Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I'm trying my best to figure out ways to save money.  Food is one of my biggest expenditures.  I know it's cheaper to cook things from scratch.  But I'm not the best cook, even though I like to cook.  So, I'm wondering, if anyone has any recipes that are super easy and very very very cheap to make.

I'm kind of burnt out on ramen but here's one I've made a lot of in the past:

Pretty good ramen:
1 pack ramen noodles (especially the really spicy kind)
1/2 cup to 1 cup water (depends on how big the ramen package is)
1 tsp of sugar
1 egg

Scramble the egg.  Set it aside.  Cook the ramen till most of the water is gone.  Add egg and sugar; stir well.  Serve.

oh, im like a master at cheap meals lol X3

One i like is like, 'cowboy breakfast'.
just get a can of baked beans. its usually around a dollar and 1 can lasts 2 meals for me.
also you can get different flavors like boston style, vegetarian, moloasses and bacon etc.
i cook bacon (though that can be expensive, so maybe cheap hot dogs or some sort of cheap version of spam ^ ^)
and mix it in. its a real heavy meal so you dont even need to eat a lot to be full.
but thats good for a change, and then maybe some vegetables on the side. i usually have peas or carrots or a mix. a can is under a dollar and lasts two meals too.

a sort of cheap chinese style meal:
make white rice (or anykind really, you can get teryaki style rice a roni cheap. and white rice is always cheap)
then i get some sort of cheap meat...usually the thin sliced "stirfry" slices of meat is amazingly cheap, like 3 bucks for a whole bunch!
then put some sort of vegetables. i dont really like stirfry so to say, or many types of cooked vegetables. i only put mushrooms in it.
so i put the meat and mushrooms in a skillet and cook them together and put teryaki sauce on it. then put that on top of the rice and put a little soy sauce to finish. the only thing about this one is that teryaki is a bit expensive, so to say. probably about 3-5 dollars where i am, but just put it in perspective..it will last for tons of meals haha.
(also, instead of the stirfry meat i make chicken livers, which is really cheap like $ 1.20 for a whole tub of them. but i dont think anyone else but me likes liver lol)

ill try to post more as i think of them =)

this is probably something that everyone does but hey....grilled cheese ( you can always spruce it up with different cheeses or spices, garlic etc...) any of the millions of variations on rice and beans, or beans and toast, which is generally a complete protein

Mac n cheese with tuna/chicken and yellow curry powder , or paprika and mustard (the powder not the condiment) also add veggies like broccoli, green/red pepper, garlic etc...

Spaghetti of course!

Basically when I'm trying to be cheap and quick I take a basic thing like mac n cheese, instant soups, frozen chicken nuggets, etc...and spice them up with something so I don't feel so cheated lol. Add some kind of protein, veggies, spices, etc...that's all I've got :)

You can really stretch your dollar by having some main ingredients you always keep on hand can have on hand, flour, cooking oil potatoes, onions, dried pasta, rice... Then you get your protein, whatever's on sale, chicken, pork, or beef. To make cooking easier get them in fillets so you don't need to deal with the bone.

Very simple way to cook them is fried. You take your meat of choice and put it in a bag with some flour and seasonings (whatever is to your liking) let the meat get all coated. Set up a pan with some oil (not too much you're not deep frying this stuff just enough to coat the bottom of the pan) and get the oil good and hot (about medium high heat). Put the coated chops in and cook through, turning them once so they're cooked evenly from both sides. With that you can have pretty much any side dish you want, rice, pasta (you can use the left over fat from the cooking to make a gravy to go on the pasta) mashed potatoes, fried potatoes...

Of course if you're only cooking for one you may have leftovers which is a good way to keep meals going throughout the week. You can make fried pork/chicken/beef sandwiches or wraps or put them in ramen noodles.

Anyway not much of a recipe but you get the general idea. lol

A pan of corned beef fried with hashed potatoes can last quite a while and is tasty.

Also like mixing noodles, tuna, milk, and some cheese and whatever else floats your boat and simmering that ll together for a while.

Eggs mixed with some salsa is always great, and super cheap.

When I'm running low on money - hamburger helper or tuna helper (the boxed stuff that you add meat to) is always good. Costs around $4 with all the ingredients and lasts 3 meals typically.

Raising teenagers on one income ... I learned to cook cheap.


Eggs - good protein are always cheap and there is a variety of things you can do with them -- wrap them up in a tortilla with veggies, salsa etc - scrambled, fried etc

Rice is cheap too ... I mixed rice with a can of cream of chicken & some meat --- mixed it with some salsa and add hamburger ---

Homemade pizza can be fairly inexpensive too ... depending on what you put on it.

Vegetables are always inexpensive and filling

You can also look on line -- I found great cheap recipes online

Some good ideas here I'll have to try!  I get food fatigue really easy (hence being tired of the ramen and looking for some new things to try). 

Here's one that I really like:  Fry up a couple slices of bacon.  Set aside.  To the same pan, add a can of hominy and either some chopped onion or chopped green onions.  Cook for several minutes, until the onions start going soft.  Crumble the bacon into it.  Salt and pepper to taste.


I do love some homemade pizza.  Pepperoni, lots of cheese, onions, bell peppers, and black olives.  Mmmm.  I make the pizza dough, adding some italian seasoning and garlic powder to the recipe I use from here:  http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/article/46/17753 (http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/article/46/17753)  I can get two crusts from this recipe (or 1 crust if I'm going for a really thick crust).  The one thing I do different from the recipe is that I bake the crust for a little bit before adding the toppings; otherwise it tends to not get done in the middle (especially a thick crust).


Sometimes I bake bread.  It's pretty cheap.  Most of the time I halve this recipe to make one loaf and use 1 packet of yeast when I do that.  I do some of the steps a little differently, these are noted in parenthesis.

Amish White Bread (makes 2 loaves)--
2 cups warm water (110degrees)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 cups flour

In large bowl dissolve sugar in warm water then stir in yeast.  Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam (this means let it sit for a few minutes until there's some foam on top).  Mix salt & oil into the yeast, mix in flour, one cup at a time. Knead dough on lightly floured surface until smooth (I usually just knead it in the bowl, easier clean-up).  Place in well oiled bowl and turn dough to coat (I don't do this step, though it does mean the dough can stick to the bowl a bit).  Cover with damp cloth (I just lay a piece of plastic wrap over the top).  Allow to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.  Punch dough down, knead for a few minutes on lightly floured surface (once again, I just knead it in the bowl) and divide in half. Shape into loaves and place into two well-oiled 9X5 inch loaf pans (I use a silicone loaf pan, no need to oil it).  Allow to rise for 30 minutes or until dough had risen 1 inch above pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Soups are cheap to make, healthy and filling

I've always liked to cook and I like good food... But I'm definitely on a limited budget  :-\

Like Osiris mentioned... Stock up on your basics and keep your eyes pealed for sales at the supermarket... I also get allot of good stuff at the local "Dollar store"... You'd be amazed with what you can come up with and do with very little out of pocket

With a little practice you'll amaze yourself and wonder why you ever went to restaurants other than a chance to get out of the house

I don't have a recipe to post right now, maybe later... I'm not very good at posting recipes  :icon_redface:
I'll have to practice writing some down first... Dyslexia... go figure  :laugh:

some sort of cheap version of spam

The cheap version of spam is spam.

Quote from: tekla on January 13, 2011, 08:37:17 PM
some sort of cheap version of spam

The cheap version of spam is spam.

Indeed. You don't get much cheaper than spam. :P

Their slogan used to be "we use every part of the pig but the squeal."  Yumm-O.

I like a lot of the beans and things that you buy in one pound bags.
Rice, beans, lentils, split peas. They are all good for you.
You can add some sort of meat for accent.
I like turkey kielbasa when it's cheap.

I like to keep a container of brown rice cooked with an onion and salt.
I can use that to stretch out anything that I have leftover.
If the total volume is still low, throw in a can of vegetables.

Soups are definitely a good way to go. 

Peel and chop whatever veg are available, put in a large pot with a couple of stock cubes, and bring to the boil. Simmer until the veg are cooked through.  Enjoy.

One of my winter favourites is Spinach and Tortellini Soup.  Assuming you can get packet soups where you are, for 4 people, cook a packet of Tortellini or Ravioli in  double volume of French Onion Soup (using 2 packets of soup), and a bunch of Spinach or Bok Choi.  When the Ravioli is cooked, the Spinach will be too.  Never any left over here!

Deviled eggs. Yum.

Egg Salad sandwich.

lol! there totally is a cheaper rip-off version of spam i swear, thats what i was talking about. i just forget the name, but ill look for it at the store next time! X3

Treet, it's hot dog in a can!

Foodbank? I've used it.. and can add a lot of interesting things to your cupboards.

     EEK!,

     Some of these scare me from a nutritional point of view!  I'll see if I can't post some easy to do cheap and healthy food stuffs up here!

      -Violet

     

If there's a farmers market near you, try going to that.  The one near where I live only sells organic food, but it's still cheaper than the grocery store.  Also, they don't usually sell much processed food, and that's what's really expensive.  As others mentioned, try to stock up on the basics like oil, butter, rice, flour, sugar, etc and then buy your protein and vegetables as you need them.  That way you won't find yourself just eating something like a frozen pizza as often.  Snacks and prepackaged foods may seem inexpensive, but considering how little you get in each packet, they're actually expensive usually. 

A lot of times I just saute some peppers and add them to a can of beans.  Then I add sour cream, cheese, cilantro, tomatos, avocado, etc to taste/ depending on what I have.  In the same vain, I've made plenty of meals out of rice, beans, and sofrito. 

Quote from: justmeinoz on January 14, 2011, 06:59:08 AM
Soups are definitely a good way to go. 

This was my first suggestion too. It's easy to make alot of soup at once and it freezes pretty well too so you can save it for later meals. If you have mostly broth left just make some rice to throw in it.

One that I make sometimes is fish and potatoes with a fresh squeezed orange. Freezes and thaws well and is easy to make with only 3 ingredients. Used to be my breakfast or lunch when I was on campus alot. Pretty cheap too if you get the fish when it's on sale.

And if you know anyone with a Sam's club card, have them take you shopping. I went there with my brother once and had food for like 2 months.

Quote from: Helena on January 06, 2011, 03:44:05 PM
Soups are cheap to make, healthy and filling

Soup is what my partner and I eat during the long hard winters. Lots of veg, bean and barley groats soup.

Our presses are fully of wholegrain pastas, coconut milk, flours, soya beans, tomotoe purée, dry peas, wholegrains, canned beans, dry beans, quinoa, seeds, nuts, herbs, spices...you get the idea. And our freezer is full of veg.

Endless choice of cheap and easy to make meals.

Being vegan*, right now we are hooked on kidney bean pâté and kidney bean burgers. Delish!

* No meat, no dairy, no eggs. And we also never use oil.

If you don't mind eating the same meal for several times a day several days in a row I can definitely say you want things like Soups, chilis, big crock pots of meals you can simmer and leave to cook.

Would like to echo every one else's statements about rice, beans and grains and such. Pastas are also quite cheap but you probably don't want to be eating them also the time. If you have a large slow cooker, you can buy tougher cuts of meat for cheaper and put them in to simmer with some kind of sauce or make a soup, it will make the meat really tender and you save a pretty penny!

Also Farmer's Markets are a good one! Not everyone is lucky to have one, but if you do know of one you can get very nice, tasty veggies and fruits for usually cheaper than the store, usually bigger and better tasting and probably with little to no pesticide use (but I'd always ask if you are worried about it).

Also if you have the space (and a green thumb) you can try growing your own veggies and herbs :) I think it's even possible to grow some herbs indoors in the winter. Seeds are always cheap and can be found in a lot of places and you can grow exactly what you want provided you have the right climate. With some loving care your veggie yields will probably be bigger than what you could ever find in the store and you might have so much left over you can freeze or give as gifts to friends.

As for home-made desserts, I recommend Meringues. I just made some earlier this week and it called for only two ingredients.

Recipe and directions here in my blog: http://yakshii.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/brown-sugar-meringues/ (http://yakshii.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/brown-sugar-meringues/)

They take some time to cook, but they are simple and yummy. :)