#Budget Meals

[saltandlavenderblog]

Creamy beef and shells recipe

[openmindcrimecook]

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[petula-xx]

A cast of left overs, AKA Vegie Fried Rice.

I've been time poor recently due to a busy work schedule. I'd fallen behind keeping up with my fridge and pantry stocks. A free week has allowed me to get on top of things again.

I already had every ingredient in this pan on hand. A lot of odds and ends including:

old, soft juicing carrots

old, softening onion and garlic

near 'best before' eggs

a left over cup of frozen peas

assorted Asian condiments

Lots of frozen meals ahead from this effort!

Basic kitchen skills can mean eating well, saving money and minimizing food waste.

[housemousecooking]

My trick to making soups more filling

When money's tight soups are an easy way to stretch your food and budget. But it's not the most filling food. Adding a couple table spoons of instant mashed potatoes thickens the soup and makes it a more filling meal for very cheap. You can get a packet of mashed potatoes for about a dollar and use it for multiple meals.

I added a tablespoon to my egg noodles tonight because I accidentally added too much broth and needed to thicken it up. Love this.

[ceerecipes]

Classic Baked Feta Pasta

Baked Feta Pasta Recipe Summary

**Cooking Time:** 30 minutes

**Prep Time:** 10 minutes

**Servings:** 4-6

**Cuisine Inspiration:** Mediterranean

**Primary Cooking Method:** Baking

**Dietary Info:** Vegetarian, can be adapted to be gluten-free with gluten-free pasta

**Key Flavor:** Savory, tangy, creamy

**Skill Level:** Easy

**Nutritional Facts:** (Per serving)

* Calories: 520

* Fat: 27g

* Saturated Fat: 12g

* Cholesterol: 40mg

* Sodium: 580mg

* Carbohydrates: 53g

* Fiber: 3g

* Protein: 17g

**Ingredients:**

* 1 pint cherry tomatoes

* ½ cup olive oil

* Salt and freshly ground black pepper

* 1 block (7 oz) feta cheese

* 10 oz dry pasta (such as penne or bowtie)

* 5 garlic cloves, minced

* ¼ cup chopped fresh basil

**Instructions:**

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).

2. In a baking dish, toss cherry tomatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

3. Nestle the feta cheese block in the center of the tomatoes.

4. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the tomatoes are blistered and the feta is softened.

5. While the feta mixture bakes, cook the pasta according to package instructions.

6. In a large bowl, combine the cooked pasta, baked feta mixture, garlic, and basil. Toss to coat and serve immediately.

Tips:

* For a richer sauce, mash some of the roasted tomatoes before tossing with the pasta.

* Add a pinch of red pepper flakes for a touch of heat.

* If you don't have fresh basil, you can substitute with dried basil or another fresh herb, such as parsley or chives.

[sanjerina]

Okay I just tracked my spending for a month and I have GOTTA cut down on takeout/prepared food. My (relatively recent) aversion to cooking is costing me a huge chunk of money lately. I do know *how* to cook. But if you have really easy/cheap suggestions for what to make, preferably in batches that store and warm up easily, hook me up.

Parameters:

- I’m lactose intolerant, so aged cheeses are preferable if there is cheese;

- I can’t eat corn/corn products at all (long story);

- I can go to two-peppers spiciness but also am happy with blandish stuff like congee and casserole;

- I don’t eat pork, but otherwise I don’t keep kosher, so cheese + meat is fine;

- I like basically every cuisine ever until we get into the really funky fermented stuff;

- I like fish a LOT but both it and shellfish are hard to eat for lunch the next day (although sometimes I eat it for breakfast instead!)

It’s summer, so grain bowls, wacky salads, etc are all on the table. I just get home at 7 or 8 pm most nights and DO NOT WANT. If I did more batch cooking in Sundays and Thursdays, that might work? Or prep work on Sundays?

Anyway, help?!

[jukashi]

This guy does a lot of ‘meals on [very small amount of money]’ videos, among other stuff. This one is not only an example of that sort of thing but also includes a talk about people taking them the wrong way - basically taking shots at people who say that poverty means you should just learn to cook or to budget or so on.

[indischwindisch]

Chicken Noodle Soup (with Chili-Garlic Oil)

A delicious broth based soup, served with chili oil. A budget friendly meal, perfect for weeknight dinner.

This bowl of noodle soup screams warmth and flavor, all while keeping it budget friendly. Eating Healthy On a Budget My current series “Eating Healthy On a Budget” is about sharing meals that you can make with ingredients costing under 2€. This series is especially designed for students and busy people who do not want to spend too much money or time to make meals, but still want to eat healthy.…

[foodandfolklore]

Loblaws Boycott. How to get affordable food?

Today is May 1st; which means it is the start of the Loblaws Boycott across Canada. For those unfamiliar with the situation, food prices in Canada have been climbing to astronomical sums. Our main chain Grocery Stores keep increasing prices beyond what is normal inflation. Because they know as Mortals, we need to eat. And the further north you go, the worse it gets. They have already been caught artificially raising Bread prices a few years back, and blaming the price hike on the War in Ukraine. They set a price, We pay for it, and then they keep the price cause clearly people are willing to pay /s

So a boycott has been organized by people of Canada through social media and has even been talked about by TV News Outlets. The idea being to speak with your wallet and pressure change. The problem for many, however, is...Loblaws is just so massive, they don't see other alternatives. They own No Frills, Great Canadian Superstore, Shoppers Drugmart, and a ton more. For many Canadians, it seems like Loblaws is their only option in their area.

So I want to provide a list of some options for people to still get fed. Or even if you don't want to engage in the boycott, you just wanna find affordable food.

Costco and Walmart If a friend of family member has a Costco Membership and is willing to take you with them, do it. The workers there don't police who has the membership, so long as someone has one. You can bulk buy a bunch of staples like Meat, Cheese, Toilet Paper and Coffee for much cheaper in the long run. However, Buying in bulk is not always feasible for everyone. They either don't have the space or they can't afford to drop a few hundred dollars on a single shop. Walmart is a controversial suggestion because they have some....history. And your values may require you to not shop at Walmart. But if you need some accessible groceries for reasonable prices, Walmart actually has a very good selection.

2) International/Local Stores This is not really an option if you live more rural. But if you can find a nearby Asian Grocer or Halal Store you can get a lot of stuff. And not just rice. Legumes, Beans, Meat, Seafood; you'd be surprised how much you can get. You may also find a gem of a bakery or butcher.

3) Farmers Markets It's getting to growing season in Canada. Be Sure to check your near by Farmers Markets. You'll mostly find Fruits and Veggies, but may also be some local honey and eggs if you're lucky. This is also a great option for people who feel eating Organic food is important.

4) Food Waste Apps There is a surprising amount of apps dedicated to preventing food waste by selling you food that is about to be thrown away. The food is still good, and the reason for Discarding varies, but commonly it's because it's approaching it's best before date or Expiration date. Food can still be consumed after it's best before date, so long as it's not spoilt. Different areas will have different Levels of Activity on Different apps. A store needs to opt in before you can buy anything. So check out a few different ones. Flash Foods, Food Hero, and Too Good to Go are popular.

5) Ugly Food Boxes A lot of food gets chucked cause it doesn't conform to our expectation of how that food should look. It grew in a weird way and despite being totally fine to eat; Stores don't want to sell them. So you can get Subscription Boxes of Ugly Produce. Which I think is kinda fun. I remember being younger and my mom pointing out the funny shaped peppers. This isn't entirely a new concept, and many people would of probably heard of Imperfect Foods. However, this is a USA only service; useless to us Canadians. But we can try Odd Bunch or Eat Impact. The bonus with this is it's delivered directly to you. Great for people like myself who can't Drive but love to cook.

6) Meal Kits You see it all the time on Youtube: Try Hello Fresh and get so many meals free, yada yada. Well....it might be worth a try. You can cancel these kits at any time, and them hop back on them later. Like a streaming service. A friend of mine apparently does this. Ordering a box when the value of what they're offering is worth the price to her. Not a great option if you tend to forget to cancel subscriptions *cough* (Hi) but it can be a really smart way to get exactly what you want for a good price. Plus if you use a sponsor code, or a coupon in the mail.... Hello Fresh and Make Good Food are the two more well known meal kits available in Canada.

[jaxs-meals]

Potato wedges and Tofu ‘burger’!!

One serving: £1.33

(excl. seasoning & sauce)

Recipe & individual pricing below cut!!

Bulk total exl seasoning: £6.39

(King Edward) Potatoes £1.75

(Bio) Tofu £1.99

White crusty roll £0.25

Cucumber £0.95

(Freshona) Sweetcorn £1.45

Seasoning ect. I used

Vegetable oil

Turmeric

Cumin

Cayenne

Paprika

Rosemary

Ketchup

Siracha

Step 1

Preheat ur oven to around 200-220c (depends on your oven/ how you like your potatos cooked honestly!)

Step 2

Wash 2 medium-large potatoes! I do this very quickly and I don’t bother peeling them - but if you like em peeled, do your your thing!!

Step 3

Chop those bad boys! You can do wedges, slices, chips, whatever you want!

Step 4

Oil and seasoning! Drizzle a tiny bit of oil (you can add more later if you need), then some seasoning. I used salt, pepper, rosemary, cayenne and paprika. Don’t use too much, the texture of the chips will become very dry if you do !

Use your hands to rub the oil and spices over the chips, try to get them evenly covered! If this is a struggle, add a little more oil :)

Step 5

Put them in the oven! Make a timer for 25 minutes BUT make sure you keep checking in them and giving them a shake + flipping them

Step 6

Tofu!! You want one serving (generally a quarter of a block). I cut 2 big slabs.

Step 7

Fry that guy!! Pour a little vegetable oil (i used too much oops). I used salt, pepper, turmeric and cumin. Keep an eye on it and flip it every so often (see step 10 for how it might look when done!!)

Step 8

Chop a lil cucumber! I only used two slices.

Step 9

Put ur sweetcorn in!! Boil that boy!!!

Step 10

It should look kinda like this! Tough enough to hold together on a burger bun.

Step 11

PUT IT TOGETHERRRRR OH YEAA

[saltandlavenderblog]

Sausage and peppers skillet

[legumepowered]

"ohh canned beans are more expensive but they're so much easier to cook with. I don't want to boil them for that long booo"

- buy a bulk bag of beans online

- soak overnight, drain and rinse

- crockpot.

- Bean time 😎

[spookyinthesouth]

We needed cheap and easy tonight so I got some rotisserie chicken and a baguette from the grocery store and made salad BECAUSE HEALTHY HOBBITS EAT BREAD.

[housemousecooking]

Buffalo Chicken Sweet Potatoes

Seves 2

1 Chicken Breast(I do not use a breast when I make this, I use the meat I pick off the chicken after I cut the breasts, wings, and quarters off. But most people don't have that on hand.)

1 TBS Butter

1/4 Cup Franks (If you don't like hot you can also use BBQ sauce)

2 Sweet Potatoes

Ranch to top(I use a tablespoon of ranch dip because I make it to snack on every week)

salt, pepper, Garlic powder

I start with the sweet Potatoes. For the Sweet Potatoes, cook them however you bake a sweet potato. For me I like to throw them in the microwave to start(Make sure you poke holes in the potatoes with a fork) and then I wrap them in tin foil and finish them in the oven for a half hour. But you can also just microwave them, or you can wrap them in foil and cook them in the oven or crockpot Meat doesn't take very long. Start by dicing the meat(Not needed if using the pieces like I do), then I saute it on the stove top like browning meat. When it is about 90% done I add the tablespoon of butter and the franks and let it cook down on the meat. Top the sweet potatoe with the chicken and hotsauce, then add the ranch on top.

It is delicious, easy, and cheap. It also can be made with leftover chicken for an even easier meal. You can serve by itself or with some carrot sticks, or a salad.

[nightkitchentarot]

Free cookbook: Good And Cheap by Leanne Brown

[healthyskillz]

Out of my cooking rut! Only posting new recipes that turned out good. This was a simple one but so good, I had leftovers for breakfast the next day and then went and made a whole pot again for lunch and to stock the freezer.

GREEK BEANS 2.O

I have a go-to recipe of Greek beans where you bake them in a minty tomato sauce. But this one doesn't require an oven and works well with canned beans or beans cooked from scratch. I did both.

It's so easy, you cook the beans for half an hour in broth with lemon juice, bay leaf, oregano, onion, garlic, tomato paste. Before serving add chopped black olives. Super yum!