Welcome to our first topic-specific Open Mic post. By popular demand, we will be adding an occasional Open Mic post that is honed in on one subject. This gives us a chance to have a more in-depth conversation about the area, share tips and tricks and will build a great archive of ideas that we can all refer to when we need them down the road.
Are you ready? Today we’re opening up this post for a conversation about meal planning and cooking on a budget. You can ask questions, share ideas and answer questions left by others. The only stipulation is that 100% of the conversation be focused on meal planning and cooking. Save off-topic posts for Thursday’s general Open Mic; any off-topic posts here will be removed.
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Your turn: What items do you have in your pantry and freezer that you wonder how to prepare so they don’t go to waste? What recipe or cooking tips and tricks save you money?
About Carrie Rocha
With the recent sale on ground turkey, I’m wondering how others prepare this. I made a turkey soup the other day that turned out ok, but need more ideas.
Do any of these look appealing to you? I did a search for ground turkey on the Taste of Home website. HTH
http://www.tasteofhome.com/SiteSearch/FacetSearchResults.aspx?search=ground%20turkey&st=2&vw=1&page=1&rs=10&sort=0&searchSource=hdrbox-Recipes
makes good sloppy joes
I make meatloaf with the ground turkey and use it for sloppy joe’s they are so good that way!
I use ground turkey in just about all of our ground-”beef” dishes; we like it much better. Here are a few of our favorites:
Turkey and Veggie Chili – http://joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2009/03/lucys-amazing-chili.html
Porcupines – http://joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2009/09/porcupines.html
Turkey Meatball Pasta – http://joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2009/08/turkey-meatball-pasta.html
Unstuffed pepper skillet – http://joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2009/03/unstuffed-pepper-skillet.html
Turkey Minestrone – http://joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2008/12/turkey-minestrone-soup.html
Turkey Lasagna – http://joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2009/01/turkey-lasanga.html
BBQ Turkey Meatloaf – http://joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2008/12/barbcue-turkey-meatloaf.html
hope that helps!
Spaghetti, Hotdishes, I have made turkery burgers (find a recipe because you need to add stuff for flavor), sloppy joes, tacos… You can substitute for anything that calls for ground beef.
I purchased 16 pounds of turkey and made the following – all called for beef, I used turkey in all of them.
Individual meatloaf (muffin pan size) 3#
Sloppy Joes 2#
Enchalidas 2#
Tater Tot hotdish 3#
Hamburger soup with rice 1#
Browned turkey with onions 2#
Hamburger hotdish with noodles 2#
Meatballs 1#
I made them all over two weekends and froze them into enough for a meal for 3 or 4. My freezer is now stocked. Pretty awesome for not a lot of money.
I was thinking of meatballs with the ground turkey over rice or noodles
If I run into trouble with meal planning, I find a website that has an ingredient search so I can find meals based on what I have on hand. I also make up a list of meals for the week based on what’s on sale and what I have available, so before I even hit the market, I’ve got it laid out for the week ahead.
actually last night i used some of the ground turkey – made a weightwatchers slow cooker turkey chili!
2 cans of petite/diced tomatoes w/chilis or whatever you like
1 can kidney beans
1 can navy beans
1lb ground turkey
mix them together in the slow cooker and voila! 6 hrs later, you have an easy-peasy lemon squeezy meal that serves about 6 (1 cup servings)
I was too full last night after the football fare, but it’s going to be my lunch today!
oh – and don’t forget a whole onion, chopped!
tried this at lunch w/tostitos scoops – was delicious! made up some brown rice for dinner and mixed it with some more leftover chili and it’s a super filling meal.
A group of 8-10 women from my church get together once a month for a “Let’s Hot Dish” cooking session….yep…its a Lutheran church! :) Its great….we choose 3-4 recipes to make and take turns buying the ingredients. Then we all get together at church on a Sunday evening and cook! Its really lots of fun. Not only do we get 3-4 meals to take home and put in our freezer for our families (almost always for under $20 total) but is great fellowship too.
What’s so nice is that we are able to buy everything in bulk and we get a variety of dinners!
Its a great way to make the grocery budget stretch just a bit further.
I would love to do something like this. I have also heard about groups where each member makes her/his dish for each family (8 members = 8 pans of meals) at home & then the group meets to exchange dishes.
I substitute ground turkey for hamburger. Last night made sloppy joes with it. Or use it in meatloaf, esp when you have bits leftover of meat.
I need some help with chicken. There are only so many chicken/cream of something soup/eggnoodle dishes the kids will eat in a given week. We are on a very tight budget and am trying to cook with just the basics.
One of my family’s favorite chicken recipies is super basic. I simply “marinate” chicken breasts in a little olive oil, minced or pressed garlic, salt & pepper for 1/2 hour or less. Then I either saute it or grill it. I always have garlic on hand…we tend to put it in almost everything! Also if you want it to go a little further, I’ll make this chicken and then cut it up in small pieces and add it to pasta. I’ll cook the pasta and once its done, throw it in a large pan with a little more olive oil, garlic, italian parsley and some parmesan cheese and then add the chicken and heat through. Then you have a whole meal! Throw in some veggies if you want too.
Karen thanks for the chicken idea! I run out of them quickly!
Angie,
I don’t want to sound like a sales pitch but, I was at a Pampered Chef party and they sampled a recipe made in their Deep Covered Baker. Look it worked I bought it ( I did need a baking dish that size) and it came with a pile of recipes with chicken. With copy wright laws I’m not sure about sharing on line. Try the web site http://www.pamperedchef.com I’ve made a whole chicken in the microwave that tasted just like a deli chicken, Mexican Chicken Lasagna (the sample that sealed the deal) and White Chicken Chili. The lasagna fed 6 with left overs for less than 4 bucks including salad, re fried beans and guacamole.Thanks Carrie for upping my dollar power!
I can help if anyone wants more recipes for this piece and budget friendly meals.
Hey Angie,
I cook a lot with chicken, so I make tons of different recipes. One of my favorites is parmesan crusten chicken. I do a flour dredge, then egg wash, then bread crumbs mixed with parmesan chesse. Fry in oil, about 4 minutes per side. I usally serve on top of salad.
The other one I do is chicken parmesan. Its the same breading, flour dredge, egg wash, then just bread crumbs. Fry in oil about 4 minutes per side. Boil pasta noodles, once done mix pasta, and sauce in casserole pan, place chicken on top, then sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake until brown.
Bread crumb are fairly inexpensive, however I make my own. I leave think sliced bread out on a cooling rack until they crunchy. Toss in a bag and roll my rolling pin over them. I seft out the bigger pieces with a colander.
Hope that helps
I use ground turkey instead of ground beef, since its always cheaper. I use it in hamburger helper, in hot dishes, lasagna, as meatballs, and shepards pie. It makes decent hamburgers, but only when fried in a pan, it doesn’t work well on a grill or broiled.
I always have ground turkey and pace picante sauce on hand. I stock up on both anytime it’s on sale. A favorite in our house is Turkey Tacos!
Brown 1 lb. ground turkey
Add 2 cups pace picante sauce
Serve on a tortilla or in a taco shell
Add fixings and you’re done!
This is a great 10 min. recipe for those last minute meals! We have it at least once a week, and the kids LOVE it!
I was thinking I’ll share my favorite turkey burger recipe, which is from Weight Watchers for anyone trying to keep it healthy too!
1 pound grnd turkey
1 chop small onion
1/4 c seasoned bread crumbs (or make your own)
3 tbsp parsley
3 tbsp light mayo
1 tsp basil, sage
ground pepper
dijon mustard, a few tsp worth
Let set overnight – this really does work better. Doesn’t grill well. I’ve done either pan fried with non stick spray, or broil a little too.
one of our favorites for chicken is to crush 2 cups of cornflakes, add some garlic and onion powder and some paprika. coat chicken, put a pat of butter on top of each and bake. YUM!
Our favorite ground turkey recipe is for turkey burgers, and is super easy. I take 1 lb ground turkey, shred up a couple tablespoons of zuchinni in it, then add seasoned salt, pepper and garlic powder. Mix it all up and cook it on a contact grill (like a George Forman grill). They are always juicy and always tasty.
Otherwise I just use ground turkey like I would use ground beef.
I also substitute ground turkey for ground beef all the time. If you are not crazy about the flavor you can do half ground turkey and half GB.
All recipes is one of my favorite for doing an ingredient search. I found a yummy turkey burger recipe the other day. We liked them better than regular beef burgers.
another huge tip… you can cook up 3-5 lbs of ground meet at one time. Add diced onions and garlic then after it cools a bit portion it out (usually 1-2 lbs each) into zip top bags. Then add your ingredients for Chili or sloppy joes. Zip up Knead bag gently with your hands to mix, squeeze out extra air then freeze flat. Then all you need to do is heat it up on a night when you are on the run. I can do 3-5 of these meals in about an hour on a Sunday afternoon.
You can also just freeze the bags of cooked meat to use for multiple applications. Tacos, Meat for Spaghetti sauce, shepherds pie, you name it. It is amazing how much better your dish will be since you have cooked it with some onion and garlic.
Gosh I love Power cooking!
What a great idea! I’m going to try this!
Oh I forgot,,, you can do all this with chicken too! Just cook and dice. I cook a family pack all at one time.
An easy chicken recipe I make is Crispy Rice Chicken. Crush up a cup of rice crispy type cereal and add 1 Tbsp flour, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp poultry seasoning. Mix it all up in a zip top bag. Melt 2 Tbsp butter and dip chicken pieces in it, then toss chicken in coating mixture and place on baking sheet. Pour any leftover butter over the pieces before you bake. Then bake according to what type of chicken you are using. We use b/s breasts and bake them at 400 for 20 mins I think.
I’m going to try this tonight. I have rice krispies on hand!
I brown my ground turkey and add it in equal parts to ground hamburger. Especially at $1 per pound! It makes the hamburger go alot farther. I freeze them in 1 pound portions in freezer bags so they can be put into a quick hotdish or used for tacos, shili or sloppy joes in a jiffy!
Thanks for all the ground turkey recipe ideas!
Here’s a general tip that I read in a cooking magazine. If you have leftover amounts of vegetables or meat (like cut up celery or carrots) just freeze them in small bags and label them “SOUP” when you have a stash, just make up a batch of soup. I’ve just started doing this, and it bugs me that I end up throwing away small portions of vegetables.
I do this and it is awesome!
Yesterday I made up a huge turkey (that I got at thanksgiving time) so after a yummy turkey dinner it will now become turkey noodle soup, turkey and dumplings, turkey & biscuits, turkey ala king, chili, bbq sandwiches. Most of which I will portion out and freeze to make meals in the future.
Also a great way that we stretch chicken is to make fajitas, for my family of 3 I take 2 chicken breasts strip them and fry them up with lots of sliced onion and a sliced green pepper and then I use a prepackaged fajita mix. When we make the fajitas we use lots of lettuce to fill us up. Sometimes I make spanish rice to go with it. I’m able to feed us supper and by hubby gets lunch the next day.
too funny…I made a turkey yesterday (that I got at Thanksgiving) and plan to do the same thing! Its crazy because I never seem to think of making a turkey any other time than Thanksgiving. Its so easy and can be used in so many ways. I still have one more in the freezer for later on!
Two of my favorite recipes are Rachael Ray’s Stuffed Pepper Stoup (I add more broth-fyi) and Super Sloppy Joes. They both call for ground beef but work great with ground turkey too. I hope you like them, I’ve had lots of friends request the recipes.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/super-sloppy-joes-recipe/index.html (Super Sloppy Joes)
http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=476 (Stuffed Pepper Stoup)
I stock up on chicken breast when they are on sale- Our favorite- I put 3-4 breasts in a crock pot and pour a jar of salsa on top. Cook on low 4-6 hours. When they are done cooking, I remove the chicken and shred it. Do not drain the juice Put shredded chicken back in the crock pot and add a packet of taco seasonings and stir. This is great as a chicken taco or my favorite is on shredded lettuce for a chicken taco salad.
An easy recipe to use all of the crackers and cream soup we have been getting for cheap:
Poppyseed Chicken:
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 stick butter
four chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
8 oz sour cream
1 sleeve ritz crackers, crushed
1 T poppyseeds (which I sometimes omit)
Mix soup, cubed cooked chicken, 9 oz sour cream and spread in 2 qt casserole. Crush the crackers and mix with the melted butter & poppyseeds. Spread over the top of the chicken and bake for 40 minutes at 350. Yum! We serve this with a veggie side and some sort of bread.
Does anyone know where you buy seal a meal rolls. They are so spendy. I got the seal a meal for xmas from my Daughter.
I usually get mine at sams club, however fleet farm has them at a pretty good price.
Not sure if this is a good deal but Sams Club sells a multi pack for $39.74
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=2&item=441345
Sally, I find seal-a-meal and/or foodsaver rolls at Walmart, Target, Lowes, etc. In fact, if you are in the MN/WI area, Menards has them on sale this week, two rolls (8″ x 13′) for $7. I think they may have the larger size on sale too but I prefer this size. I have a Foodsaver and have used name brand and also Walmart’s generic and can’t tell the difference!
I haven’t tried them yet but I’ve been told that the generic ones at Mills Fleet Farm are the best and most economical, and work well for boil a meal in a bag (we sometimes do this when camping for quick and easy prep and clean up.
Although I prefer the convenience and texture of store-bought bread, I use our bread machine a lot to stretch our grocery budget. I never figured out how much I save by throwing a few ingredients into the bread machine and pushing a couple of buttons, but I would guess at least 50-75%? Maybe someone out there has done the math. We also use it to make homemade pizza crust–extra yummy with some Italian seasoning and/or parm cheese thrown in–AND a lot cheaper. My family is not too picky about pizza sauce, so sometimes I just put some seasonings into regular tomato sauce (an 8 oz. can goes for 25 cents at Cub now), and with some cheese, veggies, onions, pepperoni/ham/whatever, it makes a very economical meal!
Thanks! I love reading everyone’s ideas!
making your own bread is especially cheap if you buy yeast in bulk too!
I’ve been using my bread machine for the last year for bread. I don’t like the shape it comes out in, so I use a dough cycle, the place on a regular baking pan to bake. I have never bought yeast in bulk, will it keep longer if you freeze it?
I just love cooking from scratch — it’s been a huge blessing, saving us lots of money over the past few years.
Recently, I highlighted a few topics on my blog that might be of interest here:
1) How we cook from scratch on a budget – http://joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com/search/label/Eating%20on%20a%20Budget
2) How we menu plan –
http://joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com/2009/11/healthy-on-budget-2.html
2) Our top 10 favorites –
http://joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com/search/label/Countdown%20to%202010
I bookmarked your page. Thanks. I hope to try a few things
Does anybody know where I can find a guide to use for cooking frozen meals? I would love to power cook a few things and freeze them, but I don’t know how long to cook them or if they need to be thawed, etc.
Also, chicken breasts or tenders are very good when ‘breaded’ with durkee-style french fried onions.
oh….. I am soooooo going to try the onion ring breading for chicken if I get a ….. COUPON! Thanks!
I plan our meals for two weeks at a time based on what I have in the pantry. I shop the sales to replenish my supply. There are always things that I need to buy every other week and if they aren’t on sale I shop Aldi first. My next best price is Walmart Super Center. I get milk, meat, and eggs at Sam’s Club. Of course I hit Rainbow on Wed for what ever deal fits our family.
For healthier choices I try to use 2% shredded cheese when ever I can. If a recipe calls for cheese I use 2% shredded cheese. Rainbow has a 2% cheese Roundy’s brand and I have found Great Value brand of 2% cheese at the Walmart in Maple Grove. I plan on picking up some 2% cheese at Rainbow this week with there Kraft sale, assuming it is included in the sale.
I also spend the extra money on the lean ground beef to make things healthier
One of my favorite recipes to make is Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna. I get the Great Value (Walmart) Oven Ready noodles for easy prep. I made the first time expecting complaints from all around but to my surprise they all requested it again!
One more thing http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf has a great website with great recipes. I use when ever I run out of ideas for our menu!
Chrissy you don’t have to use oven ready noodles, I always use the regular noodles and cover extra tight with foil. I let a lasagna cook for 1 1/4 hrs then stand for 15 min.
We buy the family value packs of ground meat, chicken, pork, etc. when they are on sale. Then I spend less than an hour putting the meats into foodsaver bags that are the right sizes for our family (we are down to just 2 of us right now; so I package the meat into 2 and 4 serving sizes). I remove the excess fat, skin, and debone the meat to make it healthier for us. If we have more people for a meal, I can take out more bags and thaw them; these thaw faster than say a whole chicken does.
I will often bag and freeze half the meat raw and then bake, bag and freeze the rest so I have a wider choice of what to eat when we are fixing supper in a hurry. (I don’t add any spices at this point, just bake it on a rack in the oven to cook it all the way through).
One other freezer trick we do is buy a bag of onions and dice up the onions and bag those for the freezer either as 1/2 to 1 onion or as 1/4 -1/2 cup portions. When yo are in a time crunch, you can grab an already cooked meal-sized meat serving, toss in some already chopped onions, maybe some garlic and veggies, then serve with a salad and serving of rice and you can have a full meal in less than 20 minutes.
I have a question…Cub has peanuts on sale this week for $1.59 for a 14 oz. jar. I have 11 $1.00 off coupons. Any ideas what I can do with them???
Kung Pao? Thai Peanut noodles. Salted nut rolls. Snacks. Food shelf? Have fun!
Lemon grass chicken is one of my favorites. You can also do a satay.
One of my favorite places to get the basics is the Kwik Trip station. Milk is nearly always the cheapest there. I think it’s $.88 per half gallon at my store right now. Bananas, onions, and potatoes are $.39/lb and I can buy 1 or 10 depending upon my needs. Don’t care for their bread much, but we do get hotdog buns there, usually about $1.19. This morning, I bought a sleeve of 4 oranges, the best ones we’ve had so far this winter, for $1. I love the quick in and out stop, too.
Freezer Soup– like Sarah’s idea for leftovers but a little more adventurous. I just put various leftovers (veggies, rice, beans, tomato paste) all together in one container in the freezer, and when it gets full I make soup. I try to pay attention to whether it’s leaning more Italian, or Mexican… every once in awhile it’s a flop, but usually it works out. I think I got the idea from Amy Daczyzn of the Tightwad Gazette.
And I’ve got 3 words for saving on food: BEANS AND RICE!
My new favorite ultra cheap recipe is lentil soup. I didn’t think I would like it, but my wife wanted to try it. It was wonderful! A couple bucks for lentils, a couple carrots and celery, an onion, a can of tomatoes and some herbs and spices. Maybe $4 total for 5-6 servings.
I use a spreadsheet for meal planning because I’m a nerd. (Example: http://tinyurl.com/yd79wgg – looks best if you export it to a .xls file and look at it in Excel or Open Office.)
My biggest tip for frugal cooking is stocking your freezer with pre-cooked beans, pasta, rice, quinoa, barley, and other grains. They’re an easy launch point for cheap and quick meals. A pound of dried beans usually runs less than a buck and it’s just as easy to make the whole bag and freeze extras as it is to make just enough for whatever recipe you’re cooking at the time.
Also, don’t be afraid of the bulk section at the grocery store and don’t be afraid of the spices in the Latino aisle. You can save a ton in both of these areas.
I snaged a good deal on bone-in chicken breasts. Not sure how to cook them, as I usually buy the filets…I couldn’t pass up 25cents a pound chicken!!
You roast them, ike you would a whole chicken. Add a little butter under the skin, roast about an hour at 325-350.
A little late but I was looking for where to write this and found this spot. We have a family of 6. Sunday we bought 2 rot. chickens at Sams club $4.97 each No cooking and it lasts for several meals, Sunday we did chicken, potatoes and Corn(-1 kid). Monday at lunch I had leftovers, 4 yr old has a sandwich. Dinner I made fett. alfredo w/ chicken & broccoli. Today I will have leftovers since only 1/2 my family ate that, I still have 1 whole chicken left, I am planning on making chicken noodle soup, and not sure what else. This works great, we have kids in basketball and dance and some days w/ our schedual it is 7 when we eat and no time b4 hand to cook!