How to Make and Serve Six Meals for a Family of Six for Less Than $30 Total
It was hard to feed our family of six, even before the recession began. After my job loss, the task became more difficult. Polls show that our family is not the only one struggling to put food on the table.
A NBC News/Marist Poll conducted earlier this year shows that 19% of Americans have less food in their refrigerators than they did last year.
We've found a way to save money on our grocery bill with frugal recipes that make and serve six meals for a family of six for less than $30 total.
Our evening meals are easily the most expensive of the day, as everyone is usually home from school or work. I frequently make roast chicken for supper. Cooking this one frugal recipe for roast chicken allows me to stretch the leftovers into six different meals that taste great.
Frugal Recipe #1 Roast Chicken with Vegetables
Whole chicken is normally 69 cents to 99 cents a pound at my local grocery store. I buy two whole chickens that weigh 4 to 5 pounds each.
I sprinkle the chickens with garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and a bit of black pepper. These seasonings are normally $1 each at my local dollar store, so the cost of the herbs that I use in an individual recipe is literally a few pennies.
Next, I sear the chickens on in a skillet on high heat, so that the skin is a bit crusty. I then place the chickens into a large oblong crock-pot and top the chickens with a sliced yellow onion and a few small whole potatoes. Sometimes I skip the crock-pot, and just place the chickens into a large covered roasting pan.
I then cook the chickens on the crock-pot's highest setting for 5 hours or low to medium for 8 to 10 hours.
For additional flavor and variety, before I add the onions and potatoes, I add one of the following three items: 1. drizzle a bit of barbecue sauce on them, 2. squeeze a bit of lemon juice on them, 3. add some salsa and 1/2 of a packet of taco seasoning. I get each of these items for less than $1 at my local dollar store.
I buy a 50 pound bag of potatoes two to three times a year as each bag contains well over 150 whole potatoes of various sizes and costs between $8 and $10. So each potato is about 10 cents each. A 3 pound bag of onions is less than $2 and there are normally about 10 onions to a bag, so they are less than 20 cents each.
I fix another vegetable on the side as well, such as green beans, or peas and carrots. I buy them fresh from the grocery store if they are marked down, but the dollar store also sells a fairly large bag of each for $1. I normally add rolls, or garlic bread that has been marked down to a dollar at my local grocery store. The total cost of this meal is $13.80, which seems like a lot for one meal, until you realize that you will have lots of leftovers that will become the basis for several additional frugal recipes. By adding a few additional low cost ingredients you can make the following five additional meals for six people.
Preparing the Leftovers
Take the chicken carcasses and carefully remove all of the meat by peeling and scraping it away from the bone. Reserve any leftover vegetables as well.
Frugal Recipe #2 Chicken Broth
Place the carcasses into a large stock pot with some additional garlic powder and Italian seasonings as well as a bit of fresh onion and carrot and fill close to the top of the pot with water. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat and simmer on low for 1 ½ to 2 hours. Allow to cool, skim off any fat that floats to the surface, and then strain through a sieve or colander. Discard the bones. You now have an entire stock pot full of healthy, low sodium broth that can be used as the base for soups and gravies, and you can freeze the leftovers.
Total Cost: $0
Frugal Recipe #3 Chicken Fajitas
Take 1/3 of the leftover chicken meat, which should equal about 1 cup of cooked chicken. Add ½ packet of taco seasoning. Place some of this mixture into one burrito shell and then top with chopped onions, sliced peppers, salsa or chopped tomatoes, and sprinkle with some grated cheese. This is enough filling for 12 burritos. Lightly brown the burritos, one at a time, in a greased skillet for a minute or two on each side. Top with some sour cream. Serve with rice and red beans on the side.
Burrito shells, a bag of frozen pepper slices, 2 pounds of rice, 1 pound of dried kidney beans are all just $1 at my local dollar store. Tomatoes are 79 cents a pound, cheese is 24 cents an ounce, and sour cream is $1 for 16 ounces at my local grocery store. If I don't want to soak and cook the dried beans, I can get two cans of pre-cooked beans for $1 and my local dollar store as well. I fix ½ of 1 pound of rice for this meal, as well as two cans of pre-cooked kidney beans. Sometimes, I will switch out the kidney beans for black beans, navy beans or pinto beans for the same price.
Total Cost of this meal for six: $8.
Frugal Recipe #4 Homemade Chicken Stew and Biscuits
I bring two quarts of the homemade broth to boil, add the leftover vegetables and 1/3 of the leftover chicken to it. While this is coming to a boil, I take a bit of grease or butter and flour, and brown it in a skillet to make a roux which I add to the broth to thicken it a bit to make a soup. I sometimes add ½ to 1 cup of milk to make the soup a bit creamier.
From this point, you can add strips of pastry to make dumplings, for Homemade Chicken and Dumplings, or you can serve it over biscuits or crackers. A 4 pack of refrigerated biscuit dough in a can is $1.50 at my local grocery store, and crackers are $1. I usually make my biscuits homemade as it's a bit cheaper.
Most biscuit recipes require plain flour, shortening, a bit of salt and baking powder and water, milk or buttermilk. A 5 pound bag of flour is about $2, shortening is about $3 for a large can, and salt and baking powder are a $1 each at the dollar store. There are several biscuit recipes online and several batches can be made with these ingredients, so each dozen biscuits costs less than $2 when it's homemade.
The total cost for this meal for six is less than $2.
Frugal Recipe #5 Chicken Pot Pie
I normally have about half of the chicken stew leftover. I simply line a 9" inch deep dish pie pan with a pie crust, prick the crust with a fork, pour in the leftover chicken stew, top with another pie crust, and cut some slits into the top pie crust. I repeat the procedure again, as I normally have enough for two pot pies. I then bake the pies in a 350 degree oven for about an hour. It costs $2 or less to buy two pre-made pie crusts at the store, but I usually make mine homemade because they are simply a mixture of flour, shortening and ice water. You can find basic pie crust recipes by doing an online search.
Using homemade pie crusts the total cost for this meal for six is $0.
Frugal Recipe # 6 Varies Between Chicken Noodle Soup, Chicken Salad and Chicken Parmesan Pasta
Using the last 1/3 of the chicken leftovers, I make one of the following frugal recipes.
Chicken Noodle Soup
Bring some of the reserved broth to a boil; add a handful of your favorite pasta, such as bow-tie, or even spaghetti that you break into 1 to 2 inch long pieces. When the pasta is tender add the leftover chicken. A 16 ounce package of pasta is a $1 at my local dollar store, and I would use only about ¼ to ½ of it. You can also add a bit of chopped onion, shredded carrots or peas to the broth while it's beginning to boil, but you really don't have to. Serve alone or with crackers.
Total cost for this meal for six is less than $2.
Chicken Salad
Finely chop the leftover chicken, and add finely chopped onion. For variety, texture and color you can also add a bit of shredded carrot. Sometimes I add a bit of chopped apple, celery, or grapes that I've found in the marked down produce section of my local grocery store. Combine with several tablespoons of low fat yogurt or mayonnaise that are each a $1 at my local dollar store. Serve on sandwich bread.
Total cost to feed six with this meal is less than $2.
Chicken Parmesan Pasta
Boil and drain 1 16 ounce package of your favorite pasta, which can be obtained at the local dollar store for $1. While the pasta is boiling, add one of the following: a shredded carrot, a chopped onion, or a bag of frozen peas. Once drained, toss with a bit of butter and sprinkle with garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Add in the leftover chicken pieces and sprinkle with ½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese. A 16 ounce container of grated cheese (4 servings) is $2.99 at my local grocery store. Serve with garlic bread or rolls that cost $1 marked down at my local grocery store.
Total cost to feed six with this meal is $2.75.
Even after making these 5 meals, I normally have quite a bit of broth leftover. I usually save it to cook beans or other vegetables later, or make Egg Drop Soup.
Frugal Recipe #7 Egg Drop Soup
Combine the broth with a bit of chopped onion. Add a dash of 5 Spice and ground ginger and bring to a boil. In a separate bowl, beat a couple of eggs until smooth and drop by the spoonful into the broth once it is at a full boil. We can get 30 medium sized eggs for $3.50 at our local grocery store, so each egg is less than 15 cents.
Total Cost to feed six with this meal is less than 50 cents.
Using a basic frugal recipe for roast chicken is the backbone of our menu for six meals for six people for less than $30 total.
Let me know what you think about these frugal recipes. Does your family like roast chicken? Do you know of other frugal recipes that you would like to share with others? Let me know by posting your feedback in the comments section below, I would like to hear from you!
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