much even on a tight budget.





Find out about WIC where you are.





When I was broke, I made a lot of homemade soup.





This was one easy recipe:





Buzz in a blender:


Can of chicken stock


Can of canneli beans


one Carrot, cut to 1'; chunks


One medium onion, quartered





Move to a half gallon pot. add in


One more can of Canneli beans(unblended)


one can of prepared Collard greens.


one stick of butter.





Bring to a simmer for about 20 minutes








Go to the bakery section of the supermarket after 9pm when most items go on half price mark-down. And if you have a bakery wholesaler nearby they often have overruns on sale for under half price.





The deli section may also have mark downs on cooked chicken and other items that they will otherwise throw out at the end of the night. If it sits under a heat lamp, they will sell it for cheap.
Here is a few ideas:


this you will need to buy: 5lbs of hamburger meat, 1can of chili, 1 can of corn, 1 can of tuna, 6 pack of roman noodles


meal ideas: 1. 1/2 hamburger meat and mac


2. tuna and mac


3. corn bread tamale pie( mix chili and corn, put on bottom of baking pan, mix corn bread mix and spoon over chili mix and bake serves 6 so lots of left overs)


4.hamburgers ( 1/2 meat , cheese, and bread)


5.hot dogs (meat, cheese and bread)


6. 1/2 lb hamburger meat and roman noodles


7. egg drop roman noodles


hope this helps a little
Don't buy prepared foods- buy raw ingredients: Fresh vegetables, dried beans, rice, that sort of thing. You'll save a ton of money and be healthier, too.





When I was a student and and had almost no money and no food around, I'd made a rice pilaf, like this:





Chop an opinion and fry it in some olive oil (or any good oil) my large iron skillet until it was soft





Add two cups of rice and stir until the rice starts to brown





Add all the leftover bits of meat and veg in the fridge





Slowly add 4 cups of vegetable stock, or bullion, or chicken broth, stirring constantly





Cover, lower the heat as far as you can, and check in 20 minutes.
cornmeal, dry beans, ground beef, oats, rice, potatoes, bologna, canned tomatoes, cereal, cheese








we ate a lot of soup beans and cornbread with fried potatoes...oatmeal and cereal, bologna sandwiches, fried bologna with fried potatoes, hot dogs %26amp; macaroni....just buy cheap and make casseroles works too. :) hamburger, rice and tomatoes..just season it up a bit... cheesy rice,





there are some ideals for a start... we got so used to eating poor, its all we like now :)
Get a massive sized bag of rice. Also get some onions and veggie oil. Fry the onions and mix with cooked rice, simmer and enjoy. This is my ';super cheap pregnant women who isn't in the mood to cook or spend money she doesn't have'; meal. It can feed as many as needed.
By looking at your inventory.one meal could be hot dog roll up's with mac %26amp; cheese as a side.


bread slices- roll out a little with a drinking glass or rolling pin.add cheese / onions optional put the hot dog on slice then roll it up.you can purchase


a can of chile and add to the mixture then bake at 350 til bread is toasted on the outside the cheese will slightly run out.Serve Mac %26amp; cheese on the side.


To stretch your remaining money you may consider purchacing chicken broth , stock or dry packs of chicken gravy where you just add water.then pick up some dry noodles or rice.for your meat base get dark chicken meat such as thighs or leg portions.these cuts of meat are priced lower than the breast portions.remove the skin %26amp; bones.season to your taste .Brown chicken add broth and seasonings such as onions,bell pepper.


prepare your noodles or rice on the side. cook meat mixture about one hour on med.heat.You can thicken the mixture by adding 1-tsp of corn starch mixed with water in a seperate bowl mix well til there is a thick liquid mixture.Add a little at a time and stir in to the meat gravy mixture.Serve the meat mixture over the cooked rice or noodles and serve the corn bread as a side.The noodle dish can be warmed up and served several times during the remaining week. Make another meal as a Pizza only meal.The chicken Parmagian can be served over rice or noodles as well and the extra broth or gravy can be added for additional flavors. There is always PBJ sandwiches and salads in between meals (season and brown chicken in a skillet let cool and add to salad)Boil a couple of eggs cut up and add to salad dish.


Good luck ! and congrats on the twins.