Budget meals

[Anonymous No.12392333]

Hello cooks.

So I am about to be on a tighter budget than usual the coming month and plan on buying a bunch of ingredients tomorrow that will last at least a week or two, while still keeping the cost fairly low.

Right now I got the usual stuff on my list; pasta, rice, onions, beans, canned tomatos etc but what other types of food should I buy? Meals should generally be both filling and cheap.

Also, budget food general thread?

[Anonymous No.12392354]

Go to a box store and buy bird seed/sunflower seeds for birds. You can also do this with peanuts. You can get 100 pound bags for almost nothing. I lived for 3 months with sunflower seeds and peanuts making up like 80% of my calories and it cost me almost nothing

[Anonymous No.12392357]

buy some cheapo beef or chicken, make it last so you don't go full soybitch vegan. would also suggest some milk and bananas, which are usually cheaper than apples.
if theres any on BOGO, get some cereal. /ck/ likes to pretend that anything that isn't garden fresh is poison but cheerios are literally one of the healthiest things you'll ever eat

[Anonymous No.12392373]

My (so far) complete list:
- Rice
- Beans
- 12 eggs
- 1kg apples
- 1kg red onions
- Garlic
- Fusilli
- Strawberry jam (for breakfeast)
- Mayonaise
- Canned tomatoes
- 10pck Hot Dogs (I use 2 per meal and freeze rest in bags of 2 per bag for later - great for stews n shit)
- Canned sweetcorn
- Frozen spinach (500g)

[Anonymous No.12392403]

>>12392354
This is actually very clever. Also, you got me thinking about buying a cheap pack of muesli which is very filling and okay-ish taste wise.

>>12392357
Beef is a good idea, and I could freeze whatevers left over. I can go vegeterian for one meal max per week, any more than that and I just feel like shit

[Anonymous No.12392436]

Also, another trick I used to use is go to my local universities cafeteria. It was pay to get in, all you can eat buffet. I'd go during breakfast time (5 bucks) eat as much as I could, then as lunch came out, fill up as many containers as I could. Some days I literally took 2 dozen muffins, 15 whole avacados, and 6 full meals. Stuff like chicken, potato's, salads, burgers, etc.

[Anonymous No.12392825]

>>12392354
>eating animal grade feed

Have fun with your chemo

https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aflatoxin

[Anonymous No.12392884]

>>12392825
FDA regulates feed for aflatoxin

[Anonymous No.12392954]

I just bought 6lbs of Barilla organic pasta, 3 boxes of Kashi cereal and 3 boxes of Pillsbury gluten free brownie mix for $9 because the clearance section is my friend.

[Anonymous No.12392967]

>>12392403
I "go vegetarian" 18 meals of 21 in a week and I feel fine. Maybe it's a genetic thing cuz muh people don't eat much meat to begin with so I'm already used to a flexiterian diet.

[Anonymous No.12394322]

>>12392333

If you have spices in the pantry I just usually get pork, onions, red pepper, habaneros and its something like $13. I just make a rub for the pork and throw it in the crockpot with the other stuff. Its super easy and is a lot of tasty food.

[Anonymous No.12394347]

[Anonymous No.12394363]

Go to a local farmers market or health food store. Find discounted veggies. Put veggies in fridge.

If you can't do that, then get a large bag of russest potatoes, and a bag of apples.

Go to the various discount sections in the grocery store, sometimes they have like bagels or bread buns marked down to a buck or two.

Also most meat and seafood have a markdown section.

Dollar store eggs and chicken drumsticks. Use the eggs in whatever. Tear the meat off the Chicken, use that in some dish, then use the leftover skin and bones to boil into broth for chicken soup. Don't waste anything.

Got leftover beef fat? Use it to fry your potatoes in.

[Anonymous No.12394382]

>>12392954
I hope you have friends, family or roommates to cook for, I'd make myself fat and sick on all that pasta and brownies. but we're the same kinda bargain-bin-packrats I'd think. God knows how long I've been working through the pounds of pasta I've got in my own pantry

[Anonymous No.12394390]

>>12392333
The cheapest breakfast and lunch is toast/sandwich, with eggs, or peanut butter or jam. A can of spam you can usually get 4 to 6 sandwiches out of which is pretty cost effective. Anything apart from this is usually too expensive. If you can get bulk puffed rice, shredded wheat, cornflakes or oats those are the best cereals.
A cheap dinner meal is 250g to 350g (half to 3/4th's pound) of meat, with sides of vegetables, with no sauces or condiments or additional added cost items.
NOTE: This is all per one person serve. You can double things up and make a second serve to have the next day (or to serve a second person). Obviously it's more expensive to have a 'cooked lunch' than it is to just have a sandwich or two.
>Meat Meals
Oven roasted chicken. This can be bone-in or boneless, whatever type of chicken you prefer.
You can make boneless thigh or breast into a breaded schnitzel that you fry.
Minced beef made into rissoles/burgers with added breadcrumbs, and cooked in an oven or frypan. Eat with bread for a burger or with sides with no bread.
A double serving of minced beef made into a large meatloaf with onions, capsicum & bread crumbs and if you need to fill more room, boiled eggs, roasted in an oven. Eat half for dinner, the other half for lunch next day.
"Stock" base soup: Just get a large saucepan, dump a bunch of water in with some boullion cubes, and all your vegetables & meat and cook at a simmer for half an hour until the meat is done. I prefer using chicken thighs for this type. Can add egg noodles if you want.
Tomato base soup: Alternative, use a big tin of tomatoes and use that as your base (tomato is better for building up flavours like smoked paprika, oregano & other herbs into the soup). I prefer making meatballs for tomato base soup.

[Anonymous No.12394422]

>>12392373
You need something with Vitamin C or you're going to have low energy. Frozen OJ or buy some green peppers and chop and freeze.

[Anonymous No.12394442]

>>12394390
Pasta sounds good, but without cheese it sucks balls. It's best use in budget meals is if you need to feed a lot of people and want to bulk up a meat & tomato meal. If you're on your own just make the meat on it's own.
Rice is a decent filler, I prefer it to pasta.
Wrap/Kebab: Buy flatbread of your choice, take your boneless chicken, cut it into strips and fry. Make a tomato based salsa with red onion, capsicum & dried oregano.
Burrito : Basically the same as a wrap, but with minced beef.
Curry: Get a can of coconut milk, mix with some curry powder, and add precooked meat/vegetables to it.
If you can get a whole chicken for a good price, butterfly it and roast it.
>Prepared food
Frozen pizza, hot dogs & sausages are almost always the cheapest prepared meals which actually resemble food and not overly processed garbage. Use on days you can't be fucked cooking properly.
>Vegetables
Onion
Capsicum/Bell Peppers
Spinach Leaves/Lettuce
Tinned Tomato
Potato
This is all your really need.
>Spices & Others
Salt, Pepper, Smoked Paprika, Dried Oregano, Dried Rosemary, Ground Cumin & Coriander, Garlic Powder, Chilli if you like heat, and a curry powder mix if you like that. Try to buy if you can, spices usually get vastly more expensive at low volumes.
>freeze meat
individually wrap each serving portion into a freezer bag.
>to defrost
get a metal bowl, place the bag in the bowl with the opening over the edge, then cover the bag with cold tap water. replace water every 15 to 20 minutes, especially if it's chicken. minced beef you can leave a little longer between replacing the water. it should be defrosted within an hour.
defrosting a whole chicken I would take it from the freezer and put it in the fridge and leave it for the day or two it'll take to defrost then cook.

[Anonymous No.12394465]

>>12394422
cooking bell peppers will cause losses of it's vitamin c.
eating a single orange every day should be enough vitamin c.
alternative just get the cheapest reputable bottle of vitamin c tablets, it seems most of them are 500mg or 1000mg with 100 tablets per bottle. Have one every couple of days. Walmart sells them for $5 and they would last at least 6 months.

[Anonymous No.12394488]

I often use these ingredients when low on money. All of these are nice in stews. I use any discount meat I can find in them

potatos
celeriac
carrots
cauliflower
onions
garlic
celery

[Anonymous No.12395364]

>>12392333
My burritos are the reason I always have money.

>Rice cooker
>Pressure cooker

Buy rice in bulk, I get a 20lb bag of Amazon that lasts 2-3 months for 15 bucks. Dry beans are also cheap af I get 5 pounds for 5 bucks, lasts same amount of time.

Toppings are where you can choose to splurge or not, onion and tomato and jalapeno are super cheap and the must haves for me. Grab yourself a good spread of Chipotle or Sriarcha Mayo for maximum flavor and a decent hot sauce.

Grab tomato sauce and make chili too cause its easy and super cheap. Buy tomato paste in a tube in the foreign section, cheaper and lasts longer.