Infinite_Loser

So... Does anyone have any idea of what I could buy to make a decent meal? Once in a while, I'll make spaghetti but, to be honest, I'm getting rather tired of it. I want to have something... New. Try to keep it rather simple (As my cooking powers are severely limited) and cost effective (I am, after all, just your average, moneyless college student).

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ShaniFaye

without knowing what kinds of things you like....this is very easy to make and Dave adores it

1 large family size can of cream of chicken soup
1 pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts (3 or 4 in the pack)
instant rice

Mix soup and 2 cups of water in a bowl
add 1 1/2 cups of the rice (uncooked)
spray large casserole dish (9 x 13 which is the same as a 3 qt)with non stick cooking spray

pour in rice/soup mix and add chicken breasts on top

I lightly cover the chicken with garlic salt and pepper, that part is optional

bake at 350 for 45 minutes

stick left overs in the fridge, it should make a few meals for you

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Plan9

Mexican food... the other-OTHER pizza alternative.

Pack of soft tortillas
Can of refried beans
Ground beef or diced chicken
Cheese of choice
Lettuce / Tomato / Onion / Peppers
Salsa of choice

That shit never gets boring.

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Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

ironpham

Fried Rice - very easy to make!

Ingredients:
Rice
Soy Sauce
Eggs
Butter
Whatever vegetables/meat you want in it.

You also need a rice cooker. If you have an asian friend, he/she can show you how to use it.

After you make your batch of rice, go ahead and fry your vegetables and meat. Make sure you hit them with some of the soy sauce.

Next, butter up your pan and put your rice in with another slice of butter on top. Don't set the heat too high on the stove. You want it to fry slowly so that it doesn't get too sticky. Pour in some scrambled eggs (amount of eggs should equal the amount of cups of rice). Stir that in very well. Cover your rice in soy sauce and stir some more.

You pretty much want to keep on stirring until the eggs look like they aren't raw anymore. Add in your meat/vegetables and stir until there are no more raw egg juices.

Also, if you want, you can add some Teriyaki sauce. I would if I had some.

This is your pretty generic brand of fried rice. Feel free to add whatever you think might make it better.

squeeeb

for cheap and easy:

bake a chicken. you get three meals out of one whole chicken.

buy a chicken

put a cut up lemon in the cavity

rub butter ALL over the chicken

put in 350 oven for 2 to 2.5 hours

done. you got chicken, and after you eat all the meat, the next day, pick it and use the meat in a chicken salad or sandwich or omlette. when you are down to scraps and skin and bones, you throw the whole carcass in a pot of water with vegtables and rice make soup.

another cheap and tasty and easy meal is hot and sour cabbage and rice.

make rice (1 cup rice and 1.5 cups water in pot, bring to boil, at boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

heat vegtable oil and a few drops of sesame oil in pan with red pepper flakes. when hot, add brown sugar and salt and saute for 1 minute to caramalize. add cut up cabbage, saute, then add soy sauce and vinnegar and cook for a few minutes.

sounds like lots of steps but it's quite simple, and when you have all the stuff, the cabbage is pretty cheap. the meal comes out to about 45 cents a plate.

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onward to mayhem!

Martian

Yes! This also works with small hams as well. Bake it one night, make sandwiches, salads, soups, etc for the rest of the week.

Invest in a slow cooker. You can get wee little ones designed for 1-2 people and you can do marvelous things with them. Then invest in a few cookbooks and start trying stuff out. I'm hardly a gourmet chef by any means, but I graduated to 'real' food a couple years ago after getting tired of the bachelor staples (ramen, hamburger helper, etc). Last night I made myself a nice dinner of ham and potatoes and early last week I had stuffed peppers. Turns out this cooking stuff isn't as hard as we thought it was.

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I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept
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Willravel

Go to foodtv.com and explore all the following keywords:
lentils
rice
black beans
lima beans
peas
granola
yogurt
pears
raspberries
carrots

almonds

Infinite_Loser

I've decided I'm going to try the fried rice. Hopefully it turns out all right. I guess I forgot to add that I don't eat meat, so that rules out anything involving chicken >_>

As a side note, a gallon of milk is now $5.79. That's bordering extortion as far as I'm concerned.

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snowy

Beans, beans, the musical fruit, the more you eat, the more you...

No, really, they're great cheap eats. If you want REALLY cheap, cook up some dried beans (takes a while, beans have to soak overnight, etc etc) but canned beans are almost as cheap and much easier.

You can make:

--minestrone soup (the ultimate in cheap veggie soup, there are tons of recipes, find one you like)

--chili (saute a bit of chopped onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat, add a chili seasoning packet, add a can of tomatoes, a can of corn, a can of kidney beans, and a can of black beans, heat until it starts to bubble a bit, then turn down the heat and let it cook for 15 minutes or so)

--burritos (tortillas, cheese, black beans or refried beans)

--a variety of mexican themed casseroles (Mexican lasagna, burrito bake)

Frozen vegetables are cheap and a great way to get your fill of veggies. Get a rice cooker with a steamer basket that fits inside the lid--then you can steam veggies while cooking rice. Easy-peasy.

I really recommend reading Mark Bittman's column in the New York Times on Wednesdays, the Minimalist. Here is one of his recent columns on pasta dishes: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...prod=permalink

He also has a cookbook that is excellent.

Three cookbooks worth purchasing if you can find them lightly used:
1) Better Homes and Gardens (any edition will do, it's good for basic info/photo illustrations)
2) The Joy of Cooking (everyone should have at least one copy of Joy, I recommend the 1997 edition)
3) If you ever want to bake a cookie, get a copy of the 60s era Betty Crocker Cookbook. Also good for quickbreads and breads.

Man, and I can't imagine having to pay that much for milk. I pay 95 cents a half-gallon (plus a 95 cent deposit for the container, but I only have to pay once). If you look around, I'm sure you can find a good deal on milk. I'm lucky to live in a milk-producing area and to be able to buy almost-directly from a dairy that uses reusable, refundable containers. It seems to me that the cheapest prices around here for conventional milk are at the 7-11. $2.50 a gallon.

Use your freezer and buy in bulk! I buy bread in 2 packs at Costco--1 goes in the cupboard, 1 goes in the freezer. I also buy canned goods in bulk--kidney beans, black beans, green beans, corn, diced tomatoes, and stewed tomatoes. Find a grocery store with a good bulk section--dried fruits, nuts, pasta, grains, etc, all for cheap. Mason jars make great storage for bulk dry goods.

If you look around cooking, you'll find a few vegetarian recipes I have posted that are super-cheap and super-easy to make. A lot of my recipes are adapted from Rachael Ray's in order to be vegetarian. Don't be afraid to make modifications to a recipe to make it veggie--beans often make a great substitution for meat.

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shakran

Stolen from an old thread:

Shakran's Insane Jambalaya-ish MAN pasta!
(so named because it has lots of meat )

Slice an entire smoked sausage (the kind that comes in rings) and saute 1/2 chopped onion and 2-3 cloves chopped garlic in 1-2T olive oil till soft.

Add large can of chopped tomatoes (preferably Dei Fratelli chopped italian with herbs and olive oil). Stir.

((this one's new)) add small can of tomato paste.


Add 1/2 tsp each of oregano and basil, and 2 bay leaves.

Add 1/4 cup strong coffee (preferably french market or community)

Add 1/8 cup or so of red wine

Here's the good part: Add red pepper flakes to taste. I personally like it HOT.

Stir all of this and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Longer if you can. It should reduce to a very dark red color.

Toss with hot pasta - make it shells, elbow pasta, or some sort of pasta that is a tube or has a pocket like the shells - this'll get the sauce nice and mixed in.

Grate parmesean (tried doing this with a microplane yet? Very nice!) on top.
Serves about 190.

Seriously, this makes a LOT. the wife and I can eat lunch and dinner for 3, sometimes 4 days off of this.

Plan9

Oh, what the hell!? No meat?! YOU!?

You can't go to college and not eat meat.

Drop that silly bullshit. Meat is delicious.

...

And cheap... which is why you should eat it.

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Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

tecoyah

Any cut of steak or pork (substitute with portabello mushrooms if required)
Italian dressing, and a splash of balsamic vinagrette
allow the meat to sit in the mix for one hour
cook it in the mix
bagged salad with more of the Italian dressing on it

less than $3
tastes damn good

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shakran

you can substitute portabello mushrooms for my recipe as well but. . . .why would you want to

Challah

Do you have a full kitchen or are you in residence?

Charlatan

This is pasta but it's a break from regular spaghetti and tomato sauce...

500g Cooked Prawns (optional)
one package of Cherry Tomatoes
3 Spring Onions chopped
1 Chilli (take out the seed and chop it fine)
1 Clove Garlic (chopped)
Salt and Pepper

Spaghetti or Linguine
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
100ml Double Cream
handful Basil Leaf (Chopped)

Put the cherry tomatoes, spring onion, chilli, garlic and olive oil in a pan and cook over a medium heat until soft but not coloured (you aren't trying to carmelize them). Season with pepper and cook until soft.

In the meantime, add the spaghetti to a large pan of boiling salted water with the olive oil and cook until al dente (this is a lot crunchier than you think).

Meanwhile add the prawns (you can either buy them pre-cooked or you can fry them up before hand in a little olive oil and garlic... or just leave them out of the recipe if you wish) to the sauce and stir in the cream and chopped basil. Warm through gently for a couple of minutes.

Drain the pasta and toss with the pasta sauce (just so we are clear here, once drained, the pasta goes into the pan with the sauce. You want just enough pasta so that there is enough sauce to coat each piece of pasta, you don't want too much sauce).

Eat this right away.

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snowy

It really is. I think of it this way--al dente means "to the tooth", so you want the pasta to be firm enough so as to be toothsome The best way to find out if your pasta is done is to taste--bite it! There really is no other way.

if you're adding it into sauce, though, and cooking it a little longer, you might want to originally undercook it a little in order to maintain that toothsome quality.

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noodle

three to four egg whites
1/2c bagged spinach, cut into thin strips
1/4c diced tomato
2 slices lunch meat, cut into thin strips like the spinach
garlic powder
pepper
green onions.
smoked gouda or sharp cheddar cheese, shredded or cut into strips

throw the spinach, lunch meat, onions to taste and tomato in a nonstick skillet, salt, pepper, garlic, herbs of any kind to taste. cook over medium heat until meat is browned, tomatoes are soft. pour the egg whites over and let sit for 20-30 seconds, then scramble. when almost done, toss in the cheese to melt. Best served with a piece of dry toast to scoop it up. i use mad sriracha in it, too.

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evilbeefchan

<strike>Slow braised beef. Takes around 4 hours (or 2 if you have access to a crockpot), but buy a big enough slab and you'll have tons of meat for a variety of applications. Or get some london broil/flank steak. Marinate it overnight, roast or grill it. Plenty of meat for sandwiches, fried rice, omelets, salads. </strike>
ok, forget everything I just said about meat. =( Is fish out of the question as well?

Buy staples like pasta, rice, couscous that you can keep around your pantry. Stock up on cans of tomatoes, chicken/beef stock, basically anything that can be applied as a base recipe, and you can add more ingredients on top of it.

Stay away from premade frozen dinners as they're usually bad for you as well as a big drain on your wallet. Eggs are amazing, you can make any meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner AND dessert) from them. Once your pantry is stocked with basics, you can concentrate on groceries that spoil sooner (veggies, fruits). Basically go about your shopping list with the mindset of Macgyver; how many different applications can you get out of one item. How resourceful can you be with it?

777

No meat, that can be one of the best ideas when it comes to cooking on a budget. For example, 1 pound of ground beef, $3.50. A 10 pound bag of potatoes, $1.00 to $3.00.

Potato Stir Fry

2 Medium Potatoes
Half an Onion (White, Brown, or Red)
1 Bell Pepper (Green, Red, or both)
1 Tomato
Various other veggies, like carrots, mushrooms or celery.
Butter or Margarine
a clove of Garlic
Garlic salt or Lawry's Seasoned Salt
Black Pepper (optional)

Chop all the veggies into bite sized pieces. Butter your large frying, and add the potatoes, onions, and the clove of garlic (peeled, of course). Cover pan with lid, and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally so that the potatoes won't stick. Season them with salt, and add the bell peppers and any other veggies you decided to used, except for the tomatoes. Stir for another 10 minutes, or until all the veggies are soft. Add tomatoes and remove pan from heat. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Find the clove of garlic and toss it in the trash (it's flavor is too strong to be eaten whole). Serve and enjoy. Feeds 2 or 3.

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Roger Zelazny

xxxafterglow

You can tart up ramen noodles by adding an egg and some frozen veggies (that carrot/pea/corn mix) and plenty of chili oil.

You can make rice on the stove but a rice cooker gives great results every time and you don't have to worry about watching it. You can make a huge batch and do fried rice the next day with the leftover rice.

Stir-fry:

Put oil in your wok/pan. Add garlic, add tofu chopped into squares and a bit of soy sauce.
Add frozen veggies (stir fry mix or broccoli/carrot/cauliflower).

Bootleg Chinese style: Soy sauce, cooking wine/sherry, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, (orange zest + juice/sesame seeds)
Szechuan: Eggplant, lots of garlic, lots of chili sauce
Curry: Coconut milk, prepackaged curry in cans (avail. at Asian grocers), chilies, potatoes, fish sauce, lime

Thicken sauce with cornstarch mixed with water.

Trader Joe's sells a lot of premixes that are pretty good if you're into Indian food. Just add peas, tempeh, potatoes, and serve with rice and yogurt.

As for spaghetti, you can stir in spinach and throw in fresh herbs/veggies... makes a world of difference.

EDIT: You can do some amazing pizzas if you can find Turkish flatbread... it's really cheap (at least it is here). Just throw some pizza sauce/pesto/olive oil on, some shredded cheese and some veggies - then bake in the oven for 15 minutes or so... takes about 10 minutes to prep and flatbread also goes great with salads.

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Uh huh her.

ironpham

Wise choice! I hope it works out well for you.

Also, what you could do instead of rice is try Lo-mein (spelling?).

It's pretty much the exact same thing as the fried rice recipe, except use noodles or pasta instead of the rice. You could probably even use the ramen noodles. You'd just need a lot of noodles.

robodog

Yes but the $3.50 of meat has a heck of a lot more calories and a lot more nutrition than the potatoes, especially if you aren't going to leave the skins on the potatoes.

doodlebird

i love that you posted that you don't eat meat, and lots of folks kept giving you meat recipes.

a bag of dried beans cost about $.70.
there's not much cheaper than that.

onesnowyowl speaks the truth about beans - listen up!

soak the beans overnight.
then simmer them with bay leaf, garlic cloves, onion, celery, carrot,
AND (drum roll) parmesean rind.

normally, i'd nice a nice pork knuckle or hoof, but i know that's not for you.
it really adds that extra oomph,
but a parm rind does a very nice job of the same.

buy some REAL parmesean (not that canned stuff)
and grate it fresh on your spaghetti
and you might get less tired of your pasta with some real cheese.

you can cut the rind of the end any time when you're ready to do a veggie soup or beans. it's nice in a veggie soup. this is making me hungry.

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doodle

Zodijackyl

Rice is always a cheap alternative to pasta.

Soft tortilla shells can make tacos or burritos, and I've come up with quite a few variations on my "ghetto burrito".
Take the contents out of the fridge, put them on a tortilla, spread around, and microwave (mixing it up and heating some more for larger ones that may need it)
Rice, salsa, and shredded cheese makes the original
Rice, beans, salsa, cheese, ground beef (seasoned if possible), chicken, thinly sliced steak, or other meat all work well for this. Some cheap taco seasoning can also be used well.
Cheese on a tortilla with taco seasoning (optionally a bit of meat) also makes an easy microwaved flat quesadilla.
Canned tomatoes and some other cheap foods can also work well in conjunction with these.