Low Cost Meal Options

Also consider buying alot of "Basic" ingrediants. I know alot of things are out there that is cheap, but alot of things are processed. Not saying to totally get rid of them, but I always try to make all my food from scratch if i can. Living off Raman and hambuger helper can happen, but you just wont feel that healthy. And definately start a garden. this year i am doubleing mine up to get more yield, and darn if i am not going to try those upside down tomatoes.
 
A slow cooker ( aka crock pot ) will use way less energy than an oven and do many of the same jobs. I saw a recipe for bread in a slow cooker some time ago, I will try to dig it up. In general 1 hour of simmering on stove top or baking at 350 in oven = 8-10 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high. In converting a conventional recipe for a slow cooker cut back on liquids by 20% because there is no evaporation. If there is no liquid in the recipe add about 1/2 cup. Hope this helps, Been in your shoes before with no job , wife and 2 kids and nowhere to live. If you need any help let me know, don't have much but if you need it and I got it your welcome to it.
 
Keep dumping ideas... And I truly appreciate everyone generosity.. We've been doing the slow cooker a lot more last few months because we've been so busy, (work/school) but well have to use it more for other stuff.. I'll have look into the bread stuff. I'm not opposed to looking for a used bread maker or something as long as it takes raw ingredients vs packages.. I'm finding that the $.99 bread to be pretty light and not really much to it.

Upside down maters - in case I didn't fallow up on my maters from last year. I had a soil problem in that the 'dirt' i had bought wasn't dirt at all but like a light composted leaf mulch, so I just wasn't able to keep enough water to em. I'm gonna do 2 upside down and 2 right side on the deck and see how that goes..

Anyway I got a fully equipped DIY type garage (bender/welder etc) and some time on my hands so if anyone needs a hand on any smaller 1-2 day type projects...
 
This thread has helped to restore my faith in humanity! Dude asked a good question,got a bunch of good answers.Times are tough,we ALL need to stick together.Paul......
 
You can do well with large cuts of meat.

ie a two pack boston butt is ~$25 at BJ's and its roughly 14 lbs of pork. I usually split the pack with someone, and I freeze the majority of the meat, and it lasts a long while at my place.

When the weather gets nicer some friends and I get together and fire up my smoker. I'll send an invite your way for the next one. Last cook we did 2 whole bird, a mess of chicken thighs, 6 racks of ribs, and some fatties and sausages, still had a rack free.
 
Jeff B said:
Hey Mike- Jeff's gf Jess here...
I disagree about the bread. Make it yourself. A bag of whole wheat flour, dry yeast and some flax seed or wheat germ will only run you about $10. And with that you'll get approx 20 loafs of high quality food. To mitigate the cost of the electric while you're are baking, put a casserole in there too.
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Holy shit. Does anyone else think a post with Jeff's name on it and the word "mitigate" in it may be a sign of the apocolypse? :flipoff2:

Kidding, Jeff. Don't ban me. ;)

Mike, Here's the crock pot tater soup recipie. It could easily be made vegitarian, if you chose, but I thought it would be great with some pork or dark meat chicken in it. You can get the pork chop packs that have a bunch of the bony chops in them cheap, and use that meat for the chunks for the soup. And we didn't have leeks or chives, we just used spring onions. I know, I know. Any responsible homeowner should always have leeks on hand. I was caught with my pants down. :shaking:

One more easy recipie for a good, simple side dish. One can of black beans and one can of "Rotel tomatoes with chilis, cilantro, and lime." Pour together and simmer. Good flavor and mild spice, goes well with blackened fish.

Jason, I hope you were kidding about my chili. If not, we'll have something to talk about tomorrow! :kaioken:

(Yeah, I realize that was Jeff's girlfriend posting under his name.)
 
I almost forgot! Some of your grocery store distribution centers are open to the public, too. If you really want to buy in bulk, get together with a friend or two and head up there. You can get staples in LARGE quantities pretty cheap.
 
My favorite "canned" recipe - and it works great in the crock pot.

Taco Soup

Brown some hamburger, amount doesnt really matter
1 can tomatoes (w/peppers and onion, like Rotel)
1 can corn
1 can kidney beans
1 package taco seasoning
1 pack ranch dressing mix
some hot stuff if you like

Simmer it for a while, and serve it over nachos with some cheese on top. Virtually impossible to screw this recipe up! It makes more than you would think, and freezes well
 
I have to agree on the pbb potato soup. I made half what it called for and it was plenty for a couple days and a bunch in the freezer. And it was awesome.
 
good thread, I'm hungry :lol:

One thing we noticed with coupons is that the expiration date is rarely checked. Its a little humbling when you get denied, but take it back and use it next time.
 
BJs or Sams will have bigger bags of taters. If you're not a member of either, and ever over near Brier creek, let me know. BJs just scans the card, then anyone can pay. (Not sure about Sams, they used to make sure names were the same)
But the wholesale clubs are like the farmers market, if you don't know the price of stuff, things can be a LOT more pricey.

And I might take you up on that garage deal, to give me a hand fixing my rear bumper after someone hit me in a parking lot. (No note, of course.)
 
Find places like MDI. My father and I used to go in there years ago and bought lots of food for the house. However, you have to be a business to shop there as its all wholesale.

One meal that we had tonight was fairly cheap and really good, one of our favorites. We make fahitas and our form of spanish rice. We usually cut beef or chicken up and saute it with peppers and onions. Season with salt, garlic, and other spices to your liking. the tortillas are cheap and cheese is fairly cheap as well. our spanish rice is 1 cup of rice and 1 to 2 cans of diced tomatoes with green chilis and a little water. So, for less than $5, we have a meal for my wife and I and have left overs for lunch the next day.
 
1stgenxxx said:
for about a 5 month stretch I ate them for lunch and sometimes dinner everyday. I would also get creative and put cheese and mayo in with them...sometimes toast
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do you realize how unhealth those are? I would almost be willing to bet straight Crisco would be healthier to eat than Ramen noodles...

However, I can't discount them too much as I ate plenty of them in college

although they are edible, adding things like some meat and cheese, etc makes them better.
 
I'll second what Mr. Gadget said...go fishing. I lived at the beach when in college, and lived off of fish for many meals. Kinda different down there...but freshwater stuff is just about as good eating.

Supper many nights was whatever fish I caught, either inshore, from the pier, or in the boat offshore. Also gigged some flounder at night. Usually cooked it in the toaster oven (my apartment was too small to run the big gas oven, unless it was really cold outside). Kept the cooking simple, shoot some cooking spray on tin foil, lay on fish filets, and add a little lemon juice. That, and a microwave potato was a great meal.

A morning at a farm pond can feed you for a week.
 
rockcity said:
do you realize how unhealth those are? I would almost be willing to bet straight Crisco would be healthier to eat than Ramen noodles...
However, I can't discount them too much as I ate plenty of them in college
although they are edible, adding things like some meat and cheese, etc makes them better.
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the only unhealthy thing about RN is the seasoning packs..throw that ou and you got dehydrated egg noodles.
 
SkyHiK5 said:
the only unhealthy thing about RN is the seasoning packs..throw that ou and you got dehydrated egg noodles.
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That and a can of chicken on the trail is good eats, but like you said trash the seasoning. In his case if he cooks a few chickens and then chops it up and puts it in the freezer, all he needs to do is cook the RN and dump the chicken with a little of chicken stock.
 
Dinner last night went as follows:
1 pack boil in bag rice
1 can pork and beans
some bread.

Mix it together with hot sauce and onions and you got some halfway decent samiches
 
I was looking to see if I could spend my 40 dollar gift certificate to amazon on Beer (you cant by the way...)

BUT

They do have what basically amounts to a sams club, costco, BJ's deal online. They have subscriptions or something and the shipping is free with that. From what I can tell you can set up a list of stuff to be sent every month or something. Looks kinda interesting.
 
Dave Surprise©
Scale as needed

1pk Ramen noddles
1cn Mushroom soup
1cn French cut Green beans (drained)
add any other leftovers you have

cook noodles, don't pour off water
dump in soap & beans
garnish with "last crumbs in the bag" potato chips, corn chips, pretzels, cheez-its, etc.
eat from pot (saves water/electricity from washing dishes :lol: )

$1.59 feeds 2

I'm so fond of it, my picky eater (understatement!) wife has banned it from the menu... :rolleyes:
 
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