Inexpensive Dining

[Mojo]

Cheap food is something many of us can appreciate. There are a few rules for contributing to this thread.

1.: The meal must offer some nutritional value.
2.: The meal must be composed of more than one item(i.e., a single can of soup is not a complete meal). Combining multiple items into a finished product(homemade tacos, sandwiches, etc.) is acceptable.
3.: An average Joe with moderate to no cooking skill should be able to pull it off.
4.: It shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to prepare the meal.
5.: No frozen or microwaveable dinners.
6.: The meal must be cheap.

Less than or around $1/head is a winner, although $2/head is perfectly acceptable. $3 is the max for budget food. If you have something more expensive than this but it's so good that you absolutely must share it, feel free, although I'd say $5 is the limit for the purposes of this thread.

Please include instructions on how to prepare your meal and the cost of all your ingredients as well as where to find anything that can't be picked up at a local supermarket.

Also, please don't make fun of me. I feel this thread makes me an easy target, but I've vowed to never eat fast food again and need ideas for economical eating.

Here's my first one.

Macaroni and cheese over chili.

This one is pretty simple, all you need is a can of chili and some mac and cheese. Both of these can be found at any supermarket and it only takes about 15 minutes to prepare.

This is the chili I prefer.

http://www.hometownfavorites.com/ima...ge/HFSO476.jpg

It's costs around $0.79. I'm not a vegetarian, I just think it tastes better than the others. Really you could use any kind of chili.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/...BL._SL160_.jpg

This was $0.99 for a box.

All you do is heat up the chili and cook the macaroni. Instructions are on the box for both of these. When everything is ready, put some chili in a bowl and cover it with mac and cheese. It's not beautiful but it tastes really good and with $1.70 and some milk and butter, you can feed 2-3 people.

[Tyche]

I actually took the pics and it was all prepared by myself

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/8281/project9ga9.jpg

Beer ~75 cents
1 pickle ~30 cents
1 scoop of peanut butter ~10 cents

http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/3...fedshennw3.jpg

Feeds ~5

All these ingredients are found at super wal-marts

Jumbo Macaroni Shells ~$1
1 15ox bowl of ricotta cheese ~$2
A couple of beaten eggs ~30 cents
6oz mozzarella cheese ~$1
4oz Parmesan cheese ~$1
3 or so Chicken Breasts ~$5
1 26oz jar of favorite pasta sauce ~$3
1/2 ts of salt
1/4 ts pepper

Cook the big ass shells the way the box says to

preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Cut the chicken breasts up and fry in a pan over medium heat until done

mix the ricotta cheese, the 2 eggs, 1 cup of mozz cheese, 3/4 cup of parmesea cheese, , salt, pepper, and chicken

After your shells are boiled and shit, and all your shit is all mixed up, get out about a 4qt sauce pan, and dump like half that bottle of sauce all over the bottom. Then stuff those shells with that mixture of shit you made...a tablespoon should stuff them. After you arrange them all over the sauce soaked pan-bottom, pour the rest of that bottle of sausce over the top. Then put the rest of your parmesean cheese and mozzerella on top. Bake that shit at 350 for about 45mins. Good shit, i promise.

[Demosthenes]

1. 1 or 2 packs of Ramen
2. 1 or 2 slices of Steak-umms
3. One boiled egg.
4. Black pepper or some kind of seasoning.

Make the steak-umms on a skillet.
Make Ramen.
Add steak-umm to ramen while it's still on the stove.
Add whatever other seasoning you want.
Slice egg with an egg slicer.
pour ramen into a bowl.
Add egg slices.

PROTEIN!

Also you guys that drain broth or add seasoning after draining the broth suck.

[BRP]

omg, I thought I was the only one who ate pickles and peanut butter...

[Anyway]

I can't even imagine trying pickles + peanut butter. Like it could be amazing, but the idea of spreading peanut butter on a pickle...

[Demosthenes]

as opposed to a penis amirite?

[Oxyminus]

hah this is awesome, I have some basic, but awesome recipies I like to put together in a pinch, none I think are expensive, sometimes time consuming, but good. basically its 1-2 pot cooking that will have leftovers for a few days (college student and work fulltime, I dont get to cook "meals" very often) basically I've figured out how to make my own sauces and utilize them in anyway I think will taste good.

my baked ziti:

1 box ziti (or rotini) pasta
1/2 tray spicy italian sausage
1/2 tray sweet italian sausage (of course you can just do 1 full tray of each instead)
1/2 finely chopped large onion
1/3 carton mini portabella mushrooms
2-3 "sections" of jarred roasted red peppers
1 small can diced tomatoes (pre-seasoned with garlic and oregano)
1 small can tomato sauce (pre-seasoned with garlic and oregano)
2 bags shredded provolone
1 block of smoked mozzarella
parmigan cheese
butter
spices on hand:
salt
black pepper
red pepper flakes
oregano
garlic powder
onion powder

preheat oven to 450
cook pasta in a large pot, as per the instructions on the box/bag
in a LARGE frying pan (I do all the sauce components in the same pan) put just a touch of olive oil, and sautee the sausage (uncut)over low heat. while this is happening chop up the half onion, de-stem the mushrooms, chop, and chop up the peppers. when the sausage is brown, remove from pan, let rest. put the onion, peppers, and mushrooms into the same pan, do not add more oil, as there will be enough from cooking the sausage, and they will have released some on their own. season to your personal taste with spices mentioned, MINUS THE SALT. if you salt too soon the mushrooms will release their moisture, and get soggy. the more time they cook without salt, the more flavor they will soak up = yummy! when seasoned to your liking add salt, then pop in the can of diced tomatoes, let liquid reduce some, season to taste, add in can of sauce, again season to taste. slice/dice your sausage to your liking, add into the sauce, and make any last seasonings you want. pour sauce over pasta and mix well (it should be coating the pasta, not swimming in it. put pasta and sauce in large baking dish, generously apply provolone cheese throughout. slice the smoked mozzarella, top the entire portion, sprinkle with parmigan, and place small drops of butter along the top to prevent burning/get a nice crust. stick into the over for about 10-15 minutes and you got good ziti, when I do this up right it lasts maybe 2 meals tops, cause its good like that!

chipotle chicken pasta:

1 box/bag pasta of choice (I prefer rotini for this, soaks up sauce well)
1 tray chicken cutlets/breasts
1/4 finely chopped onion
2-3 portions roasted red pepper
chipotle seasoning/marinade
1 small can diced tomatoes (pre-seasoned)
ranch dressing
spices:
salt
black pepper
red pepper flakes
garlic powder
onion powder
corriander
cayanne pepper
paprika
secret ingredient I wont mention cause I stumbled on it by accident and its kickass

30min-as many hours as you want prior to cooking (ideally I do this the afternoon of, if i know I'll have time) cut chicken into small cubes, apply chipotle marinade, until all chicken is well coated, with some excess (I put all the chicken in a bag, in a bowl, makes it very easy to handle and contain, and less shit to clean when you're done). cook pasta as per instructions, try to have it timed properly so its done when the condiment is about ready. finely chop your onion and peppers, and cook on a very low heat, apply spices mentioned before, you want to take your time with this so they have their own flavor in the sauce, let onions get translucent and tender. when onions and peppers taste good, dump in chicken, along with some of the excess marinade (not too much) allow to simmer, and reduce, add can of tomatoes, let reduce some, reseason as needed to taste. add pasta, mix, take off heat, and pour a small amount of ranch dressing on top of the pasta, mix well. idealy when I dont fuck this one up its got a nice bit of flavors, chicken will have good heat from the marinade, onions and peppers will have a bit of smokyness and "pop", tomatoes will make it a bit sweet, and touch of ranch dressing will mellow it out and give a nice richness.

my cheese steak sandwiches:
1 packs of mini ribeye steaks
1/2 onion finely chopped
2 sections roasted red peppers
1/3 pack mini portabella mushrooms
2 hero rolls
sliced provolone cheese
salt
black pepper
garlic powder

finely chop the onion, peppers, and mushrooms, again cook on very low heat and season (I prefer to do a lot of black pepper for these) while doing so, very thinly slice your steaks (I freeze them before hand, makes it easy to slice them as thin as I want). when onion/pepper/mushroom mixture has taken on flavors which you are happy, remove from pan (if you have a flat griddle pan, thats awesome for doing this) and into a small bowl and leave aside. start cooking your steak slices, season with salt and black pepper and slice/chop more as it is cooking, when steak has reached the level of wellness desired (I usually eat my steaks VERY rare, but I like them nice and brown for this) add the onion/mushroom/pepper mixture, mix with the steak, reseason if needed. take the combo of steak/veggies and break into 2 "sections" on your pan/griddle. apply sliced provolone cheese covering both "sections" on your pan, open the rolls and rest one on each section, open side down looking like "^" making a tent on top of the mixture, the steam will soften the roll making it easy to further open, spatula goodness into roll, enjoy the wonders of making your own cheese steak sandwich as opposed to paying $7 for one. I like to do these up with some seasoned fries, take a bag of fries, cook in the oven per instructions, about 5 minutes before they should be ready, remove from oven, season with salt, pepper, touch of garlic powder, and cheese (parm or shredded whatever) and pop back into the oven...hurrah for seasoned fries!


ok thats it for now. gonna have to try out some stuff other people posted, need new recipies =)
Tyche I think I'm gonna have to try making your stuffed shells next time I wanna do some cooking

[BIGSTIC]

Spaghetti with marinara sauce. Around $2/head i would guess. Not very original but it fill you up for cheap.

Fluff=Rice, Eggs, and spicy sausage. My dad used to make this every Sunday morning.

I got a bunch more but don't want to give away my redneck secrets

[Daydreamer]

I agree with the spaghetti comment. My favorite jar of sauce is beritolli marianra with a burgandy wine. Yum. It's like 3$ the pasta is like 1$. Feeds 2-3 depending on how hungry you are.

The 'trick' to great sghetti if there really is one is SALT THE BOILING WATER. Seriously, like half a cup. It makes a huge difference.

Other cheap meals...hmm...Mussels are suprisingly cheap. I bought 16 the other day for 2$...fresh. If you want you could steam said mussels, using a flavorful liquid instead of water (or just water + whatever spices you like, though I'd go with a can of chicken broth) to do the steaming, add about a cup of cheap white wine to the liquid after the steaming is done, reduce to about a third, or whatever your preference is, if it's too sweet cause of the wine add some chicken stock or water. Pour mussels + the 'sauce' over linguini.

Assuming you use er 10 mussels per portion + pasta costs + the 1/4 of a bottle of wine (about 1.25$) + broth (50c - 1$ depending on brand) this is about 5$ for the entire meal, for feeding about 2 people. Best part is there will be a lot of sauce, so each new portion is only like 50c worth of pasta and 10 more mussels. so 7$ would probably feed 3.

[Boyiee]

If you're looking for nutrition and vowing not to eat fast food again, why are you looking at mac&cheese, cheese steaks, pasta, tacos lol.

If nutrition is the least of your worries, and you want more of a party type dish.

7-layer Dip. takes 20min, serves around 10 maybe.

2 (16oz) cans refried beans (nonfat, if you prefer)
1/2 cup salsa
1 (1oz) package powdered taco seasoning (and cayenne, to taste)
16oz sour cream (lowfat or substitute, if you prefer)
3-4 cups guacamole
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups grated monterey jack cheese (or pepper jack)
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 (4oz) cans of chopped black olives (small cans, about 3/4 to 1 cup)
1/2 cup chopped green onions

1. In a bowl mix together the refried beans, half of the package of taco seasoning, the salsa, and 3 tablespoons of the sour cream.
2. (You can add cayenne powder too) Spread the mixture into a large rectangular glass lasagna dish. Aluminum works as well.
3. (If you used two cans of beans and not all of the dip will fit in the dish, put the rest on a plate and keep it for yourself) In a separate bowl mix the rest of the sour cream with the remaining taco seasoning.
4. Spread the sour cream mixture on top of the refried beans.
5. Taking your guacamole, spread it carefully on top of the sour cream mixture.
6. Take care not to mix the two together.
7. Toss the two types of grated cheese together, then spread them on top of the guacamole.
8. Sprinkle with the tomatoes, olives, and green onions. Chill in refrigerator for at least an hour before serving. I know people that don't like green onions. Chopped Jalepeno's are way better anyway.
9. You can make this recipe a day ahead and let it sit in the fridge overnight - let it come to room temperature before serving with round, restaurant-style tortilla chips. (The reason to serve it at room temp is so that when you attempt to dip your chips in they don't break) Some people like to serve this hot instead of cold: bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, if you'd like to do that.
10. The above is my basic recipe. When I make it these days, I usually fiddle with it a bit, by: using 1 can of black bean refried beans instead of regular, adding ancho powder into the beans and sour cream, and adding a small can of chopped mild green chiles into the refried beans.
11. If you have any extra, or want to try something different. Fill flour tortilla's with the dip, fry them if you want, they make great burrito's hot or cold.

Edit: detailed cocktail shrimp are great in this.

If you are looking for more of a nutritional type thing, I can throw alot of vegetable dishes your way.

[Edgie]

Haha I got something for you guys, kinda inovative bbq

If you have a toaster oven + baking pan like for the shells or lasagne

Grab the grill tray from the toaster oven and place into pan, it will basically hold in place from the sides and not all down leaving some space under it, in that space u can put wood chips if you like smoky foods. This way you get the nice grill marks on your meat/food, but cooked in the oven, for people without backyards for bbq'n.

grilled chicken cordon blue

Grab a boneless skinless chicken breast, and a sharp knife
Cut a pocket in the chicken where the meat is thickest, make sure u dont go all the way thru, or the sides, its a pocket damit!
inside the pocket you will insert a mixture of Diced ham, shreaded parmesan and italian dressing, make sure to mix those ingredients together in a bowl or something, the dressing helps the cheese stay in place, if you like stuffings get some breadcrumbs and mix it with the ham and cheese. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, or some all purpose seasoning, essense of emeril, watever you like.

Preheat oven, 350, put wet wood chips in pan, place grill in pan, put chicken on top, you can put a lid to keep the smoke around the meat longer but u dont have to. Cook chicken till its done, check with thermometer for meat temp, 170-180 and its done. Let sit for a bit, enjoy with some rice, or veggies. samich anyone?

[quannum]

deviled eggs:
1) boil eggs
2) mash up yolks in bowl with salt, pepper, paprika, mustard and (mayo or ranch or sour cream)
3) spoon that shit back in the shells
http://www.aeb.org/Recipes/Appetizer...viled-eggs.jpg

tuna casserole:
1) make macaroni per instructions on box, return to burner
2) dump in can of (peas or corn or w/e) and pack of tuna
i like those new "stay-fresh" packs they use, but canned works too
carbs+protein+veggies = ftw
http://www.kraftfoods.com/images/rec..._Casserole.jpg

buffalo wings:
1) season salt and pepper some defrosted chicken wings, lightly
2) dump them in a bag/box/dish/tupperware with some flour
3) let sit for 5 minutes while your oil comes up to temp, use enough oil to come up half-way on wings
4) fry that shit up 2 minutes per side, dump into some wing sauce
5) bleu cheese & celery ftw
I mail-order this stuff, but any works
http://www.peppers.com/images/products/anchorhot.jpg

oh and pho is easy as fuck to make.

all this shit takes less than 30 minutes and should be pretty cheap.

[Siniroth]

white cheddar KD (or silly mac & cheese if you can't get KD, probably a white cheddar version of normal kind too)

Cream of chicken soup

Tex-mex cheese



make KD normally, when it's finished and it's time to put cheese in, do that, and add cream of chicken soup and the tex-mex, and let it simmer on low for a bit while stirring.

Most godly mac & cheese ever.

[Mala]

Something a friend told me about and i tried, its really quite tasty:

Meat

Buy 1/4lb or 1/2lb of ground chuck from your supermarket per person (really cheap)
Put it on the stove
While its browning add mustard (or ketchup if you like), garlic powder, onion powder, tabasco sauce, whatever other seasonings you like.
Enjoy
Takes ~5minutes to prepare, and is probably around $1 or less per person depending if there is a meat sale at your supermarket.

[killerx]

lemon chick just toss it in a pan and put some lemon pepper on it. Thats like all we eat around here that and pork chops lol. Instant potato's are allso so the way to go, or you could just boil some and mash them that works too.

[Bwelch]

Something a friend told me about and i tried, its really quite tasty:

Meat

Buy 1/4lb or 1/2lb of ground chuck from your supermarket per person (really cheap)
Put it on the stove
While its browning add mustard (or ketchup if you like), garlic powder, onion powder, tabasco sauce, whatever other seasonings you like.
Enjoy
Takes ~5minutes to prepare, and is probably around $1 or less per person depending if there is a meat sale at your supermarket.

lol, that is very similar to how you make chili for a hotdog/hamburger. XD

[Quixotic]

Pan-Seared Chicken Breast

Defrost your chicken breast beforehand. Pound your chicken flat using a rubber mallet and some plastric wrap or wax paper to cover it, so the chicken is able to cook evenly. Drizzle breast in olive oil, and cover with whatever seasonings you want (I'm a lazy college student, so I have one of those steak rub seasonings on hand, works very well); use the seasoning liberally. Preheat the oven to 350 while you break out the skillet. Get a nice layer of olive oil in the pan and turn heat on high. When the oil starts to smoke, throw in the chicken, and cook each side for ~2 minutes (depends on how thick your chicken breast is), until both sides have a nice crust formed. Turn off the stovetop, place chicken in whatever you have available to put into the oven and let it bake for about 10 more minutes.

When chicken is done, it should have a nice flavorful crust on the outside from searing, and it should be moist on the inside. Serve with whatever, I usually just eat the chicken with some rice or vegetables. Shouldn't take more than 15-20 minutes to make and doesn't require a whole lot of ingredients.

[Norelco]

I agree with the spaghetti comment. My favorite jar of sauce is beritolli marianra with a burgandy wine.

Fuck yah man, that is my favorite also. They discontinued it briefly at the store I shop at but it's back now so I bought 8 jars.

[gandorf]

1 can of corn- 1$
1 can of chili- 1$
some white rice-1-2$

Boil the rice cook the corn and chili, When it is all done put the rice down first then corn then chili on top. You can add salt pepper and butter if you want. It's good and cheap and if you gotta feed more people just add more ingredients.

[Iono]

1. 1 or 2 packs of Ramen
2. 1 or 2 slices of Steak-umms
3. One boiled egg.
4. Black pepper or some kind of seasoning.

Make the steak-umms on a skillet.
Make Ramen.
Add steak-umm to ramen while it's still on the stove.
Add whatever other seasoning you want.
Slice egg with an egg slicer.
pour ramen into a bowl.
Add egg slices.

PROTEIN!

Also you guys that drain broth or add seasoning after draining the broth suck.

Steak-umms sounds like a doggy treat =-=a

I'd do something like this, but with Thai Ramen and stir-fried