Tuna pasta salad. One can of tuna and about 1/4 cup of mayo can cover a pretty big bag of pasta. Season it up a little with your favorite seasonings and you've got a pretty good-sized meal.
If the kids will eat chili, that's another one that goes a long way. My personal quick-and-dirty recipe is: 1 lb ground beef, browned and drained; 2 cans diced tomatoes (including liquid), 1 can kidney beans & 1 can black beans (both drained and rinsed), 1 can chili beans (including liquid). Add some garlic (powdered, fresh, or pre-crushed and preserved in oil), maybe an onion, and a little chili powder, and let it simmer for a couple of hours. It's even cheaper if you use dried beans; just make sure they're thoroughly rehydrated and softened before you mix it together, because otherwise they'll toughen up. (I am absolute crap at dried beans, so I go with canned, even though it's more expensive.)
Split pea soup: I use a small pre-packaged ham steak diced into small chunks, water and chicken bouillon cubes, carrots and onions (and potatoes, if you want) to taste, and 2-3 bags of split peas. Simmer for a couple of hours. I use an immersion blender at this point, but you don't have to.
Faux goulash (aka what was in the cupboards): pasta, leftover spaghetti sauce, can of corn (drained), diced bell pepper and onion and mushrooms, leftover ground beef. Sprinkled with cheese.
Pseudo fried rice: a good way to use up leftover steamed rice. Just fry it in a pan with a little olive oil and (low sodium for me) soy sauce. You can toss in small amounts of leftover meats (rotochicken bits, like cesperanza was talking about, for instance) or whatever else sounds good. I'm fond of onions and mushrooms, personally.
Speaking of rice, I've got a recipe around here for "breakfast rice" that's really tasty. I'll see if I can find it and post it later.
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If the kids will eat chili, that's another one that goes a long way. My personal quick-and-dirty recipe is: 1 lb ground beef, browned and drained; 2 cans diced tomatoes (including liquid), 1 can kidney beans & 1 can black beans (both drained and rinsed), 1 can chili beans (including liquid). Add some garlic (powdered, fresh, or pre-crushed and preserved in oil), maybe an onion, and a little chili powder, and let it simmer for a couple of hours. It's even cheaper if you use dried beans; just make sure they're thoroughly rehydrated and softened before you mix it together, because otherwise they'll toughen up. (I am absolute crap at dried beans, so I go with canned, even though it's more expensive.)
Split pea soup: I use a small pre-packaged ham steak diced into small chunks, water and chicken bouillon cubes, carrots and onions (and potatoes, if you want) to taste, and 2-3 bags of split peas. Simmer for a couple of hours. I use an immersion blender at this point, but you don't have to.
Faux goulash (aka what was in the cupboards): pasta, leftover spaghetti sauce, can of corn (drained), diced bell pepper and onion and mushrooms, leftover ground beef. Sprinkled with cheese.
Pseudo fried rice: a good way to use up leftover steamed rice. Just fry it in a pan with a little olive oil and (low sodium for me) soy sauce. You can toss in small amounts of leftover meats (rotochicken bits, like
Speaking of rice, I've got a recipe around here for "breakfast rice" that's really tasty. I'll see if I can find it and post it later.