Low Cost Quick Meals

Saving money is my thing and one way I do that is with low cost quick meals. I’m going to share some of my secrets with you about how I save and prepare some of my favorites.

Saving on meat

It’s not always easy to find coupons for meat but some of the grocery stores have coupons on the receipt for saving a certain amount on your next purchase. I’ve had them where I can save $10 on my next $40 and others save $20 on my next $75. Occasionally Fresh Market has a 20% saving on $100 purchase. I usually use these savings for meat purchases and when buying in bulk it’s easy to reach that amount.

I also look for any meats that have been marked down or have extra coupons off attached to the package. I check the dates and how fresh the meat looks and have never had a problem with freshness. Some of the packages have coupons for $1.00 or $2.00 off while I’ve got others for up to $6.00 off the package!

With only two people in our family, we don’t need a large package however buying in bulk is a real money saver. Whether it be steak, chicken, pork chops, or ground beef, it’s easy to package in sizes for individual meals. I do this by putting the pieces of meat on a baking sheet and freezing them separately. I check them while freezing and when totally frozen I put in a freezer bag or container with the date. That way I can take out only how much is needed for a meal.

Easy Meals

Last week they had cube steak on sale so I bought a package with seven steaks for under $6.00 and I flash froze them to have on hand. The other day I pulled out two of them for dinner and what an easy and delicious meal it was! I started by adding an onion and the steaks in a pan to brown. After browned and almost cooked through, I added brown gravy over the meat and onions.

Let that simmer while finishing up the rest of the dinner (about 15 minutes) and you are in for the most delicious, juicy, mouthwatering cube steak with mashed potatoes and green bean dinner for about $1.50 per meal.

Chicken is another favorite in our family and when chicken breasts are on sale I purchase the bulk package. As I mentioned we are a family of two but when my granddaughter comes to visit, it’s easy to pull out enough for three or even four meals! This is one of my blogs I wrote with my delicious recipe for making chicken three different ways for one meal. Talk about delicious and this cost about $1.00 per meal!
http://themarthareview.com/chicken-alfredo-with-cheese-overload/

There are times when we have meatless meals that are just as filling and super quick to prepare. We went to the farmer’s market last week and got some mouth-watering strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers and fresh summer squash, all my favorites! For dinner I cooked up the squash in a small amount of butter (I use olive oil at times but love my butter!) and made a tomato and cucumber salad. I had some Italian bread left over so I buttered it, topped with shredded mozzarella cheese and put it under the broiler until the cheese melted and the bread was golden brown. Add a side order of sliced strawberries and this was one easy meal that was so filling.

Making a batch of chili or meatballs goes a long way! My hubby makes the best meatballs and when we get ground beef on sale it’s even better. We have so many choices, pasta with meatballs, spaghetti with meatballs or meatball subs! This is a meatball and chili blog, just look at the delicious meals!
http://themarthareview.com/everyone-love-hubbys-meatballs/

While I enjoy seeing how much I can stretch a meal for under a few dollars, I do “splurge” every now and then. T-bone steak was on sale BOGO (buy one get one) free and I couldn’t pass up a deal like that. I got two packages with two steaks in each for about $9.00 per package but with the BOGO it only cost $9.00 for all four steaks. I love grilling and this steak was perfect for the grill. I topped it with sauteed onions and a side of summer squash and steamed broccoli. This healthy dinner cost about $5.00 each, more than my normal but less than fast food and so much better!

I hope you were able to get some money saving ideas from my blog and enjoyed seeing the mouth watering meals. Let me know if you try any of my tips or recipes in the comments below!