In the cold winter, soups and stews are great. Add some crusty bread and you have a cheap and delicious winter meal.

In summer, my kids and I eat tons of tomato sandwiches because they are cool and light for the hot days literally sliced tomato, mayo, and a sprinkle of oregano and salt on sandwich bread. Here are a few meals that we make that are simple, cheap, but also fun. This is where creativity and flexibility reign.

Warm it up on the stove and make some grilled cheese. The kids love dunking these sandwiches into their soup. Protein shakes: Use milk or water with a scoop of plant-based protein shake powder in between meals to avoid snacking and give them plenty of protein and vitamins and not a bunch of sugar.

My whole family uses this one , which we can get online or at the local stores. Great for gluten, corn, or dairy allergies. My kids love this stuff. Homemade breakfast: The price of cereal is usually too high to eat it every day with 7 people.

So, it is much cheaper for us to make muffins, pancakes, or waffles we found a cheap wafflemaker recently that we like to use. Oatmeal is another frugal cooking staple.

Add some honey, cinnamon, and peanut butter and my kids are in heaven. Baked potato bar: Potatoes are so cheap and easy. Clean them off, poke some holes, sprinkle salt, and bake them in the oven.

Then bring out some butter, cheese, and sour cream I use plain Greek Yogurt if I can. If you have some bacon, spam, or ham, you can cook a little and break it into crumbles for the top. This is a very cheap, but filling and tasty, meal. Soups: Most soups are really frugal.

They use water, vegetables and beans, maybe some rice, pasta, or meat. With the right seasonings, you can make so many delicious soups that your family will love.

Buffet: One of our most common and easy lunches consists of some chopped fruit and veggies on a plate with some almonds, cheese, and a cookie.

Add a glass of milk and this cheap meal covers all the bases. The number one way to succeed in frugal cooking is to be creative. Try different things. And if you are hitting the nutrition points you need to, then go with whatever works for you. Blogs and YouTube are the best for tutorials and recipes.

Or just experiment yourself. If you want to get fancy, a much larger and heartier batch can be made from the bones of several birds instead of just one. Learn how to make leftover roast chicken stock here.

This saves money and cuts down on prep time. Check out some of the best AKA cheapest things to buy at the salad bar here. I eat a few pieces and turn the rest into other meals.

As a single person, I can stretch that five dollars into at least four meals. Get the recipe for this rotisserie chicken chili here and check out 24 other ideas for transforming rotisserie chickens here. You don't have to plan to the dot, but a general idea helps in controlling grocery costs.

Check out 13 simple tips for meal prepping here. Check out 21 freezer-friendly recipes here. Meat, fruit, veggies, bread, cheese — it all keeps in the freezer. A well-stocked freezer makes meal planning so easy.

Getting a vacuum sealer means that you can buy items you use a lot in bulk, vacuum seal them, and freeze them for months to come. Easy recipes and cooking hacks right to your inbox.

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You will also receive free newsletters and notification of America's Test Kitchen specials. Add water and your favorite spices to a bottle of almost-empty ketchup or mustard , shake, and pour the liquid over chicken or pork as a marinade. Use every last drop of chocolate syrup by filling the bottle with milk and shaking to make a delicious chocolatey drink this also works with Nutella jars.

Use the last of a jam or jelly jar to make a slightly sweetened, fruity vinaigrette : Just mix mustard and vinegar or citrus juice into the jar, then stream in some olive oil while whisking. upload up to 3 images.

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Play Video. How to make a heat map of your oven grill — vertical video. Published: AM. Level up your instant noodles with these hacks — vertical video. Mussels have historically been a hard sell in Australia. But with major supermarkets stocking the pot-ready shellfish at great prices, the molluscs could be having their moment.

Published: PM. From casseroles to curry: six ways with chicken thighs. The once-maligned cut of chicken comes to the fore as a flavoursome, juicy — and cheap — ingredient in dishes across many cultures.

From pilaf to pudding: six winter-friendly ways with rice. Whether you like your rice fluffy, fried or stuffed with cheese, this staple grain can produce a dish to suit any palate, on a minimal budget.

Dips, dals and naked ravioli: five ways with frozen spinach. You can read Layla Khoury-Hanold's feature, "Waste Not, Want Not" here to learn more about restaurants and their efforts in sustainability. See more in our digital guide here. Thank you for reading! Before teaming up with his brother to open RND Coffee , Quincy Randolph was a chef at Blackbird in Chicago, a fine dining institution that has sadly shuttered amid the pandemic.

But once a chef, always a chef, and part of the ethos that Randolph has brought to RND and his home kitchen is maximizing ingredients with an eye toward flavor. Here, Randolph shares his cheffy tips and techniques for extending the shelf life of ingredients—some are quick and easy, while others might make for a fun, new kitchen project.

Randolph recommends using a dehydrator to preserve fruit and vegetables, even citrus peels. According to Randolph, dehydrating stale bread is a superior way to make croutons.

Simply cube bread, toss with oil and salt, then bake on low heat till toasty. Store in an airtight container. Those veggies languishing in your crisper drawer might not be suitable for drinking juices, but you can still juice them and put them to delicious use.

You can also use them make vegetable-forward butter sauces. Randolph recalls making a turnip butter sauce at Blackbird that was reduced until it obtained a caramel-like consistency.