El Cheapo foodo wanto plzkthxo

[HOOTERS]

Ok Im a uni student with little money and need to spend that little money on beer, food and rent, in that order. So anyway give me cheap food ideas for meals plz.

ps I already know baked beans on toast thx
pps suggestions to cut down on beer will be ignored
ppps suggestions from PG will be ignored

[Peegee]

You dare ignore me? My budget is like 40$ a month!

Buy cheap things that come in numbers large enough for you to work with for a week. An example would be a carton of eggs and some cold cuts. Add a loaf of sliced bread and you have egg/cold cut sandwiches for a week. Or buy some rice and just spend some money on fish. Fish is cheap -- if you don't care what fish, you can get a fish (no bones) for about two bucks.

Cereal is your friend. As for booze, only go to places that offer deals . Bars compete with each other, so different bars will have different deals each day of the week. Just cycle between them.

Rent is just money taken away from you at the start of each month. Unless you have student loans or something you should be fine. Eat my shorts.

ps: I hate you

[crono_logical]

Noodles and cereal :D Or if your uni provides a cafeteria, probably use that too since that's rather cheap for what you get - it is here anyway :p

And instead of cutting down on beer, don't drink it at all :D

[Fuzakeru]

Eating your own body parts could come in handy.
Start with your toes first . . . you don't really need those.

[Yamaneko]

Beer has carbs, thus you don't need solid food. The extra money can go into beer and rent, in that order.

[Strider]

Chili Mac. Problem solved.

[DocFrance]

Invite one of your lady friends over. Tell her you'd really like to have her over for dinner. Little does she know...

[Shlup]

Marchuan Instant Ramen - $.10/ea. is my personal fave

Costco
$7.99 Frito Lay 42pack (Cheetos, Ranch Doritos, Nacho Cheese, Lays)
$4.09 + $.60(CA Redemption) 24ct 12oz Dad's Root Beer - Approx $.20 each
$5.89 + $.80(CA Redemption) 32ct 16.9 oz Crystal Geyser - Approx $.21 each

McDonalds
$1.99 Managers Specials - Cajun McChicken, Small Fries, Small Drink
$.39 Weds & Sun Specials - Cheeseburger

Carl's Junior
$.99 Famous Star
$1.09 Salad to go

Wendy's
$.99 Baked Potatoes with Sour Cream and Chives
$.99 Small Salad
$.99 Small Chili

Taco Bell
$0.69 - Crunchy Taco
$0.69 - Bean Burrito

Also:
Recipes (http://www.stonedcrow.com/travel/budget_meals.htm)
Recipes 2 (http://www.robrob8.com/you_wanted_to_know/recipes_of_cheap_meals.htm)

[DocFrance]

It's too bad you probably don't have Chipotle where you're it...

Those are burritos sent straight from God Himself, if you're curious.

[black orb]

>>> Two words: Dog food..

[Kirobaito]

Originally posted by DocFrance
It's too bad you probably don't have Chipotle where you're it...

Those are burritos sent straight from God Himself, if you're curious.


Ya got that right.

Make your own enchiladas. Get some velveeta cheese and tortillas.

[eternalshiva]

Originally posted by black orb
>>> Two words: Dog food..

That's super icky :/

I suggest Kraft Diner. its like 60 cents a box.

[Todie]

GOLDFISH is the answer to everything! Or Easy Mac!
Juice boxes, granola bars........food in bulk is good. I usually eat on the run so that might not work for you.

It's too bad none of you have Raising Cane's chicken fingers where y'all are. Or jumbalaya! Mmmmmm......Jack in the Box is fairly cheap. McDonalds's dollar menu or Wendy's 99 cents menu are useful when you need cheap food.

[Kirobaito]

Jack in the Box is cheap? I've never found it that way. It doesn't matter; I eat it by the ton anyway.

And those Scooby Snack dog biscuits aren't THAT bad. The bacon-flavored ones taste like wood, but the rest aren't that bad.

[HOOTERS]

Ok, the only things I've understood so far are Mcdonalds, Wendys, and dog food. Talk proper english ie not American english.

[Kirobaito]

Okay, Hoot, I'll give it a show.

Blimey, mate, **mutter mutter**...eat enchiladas, preferable chipotle...**mutter mutter**...Scooby Snacks, because their colour is nice, crikey. Fast food, also, blimey.

[HOOTERS]

Wtf is chipotle?

[Kirobaito]

Chipotle is a Mexican concept of spiciness. It's fairly new, popular-wise, but it's all the rage here in Texas. Just about everything you find now is Chipotle in some form. Chipotle steak, chipotle ranch, chipotle, uh...dog food...blimey....

[black orb]

Originally posted by eternalshiva
That's super icky :/
>>> Is not that bad, I know a guy that eat almost everything even earthworms, he received some special Army training or something..

[DocFrance]

Originally posted by HOOTERS
Wtf is chipotle? It's also a small chain of burrito restaurants in the southwest. Huge effin' burritos, and tasty as hell. There's one right down the road from my college, and needless to say it's become a large staple of my diet.

Quite possibly the best thing you will ever put into your mouth.

EVER.

[EternalBahamut]

kool aid and not frozen juice, not kraft dinner (I'm not debating that it's greatness) but regular pasta because you can get a bag for the price of a box of K D, and lots a potatoes (like 1.99 for a 10lb bag and it'll last ya a week) and rice.

[Big D]

Here's a recipie for cheap, easy, awfully quick yet tasty omelettes:

Melt a little margarine in a glass bowl (just a normal breakfast cereal bowl would do fine).

Add two eggs, a pinch of salt, and about an eighth of a cup of milk; mix it thoroughly with a fork.

Microwave on high power for two minutes. While it's cooking, the omelette will expand greatly - don't be alarmed, even if it looks like its going to bubble over. Once it stops cooking, it'll shrink and settle pretty fast.

Remove the bowl from the microwave (carefully, it'll be very hot), then upturn the bowl and drop the omelette onto a plate. Great on toast, too.

Cheap, easy, and tasty. All you need is a bowl, a microwave, two eggs, some milk and a little salt.

[Meat Puppet]

Buy expensive stuff, the stuff rich people eat. Eat a large roast every two nights. Have a 5 course breakfast.

Buy the most expensive beer you can find. That cheap "Haast" crap is crap and watered down.

Buy a water bed.

Pretty soon, you'll find all your money gone. Problem solved :D

PS: Don't use microwaves, they're the devil.

[Leeza]

If you really want to eat cheap, but still eat something that has some nutrition, then buy potatoes, chicken pieces and frozen mixed veggies. Wash the chicken, salt it and stick it into the oven to bake at 350 degrees. Wash a potato and stick it in the oven to bake. Chicken and potato should both take about an hour. Or microwave the potato...takes 4 minutes. Frozen veggies take 3-4 minutes as well. It's all easy, cheap and still has nutrition.

If you don't want nutrition...eat a hot dog. Some fast foods might sound inexpensive, but I think that in the long run they still end up costing more than buying some of your own groceries and cooking them. So save that fast food money for your beer.

[Mikztsu]

I'm a student as well, and I've managed pretty well financially.:)

I buy potatoes, rice, pasta, noodles, chicken, miced meat so much. That's cheap and try to buy some veggies every now and then. Also one bag of Müsli lasts long; eat it with yoghurt.:)

Chicken chicken chicken is healthy, good and cheap! And don't buy ready/microwave foods. You'll spare a lot when you cook that all by yourself.

Also, I often bake rolls and bread by myself. You might wanna try that out.

[Loony BoB]

I had this same problem when my Mum (chef extroadinaire) moved out of the flat, leaving me with no skills and no ideas whatsoever. That was two months ago now, so hopefully this will fit the mentality you might have, if it's anything like mine was. In other words, the need to eat enough to be healthy while not really having to learn how to do anything, and preferrably sorted with minimal effort.

Pasta meals. Look for such things as raviolli and tortellini (or something like that), and buy a stir-in sauce with it. Easy meal. Not sure if you have them over there, but that's basically what I survive on. 40% 2-minute noodles, 40% tortellini, 20% the rest of the stuff you're about to read below. Tortellini/raviollie are kinda like cheese/meat stuff wrapped up in pasta. Like wontons only not crunchy, and you put them in pasta sauce and they taste gooood.

Eggs. Put them in boiling water on the stove and cook for 3-8 minutes depending on how soft/hard boiled you want them.

Potatoes. Easy enough to cook, just throw them into the water (well, clean the spuds) and leave them in there until they're ready. The smaller you cut them, the less cooking time. You get the hang of how long to cook them pretty quickly, you just test them by stabbing them with a fork or something.

Carrots - uncooked, just make sure you have a potato peeling thingy.

Mixed veges are the ultimate solution to your vegetable needs. A true godsend for peopel like me. Corn/peas/peppers/beans/carrot/broccoli. So long as it has at least three of those, you should be okay.

Make sure you still have some milk at some point. I don't have cereal, so I have to make a mental effort to go out and buy some milk every now and then. Milk goes well with Nestle Rolos. :D

Breadcrumbed fish/chicken. Make sure you're not getting ripped off, but yeah. Chicken kievs are really nice, dunno if you have them over there. Those are the only chicken things I really buy. They're like a breadcrumbed chicken meal with stuff in the middle, like ham and cheese or garlic and chives or some kind of spicey stuff. Nice, and easy to cook. Instructions are on the packets and so long as you have some kind of timer (or are more capable of keeping up with the overn than I am), you should be fine.

Cup'a'soup. Cheap and satisfying. If you find the right one, anyway.

Sandwiches.

Small pre-made salads. Just eat them the night you buy them - they go off pretty fast.

Fruit - apples and bananas.

That pretty much summarises my at-home diet. At work I have a sausage and egg roll for breakfast and a random sandwich/bread roll for lunch, with some chips and a fruit drink.

Hope that helps, from one half-arsed slacker living by himself to another.

[Skogs]

Stir-frys are dead-easy and oh-so-nice. They're pretty quick if you buy pre-mixed veggies. You can experiment loads, too with sauces and spices and stuff.

Pasta is a must. I like penne. You can buy stir-in sauces or make your own fairly dirt-cheap.

[Peegee]

Eating is overrated. Mutate into a solar battery similar to Superman.

[Thunday Man]

recycle, eat and drink your own bodys waste. Urine isnt bad to drink per say, its mostly just water and the extra vitamen and nutrients your body didnt need at the time. as for feces, it just tastes good.

[Loony BoB]

Oh, and it's 'Tortelloni', I just found out. After I opened this thread and it dawned on me that I haven't checked the stove in five minutes. Whoops.

[Peegee]

Feces is terrible to taste, but terrible if you eat a lot of MSG foods. As for pee-pee I think it's pretty acidic, so it doesn't wash down very well.

[Mikztsu]

I once tasted pee ( even from a mug) when I was a kid, and I really wouldn't recommend it.

[Erdrick Holmes]

By pizza rolls, they're tastey and plentaful. About 5 us dollars for a 90 roll bag.

[Zell's Fists of Fury]

One word. Dumpsters.

[Dragonfire]

Easy Mac and Ramen noodles (cups/bowls are better than the package ones that you cook in a pot), all you'll ever need.

[Big D]

I've got to agree with those who've mentioned stir-fry. All you need is a wok or frypan, some margarine or oil (low-fat varieties are better), then some mixed vegetables and, if you like, pieces of meat of some kind. Beef, pork, chicken, whatever floats your boat. Drop a tablespoon or so of marge or oil into the pan, apply moderate heat, and wait for it to simmer; then add the meat, followed shortly after by the vegatables (no need to thaw the veges first). Stir gently until everything's cooked; the meat's a good indicator of how well everything's done.

[ZeZipster]

Ramen Noodles + Random Leftovers = Bestest Meal.