Inexpensive Dinner Ideas From Your Pantry Stock: Spending Freeze Challenge (Day 2)

Welcome to Day 2 of our 31 Day Spending Freeze Challenge. We will be starting the first week discussing ways to save with your meal planning.  These Inexpensive Dinner Ideas From Pantry Stock are the perfect solution to your grocery budget woes.  Utilizing our tips for couponing to save on your groceries will help keep your pantry well stocked with items that can easily be pulled together for a delicious meal everyone will enjoy.  Also, make sure you have read our Meal Planning 101 Guide, and that you have downloaded our free printable Menu Planners.  Also, check out our extensive recipe category. Check out all of our Spending Freeze posts.

Inexpensive Dinner Ideas From Pantry Stock

Loaded Mac & Cheese:  Almost everyone either has some boxed macaroni & cheese in their pantry from using coupons on deals, or they have pasta and some cheese on hand to make homemade.  Loaded macaroni & cheese is a popular and easy dish.  You can add things like seasoned ground meat, chopped hot dogs, fresh tomatoes and Parmesan cheese, frozen mixed vegetables or even leftover rotisserie chicken into your macaroni and cheese to stretch your dollar a bit farther.  Check out our slow cooker easy Mac & Cheese recipe.

Homemade Meal Kits: In our financial freedom plan, we share with you about cutting costs with things like making your own foods from scratch.  Meal kits may seem inexpensive, but once you look at how unhealthy they can be you’ll realize that making your own homemade kits is better overall.  Pasta, a meat of your choice, a vegetable and a simple sauce is simple to throw together.  Things like cheeseburger macaroni, chili macaroni or cheesy chicken and pasta are easy to create on your own.

Rice or Pasta Casseroles:  Rice and pasta are the perfect base for any simple casserole.  Rice, a few cans of bean and some seasonings can make a simple vegetarian red beans and rice.  Pasta, canned chicken, canned vegetables and canned soups can make a creamy and hearty chicken noodle dish everyone will love.  Combining a starch, protein, vegetable and sauce is easy in a casserole dish.  This even works when you are trying to save money on holiday meals.  Being able to create some tasty casseroles to stretch your holiday menu budget farther is important.

Soups & Stews: Soups and stews are some of the best ways to feed a family on a low budget.  Whether you stretch an existing canned soup out by adding more water, vegetables, stock and meats – or you create your own soup or stew from scratch this is a great addition to your menu plan.  Canned tomatoes, beans, broth and seasoning blends are the key behind the best hearty and healthy inexpensive dinner ideas from pantry stock.

Breakfast for Dinner:  Nothing makes the kids happier than breakfast for dinner.  It’s a great inexpensive meal that can be pulled together using things like pancake mixes, waffle mixes and muffin mixes from your stockpile, or homemade muffins or breakfast breads, hash browns (dehydrated, frozen or fresh) and eggs or bacon if you have it on hand.  Pancakes and waffles are usually the cheapest and easiest to make, and everyone loves them.

These inexpensive dinner ideas from pantry stock are perfect for bringing your grocery budget down, and keeping your family happy around the dinner table.  You don’t have to serve a steak, or even a hearty meat meal every night.  You can easily provide your family with budget friendly meals that they will love by thinking outside the box using your pantry staples.

Comment your ideas on how you are cooking from your pantry this month!