Meh Burritos

Here is another meh meal. This one is extremely budget friendly. I made double batches and wrap the extra in foil then freeze so when we have a night when we need a quick meal I just take the foil off and toss them in the microwave for 2-3min

In a medium size sauce pan add beans, drained tomatoes and 4oz shredded cheddar cheese, warm up until cheese melted, then add to burrito shells and roll up, top with sour cream and salsa with a side of tortilla chips and corn!

Make sure to check Ibotta for rebates bc chips and generic food commonly on there! I’m the queen of generic and store brand food! In most cases it’s cheaper and tastes the SAME!

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Meh Meals

So our grocery budgeting has resulted in many, what I affectionately refer to as, meh meals. They are easy inexpensive meals that the kids like and I’m fine with.

Instead of having Uber tasty, yet expensive meals all week we have started having one or two NICE meals while leaving the rest to be budget friendly. I have cut our monthly grocery budget in more than half, including diapers, formula, toilet paper, and dog food. We were regularly spending over 1k/ month. Now we are down to a projected $450/month.

I will be completely transparent, the meats are from our freezer, we’re working our way back to zero there. But in the above picture you will see a bag of meat, this was part of a budgeting moment I got three lbs of ground beef from the meat counter at our local grocery, it was about half the cost as buying three individual lbs. then I got home and divided them into smaller 1/2lb portions sealing them all in i individual baggies and freezing them. you will also notice it seems kind of brown, that is bc I marinated the meat for 4 hours before freezing FLAT. It stores super easy and thaws very fast!

Lawry’s are my favorite marinade but sometimes I will use salad dressing.

Anyways I toss 2lbs white rice in the cooker with 4 cups water and two bay leaves.

Brown the meat and then add in the stir fry starters( this one had noodles which is my least favorite, the better ones are just peppers and onions) but heat it all up and put over rice with some soy or teriyaki sauce and you’re good to go. If you don’t have one of these pampered chef meat mashers GET ONE NOW!

My kids like adding shredded cheese to it.

Like I said meh, it’s cheap, easy, and fast, AND the kids like it which is more than half of the battle these days.

Happy cooking!

Super Cheap & Easy Dinner : Secret Ingredient Pasta Sauce

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This is a 30 min or less meal that is a go to in our house. My super secret ingredient pasta sauce.

Ingredients you will need:

• 1 medium size yellow onion
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes
• 1lb ground beef/or turkey
• 1 jar/can store brand pasta sauce
• 1 cup fresh or frozen spinach (optional)
• 2 TBSP butter NOT margarine or oil
• 1 pkg Hidden Valley ranch salad dressing and seasoning mix
• 1 box penne or spaghetti pasta
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella or Parmesan cheese (optional)

Begin by dicing the onion and adding to large pan with the 2TBSP butter. you will need to put on a pot of water to boil. caramelize the onions. when they are nice and brown will adding the spinach until soft(optional), add the pasta of your choice to the water to soften up, then you will add in the ground beef/turkey and brown it. as you are browning the meat you will add in the package of hidden valley ranch dressing and seasoning mix.(secret ingredient)

once the meat is browned you will add in the drained can of petite diced tomatoes, mix in, then add the store brand pasta sauce. let simmer for 5 min.

drain the noodles, and add sauce onto, sprinkle with cheese if desired.

typically we serve with a slice of bread toasted, buttered, and sprinkled with garlic powder. and olives.

and thats it!!!

we freeze the leftover sauce in a gallon freezer bag FLAT, so next time we just have to toss in fridge to thaw and make some pasta.

to make this go further i will first scoop out 1 cup of the store sauce and set aside in a sealed container to use on meatball subs.

if you like this please make sure to follow for more easy meals.