We love pesto at my house. It's flavorful and pretty kid friendly. But I understand it's not very allergy friendly. While my family doesn't personally have to deal with food allergies I know some of your families do. 

So a couple weeks ago I whipped up this spinach pesto with flaxseeds modifying this recipe from Chow. . It's budget-friendly because instead of basil it uses pesto and it's allergy friendly because instead of pine nuts there are flaxseeds.