How to Make 5 Tasty Kroger Meals on a Budget of $5

Kroger:

• Rice a roni - $1.00
• Kielbasa - $3.00 (we're using half, so $1.50)
• Kroger Stir Fry Veggies with noodles - $1.69
• 1 small sweet potato - $0.30
• Red onion - $0.75 (I'm using 1/3 of an onion, so $0.25)
• Garlic - $0.68 (I'm Using 1/4 of a head, so $0.19)

Total: $4.93

($7.42 for the whole ingredients)

If You're Shopping At Walmart Instead:

• Rice a roni - $1.28
• Kielbasa - $3.46
• Mixed vegetables- $1.25
• 1 small Sweet potato - $0.23
• Red Onion - $0.40 (1/3 = $0.13)
• Garlic - $0.41 (1/4 = $0.10)

Total: $6.45

Preparing the main ingredients

I went ahead and started making up my Rice-a-Roni before I started working on individual meals. I put a cup and a half of water in it, a tablespoon of margarine, and then I took that packet of seasoning mix and only used a tablespoon of it.

I'm going to use the rest of it to season some of our other items in the meal. So in order to substitute the little bit of seasoning that I took out of it, I put in a fourth of a teaspoon of salt. 

Now I'm seeing what we have in that bag of stir fry. I went ahead and poured out all of the vegetables and noodles. I took a cup of broccoli out of it, a tablespoon of green pepper and red pepper, and two tablespoons of the carrots, then set those items aside. 

1. Stir-fried noodles and veggies

I melted a teaspoon of margarine in the pan, and added two tablespoons of sliced onions, a teaspoon of minced garlic, and a third of a cup of cut-up kielbasa. I sauteed all of this together until it had a little bit of color on it.

I added a cup of our stir-fried veggie noodle mixture and a teaspoon of that seasoning blend from the wild rice and just stirred it around. Lastly, I added a little bit of cut-up green onion on top, and you can see that our complete meal is right here. 

2. Kielbasa and broccoli

I took a teaspoon of margarine, a teaspoon of minced garlic, and a tablespoon of cut-up onions and sauteed them in the pan.

I also sliced up part of the kielbasa and stuck that in to get a little bit of color on it. I then added half a cup of sweet potatoes.

Next, I added in my cup of broccoli and a teaspoon of that seasoning, and a little bit of salt and pepper to taste here. 

I served it alongside half a cup of Rice-a-Ron, and this was a delicious meal. 

3. Noodle stir fry over rice

I made two octopuses with the kielbasa that we planned on using for this meal.

You just cut it in half, slice little strips down, but not all the way through to the top, and then as you're cooking, it spreads out like that and makes them look like little octopi.

I added in a cup of that veggie stir fry with noodles blend and a teaspoon of the seasoning into the noodles, and then I served it over a cup of the wild rice. And this is our finished meal. 

4. Kielbasa and sweet potato

First, I take a teaspoon or so of the margarine. You really just need enough to coat the pan. Add a teaspoon of your minced garlic. Then, I cut our little kielbasa into strips. Not quite matchsticks, but little wedges. And I did cut our sweet potato into matchsticks as well.

I used half a cup of sweet potato. I also used a tablespoon of sliced-up onion and a teaspoon of our seasoning blend. We had plenty of onion left, so I added two more tablespoons or so worth of that red onion at the end just to add a little extra crunch.

I like a little bit of the crispness of the onion in the dish. I served it on top of a bed of a cup of that wild rice and some of those green onions on top for a little pop of color.

5. Garlic pepper fried rice

I melted about a teaspoon of the margarine into the bottom of my skillet and added a fourth of a cup of cut-up onions. Then, I added a tablespoon of garlic. I know that's a lot of garlic, so if you don't want yours too garlicky, add less.

I was trying to use everything up, so that's what I ended up doing. Then, I added a teaspoon of the seasoning blend, a fourth of a cup of cubed kielbasa, a cup of wild rice, a tablespoon of green pepper, a tablespoon of red pepper, and two tablespoons or a heaping tablespoon of sliced carrots.

Those were all from that stir fry blend, the noodle stir fry blend. I just mixed it up until everything started getting a little bit of color and the onions had cooked to my desired softness and then topped it with some of that green onion. And here is our last meal. 

5 Kroger meals

We got five Kroger meals for $5. Not too shabby for anyone with a tight grocery budget like mine. Let me know which meal you want to try first down below.