looking for suggestions for cheap family dinner meals for my family and my parents. we eat together every sinday night. One week we cook and they do desert, the next week we flip.

we also try different things on sundays - like our sushi adventure! but whatever the meal is it needs to serve 2 grown men, a growing boy 2 other adults and a toddler - 6 ppl total, 4 adults

This is not an instant fix, but we buy whole turkeys whenever they are on super sale and freeze them to use for special dinners or having friends over. E.g., dh just got one (fresh not frozen so we ate it this weekend) for 79c/lb. Serve up with some mashed potatoes, green beans and a salad, and it's a festive meal. We make gravy with the neck, thicken w/cornstarch (we're gluten free).

Taco bar w/beans and seasoned ground beef is another favorite around here. Everyone can make their own...you can get as fancy as you like with whatever you have on hand.

Beef stew is another "special" dinner we do - serve it up with a loaf of crusty no-knead artisan-like bread (google no knead bread and you will find it, it was also on the boards here, this was before we were GF!) and you have a delicious and very filling meal.

Are you looking for super healthy or organic or just normal american type of fare?

This is a super easy and inexpensive soup I have made often for gatherings. Everyone loves it.

Slow Cooker Beef Vegetable Soup - Allrecipes (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooker-Beef-Vegetable-Soup/Detail.aspx)

We also do spaghetti and just brown a bit of ground beef instead of going through the expense and time of making meatballs.

roast chicken with mashed potatoes, dressing, corn, carrots, rolls, and cranberries (then chicken and dumplings the next night)

roast a chicken with rice and green veggies on the side and then have chicken noodle soup the next night

corned beef and cabbage with leftover beef turned into rueben sandwiches the next night, topped with cole slaw or sauerkraut

enchilada casserole or mexican lasagna

shredded chicken, carnitas (pork), or beef used for tacos, enchiladas, or burritos with beans and rice

When the weather warms up, we grill almost every Sunday. It keeps the kitchen clean, for the most part, and we have leftover grilled veggies in sandwiches with crusty bread or tossed in pasta salad the next day (or quinoa salad or couscous salad)

We have pizza fridays. They are really cheap. One thing of mozerlla cheese is two pizzas. It's abot $7. Then I put on the veggie one whatever we have on hand (last week it was half a onion that I had left over from chili, saute'd until carmalized, fresh tomato sliced, and a can of sliced olives) and the other is just pepperoni or cheese. The dough costs about $.15 to make. lol... I love it, and it is a fun way to have everyone chip in with their ideas about what we can do.

Val