What Are Your Favorite "Broke" Foods?

For dinner I make my own version of clams and linguine. I skip the clams, too expensive, and use a can of tuna. I can of tuna can easily feed a family. I replace the cream with milk, and just add a bit of rue to the sauce to thicken it. I use LOTS of onions and basil. I use whatever pasta I have on hand or usually make my own. The shape doesn't really matter. I use real butter, but half the normal amount. It's not just cheaper, it's healthier.

I have gotten many compliments on my cheapskate meal. (yes, I serve it to guests)

 

That is a funny topic! And actually very appropriate to my reality right now.. my favorite broke foods are eggs and milk. those are very cheap items, have a good amount of protein and vitamins and can make almost a full meal. For example for me that eat lunch my work's restaurant, I only really need food for dinner, so eating only boiled egg and drinking 1 glass of milk at night is completely fine for me.

 

I don't know how to cook and I still live with my parents, so whenever the budget is running low, I noticed that we usually just have egg or vegetables as viands. When I was living on my own, I just managed to survive on canned food and hotdogs.

 

Pasta dishes. Stuff like spaghetti in a homemade sauce is comfort food to me anyhow, and it's very cheap. You can make all sorts of restaurant quality pasta dishes at home with just a few basic ingredients, like canned crushed tomatoes, fresh parsley, garlic, onion, olive oil, a small brick of Romano, a cheap $3 bottle of wine, some lemons, and other stuff.

Buy the less expensive cuts of meat, and slow cook them or cut them into thin steaks/strips and pan fry them with veggies to stretch them out. But even before you do that, remove the skin and bones in advance and reserve them for home made broths, which you can make even more meals from.

You don't need a ton of ingredients to make your own incredible tasting stock. For my chicken stock, I only use onion, garlic, black peppercorns and sea salt (along with the chicken bones and skin). No expensive herbs, no carrots, no celery, no tomatoes or bay leaves. You would be amazed at how much flavor comes out of just those 4 ingredients along with the chicken.

You could even reserve the extra chicken fat that floats to the top after refrigerating the stock, and use it to cook/fry with - making things such as home fries or eggs in it.

 

I always have grains in storage for rainy days. As long as I have quinoa, rice and buckwheat in my pantry, I feel ok. Usually I can just get a few bits of green from my garden or buy some vegetables for a few dollars to go along with the grain. I also have nuts in reserve as they are very filling and satisfying when you are hungry but there isn't much to eat.

 

I think eggs, milk and bread would be my broke foods they are easy to make and are very cheap and who can forget a maggie!!

 

Any type of bean and rice combination is extremely frugal, and fills you up quite well. I like to do a stuffed pepper recipe, where I cook and season black beans and corn, and bake them into halved red peppers. Red peppers are fairly inexpensive, as well. If you'd like a recipe, I'd be happy to oblige

 

I have a 4H Special recipe from my mother which is cheap, easy, and filling:

Brown one pound of ground beef and one onion in a saucepan. Pour off the fat. Add 1 can of corn, 1 can of diced tomatoes, and 1/2 cup of uncooked rice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover until rice is cooked.

You don't need to add any water for the rice because you have the liquid from the vegetable cans. Be sure to pour off the fat though after you brown the beef.

Costs less than $5 and feeds four people easily. You really would only need 1/2 to 3/4 pound of ground beef but my store doesn't package it in much less than 1 pound packages.

 

Rice and Beans (together) are a good cheap food that can be made easily if you think to soak the beans ahead. Add a few spices and veggies to it and you have a wholesome meal. This is more of my goto meal when I am too lazy to shop rather that because I am low on my budget but it serves both purposes. The nice thing is that you can keep these things in the house for a long time. Adding a can of soup when making them can add a lot of flavor. Have veggies you need to use? Add them to the mix. This is a very versatile combo that provides a complete protein as the rice and beans are complementary.

 

I love frying some eggs with cut up tomatoes and onions. It tastes really good even though I cook it often, but I can change things up by adding ketchup or another sauce on the side. I'm Filipino, so I would eat it with rice as well.

Another 'broke' option that I enjoy is canned foods such as tuna or spam. Again, I eat these with rice and maybe a sauce on the side.

 

My favorite 'broke foods' are potatoes and eggs. You can get each for under $5.00 and make meal that sticks to your bones. These foods also can be mixed with vegetables and meat - not a lot - to enhance their flavor.

(See below: my favorite way to cook potatoes.)

 

Eggs, for sure. As a meat substitute you can't really beat the price of $0.20 per serving.

We actually do rice and beans in my house about once a week, because we love it. Even when we add sausage, cheese, and sour cream, it is still one of our cheaper meals.

I also stretch meat by putting it in things like soup or chili. I can get away with serving half the amount of meat in a chili or a stew than I would if I was grilling chicken or pork chops.

I also tend to stock up on things like chuck roasts or pork shoulder roasts when they go BOGO (or down to between $1 and $3 a pound) and slow cook them. I mean, don't get me wrong, we love a good grilled steak or pork chop, but the price of meat is ridiculous right now, so habits have definitely changed.

 

I am currently broke right now. We make a lot of mashed potatoes/baked potatoes. We're Mexican and I make a homemade flour tortilla recipe with beans and rice. For breakfast we'll have eggs with hot sauce or fried tortilla pieces mixed with eggs. We also make egg sandwiches that have mayo & salt in them. There are a lot of nights where we have eaten Hamburger for Helper for breakfast,lunch,and dinner, if money is low. My husband loves tuna sandwiches with mayo. We are not very picky, we'll pretty much eat anything. Pancakes at night time are the best!

 

I also use potatoes as a very cheap staple. Chips are very cheap and don't get old easily. I am not gluten intolerant per se, but large amounts of bread certainly isn't good for my stomach, so I avoid it as a staple. Eggs are nice too, but not very filling for the price.

 

I also like taking boneless skinless chicken thighs and marinating them for a couple hours simply in some soy sauce. Then I pan fry them in a little canola oil, and server them over some rice cooked with chicken broth. I will also throw in whatever veggies I have on hand too, such as onions, mushrooms, snow peas, peppers, etc... If you cook the chicken just right and let it develop a nice deep golden brown it is almost exactly like that "bourbon chicken" they sell in the mall food courts. For the broth to cook the rice, I use Better Than Bouillon brand chicken base. One jar of it at Wal Mart is only $4 and it makes the equivalent of more than 9 cartons of chicken broth. Plus there is no MSG in it, and the first ingredient on the label is actually chicken. It's much better than those artificial tasting powdered bouillon cubes.

I also like to take an inexpensive pack of hot Italian sausage, and make stuffed hot peppers with it. Just buy the sausage in bulk or remove it from the casings and mix it with a little egg, romano (or parmesan) and some Italian seasoned bread crumbs. Then cut the tops off of a bunch of hungarian hot peppers, carefully de-seed them and stuff them with the filling. This takes a little while since the peppers are so narrow, but just poke small amounts in a little at a time until they are full. You can even hold them up to the light to see how far down the filling went. Then just open a can of crushed tomatoes, and pour a bit into the bottom of a baking dish, add the peppers, then pour the rest of the crushed tomatoes over them. Cover and bake for about 45 minutes, then remove the cover and bake them for another 20 minutes or longer. The fat and seasonings in the sausage season the canned tomatoes, so there is no need to use a jarred sauce that is more expensive. They are great out of the oven, but they are also awesome as cold leftovers on some crusty bread as a sandwich.

 

Buttered toast and PB&J sandwich. However, I am picky (even when $ are tight). I must have real butter and I like whole wheat or multigrain bread but I will accept sourdough or rye. My peanut butter must be chunky and I prefer fruit spread or honey over jam and jelly.

 

So, I did this when I had little money: Mashed potatoes flavoured to your liking run through a ricer, frozen spinach cooked, & toasted tortillas. Hot sauce & I'm all about that delicious. Customize it with any salsa you may have or whatever. I kind of miss them...