Quick Dinner Recipes

Are convenience foods eating you out of house and home? Don't hesitate any longer, learn how to seriously save on food.

Together we will learn how to make noodles, how crock pot meals make for quick dinner recipes as well as saving you money and time, as you are not watching the pot and stirring all the time. Sit back and learn the simple frugal beauty of crock pot baked beans crock pot stew, and even how to make noodles of all sorts. Why buy them?

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When I have to buy something, it is always the consumables that bug me the most. Like food and heating the house. Both are required for life, but at least when you buy a new dress you get to wear it the next day, and the next. With food and heat or AC, this is not the case.

You have to buy it all over again when you get hungry or cold! So let's fight back by making our own quick dinner recipes and learn how to save on food big time. First we need to whittle down the bad habits and replace them with easy new ones. What are these habits?

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1. Eating out, Driving through and Taking out:

It does not matter who you are or if you have children or not. The food industry has just the venue to get at your wallet by catering to your needs and desires when you get hungry.

Have kids? Stop the drive through addiction by keeping a food cooler in your car. Not kidding. You are going to be driving your kids around for at least 16 years each and fast food outfits are not going away anytime soon.

Food coolers plug in to the cigarette lighter. Off to soccer practice? In rush hour traffic with a screaming toddler? Your very vocal six year old knows where every McDonalds in your County is? No problem. You can keep a quart of milk, homemade sandwiches, fruit, water, or any treat you want them to have in that cooler.

Bring small paper cups, napkins and a little garbage liner. Your kids will not beg for McDonalds. They will be eating properly, and the novelty of this idea will make them think you are the coolest mom ever.

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Are you grown up and love to try all the restaurants? Decide to eat out only once a month. Physically put the amount of money you would have spent on the other dining meals in a jar and amaze yourselves with how much money you were spending and how gone it used to be.

Go to our Save on food page and make your own pizza

2. Neglecting to plan weekly meals all at once.

Make the daily menu plan and post it on the fridge. Declare a contest. Accept family contributions to make your quick dinner recipes cheaper or better tasting, and end the contest on, say, Saturday night.

Do your shopping on Sunday based on the new recipes. Whoever wins the popular vote for best home cooked meal gets to pick their favorite ice cream or dessert that week.

3. Tossing the leftovers:

Instead, eat magically transformed leftovers. Yes, take and turn them into something else, and then either refrigerate or freeze the new package. Meat loaf becomes macaroni casserole by adding macaroni noodles, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese on top. Bake to heat.

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Beef and pea pod stir fry over rice becomes fajitas by adding onions and red or green peppers, black beans, then resubmit to the wok and serve with corn tortillas and sour cream.

Another way to use leftovers to keep family members from getting lunch that is bought somewhere, like school or work, is to make "wraps" out of transformed leftovers instead of boring sandwiches. Sometimes shredded lettuce or cheese acts as a good binder to hold everything together.

4. Not Cooking in Bulk:

It is just as easy to make enough of a meal to last for three than it is to cook it over and over. Making lasagna? I make two or three and deep freeze the extras.

Am I ever glad I did when some harried week comes up. Everyone is busy and starving we need food and fast to keep the kids and hubby from coming unglued because Mommy has not gotten dinner ready yet.

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Learn how to make pasta. Pasta is cheap and abundant, so after you learn how to make noodles you can easily refrigerate the extras and make them into a different pasta dish a few days later.

5. What's a Crock Pot?

Please, if you do nothing else, make friends with your crock pot. With crock pot meals, all you do is chop the vegetables and meat when it is best for you.

That may mean you chop at night and refrigerate till morning, or you make the whole thing in the morning. Talk about quick dinner recipes. Lifting the lid and eating is quick enough for me!

If you are really broke and need comfort food, try our crock pot beans recipe. You will feel much better.

Throw meat, veggies, spice and broth in the crock pot, turn it on and ignore for the next nine hours. If you want to know how to save on food and not do much work, make crock pot meals part of your weekly menu plan.Good work on your families quick dinner recipes!