Best Budget Meals

I've tried really hard through the years to keep my food budget reasonably low. I need to recommit to that since our food spending has been creeping up. In college, I tried to spend about $20 each week on groceries so my monthly grocery bill was around $80. That meant I ate cold or hot cereal for breakfast, a peanut 4*butter sandwich and an apple for lunch, and for dinner, something simple like pasta, sometimes sauteed chicken and a vegetable, or a quesadilla. Add in ice cream, making something a little nicer, or pitching in food for a roommate meal, and that rounded out my food budget.

After I got married, I was proud of the fact that our food spending was equal to how much Brian spent just for himself before we got married.

Now days, I still try and spend as little as possible on food while still eating plenty and reasonably healthy. I try to buy more fruits and vegetables. Even when we have better meals, I keep it less expensive by using less meat, substituting or omitting expensive ingredients, and buying things when they are on sale/in season. But sometimes we just need an inexpensive meal to stay under budget. So, I present some of my best cheap meals. Seriously, these are low-budget, sometimes low-quality meals meant to fill tummies and keep dollars in your pocket. I'm not talking about $5 meals. I'm talking about $2 and under meals.

Lentil Rice Casserole

Baked potatoes

Spaghetti with marinara sauce

Black beans and rice

Pasta with butter and Parmesan cheese

Peruvian-style fried rice (Arroz Chaufa)- fried rice with a few peas, a scrambled egg, and a cut-up hot dog (yes, it's kind of gross, but you get used to it)

Pancakes

Grilled cheese sandwich

Bean and cheese burrito

Sauteed broccoli and chick peas or Swiss chard and chick peas (homegrown veggies=cheap)

Potato soup
Hot dogs

And now a note from Camille

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And a picture of Owey

What are your favorite budget meals?