Pink Poogle Toy Forum

Hey all.
I'm in a bit of a budget crunch for December. And I have 3 weeks to live on 100 bucks. Now I know thats not so bad to you, but to me, thats terrifying. I like lots of yummy food.
Thusly. I need cheap, but yummy food ideas to help me last it out. Any tips... anything.

Ramen is always good for a budget

I should've mentioned that ramen is bad for me.
Things with too much salt or too much white flour is a big no no in my life.
Ramens both.

Could try hobo stew <.<

It's basically just throwing random meat in vegetables in a pot with some water and boiling it all together. It's surprisingly good with some cheap beef or ham, potatoes, carrots, onions, and corn on the cob. I remember a few years ago making a full garbage can that fed around 100 people for probably about $100 if I remember correctly.

does pasta have flour and stuff in it? as pasta and tomato sauces are nice and cheap - as personally i dont think there's much difference between the really cheap tinned tomatoes and the expensive ones, and if you want to splash out on some meat you can put lots of types in a tomato sauce.

Yay for eating on a budget! Here are some ideas off the top of my head:

Pasta. It's cheap, makes a lot, goes with almost anything and you can get wheat varieties. Rice. Same versatility. Potatoes. Yum. Beans.

Hard boiled eggs and things made with eggs (like egg drop soup, deviled eggs and egg salad) are fairly cheap.

For the meats:

Tuna anything.

Stew meat. Usually pretty cheap compared to other cuts; get some potatoes and carrots and cook it up.

Another relatively cheap idea is instead of ground hamburger, use ground turkey (usually cheaper and healthier, and tastes close to the same, particularly in a sauce). Get a pound, make a burger or two one night and cook up the rest to throw in spaghetti sauce the next.

Sandwiches are always a good choice when you're going cheap and they can be really good if you make them right.

Hot dogs and polish sausages are also a pretty good deal, and they generally come in multiple packages, which means multiple meals.

Chicken breasts. I usually get it when it's on sale, and if it's packaged with more than one together I open it and put each breast in a separate ziplock bag before freezing (so I don't have to use all of them at once or within a short time of each other). Cut up a chicken breast and throw it in stir-fry with rice or wrap in corn tortillas with some cheese, tomatoes and cheap canned enchilada sauce.

What kinds of foods do you like?

~ Jennifer

Campbell soups are usually on sale regularly. Pick up a few cans and they can last you for a while.

If you are a fish fan, cat fish is regularly cheap, but it gets boring after a time. It can be used in many dishes though. (I am just sick of it after my step-dad got it for many weeks in a row). Other cheap fish can be used for good meals too.

Stay away from frozen meals and other foods, mostly because they are a waste of money for empty Calories and most don't turn out as good as on the package.

If you have a good microwave, get a bag of popcorn (not the boxes since those are hard to find in healthy forms). It is a good snack and lasts a long time.

One last suggestion, fruit! If you can find some on sale, that is the best thing to have in this case. And very yummy too.

Well, if it's an option for you, some cooking shows will send everyone home with large portions of food. If you can find something free in your area, that could be an option... Plus, you get good ideas for cheap stuff.

Baked potatoes are good. And they go well with anything.

With the hobo meal, it's really good wrapped in foil and placed next to an open fire. Yum.

KD

I moved out earlier this year, and have discovered a few surprisingly cheap dinner options. They're not the cheapest possible, but they still include meat and are quite tasty.

Curried Sausages!
I dunno whether it'd be the same in Canada, but here in Aus you can get some very cheap sausages. We can get a pack of 8 for AU$3-4. Then I usually pick up a packet of curried sausages sauce mix ($2ish), but buying a pack of curry powder would probably be just as good and cheaper. Serve it up with rice, and it'd probly be enough for about 3 meals! (we also mix in a carrot and an onion for healthyness)

You could also do a sausage casserole or have them sliced up in a tomato sauce, on pasta (you'd probably only need one for that! they're quite filling).

Burgers/Rissoles
Mince is also another cheap meat option. Buy a pack of mince, and mix in some breadcrumbs, various flavourings (tomato sauce, herbs, cheese... a cheap packet of onion soup is especially good), some vegies if you feel like it, and an egg... and voila! Eat with bread, potatoes, pasta, etc

Both the sausages and burgers are really filling, due to the meat and the breadcrumbs involved (at least, I think sausages have bread or flour in them?).

Other things... making your own pasta sauce from canned tomatoes and some herbs (and a bit of tomato paste) can be cheaper than buying a pre-made jar. Adding a rasher of bacon can make it extra-tasty!

A pack of frozen peas (I like the peas and corn mixes) can go quite a way, if you can't keep fresh vegies around enough

I want to send you some food now, Inrun! Some yummy chocies or something. But it wouldn't get to you until you were at your parent's place though anyway

Get some Rits Crackers.

Get some Ragu/Pizza Sauce

Get a block of cheese, and cut it into little tiny cubes.

But Some pizza sauce on a rits cracker, and then a chucnk of cheese.

Sprinkle some Parmesean cheese on the top.

Repeat 20+ times.

Put them all on a plate and into the microwave for 10 seconds.

Oh MAN are they yummy, addicting, and CHEAP. TRY IT. You wont be dissapointed. Easy, sounds kiddish and more like a snack, but man do they work nicely when you are hungry and starving and poor.

Wild blackberries.

*squints*

You're just plain mean!

I eat whole wheat pasta, so pasta dishes are good. I think i'm going ot be eating a lot of frozen veggies (frozen peas, frozen corn) *sighs*. Yurk.

carrots are reeeealy cheap, and if you buy the fat ones they go off slower (as i was always told a bendy carrot is a gone off one - and if its fat you cant bend it, hehe)

Potatoes are a definite! I love jacket potatoes. They're rather easy to make and they taste pretty good. Simply microwave the potato for a few minutes, but poke a few holes in it with a fork in case it explodes. Cut a medium sized hole in it, (or just cut the potato in half if you're not a very cutter), scoop all the potato out into a bowl. Add some melted margarine, salt, and seasoning (and some shredded cheese if you can afford it). Mash it all up and put it back into the potato. Top with a few diced vegetables (tomatoes, green peppers, broccoli, etc.) if you want and reheat it in the oven/microwave.