Money tight food options

[Leomoon]

So for the next 15 days I will be tight on money as well I may have a new job after in a week (and I might need a second for a while at that.) I was simply wondering if any of you knew a way to make tasty meals on cheep scale, no more then $15. I am really tired of having fast food and my only options seem to be to buy a bunch of TV dinner or ramen, ramen and more ramen.

[ShoggMommy]

Here are some links:

 

http://www.onlinecollege.org/2009/10/13/100-delicious-dirt-cheap-recipes-for-the-starving-student/

http://www.allyou.com/food/supercheap-meals/cheap-recipes

http://greatist.com/health/surprising-healthy-microwave-recipes

 

In general fast food is more expensive if you eat out constantly. I say that as someone who often eats out because I don't have much time.

 

Perhaps some of those links will help above. You can also look into MREs not the tastiest but usually are cheap and are typical college student food.

[Winters Knight]

Here are some links:

 

http://www.onlinecollege.org/2009/10/13/100-delicious-dirt-cheap-recipes-for-the-starving-student/

http://www.allyou.com/food/supercheap-meals/cheap-recipes

http://greatist.com/health/surprising-healthy-microwave-recipes

 

In general fast food is more expensive if you eat out constantly. I say that as someone who often eats out because I don't have much time.

 

Perhaps some of those links will help above. You can also look into MREs not the tastiest but usually are cheap and are typical college student food.

Eh, I would avoid the MRE. Those things were designed for folks who would be burning off a LOT of calories in a relatively short amount of time. Super easy to get absolutely bloated after consuming those for a week in a non-combat situation.

 

Quick question: Do you own a crockpot? If not, it is an extraordinary investment, since you can make things like Eggdrop soup and something my GF calls "Poorman Sandwiches" for literally a few bucks and the meals can last a couple lunches/suppers especially for a single person. I can always hunt down her recipes when I get home tonight if you like.

[ShoggMommy]

Here are some links:

 

http://www.onlinecollege.org/2009/10/13/100-delicious-dirt-cheap-recipes-for-the-starving-student/

http://www.allyou.com/food/supercheap-meals/cheap-recipes

http://greatist.com/health/surprising-healthy-microwave-recipes

 

In general fast food is more expensive if you eat out constantly. I say that as someone who often eats out because I don't have much time.

 

Perhaps some of those links will help above. You can also look into MREs not the tastiest but usually are cheap and are typical college student food.

Eh, I would avoid the MRE. Those things were designed for folks who would be burning off a LOT of calories in a relatively short amount of time. Super easy to get absolutely bloated after consuming those for a week in a non-combat situation.

 

Quick question: Do you own a crockpot? If not, it is an extraordinary investment, since you can make things like Eggdrop soup and something my GF calls "Poorman Sandwiches" for literally a few bucks and the meals can last a couple lunches/suppers especially for a single person. I can always hunt down her recipes when I get home tonight if you like.

 

Yeah, but sometimes chef boyardee is what one can afford. It gets old eating them though. They aren't the healthiest but nor is ramen.

[Winters Knight]

Here are some links:

 

http://www.onlinecollege.org/2009/10/13/100-delicious-dirt-cheap-recipes-for-the-starving-student/

http://www.allyou.com/food/supercheap-meals/cheap-recipes

http://greatist.com/health/surprising-healthy-microwave-recipes

 

In general fast food is more expensive if you eat out constantly. I say that as someone who often eats out because I don't have much time.

 

Perhaps some of those links will help above. You can also look into MREs not the tastiest but usually are cheap and are typical college student food.

Eh, I would avoid the MRE. Those things were designed for folks who would be burning off a LOT of calories in a relatively short amount of time. Super easy to get absolutely bloated after consuming those for a week in a non-combat situation.

 

Quick question: Do you own a crockpot? If not, it is an extraordinary investment, since you can make things like Eggdrop soup and something my GF calls "Poorman Sandwiches" for literally a few bucks and the meals can last a couple lunches/suppers especially for a single person. I can always hunt down her recipes when I get home tonight if you like.

 

Yeah, but sometimes chef boyardee is what one can afford. It gets old eating them though. They aren't the healthiest but nor is ramen.

You got the Chef in your MRE? ... That's it, where does that old quartermaster live!?

[ShoggMommy]

You got the Chef in your MRE? ... That's it, where does that old quartermaster live!?

 

Lol not me, my dad had them and a friend who recently (few years ago) left the military, had them in theirs.

[Gegenji]

Back before they brought back Crunchy M&Ms (I think they did that recently, right?), the only way to get them after they stopped producing them commercially was through MREs. :lol:

 

And I totally understand the feeling about going out to eat a lot and subsiding on ramen and microwave dinners. That's... actually more or less my existence in a nutshell right now. Go out for lunch, come home and have something microwavable for dinner. I do keep a decent variety of microwavables, though: dinners, soups, chicken strips/patties, fish sticks, hot dogs/corn dogs. Mostly due to being completely unwilling to actually do full-on cooking after getting home from work.

 

It has not been too kind to my budget when every week or two I'm replacing a set of microwavable dinners that I tore through during the weekdays. :blush:

[Alothia]

Boom. A whole subreddit for cheap meals:  http://www.reddit.com/r/Cheap_Meals/

[Winters Knight]

Back before they brought back Crunchy M&Ms (I think they did that recently, right?), the only way to get them after they stopped producing them commercially was through MREs. :lol:

 

And I totally understand the feeling about going out to eat a lot and subsiding on ramen and microwave dinners. That's... actually more or less my existence in a nutshell right now. Go out for lunch, come home and have something microwavable for dinner. I do keep a decent variety of microwavables, though: dinners, soups, chicken strips/patties, fish sticks, hot dogs/corn dogs. Mostly due to being completely unwilling to actually do full-on cooking after getting home from work.

 

It has not been too kind to my budget when every week or two I'm replacing a set of microwavable dinners that I tore through during the weekdays. :blush:

I would give the crockpot a try Chacha. Toss something that sounds good in there, let sit while you go about your day, and then you come home to delicious, warm, and not microwaved food!

[Winters Knight]

Boom. A whole subreddit for cheap meals:  http://www.reddit.com/r/Cheap_Meals/

Oh god don't link anything to that site here. They might follow you back through to this side! Oh the Lenny faces, oh the humanity!

[Crossarchus]

If you're lazy like I am...

 

https://www.soylent.com/

[Caspar]

Sometimes it is fun to have pasta noodles with green onions, soy sauce and maybe whatever cheap vegetable you can find.

 

If you put a small amount of baking soda in the boiling water, it tastes like ramen. No, really.

[Aoi Fukiku]

Keep Eggs, Bread, and Milk in your house.

 

French toast

Toast and Eggs

Scrambled Eggs

Hard boiled eggs, etc...

 

They are cheap, fill you up, and will help the budget. I know, I lived an entire month on it when I needed to save up.

[Mae]

Are we looking at $15 for the rest of the week, or $15 per meal?

 

If we're looking at $15 for the week... well, you're in luck. I spent a few months feeding myself and my husband with a budget of $20 a week for the both of us.

 

First thing you wanna do, is identify where you can get stuff the cheapest. Super Walmarts are great when you're on a tight budget, but sometimes the regular grocery store has some items for cheaper. If you're in southern Maine, southern New Hampshire, or Massachusetts, Market Basket is your friend. I've been in a few Food Lion's in the south, and they weren't bad price-wise. King Soopers in Colorado was good on some items, not so good on others.

 

Anyways.

 

I'm going to assume that you have most typical seasonings/condiments and basic staples already at home, so I'm not going to list those.

 

-- A bag of standard store-brand rice. Walmart has them starting at $3, which will give you several days worth of something filling. They're just about the same price elsewhere.

-- Whole roasted chicken from the deli. Walmart has them during the day for around $8, my local Market Basket has them for $5. Check also the meat counters for uncooked, they might have whole uncooked chicken (but not the tiny Cornish hens) for even cheaper. You can also get bone-in chicken thighs for cheap.

-- Bagged mixed frozen veggies. Peas/corn/carrot/greenbean medley is probably the most versatile that you'll find. Chopped spinach and onions are also good. These tend to be about $1.50 at a Walmart, $1 at my local Market Basket.

-- Eggs are about $2 a 12-pack carton, a 6-pack is typically about $1, regardless of where you go.

 

Alright, so... if you managed to get the whole roasted chicken for a good price, when you get it home you want to butcher it down. Snip off any butcher's twine, peel back the skin, and just start picking away anything that looks and feels like meat. Toss half of the meat in one bag and refrigerate, toss the other half in the other bag and freeze. 

 

If you managed to get ahold of an uncooked whole chicken (or chicken thighs) for cheap, roast those off in the oven first. Sprinkle with salt and pepper before roasting if you wish, but don't worry about seasoning beyond that. Once they're cooked and cool enough to touch, do the same thing as above with the store-roasted chicken.

 

Once you got as much of the meat off the bones as you can you can, give the bones a quick chop with a knife (or crack them with a kitchen hammer), toss the bones, skin, and any retained juices into a large pot, cover with water, put on the lid, and set it to boil. Boil for about two hours, keep adding water to keep the chicken covered. After the two hours, spoon out a small amount of the broth into a small dish and allow to cool. If it gels up, you're done. If not, keep boiling and adding water. Once the bones are clean and the liquid gels, strain off the bones and any other solids, pour half in one container to refrigerate once cool, pour the other half in another and freeze.

 

So, what does this get you?

 

Depending on how many mouths you have to feed (and what else you have already around the house), you now have building blocks for a chicken soup, stew, psudo-chicken-fried-rice, chicken and rice, and rice omelettes.

 

Chicken and rice -- similar to chicken and dumplings or chicken and biscuits. 

-- Make a batch of rice (with plenty of extra). Take out the portion for what you're going to eat, season as you want (butter, salt, pepper), refrigerate the rest. 

-- Make a quick roux of flour and butter (or olive oil) in a pan. If you're cooking for yourself, 1 teaspoon butter/oil to 1 teaspoon flour will work. Add a pinch of salt, pepper (I'll also do garlic powder and paprika, but that's my tastes). Once the flour is cooked, add a few splashes of milk (or cream or half-and-half) and some of the gelled broth (about 1/4 cup) and cook until slightly thickened. Add a small handful of shredded chicken to heat through.

-- Pour sauce and chicken mixture over rice

 

Psudo fried rice -- 'Psudo' because purists will say this isn't real fried rice.

-- Reheat leftover rice in skillet or wok with some oil. Add a couple splashes of soy sauce, any seasonings that appeal to you, some of the frozen veggie medly, and some shredded chicken. If you want extra chicken flavor, put in a spoonful of the gelled broth.

-- Once everything is heated through, whisk up an egg or two. Push the rice mixture to the sides of the pan, add oil to the middle, and pour in the egg. Let the egg set up for a few moments before scrambling it a bit. Start mixing in the rice, toss/stir until egg is cooked and the rice is as 'fried' as you like it.

-- Reserve leftover fried rice for omelettes.

 

Psudo rice omelettes -- again, purists will say this isn't the real thing.

-- Whisk two eggs with a splash of cold water, a little bit of salt, and a little bit of pepper. Ground mustard powder, red pepper flakes, and dried basil or parsley can also be added to the egg mixture. In a hot, non-stick pan that has butter or a bit of oil already melted/heated in it, add the egg mixture and allow it to sit for a few seconds before gently stirring it a bit with a spatula. You're not looking to do a full scramble, you just want to move the already cooked egg around so more of the liquid can come in contact with the bottom of the pan.

-- Add some of the leftover fried rice (room temp) once the egg is mostly set. Fold over the edges, flip, and cook until the folds are cooked/sealed shut. Flip back over, continue to cook until the egg reaches the colour you like it.

-- Serve (hot sauce is good on this)

 

Chicken stew -- this is fairly forgiving, so you can literally go through your whole pantry and grab out anything you have kicking around that can pair with chicken and your seasoning choices.

-- If you have the chopped frozen onions (or if you have onions in general kicking around), add those to a pot with some oil or butter and cook for a few minutes. Sprinkle in some flour to make a roux. If you don't have the onions, just make the roux. You'll want about a 2 tablespoon flour to butter/oil batch for this. Once the roux is cooked, add a cup or so of the gelled broth, a cup of shredded chicken, and some water (or if you have it around, wine or beer). Bring everything up to a boil, season however you want.

-- At this point, you can start adding in whatever else you found around the kitchen. Mushrooms (dried, or canned), beans (if dried, re-hydrate first), canned veggies, canned tomatoes, canned meat (if you're into that... just be aware that this choice will return in a later meal), jerky that's been cut/shredded (this is surprisingly good), a potato, salsa...

-- Once everything is up to temp, add in some of the frozen veggie medley, and some of the frozen spinach (if you were able to get it). Bring everything up to temp, check seasonings again. 

-- If you have Bisquick (pancake/biscuit mix) or the staples to make drop biscuits, make up a small batch and drop that into the hot stew. Cover the pot, turn the heat down to where it'll continue to bubble but not burn, and allow the stew to steam the mix into drop dumplings. It only takes a few minutes

 

Pot pie -- made with leftover chicken stew

-- Take leftover stew, add enough chicken, veg medley, and gelled broth to cover the amount of portions you want to have. Heat gently; you just want things to be at the same temp. Pour into oven-safe dish.

-- Pie crust is made from basic kitchen staples; flour, cold water, butter (or shortening/lard), and a bit of salt. It's not as difficult to make as some sites might make it out to be, so don't despair. Make a batch of crust, roll it out, and place over the top of the mix in the oven-safe dish. Poke holes in the top, put dish on a baking sheet (because it might bubble over a bit), and bake until the crust is golden.

 

Chicken and rice soup -- the rice portion can also be subbed out for pasta shapes of your choice, barley, or re-hydrated beans. 

-- Bring some of the gelled broth, shredded chicken, and water to a boil. Add any seasonings, onions (if you have them), anything else you have around that might sound good, and a handful of rice. Cook until rice is tender, add in frozen veggie medley and heat until hot. 

 

What else can you do?

 

The leftover gelled broth can be used to add flavor to various dishes, turned into gravy, or used anywhere stock might be wanted. You can use it to cook your ramen noodles in instead of using the flavor packet, therefore reducing how much salt you're consuming. Or just drink a hot cup of it when you're feeling like you're getting a cold or sore throat.

 

The leftover chicken can be mixed with mayo or various dressings and be turned into sandwich or cracker spread. Melt some butter, add some herbs, and you can top pasta with it. Add it to ramen (add an egg and some of the frozen veg medley or spinach to the ramen, too). Or just nibble on it.

 

If you have the basic kitchen staples, you have ingredients for pancakes. This is the recipe I used. I also used it for savory biscuits, dumplings, and quick-breads.

 

--

 

Also, it might be a bit of a kick to your pride, but if you have a food bank/food pantry nearby, look into visiting one of those. The ones that were by where I was living when I was in money troubles allowed 'households with no children' to receive aid. We were limited to one trip a month and only for certain items, but it helped. I just needed ID to prove residency.  Just remember to give back to the bank/pantry when you get back on your feet!

[C'kayah Polaali]

All these recipe ideas are fantastic (especially Mae's), so I'll just chime in with the "learn to cook some simple meals" crowd. You didn't say if you knew how to cook, but it sounds like you might not. It's a lot easier than you think, and your food cost can go waaaaaay down! We don't really try to cook on a budget in my house, but it's not uncommon to get a nice dinner with meat, vegetables, and the like for well under $2 a person. If you buy foods specifically aiming towards inexpensive meals, you can easily eat for much less than this.

 

Hit me up on Skype, Leo, if you want to talk about this. I can point you at some cooking resources to get you started.

[Aya]

A bag of rice, some cheap fresh vegetables, and just a couple of spoonfuls of oil can make a very delicious meal.  It doesn't take much to be able to cook, really

[Tortles]

Oatmeal isn't exciting, but it's fairly cheap and does a good job at feeding you. I always make savory oatmeal with a little salt and pepper, and any herbs to taste. It ends up being pretty satisfying and can go a long way.

[Thorgar]

pedestrian with a touch of mad dog cooked for 4 hours is ok, dangerous to hunt but cheap. :angel:

 

slightly serious note, if you have the ability for hunting for food it will save you a TON of money.  about the only way I've kept my horde alive is with supplemental hunting. price for meat here has gotten stupid. 

 

now for store hunting if your store has a deli compare its rotisseri chicken with uncooked chicken.  if like here its cheaper to buy a whole cooked bird than a frozen one, you can use it as your protein and supplement with cheap mac and cheese, spiced to your liking and more filling than raman. 

 

also check the shopping in your area, look for a bread outlet store as they sell bread for cheap but its all fresh, just overruns from the factory. Also look for a butcher or meat shop as you can get ground meat a lot cheaper from them usually.    Also look for any slaughter houses in your area as when they screw up a cut you can get that meat for a LOT cheaper than you can at the store.

 

Last bit of advice, dont try to eat healthy, its too damn expensive lol.  an old staple is a 88 cent package of hotdogs two mac'n cheese boxes for 50 cents each and a small thing of season all or garlic salt for a buck or two.  easy dinner right there.

[Aya]

now for store hunting if your store has a deli compare its rotisseri chicken with uncooked chicken.  if like here its cheaper to buy a whole cooked bird than a frozen one, you can use it as your protein and supplement with cheap mac and cheese, spiced to your liking and more filling than raman. 

You can also boil the bones down to make broth which is nutritious and delicious for preparing soup, making better ramen, or pretty much anything else.

[Thorgar]

now for store hunting if your store has a deli compare its rotisseri chicken with uncooked chicken.  if like here its cheaper to buy a whole cooked bird than a frozen one, you can use it as your protein and supplement with cheap mac and cheese, spiced to your liking and more filling than raman. 

You can also boil the bones down to make broth which is nutritious and delicious for preparing soup, making better ramen, or pretty much anything else.

 

hmm forget that sometimes, i use the bones for making blade and gun handles and sell those on the side.

[Tortles]

now for store hunting if your store has a deli compare its rotisseri chicken with uncooked chicken.  if like here its cheaper to buy a whole cooked bird than a frozen one, you can use it as your protein and supplement with cheap mac and cheese, spiced to your liking and more filling than raman. 

You can also boil the bones down to make broth which is nutritious and delicious for preparing soup, making better ramen, or pretty much anything else.

 

The power of broth.

 

Roast a whole chicken, feed off of it for several meals. Pick the carcass apart, saving any remnants of meat that you couldn't reach before. Make a stock out of the bones (I put in bones, cartilage, the chicken juice, and a little skin, but not all. I try to include some of the fatty parts to make the soup a little ... fattier, but too much will make it too fatty. Depends on your taste).

 

With said stock, I'll usually crockpot a soup with whatever vegetables I have and the remnants of chicken I picked out from the carcass. Rice can be a nice additive to this as well. There are plenty of good stock and soup recipes online.