You can make two dinners for 6 out of one whole chicken easy. If you want the recipes let me know. Their not only delicious, but nutritious.

Thanks everyone! You guys/gals have given such great ideas!!!!!! I'm gonna write them down. Yummy!

Lasagna. It always last like a week in my house, my mom makes a big one.

Buy a large cheap cut of beef roast. Dredge in flour and brown both sides om a heavy deep pan with a lid. Add some water (about 1/3 way up on the pan) and throw in some potatoes, carrots, and onions. Put on the lid and put in the oven at 250 for 4-5 hours (or in a crockpot). The slow cooking will tenderize the meat. Thicken the juice in the bottom of the pan when roast is done. Serve the roast and vegetables covered with brown gravy. I also serve bread and butter (good for sopping up gravy!) :)

This will make one meal and then cut up the leftover meat, potatoes, carrots and onions and add a large can of V8 juice. Also, throw in any leftover gravy. Voila, you have a YUMMY vegtable beef soup. Serve with crackers or cornbread. We usually get at least 2 more meals out of the soup - so one large cheap roast can go for 3 or more meals!

We often have scrambled egg sandwiches for supper. I love them with mayo and tomatoes, but hubby doesn't like the tomatoes. If you add a small amount of water to the eggs before scrambling (instead of milk) they get a lot fluffier and will go farther. I often eat the egg sandwich at Cracker Barrel - they hard fry the egg though - that's good too!

I want the recipes. Money goes so fast when you are young. Thank you. Great thread.

Okay, I have one.

Encliada's

One can of Walla Walla onion beanless chili (or any kind of chili works)
Cheese
Onion (chopped)
Corn tortillias

Now you can do what ever you want with all of this. Cut up the tortillias and put them in a 9 by 9 baking dish or bigger if you so choose. Add whatever looks good. Lightly cover with some water and bake for like 30-40 minutes on 350 and then add cheese on top and cook for a little bit longer. DONE!!! Great dinner and is easy to make up. You can't mess this one up. Good luck.

I didn't read through what everyone else wrote. Wonde rif anyone mentioned mash potato and or baked potatoes. You can always do a lot with baked potatoes and its always good and nutritious.

Yep! I love to bake potatoes and stuff them with (choose whatever you like or have) green onions, cheese (any kind you like), red onions, brewer's yeast, sour cream, plain yogurt, cottage cheese, salsa, bacon or any meat you have already cooked, ...almost anything...you can really get creative with a potato:D

My favorite is : wash potato, pierce
Use garlic salt and pepper to season outside, stick in oven at 350 deg F. (This is for a large potato)
Cook for 1 hour and between 15 and 30 minutes til outside is fairly crispy

I like to use I can't believe it's not Butter spray, brewers yeast FLAKES (they taste kind of buttery and yeasty at the same time), non fat cottage cheese and salsa. If you aren't used to eating this stuff, it might sound gross, but I LOVE it!

Ham and baby lima beans, any kind of soup. All go great in the crock pot. Could also do some beef stew, light on the meat and heavy on the vegies. Red Beans and rice. Hot dogs.

What is brewer's yeast? Is it like regular yeast?

Yummmm....we love baked potatoes in our house!

Sometimes, I buy the huge baking potatoes, other times, I just use plain russets. (the bigger ones).

I wash and scrub the potatoes with a scrub brush and baking powder.

We stuff ours with whatever we feel like or have on hand...my favorite is broccoli and cheese or just plain. But the possibilities are endless!! Ex: pizza potato, philly cheese steak potato, etc. Yummy!!!

Franks and baked beans or chili. Or you could always put the chili on a baked potato w/ some cheese... mmm

Chicken Casserole: make a box of stovetop stuffing, add diced cooked chicken, then spread in a baking pan, cover with cream of mushroom soup, sprinkle cheddar cheese on top, bake until cheese is bubbly.

french bread pizza- use the cheap crusty french bread, add sauce, cheese, onions, etc.... and bake.

We occasionally have breakfast for dinner-pancakes are cheap, eggs, sausage gravy, etc...

Also, if you have kids, you can take advantage of local restaurants that offer kids night (free kids meals).

1-ham, beans and cornbread
2-spaghetti
3-pizza burgers and chips
pizza burgers=cook ground beef and drain off grease, add one can of cream of
mushroom soup and one jar/car of pizza sauce. Let simmer. Put hamburger
buns in oven(take tops and bottoms apart with inside up). When toasted take
out of the oven and then add your ground beef combo and top with mozz.
cheese. Put back in the oven until cheese is melted. I usually set the oven for
350. Serve with chips.
4. Hotdogs and mac/cheese
5. Coney dogs
6. Hamburger helper, corn and potatoes(stock up when helper is 10 for 10 at Krogers.

7. Biscuits and Gravy w/hashbrowns(We have this a lot for dinner, but we love it)

If you like pinto beans you can get 3 to 4 meals out of cooking one batch! I make beans and cornbread with onion, taters and greens one day. Then I split up my leftover beans and make chili one day and refried beans another. Then I take the leftover chilie and have chili dogs or chili fried. That's 4 meals of protein for about a dollar.
Also we use to eat so many frozen pot pies when we were struggling that I cannot eat one now!
Remember beans are a good cheap source of protein!