Anybody have recipes for meals that are 75 cents or less per person AND include a little protein?

I hear beans + rice can be that inexpensive...if you've cooked just beans and rice before, where do you go to get the best deal on beans and rice? What spices/condiments do you make it with?

6/5/2008 1:38:10 PM

check the coupon thread out regularly. You can get some top notch stuff for cheap

6/5/2008 1:43:35 PM

pasta,

get the barillo or whatever (splurge), it has protein etc $1.50/box. or get the cheap stuff for half that
turkey sausage is like $1-$1.50/lb at walmart
sauce is ~$1 jar if you get the cheap stuff

6/5/2008 1:43:42 PM

Kool-aid. $.10 a packet. Go crazy.

6/5/2008 1:44:11 PM

Quote :

"Recipe Suggestions for 50-75 Cent Meals"

6/5/2008 1:49:39 PM

Hold on son, you forgettin' the sugar.

6/5/2008 1:50:20 PM

textured vegetable protein is an EXCELLENT way to stretch meat.

6/5/2008 1:50:30 PM

shin ramen with an egg cracked on top and some korean hot sauce

6/5/2008 2:04:41 PM

rice and beans.

6/5/2008 2:06:02 PM

rice - jasmine, 20lb bags from the azn store for $7

6/5/2008 2:07:08 PM

things are that bad for you?

6/5/2008 2:07:18 PM

Aldi has split peas and pinto beans for $1 for two pounds. But most other stores sell most types of dry beans for $1 per pound so it's not that much cheaper. Cayenne pepper, onion powder, cumin, or whatever is spicy is what I usually use. And good with a big can of diced tomatoes (the peas are especially good that way, imo). Lentils are good too. One pound of chickpeas and some other cheap stuff make a ton of felafel (I posted the recipe in the recipe thread in the lounge a while back). Chili with lots of beans is a good, really filling, super cheap dish. Use one of the big cans of Hunt's or similar sauce that you can find very frequently for $1.

Trader Joe's has blocks of tofu if you don't hate it for $1 (or at least the last time I went there, which was a few months ago). I usually get 4 meals out of them. Throw in some cheap frozen stir-fry vegetables (Wal-mart's brand is really cheap) and some rice and that's a good meal.

If you know someone with a Sam's membership and have decent freezer room, some recognizable parts of animals are pretty well priced there. You can get a pork loin that's 2 feet long for $18 or so, which would go a long way if you only eat a little at a time.

Big Lots has very good prices sometimes on canned and packaged foods, but you have to kind of know how much stuff usually costs, because some things cost more than they would at the grocery store.

6/5/2008 2:08:31 PM

big lots is one of the last places i will ever buy food. everything in there is covered in 3" of dust.
tuesday morning is another place i will not buy food. oh and tj maxx

[Edited on June 5, 2008 at 2:09 PM. Reason : ]

6/5/2008 2:09:46 PM

If it's a packaged food, you can check the expiration date. If you're on a really strict budget you can deal with the dust.

Also, oatmeal. Not the packaged packet things, but plain regular oatmeal. Mix in some cheap peanut butter to make it more filling and add protein.

6/5/2008 2:12:42 PM

do you not have a job or this some kind of experiment?

6/5/2008 2:18:46 PM

Quote :

"do you not have a job or this some kind of experiment?"

I'm going to summer school, trying to get a job, and tutoring/doing odd jobs until someone will hire me.

Thanks for all the suggestions! Keep em coming.

6/5/2008 2:20:50 PM

if I had known you earlier, I would have suggested for you to apply for summer research in a lab here. It's usually 3-4 grand for 10 weeks and you can still go to summer school.

6/5/2008 2:22:53 PM

Man, in the News and Observer, they just had a good article about meals for 4 people that cost less than $12.
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/1087334.html

6/5/2008 2:24:31 PM

Heck, I have a job but still like the idea of 50-75 cent meals

6/5/2008 2:25:02 PM

how many servings are you trying to get from the meal?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=daz&q=Recipe+for+.50+.75+Cent+Meals&btnG=Search

[Edited on June 5, 2008 at 2:28 PM. Reason : sdf]

6/5/2008 2:26:41 PM

rice is expensive now (30$ for 20lbs)

check if FL carries any of that mexican rice 5lbs bag for 3-4$ and bean cans for 50-60cents each
Instead of rice, you can try corn tortillas with beans, salsa and veggies
Ramen (6-10 packs for 1$) and frozen veggies and hot sauce is also good option.

6/5/2008 2:29:47 PM

Quote :

"Heck, I have a job but still like the idea of 50-75 cent meals "

Same here. Since I'm a vegetarian I eat a lot of the types of things people turn to when trying to cut costs. I used to use lots of canned beans and stuff, but then I realized how much cheaper dry ones were, and I love cooking, so they seemed plenty appealing.

Also, http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/recipeindex.htm

6/5/2008 2:31:41 PM

I used to live on ramen and cheap frozen dinners.

Now I gotta eat less processed stuff, so I go with the spaghetti sauce, cheap hamburger (cook and drain first), and $1 box of noodles.

6/5/2008 2:38:46 PM

Have you ever tried applying for like, food stamps (or debit card, that's what I see people use at the grocery store now)?

6/5/2008 4:05:12 PM

goddamn

75 cents for a meal? wtf?

6/5/2008 4:09:07 PM

what is so hard to understand that people are poor?

6/5/2008 4:10:06 PM

Quote :

"Have you ever tried applying for like, food stamps (or debit card, that's what I see people use at the grocery store now)?"

It's my understanding that FT students aren't eligible for this assistance.

6/5/2008 4:25:54 PM

Really? I don't know. A few years ago, a student told me that they received the benefits...this wasn't in North Carolina though, so I imagine the rules vary.

6/5/2008 4:31:13 PM

Well, just because you're looking for cheap meals doesnt mean you're poor.

I mean, if I can replace 3 random $5 meals a week with 50 cent options instead, It'd save me $54/month or $648/year.

That's a good chunk of change that I can spend on more fun things.

6/5/2008 4:37:57 PM

Ok, well I assumed she was having money issues because of what she said in this thread, and also other things I have seen her write on her....

6/5/2008 4:52:57 PM

6/5/2008 5:41:14 PM

friend of mine used to LIVE off those frozen burritos at food lion. sometimes they go on sale for 4/$, he'd buy like 40 at a time when that happened.

he'd usually pile hot sauce and jalapenos on there.

6/5/2008 5:45:50 PM

Quote :

"what is so hard to understand that people are poor?"

i think dried beans are generally pretty cheap anywhere. good with cayenne, onions/onion powder, garlic/garlic powder, margarine.

6/5/2008 6:39:37 PM

bj's and sams you can buy large slabs of vacuum packed tenderloin, and other cuts of meat to butcher at home. You can save mega bucks this way, and also grind your own hamburger.

Eggs are good and cheap.

Hit up local farmer's markets.

[Edited on June 5, 2008 at 6:58 PM. Reason : ]

6/5/2008 6:57:54 PM

Do you "poor" people drink, smoke, drink sodas, or even candy/junk food? If so, you have no business cutting your nutrition cost in favor of the former.

6/5/2008 7:00:51 PM

Grand Asia Market FTW.

You can get huge blocks of tofu for next to nothing and they also have cheap produce. Buy some veggies, tofu, and some basic seasonings for stir fry and you're golden.

6/5/2008 9:33:39 PM

I'm going to second Grand Asian Market, produce is usually cheaper then at HT or Food dog. You can also pick up cheap meat. For protein, beans and grains. I've got to go grocery shopping this weekend, I'll poke around Grand Asian and see if I can do a week for ~$3 a day. (no rules this is just kind of a geewiz kind of thing)

6/5/2008 9:50:35 PM

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.

note: most if not all of the ingredients listed will be 10x more expensive if you try to get it from a regular grocery store. the biggest disparity is probably in the sprouts and fresh herbs. sprouts are only 50cents/lb at the asian market. 1lb of sprouts is A LOT of sprouts.

6/5/2008 10:24:54 PM

You can buy the bouillon cubes for pho at Grand Asia. Tastes much better than just using American soup stock. It's 69 cents or so for 4 cubes. The box looks like this:

6/5/2008 10:31:32 PM

i also have to second asian food storses

6/5/2008 10:52:20 PM

rice at Harris Teeter was $12 for 25lb. There was a guy in NYC that ate for $1 a day for a month just to see if he could. Blandness was a major issue since he was eating rice and ramen mainly. Salt, pepper and garlic powder make anything better. Bulk potatos and apples are way cheaper, whole chickens or halves are the same way compared to the cut up kind. you could probbably do it if you avoided value added products.

6/5/2008 11:08:08 PM

a bag of black beans that is like 1lb is really, really, really, REALLY cheap. and rice....also really really cheap (esp the bag kinds that doesn't cook as fast). so yes, beans and rice are cheap AND delicious.

6/6/2008 2:12:10 AM

idk where ernie buys his koolaid but the shit is more than 10 cents per packet

6/6/2008 2:45:05 AM

Rice isn't cheap these days.

Quote :

" LOS ANGELES, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Rice prices have increased dramatically in recent weeks across the United States despite the government's forecast that food prices would rise only 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent this year, reports said Wednesday. As consumers concerned about rising rice prices, the shelves at big-box warehouse stores like Sam's Club and Costco have been cleaned out and the wholesale retailers are adopting policies to limit rice purchases by customers. "

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-04/24/content_8038093.htm

^ Maybe he buys it at Big Lots

[Edited on June 6, 2008 at 3:03 AM. Reason : .]

6/6/2008 3:02:41 AM

Quote :

"bj's and sams you can buy large slabs of vacuum packed tenderloin, and other cuts of meat to butcher at home. You can save mega bucks this way, and also grind your own hamburger. Eggs are good and cheap. Hit up local farmer's markets."

while the price of some meats is cheaper at bj's / sams than the normal price at a grocery store, you can find meat for cheaper than bj's / sams if you what is on sale at the grocery store.

The farmer's market in Raleigh is anything but cheap. You may get higher quality food, but it is pretty similar in price or maybe higher than a lot of grocery stores.



If you aren't picky about white meat, chicken quarters (thigh + drumstick) are about the cheapest thing you can buy. A normal price in a grocery store is a 10 lb bag for like 5 or 6 bucks. If you are resourceful, you can cut it off the bone and have chicken chunks to use in a variety of stuff.

6/6/2008 6:37:24 AM

rice and beans for sure.

6/6/2008 8:54:11 AM

Quote :

"You can buy the bouillon cubes for pho at Grand Asia. Tastes much better than just using American soup stock. It's 69 cents or so for 4 cubes. The box looks like this:"

I also add these to the rice cooker to make flavored rice. My fav for that is the lau thai cubes. OMG, melt a little mozzarella over the rice and I can't stop myself.

6/6/2008 11:31:08 AM

Quote :

"Well, just because you're looking for cheap meals doesnt mean you're poor. I mean, if I can replace 3 random $5 meals a week with 50 cent options instead, It'd save me $54/month or $648/year. That's a good chunk of change that I can spend on more fun things. "

amen

6/6/2008 11:47:03 AM

Another +1 to having better things to spend money on.

If you eat a $1 meal (not hard to do) instead of a $6 fast food one 5 times a week that's $1,300 a year you can spend on other stuff.

6/6/2008 12:23:22 PM

Go to Walmart and buy you a pack of Ramen Noodles - Beef
Get you the cheapest kind of cheese you can find, shreaded if possible
REAL Bacon bits
Pack of $1.00 tomatoes at Wal-Mart

Price: about $6

but you can make 12 meals out of it - what I do is I cook the noodles on the stove, then drain all the water all of it except enough to keep the noodles moist and enough to stir the mixture easily - then add the seasoning, add some cheese, stick it in the microwave for less than 30 seconds, stir - add bacon bits and tiny bits of tomatoes and you're good to go - 50 cent meals

personally, i like adding oregano, red pepper bits, parsley, or cilantro to it while cooking

To change the flavor, I buy the 35 cent packs of deli meat from Food Lion - Budding? I think - you can get turkey, chicken, ham, etc and add that to it



Another thing that I do (I have a 2 acre garden so this is cheap for me, but may not be for you) - I grow my own tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, etc - I like cutting up my tomatoes in dices, cucumbers in dices, and putting the onions in a food processor, then mixing that all up and putting it in the fridge for like an hour to get cold - after that, add some ranch dressing to it and OMG is it good! (homemade ranch FTW)


Food Lion used to carry these burritos that were singles in different color and flavors, like hot beef, chicken, beef and bean, bean and cheese, etc - well I cant find them anymore but maybe your area will carry them - they are like 30 cents each I think and I've always liked the red hot beef because I dont like beans - pop it in the mic for like 2 mins (1 min on each side) - throw a slice of cheese on it - add sour cream and some tomatoes and yum


And yes, I love tomatoes - I plant over 100 tomato plants a year (My husband and I live with my grandparents (I take care of them) and and my uncle lives on the land (my grandparents have 5 kids that also eat out of the garden), so we have a lot of people to feed, and we also feed the neighborhood with our extras) - so if you don't like tomatoes - substitute

[Edited on June 6, 2008 at 1:04 PM. Reason : ]

[Edited on June 6, 2008 at 1:05 PM. Reason : ]

6/6/2008 12:36:55 PM