Cheap Meals (hamburger, carrot, ginger, mustard)

[jasper12]

I don't know if this qualifies as "low cost" but I like burritos, and one at Chipolte can cost $8.00, so I bought all the fixings for about $15, including the rotissery chicken, and have been having a feast for the last week. It is like eating out every night, at home.

[Naturen]

Top ramen, green onions and whatever left over meat or tofu you have (chicken, shrimp, pork, tofu). You get the idea.

[TabulaRasa]

Black bean quesadillas have been on heavy rotation lately.

[MidwesternBookWorm]

When my spouse and I were first married, we pretty much lived on our version of Spaghetti Carbonara for most of our first year. You can find some fancy recipes for it that call for all sorts of high-priced ingredients, but what we used to make wound up costing no more than a buck or two per meal.

Ingredients

Half a pound or so of spaghetti (the largest package of generic is usually the cheapest per ounce)
Bacon ends and pieces (you can fry up a couple of slices if you prefer, but by far the cheapest way is to find one of those 3-pound boxes of "ends & pieces," the oddments that the butcher has left after slicing down the fancy part)
Four eggs
Parmesan cheese
Black Pepper, salt

Directions

Start a large pot of water heating. When it comes to a boil, drop in your spaghetti and cook for the time shown on the package.

While the spaghetti is cooking, fry up your bacon ends & pieces (or else two or three slices worth of cut-up bacon) in a large skillet. Get 'em good and crispy. Don't drain off the fat.

When the spaghetti is cooked, drain it well and dump the entire thing into the skillet with cooked bacon bits and bacon grease. Stir around until all the noodles are coated with bacon grease.

Break the eggs into a small bowl, add Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, and beat lightly. Then pour the egg mixture over the spaghetti/bacon combination and stir/turn over until the eggs are cooked.


It isn't the healthiest meal in the world, and I wouldn't advocate a steady diet of it for a long time, but if you're down to not much food in the house and several days more until payday, this'll fill you up for a pittance.

[MRBookworm]

Try Haluski.
8 oz Egg Noodles
4 Strips of Bacon
2 C shredded cabbage (1/4 head medium)
1 C chopped onions (2 small)
2 Tb oil
2 Tb butter

Boil 2 quarts salted water.

Chop bacon small and fry until crispy. Drain and put aside.

Put oil in pan with bacon fond. Fry for about 3 minutes or until they’ve changed color
Add butter to pan. When melted add shredded cabbage and chopped onions. Stir, then cover and allow to steam/fry. Add salt and pepper to taste Stir occasionally.

Put noodles in boiling water and cook according to package directions.

When vegetables are starting to brown, return bacon to pan. Stir in. Drain noodles and stir into veggie bacon mixture. Serve hot.

As pointed out in the previous post, you can buy generic noodles and ends and pieces bacon for cheap. The amount of cabbage and noodles can be expanded for multiple mouths.

[Jaxson]

MWB hello been missing you since I'm not on as much now days. Hope you are doing well and that does sound yummy. Good to see you back in the foodie section!

MrBookworm welcome to CD are you any kin to MWB by chance?

[MRBookworm]

MrBookworm welcome to CD are you any kin to MWB by chance?[/quote]

As a matter of fact I am. She sent me a link to the recipe forum, knowing full well that I just couldn't resist putting in my 2 cents worth.

[Caligula1]

Chicken Stew,

Take a whole chicken, store brand usually around 7 dollars for a decent size.
Water, an onion and a can of broth.
Simmer for about 2 hours, remove chicken, add carrots and celery if you have it.
Thicken with flour or cornstarch.

Good with dumplings, egg noodles, as a caserole.
Always lots of leftover stew for the freezer.
I normally get about 4 meals out of this..

[Jaxson]

Originally Posted by MRBookworm

MrBookworm welcome to CD are you any kin to MWB by chance?

As a matter of fact I am. She sent me a link to the recipe forum, knowing full well that I just couldn't resist putting in my 2 cents worth.[/quote]

Nice to meet ya~ MWB is a peach of a gal I'm sure you know that already. She has shared many meals you both have cooked with us through the years. Looking forward to seeing your input now as well.

[claudhopper]

All our meals are simple and cheap, because I hate to cook. For me, the less fuss the better, but it has to taste good. I have a great book by Jonni McCoy, called Healthy Meals for Less. She has a chapter devoted to 12 days of turkey, but also vegetarian, deserts, breads. All under $1 per serving.
One of my favorites is as follows;

Orange Curry.
1/2 C frozen concentrated orange juice
1/3 C + 1 T water
1 T curry powder
1/2 C minced onion
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 T oil
1 T cornstarch
1 C cooked meat or meat substitute
1 C steamed veges
In a saucepan over med heat, combine orance juice concentrate, 1/3 cup water, curry powder, salt, onion, garlic and oil. In a separate bowl, combine the cornstarch and 1 T of water. Mix well. Slowly whisk cornstarch mixture into orange juice mix. Simmer until it thickens. (2-3 min.)
Remove the sauce from the heat. Reheat the meat and veges in the microwave. Toss with the sauce. Serve over rice, noodles, or quinoa.

I like to make this with the fake chicken strips from Morning Star. I sautee them in butter til browned and a little crisp.