Cheap and Healthy

Hi there- I don't know that I have specific recipes as much as I choose ingredients carefully: avoid added salt (buy unsalted or low salted nuts, crackers); don't add salt to recipes, avoid high fructose corn syrup; avoid trans fats; hide veggies if needed- but favorite that goes a long way: spaghetti- but use whole grain pasta and add cooked frozen- or cooked rinsed canned veggies to the sauce- if your kids don't like veggies- you can puree them and hide them in the sauce and buy sauce that does not have high fructose corn syrup in it. Casseroles are great for throwing in whatever you have on hand- left over meat, whole grain pasta, cream of chicken soup (or any soup you like) cheese over the top- and they reheat well.

allrecipe.com is a God-send for recipes. They have all kinds that you can think of, even a section on easy kids meals. My favorite recipe of my own is a chili recipe that every child I have fed it too loves.

Chili
1 lb ground burger
1/2 cup onion
1 can tomato soup
1 can chili or kidney beans
1tbsp chili powder
1c water
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp vinegar
1 garlic clove, or 1/4 tsp of garlic powder

Brown burger and onion, then mix all together and bring to a boil. Simmer 15-20 mins. This recipe is basic, and its great for experimenting with. Sometimes I add diced tomatos for the soup, or add other things that you like with chili too it. Like this is a hit with kids, so I make it this way for my kids, then I take out what they will eat and add whatever hubby and I like to it to make it more adultish. lol You can serve it with whatever kind of crackers you like too. Sometimes I use Goldfishes, or the crackers with cheese ones. You can use the leftovers to make chili quesilla. Good Luck!

I have a recipe ALL of my kids like and it is super simple, and the adults seem to enjoy it to.

Adjust recipe to your family size but a good rule of thumb is one pakage per person.

Ramen Noodles ( remove seasoning package and put aside for Later)
any frozen veggie ( broccoli is really good or the mixed Veg's
Pre-cooked or defrosted)
And meat of choise (pre-cooked, hamburger, or steak slices
and those rotisserie (SP?) chickens work well)

Cook noodels according to package do not over cook it only takes a few minutes. Place noodles in large fry pan (non sticks best) add a little butter or oil just to coat the noodles then add seasoning packages mix well, add your meat and veggies and serve.

You can do this recipe many different ways just depending on your veggies and meats, we serve with soy sauce sometimes for just a little added flavor. I swear by this because most little ones love noodles of any sort. Hope this helped www.kraft.com is also a really good place for recipes for the wgole family.

an easy crockpot dinner of chicken and dumplings...
1 can of cooked chicken
1 can cream of chicken
1 chicken bullion cube
1 can of water
1 tube of buscites cut into 4 and flattened out

mix in slow cooker and cook for 6-8 hrs stiring occasionaly

Shepherd's Pie

1 lb. of cooked Ground Beef
1 can of corn
and mashed potatoes

In an 8" square dish cover the bottom with ground beef, then corn, and then cover in mashed potatoes. (I make the potatoes as little runny so they spread easily. We then heat this all for a little while in the microwave and then put butter on the top so it melts.

Variation are various vegetables, adding cheese, beans, etc. I then serve this with biscuits as well. My son that doesn't eat meat can eat around the meat and my other son that won't eat certain vegetables can eat around them.

My favorite website is allrecipes.com, they have almost anything you can think of and the recipes are reviewed so you know before you make it if it's good or not. It has saved me so many times when I didn't know what to make for dinner. They also have a section where you can list ingredients that you have and it will show you all the recipes with those ingredients in it. Hope that helps and happy cooking!

Hmmm, your twelve year old may dig this, my 11 year old does.

1 can salmon
1 cucumber, no skin, diced (very small)lots of cucumber, should be half cucumber or more and then salmon.
1 tablespoon mustard (brown)
1 sweet pickle diced or a teaspoon of relish

As little mayo as you can get away with so it's not dry

Mix together serve with crackers, they have cheap organic ones here at John's IGA.

This is cool and refreshing in the summer. I also have one for a cucumber tomatoe salad if you are interested. Email me.

For the 4 year old, I recomend bagels and cream cheese. cut into quarters. It is a good filler for the active kid.