budget cooking

[kima]

I would like to hear what people like to cook when they are on a tight budget or just feeling the pinch for awhile. We are vegetarians but we do eat fish. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

[kwormann]

Been there, and are there from time to time still. When we are tight on money, we love tuna with just relish (actually, DH likes it plain), refried beans on tortillas, and in college I lived on store brand Mac n CHeese, made with light mayo instead of butter, add tuna.

Not very immaginative, but obviously it revolves around tuna and beans, both very cheep!

Kim

[NydiaC]

Spagetti with homemade sauce. It feeds a lot of people cheep!

[Cindy Rafferty]

Kima: pasta, beans, potatoes, and vegetables in season come to mind. I'm making a chicken soup with both now. You could do the same using vegetable based broth. I've discovered that the dry beans that you can buy are alot less than the canned. You do need to plan ahead to use them, however, because they require soaking time.

Look for the buy-one get-one for free deals, like on mini-carrots, and purchase if you can make use of them. Use as much of something as you can: enjoy fresh broccoli, and save the end to use in broccoli or vegetable soup, for example.

Do as much of your own baking as you can. I make most of my family's scones, pies, biscuts,and cookies, many of them CL recipes. I do purchase fresh baked bread.
Make your own pizza with alot less fat and about 1/8 the cost of a take-out, even if you buy the dough.

Look through the supermarket circulars and highlight any good deals. Try to work some meals around them: if potatoes are a deal, that might be a good week to try of recipes for potatoe soup.

Good luck, hope this helps!

[Vanessa]

I would suggest looking at your supermarket weekly specials for fish, veggies etc. Vegetarian lasagnas, penne, clam sauces etc are not expensive. Vegetables can add to your grocery bill so lets say you are making a stir fry well look at your salad bar in your supermarket where you will find veggies all cut up ready to use and in the amount needed.You can make lets say a Shepards pie with meat substitute. Stratas, pizzas, pastas are good ideas when the budget is a bit tight.

[foszakacs]

I save a lot of money by shopping at Costco and freezing what I don't use, nut you shouldn't buy everything there some things are just as much as at the supermarket and you have to buy a lot.
You can cook cheaper cuts of meat in the slow cooker and freeze the leftover -I use those inexpensive ziplock conatiners.
We eat a lot of salad, it fills you up and it's good for you! I also make lots of dips, especially with refried beans and toamtoes with homemade chips, they are really good and hardly cost anything -my boyfriend always laghs whenI calculate how much te prepared dinner costs but he does uppreciate the way I handle the budget.
I always try to make at least 2 or 3 side dishes, like steamed beens and rice and greens, you need to eat less meat and they are much cheaper and can be made at the same time.

[mlou]

Wow! All my ideas are taken except one. Try finding a co-op or buying club in your area, they usually offer bulk foods and case discounts http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif Grains, beans and pastas are much cheaper that way...spices also. If you join a co-op, you can usually get a further discount for working a few hours.

[Beth]

Don't forget rice. Rice or corn and beans offer complete protein. My husband says he ate a lot of rice in college days. Dried beans and lentils offer a lot for the dollar too. When the weather warms up, you can grow your own beans, squash, tomatoes, peppers and other veggies, even in pots. Pick small varieties and use stakes for tomatoes, beans, cucumbers. And if you eat eggs, they offer a lot of options too.

[Lauren]

I agree with what's been mentioned. I've been making a lot of things that require beans lately, i.e spicy black bean soup, chili with butternut squash, and have found them to be pretty cheap. Recently our local store had their own brand of canned beans 5 for $2.00. I stocked up! Watch out for specific bottled sauces for recipes. I was trying some new recipes recently and had to purchase specific sauce ingredients that were costly. However, now I have these things in my pantry for next time.

[This message has been edited by Lauren (edited 01-08-2001).]

[BevP]

How about a roast! Yes cheap! Get a cheap cut of meat (And I'm talking a few bucks only) and a can of french onion soup. Cook it in the crock pot all day and it comes out tender and the juice can be thickened for rice or mashed potatoes. The trick is the crock pot. You can take any cheap cut of meat and make it tasty.

[Jessica]

My favorite budget dinner was to take a potato or (more nutritious) a sweet potato. Cut into chunks and spray with cooking spray, or brush lightly with olive oil. Bake until golden outside and soft in the middle. Dip in salsa.

[sal]

One of my standbys in college was spaghetti squash. At that time it was just a few cents per lb & I got 2 meals from it. I just cut it in half, baked in oven (cut side down), scraped w/fork and topped w/spag sauce & sprinkle of the green can cheese, or just butter and a sprinkle of cheese. I still think its pretty reasonable in price. sally

[Joyce]

I live in an urban area. I am able to find lots of ingredients that are sold in the grocery market for ethnic dishes at "ethnic" supermarkets at 1/2 the cost. We go to the chinese food market and buy soba noodles, etc., the mexican supermarket for chilis and other things. The savings mount up $2.00 difference on just soba noodles. We also have fun browsing the aisles and trying new things.

[lorilei]

Our lifestyle is always a rollercoaster of feast or famine, it seems. I've learned to be terribly creative in those "tighter" times and buy ahead a bit to prepare. I order tofu in bulk through our local co-op when I can, and that saves a ton of money!

Some of our favorite dishes:

Quiches and fritattas -- I can load them up with beans and vegetables and they become a filling complete protein meal.

Vegetarian soups are also a great bargain -- they can be made in bulk and frozen for later! We love bean soup, potato or cauliflower soup, and Chili for cold winter nights. If winter squash is on sale, a good root soup is always a favorite.

We also eat a great deal of stir fry. I watch for sales on produce, buy what I can and then throw it together with a variety of sauces or seasonings. We might have Indian curried veggies one nights and Thai broccoli the next. My wok was a great investment in this sense!

Be creative and shop sales. You might find that you need not feel deprived at all during those tighter moments.

[JLS]

* One thing I have noticed is that I spend alot less money if I don't buy alot of processed foods (ie..cookies, frozen pizza(making your own pizza is really cheap) and make alot of things from scratch.

* Bringing your lunch to work saves alot !

* I also have coffee either at work or at home before work in lieu of a Starbux latte.

[kima]

This was my very first post!!! Just taking myself down memory lane. It all began soo inocently......;) Now finding my first post counts for fun on a Saturday night!:D

[maizeyoats]

Originally posted by kima
This was my very first post!!! Just taking myself down memory lane. It all began soo inocently......;) Now finding my first post counts for fun on a Saturday night!:D

Maureen,
I was wondering what was going on and I thought "ah ha Maureen has gone broke buying cookbooks"
Seriously, though, it is a good idea to discuss budget meals every now and then.