Let's see, what can be made ahead and frozen? Chicken pot pie, or even better since you're at the ocean, Lobster Pot Pie, I saw Ina Garten make one and couldn't figure out why I'd never thought of it. She used puff pastry dough, making it fast, instead of homemade dough. Cabbage rolls do well made ahead and frozen, then baked with the sauce when needed, or just cooked all day in a crockpot. Macaroni and cheese is easy and fast to put together and nearly everyone likes it. A "taco bar" has been discussed here many times, and it's something that people can put together as they like, you can use ground meat, marinated chicken, pulled pork or beef, or all or any combination, and some tortilla chips along with the toppings could yield nachos and taco salad for those who like that. LindaC's idea of meatloaf is a good one, and a couple of roasted chickens can yield hot chicken sandwiches, that above mentioned pot pie, chicken tetrazzini, chicken salad sandwiches, chicken enchiladas. You can't go wrong with a couple of roasted chickens. Your leftover roast can yield a shepherd's pie too, my girls loved it, along with Spanish Rice made with ground beef to make it a full meal. As well as dinners, how about breakfast? Lots of breakfast casseroles are quick and easy, and I make Woodie's Creme Brulee French Toast the night before and just bake it in the morning. The smell alone got my kids out of bed! Biscuits and gravy are pretty fast, if you bake biscuits the night before for supper and then heat them in the morning. BreaKfast burritos are easy to make ahead and freeze, as are "McMuffins", which then only need thawing and heating. Oatmeal cooks overnight with fruit in the crockpot really well too. I'm sure you have cookies, brownies, desserts covered. LOL Cookies and brownies freeze well, but the dough can also be made ahead and refrigerated for a day or two, and baked off as needed. Oh, and I have a cinnamon roll recipe that calls for making the dough the night before, letting it rise in the refrigerator and baking them the next day for hot, fresh cinnamon rolls, if you're interested in that. Annie

Anything in a slow cooker or oven on low all day. Stew,chili, Casseroles that you can make ahead of time and pop in the oven when you have 5 minutes of feeling better! LOL REMEMBER not to over do things cause you will pay for it! I just made this last night. I used a fresh chicken breast cut into cubes and did the evaporated milk instead of the half and half. I also instead of cooking on low all day, made it about 12-12:30 and cooked it on high til 5:30, added the evap milk and ate. It was still just a little thick for my taste so I poured regular milk in it to thin it down a bit. It was easy and pretty good. > Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup > Take 15 minutes to toss 7 easy ingredients into a slow cooker, and > you'll have a warm and delicious soup to satisfy hungry appetites. > > Prep Time:15 min > Start to Finish:7 hr 45 min > Makes:8 servings > > > > > Rate/Review Recipe > > 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs (5 thighs), cut into 1-inch > pieces > 1/2 cup uncooked wild rice > 1/4 cup fresh or frozen chopped onions > 2 cans (10 3/4 oz each) condensed cream of potato soup > 1 can (14 oz) roasted garlic-seasoned chicken broth > 2 cups frozen sliced carrots > 1 cup half-and-half > > > 1. Place chicken in 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker. In large bowl, mix > wild rice, onions, soup, broth and carrots; pour over chicken. > 2. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 7 to 8 hours. > 3. Stir in half-and-half. Increase heat setting to High. Cover; cook > 15 to 30 minutes longer or until hot. > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Nutrition Information > > > 1 Serving: Calories 250 (Calories from Fat 90); Total Fat 10g (Saturated > Fat > 4 1/2g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 50mg; Sodium 820mg; Total Carbohydrate > 23g (Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 4g); Protein 17g Percent Daily Value*: > Vitamin > A 110%; Vitamin C 4%; Calcium 10%; Iron 10% Exchanges: 1 Starch; 0 Other > Carbohydrate; 1 Vegetable; 2 Medium-Fat Meat Carbohydrate Choices: 1 1/2 > *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. > > > > Health Twist > Love this soup but want to trim the fat and calories? Reduce the > calories to 230 and the fat to 7 grams per serving by using a 12-ounce can > of evaporated fat-free milk instead of the half-and-half. > Substitution > If you prefer, use 1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts for > the thighs. And if your chicken broth doesn't have roasted garlic, just > stir > 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder into regular chicken broth. Now for tonight I am making a HALF batch of this: (but I will let ya know if its any good, its new recipe) Slow Cooker Cheesy Ravioli Casserole (Crowd Size) Come home to a ready-to-serve casserole just right for toting to an evening potluck. Prep Time:15 min Start to Finish:5 hr 15 min Makes:12 servings 22 Ratings 10 Reviews Read Reviews Rate/Review Recipe 1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil 1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup) 1 large clove garlic, finely chopped 1 can (26 ounces) four cheese-flavored spaghetti sauce 1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 2 packages (25 ounces each) frozen beef-filled ravioli 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 ounces) 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley In 10-inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic in oil about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender. Stir in spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce and Italian seasoning. Place 1 cup of the sauce mixture in bottom of 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Add 1 package frozen ravioli; top with 1 cup of the cheese. Top with remaining package of ravioli; top with remaining 1 cup cheese. Pour remaining sauce mixture over top. Cover and cook on low heat setting 5 to 7 hours or until ravioli are tender. Sprinkle with parsley Wish I was closer, I'd fix you a meal and bring it over Stace!

I agree its not only hard cooking for one its hard to eat healthy and not waste money and food especially on fresh fruits and veggies. I think it takes some thought and (my pitfall) a lot of planning since often when you buy something its more than you can eat and doesn't always freeze well by itself. So if you buy a big stalk of broccoli, separate some for eating and make a casserole for freezing, or certainly try to figure which is cheaper, frozen or fresh?. A bag of applies for fresh fruit may be a better deal than single applies but can't eat the whole bag before mushy? Make pie for freezing. Eggs on sale? Again, eat some fresh then make something freezable (is quiche freezable?) A couple of thoughts, Rachael Ray always mentions when using frozen spinach what a good deal it is since you get so much packed in the box for the price. Its good for you so you could google casseroles with spinach (I had a friend in college with no money, he ate one meal a day, spaghetti and spinach). Also lentils, and beans are high in protein and all sorts of good for you things. Back in the day people only ate meat a couple of times a week and ate things like lentils flavored with a chunk of salt pork or soup bone. Dr. Oz on Oprah was just talking about this very thing, cut back on meat and eat more lentils and beans (actually I think his wife is a vegetarian) You can search these forums, I'd search the cooking forum and even ask this question there for favorite recipes (actually I think there was a recent thread on depression food). You can check your library for older cookbooks, the kind that don't use a bunch of expensive ingredients. I imagine there are books on eating on a budget too. You might also keep your eyes out for someone in a similar situation - perhaps you can buy some things in bulk and split them. Last, you might look at the rest of your budget, how much do you spend on cleaning supplies when baking soda and vinegar would work? Do you have an Aldi's near you?

Interesting thread... So hard to answer though. I enjoy so many foods it's hard to pick just one but I'll say to eat something like lasagna or chicken parmigiana- can't pass up anything with melted mozzarella and red sauce. To make is anything new that teaches me a new skill. Like the first time I made gnocchi or pasta from scratch. I love making new things and after I've done it a few times I generally don't enjoy making it again, unless I really want to eat it then I dont mind. To repeat is usually simple, sautéed green beans, and salmon. I used to make it a lot but now I won't eat farm raised salmon and the wild caught can be cost prohibitive. I've even found frozen Alaskan wild caught that was made in China, I won't buy that either. I'm assuming they catch it it Alaska and package in China.