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Here's a web site you might be interested in. She posts videos on Youtube on cooking frugal meals as well as other ways to save money. I think people trying to stretch a dollar should check her out.
Beans and rice. Combine plant protein (legumes, beans, nuts) with a grain, rice, etc is cheapest.
This. I find lentils are the cheapest, and they are very nutritious. I would spend a little extra for brown rich, though. It is healthier than white rice.
You can also add a vegetable such as broccoli. Or you can buy mixed frozen vegetables on sale. They don't taste as good but are supposed to be as nutritious as fresh.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Steel cut oatmeal
Eggs
Costco Chicken (I get 20 servings from $4.99 chicken... burritos, salads, soup)
Get discarded produce at groceries in early AM (dark greens are your nutritious friend)
Our Dollar store has bargains on frozen veggies.
Every nationality has a peasant cuisine -- look to that and you will see how they ate frugally. A couple things I remember from my childhood -- haluski -- which is basically a finely sliced head of green cabbage sauteed in butter with lots of sliced onions and once it is soft and delicious combine with a 1 lb. package of egg noodles and add salt and pepper. This will make a GIANT pot of hearty food and it is very filling. You do need to use real butter but cabbage and onions and noodles are cheap and you will still have plenty of butter left. My second idea is Italian -- basically macaroni with broccoli. You saute some chopped onion and garlic with some red pepper flakes in olive oil until fragrant -- then coarsley chop a whole large head of fresh broccoli and set on top of the garlic mixture. DO NOT STIR but let sit under medium low heat for about 7 minutes. Add one carton of chicken broth and stir. Check the broccoli and cook until slightly softer than al dente but not mushy. Add 1 lb of cooked rigatoni and 1 cup of parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper. I could eat this until I am sick.
Every nationality has a peasant cuisine -- look to that and you will see how they ate frugally. A couple things I remember from my childhood -- haluski -- which is basically a finely sliced head of green cabbage sauteed in butter with lots of sliced onions and once it is soft and delicious combine with a 1 lb. package of egg noodles and add salt and pepper. This will make a GIANT pot of hearty food and it is very filling. You do need to use real butter but cabbage and onions and noodles are cheap and you will still have plenty of butter left. My second idea is Italian -- basically macaroni with broccoli. You saute some chopped onion and garlic with some red pepper flakes in olive oil until fragrant -- then coarsley chop a whole large head of fresh broccoli and set on top of the garlic mixture. DO NOT STIR but let sit under medium low heat for about 7 minutes. Add one carton of chicken broth and stir. Check the broccoli and cook until slightly softer than al dente but not mushy. Add 1 lb of cooked rigatoni and 1 cup of parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper. I could eat this until I am sick.
Good suggestions. Similar peasant meals that make an appearance on our table include Kasha Varnishkes & Mujadara.
I also want to REPEAT what others have said -- that the first step is to figure out how much money you have to spend. Second get all the ads from the grocery stores and buy ONLY the sale items. Then figure out what to make from the sale items. Right now there are some excellent sales. For example today at my local grocery store the store brand of all pastas was 69 cents per pound! You can get alot of mileage from that. Also look at that discounted/expired meat section -- don't buy the expensive stuff but sometimes there are great deals. For example I found a large chuck roast that was 70% off -- had to come home and make it right away with onions, carrots and potatoes (all pretty cheap) but that is a LOT of meals!! Also pork roasts can be a good buy right at New Years -- the whole boneless pork loins are $1.99 per pound -- alot of protein for a pretty good price. And finally I am not being smug when I say this but portion control -- try to eat a little less -- most people can afford it and in lean times this is what alot of people do -- after you cook a large pot of food freeze individual servings -- they will last longer and supplement with slices of bread and butter.
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