Cheap dinner ideas for 2?

Question

Do you have any cheap dinner ideas for two? Im on a really really tight budget now and im having a rough time figuring out how to feed two people on $70 for 2 weeks (i get paid bi weekly). Any suggestions are welcome and please no rude comments.

Answer 1

I have to feed two people on a budget similar to yours - $180.00/month.  What I do is shop the sales, use coupons and store specials, make a list and stick to it, never go shopping when I am hungry and, other than for things like milk, I only go to the store once a month.  

I always spend the most amount of money on my meat and that is the first thing that goes into my cart.  I plan meals so that I have leftovers that I can freeze and that can be used in different ways.  For example, I will make a big pot of chili and the first night I will serve it with corn bread or biscuits and a salad.  The second time that I serve it, I will serve it over rice and the third time I will make chili mac.  I will make stew and turn the leftovers into pot pies with lots of veggies and potatoes; make a roast and turn the leftovers into beef/pork, gravy and noodles and finally, BBQ that I serve on rolls; a big pot of spaghetti sauce that I serve as spaghetti and turn the leftover into baked ziti or mosticcoli, ravioli or lasagna; soups are always good, serve with salad and crusty bread or rolls.

Spend the extra money and buy boneless chicken, pork chops and roasts, that way you are not spending your hard earned money on bones that you are going to throw away.  Make as much from scratch as possible instead of buying things like Hamburger Helper or prepared Macaroni and Cheese.  I will buy things like Zataran's Red Beans and Rice mix or Betty Crocker's Au Gratin or Scalloped potatoes mixes when they are on sale and I have coupons for them since I can't seem to make mine taste as good, and then I will add stuff like smoked sausage or leftover ham to them to stretch both the mixes and the meats.  Another thing I make is pizza using Boboli shells, leftover spaghetti sauce and top with black olives, pepperoni slices, pineapple chunks and cheese.  Meatloaf goes a long way - I usually get three meals out of two to three pounds of ground beef plus I have enough to make sandwiches for lunches.

If sweets are something you both like, make cookies, brownies and cakes from scratch.

Meatloaf is one of my favorite recipes - served with mashed potatoes and whole green beans or steamed baby carrots.

Meatloaf

3 pounds ground beef

3 large eggs

1/2 to 3/4 cup Italian style bread crumbs

1 packet Lipton's Onion or Beefy Onion Soup Mix

1 can sliced mushrooms - drained

1/2 cup sliced black olives

2 tablespoons BBQ sauce

1 tablespoon A-1 sauce

1/2 cup salsa

1/2 cup shredded cheese - I use a combination of Cheddar, Italian Blend and Pepper-Jack cheeses or whatever I have on hand

Mix all ingredients, form into a loaf in a loaf pan, bake at 350 degrees F for 1 1/2 hours.

Turkey-Green Chile Enchiladas

Leftover turkey? Mix it with cheese, chiles and cumin for delicious hot and spicy enchiladas.

Prep Time:20 min

Start to Finish:1 hr 5 min

Makes:8 servings

Sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, finely chopped (1 cup)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon ground ancho chiles

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 can (28 oz) Muir Glen® organic fire roasted crushed tomatoes, undrained

Enchiladas

2 cups shredded cooked turkey

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (6 oz)

2 cans (4.5 oz each) Old El Paso® chopped green chiles, undrained

1 package (11.5 oz) Old El Paso® flour tortillas (8-inch; 8 tortillas)

1 cup shredded pepper Jack cheese (4 oz)

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.

2. In 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook about 1 minute, stirring frequently, until onion is tender. Stir in remaining sauce ingredients. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cook uncovered 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. In medium bowl, mix all enchilada ingredients except tortillas and pepper Jack cheese. Spread about 1/2 cup turkey mixture over each tortilla; top with 2 tablespoons sauce. Roll up tortillas; arrange seam sides down in baking dish. Pour remaining sauce over tortillas. Top with pepper Jack cheese.

4. Spray sheet of foil with cooking spray; place sprayed side down over baking dish. Bake 30 to 45 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Cherry glazed chicken b*****s:

1 can cherry pie filling

4-6 boneless chicken b*****s

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the chicken b*****s in a glass baking pan that has been sprayed with a non-stick cooking spray like Pam. Spoon just enough of the cherry pie filling over the chicken to cover lightly. Place pan into oven and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes spreading more of the pie filling over the chicken every 15 minutes.

This is very easy and you get a nice moist chicken breast. This also works well for Cornish game hens and pork chops.

SAC

Answer 2

one of the cheapest meats one can buy in my hood is chopped beef, now you can make alot of things with chopped beef, take ripe plantains (the yellow ones with black spots and black and yellow skins) and after peeling them you slice them and then split through middle of plantain from one tip to tip and add some cooked chopped beef meat in it and top with green peas and then some grated cheese and serve alongside white rice (this is puerto rican bannana boats w/white rice. this same meat may be tacos one night (for a mexican treat and remember to add fresh raw recao on top of taco with cheese and really diced small tomatoes, and then served with white rice again another day as picadillo (Cuban dinner), that's chopped beef again and you mix ketchup in there some onions if you like and green pepper, a little mashed up garlic, salt and sugar for that contrast taste voila!.......3 dinners and all we're using as main meat is cheap chopped beef. Hamburgers with yellow rice if you want to go Newyorican style deeeelicious!!!

Answer 3

noodles

rice

pasta

you can keep some stuff like spaghetti sauce left over for the next day to do something different with

Answer 4

my suggestion is to look at cooking in bulk or cooking big cuts of inexpensive meat.  Most inexpensive cuts need to be cooked low and slow, but if you spend the time they have more flavor. Buy stuff on sale, and be creative.

For instance,  you can buy pork shoulder on sale for 99 cents a pound sometimes,  slow cook it in a crockpot or the oven and you get really flavorful meat for a cheap price.  Use it to make taco or burritos one night, pulled pork sandwiches the next, put it in chili the 3rd night.  

Or make big trays of lasagna or other casseroles and pots of chili or soup taking advantage of buying things in bulk.  Break it into smaller portions and freeze some so you don't get tired of the same old thing.

Save money by buying things in their most natural state instead of prepared or convenience foods - you pay extra for all of that.

also think about ways of increasing your income.  When you are this tight on your budget, even a small amount of extra money can be a big relief.

Join things like My Points that gives you gift cards for looking at ad e-mails or the survey companies that pay for your opinions..  If you have any creative skills look at the places you can sell stuff online.

Answer 5

Asda value beans, & noodles on intermittent days.

Or get a veggie patch.

If your feeling really adventurous, look in supermarket bins - they throw away a wealth of food thats still in date because they can't sell it. It's called freeganism.

Answer 6

spaghetti and rice would be a good start for your beginning build.... you can play around with the sauces and variants with those with endless cheap possibilities. I like my pasta simply with olive oil and garlic. For the rice, some soy sauce and sesame oil. get some cans of tuna and play with both ... also, buy in bulk and look for sales on the tuna. If you want meat, chicken is cheap. By in large quantities and separate and freeze different smaller portion. Omeletes are chep too. And make your own bread ... flour is cheap.

Answer 7

spagethii or cereals.

Answer 8

Ramen noodles is the cheapest way to go. You can also make you a pot of pinto beans and eat on those for several days.

Answer 9

Spaghetti isn't a bad idea. All you really need is the spaghetti noodles and some tomato sauce.

Answer 10

I find that it is really cheap to cook rice and pasta.  

With rice, if you get soy sauce you can make fried rice.  All you have to do is buy one of the frozen vege mix, sautee it, then put salt & pepper.  When it is cooked place your boiled rice then after stir frying it in a pan add some soy sauce.  You can also add a cheap source of protein by cooking scrambled eggs on a different  pan then cutting it small pieces then mixing it in with the now fried rice.  You can also just eat the rice boiled with any canned goods ie sardines, corned beef, etc

With pasta, just buy half & half, butter and  parmesan cheese.   Boil the pasta first and you don't have to use all of it at the same time, you can store the rest of it in the fridge, this holds true for the rice as well.  

First place butter on pot then put appropriate amount of half & half just at level of pasta, salt & pepper, let the sauce boil down then take off heat and add parmesan.  Mix well.  You can also add 1 egg to make the sauce more creamy.

Good luck =)

Answer 11

pasta

rice

flour ( make fresh breads)

ground beef (large amount for cheap)

canned veggies