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I'm trying to create a meal plan that is nutritious and cheap to make. My daycare is a pretty new operation still and I feel that I need to bring my food budget down a bit, at least until I bring in a few more kids. I've had lots of compliments on my well-balanced meals from the DCM's, so I don't want to lose out on quality. I'm the food program. What are your best frugal meal ideas?
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My kids love pinto beans. I cook them in the crock pot so they are super easy and cheap.
Our favorite way to eat them is with cilantro lime brown rice. -
I cook great northern beans in chicken broth, drain and then add them to ramen noodles.Comment
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Do you have a recipe for cilantro lime rice or is it a mix? That sounds delicious.Comment
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beans, beans and more beans
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When hams are on sale I buy one, my family eats, daycare kids get a meal, then I cube the rest and make either split pea soup, ham & potato soup or ham and beans it's enough for my family and daycare, plus we get still have leftovers for scrambled eggs or omelettes with ham. It goes a long way and when they are on sale they are only $7-9.Comment
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I often make extra of what we are having for dinner and set it aside for dc the next day.
Beans are great, but I can't stand them...
If you want to get away from beans:
Quesadillas
AuGratin Potatoes with ham
Crock pot chicken noodle soup
Spaghetti
Cold lunches (I sometimes do on Friday's) like cottage cheese w/ fruit, cheese sticks, sandwiches etc...
Breakfast lunches
Eggs
There's lots more, I just can't think right now.Comment
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pizza- homemade crust (flour and yeast are from the coop), 1/4 jar of spaghetti sauce (rest goes toward spaghetti another day) 1 pkg of mozzarella ($1.79 at aldis) add peas and bananas to complete meal.
Spaghetti with meatballs (I buy ground turkey on sale and make my own), carrot sticks and apples
Cheese Quesidillas, corn, oranges.
string cheese, homemade vegie soup, homemade bread, apples.
Baked beans, cornbread, mixed raw veggies, bananas
Bean soup, cornbread, veggies, oranges.
chicken noodle soup (homemade noodles, I will make a whole chicken for family saving some of the meat for the soup, cook the bones overnight in the crockpot for broth) peas on the side and apples.
scrambled eggs, toast, veggies, oranges.Comment
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Nothing special
I will say it tastes MUCH better when using basmati rice - but I generally have brown on hand so I just use that.Comment
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We do a lot of pasta.
. I buy huge boxes of whole wheat pasta, boil and sprinkle on parm cheese. Real parm. Not that green container. Truly, 6$ of cheese lasts forever. It only takes 1-2 tablespoons to get the taste because it's so strong a cheese. I toss in a few leaves of fresh spinach that I grow indoors. Torn into quarter sized pieces. Then add a can of diced tomato. I serve yogurt and Apple slices with it.
"Magic" sandwiches. (Egg in a hole, egg in a basket) I let them see me start them. Then a few times during cooking I let them peek and see the magic happen while the egg cooks.
I'll cook a few chicken breasts in the crock pot. With some herbs and water. Stew them all day and make chicken mashed potato "sundaes" with a green salad and manderines oranges.
My biggest tip is to measure servings. Most people put way more than a serving on a kids plate. I know I was guilty of it for decades.
Buy in bulk and make the plate pretty.
Sometimes I lay out choices for them to make faces on a tortilla. W peas, black olives, tomato discs from cherry tomatoes. Shredded cheese. Etc.
Oatmeal with fresh fruit sprinkled on top.
We do rice often and add all kinds of crazy things. Also the more pasta shapes you can give the more diverse their world seems to get.
We do couscous w mushrooms and diced tomato
Baked carrots/broccoli/cauliflower w sprinkled cheese on top
I offer no juice, nuggets, hot dogs, or cookies.
For "nuggets" I cut up boneless skinless chicken breasts. Cracker crumb them and bake.
We do baked chicken legs too.
Kids seem to think chicken only comes in a tiny ketchup dunk able piece.
Also, beef and noodles. Chicken and noodles, pork and noodles.
Baked potatoes that are topped w veg.
Scrambled eggs, pancakes, carrot sticks and applesauce.
I'm trying to think of things we had this week.
Lasagna, cucumber/cream cheese/olive party style sandwiches.
Saltines w avocado spread (just mashed Avocado)Comment
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When I went from six kids to twelve, my grocery bill went way up! I wasn't willing to feed kids processed nuggets, so I went on a huge price-watching binge. I have a folder that has the lowest price I'll pay for anything (50 cents a pound for apples, $1.20 a pound for chicken, $2 a pound for ground turkey, etc) and I take it with me everywhere I go. I also check every sale ad in the paper, and when there's a great sale on meat I will stock my entire deep freeze with it. That's one way to help keep the costs down.
I also buy most of my veggies frozen. The nutrition is equal to fresh produce, and that way I can buy a ton when it's on sale and have it on hand. Carrots, broccoli, peas, cauliflower, green beans, etc all go on sale occasionally for very little.
For shelf stable items, I normally go to Costco. I only buy what they put on manufacturer's rebate specials, such as crackers, peanut butter, coconut oil, and more. I also buy all my milk from Costco, as a gallon of 1% is $2.75 and it's over $4 a gallon at my grocery store. I go through 4 gallons a week, so that's $260 a year I'm saving on milk alone!
Once you have a handle on your food cost, you can start tweaking your menu to be more affordable. I like to cook a lot of chicken in my crock pot, then shred it and make many meals from it. Chicken quesadillas, chicken salad, chicken and noodles, etc. Chicken is one of the least expensive proteins that I've found and is very versatile.
Hope this helps, good luck!Comment
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I buy whole chicken when on sale. I will boil them and make chicken stock, removing meat and adding to stock. Then freeze in freezer bags. When ready to use, defrost. Some times I make dumplings and add after defrosting. Some times it's veggies and rice or noodles for chicken soup. Home made biscuits are a favorite with the soup. I also make beef stew, stocking up on roast when on sale and cubing and freezing for later. I also use whole chicken for roasting, adding carrots and potatoes. It also makes great burritos, I make pinto beans or black beans ahead of time and then "refry" them when ready to use. Home made meatballs are a favorite too, I buy ground sirloin in bulk when on sale and make the meatballs ahead of time. Sometimes we will have them in spaghetti, other times just meatballs with the appropriate sides. Home made chili is another favorite and is inexpensive as well....some times it's chicken chili, sometimes made with ground sirloin. I try to make as much as possible and freeze for later use, as it really cuts down on food prep during work.Comment
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I make a lot of one pot dishes each with different noodles, 2 veges, and meat. In the following examples, I cook the meat and then cut it into small bite sizes and add it to the pot with everything else.
elbow macaroni noodles
chicken
peas
carrots
Campbell's cream of chicken
egg noodles
thin steak
broccoli
red peppers
Worcestershire sauce
steak sauce
spaghetti noodles
ground beef
onions
green peppers
spaghetti sauce
Basically, pick a type of noodles and some meat and throw in 2 different vegetables with the proper seasoning/sauce for the meat. You can make enough for one meal or a couple of meals if you like left overs or if you want to freeze some.
One big plus (and the reason I started making one pot meals for daycare) is that since the different foods are all cooked and served together as one dish, most children will eat all sorts of vegetables and meats that, if served separately, they would refuse to eat.
I do also serve regular meals where everything is served separately, but I really like the one pot meals best.Comment
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