Hi everyone!

One of the biggest challenges every homemaker faces is budgeting the family’s resources. The food and grocery budget remains to be a sizeable chunk of our monthly expenses and the reality is that we have to balance good nutrition and affordability of the meals if we want to stay financially on track.

I scoured my own recipes, as well as those that i have tried and bookmarked, plus some i have asked from my co-members in a cooking group and came up with a week’s worth of lunch or dinner Filipino recipes under 100 pesos that could feed a family of four.

1. Sweet and Spicy Tofu in Oyster Sauce — I have Sir Arjay Garcia Cayetano to thank for this yummy recipe that he shared to our group. It is actually the photo i used for the graphics of this specific post. According to him, you just fry the tofu cubes. Set them aside. Saute garlic and onion, add oyster sauce, and a cup of water, and bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste, plus chili flakes if you like it spicy. Add fried tofu and celery, then you are done! Last time i checked, tofu sells for about 35.00 to 40.00 per block, you may buy two blocks and everything is fair game! Thanks again Sir Arjay.

2. Tuna Penne Pasta — This is my go-to pasta for if we are in a hurry, we have unannounced visitors, or we are already running low on pantry and freezer supplies and have yet to shop for groceries. I wrote the recipe in an earlier post (click here). Two cans of tuna and half  kilo of pasta is enough for this recipe!

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You may also want to read:

• One Month P100.00 Weekly Filipino Budget Meal Plan Challenge
• Filipino Budget Ulam Ideas below 100 Pesos 2017 Edition
• Eight Filipino Recipes under P100.00 — 2016 Edition
• Ulam Baon Ideas for Kids Part 1
• Lunch Baon Ideas for Kids Part 2
• Seven ways to save on grocery shopping
• Filipino Lumpia Recipes under P100.00
• Ways to save on your Electric Bills
• Filipino Dessert Recipes under P100.00
• Happy Breakfasts that will cheer up your mornings
• Fried Rice Recipes under P100.00
• 10 Quick Meal Recipes
• Filipino Veggie Dishes under P100.00
• Meatless Meals for the family
• Filipino Soup recipes for breastfeeding mommies
• Past Weekly Meal Plans

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3. Banana heart patties — My friend G introduced me to this, and boy it tastes so yummy you’d think it is made of meat! My handsome and carnivorous laundryboy a.k.a man of the house, mistook it for my homemade hamburger patties. I used this recipe. A large banana burger can make up to 12 patties! left overs can even be eaten for meryenda or baon the next day. truly, Saging lang talaga ang may puso 🙂

4. Hearty Chicken Sopas —If you want to make a good meal out of this then do the works. You will just need about 250-350 grams of elbow macaroni, a small can of evaporated milk, two chicken cubes, medium carrot, celery (if you have some lying a around), a tablespoon of butter, and of course a small chicken breast. Here is my ultra-easy home recipe >> Just boil the chicken breast, flake it once it is cool to touch. Saute onion in a little bit of oil, add in the butter, add in the chicken, carrots, and then the crumbled chicken cubes. Add in the Macaroni shells. let it be coated by the juices of the ingredients in your pot. Add in the milk. Add in enough water. Add Salt to taste. Boil away. You may want to keep left overs in the fridge right away to keep it from spoiling.

5. Munggo Gisado with Yummy Chicharon —This is just your standard munggo gisado recipe, this time topped with a hefty portion of Lapid’s Chicharon. Yumminess!

6. Sardines with Misua — One of my ex-bosses just loves this ulam. Like so much that whenever our messenger has this for lunch, he cant help but be inggit, and ask him to bring some the next day, sabay abot ng money for ingredients! Super simple to cook, just saute your favorite tomato sardines in onion, garlic, and a bit of ginger if you want the fishy taste to go away. Squeeze in a bit of calamansi. add a cup or two of water, and a dash of soy sauce. Add in the misua. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle over steaming white rice!

7. Tofu or Tuna Sisig — If you will use tuna, you basically drain and flake the hot and spicy version. Saute onion and garlic, add the tuna, and slices of finger chilis, add a bit of calamansi juice, a bit of mayo and a dash of oyster sauce. Season with Knorr seasoning to suit your taste. Just sub tuna with fried tofu cubes, add in a bit more mayo. So yum!

So there you have it, if you wish to scour more cheap and cheerful recipes, you may want to check out this book of delightful Filipino Recipes which comes in both ebook form or hardcover.

Hope to hear from you soon, will incorporate this on our succeeding weekly meal plans to help you save on your future grocery expenses.

Please drop by my facebook page for feedbacks, comments or recipe suggestions 🙂

Leaving you with this video of Chef Boy Logro cooking one of my favorite veggie recipes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLACCveqEaA