Meals you can feed your family for under $5

As a pastor's wife I know what it like to:

1) live on a budget

2) raise a large family

3) have lots and lots of company.

Through the years I've learned to cook cheap. My daughter and I got together some time ago to prepare some menu ideas for friends who just couldn't seem to feed their family on what their husbands make. This can create a lot of friction in the home and a wise, prudent wife can solve that problem for little more than $35 - $40 a week.

For Breakfast:
Three loaves of bread are about $5 and the bread can be served for breakfast in a variety of ways. Also, great additions to breakfast are eggs. If you have the room raise a few yard birds (chickens) and have some fresh eggs every morning and rid your yard of some bugs at the same time. I love my chickens!

• French toast - 5 pieces of bread and 2 eggs ($1)
• Peanut butter & Jelly toast ($1)
• Cheese toast ($1)
• Egg Toast - Cut hole in center of toast and fry with 1 egg in hole ($1)
• Cinnamon Toast
• Grits (Cheap!!!)
• Pancakes are very cheap!
• Leftover rice with some milk, sugar, and cinnamon

Lunch Ideas:
• Lunch is always left overs prepared from the day before’s meal. Use bread to help you.
• Other lunch ideas: Ramen noodles, Macaroni and cheese, sandwiches, egg salad, fried weenies, rice and gravy, baked potato, and beans.

Other ideas -
• NEVER turn down a meal if someone offers. You can make it into something!
• Don't eat out or buy takeaways. You can eat so much cheaper by cooking at home.
• Get dry milk for use in recipes, which keeps longer and costs less. Once reconstituted, it can substitute for fresh milk.
• Make a list before you go to the store. Stick to your hopping list and only allow yourself X amount of impulse buys each trip. The less people you bring on your trip the less money you will spend.
• Beans are one of the main food staples of our home. My kids are all grown and I still serve bean based meals 2 to 3 times weekly. Beans are a very nutritious and cheap food for your family. They are a good source of soluble fiber, the kind that helps lower cholesterol. Beans in general, are good sources of things like, folate, potassium, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, and they are low in fat.
• Fix your kids plates and don’t give them a choice of what they eat. If they don’t like what’s on their plate then they can wait until the next meal or buy their own food. I did this with my kids and my kids will literally eat ANYTHING! My daughter does this and her kids will literally eat ANYTHING....and it hasn't killed a one! Amazing!
• Do you have boys? Do they eat a lot. Then add rice and gravy to EVERY meal. Add bread to every meal. They will get plenty of nutrition from small servings of the main dish and then let them fill up on the side of bread and rice and gravy.

Main meal a day to serve 6:
Assuming you have the following staples: Flour, sugar, a few canned foods, butter, powdered milk, onions, pickle relish, cooking oil, ketch-up, mustard, barbeque sauce, spices. Eventually your food supply will build up because you won’t use everything you buy every week.

----------------------------- Week 1
• 3 Bread Loaves - $4
• 10 # bag potatoes - $4
• 1 family pack 10# hamburger meat - $15 (rewrap in 10 packages at home)
• 1 dozen eggs ($1)
• 1 bag chicken thighs - $5 (rewrap 2 thighs to a package at home)
• 1 pkg rice ($1)
• 1 jar mayo ($2)
• 1 pkg Velveeta cheese ($5)

Meal #1 - Shepherds pie
Brown 1 pkg ham meat, add a can of corn, and top with 2 potatoes mashed and whipped with a bit of prepared powdered milk. Serve over a slice of toast.
Meal #2 - Chicken and Rice
Boil 2 chicken thighs. Cook rice in juice from thighs. Add chicken meat. Add onions if desired.
Meal #3 - Meatball subs
Make balls from one pkg of hamburger meat. Add 1 egg and ½ cup flour to help it hold its shape. Pan fry. Fold bread in half and place 3 meatballs in bread.
Meal #4 - Grill cheese Sandwiches & Fries
Use Velveeta cheese and bread. Grill in a bit of butter. Cut up 2 or 3 potatoes and fry french fries.
Meal #5 - Cow Dookey
Brown some cooked rice with chunks of hamburger (1 pkg) and diced bell peppers (?) and onions. Add spices to the meat while it cooks as well. Add a bottle of soy sauce to the table and presto, you got a nice tasty meal.
Meal #6 - Hamburger steaks
(1 pkg) with onions and gravy, mashed potatoes served over bread. ( fry the meat, use the juice to make gravy, and then put the meat back in the gravy.
Meal #7 - Fried chicken thighs and rice and gravy
Flour 4 or 5 pieces of meat. Fry in small amount of oil. Cook rice. Make gravy from pan drippings.

----------------------------- Week #2
Assuming you still have your stables and the following leftover foods from last week: Left over food to be used with next week’s meal: Potatoes, Rice, Hamburger meat (6 pkgs) chicken ( 4 pkgs), Velveeta cheese, eggs
• 3 loaves bread ($4)
• Grits ($1)
• canned vegetables (green beans, corn, mixed) ($5)
• 4 cans Tuna ($4)
• 6 boxes of mac and cheese ($6)
• Spaghetti pasta ($1)
• 4 Can tomatoes ($4)
• 4 Can tomato sauce ($3)
• 4 Can spaghetti sauce ($4)
• 2 pkg Weenies ($2)
• 1 pkg sausage ($3)
• 1 box eggs ($1)
• 3 cans pork and beans ($3)

Meal #1 - Tuna patties
Mix tuna with 2 eggs and ½ cup flour. Fry in a little oil. Serve with mac&cheese.
Meal #2 - Spaghetti, garlic bread
Brown 1 pgk ham meat. Cook noodles and add to meat. Add sauce.
Meal #3 - Chicken pot pie
Boil chicken (1 pkg). Chop up 2 potatoes in small squares. Add 1 can vegetables. Make a white gravy from powdered milk and flour. Make a crust from flour and water. Drizzle crust over the top and bake.
Meal #4 - Beenie Weenies
Cut 1 pkg weenies up into some pork and beans. Add some BarBQue sauce.
Meal #5 - Tuna & Pasta
Use 1 pkg of mac and cheese and 1 can tuna. Serve with toast.
Meal #6 - Easy Chicken Fried Rice
Boil rice. Boil 1 pkg chicken. Melt butter. Fry 2 eggs in butter. Stir in rice and meat. Add 1 can vegetables.
Meal #7 - Chili dogs
Make chili from 1 pkg of meat and 1 can tomatoes. Serve over weenies and bread.

----------------------------- Week #3
• 3 loaves of bread - $4
• 10 lbs family pack Hamburger Meat - $15
• Lettuce - $2
• Tomatoes - $2
• Cheddar cheese - $3
• Velveeta Cheese - $4
• Potatoes - $4

• Sausage - $4
• 3 Boxes Rice a Roni - $3
• Chicken Thighs - $5
• Dried Pinto beans - $1 (will make 3 meals)

Meal #1 - Hamburgers, lettuce, tomato, cheese, fried potatoes
Meal #2 - Baked Chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy
Meal #3 - Hamburger mac made with Macaroni and Cheese
Meal #4- Sausage dogs, pan-fried potatoes
Meal #5 - BarBQue Chicken, rice stir fried with eggs

----------------------------- Week 4
• Can biscuits - $2 (4 packs)
• Stew Meat - $2
• 1 pk frozen stew vegetables - $2
• Eggs - $1
• Crackers - $1
• 5 frozen pizza - $5
• Tomato sauce - $2
• Elbow macaroni - $2
• Cheese - $4
• Syrup - $3
• Bisquick Mix (Cheap brand) $2
• Butter - $2
• 2 big jars Baked Beans - $3
• Barbque sauce - $1
• Eggs - $1
• Weenies - $2

Meal #1 - Beef Stew, potatoes
Meal #2- Hot dogs, baked beans, sauerkraut
Meal #3- Omelets and pan-fried potatoes
Meal #4 - Meatloaf
(Use crackers and eggs to make bigger), potatoes
Meal #5 - Homemade Pizza -
Use 1 per 2 people and doctor up with hamburger meat and cheese
Meal # 6 - Chili & Crackers
Meal #7 - Goulash
(Hamburger, Tomato sauce and noodles)

----------------------------- Week 5
• Bread - $4
• Hamburger meat - $15
• Manwich - $2
• Frozen broccoli - $5
• Canned beans - $3
• Rice - $2
• Spaghetti - $2
• Chicken Breast - $7

Meal #1 - sloppy joes
Meal #2 - Rice-A-Roni
jazzed up with hamburger and some frozen broccoli.
Meal #3 - Pancakes
Meal #4 - Red beans and rice
... cook some rice..Onion - chopped and fried with 1 pkg hamburger meat. Can of kidney beans, Chilli powder to taste. Can chopped tomatoes or fresh tomatoes skinned and chopped - add to softened onion.
Meal #5 - Chicken spaghetti
Meal #6 - Baked potatoes.
Top with cheese and hamburger meat fried.
Meal # 7 - Tuna sandwiches.

----------------------------- Week 6
• Flour tortillas - $2
• 3 loaves Bread - $4
• Velveeta cheese - $5
• Corn dogs - $8
• Chicken thighs - $5
• Powdered Milk - $6
• Bell Pepper - $5
• Burritos - $3
• Small ham (canned or turkey ham is cheaper) - $5

Meal # 1. Cheese quesadillas.
Make these with flour tortillas. Heat two tortillas in a skillet and remove one to a plate. Top the remaining tortilla with shredded cheese. When melted, about 1-2 minutes, place the other tortilla on top. Allow to cook for a minute or so, flip the whole thing over and cook the other side for another minute. Dump onto a plate, slice with a pizza cutter. If you have it: Add shredded cooked chicken to the cheese. Serve with salsa.
Meal #2 - Corn dogs!
Meal #3 - Easy chicken and dumplings
(debone chicken. Use broth to boil dumplings made from frozen biscuits. Add a cup of milk in which 4 tablespoons of cornstarch has been added. Put chicken back in broth.)
Meal #4 - Stuffed Bell Pepper -
Cooked Rice with tomato paste and ground beef, (mix together) topped with mozzarella and if desired, stuffed in a green pepper, baked until the cheese melts (I promise this is good)
Meal #5 - Burritos
Meal #6 - Cheese burger pie -
1 pkg ham meat, 1 c cheddar cheese, topping made from Bisquick.
Meal # 7 - Ham pot pie -
Mix with a gravy, vegetables and top with biscuits.
Meal #8 - Fried weenies in ketchup with fries