What is your favorite "poor mans meal?"
By chelsgrrl69
@chelsgrrl69 (382)
United States
December 13, 2009 2:04pm CST
Sometimes, when we have not been grocery shopping or do not have the money for a whole lot of groceries to last for two weeks [between paychecks] we will have to look in the kitchen and throw some random meals together.
It sounds weird, but sometimes we have come up with some interesting dishes that we end up making again and again because they are so good [even when we have a lot of food]
For instance, we did not have really any food items to make a whole meal. So we cooked some tater tots in the oven and put some browned hamburger meat over the top and melted cheese on top. I dipped them in some ranch dressing and it was AWESOME!
[but verrrry unhealthy lol]
Do you and your family ever make poor mans meals where you just throw ingredients together? What do you make?
4 people like this
20 responses
@Netsbridge (3253)
• United States
13 Dec 09
My favorites are peanut butter sandwich and beef stew!
1 person likes this
@chelsgrrl69 (382)
• United States
13 Dec 09
beef stew is really really good. and you can get it premade in a can for cheap. [especially if you go to a scratch and dent store to buy]
Peanut butter is really good. I love to eat it with a spoon or melt it on ice cream.. MMMMm :)
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
13 Dec 09
beef stew made with left over roast beef, and carrots, onions, and green pepper cooked with it is not expensive and tastes better than the c anned stuff really.
@chelsgrrl69 (382)
• United States
14 Dec 09
mmm..grilled cheese! have not had one in a good lil minute! =]
@prettypinkbug (437)
• United States
14 Dec 09
If I had to choose one thing that is our poor man's meal it would be Ramen even though my kids would eat it any time. I do alot of cooking at home, and make meals for very little anyway. Spaghetti is also a poor man's meal for us because we always have sauce and noodles in the pantry.
@chelsgrrl69 (382)
• United States
15 Dec 09
HAHA, I was just about to go make me some now! I LOVE ramen noodles. They are like the ONLY food that is so cheap and you could literally eat it every day. They sell it at some stores like .15 each. WHAT A DEAL!
@speedlover1994 (217)
• United States
14 Dec 09
Well this might not be a poor man's meal as much as a late night meal, but fried egg sandwiches are DELICIOUS! Toast some rye bread, fry an egg and throw some cheese and maybe some meat or anything else you want, put it all together, and throw it in the toaster until the cheese is nice and melter. SO GOOD! I also really like making quesadillas. Some cheese, some onions and maybe peppers cooked in olive oil, all in between two browned tortillas, and voila, dinner lol. Cheers!
@chelsgrrl69 (382)
• United States
15 Dec 09
LOL, my boyfriend loves those. I always mix and match the toppings and they are great for late night munchies :D
@thewayis (646)
• Bulgaria
13 Dec 09
I have a favourite "poor mans meal" and I always keep the ingredients in my kitchen. I make pasta with butter and cheese. These are the things that i always have in my kitchen and I can make my favourite meal in 30 minutes just using the leftovers of my fridge :)
The othre thing is just a slice of bread, butter and cheese for 30sek in the microwave :)
@chelsgrrl69 (382)
• United States
14 Dec 09
I have actually done that one! It is yummy! butter is good on pretty much everything! :)
@Turn_on (23)
• Indonesia
14 Dec 09
My favorite "poor mans meal" is noodle called "indomie goreng". It was the most easiest and cheapest meal that can meet my minimum taste when I'm broke. We love to eat noodle not only when we broke, but also when we don't have meal and in such a hurry that we don't have a time to cook.
It was so easy to make Indomie noodles. When you unpacked it, you will got the noodles and the seasons. Just use hot water to boil it for 3 minutes and after that stir the noodle then place it in the plate and mix it with the seasons. If you have "little money".
@chelsgrrl69 (382)
• United States
15 Dec 09
Yes, that is kind of like Ramen noodles in the US. It is exactly how you described. :)
@denjac74 (7)
• United States
14 Dec 09
Wow, I am getting hungry just thing about this one, but my mom taught me how to make something called Goolaush... not sure if the spelling is correct. I am in the south and I think it originated in Lousiana. It's ground beef, tomatoe paste, diced tomatoes, corn, okra and a slew of spices. I pick out the okra cause I can't stand the texture, but other than that its really good. It costs about 15 dollars to make, maybe less depending on how much the meat costs. The rest of the ingredients are fairly cheap. It feels you up and goes great with some cornbread if that's handy! Plus you can freeze and thaw it out at a later date and have the left overs.
@callarse1 (4783)
• United States
14 Dec 09
I think you meant "Fast and easy meal" right?
Here are some things we have done (we usually have the ingredients around so it's pretty easy:)
1) Ramen noodles : sometimes we'll add cheese. You can also add hot sauce, too.
2) Peanut Butter & Jelly/Jam.
3) Nutella (Hazel nut spread)
4) Spaghetti and meat (we usually use ground turkey)
5) Ham or Turkey (we usually will buy these when they are discounted after the various holidays such as Thanksgiving or Christmas)
6) Ham & cheese sandwich
7) Macaroni & Cheese
8) Bread, Pizza Sauce, and Cheese
Your ideas are great! :D
@xfahctor (14118)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
13 Dec 09
He he, I'm a poor man, I eat nothing BUT poor man meals...lol. Well, thats not entirely true, if nothing else, I mostly eat good, but there are still plenty of times like you describe. So, one of mine is called "campfire stew" it is basicly a can of unconstituted vegatable soup, browned hamburger, sometimes with dumplings cooked on top of it. Shepards pie is good broke food too. My mother used to make little pizza's out of english muffins, sause and what ever chease we may have had at the time. You can make an amazingly yummy hash from fried potatos and left over keilbasa or ham.
@chelsgrrl69 (382)
• United States
13 Dec 09
MMMM.. makes me hungry! sometimes poor man meals can be soooo good! The english muffin pizzas sound good. I just made Sheppards pie the other day as a matter of fact. [but I didnt mash the potatoes,just left them in chunks]
Thanks for sharing! you contributed some great ideas. :)
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
13 Dec 09
hi chelsgrrl69 when I did my own cooking, I often made my
favorite spaghetti, barollis spaghetti plus, it had added
protein and omegas 3 and 6 and tastes utterly delicious with
barollis tomato sauce with basil and garlic and added oregano
and meat balls italian style, frozen and always kept on hand as needed. This makes a delicious dinner for someone like me who loved Italian food. its cheap and easy to prepare and stays with you.
@chelsgrrl69 (382)
• United States
13 Dec 09
Hi Hatley.
Yes, it is very important that a meal stays with you because there is no point if you will be hungry in an hour. Frozen meals are great for large families. You can make them for the whole week and freeze them. Then just reheat when you are ready to use.
Any thing that is cheap and easy to prepare is great for me. Thanks for your response :)
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
18 Dec 09
My favourite 'poor man's meal' is a soup made from whatever I can find. The base is onions, diced bacon and tomatoes, and then I add potatoes and other vegetables, either fresh, frozen or canned. Towards the end of cooking, I grate a small potato into the soup, and this thickens it up, so it's nice and hearty and filling, and it certainly doesn't taste like a 'poor man's meal.' Another favourite is jacket potato with baked beens and melted cheese.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
18 Dec 09
These aren't meals that I will just throw together from whatever I can not afford to get to the grocery store, but rather meals that are made with intention from staples that we always have in the house. If we end up using all of one of these staples during our dry period, I will immediately replace them when I make it to the store again. These meals that I will make are soup beans and corn bread (a real family favorite). Grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup. French toast and whatever meat I can find in the house.
@xiaxin728 (85)
• China
14 Dec 09
hello,chelsgrr,i think it's good taste ,we're seldom did like this ,when i can't get enough food ,i'll get fast food ,or cook noodles for myself.
@cripfemme (7698)
• United States
14 Dec 09
I like pasta. It's a dollar a box and a box will last you three or four meals. You can usually also afford sauce or at least oil, plus whatever vegetables you have in the sink. It's not ideal, but it works. I also like rice and beans. I'm very good at living on 84 cents a day in the food budget if I have to. I think this is also due to my attitude toward food which is mostly just shove whatever down my throat, so I can get to work. I know food is very important to some people just not to me.
@froggieslover (3069)
• United States
14 Dec 09
This is a great disussion to have Hehehe..even if your not poor who could atleast have some meals to save money?
My family likes to have chili dogs, buttered noodles or bean casserole whn we are getting low on cash.
There are times though too when we have the money and good food in the cupboard and still decided to have some of our" poor man foods" just because we have a taste for it.
Your tater tot idea sounds good..do the tots crumble though when you go to mix the burger and cheese in with them or do you just let them sit on the top and don't mix it?
@agv0419 (3022)
• Philippines
14 Dec 09
Here in the Philippines the poor man's meal here are noodles and sardines because these food are cheap and convenient. It is very hard to be picky when you don't have money to spend for food. I eat anything that my mother prepares for us even if I don't like the food she was preparing but I don't have a choice and it is also a blessing that we can able to eat 3 times a day.
