Cooking on a budget?
By coffeeshot
@coffeeshot (3783)
Australia
February 1, 2007 8:20am CST
My boyfriend and I have jus moved into our own place and sometimes we don't have much to spend on groceries. Quite often we just end up having toasted sandwiches or meat pies for dinner.
Does anyone have an suggestions on how to make decent tasting meals for cheap?
1 person likes this
3 responses
@shangsyndrome (814)
• Philippines
2 Feb 07
the cheapest i can suggest are omelettes.. you can just add anything to the egg. its filling & healthy :)
1 person likes this
@brimia (6581)
• United States
1 Feb 07
One of the cheapest meals I make is veggie stirfry. My grocery store always has bags of different frozen mixed veggies for $1. I just saute them in a little oil and soy sauce and serve it over rice which you can get for around $1 a bag and has many servings.
I also like to make beans and rice using dried beans that come in bags. These are much cheaper than the cans but take longer to cook. (I cook big batches of beans and rice separately and use them for different things) You can add a little canned tomato and whatever seasonings you like.
Stews can be very cheap too by throwing together any dry beans or lentils along with frozen veggies, water, and lots of seasonings.
You can also puree the cooked beans (or leave whole) and make bean burritos with some inexpensive tortillas.
Pasta is always cheap. A box is around $1. Just add some tomatoes from a can or olive oil, garlic, and salt.
Hope these help. Try experimenting and good luck to you.
@vamphyri (3)
• United States
1 Feb 07
When we have to eat cheaper I make vegetable stir fries like someone else mentioned with frozen vegetables. I make pizza dough (very cheap compared to store bought dough) and make pizzas with whatever leftovers we have in the fridge and cupboard. Soups can also be pretty cheap meals. I would sometimes take a pound of ground beef, a can of green beans, a can of tomato sauce and a half onion diced up. cook it all together with pepper and salt to taste and its a healthier version of hambuger helper. cost is almost the same as hamburger helper, but it doesn't have all the preservatives and artificial stuff.
@scarywhitegirl (2766)
• United States
20 Jun 07
Rice, beans, potatoes, and eggs are all fairly cheap staple foods, to which you can add a variety of spices and other foods to make interesting meals. I have a friend here in the States who went for an entire month only spending $30 for his food, and those four things were his main staples. He said it was a fairly boring month, but he ate reasonably well, and definitely cheaply!
