Cheap meal ideas in Bittersweet

I need some cheap meal ideas. We feed 8, so anything that is cheap dosent really feel cheap ugh.
I got a pack of chicken, sketti sauce, plenty of noodles. Eggs although i dont eat many because i get a headache after eating store bought eggs ( but fresh im generally ok with....) Bread ( ugh) The only thing we splurge on is soda. And only because its 87 cents for a 2 liter at walmart. I skipped fresh foods this paycheck, so we are going to live on canned goods haha.
At least i have some chicken and steak ( leftovers) in the freezer. I freeze all my leftovers to use in the future. I like to make steak soup. Which is beef stew but because we BBQ our steaks, it gives it this smokey earthy flavor. I call it steak soup instead haha. Kids know the difference. I do have some burger, but its the last im going to have, Its 4 dollars a lb! Thats so expensive. Chicken was a dollar something a lb. Ugh i hate when money goes tight haha. The husband is all, you cant spend a thousand dollars on food this month. Me… Wut.... I normally spend 1200. So uh… wut..... haha. I mean we have a tiny bit of supplies/staples now. Seeing we have been in the house like 2 months. But its no where NEAR what i like to keep on hand. We wont starve. We can survive off of pancake batter if we need to lol. But it wont come to that. Just cant splurge on the things i normally do. Normally i spend a good 500 dollars on fresh produce a month. I bought bok choy, carrots and potatoes. Bok choy goes in all my soups and stews. Has no flavor but nutrients. Ive got a leek and a bunch of green onions regrowing in the window doing awesome. I harvested the bit of plants that i had outside, got like 6 peppers ( green and orange) And i can harvest my herb garden too. Got TONS of mint… Some dill, sage, rosemary, thyme. Problem is, i dont have the glass jars to store it! So its like crap, I can dry it all out but how can i store it. Im not sure how it will last in plastic baggies. Ill be saving my sauce jars. So thats two haha. Maybe the mint can fit.

Anyway, just rambling. I need to think of some verity in meals at least. Im super picky so i prob wont even eat it. But the kids would.