Let’s face it, making a home cooked meal from scratch every night just isn’t in the cards. Most of us don’t arrive home from work until its dinner time and some of us have to race out to get the kids to dance, hockey, piano or other extracurricular activities. Where to you find the time to cook and ensure your family eats a healthy meal? We have written about cooking on a budget in the past, “How to Cook on a Budget”; but we have not offered any recipes. So here goes….
A popular budget friendly meal that has a fun twist for families is Taco Tuesday (yes, just like in the Lego Movie). It’s a quick go-to meal for families on the run who want to eat healthy. You can be creative as you want with the ingredients. There are fish tacos, breakfast tacos, beef tacos, chicken tacos and pork tacos. If you want to avoid meat tofu tacos are a great alternative. For the sake of making things simple, we’ll choose a traditional beef taco recipe that would cost under $40 for ingredients for a family of 4.
Beef Taco
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Tortillas (soft ones steamed for 15 minutes) or hard taco shells
Fillings
Ground Beef (cooked until well done)
Shredded Lettuce (iceberg lettuce or any you prefer)
Tomato (diced)
Salsa
Guacamole (optional)
Green Onion (optional)
Sour Cream (optional)
Meatloaf doesn’t have to be boring. It can be a tasty meal with attitude. You can be as creative as you want with the ingredients you use.
Meatloaf with Zing
Prep: 15 minutes
Bake: 1-1/4 hours + standing
Serves 6
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 3 slices bread, torn
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup grated carrot
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar or part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried basil, thyme or sage, optional
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
• TOPPING:
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 1 teaspoon ketchup
In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add milk and bread; let stand until liquid is absorbed. Stir in the onion, carrot, cheese and seasonings. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well.
Shape into a 7-1/2-in. x 3-1/2-in. x 2-1/2-in. loaf in a shallow baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 45 minutes.
Combine the topping ingredients; spoon half of the mixture over meat loaf. Bake 30 minutes longer or until meat is no longer pink and a meat thermometer reads 160°, occasionally spooning remaining topping over loaf. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
Chili Mac is another crowd-pleaser meal you can prepare in large quantities, freeze and reserve when you are pressed for time. Garnish with shredded cheese, green onions and sour cream if you like.
Chili Mac
(c/o recipe in Canadian Living)
Prep time 15 minutes
Total time 35 minutes
Serves 8 to 10
• 1-1/2 lb (680 g) extra-lean ground beef
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) chili powder
• 1 tsp (5 mL) ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper
• 1 can (28 oz/796 mL) crushed tomatoes
• 1 can (28 oz/796 mL) diced tomatoes
• 1 can (19 oz/540 mL) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 tbsp (45 mL) packed light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) Worcestershire sauce
• 4 cups (1 L) radiatore pasta or short pasta
In large saucepan or Dutch oven, brown beef over medium-high heat, breaking up with spoon. Remove to strainer to drain.
Add oil to pan; sauté onion, celery, carrots, garlic, chili powder, cumin, thyme and pepper until carrots begin to soften, about 8 minutes.
Stir in crushed and diced tomatoes, kidney beans, sugar, Worcestershire sauce and beef; reduce heat, cover and simmer until celery is tender, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package directions; drain and stir into chili.
These budget friendly recipes are sure to please your family and will help you keep on track with maintaining a healthy diet.
To learn more about how to build and maintain a budget for Canadian families, visit our blog at www.occa.ca/blog..
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