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20 Cheap Dinner Ideas for When You are Skint On Money, Food, or Time
There are three main reasons that we struggle to put dinner on the table: No money, No food, or No time, ya?
We’ve all been there – when you’re so busy or are not in the mood… who’s got time for cooking like Julia Child? Or perhaps payday is just around the corner, but you need to feed your family. This happens to me quite often (LOL!) particularly since I’ve cut back on buying meats and slashed my grocery bill in half. I’m not complaining though, because it’s really pushed me to be creative with our meals and what I put on the dinner table.
Related Posts:
- How I Slashed My Grocery Bill in Half
- 3 Ingredient Savory Cheese Scones
- 5 Breakfast Recipes That Aren’t Pancakes
Pantry Staples
As with every household, we have our pantry staples. These are the items we always have because they’re such versatile ingredients:
- Eggs
- Potatoes
- Bread
- Pasta (mostly spaghetti)
- Rice
I don’t generally cook to recipes, because I find that recipes limit what I can do when I have next to nothing in my kitchen. I freak out when a recipe calls for something that I don’t have – then what?
I mean – I’ve got a thing for recipe magazines like this… sssh. I love browsing through the pages and getting inspiration from the beautiful photos, and then aim to do the same thing. And when I’m in a foul mood, looking through recipe magazines lifts me. Weird aye?
But that’s about it. I look at how something is done (cooked), and then I wing it. Not for baking though. I’ve learned my lesson one too many times that baking should be done to a T otherwise, disaster strikes. (Next time, I’ll tell you about how I cook with no recipes!)
So when it comes close to the end of the week, I stick my head in the pantry and look at what I’ve got. Then I shuffle over to the fridge and again look at what’s in there. That’s when the magic happens!
Here are 20 Dinner Ideas for When You are Skint on Money, Food, and Time
EGGS
Frittata – Found on Love Grows Wild
Omelette – Found on Cooking and Beer
Egg Salad Sandwich – Found on Nums The Word
Scrambled Eggs on Toast – Found on Cooktoria
POTATOES
Mashed Potato Puffs – Found on The Cooking Jar
Potato Skin Bites – Found on Delish
Scalloped Potatoes – Found on Yellow Bliss Road
Potato Soup – Found on Foodie Crush
BREAD
Classic Grilled Cheese Sandwiches – Found on Bon Appetit
Honey Mustard Ham & Cheese Sandwiches – Found on Lemon Tree Dwelling
Garlic Bread – Found on Courtney’s Sweets
French Toast – Found on Add A Pinch – Why French Toast? Uhm – because it’s French Toast! Yum!
PASTA
Spaghetti Aglio e Olio – Found on The Suburban Soap Box
Garlic & Herb Mushroom Spaghetti – Found on Pinch of Yum
Pasta Puttanesca – Found on Ciao Florentina
Garlic Chili Pasta – Found on Minimalist Baker
RICE
Spicy Mushroom Rice – Found on Mantitlement
Fried Rice – Found on Chef Savvy
Brown Rice with Spinach and Parmesan – Found on Family Food on the Table
Stick of Butter Rice – Found on The Chunky Chef
Looks good, aye? Happy Cooking! 🙂
See More Recipes and Dinner Ideas
- 6 Instant Pot Recipes You Need to Try Right Now
- Instant Pot Beef Barley Soup
- Best Ever Instant Pot Pork Spare Ribs Recipe
- 12 Easy Slow Cooker Recipes for Busy Weeknight Family Dinners
No reason for takeout now!! Thanks for inspiring us how to wing it. Can’t wait for more of your articles on how you do things to save time and money. Your ideas are delicious!
It seems that I have stumbled on this page at the perfect time. I too freak out a little when I do not have much in the cupboards and this is perfect to keep on hand when I am running low and dont want to run to the grocery store
It really stretches the imagination. I’ve become way better at cooking on the fly than cooking to a recipe – lol!
We have all those staples, except potatoes. Definitely given me some ideas for dinner that don’t take so much work and way better than going out, thanks!
I love potatoes because it’s actually a meal in itself 🙂
Feels like not being skint when we have such a creativity to prepare the available food resources.. Comes up to be exclusive surely (Y)
Exactly!! 🙂
OMG Thank you. I’m pinning this. Pay day seems so far away.
Haha! Enjoy the creative process xx
Honestly your delicious meals look SO much better than take out evercould!!! I’m so hungry now LOL!!!
Awww nah… they’re other blogger’s dishes. I use them for inspiration 🙂
So many good ideas here. I’m always looking for quick dinners. We do breakfast for dinner a lot here because all of my boys like it and it’s a quick/easy way to work in protein, fruit, etc. YUM! That omelet looked delicious!!!! And the potato recipes, too. Now I’m hungry! 😉
Breakfast for Dinner = Winner!
Thank you for this post! We are trying to cut back on spending this month 🙂 so this is very helpful! I will be trying some of these ideas.
Yay! I’m so happy that this is helpful to you. All the best with cutting back xx
Love all of these ideas! Quick dinner ideas are always ideas I need!
Yes! I love quick dinners – more time with the family and enjoying the meal 😉