Healthy and Cheap Family Meals for Tight Budgets

One-Pot Broccoli Tuna Pasta

10/16/2016

This is yet another one of those recipes I’ve had since I was a young married woman. It’s been one of my go-to recipes since forever because it’s a delicious, very easy, one-pot meal that can be ready in less than 30 minutes.

On those crazy weekday nights when you get home late, or the kids are dashing off to a game or practice, a dinner like this can be a lifesaver.

And my boys absolutely loved it. It was definitely one of their favorites.

It’s also about as cheap as any fish-based meal can be - if you do as I do.

3-Bean Spinach, Tomato and Lime Pasta Salad

9/19/2016

This colorful, delicious recipe had its beginnings long ago in my desire to somehow turn leftover pasta I had sitting in the fridge into a quick and easy meal and avoid cooking over a hot stove in the middle of a heat wave.

That first meal was a haphazard affair, with a bit of this and that thrown in, but it was good enough to keep in my repertoire.

I have used it as a basic starting point for many a meal over the years, and it has seen a few different incarnations.

This particular version is a huge favorite with my husband. He just raves about it. I think it’s the combination of lime and fresh garden tomatoes that appeals to him so much. He is a real tomato lover.

And I like that, too, but what I really like is that it’s so darned easy to put together and involves no cooking at all if you have some extra cooked pasta on hand from an earlier meal.

And I love that I have lunch to take to work for a few days during the week.

"Baked" Bean Casserole, Stove Top and Slow Cooker Method

7/27/2016

Growing up, we typically ate baked beans a couple of times a month. Baked beans, homemade coleslaw, with hot dogs and rolls, or old-fashioned canned brown bread – was a regular meal in our house.

I loved it.

It turns out it was the result of a misunderstanding between my parents - namely, that while Mom thought that Dad liked baked beans from his time in the army, he actually didn't like them much at all because they reminded him of the army.

But he never said a word of complaint about it for decades. I think part of that was because he felt the household and the meals were Mom’s domain, and he did not want to interfere.

Pasta with Lemon, Vegetables, and Feta

6/26/2016

Here’s a recipe that will bring a little of the Mediterranean into your kitchen with its wonderful parsley, lemon, and feta flavorings. It makes use of the abundant summer vegetables from your own garden, if you’re lucky enough to have one, or you can use just about any produce that's in season and available in your local grocery store. The recipe requires a fair amount of chopping and preparing of that garden bounty, but it's well worth the effort.

I've never made this recipe with frozen vegetables, but I'm betting it'd still be very tasty, so that's also an option and a huge time saver. With those, this meal would be ready in about the time it takes to cook the pasta.

But whether using fresh produce or a frozen blend of vegetables, be sure to shop the sales. The same approach applies to the expensive ingredients like the fettuccine or feta cheese called for in this meal. You will never catch me paying full price for these pricey items, unless it’s a very special occasion meal.

But if I’m planning my menus for the week ahead using the store flyer (as I always am) and notice that they’re on sale, I might make a point of putting this recipe, or others that might call for them, such as my Pasta with Spinach, Tomato, and Feta, on my meal plan for the coming 7 days.

Spicy Garlic and Herb Linguini

6/12/2016

This is another one of my oldest recipes from the cookbook I made for Christmas gifts way back in my husband’s student days when we barely had two nickels to rub together and could not afford to buy any presents. I already had a solid repertoire of cheap meals, and I compiled them in a simple little booklet that I entitled “Meatless Marvels”, which I gave to everyone in my family.

Now, you have to understand that the whole notion of going without meat was pretty much unheard of in those days. It was even considered unhealthy by many. I remember having a discussion once with someone who advised me that I should never have children if I intended to feed them meat-free meals of any kind.

All I can say is that my four sons did just fine with my “meatless marvels”. We did not eat exclusively vegetarian, but mostly so, and their health most definitely did not suffer.

Pasta With Tomato, Spinach and Feta

5/12/2016

Quick Pasta with Spinach and Feta Cheese

This is one of the quickest recipes in my repertoire. I first started cooking it when we lived in New York City, and my long commute and work hours meant I often did not get home before 7:30 pm.

I wasn’t nearly as organized then as I am now, so I didn’t always plan ahead as well as I could and take the week’s schedule into consideration when deciding my menus, but this was one recipe I knew I could fall back on if I really ran into a time crunch. It's fast and easy, and very tasty besides.

Broccoli Mushroom Lasagna

10/21/2015

This streamlined, delicious lasagna recipe can be in the oven in minutes. The actual cook time is fairly lengthy, though, so it’s a meal I often make on a Sunday and have the leftovers for a meal or two - or three - over the course of the next week. It also freezes exceptionally well if you want to save some for later, or if you are a small household.

The beauty of it is that once it’s baking - and you have done the quick job of washing your salad greens and leaving them to drain, as I always suggest doing for every dinner meal - then you can go about doing whatever other business you have to tend to in your household.

It’s just that easy.

Just don’t forget to set a timer to remind yourself when the cooking time is up. Even after decades of cooking, I still rely heavily on these buzzers to jog my memory when food needs to be checked. They have saved me from many a burned meal when I got absorbed in doing something elsewhere in the house.

Ramen Noodle Slaw - A No-Cook Dinner in a Bowl

8/25/2015

This salad has long been a standard for barbecues or picnics, which is where I first tasted it. But it's also great as a dinner option for those hot summer days when you just don’t want to turn on the stove.

In its original form and in the versions you see all over the web, the recipe calls for packaged coleslaw from the produce aisle, but it is very easy – and much, much cheaper - to make your own. A pound of cabbage typically costs around 49-69¢ per pound and can cost as little as 29¢ a pound, whereas pre-chopped coleslaw is typically $2 per pound and up.

As you might expect, I see no point in paying triple the price – or more - for someone else’s labor.

After all, chopping cabbage and whatever other vegetables you want to include, such as celery, carrots, broccoli, etc. is a simple task that takes only minutes.

Spicy Black Bean and Corn Salsa Salad

8/10/2015

It's a scorching week of weather this week, and this entree salad makes a satisfying and versatile dish that's perfect for when the temperature soars. Or for when it doesn't.

Come to think of it, it's great just about any old time.

To give you an idea about its versatility:

It can be vegetarian, as described here, but is also very nice with a couple of cups of cut up chicken;

It can be made with pasta, with rice, or simply served with tortilla chips. That means that for those with celiac disease or gluten intolerance, it can easily be made gluten free;

Pasta - Bruschetta Style

7/24/2015

We’re experiencing some scorching weather here over the next couple of days, so I was up early to do some harvesting in our little, backyard garden and get any cooking done before the worst of the heat sets in.

Besides an abundance of green beans, tomatoes are ripening on the vine, and we have a good supply of basil. It’s an ideal time to put these garden lovelies to use in bruschetta, the delectable tomato, basil, and garlic side dish served on toasted French bread.

But as usual, I’m more interested in getting at least one entire dinner out of my efforts in the kitchen, particularly on a hot day, so I have made some very simple adaptations to the traditional bruschetta to make it a meal. It’s still super easy.

Ratatouille - Slow Cooker or Oven Vegetable Casserole, French Style

7/15/2015

It’s summertime, and vegetables are available at very reasonable prices from our garden, neighbors, the grocery store, or the local farmers’ market. The summer squash and zucchini I see all around remind me that this is the perfect time to try one of Mom’s vegetable casserole dishes – a type of ratatouille.

It's a little different from the traditional dish, which normally contains eggplant. But that was one of the very few dishes that my usually non-finicky father absolutely refused to eat, so it was never served in our house.

One-Pot Broccoli Tuna Pasta

3-Bean Spinach, Tomato and Lime Pasta Salad

"Baked" Bean Casserole, Stove Top and Slow Cooker Method

Pasta with Lemon, Vegetables, and Feta

Spicy Garlic and Herb Linguini

Pasta With Tomato, Spinach and Feta

Broccoli Mushroom Lasagna

Ramen Noodle Slaw - A No-Cook Dinner in a Bowl

Spicy Black Bean and Corn Salsa Salad

Pasta - Bruschetta Style

Ratatouille - Slow Cooker or Oven Vegetable Casserole, French Style

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