So in an effort to curb the RIDICULOUS spending my household does on food in a month I've started doing a thing where 2 or 3 times a week I'll make one big huge batch of something strictly to prepackage into individual serving sizes for us all to grab for lunch and go (usually ends up making 5 meals). The rule is that they are ONLY for packing lunches, and we make something *Separate* for dinner. That way we aren't tempted to run out and get fast food or get lazy and grab a bunch of frozen dinners or something for the two of us that work at a grocery store. On top of the prepack stuff, I've also made sure that we always have a batch of like... tuna/chicken/egg salad or pasta salad available to change it up some. For breakfasts I make a big batch of pancakes and hard boil a dozen eggs that we can grab and go. Any leftovers from dinner I try and keep so that it stays just for dinner.

I thought maybe it would be an interesting topic to post up and swap recipes, especially with back to school season looming in the future. It's made managing my house with 4 adults a million times easier that's for sure.

Cost estimates are based on how much I've spent for the stuff at work. I tend to stock up like crazy when we have sales on dry goods, and can often get things like cans of soup, boxes of premixed dinner starters, salsa, dressing/marinade etc for about a dollar. I also am not counting any spices, or kitchen staples like oil, butter, milk, or rice. Assuming you always have rice on hand like I do. If you don't, why don't you. Go invest in like a 20 pound bag of brown rice it'll last you like a million years and it's a life saver when you're suddenly broke or need to pad out a meal.

So here's what I've made so far:

Quick and Dirty Jambalaya:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/view/159993630272877

~ $11 total, $2.20 a serving.

Not Your Grandma's Rice Bake:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/view/230364383514093

~ $15 total, $1.87 per serving. 

Spanish Rice Bowl:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/view/230362210856429

~ $12 total, 1.50 per serving. Could be even less, had I used plain rice and salsa seasonings but. I was pretty short on salsa and had two boxes of premix. This also makes awesome taco stuffing or nacho dip. I suggest garnishing it a bit with some cheese, fresh onion, etc but it doesn't *need* it.

Link Tree

Ugh those sound really good. We have a house of 5 and spend wayyyyy too much. lol..

also the links want a login. haha

My mom usually makes a ton of italian meatballs and freezes them and then cooks the noodles before she goes to work...

She also makes a giant pan of goolash(sp?) That last her a few days as well....

I love goolash Aza! My mom made it all the time for my brother and I! It's pretty easy to make. 

I like to make chili in bulk. I use a very simple chili recipe that's just ground beef, diced tomatoes, onions, and spices (you can add in peppers to make it spicy if you want). 

So in my household we have rice on hand always.

Chicken and tortillas are also always on hand. Super easy and cheap to make quesadillas. And if you have the time, making tortillas by scratch is cheaper than buyinh the ten packs at the school! I can post my recipe if anyone is interested, add chicken, rice, beans, and a side of broccoli you basically have everything you need in a meal!

Oops. I'll have to take screenshots. My fitness pal was acting like they were public. 

Link Tree

Oh goodness! Chao, I can help you with this! 
My wife and I are into healthy eating and we like to make meal prep type recipes! 

We have recipes for healthy, protein packed muffins that help curb your appetite and make for a wonderful breakfast option. Ground turkey for tacos (we skip the shells and do whole wheat wraps instead) and skinless chicken breasts are also a staple for us. The Chicken is fun because you can just add one sauce/marinade option to it and boom! Food for the week, then you add some whole grain rice and a veggie and you are good to go! 
I can literally talk about healthy eating and recipes all day haha 

I wish I was good at this! I'm more of a "decide what I want to eat at 4 pm and then go to the store" and "panic when lunch rolls around" type of person. One thing that I do for dinners though is when I cook, I make a lot and then repurpose it the next couple of days.

Like I will make a huge pot of chili and we will eat chili that night, and then the next night we will have chili cheese dogs, and then the night after that I will make queso and we will do nachos with chili con queso.

Or I'll make a pork roast or pork shoulder and the first night we will do just pork, and then the second day we will make cubanos, and then the third day we will put barbecue sauce and pork and whatever else on a frozen cheese pizza.

And then in between we will eat lunches from it if there's enough and we don't have other lunch plans.

ugh now I want tacos and chili... hmmm.