Food Lion pizzas are good and they're only like 75 cents. Sometimes they go on sale for 2 for $1. Also the bags of Food Lion frozen chicken nuggets will sometimes go on sale for really cheap. You can use them in salad or pasta. If you choose to go the frozen dinner route, I've seen some on sale for pretty cheap.

6/6/2008 12:48:26 PM

Aldi has ground turkey for .99/lb. Turkey with mushrooms and a simple bachemel sauce over any kind of pasta is a delicious and very reasonably priced dinner.

I also buy yellow corn grits from Whole Foods. They're like $2/lb and they're a lot better than the white ones. They're delicious with salt, a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, and some nutritional yeast. They make a perfect side for your eggs in the morning.

[Edited on June 8, 2008 at 7:04 PM. Reason : ']

6/8/2008 7:03:51 PM

can i order you a pizza?

i found cooking multi meals in one cooking makes more sense to cook. i cook 2-5 meals out of what i cook and the cost just divides itself. Eat better for less. Although , hopefully you won't get sick of what you're eating.

for a easy and cheap meal. i like eating gruel with chinese canned food.
bamboo shoots
gluten
meat floss (i know it sounds disgusting but its tasty)
pickled cucumbers
...the list can go on

all of them you can get from the asian grocery store.

pm me if you want more info on that.

6/9/2008 12:43:33 AM

Go to NeoMonde or Nur (or your local middle eastern deli) to buy your spices. Most middle eastern places have a little grocery store in the back of them. The prices are vastly cheaper than at any grocery store. You can buy enough rosemary to last an entire year for $.50. Olives and bulgur and things like that for cheap too. Speaking of which, bulgur is a pretty cheap meal if you buy it there. That's the main ingredient of tabouli, which is pretty nutritious and cheap, and it stores well.

6/9/2008 7:01:03 AM

Yeah tabouli is always a good meal. You can also buy big ass bags of pita bread, some chickpeas, and tahini to make hummus. Quick cheap way to fill up.

I'm making pad thai with tofu and bean sprouts for dinner tonight. I'd say it'll cost me about $1/portion if that.

6/9/2008 7:47:03 AM

Quote :

"Aldi has ground turkey for .99/lb"

Unless its 100% white meat, that stuff is terrible for you. Its full of saturated fat.

Quote :

"tabouli"

That stuff is good. I like to add marinated tofu or chickpeas and cucumber.

[Edited on June 9, 2008 at 9:37 AM. Reason : .]

6/9/2008 9:36:19 AM

Quote :

"50-75 Cent Meals"

OR

Quote :

"50-75 Cent Meals"

6/9/2008 9:55:04 AM

Frozen vegetables are always good and you can find them on sale alot.

You can definitely save money if you make one large meal and freeze it in smaller portions: lasagna or stuffed shells freeze well and you only need pasta and cheese. Rice and veggies is a really good meal.

6/9/2008 9:57:10 AM

Found hot dogs on sale at Food Lion, they're 20 for 2.40 there.

Pair a hot dog (24 cents) with a cup o noodles (30 cents) for a 54 cent meal.

I'm still interested in other peoples suggestions though.

6/9/2008 11:09:18 PM

Quote :

"learn to make pho. its Vietnamese noodle soup. you can find various recipes on the web, but it essentially comes down to beef or chicken broth stock, fish sauce, a cheap cut of meat, rice noodles, greens (generally green onion, fresh basil and fresh asian cilantro), some spices (cinnamon, star anise), and munge bean sprouts. A week's worth of ingredients can be had from an Asian grocery for ~$10, maybe a little more if you have to buy the spices, but those are more of a once/month purchase."

ftw

6/9/2008 11:15:38 PM

i eat a lot of sandwiches which i think probably ends up being pretty cheap. i just buy whatever ingredients are on sale. whatever turkey, whatever wheat bread, whatever cheese. maybe a head of lettuce.

or grilled cheese and tomato. or grilled cheese with soup. soups always go on sale although i dunno if they end up being 50 cents BUT usually a can of soup lasts me two meals (if i eat it with something else)

i second the rice and beans.

anything you can make with tortilas. you and get like a bajillion for cheap. i think i lived on cheese quesadillas for like 2 months this year. but honestly it was cheap. then i discovered lbs of black beans that were cheap so i added those. if you got really ambitious and pricey you could add some chicken.

also don't know if this has been said but PASTA SALAD. it fills me up as long as i add veggies and it is refreshing since it is so hot out. just buy a huge thing of noodles (i usually use the spiral kind) that are like .69 cents. then add a pepper, olives, cucumber, tomato....whatever really. it makes a lot and it is filling.

[Edited on June 10, 2008 at 12:26 AM. Reason : .]

6/10/2008 12:25:15 AM

stir fries where you make your own sauce can be cheap. Learn how to balance soy sauce, mirin, and vinegar and you'll be golden.

7/16/2008 6:04:01 AM

butternut squash soup - usually about $2-$3 for butternut squash but you get at least 5-6 good portions with it. and all you need to add is some garlic, ginger, onions and salt and pepper.

7/16/2008 7:28:12 AM

Quote :

"Pair a hot dog (24 cents) with a cup o noodles (30 cents) for a 54 cent meal."

I hope with all the money you are saving, you are putting a little aside for health insurance.

7/16/2008 10:06:18 AM

hamburger bun + jar of pizza sauce + cheese/topping of choice + toaster oven= cheap and effective pizza type snacks

7/16/2008 9:05:35 PM

Quote :

"stir fries where you make your own sauce can be cheap. Learn how to balance soy sauce, mirin, and vinegar and you'll be golden."

I buy jars of pad thai sauce at grand asia and it still comes out pretty cheap. Don't need much and other than meat it's all super cheap. Can be made with tofu as well but I don't eat soy.

7/16/2008 9:17:24 PM

rice a roni is frequently 10/$10 at food lion & one box typically makes too much for me to eat in one meal.

[Edited on July 16, 2008 at 10:12 PM. Reason : &]

7/16/2008 10:11:37 PM

1 can Cambell's broccoli and cheese soup (around $.79)
1 package of Lipton Pasta Sides Chicken (around $1 - $1.29)

Dump soup and pasta mix in a sauce pan fill soup can with a cup of milk and pour into pan. Then add 2 cups of water, add salt if desired.

Heat to a boil then lower to medium-high for 7-10 minutes.

Discovered this last night. Cheap and tasty!

7/20/2008 4:32:15 PM

Here's a list you should start shopping from.

The utter lack of nutrition in some of these suggestions is

Depending on the grocery store, the older/bruised produce is bundled up, marked down heavily, and separate from the rest.

Earlier this week, I sauteed a little garlic (optional - I used it here because I was already sauteeing some for other dishes), threw in some peanut paste (kind of $$$ from trader joe's, but if you check out an azn or hispanic store, you can find something equally tasty and cheap. I'm on a thai-like kick lately ) and a can of drained chickpeas ($0.69/can at kroger, store brand), and heated those; I added almonds for more protein, and tabasco for spice - these are both very optional. The big bag of almonds (from costco) I've had at least since April, and maybe since January. I love almonds, and these went on a two-week cross-country roadtrip. The $13 that bag cost was absolutely worth it. I only just finished it this week.

So far, from that can of chickpeas, I've already gotten three uses. One day for lunch, I mixed some leftover broccoli and brown rice into that, and had an egg. Another time, I just had some straight for a snack. I'd say there's at least a third of that can left. At most, I used $0.50 worth of peanut paste, and that's an exceptionally large estimate.

The asian and/or hispanic stores are where it's at for cheap stuff that's typically $$ at the grocery store. At kroger, jasmine rice is $3.29 for a 12?oz bag. One aisle over, with the ethnic foods, it's $7 for 5lbs.

7/20/2008 4:49:18 PM