Cheap O Deepo Menu

A friend of mind got my mind churning about the old days when we first got married. We had a tiny apartment, tiny tummies and a tiny salary but big love! Most weeks we had $5 a week for frivolous things like a hamburger or Taco Bell and some weeks I shopped for all weeks meals for $25!!! I can't believe i did that. It's crazy! But I do like a challenge. So anyways I'm working with a friend to make a weekly menu, grocery list and recipes for an affordable price. No coupons here just sticking with the essentials.

1. Use the same ingredients in as many meals as possible in that one week.

2. Homemake thing that are cheaper than buying pre-boiled, canned, frozen or boxed. If it's not cheaper and you are in a pinch buy the cheaper option but if you put some effort into it you should be able to homemade things and definitely enjoy the fruits of your labor.

3. Snack on real food, not packaged alternatives.

3. Cheap doesn't have to be yucky and boring.

4. Keep your cupboards full of the essential ingredients and you will always have a meal.

Let's get started.

Menu

Breakfast: 1-Oatmeal. Recipe 1

2- smoothie. Recipe 2

3- Oatmeal

4-Veggie scrambled eggs, toast & fruit. Recipe 3

5-oatmeal

6-French Toast. Recipe 4

7- Oatmeal

Lunch- 1-Grilled PB& J, fruit

2- leftover soup

3-broccoli and cheese baked potatoe

4-bean and cheese burritos

5- taco salad (using either beans, any leftover meat or homemade retried beans)

6- salad

7- free day- makes whatever is easy

Dinner. 1-chicken chili soup. Recipe 5

2- chicken stir fry. Recipe 10

3-nachos. Recipe 7

4-hamburger casserole. Recipe 8

5- pizza. Recipe 9

6- Salisbury steak. Recipe 11

7-tacos. Recipe 6

Snacks- veggies, fruits, muffins, peanut butter & bananas, honey toast, chips and bean dip, peanut butter toast

Desert- banana muffins

Grocery list- Additional spices grocery list. Buy if desired or buy a few each wk.

Oats. Cinnamon

Milk. Parsley

Eggs. Taco seasoning or cumin, chilli powder, garlic salt, oregano

Bread. Ginger powder

Syrup. Cilantro

Brown sugar

Sugar

Honey

Peanut butter

Tortilla chips

Bag of beans. ( your choice of brown and a white if you have them at your stores)

2 lbs of hamburger

Cheese

Bag of rice

1 bag of chicken

Sm. grape juice

Yeast

Flour

Pizza sauce

Tortillas

Corn chicken broth

Green chilies (fresh, canned or a chili sauce In a bottle)

Butter

Garlic

Cucumbers

Tomatoes

Broccoli

Carrots

Potatoes

Onions

Mushroom

Green pepper

Bananas

Mangoes

Oranges

Soon after returning home let's set those beans in a bowl to soak overnight. Drain the water and pop them in your crockpot, cover with 2" of water, turn on high and in 3-5 hours they should be done and you will have plenty of beans for the weeks meals. If extra you can freeze them in a ziplock bag. If you buy two different kind of beans you can do this two different days. Soup is first on the menu so start with white. Or use the same color for all the recipes.

Also cut and freeze some bananas if you like icey smoothies.

Note you will need 1/2 of your chicken for your stir fry. And then 1/4 for your soup and 1/4 for your pizza. We are mixing meat and bean meals to get filling meals with less meat and cost.

Recipes

1. Oatmeal (recipe is based on one person portions, add another portion for each person)

1/3 C oats

1 T brown sugar

1 t cinnamon

1/2t vanilla

1t coffee creamer (optional)

Fruits and nuts (optional)

2. Smoothie

Bananas

Oranges (if your oranges are very pithy you may want to blend them first and then drain off the pith and discard.)

Mangoes

Milk

3. Veggie Scrambled Eggs, toast & fruit

Use premade mushroom, onion & green pepper mixture. Add a desired amt and top with as many eggs as desired. Scramble.

4. French Toast

Whisk 3 eggs, 3/4 milk, 1t vanilla, dash of cinnamon. Dip your bread in and then cook in butter or oil.

5. Chicken Chilli Soup

Add all these goodies to your crock pot.

1/4 of your chicken

2.5 cups of pre- cooked beans.

1 can of corn

1 chopped onion

1-2 cloves of garlic

Can if green chilies, 1-3T of green chili sauce or one green chili chopped

1 1/3 c chicken broth

Can of cream of chicken soup or cheaper version (melt 1T butter, stir in 1.5T flour, add 1/2 cup milk and 3/4 chicken broth, parsley and salt and pepper) you need to cook this part separately then add to the crockpot.

Taco seasoning or little bit of each of these. cumin, oregano, garlic powder, S&P, chilli powder

Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4-5. Smash the ingredients after finished for a thicker soup.

Can add sour cream and tortilla chips (optional)

6. Tacos

Fry hamburger with onions. Add taco seasoning or alternative seasonings.

Serve with beans, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese.

Can serve with rice, cilantro, lemon and a dab of butter

 

7. Nachos

Take 1 3/4C of cooked beans and put it in a skillet with 1/3C chicken broth, chilli powder and cumin. Cook on low for a few minutes and then smash them into retried beans. Save some on the side for snacks.

Fry 1/2 lb hamburger meat.

Layer chips beans, hamburger & cheese. Do this twice. Top with diced tomatoes and bake at 350 till cheese is melted.

8. Hamburger Casserole

2 lbs potatoes

Salt

1/2 lb of hamburger

1/2 onion

4T butter

1/4 C flour

Black pepper

1.5 C milk

1/2 c cheese

1/2 C breadcrumbs

Dice and boil potatoes for 15 minutes till slightly tender. Drain and put in the bottom of a square casserole dish.

Cook hamburger and onions together then put on top of potatoes.

Melt butter, whisk in flour. Whisk on medium flame until it bubbles and turns into a light brown color. Slowly add milk. When it thickens add cheese and salt. Pour over potatoes and meat. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Add breadcrumbs and cook another 5 minutes.

9. Pizza

Make pizza crust- 1 cup of body temperature water. Add 2.5t of yeast. Wait till it bubbles. Add 2 T oil, 1 T sugar and 1t salt, and 1 C flour. Add 1-2C of more flour slowly. When it start sticking together begin kneading it. Knead for 5 minutes while adding necessary flour. When finished. Cover in a warm area for 10 minutes.

Sauté green pepper, mushrooms and onions. Save a small amount for breakfast.

Top with pizza, sauce, 1/4 of your chicken, 1/4 lb of hamburger. And veggie mixture. Bake

10. Orange Chicken stir Fry

1/2 of your chicken

3T Honey

Orange juice from one orange.

1 T Zest from the peel

2T Soy sauce

1/4C Chicken broth

2 cloves of Garlic

1t Ginger powder

1-Green chilies

Broccoli

Rice

Cook rice. Steam broccoli. Save some on the side for baked potatoe lunch. Sauté chicken. Mix all the other ingredients. When chicke is cooked thru, add Cooked broccoli, and sauce.

Recipe 11- Salisbury steak

3/4-1lb Hamburger

1/2t Mustard

1t Steak sauce

1/2t Worcestershire (optional)

6-10 Crackers you want this to bind your meat but in no way dry. I'm kind of a guesser?? Sorry

2 Onions, sliced long and thin.

1/2-1 lb mushrooms

Grape juice

3/4t Garlic powder

1/2t Salt and pepper

1.5-2.5 C Beef broth. Again guessing:)

Serve over mashed potatoes

1. Mix hamburger, mustard, steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce, crackers, salt and pepper and garlic powder.

2. Make into patties the size you want.

3. Fry on a high temp until you have a crusty skin outside. You don't want them cooked through. Set aside

4. In the same pan melt a Tablespoon of butter. Add 3T of grape juice and all your onion slices. Cook these on low with the lid on until very soft. 15 minutes should be enough.

5. Add mushrooms. Cook for 5 minutes. Add 2T grape juice. Then enough flour to bring it into a thick mixture. Probably around 1-2T. Slowly Add 1.5C of beef broth. Simmer on low until it begins to thicken. Can add more if too thick.

6. Serve over mashed potatoes.

 

 

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