Eating on a tight budget

When I first got married and was really broke we ate a LOT of rice and eggs.   Theres a lot you can do with rice.  Im sort of drawing a blank at the moment of what we did with it, but we got pretty creative. 

 Thats part of my plan now!  I love rice so I have quite a bit already. The recipe I have for cubed steaks would be really good over rice so I'm adding that instead of the mashed potatoes it says to serve on the side.  I'm also adding a few more veggies to some of the recipes to make them go further.  For sometime like chicken and noodles or a chicken casserole, I'm going to buy a whole chicken and cut it up instead of buying breasts like I normally would.  Its quite a bit cheaper to do that.

I will share a place that I use when things are really tuff. You have to order a few weeks in advance and the food is not the named brand stuff. But it is food, and it's cheap enough and if your creative you can work with it.

For the longest time this was $25.00 a box, it has just recently went to $30.00 a box, but for it's value, there is really nothing else like it.

I hope you can find a place near you if it looks like something you could do.

http://www.angelfoodministries.com/

chili (ground beef, tomato/tomato sauce, chili beans, some spice and you're good)

ground beef, small can of tomato sauce, half can water, can of minute rice, diced peppers/onions -- saute til water is absorbed YUM

I hate canned soup, I love my own home-made soup/stew.  I especially love split pea soup but I make it with saute'd ground beef instead of ham (whole different flavor). 

Grilled cheese sandwiches.  Tomato Sandwiches (I can almost live on tomato sandwiches -- dunno why but it's always my favorite poor food)

1/4 chicken in a pie tin.  Pour over a can of green beans. Salt*Pepper to taste.  cover with tin foil and bake at 350 for half an hour.  Yum. Quarter a white potato and put around the edges -- super yum - bake a bit longer.

If you have a freezer, cooking a big pot of something like chili, beef stew, lasagne -- then freeze it in portions.  It saves time, you can cook in a bit of quantity and still have it last, and it reheats great. 

A small box of powdered milk -- it's not great to drink but you can use it in all kinds of recipes to add protein and richness and keep it cheap. 

If you can find veggie stands or bodegas you can often offer them a bit less fo the last couple of something that aren't super attractive but still are fine.  Those are the veggies to cut up into that stew.

Some saute'd ground beef in powdered mac/n/cheese -- it kicks it up a notch to darned tasty.

Truley

I will share a place that I use when things are really tuff. You have to order a few weeks in advance and the food is not the named brand stuff. But it is food, and it's cheap enough and if your creative you can work with it.

For the longest time this was $25.00 a box, it has just recently went to $30.00 a box, but for it's value, there is really nothing else like it.

I hope you can find a place near you if it looks like something you could do.

http://www.angelfoodministries.com/

I've done this before, and its a really good deal.  I'll have to look and see if I missed the December one already. 

 I'm a big fan of roasts. A lot of times with meat you're paying for them to cut it up all fancy-like for you. A lot of times you can get great deals on things like a whole chicken, or a turkey, or a tough cut of meat that needs to be cooked forever to make it tender. Something like a roasted chicken can be great because then you have leftovers for quite a while and can use the bones for soup. Plus, roasting vegetables like potatoes and carrots are usually reasonably priced.

I've had a lot of success with cooking up large batches of things like chili or stew and then freezing them. That way you can often get bulk shopping discounts and you don't have to try to cook nearly so often.

My local Chinese market also has much better prices than my local Albertson's or Ralph's. You might try looking around to see if there are any non-big-chain supermarkets around, and they might be more reasonably priced. 

I sometimes make a rice and lentil soup. Just chop veggies such as onion, celery, carrot and add to rice, lentils and fresh or canned tomatoes. Season with curry or mexican spices. Freeze some for next month.

A whole baked chicken  would last me several days when I was single. A couple of meals with chicken, potatoes & veggies, then meat for sandwiches and enough meat left on the carcess to make a pot of soup. Chicken thighs are often inexpensive and full of flavor. When you buy bread, freeze it and just take out a few slices at a time.

Scrambled eggs with sauteed veggies are good, especially with toast.

With the ground beef, you could make a pan of lasagne, the only ingredient that costs more is the beef, and that lasts my family of 5 over a week!

If you have rice and veggies, you can make fried rice, just sautee the veggies will the rice cooks, then add the rice to the frying pan, add soy sauce, heat and mix the veggies and rice together and voila!

pasta is really cheap too.  If you make pasta sauce you can freeze it and use it forever.  In addition you can buy pasta for cheap usually at the supermarket.  I like soy milk because it doesn't go bad and ends up being cheaper for me in the long run.  Anytime you see something on sale that is freezeable buy a bunch. 

Fried rice is quite tasty, and you can add different ingredients to give it different tastes. Pasta is tasty, gives you leftovers for a few days, and you can have different sauces. I second the chili idea. I like soup, but I like soups like cheddar broccoli..which are thicker. The bakery at the store here has small bread bowls for under a dollar, so combining that with some thick soup and you have a lovely meal.  If you can find reasonable produce, I love things like grilled or baked veggies, with various seasonings.

Flank steak or London Broil can sometimes be really cheap, especially if it's on sale. You can marinate it and use it for fajitas or the main course with some roasted potatoes and veggies.  You can freeze small portions of it and then add it to an omelet for some added flavor.

I learned to be a savvy shopper when I was young and poor and still shop that way today. I buy lots of stuff when it's buy one/get one free. That's not a great idea if it's perishable, but if it's a staple, then it's a great way to stock up your shelves.

My favorite meal when I was single and broke is still a favorite of mine today. I buy fat free refried beans (salsa spiced are best). I heat those up, heat up a couple flour tortillas, add some shredded cheese, lettuce, diced tomato and hot sauce and I'm in heaven. Total cost is probably $2-$3 and it's yummy

I usually make Chicken and Dumplings after a few meals on a chicken roast. 

I like dirty rice, and black beans/rice. 

I love to eat breakfast - any time of day. 

I can make a meal out of a sweet potato. maybe with some veggie.

chicken breast cooked with cream of mushroom soup served over rice.

Eggs are a great cheap protein and when I eat them I am not hungry for a long time.  There are so many varieties of beans, (pinto, navy, black, kidney, etc.) that can be used in many recipes and also keep you full.

Great thread!  It's given me a lot of good ideas. :)  I tend to revert to rice, a bag of stirfry veggies, and cheese for quick, cheap meals.  I make enough for 2-3 nights and vary the veggie mix I use each time.  Walmart has great bags of stirfry veggies, one with sugar peas, one with asparagus, and one with broccoli. 

 I also do the tortilla idea above a lot as well - a can or refried beans lasts forever. :)