200+ Meals under $5 that serve 4 or more people

[Amaranth]

http://www.mommysavers.com/c/t/73996/favorite-meal-5-or-less

A wide variety of ideas here. At the start of the thread, a higher percentage of the meals focus on protein and starch and tend to have more processed foods. As the thread goes along more people suggest made from scratch options and include more vegetables. Many of the more processed ones could be cheaper and healthier from scratch. Many of the protein-starch ones are far enough under $5 that 2 vegetables could easily be added.

Would welcome more ideas here. Any would be of interest, and ones that are more whole foods oriented and balanced across the food groups would be of the greatest interest.

In the other thread, it was especially helpful when people could give prices for the items, so you could see where their best sales were contributing to the frugality of the recipe.

At the moment we are especially looking for meals that could be low cost due to being able to use low cost seasonal fall vegetables. Might be able to get the cost down even more if I can pluck some of the ingredients from the garden.;)

[razz]

1.With tomatoes, onions, garlic and herbs (oregano, thyme and basil) from my garden, I make tomato sauce adding a large green pepper (50cents), one can of tomato paste (45cents) plus a large can (796ml or 28 oz for 99cents) of canned beans served over (60cents) pasta.

2. This could also make chili but use salad ($1) as base or serve with crusty bread ($1).

3. From my garden, onions, finely diced potatoes, leeks, thinly sliced carrots, and herbs sauteed lightly in oil and place in a greased pie plate covered with 6 eggs ($1) blended with milk (50cents) and 2 cups grated cheese ($2) on top and bake for either frittata or crustless quiche.

4. Make the homegrown tomato sauce with chunky veggies, simmer with added slivered liver ($1.50) and serve over rice (50 cents).

They were really processed dishes at first, weren't they? I'll check out more later.

[cattledog]

I was reading some of the entries on that thread and I can really see the jump in grocery prices from 2008!

My favorite cheap dinners are things like chicken and dumplings, meatballs with rice, chili, or homemade pierogies stuffed with sauerkraut and/or potatoes. Homemade pasta is good too. It's chewier and seems fancier than the dried stuff and uses very few ingredients. A simple tomato or pesto sauce is good enough on it too. I always freeze pesto that I make in the summer so it's cheap.

[awakenedsoul]

Grilled cheese sandwiches on homemade bread is cheap. I just made pumpkin soup, since that's what I'm harvesting right now. I followed a broccoli cheese soup recipe and substitued the pumpkin for the broccoli. That and a loaf of french bread, (homemade,) is delicious! I often make salads from the garden with cheese and sunflower seeds. Mexican rice with cheese is inexpensive and good, too. So are stuffed peppers. Of course, all of these ideas are cheaper if you have a garden. Baked potatoes with toppings are also inexpensive.

[Jana]

we often cook things with cheap ingredients or things that don´t need toop many ingredients. in france we ate a vegetable-thing which only consisted of zuccini, onion, garlic, water, breadcrumbs and olive oil. exactly in this order. Or just a pan 3 sorts of vegetables. or things like pancakes - cheap, tasty, you can eat them with almost everysthing and you can keep them in the fridge for 2 or 3 days. But there are also recipes on german websites to tell you what to do with leftovers, like old bread and so on. if you want some recipes, i´ll post them ;)