[nickelbackfan]

Looking to make a cheap easy meal for another family.

I thought about tacos - how many pounds of meat for 2 adults and 2 teenage boys?

[SassyTeach]

A LOT! I don't have kids myself, but the fact that teenage boys are bottomless pits is well known.
Truthfully, I'd probably do 2 or 3 pounds. Or...if you want to make sure they have leftovers, I'd do even more.

[javamomma]

Tacos might not be so cheap.

Pot of chili with Fritos and cheese
Pan of lasagna with salad and bread

[PEPteach]

This meal is cheap and filling! It makes a lot!
Chicken Burrito Bowl
I serve it with extra cheese, tostitos, and sour cream.

[Barb/Ohio]

I have brought homemade BBQ before with buns, chips, and a salad.

[Alicia G]

You can stretch taco meat by adding canned refried beans to the cooked, seasoned meat. Actually, super-quick meal is to prepare 2 lbs of taco meat and add 2 lbs (2 normal sized cans) of refried beans. Add in about 2 cups of cheese. Mix it all together. Now, load this into wheat tortillas and, voila, burritos. Send over salsa and sour cream as well as some apples and carrots.

Oh a pack of Oreos is a good way to finish the meal. I buy them at Costco but sometimes stores have them for $2 for the normal size pack.

Other cheap, easy meals: All-in-one-pot spaghetti and meat sauce, chili (chicken or beef), sub sandwiches, French dips in the crock pot (chuck roast is cheap), chicken pot pie using leftover cooked chicken, macaroni and cheese (add a little chopped ham if you want), homemade pizza or even supermarket pizza with a bagged salad, breakfast for dinner (many versions of this), a stir fry that is heavy on vegetables, chicken and rice...

[MAsped]

Tacos are quick and easy as you said! 3 pounds of meat at the very least, but 4 is better. The only other things you need at the least are:

- cheese
- lettuce
- tomatoes
- taco shells
- taco seasoning
- salsa/taco sauce

[lpt]

What about chicken spaghetti with a loaf of bread? It's easy to make and pretty cheap, too!

[slg]

These are all great ideas! I pinned your suggestions, PEPteach. Yum!

Here is a favorite from back in the day when I had teens at home. True, teenage boys are bottomless pits so maybe make a recipe and a half or a salad for the side dish. Teenagers' Delight is the name of it. Instead of two layers of the French fried dried onions, I would use a layer of tator tots before the toppings. Serve with ketchup.


https://www.familycookbookproject.co...casserole.html

[Lottalove]

Tator tot casserole with a pack of rolls... maybe?

It is relatively cheap and super filling. It's comfort food.

https://www.countryliving.com/food-d...tot-casserole/

As you can see, there are endless adaptations and recipes. We like the one with a later of frozen mixed veggies the best at our house. There are plenty without veggies as well.

[Ima Spedtcher]

I use this recipe for tacos, then I can feed all of us (including two teen boys) plus have leftovers only using one pound of meat.

[1956BD]

quiche
beans and cornbread
baked potatoes with fixings/ maybe broccoli and cheese
Ceasar salad with chicken
turkey with dressing
spaghetti with meat sauce
mac and cheese
egg salad sandwiches
pimento cheese sandwiches
homemade soup and bread

[MKat]

I had two sons and when I made tacos for the four of us during their teenage years 2 pounds was enough to give us leftovers. I always served beans too, which probably helped.

[Lottalove]

We always add a layer of drained, canned corn to our tacos--sometimes more often than beans. It is another layer of hot to help melt cheese and another texture and taste for a great mouth feel.

We love it and it stretches the meat a little farther as well.