Hey guys, I'll be in college next year and to cut back on expenses I want some cheap go-to meals that I can make for myself. What are some that you would recommend?
Hey guys, I'll be in college next year and to cut back on expenses I want some cheap go-to meals that I can make for myself. What are some that you would recommend?
What's a go-to meal?
ur mom
Peanut butter and honey sandwiches, canned corn, cereal, toast with jam, apples, corn chips, macaroni with butter and salt, oranges, clif bars, baked beans with tabasco, dried fruits, almonds, cottage cheese, green beans, bananas, endurox.
And cook a whole turkey every now and again and eat it over time.
Spaghetti with butter.
Don't forget eggs. Fried eggs on toast are good. They are cheap, you can fix them a lot of different ways, and they have protein.
Try canned beans. Steal some taco sauce packets from taco bell. heat up some black beans, mix in taco sauce, grate a little cheese on top. Eat with tortillas. Have some carrot sticks or fruit with it. Or tried baked potatoes with either broccoli and cheese or chili and cheese. Your cheapest veggies will be broc, carrots, and potatoes. Cheap fruits are bananas and apples.
Beans and rice. Tasty, nutritious, cheap and easy to make! You can have a whole meal for under $1!
Sweet potatoes and yams are nice too.
$1.39, Big Cheeseburger, 5 inch diameter, Jack N The Box
When I was in college I tried to save a lot of money eating cheap. Problem was it was the same few things and not very nutritous and I was constantly low in iron.
I used to get a whole box of some cheap generic instant pancake mix for 89 cents. This was in the 80's. That would last me at least 2 weeks and I ate a lot of pancakes. Another favorite was lots of Totinos frozen pizzas.
Another staple was microwaved baked potatoes with ramen noodles.
I second the totino's frozen pizza's. 99 cents and so very addictive. I reccomend pepperoni.
A box of pasta and a jar of tomato sauce.
About three solid meals for less than five bucks.
Grilled Chicken Burrito from Taco Bell for .99! Best value in fast food IMO. Good amount of protein for after a heavy lifting session.
cheap staples you should keep in stock
eggs
potatoes
pasta and sauce
canned or frozen veggies
rice
onions
peanut butter and jelly
bread
Potatoes are the most versatile food! However, they do take some times to cook. You can find some great recipes and save them on allrecipes.com
ex-xc chick wrote:
cheap staples you should keep in stock
eggs
potatoes
pasta and sauce
canned or frozen veggies
rice
onions
peanut butter and jelly
bread
Potatoes are the most versatile food! However, they do take some times to cook. You can find some great recipes and save them on allrecipes.com
I am a big fan of diced tomatoes in the can. You can get them for about .75 per 16oz can. Where as tomato sauce runs you about 2.50 for a 26oz jar.
Whole Chickens and Turkeys are great. Also buy a whole pork loin and slice it yourself into the pork chops.
If you have an extra freezer I would recommend going to a butcher and getting a 1/4 cow The up front cost is expensive but in the end you pay like $2 per lb of meat. Its a great deal and you can eat good beef all semester. If you live in a good area a lot of the time yoou can find some real good beef with less hormones. Get a lock for that freezer though. Friends love drunken steaks.
Fresh foods are nice but spoilage is a big cost. Canned tomatoes are surprisingly good, as are frozen peas, and they are great for mixing with other things to make a meal. Buy rice in bulk. Buy some dried herbs (oregano, etc), hot sauce and chopped garlic in jar to spice things up, they store forever. Buy bulk olive oil.
Saute garlic in oil in pan, add canned tomatoes (crush them by hand), some herbs (experiment), a little salt and pepper, and then add whatever you have in the refrigerator: chop up leftover vegetables (carrots, peas, onion, bell peppers, salad, etc)--done--or if you have a leftover pork chop, some hamburger or piece of a piece of fish, chop it up and lay it in too, let it all simmer. Surprisingly good. Serve over rice
Another bit of good advice: Invest in a crock pot/slow cooker. You can learn to make some rather good meals that take relatively little in prep time with one of these. Spend 10 minutes prepping it before class or during lunch, head back to practice and when you get home at 5 o'clock, a good stew or jambalaya or rice dish, etc can be waiting for you.
Also another thing you can do is buy packs of Chicken Breasts or Steaks at the store, dice or strip them and cook the whole thing, then save it in the fridge. Then you can make all sorts of meals throughout the week with that chicken or beef. Chicken Salads, Beef Stir Fry, Jasmine Rice and Veggies with Chicken, etc....all are relatively quick and easy to prepare (10 minutes prep time or less, 10-30 minutes cook time). Last night I made the Jasmine Rice and Veggies with chicken. Spent five minutes dicing the carrots, onions and celery, added the pre-cooked chicken, rice and broth to the pot, brought it to a boil, and covered it to let it simmer and cook the rice for 15 minutes, 5 minutes of prep time dicing veggies for a great easy meal.
All of the ingredients for dishes like that, and for stews tend to be pretty cheap too...beans, lentils, rice, veggies...the meat is going to be the most expensive part, and if you look around you can get a weeks worth of meat for 10-15 bucks or so and prep it all at once.