Search Results for: blog frugal meatless meals

Dried Beans for Frugal Living

Incorporating dried beans into your family’s diet can save you quite a bit of money. You can use the dried beans to make nutritious meatless meals or to add valuable and inexpensive protein to many traditional dishes. At just pennies per serving, using dried beans makes a lot of sense. I used to be intimidated by dried beans. I wasn’t exactly sure how to prepare them or how to use them, but using dried beans is pretty easy. While most modern recipes call for canned beans, you can substitute your own cooked dried beans in any recipe. Just keep in … Continue reading →

TVP and The Frugal Cook

Have your heard about TVP? It is an easy way to get the protein you need while increasing the number of meatless meals you make. TVP is a cheap, yet healthy, alternative to ground meat, and can be used in most of your regular recipes. TVP is textured vegetable protein. It contains a lot of fiber, and of course, protein, so it would make a great addition to anyone’s diet. It is also very economical. An entire meat loaf can be made out of TVP for very little money. TVP is made out of soy flour, and it comes in … Continue reading →

Meals to Make When You Have No Money for Groceries

Do you need to feed your family this week but have nothing to buy groceries with? What can you do? You might be tempted to use that credit card for food, but that can put your finances in even more danger. If you just need to get through the week, try some of the following tips. You can also use these tips to save the $100-$200 you might normally spend on food and apply that money elsewhere, such as to pay down debt or put toward a needed purchase. First, take an inventory of your items. You might be surprised … Continue reading →

A Selection of Meatless Meals

Incorporating some meatless meals into your regular menu can reduce your grocery food bill. Most of the commonly high priced items in the supermarket for the average shopper are all meat products. It gets even worse when the meat is part of a prepackaged or pre-cooked meal. But trying to plan out a variety of meatless meals is the key to keeping the family interested and not crying out for steak. Many people envision a meatless meal to be a bunch of vegetables just sitting there on the plate. But there are so many options today for yummy and cheap … Continue reading →

How to Turn Leftovers into New Meals

Leftovers never go wasted in my house. If you love to use leftovers but hate having the same thing night after night, consider employing some of the following leftover strategies. Meal one night, side dish the next One of the leftover strategies that I employ is to make a meatless dish one night and have it as a main meal. Then any leftovers can be turned into side dishes. This allows you to use up your leftovers without overloading your family with the same tastes. For example, I may make homemade baked means and serve them over rive for the … Continue reading →

Pantry Meals: Lemon Chicken with Capers

Looking for some meals for your food storage? Or would you just like a tasty meal made with only nonperishable foods? You can keep all of the ingredients on hand for a last-minute dinner without having to rush out to buy anything. This dish, lemon chicken with capers is very tasty. Everyone in my family, including my two-year-old son, loved it. Though I did take the capers out of his portion, but that was easy enough to do. The trick to making a tasty chicken dish out of canned chicken is browning the meat in a skillet. After browning my … Continue reading →

Frugal Meatless Meals

If you are looking for ways to reduce the amount of money that you spend on groceries, try reducing the amount of meat that you eat. Not only will you save money, but you may even lose a few pounds. Check out these two frugal meatless meals: Pasta with Marinara Sauce Serve a simple, homemade pasta dish with a side of canned or frozen vegetables (bought on sale of course) and sliced bread. Approximate cost: $4-$5 Cost Breakdown: Pasta–$1.00; canned tomatoes–$1.00 each; Vegetables–$.50 to $1.00; Onions, oil, garlic, and spices?minimal cost, perhaps $.25 to $.50 Serves: 4-6 people 1 lb … Continue reading →

Frugal Food: Lentil And Rice Casserole for the Crockpot

There is no doubt that rice is one of the champions of frugal food. It is very inexpensive and can be used to plump up many a meal. We buy large bags of rice from a warehouse store to keep in our pantry. To make it handy to use rice for any meal, I simply empty the large bag into a large dry cat food container. The cat food containers are square and roomy and come with lids that seal very tightly. When I need some rice it is easy to simply take my measuring cup over to the container, … Continue reading →

8 Low-Cost Recipes from Families.com Bloggers

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I hope that you have been searching the Food Blog here at Families.com for great recipes. They write great stuff! I have taken special note of the most inexpensive dishes they have shared. I have compiled some of these recipes for an easy reference. Check out these recipes for frugal meals from our Families.com Food bloggers! Macaroni with Beef and Tomatoes This recipe is for a kid-friendly comfort food that the whole family will love. In my home growing up, my mother made a similar dish that she called goulash. Goulash, though, might just be a name for any hodgepodge … Continue reading →

How to Save on Groceries without Coupons

I fall in and out of love with coupons on a regular basis. Sometimes I will go weeks or months using them religiously, until I inevitably become disenchanted with the thought of being a slave to them and fall off the coupon wagon. During those times, it is great to still be able to save money on groceries without using coupons. Get a Freezer When you have a freezer you can save money on groceries at least two ways. You can take advantage of sales and buy extra food and then store it in your freezer until you are ready … Continue reading →