I need some help with cheap meal ideas

[jkelstaten]

I sure have missed being on here this week! It's been very busy and very eventful for us. Anyway, as many of you know our family has just made the transition into living in an RV for at least the next 9 months. We are missionaries & are traveling to raise our financial support.

As a result, I have absolutely no space for stockpiling:sad:. I have been so frustrated over paying virtually full price for most of our groceries this week. Especially when I know that I had the same items in our stockpile & had to give them away or leave them for my MIL.

I am in desperate need of some super cheap, fast and easy meal ideas. We are changing states almost every week, so there is no way that I can follow all the sales of the local grocery stores (I'm having a hard enough time finding them!).

Here is a basic idea of what we eat:
Breakfast: every morning the girls eat oatmeal. (they really love the Kashi Maple flavor I've been getting this week.) Dh & I both drink coffee and I brought along enough to last us a while, but we are always in need of creamer. Sometimes Dh eats oatmeal, cereal and on occasion I make a hot breakfast. I'm not a morning person, so I generally like to make my coffee and hide for 30 minutes to wake up gently.

Lunch: We've been eating sandwiches. Turkey/cheese, PBJ & PB and honey are our favorites. Sometimes Dh & I will have salad along with it.

Supper: About half of our supper meals are taken care of by the pastors of the churches we visit. The other half of the time I need meals that are super easy to prepare (like 15 minutes or less or crockpot)

The big hurt on the budget is the fresh fruits and milk/soy milk. The baby drinks soy milk so I go through at least three 1/2 gallons each week for her alone. And for the regular milk I can only buy the 1/2 gallon size because that's what fits in the fridge. The older girls drink the Nestle flavored milks I've gotten for free and water (but we've been buying bottled because I never know the water quality when we're traveling.)

Alright now that I've told you my life story (at least for this week), I need some help with cheap meal ideas that are cheap even without coupons/sales.

Thanks so much!!!

[darkwing932]

Sorry to ask a stupid question, I've never been in an RV. Do you mind if I ask what kind of kitchen you have? Do you have an oven and a cooktop or are you more limited.

[my3girlz]

I'm not the OP, but mine has a cooktop & oven (though a little smaller than one found in a home) and a microwave as well.

Just wish ours had more counter space:sad:

This may not be a cheap meal idea....though it is for me when it's on sale for 50% off, but it's super easy. I put a London Broil in the crockpot, put tomato soup & French's fried onions on top & cook for 8 hours on low. Then just add some cheap/free side items I have at home. Even with feeding five people (the youngest won't eat meat), we always have leftovers for the next day.

[jkelstaten]

We do have a stove, small (13" wide) oven, fridge, freezer, microwave. And I brought my crockpot (4.5 quart). And like the PP said, we have absolutely no counter space. I've been laying something across the sink to use as counter space, but then I can't use the sink, so that's a pain. I love cooking, I just don't like cooking in this kitchen, so it makes me want to get in and out as quick as possible. That may change as the weeks go on, but for now easy is best.

Last night I made up some spaghetti sauce with some of the stockpile items I had brought, so that was pretty cheap. We'll be eating it today. I also got a bag of potatoes and we'll probably have cottage potatoes and hamburger with that on Saturday.

[corrinesmama]

With one pork butt, I get 3 meals out of it. Put it in the crock pot with only 1 cup of water ( no more than that because while it cooks you will get a lot of drippings in the pot) and salt and pepper or seasonings on hand.
Let cook for 4 to 6 hours ( or falling apart) Remove the meat and shred and store in a container ( makes alot!) save the drippings in a small container.
Meal 1 : Take out how much pork you want and mix with your fav BBQ sauce (mine is Jack Daniels no.7 BBQ sauce)
and make Pulled Pork sandwiches with sides. Tip: after I mix it with BBQ, I throw it in the oven @ 375 for 10 min, it really deepens the flavors.
Meal 2 : Take the drippings and combine with as much water as need to make for rice. This will give the rice amazing flavor. While thats cooking, take out shredded pork and saute with brown or turkey gravy. Make a veggie and you have a great meal.
Meal 3: Cuban Sandwiches: Take a loaf of cuban or french bread, spread with a mixture of mayo and mustard mixture(just lil mustard in the mayo), then cover with cold shredded leftover pork, then cover with dill pickle slices and top with swiss cheese and the top of the bread. Cut the sandwich in half or fourths depending on what will fit in your frying pan. cook just like a grilled cheese with a lil butter in the bottom of the pan the only diff is you need to weigh it down with a plate and heavy cans( this will flatten it and make it crispy)Yum!! Cook about 2 to 3 min per side.
HTH

[jkelstaten]

With one pork butt, I get 3 meals out of it. Put it in the crock pot with only 1 cup of water ( no more than that because while it cooks you will get a lot of drippings in the pot) and salt and pepper or seasonings on hand.
Let cook for 4 to 6 hours ( or falling apart) Remove the meat and shred and store in a container ( makes alot!) save the drippings in a small container.
Meal 1 : Take out how much pork you want and mix with your fav BBQ sauce (mine is Jack Daniels no.7 BBQ sauce)
and make Pulled Pork sandwiches with sides. Tip: after I mix it with BBQ, I throw it in the oven @ 375 for 10 min, it really deepens the flavors.
Meal 2 : Take the drippings and combine with as much water as need to make for rice. This will give the rice amazing flavor. While thats cooking, take out shredded pork and saute with brown or turkey gravy. Make a veggie and you have a great meal.
Meal 3: Cuban Sandwiches: Take a loaf of cuban or french bread, spread with a mixture of mayo and mustard mixture(just lil mustard in the mayo), then cover with cold shredded leftover pork, then cover with dill pickle slices and top with swiss cheese and the top of the bread. Cut the sandwich in half or fourths depending on what will fit in your frying pan. cook just like a grilled cheese with a lil butter in the bottom of the pan the only diff is you need to weigh it down with a plate and heavy cans( this will flatten it and make it crispy)Yum!! Cook about 2 to 3 min per side.
HTH

Thanks!! Those are great ideas!

[Isis123]

I was wondering how to cook my London Broil that I got on sale. Does it turn out pretty tender in the crockpot?

[XUfan]

I'm still digging around, looking for recipes for you. Does your family eat tuna? I have lots of good tuna recipes!

Also, on the bottled water issue. You might be able to save some $$$ if you bought a Brita pitcher or two. I have 2 in my house. One that we keep in the fridge, and one on the counter for making tea or cocoa.

[CoffeeMom]

I second the Brita pitcher idea! To save space you could even get one of the filters that attaches right onto the faucet. We have the faucet one and it's GREAT! I think it was around $20 at WM and the filters last a long time. We really did notice the savings over bottled water.

Would the kids eat things like pasta salad, potato salad, etc? The pasta and potatoes are easy and quick to cook and they're pretty versatile, and the mayo stays good for a long time.

Whole chickens are easy to do in the crock and they're really easy to stretch for sandwiches/chicken salad/fricassee.

Celery is cheap, so for the girls lunches maybe ants on a log? It's just celery with PB in the chute for the 'log' and raisins for the ants.

Good luck!

[hopeky94]

Do you have somewhere you could store a small grill or camp stove? When you're parked in warm states (or in 2-3 months in most any state), you could set this outside on a picnic table or small folding table and escape from the tiny kitchen for a bit!

I feel for ya, as my parents live in a small camper in a small town in FL from January until at least March every year (dad fishes and mom sits around bored out of her mind)! Fortunately, since they are parked in one spot all winter, they can store some stuff outside in rubbermaid boxes and a small chest freezer. But mom still struggles with the kitchen size and the tiny refrigerator!

As for the regular milk, why don't you wash out and save a couple of 1/2 gallon jugs (just stick them in a high cabinet out of the way), so if you find a great deal on a gallon of milk, you can just transfer it over to those. Another idea is do some measuring inside your fridge then check Wal-Mart (or wherever) for a pitcher or bottle that will hold a large amount but make better use of the space you have.

As for water, I agree about the Brita pitcher. I think I've seen one made to fit on a fridge door before, so that might work... or if not, filter the water then transfer it to empty water bottles as you use up the store-bought stuff, then store the pitcher in a cabinet till needed again.

And concerning food: I know you said you don't have any room for stockpiling. However, remember packaging boxes take up a lot of space and aren't really needed in most cases! If you have some room in the cabinet where you store plates and bowls, stuff in some bags of cereal or packets of oatmeal (or ziploc baggies of oatmeal, if you buy the canister). Store bags of pasta or the ingredients to mac n cheese or hamburger helper inside and around empty pots and pans. If you need the instructions, cut them out and tape them to the bag (I do that a lot with freezer stuff personally). In the fridge, try to avoid round or odd-shaped containers that leave a lot of unusable space around them. Examples: yogurt-- if possible, buy one large container instead of several small ones; margarine-- buy in sticks instead of tubs. With leftovers, store as much as possible in baggies (labeled, of course), unless you're sure it will fill up a container completely.

I've never tried it before, but I've read you can save space by storing canned goods in empty soda 12 packs or in one of those refrigerator soda racks. A lot of canned soups make great bases for a throw-everything-together casserole! Tomato soup is great with beef, and cream soups make an easy base for a creamy casserole with tuna or chicken.

An idea from something I had recently at Qdoba's: white rice, black or pinto beans, and tortilla soup (I've seen cans of this by Campbells Chunky), plus salsa, cheese, or whatever you like = "Mexican Jambalaya" I've also seen other soups that could be added to (rice or noodles, meat and/or beans) to make a really great one-dish meal...

Sorry this is so long, but I hope something I've suggested will help you... or at least spark an idea for other solutions!