4 Crazy Cheap Meal and Snack Ideas

1. Banana waffles

I don’t know about you, but I always have at least a couple of bananas that start to turn before we’re able to eat them.

I usually make banana bread but, today, I decided to try making banana waffles.

I’m following the recipe for banana pancakes, but I made them into waffles. Here’s the list of ingredients and their measurements:                                              

• 2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (52g) sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, optional
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup (180ml) milk
• 4 tbsp (56g) butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups (300ml) mashed banana (2–3 bananas)

Start by combining the dry ingredients. Then combine the wet ingredients separately and once that’s done you can mix them all together. 

I poured the batter into the waffle iron and cooked them up.

If you don’t have a waffle iron, or you’d prefer pancakes, you can just fry them up in a pan. 

I served the waffles for breakfast with a side of scrambled eggs and they were delicious.

2. Cauliflower pasta

It’s time to take that random bag of frozen vegetables out of your freezer because we are going to make a delicious pasta dish.

We only need a few ingredients for this that you probably have on hand already. Throw the veggies into a pan with some olive oil and a little bit of sesame oil if you have any.

Add whatever seasoning you like.

I added a lot of minced garlic because we love garlic in my house. If you don’t have minced garlic, garlic powder will do the trick.

I’m also going to be using some leftover spaghetti that we had lying around. I poured in some soy sauce and added a little bit of brown sugar.

This was such a tasty meal and so easy to make. I’m so glad to have made such good use of the frozen vegetables and leftover spaghetti.

3. Bagel pizzas

I found some bagels sitting in the back of my freezer and decided to salvage them and turn them into a delicious meal.

I already had some tomato sauce and cheese, so I just spread the tomato sauce on the bagels and sprinkled the cheese on top. 

I also had a can of black olives lying around so I used that for a topping.

I stuck them in a 350-degree oven for 10 – 12 minutes and they came out so good.

This is a great meal if you’re looking for an easy lunch to make for your kids.

4. Orange loaf

I had some leftover orange juice that needed to be used up so I decided to make an orange loaf.

It’s always nice to bake some yummy treats at home. Homemade somehow always tastes better. Here are the ingredients you will need for the loaf and the glaze.

For the loaf:

• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup canola oil
• Zest of 2 oranges
• 1 cup of orange juice
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

For the glaze:

• ½ cup of orange juice
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

I combined my wet and dry ingredients separately and then mixed them all together.

Then I poured the batter into a loaf pan and popped it into the oven for 40 minutes at 325 degrees. 

After my loaves were cooked I made the glaze and poured it over the top. I loved the way this came out. It was not overly sweet. It was refreshingly tasty.

Cheap meals

No-waste recipes are definitely some of my favorites. I can pair simple ingredients with some pantry, fridge, and freezer staples I always have on hand.

It’s a great way to make cheap meals, use up what I have at home, and save myself some money.

I hope this helped give you some ideas to help save money and use up the food you have at home to feed yourself and your loved ones.