A lot of times I hear people use the excuse that they don't know how to cook their own meals, so they end up with convenience food or ordering out. Listen up, y'all - here are two super simple meals (and fairly cheap too).

Here's what we had for dinner tonight: (1 hour prep time total - very little hands-on time)
3-5 pieces of beef, pork, chicken, whatever - brown in oil on both sides.
Combine one small can of tomato paste with a can of liquid (water, broth, etc.) and pour over the meat in the pan/electric skillet/whatever you cook in. Simmer - check to see that the liquid does not get too low - add more if needed.
When you have about a half hour before dinner, throw in some potatoes, carrots, peppers, onion, whatever (cut in chunks).
When you have 15 minutes left, throw in some chopped zucchini, squash, shredded cabbage, etc.
Tonight I used 3 pork chops, one potato, one carrot, 1/4 green pepper, 1/2 onion, 1/2 yellow squash, 1/2 zucchini, shredded cabbage. I used tomato paste, water, and liquid smoke (just a drop) for the sauce. I also threw in some "gourmet Italian seasoning" that was given to us in a gift box. It was delicious The squashes, peppers, and cabbage were grown by us, so no cost. The price of one potato and one carrot is neglible. It fed two adults and two children (who admittedly both ate like birds), with one serving leftover.

Second recipe - from Recipezaar #89204 "Crockpot Chicken W/ Blackbeans and Cream Cheese...yum!" (I'm not just saying that - it's the name of the recipe!)
Put 4-5 frozen chicken breasts in the bottom of a crockpot (finally - a recipe I don't have to defrost for!). Add 1 can black beans (drained), 1 can corn, 1 jar salsa. Cook on high 4-5 hours (until chicken is done). Throw a block of cream cheese on top in the last half hour of cooking. Stir to combine and serve (over rice or noodles, if you want).
We used homemade salsa from the garden and home grown frozen corn. We buy canned beans for about $.50/can. I also cut the cream cheese in half because an entire block sounded like a lot. This fed three adults and three kids for dinner with one serving leftover.

Ok, just wanted to share those culinary experiences. I realize not everyone has the luxury of being able to have a garden, so costs might be a little more than I have quoted. But I just wanted to give a share these two recipes that I thought were outstanding, very easy to make, and economical to boot. The first recipe is very versatile and can be altered to use up whatever you have in your fridge.