How to Make 5 Great Dinners for $20
Five Meals for $20
My husband and I are committed to a strict budget and sometimes by the end of the month there is less money in the grocery envelope than I would like. When that happens, I always resort to my “5 meals for $20” plan – that is, I make 2 lbs of black beans in my crock-pot, and use those to make five yummy meals. Now I can hear you thinking “but I don’t want to eat black beans for five days in a row” and I get that, but with this plan, you won’t feel like you’re eating black beans five days in a row (even though you are).
NOTE: If you don’t like black beans – this is not the meal plan for you. If you don’t like Mexican food, this is also not the meal plan for you (and if that’s the case, I’m not sure that we can be friends because I don’t need that kind of negativity in my life)
**Click the links for recipes**
2. Veggie Chili
4. Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas
5. Burrito Bowls (or good ol’ beans and rice as we call it)
Shopping List:
*I’ve made the assumption that you have certain items in your pantry/fridge already – these are items that I typically have on hand no matter what. If your cupboards really are bare, it will probably cost you around $10 more to get these items too.
Shopping List:
| 2 lbs Black Beans (dry) | 2.00 |
| Rice (2 cups) | 1.00 |
| Tortillas | 3.00 |
| Zucchini | 1.00 |
| Onion | 0.50 |
| Carrot | 1.00 |
| Sweet Potato | 1.00 |
| Bell Pepper | 1.00 |
| Cilantro | 1.00 |
| Sour Cream | 1.50 |
| Hambuger Buns | 3.00 |
| Lettuce | 2.00 |
| Tomato | 1.00 |
| Limes | 1.00 |
| 20.00 |
Pantry/Fridge Items:
| Cheese |
| Salsa (like pace) |
| Diced Canned tomato |
| Eggs |
| Spices (Garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cumin, paprika) |
| Garlic |
| Broth/bullion |
| Tomato Sauce
Bread Crumbs |
Method:
Place rinsed and sorted black beans into a crockpot and cover with boiling water. I do this in lieu of the overnight soak, or quick soak method. Cook on high for 2-3 hours*, seasoning with garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and a little cumin. DO NOT add salt until they are completely cooked.
*dry bean cooking time is dependent on how fresh the beans are, and is therefore varied. Sometimes they cook in two hours, sometimes they need 4…plan ahead.
After cooking the beans, I like to portion them out into separate containers to make dinners easier.