End of the month have you feeling broke and bummed!?
When it comes down to the end of the month, my husband and I like to "live poor" and it's a great way to make use of items that we already have on hand rather than spending extra money at the grocery store. So I go through the fridge, freezer and pantry and see what I can scrounge up for the week. And in this post I'm going to share with you some CHEAP meals that you can make that will be crowd pleasers and will help you to forget how light your wallet is feeling before payday. ;)
Last night, using a rotisserie chicken ($5.50 at the grocery store), a box of pasta salad ($1.19), a box of lasagna noodles ($1.29), a jar of spaghetti sauce ($1.79), a can of coconut milk ($1.29), green curry paste ($3.29 but is good for 3-4 uses), a bag of frozen peas (Kroger carries frozen veggies 10/$10 so $1), a bag of frozen carrots ($1), a bag of frozen broccoli ($1), a bag of frozen bell pepper and onions ($1 at Dollar Tree), a cucumber (.50), 1-2 lb of ground beef ($4), a bag of black beans ($1), an onion (.25), a bag of white rice ($2), 3 potatoes ($3) some fresh or frozen spinach($2) if you want, ricotta cheese ($3), shredded cheese ($2), a few slices of bread and some mayonaise we had everything together for a few meals (and still have some pork chops and tenderloin thawing out in the fridge for meals later in the week)!
Grand total: $36.10 and this will make 4 meals for 5 people each so that breaks down to $1.81 per person, per meal!
So now i'll share what I made out of all of that!
1. Green curry with chicken, vegetables, served over steamed white rice.
2. Chicken salad sandwiches with pasta salad
3. A big pan of lasagna with spinach inside or sauteed and served on the side
4. Black bean burgers with homemade french fries
Green Curry with Chicken
First take all of the meat off of the bones of the chicken (you can save the bones and make chicken soup with it at the end of the week if you'd like to throw in yet one more cheap meal!), then set half of your chicken aside for your curry and half aside for your chicken salad.
In a pot on the stove, pour in your can of coconut milk, heat over medium heat and then add in 2 tbsp of the green curry paste, your chicken and let simmer for a few minutes. Stir and add in your frozen veggies. (broccoli, carrots, peas and onion/bell pepper mix) I typically use about 1/3-1/2 of each bag so you'll have veggies left over if you decide to make that chicken soup!
Meanwhile I have added 1.5 cups of white rice and 3 cups of water to my rice cooker and have it cooking itself while this is on the stove
Let it all simmer till your rice is done cooking and then serve!
Chicken Salad Sandwiches and pasta salad
Using the other half of your chicken, cut your chicken into smaller pieces or shred it and place in a chopper or blender (or you could leave it shredded if you prefer it not to be so minced). Then add in your mayonnaise and if you bought frozen spinach you could throw some in. I used fresh spinach on my sandwich instead and just lined my bread with it.
Cook your pasta salad according to the box instructions and add in diced cucumber, frozen peas, frozen carrots and olives if you have some on hand!
Cook your pasta salad according to the box instructions and add in diced cucumber, frozen peas, frozen carrots and olives if you have some on hand!
Lasagna
I'm sure you know how to make this but for the sake of it, I brown my ground beef in a pan with some italian seasoning, 1/2 diced onion and some garlic if I have it on hand. Then I combine that with my ricotta cheese, I chop up some fresh spinach and add that and then add in one egg and combine the mixture. Put some spaghetti sauce in the bottom of your pan, line with lasagna noodles, spread your mixture put some sauce on top of the mixture and then repeat. Top your final layer of sauce with shredded cheese, cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 min. (If you didn't put spinach inside of your lasagna, sauté some on the side to serve as a side dish!)
Black bean burgers
I follow Melissa D'Arabian's black bean recipe first minus the scallions:
Ingredients
1/2 pound dried black beans
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
3 fresh garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped scallions, for garnish
Directions
The night before, soak the black beans in a large pot of water. The next day, rinse the beans, cover with 3 cups of fresh water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer covered for 30 minutes, skimming off any foam. Stir in the onion and simmer 30 minutes more. Add the garlic, oregano, cumin, and red pepper flakes, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in sugar and vinegar, and taste before seasoning with salt and pepper. Turn out into a large serving bowl and garnish with chopped scallions
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/perfect-black-beans-recipe.html?oc=linkback
1/2 pound dried black beans
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
3 fresh garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped scallions, for garnish
Directions
The night before, soak the black beans in a large pot of water. The next day, rinse the beans, cover with 3 cups of fresh water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer covered for 30 minutes, skimming off any foam. Stir in the onion and simmer 30 minutes more. Add the garlic, oregano, cumin, and red pepper flakes, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in sugar and vinegar, and taste before seasoning with salt and pepper. Turn out into a large serving bowl and garnish with chopped scallions
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/perfect-black-beans-recipe.html?oc=linkback
Then I drain my black beans and put my black beans, the other half of my pepper/onion frozen mix, 1 egg and 3/4 cup bread crumbs (alternatively you can used crushed saltine crackers or if you want to use sliced bread, toast it in the oven on a cookie sheet and then crumble it into crumbs)
Form it into patties, place on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake for 10 min on each side @ 375 degrees.
While those are baking, wash and slice up your potatoes and fry them up in a pan with some veggie oil. As soon as you pull them out of the oil, place on a paper towel lined place and lightly salt and pepper them.
Serve your black bean patties on bread (in our case we had some buns frozen and left over from a bar-b-que we had previously and I added some fresh spinach and mayo to mine, Wes added fresh spinach, avocado and dijon mustard to his. :)
And voila! You have 4 meals, sure to please your family!
If you have any questions, let me know! I'd love to hear how your meals turn out!
