What is your favorite frugal meal?

I love soup, since you can make it with just about anything. I'm also a big fan of potatoes as the central part of the meal every now and then. But my absolute favorite cheap meal is something my mom used to make when we were kids. Eggs n Taters. It's 1 medium-large potato per person, cut up (not so much diced as randomly sliced) into a pan and cooked until fork tender (and perhaps a little browned) and 3 eggs for every 2 people beaten and stirred in. Just cook it till the eggs are set and you have breakfast, lunch or dinner. A little salt and pepper... maybe a little ketchup if you're in a nostalgic mood... it's delish.

in the winter we eat quite a few frugal meals. i really like beef and barley soup (i can get the bones for under $2- at the butchers) so its just the barley, potatoes and carrots, we also make homemade pancakes and pasta is another favourite.

I think soup and toast is my frugal mean or anything with potatoes with the quick gravies that one can buy in the supermarkets these days...

In the winter I make a huge pot of chili with a can or two of black beans, kidney beans or mixed beans, tomatoes, onions and peppers and a package of TVP or 1/2 TVP and 1/2 ground beef. I freeze some of it for another meal. I serve some with gherkins, grated mozzarella and low fat sour cream and whole grain buns or brown rice. In the summer I boil up about 2 pounds of smallish potatoes, make a potato salad just with low fat Italian Dressing, garnish it with bacon bits and green onions, I serve it cold with hard boiled eggs, thickly sliced tomatoes, a green salad and some foccacia bread or some foccacia bread that I bake myself from ready made whole wheat pizza dough. My family loves this cold meal on a hot day.

My favourite cheap and quick meal would be rice, boiled and mashed potatoes with butter, boiled egg, salt and chillies to go with. OK, I can leave out the egg too, but the other ingredients are always there in stock. Rice is a staple and potato goes with almost anything so I always stock it. If I am in a little more better condition, I’ll add pulses to the rice and mixture, some spices and onions and make it into a khichdi (a very nutritious, porridge-like consistency dish, quick, spicy and tasty).

Lately I've really been enjoying what i call a noodle bowl. You take a pack of ramen noodles/ichaban noodles...cook them up without the seasoning drain. While the noodles are cooking steam some veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots) and make a sauce (add a tsp of cornstarch to the seasoning and 1/4 cup of water and heat - sometimes need a bit more water) Chop up left over chicken from a previous meal Place the chick, veggies and sauce on the noodles in a bowl. You can divide it into several bowls however i find rewarming it isnt the yummiest so its best to feed to a couple peeople rather than just one person.

Mostly meals made out of veggies from the garden + leftovers, are our most frugal meals. It looks gourmet, but really it's just us being creative.

I remember back in my frugal days, I used to just eat some peanuts for lunch or dinner. Those were the days of my great depression. But hey out here from where I am, specially in times of crisis, I feel that eating is a matter of survival and not luxury. I'd do it again if necessary for survival. Cheers!

Hamburger use to be the cheapest meat going out there. I would always buy large packages of hamburger and divide them up and use them for different meals. Favorites of my kids include tacos (use kidney beans or rice to stretch the meat), sloppy joes and spaghetti with meat sauce. Vegetable beef soup is also a big winner at out house.