9 Budget Meal Ideas to Consider
If your food expenses are hard to bare, it’s time to do something with it. You should start planning your meals in advance. It takes a bit of time, but it will help you balance your budget. Here are some ideas to consider:

1. Make a menu
   You should decide on the recipes you would prepare for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Write down a list of items that you need to buy. Once you have a plan, you will stick with it while doing the shopping. This will save you from unnecessary expenses.
2. Check your kitchen cupboards and freezer
   Before you go shopping, you should check the supplies in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. Is there anything you could cook next week? Is the expiry date valid? Considering the answers to these questions, you will have a clear understanding of what needs to be purchased.
   When looking for the available products, you should focus on the recipes you’ve picked for your weekly menu. This will save a lot of money and keep your meal well-balanced.
3. Make your meals based on products that are on sale
   Before cooking something, you should buy all the necessary ingredients. Check store flyers, newspaper inserts, and coupon sites in order to discover any price reductions. You may be surprised at the excellent price offers available.
   Large supermarkets often put a great number of products on sale once or twice a week. Some of these items are even sold below cost to attract more customers. Planning your meals around the discounted products will save you a solid amount of money.
4. Have at least one meatless and fishless meal a week
   Beans, lentils, dried peas, eggs, peanut butter, and canned fish turn out to be the source of great protein. The prices of these products usually don’t make your wallet cry. On the Internet, you can find a lot of meal recipes, which don’t involve meat.
5. Add more grains to your ratio
   Grains such as rice, pasta, barley, and couscous are quite cheap, which doesn’t make them less useful for your health. You can use them in multiple recipes, including soups, stews, and salads. Mixed with other products, they can be incredibly good solutions for breakfast and dinner.
6. Avoid recipes with expensive ingredients
   Some recipes require specific ingredients which cost a lot. You can’t afford such recipes in your weekly menu. Is it possible to replace the expensive ingredient with a cheap one? Can you use different ingredients without changing the main concept of the dish? For example, you can put stewed vegetables with mushrooms into a pie that used to involve some meat. Or you can cook some fish soup using a cheaper sort of fish. You can figure something out to make a classic recipe more affordable. In most cases, the taste doesn’t get worse.
7. Look for seasonal recipes
   Some products are getting cheaper during the hot season. For example, you can buy fresh vegetables and fruit of good quality and at a good price during the summer months. This way, you can enjoy healthy products without damaging your budget.
8. Keep leftovers
   You should be careful with leftovers. Don’t rush throwing them away. Instead, you can have them later on. For example, if you are cooking roast beef with vegetables for Saturday dinner, then you can make ham sandwiches for breakfast or make ham salad for lunch the next day.
9. Make up a shopping list
   You should have a well-developed meal plan ready before going to the store. Write down a list of products you need for every single recipe in your weekly menu. Don’t skip anything but don’t try new items while doing the shopping. Your task is to buy everything you need without overspending.

Make Your Favorites
It may take some time to develop a budget meal plan that would work for you on a regular basis. Don’t be scared of experiments. Eventually, you will discover your favorites. This will make your life much easier as you don’t have to think about what to cook each time you are hungry.
Healthy yet delicious eating does not have to cost you a fortune. Just take the time to plan your meals every week. You will most likely end up saving money in the long run. You will also save a lot of time that could be spent on other important tasks. By the end of the day, meal planning on a budget shouldn’t be hard to do. A little forethought will help you put together delicious and easy-to-prepare meals that allow you to stay within your budget.

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It’s very simple, and for me this dish is a real find. Your child doesn’t like meat (like mine) and refuses to eat it? Don’t worry! Tested and tested, you won’t get a bite of chicken like this, as your kids will happily eat it all.

INGREDIENTS
Chicken breasts – 500 gr.
For breading:
Bread crumbs – 200 gr.
Olive oil – 2 tablespoons.
For marinade:
Egg – 1 pc.
Mayonnaise – 1 tbsp.
Dijon mustard – 1 1/2 tbsp.
Flour – 2 tbsp.
Salt – 1/2 tsp.
Pepper

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 200 gr.
• If you, like me, are using already golden breadcrumbs, just transfer them to a large bowl so you can easily coat the chicken breasts. If you are using regular chicken breasts, mix them with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Dump the breadcrumbs and oil onto a baking tray and bake in the oven for 3 to 5 minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden. Remove the breadcrumbs from the oven and allow to cool completely.
• Cut the chicken breasts into slices. Mix all the ingredients for the marinade in a small bowl. Dip the chicken breast slices into the marinade and stir. Set aside and allow to marinade for 2 hours ( or overnight).
• Line a baking tray with parchment. Dip the chicken breasts one at a time in the breadcrumbs and place on the baking tray. Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately with your favorite sauce.

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I mean, bread in the way we are used to eating it: as a loaf, baguette or sandwich bread. But Indian cuisine is full of different versions of tortillas. Today, let’s try making one of them, which is called Naan.

Soft, tender, with airy brown bubbles, just like in Indian restaurants. Traditionally they are baked in clay hot tandoor, but even on modern stoves Naan are unparalleled and very easy to make.

To begin with, Naan are made with yeast dough. Don’t worry if you’ve never cooked with it before – it’s not difficult and you’ll definitely succeed.

Naan scones can be served with:

• Chickpea falafels.
• Falafels made of lentils.
• Stewed pork.
• Spicy lentil soup.
• Guacamole sauce

INGREDIENTS

For tortillas:
Water – 60 ml.
Sugar or honey – 1 tbsp.
Dry yeast – 1 tsp.
Milk – 180 ml.
Fat yogurt or sour cream – 250 gr.
Flour – 500 gr.
Baking powder – 1.5 tsp.
Soda – 1 tsp.
A pinch of salt.

For the cream sauce:
Vegetable oil – 1 tbsp.
Butter – 100 gr.
Garlic – 2 to 4 cloves
Greens – any kind

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

• In a large bowl add all ingredients for scones. And knead the dough with your hands or a mixer. Cover the finished dough and put it in a warm place for 1 hour.
• Before you start frying the tortillas, make a creamy sauce. Put the pan on the stove and add all the ingredients for the sauce. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the butter is completely melted. Done!
• Put the pan on the stove and heat well. Turn down the heat of the stove a bit. Divide the dough into 8 – 12 pieces. Roll out thinly and fry in a pan without oil! Drizzle cream sauce over the finished scones. Done!

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INGREDIENTS
Warm water – 125 ml.
Milk – 250 ml.
Eggs – 3 large
Butter – 50 gr (3 – 4 tablespoons)
Flour – 160 gr.
Salt – 1 tsp.
Sugar – 1 tsp.
Ingredients for the stuffing:
Dijon mustard – 2 tablespoons.
Ham – 150 gr.
Eggs – 5 pcs.
Cream or milk – 4 tbsp.
Cheddar cheese – 240 g.
A pinch of salt

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

• First make the pancakes. Melt the butter in the microwave for 15 seconds.
• Put all the ingredients for the pancakes in a blender.Whisk everything together until smooth.
• Heat a frying pan and grease it with vegetable oil. Start baking the pancakes. Add the batter to the pan and with a quick, circular motion spread evenly over the entire pan. Fry until golden and flip. Fry for about 15 seconds more and remove. They will be golden on one side, paler on the other. And so on until the dough is done.
• Now prepare the filling. To do this, grate the cheese on a coarse grater. Cut the ham in strips.
• Prepare an omelette. To do this, whisk eggs with a whisk with cream or milk and add a pinch of salt.
• Preheat a frying pan and make an omelette.
• All done! Now start assembling our pancakes. Nothing complicated. Place the pancake pale side up, grease with Dijon mustard, spread the cheese, top with the ham and omelet. Roll up as shown in the picture. And so on until all the ingredients for the filling are done.
• Heat a frying pan, add a little vegetable oil and start frying the pancakes until golden brown. Done! Bon appetit!

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The night before, fill dry chickpeas with water and leave them overnight. By morning, the chickpeas will have absorbed all the water and doubled in size. Remain to grind the chickpeas in a blender or food processor with the herbs, garlic, and zira. Add a little more water, flour, and baking powder. Almost done!

INGREDIENTS

Dried chickpeas – 250g.
Chopped parsley – 1 tbsp.
Chopped cilantro – 1 tbsp.
Green onions – a handful of chopped. (optional)
Garlic – 2 cloves chopped.
Zira (cumin) – 1 tsp.
Coriander – 0,5 tsp.
Salt –
Baking powder – 0.5 tsp.
Flour (chickpea or regular) – 4 tbsp.
Water – 5 tbsp.
Oil for frying

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

• Fill chickpeas with water and leave for the night. In the morning, drain all the water.
• Grind all the ingredients for the falafel in a food processor. If the mass is too dry, add 2 tbsp. more water.
• Make falafel balls by hand. Make the size of the falafel to your liking.
• Put a deep but not wide frying pan on the stove and heat well. Turn down the heat a little and start frying the falafels. The falafels should preferably be completely submerged in oil so that they do not need to be turned. Fry until golden brown and place on paper towels to get rid of the excess oil. Done! Serve at once!

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