Eating on the CHEAP

[AngieDoogles]

Beans and rice freeze really well. Bren and I make a whole bag of rice and a whole bag of black beans and then mix them and separate enough for single meals in plastic ziplock bags. Then when you're ready to eat, just add a few tablespoons of water and reheat on the stove or microwave. You can add different things to spice it up and make it different each night. I use chicken, cheese, tomatoes, onions, salsa, spices (cumin and cilantro are great for this)...or even put it in a tortilla to make a burrito. Try different combinations of those things. There are a million and one ways to eat beans and rice. It's cheap and even healthy too!

[Janet]

That sounds like a great idea Tink. Wish I lived close to a store, I'd do that too. I do eat a lot of Lean Cuisine meals and they are not very expensive at all. I like quite a few of them and the WW meals.

I have a great recipe for meatballs. It makes 70 of them (!) but I freeze them in several freezer bags, and then just pop them in the oven any time I don't feel like cooking. All I have to do is whip up the barbeque sauce.

I also make big pots of chili now and then. Whatever is left over, I freeze in single servings. This is great for lunches to take to work.

I LOVE to cook, but find I don't often have time. But my poor husband is a guinea pig-I'm always trying out new recipes on him! He's a pretty good sport about it. He only accused me of trying to kill him one time, when I put WAY too much cayenne, cumin and hot pepper sauce in my chili!