What are some foods to buy that can stretch into big meals/lots of leftovers?

Question

My family and I just moved this past weekend, and I'm completely stressed about groceries, since my husband doesn't get paid for another week. We spent our whole savings on the rent/deposit, and we really only have $40 left for food to feed 2 adults and 2 kids. Any ideas for what to buy, or what to make? (BTW - we've had spaghetti 5 out of the last 7 days - I'm not opposed to making more, but I'm looking for variations!)

Answer 1

Bake a chicken roaster the first night but don't eat it.. Turn it into chicken enchiladas or chicken tacos or a chicken casserole the following nights.

Answer 2

roman noodles...tv dinners..hamburger helper....make a large lasagna....meatloaf....make beef stew and freeze part of it.....pizzas..mac n cheese with hotdogs in it.....I know all this sounds ghetto but thats what my husband and I lived on when we first got married cuz we moved into a new place and bills had to be paid so i was sick of eating this stuff but as long as we were fed then i was blessed that day believe me...just stick it out a bit longer and i promise things will get better soon life is just kickin ur butt right now lol it gets better!

Answer 3

Beans, Rice, chicken. Macaroni and cheese and hot dogs.

Chicken and dumplings. Potato a gratin with sausage. Grilled cheese with tomato soup. Buy a bag of apples and a bag of carrots. Wow, I don't know how to feed a family of four for a week on $40.00

Answer 4

you should try www.kraftkitchens.com , they have lots of good ideas on there ,i am almost sure i saw an article about making left overs into meals a few weeks or months back but they have a pretty neat search feature, and the best is you can use store brand instead of pricy kraft stuff, good luck to you .

Answer 5

You need to check the grocery ads and see if you can find a nice pice of meat. Where I live, at least one of our stores (Stater Bros. Food 4 Less, Alberston's) is selling boneless, skinless chicken breast for about $2 a pound. Or a nice piece of rosting meat.

If you have chicken you can make chicken parmesian by spliting the breast, pounding it thin, coating it with itialian bread crumbs and brownign it in a pan. Add spaghetti sauce. Any leftovers can be turned into a parmesian chick sandwiches and if you have a couple pieces that don't have sauce, you got nuggets for the kids. Just slice it up.

For the meat, crock pot! Throw in some frozen veggies and spices and you're good to go. Take any left over meat and shred it, add some onions and tommatos and make soft tacos.

Hope this helps, cuz I have to feed a family of seven and somtimes we only have $40 until payday. These have worked for us.

Lots of luck.

Answer 6

Sandwiches

Tuna or chicken salad w/ crackers

Tv dinners

frozen pizza

Answer 7

You can do lots of variations with beans and they're pretty cheap. Black beans, kidney beans, you can mix them with meat for chili or just mix them with rice, corn, peppers, canned tomatoes, anything you can think of really. Even better is to make soup with them which is very filling.

Also potatoes and eggs can stretch a long way. Potatoes can also be prepared in lots of ways- boiled, baked, home fries, etc. Eggs make filling casseroles - just add some milk and mix in whatever you have on hand, and bake it all up.

Remember- buying in bulk is usually cheaper than getting pre-made stuff. You have to do more of the work yourself, but with a family of four I doubt you'll have a problem using it all!

Good luck!

Answer 8

Since it is supposedly summertime now, why not get a few bags of elbow pasta, some potatoes, green onions and a bottle of mayo and whip up some macarroni and potato salads? They are tasty and keep quite awhile in the fridge. Oh and don't forget the boiled egg to go with the potatoes. Add other items as you like.

Answer 9

"cowboy casserole" the men in my family love it! look it up on bettycrocker.com

ramen noodles and frozen veggies for a stir-fry

theres nothing wrong with eating "breakfast for dinner"

I like buying a turkey, cooking it, and with all the meat we make turkey sandwiches, turkey tettrazini, turkey salad, lol (sounding like bubba)

and ps we eat pasta as much as I can get away with    :)

Answer 10

Chicken usually stretches a long way, I'd get these frozen chicken b*****s from Walmart, their prices are around $7 per bag and they last quite a long time because these are pretty big pieces of chicken b*****s.. I usually share 1 piece of breast with 2 people..

I can grill them and put them in a salad or chop them up, add some mayonnaise and make them into chicken sandwiches.. You could also do chicken with garlic and olive oil spaghetti..

I even make chicken noodle soup with store-bought chicken broth, some flour and butter (make a roux to thicken the soup), add some chopped pieces of chicken into it and crack spaghetti into the soup and cook till tender.. Goes well with some toast bread..

You could also use the chicken to do some chinese stir-fry, basically all you need is some chopped up chicken breast, add some sliced red and green peppers, some soy sauce and garlic and you're pretty much good to go..

Answer 11

*dollar tree hot dogs and buns for 2$

*Buy a pack of chicken b*****s and thighs

*Make baked potatoes with your meals, They are cheap and YUMMY!

*Malt-o-meal cereals

*Biscuits and gravy (scratch)

*Pancakes  (scratch)

*burgers / Hamburger helper

*Make your own pizza

Hope those ideas help

Answer 12

Make gumbo. Lol. My family makes gumbo that lasts for days. Get some chicken, sausage, and rice and make gumbo. :) You can just add more water if you want to make it last longer. :D

It does get old though. But if you make it right its delicious.

Answer 13

dude or maam get eggs bacon breakfast potatoes and cheese and fry it all together it last a very long time and taste awsoem kinda has lots of cholesterols

or else make a huge bowel of chili

Answer 14

Night 1 chuck roast with potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, gravy

Night 2 beef stroganoff with egg noodles

Night 3 stir fry (add in some brocolli or whatever, but leave some aside)

Night 4 Rice and canned black beans with mojo beef (simmer meat in taco seasoning or mix your own similar kind of flavor)

Night 5 left over salad, stew, or soup

Answer 15

Kraft Dinner with ground beef!! its soooo good..

if you want you can add a can of tomatoes and a can of mushrooms and make into sort of a pasta but definaltely just the KD with ground beef is awesome (:

Answer 16

pasta  well, after that try maybe, chicken, use whats leftover to make soup.  chili, can of beans, can of tomatoes, some seasoning a little beef.. pretty cheap.. um beans and rice are cheap, especially in bulk, potatoes are cheap, baked potatoe with cheese or, sour cream.  our local shop rite is cheap, and stop and shop has like discount items.  banquet frozen dinners are a dollar at walgreens..  or go classic- a jar of peanut butter, jar of jelly and bread- cheap too. ohh and ramen noodle soup are sometimes like 10 cents each... add some chicken and frozen veg for the soup