Cheap but delicious : suggestions for a poor student

[Neige]

I love to eat. I love to eat delicious things. I would spend all day eating if I could! I do like to cook too. The only problem is I find I spend a bit too much money on food. My question to you is, what is your favourite cheap meal? I can only eat so much spaghetti before it starts coming out of my ears :sad:

[Lilith]

Fried rice is cheap and easy.

Tuna casserole is too.

[Lilith]

http://www.bloglander.com/cheapeats/category/recipes/

[Coaster]

Heat a wrap with mozzerella and swiss along with fresh tomato slices

[Pita]

Baked chicken wings smothered in your favorite sauce is cheap and yummy

[Neige]

Ohhh thanks for the link Lilith!

Coaster, I don't often think to include cheese in my meals, I'll have to try that!

TinglingTess, they do indeed sound yummy... Thanks!

[osuche]

Tuna noodle casserole: can of tuna (watch for the sales), can of mushroom soup, and some noodles

[Cheyanne]

English muffin pizza.. lol - we ate a lot of these as a kid.

English Muffin - toasted
tomato sauce
garlic powder
Moz. cheese (grated, or slice)

Put in microwave to melt cheese if you are in a hurry, or put in toaster oven or oven to melt cheese. If you want to you can add a slice of peperoni, or some leftover veggies.. whatever you want for a topping.. :D

[Mercury_Maniac]

I'll give you a cheap meal.


Me on a platter ;)

[Oldfart]

Chicken breast fine sliced and fried in sweet chilli sauce. A bit of well drained tinned pineapple, and spaghetti (Hokien noodles are better) all tossed. Stir in some coconut cream for adventure and you have three meals which don't get boring by the third.

[ShadowDancer]

Mix equal parts Rice & Water--about 2-3 Cups. Mix in one can cream mushroom soup(generic brand works); pour into a baking dish or 9x13 pan..whatever it fits in and lay a couple 3-4 chicken breast on top. Bake at 375 for an hour or til the chicken is done and voila..a meal in a pan.

[TinTennessee]

1 lb of ground beef
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 bag of egg noodles
1 8 oz container of sour cream

brown the beef and drain
cook noodles
mix all ingredients and you have cheap hamburger stroganoff :)

[sodaklostsoul]

When mom and dad were short on cash mom would make rice and then put in a can of ABC soup minus the water.

[osuche]

meatloaf...add breadcrumbs to make the meat stretch.

Mom fixed that a lot...and mac n cheese

[dicksbro]

I"m getting hungry.

For inexpensive meals, we'll look to soups a lot. Tomato, chicken noodle or cream of mushroom are all good bets along with Tortilla Soup with Fritos instead of crackers in it.

[Neige]

I've never actually tried tuna casserole, but it sounds super easy!
I have actually made english muffin pizza and hamburger stroganoff before - it's very good!
Oldfart - that sounds damn good!!!
The only problem with rice and meatloaf is that I am only cooking for one, and my freezer is about 5 inches by 5 inches (ok, small exageration), but the thing is I can't freeze a whole lot of leftovers :(
I do eat a bit of canned soup - I'm not a huge soup person though.
Thanks everyone!!!

[scotzoidman]

1 lb of ground beef
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 bag of egg noodles
1 8 oz container of sour cream

brown the beef and drain
cook noodles
mix all ingredients and you have cheap hamburger stroganoff :)
Been enjoying almost that exact recipe for years...only prob at our house is that only 1/2 the family will touch anything with mushrooms in it, but for the 1/2 that do, I sometimes add a few more sliced mushrooms to the mix.

Here's a quick easy recipe that the other half likes:

1 boil-in-bag white rice
1 can of roast beef w/gravy (Libby's is the preferred brand in our house)
cook the rice, heat the beef, mix together...then fight over who got more than half :sad:

[wyndhy]

Tuna noodle casserole: can of tuna (watch for the sales), can of mushroom soup, and some noodles
don't forget the potato chips crumbled on top!

most of the cheap stuff i make are casseroles, so with the leftover iussue...i dunno but here's a couple...

cooked rice, zucinni, black or kidney beans (rinsed and drained), canned tomatoes (not drained), cooked hamburger (if you can afford it, if not, you've got protien in the beans), a handful of cheddar cheese (optional), s&p. bake.

cooked egg noodles, cream of mushroom soup or campbles cheese soup, minute steak, a few slices of processed cheese (we call it american cheese here, not too sure about you guys though. :D), cooked onions, s&p, sprinkle with durkee onion thingys or funyons. bake.

[wyndhy]

um...that's zucchini. i've no idea what zucinni is. :p and i forgot to add chili powder to the list of ingredients.

[campingboy]

Here are a few places I go for cooking idea's. They have lots of ideas on how to stretch the $. I use the first two quite a bit.

You didn't say what you had to cook with or where. I think last year you were in Dorm so that might make some of these a bit harder to manage.

Enjoy.

http://allrecipes.com/
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/
http://www.epicurious.com/cooking/

[Neige]

Those sound good, scotzoidman and wyndhy! I don't call processed cheese American cheese, but I have heard some talk of it, so it must exist here too! :D
I love Allrecipes, campingboy, I'll have to try the other two! I am still in a dorm this year, but I have a toaster oven, portable rangetop and indoor grill in my room, and there is a microwave just down the hall, but I can also just go downstairs to the common kitchen if I need to make something big.
Thanks!!! :D

[campingboy]

What you really need to do is get invited out. Make a sign-up sheet, define if you want dinner only or dinner and breakfast, and I'm sure that there will be lots of Pixies that will invite you over.

Maybe you should organize Potlucks. Lots of creative ideas show up, and an evening with friends is always an enjoyable option to dinning alone.

[Cheyanne]

I have always liked tortillia wraps. Can eat cold or hot.

My kids like it when I scramble eggs and add a slice of cheese and a slice of ham (cold-cut), wrap it up and put it in the microwave or toaster oven - quick, cheap and easy..

[sodaklostsoul]

My sister used to heat a can of refried beans and put a scoop in a tortillia and then add shredded cheese, sour cream and other toppings like onions or green peppers and wrap it like a burrito.

[Steph]

I like bean salads, too. I just use red wine vinegar & a bit of olive oil, beans & green onions.