Most traditional restaurant Chinese meals don't require much meat...

Fried rice requires several cups of frozen/cold cooked rice, a bit of sesame oil for flavoring, some chopped onion and a couple of scrambled eggs. Add some bits of beef or pork, maybe a few finely chopped shrimp and some soy sauce and you are set. Scallions give some color. Put just about anything in. Lots of recipes on the net.

Can take cheap steak and dice it up finely cook with some cumin and chile powder and make Tacos Al Carbon. Grille the steak bits in a cast iron fry pan. serve with some refried beans and spanish rice and tortillas with lettuce, chopped tomato, onion.

Red beans and rice, cook New Orleans Red Beans from dry down to almost a mush and add a link of Kielbasa or favorite sausage.

Using Brown Rice, organic short-grain, makes most beans into 100% protein. Serve brown rice instead of white and family gets all the nutrients lost when rice is "polished".

Eggs are cheap. Omelettes with diced sandwich ham, onion and slice of cheese are good protein.

Buy bulk rolled oats and add nuts and raisins for breakfast nutrition.

Can use Carnation evaporated milk, mixed w/.75 gal of water and get a gal of milk... Powdered milk is good w/sugar.

Yellow Grits, polenta, is tasty and good w/eggs & sausage or bacon. Cheap and hearty. Good for dinner too!

Peanut butter & honey on toast or with jelly, even maple syrup is a good protein rich breakfast.

Buy large value packs of fresh ground 80% beef and make your hamburger from scratch.

Buy bread at local bread co discount store.

I got 5pks of hamburger and hotdog buns for $5 yesterday. 2doz english muffins and loaf of organic wheat bread was another $5...

Lots of ways to save money on food. Stock up on sale items and build a pantry. Can buy bags of oats, corn, rice, and other grains at Feed Store. Just don't get "treated" stuff which is for farm planting.