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P
Pong
Guest
Shepherd’s Pie is pretty inexpensive to make and you can alter it to fit your family’s tastes.
In a casserole dish layer sausage (or hamburger, or lamb) on the bottom, add peas (and any other veg you like), top with mashed potatoes and layer of grated cheese. Pop in the oven until the cheese is metled. Very yummy, very filling.
In a casserole dish layer sausage (or hamburger, or lamb) on the bottom, add peas (and any other veg you like), top with mashed potatoes and layer of grated cheese. Pop in the oven until the cheese is metled. Very yummy, very filling.
C
Chronister4673
Guest
I have to second the recommendation for the Hillbilly Housewife website. We especially like her Taco Style Lentils and Rice.
thefamilyhomestead.com/beanrecipes.htm Here’s some more bean recipes if you don’t mind beans. I like the Italian Pintos. I serve them over a bowl of rice and top with mozzerella. MmmMMmm.
Pretty soon turkeys should be going on sale for Thanksgiving. You could get some of those and roast them up. Pick the carcasses clean, freeze the extra, and then you can use the carcasses to make some stock for soups.
There’s also basic things like casseroles. A couple of cans of tuna, cream of mushroom soup, peas, and noodles will stretch quite a bit.
Other folks have mentioned Angel Food. www.angelfoodministries.com This is quite a deal and it’s saved my family a lot of money. If you have a delivery site near you, you should definitely check it out.
thefamilyhomestead.com/beanrecipes.htm Here’s some more bean recipes if you don’t mind beans. I like the Italian Pintos. I serve them over a bowl of rice and top with mozzerella. MmmMMmm.
Pretty soon turkeys should be going on sale for Thanksgiving. You could get some of those and roast them up. Pick the carcasses clean, freeze the extra, and then you can use the carcasses to make some stock for soups.
There’s also basic things like casseroles. A couple of cans of tuna, cream of mushroom soup, peas, and noodles will stretch quite a bit.
Other folks have mentioned Angel Food. www.angelfoodministries.com This is quite a deal and it’s saved my family a lot of money. If you have a delivery site near you, you should definitely check it out.
B
BeeSweet
Guest
Zooey turned me on to this little casserole chart that I love: Create Your Own Casserole
God bless you for opening your home like you have! I hope you have many happy evenings around the dinner table together!
God bless you for opening your home like you have! I hope you have many happy evenings around the dinner table together!
M
masondoggy
Guest
Thanks for the ideas everybody! This is very, very helpful. Things are going great. They moved in Wednesday. It’s crowded (we have four kids in one bedroom, lol) but it’s not so bad. I actually like the chaos. 
O
OutinChgoburbs
Guest
I slept with 3 sisters in one room. It’s no big deal, as long as things stay organized.Thanks for the ideas everybody! This is very, very helpful. Things are going great. They moved in Wednesday. It’s crowded (we have four kids in one bedroom, lol) but it’s not so bad. I actually like the chaos.
And you now know everybody will be well-fed!
J
JACQUE_D
Guest
Fry some mince meat (ground beef) with onion, salt & pepper.
Put this in a large pot and fill halfway with water.
Then add about 10 packs of instant noodles. Add frozen veges if you like. Once the noodles are cooked, and have absorbed most of the liquid, give it a stir, and eat.
Kids love it. I also use canned beef instead of mince meat.
Rissoles are yummy too. Ground beef, mixed with chopped onion, herbs, spices and an egg to bind. Roll patties in flour and fry. Make your own potato chips by chipping potatoes and deep frying. Add a salad or beetroot on the side.
Make soup from scratch. Use the bones from your chicken roast, add anything, including rice, veges or pasta to bulk it up. Then cook a big damper in the oven. This is just a large scone . Butter the damper while hot and eat with soup. Or add dumplings to pot of soup.
I managed to fill my family of six with home made kebobs on the barbque. Very little marinted chicken between heaps of veges. Garlic buttered bread rolls on the side of the grill.
I’m hungry now. Its 10.10pm here in NewZealand. Time for a cup of tea and a piece of toast before bed.
God Bless
Jacqueline.
:compcoff:
Put this in a large pot and fill halfway with water.
Then add about 10 packs of instant noodles. Add frozen veges if you like. Once the noodles are cooked, and have absorbed most of the liquid, give it a stir, and eat.
Kids love it. I also use canned beef instead of mince meat.
Rissoles are yummy too. Ground beef, mixed with chopped onion, herbs, spices and an egg to bind. Roll patties in flour and fry. Make your own potato chips by chipping potatoes and deep frying. Add a salad or beetroot on the side.
Make soup from scratch. Use the bones from your chicken roast, add anything, including rice, veges or pasta to bulk it up. Then cook a big damper in the oven. This is just a large scone . Butter the damper while hot and eat with soup. Or add dumplings to pot of soup.
I managed to fill my family of six with home made kebobs on the barbque. Very little marinted chicken between heaps of veges. Garlic buttered bread rolls on the side of the grill.
I’m hungry now. Its 10.10pm here in NewZealand. Time for a cup of tea and a piece of toast before bed.
God Bless
Jacqueline.
:compcoff:
B
Bobby_Jim
Guest
Here’s another one that my wife has made - Beefy Roll-up
mrfood.com/recipe_detail.aspx?item_guid=dce7cce9-bd65-4cd4-b13d-97fd30cdb6e1
Basically you take a refrigerated pizza dough (I like the one from Trader Joe for about $1), roll it flat, toss in half a pound of ground meat, some frozen spinach, basil leaves, some mozzarella, and assorted other odds and ends, roll it up like a jelly-roll, and bake for about 20 minutes. It’s pretty economical (4-5 servings on half a pound of meat) and it’s easy to double.
Another good way to stretch a pound of meat is a stir fry. I like to use pork, but beef and chicken work too. Just cut the meat thin, and the secret is to add a lot of vegetables - carrot, onion or green onion, bell pepper, ginger, garlic, mushroom, broccoli, shredded cabbage are all good choices (just choose a few though, you don’t want a hodgepodge). The other secret is to be generous with the rice. And for the sauce throw in some Asian hot sauce like Sriracha, because that will force people to eat more slowly.
The Costco by me sells bonelss pork tenderloins at a pretty good price - it’s like $1.89 per pound for the whole 5-6 pound tenderloin, and it’s all usable - very little fat, not much waste. You can slice it to whatever thickness you want. It works very well for pork chops, and you can stretch it by cutting thinner portions - 3-4 ounces is really a sufficient serving in terms of protein and iron. A good cheap accompaniment would be cabbage, boiled or sauteed.
As summer months approach, also check if there is a local farmer’s market. Sometimes you can get good deals on fresh vegetables, especially if you go close to the end.
mrfood.com/recipe_detail.aspx?item_guid=dce7cce9-bd65-4cd4-b13d-97fd30cdb6e1
Basically you take a refrigerated pizza dough (I like the one from Trader Joe for about $1), roll it flat, toss in half a pound of ground meat, some frozen spinach, basil leaves, some mozzarella, and assorted other odds and ends, roll it up like a jelly-roll, and bake for about 20 minutes. It’s pretty economical (4-5 servings on half a pound of meat) and it’s easy to double.
Another good way to stretch a pound of meat is a stir fry. I like to use pork, but beef and chicken work too. Just cut the meat thin, and the secret is to add a lot of vegetables - carrot, onion or green onion, bell pepper, ginger, garlic, mushroom, broccoli, shredded cabbage are all good choices (just choose a few though, you don’t want a hodgepodge). The other secret is to be generous with the rice. And for the sauce throw in some Asian hot sauce like Sriracha, because that will force people to eat more slowly.
The Costco by me sells bonelss pork tenderloins at a pretty good price - it’s like $1.89 per pound for the whole 5-6 pound tenderloin, and it’s all usable - very little fat, not much waste. You can slice it to whatever thickness you want. It works very well for pork chops, and you can stretch it by cutting thinner portions - 3-4 ounces is really a sufficient serving in terms of protein and iron. A good cheap accompaniment would be cabbage, boiled or sauteed.
As summer months approach, also check if there is a local farmer’s market. Sometimes you can get good deals on fresh vegetables, especially if you go close to the end.
J
joseph123
Guest
Boil a chicken and make a good chicken stock. Take half of the chicken and stock and set it aside and then make chicken and dumplings or a vegetable soup with what is left over. When everything is gone you can make a chicken and sausage jambalaya with what you saved.
You can also buy a soup bone from the Honey Baked Ham for 5 dollars and eat ham sandwiches for one meal and then boil the bone and make pea soup or sumthin for the next.
You can also buy a soup bone from the Honey Baked Ham for 5 dollars and eat ham sandwiches for one meal and then boil the bone and make pea soup or sumthin for the next.
M
mamatink13
Guest
The angel food progame has closed its doors as of sept of last year.
K
Kouyate42
Guest
I used to cook for 12 on a regular basis and I did the following:
- Use a slow cooker or crock pot as someone has suggested. You can do pretty much anything you want in a slow cooker and it tastes really good too as it cooks slowly, meaning any liquid/juices aren’t boiled away.
- See if there is a wholesaler near to you where you can pick up cheap vegetables and other groceries. I used to buy the huge sacks of potatoes which were always good and things like milk and even some meats (tinned usually) could also be bought for much cheaper than the supermarkets.
- Try Asian and foreign food stores. Being imported, some of these shops’ foods can be both really tasty and also decently cheap. I used to be able to pick up noodles, soy sauce and tea for less than a $1 a box, as well as rice and some unusual vegetables such as pak choi (a type of lettuce), yams (look like hairy potatoes) and lemongrass (tastes like lemon as per the name). Don’t be put off by the funny looking packets!
Plus, it’s an excuse to try some new foods too. - Try cuts of meat such as neck or ‘scrag’ ends, which are typically ignored in favour of ‘easier’ meats such as leg or ribs. Cooked gently and slowly (slow cookers are great at this) they taste great, and you can always mince it too.
- I found that by making vegetables a big meal item, it would help in using less expensive ingredients like mince. Stir-frys are a good example of this, or meat and veg soups.
- Soups are silly easy to make and freeze well for future use. I used to make a base of celery (you can’t taste this but it adds bulk) and veg stock, along with the main ingredients of the soup such as tomatos, meat chunks, veg, herbs and even a little yoghurt. Then after it’s cooked through so everything is soft, whizz it in a food processor (assuming you have one) or use a hand processor.
D
Debora123
Guest
Grilled chicken breasts and brown rice. (And maybe some steamed vegetables)Due to financial problems, my bil and sil and their son are moving in with us for awhile. We will now be a “family of 9” for meals. I’m at a loss. We’re all really on a budget when it comes to food, so does anybody have any good recipes that work well for large families that are economical…and don’t include beans (cuz I hate beans) ?
Cheap, easy to make, and nutritious.
E
EasterJoy
Guest
It’s not just the money. It’s the time you spend shopping and cooking, too. When you have such a big group, it can feel like all you do is shop and cook. You parents need to work out how you want to share those duties.
Consider books like the Once-A-Month Cooking books by Marry Beth Lagerborg and Mimi Wilson. They give directions for how to plan a month’s worth of meals, plan the shopping list, then shop one day and spend all day cooking (with a friend) the next. You and the in-laws can get together and cook for the freezer. The recipes are basic, and you can tailor them to what your families like.
One example I like is taco rice. It’s a mixture you can put into tacos or burritos or what have you, but the rice extends the meat.
As you do this, compare what you’re making to what the Costco casseroles and frozen items cost. Sometimes, you can’t make the item for what the factory can. In that case, you cook the stuff from scratch that gives variety and cut the fat and salt load a bit, and buy some of the ready-mades to take the prep load off of you.
When summer comes around, concentrate on things that will really save you money, like freezer jam…that is, if you live somewhere where the summer produce is good. The berries here in Oregon make jam that is far superior to anything you can buy and even with the shocking price of berries is a fraction of the price of store-bought. In other places, the berries are all long-ship varieties, and the quality and savings will be reduced. Still, you might be surprised how much you can save by taking a weekend or so and canning dozens and dozens of quarts of homemade marinara as a group. This is what all the big families did when I was growing up.
This will be an exercise in loving forebearance for everyone involved, from sharing the washer and drier to getting everyone through the bathroom in the morning. Good luck and God bless you!
Consider books like the Once-A-Month Cooking books by Marry Beth Lagerborg and Mimi Wilson. They give directions for how to plan a month’s worth of meals, plan the shopping list, then shop one day and spend all day cooking (with a friend) the next. You and the in-laws can get together and cook for the freezer. The recipes are basic, and you can tailor them to what your families like.
One example I like is taco rice. It’s a mixture you can put into tacos or burritos or what have you, but the rice extends the meat.
As you do this, compare what you’re making to what the Costco casseroles and frozen items cost. Sometimes, you can’t make the item for what the factory can. In that case, you cook the stuff from scratch that gives variety and cut the fat and salt load a bit, and buy some of the ready-mades to take the prep load off of you.
When summer comes around, concentrate on things that will really save you money, like freezer jam…that is, if you live somewhere where the summer produce is good. The berries here in Oregon make jam that is far superior to anything you can buy and even with the shocking price of berries is a fraction of the price of store-bought. In other places, the berries are all long-ship varieties, and the quality and savings will be reduced. Still, you might be surprised how much you can save by taking a weekend or so and canning dozens and dozens of quarts of homemade marinara as a group. This is what all the big families did when I was growing up.
This will be an exercise in loving forebearance for everyone involved, from sharing the washer and drier to getting everyone through the bathroom in the morning. Good luck and God bless you!
S
SummerSmiles
Guest
That is a favorite at my house, too! We use thighs as well, which is MUCH cheaper than breast meat. And the dark meat has some cool health benefits to it as well!
E
EasterJoy
Guest
It is usually even cheaper to buy paired whole chickens, and butcher them out into pieces for different uses. The same goes for other meats; you can save money by buying a larger primary piece and butchering it out yourself. You might even look into getting a quarter of beef cut up for you, if you have the freezer space. Again, this was something that big families routinely did when I was growing up.
If you cook ahead–as in, four chickens for 2 or 3 or more meals*–be sure to set the portion intended for future meals aside before serving the rest family style. Otherwise, you may find that such a big pile of food stimulates the family to take bigger portions…that “oops, sorry, I didn’t know!” comes too late! The cooks are going to have to keep the vacuum cleaners out of the kitchen!
(*I don’t know how many teens or adults engaged in heavy manual labor are involved in these feeding frenzies)
I
Irishmom2
Guest
Hello… did anyone check the date on this thread? 
S
SummerSmiles
Guest
That is true about buying the whole chicken. We’re actually looking for another family to split a cow with. One of my mom’s coworkers has a ranch and gives a bit of a discount if he can get rid of the whole cow at once.
And I learned the hard way about setting aside the extra portions intended for later meals. Dad and DH ate to their stomach’s content, and then said, “well, it was there, we thought you wanted it all eaten!”. LOL
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