Michelle is one of our members who creatively feeds her large family. She shared some of her family's favorite meal ideas. You can find recipes for most in our recipe gallery!


Chicken pot pie with leftover chicken and LOTS of veggies to bulk it up. My kids finished off a 13x9 pan of the stuff and STILL wanted more. Serve with salad.

Tacos made with ground turkey. Two pounds feeds us all with a bit leftover for DH's lunch the next day, or taco soup for dinner. Serve with all the fixings and 2 cans re-fried beans.

Spaghetti- one pound usually feeds us. I mix jarred sauce with grated carrots, zucchini and mushrooms. I always sneak in veggies when I can. I serve with homemade cheese biscuits

Meatloaf- I make either a two pound one or I make them in muffin tins for meatloaf muffins. I serve it with mashed potatoes and peas usually. Leftovers make great sandwiches with ketchup or either goes well broken up in spaghetti.

Frittata- I cook up veggies..peppers, onions, mushrooms, sometimes bacon as well. I blend up 1 dozen eggs and cook with the softened veggies until a *wet* scrambled egg consistency, then add in cheese and stick under the broiler til set. I serve it with either fried potatoes or a salad.

Chili-I make a huge crockpot at a time. I either use 1pd turkey or 1pd ground beef and then load up on veggies and beans. Add in tomatoes, peppers, and garlic. We serve this with cheese and crackers. Leftovers are great for hotdogs, mixed with mac-n-cheese, on baked taters, topped with cornbread for a pie, or with spaghetti noodles.

Whole chicken- So versatile.You can flavor it a million different ways, bake it or crockpot it. The leftovers can be used a million ways- pot pie, tacos, taco soup, chicken spaghetti, enchiladas, chicken & noodles, chicken soup, stroganoff..on and on. I serve whole chicken with roasted veggies.

Pork roast- I crockpot mine with BBQ sauce for sandwiches served with potato salad or slaw. Leftovers make wraps with tortillas or mixed with baked beans. I crockpot it with cream of mushroom soup and brown gravy and serve w/ mashed potatoes and peas or corn. Leftovers I add sour cream and make a pork stroganoff and serve with noodles and broccoli.

I like to make bean burritos out of homemade tortillas ( I don't cook them until they're filled, then I bake), 2 cans of re-fried beans, a little salsa (TBSP per tortilla) and cheese. Bake them all off at once (not sure how many I make) and freeze. They're great topped with sour cream, served with Mexican rice. Cheap, cheap.

And of course, always save your veggies in a big bag in the freezer. Pull it out and make a big pot of veggie soup when it's almost full.

When I get onions on sale .99/3lb bag, I like to make onion cheese soup. It's pretty cheap and filling when served with homemade bread from the maker.