Quick, easy, and cheap

[thirtythree]

What do you make for dinner (or lunch, maybe) that's quick, easy, and cheapish? It has to be tasty too of course, and not something like a frozen dinner or Rice A Roni. I'm a vegetarian but of course you can mention non-vegetarian items.

For example, I'll sometimes heat beans and salsa and saute some veggies to go in a tortilla with some cheese. I make pasta dishes now and then too, but would like some more variety.

 

[MaxDepth]

1 can of Northern Beans
5 cherry tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
6-7 basil leaves


1) wash beans, dump in bowl
2) chop the tomatoes into the bowl
3) mince or finely chop the garlic into the bowl
4) finely chop basil into the bowl
5) add oil and lemon juice
6) stir and refridgerate for 10 minutes.

total time 20 minutes and about $3.50. Weight watchers score it about 1 point per serving (3-4 servings per can) and you get all your daily fiber in too.


EDIT: I thought you were starting a thread about my ex-girlfriend

 

[TallBill]

I can make a monster pot of pasta + sauce for like $2.50.

 

[Aikouka]

Isn't it true of most things that when you list the 3 parts of the "triangle" you really can only achieve 2 ends? Like I can buy a frozen bag meal that's quick and easy, but it's not the cheapest. I guess you could say Ramen may meet all three, but I don't really consider Ramen a meal .

 

[Saint Nick]

Pancakes, waffles, etc. Those are wonderful.

Anything breakfast related is pretty good and quick. Salads aren't necessarily cheap, but you can load those up with goodies and make a lot of it. I like to pack fruit with my lunches. I make about four tupperware things of fruit and bring them with my lunch.

 

[ggnl]

1. Take something from your fridge
2. Wrap it in bacon
3. Consume!

 

[KillerCharlie]

Stir fry - $2 for a pound of vegetables from Trader Joe's. Add some rice and stir fry sauce and you have a ton of cheap food. It takes about 15 minutes to make (minus the rice). It's loaded with protein, too.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Get a good smoker or charcoal grill and make Beercan Chicken. Whole chickens are surprisingly cheap if you look around....They can feed you for 4-5 meals and you can boil the carcass when you're done to make chicken stock or chicken noodle soup.

Look for boneless, skinless chicken thighs. They're cheap cuts of meat that are really good for a lot of chicken pasta dishes, bbq, or just grilled dishes.

Pasta is good, so is rice. There are TONS of recipes from chicken & rice cassorole to chicken pasta.

Try making cheeseburger rice...you can change the recipe...but make 4-6 cups of rice. Brown a pound of burger meat and mix it with the rice. Throw 3-4 slices of american cheese, ketchup, mustard (use little at first), salt and pepper to taste. You'll end up with a cheesy, meaty, ricey mixture that tastes like eating a cheeseburger and is even better the next day if you put it in the fridge....goes great with beer.

 

[adairusmc]

Originally posted by: ggnl
1. Take something from your fridge
2. Wrap it in bacon
3. Consume!

Exactly

 

[Saint Nick]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
Try making cheeseburger rice...you can change the recipe...but make 4-6 cups of rice. Brown a pound of burger meat and mix it with the rice. Throw 3-4 slices of american cheese, ketchup, mustard (use little at first), salt and pepper to taste. You'll end up with a cheesy, meaty, ricey mixture that tastes like eating a cheeseburger and is even better the next day if you put it in the fridge....goes great with beer.

How do you think this would be with noodles instead of rice? I have all the ingredients, just no rice, but lots of noodles. This sounds delicious and I am interested in making some tonight.

 

[FDF12389]

sammich?

 

[thirtythree]

Originally posted by: MaxDepth
1 can of Northern Beans
5 cherry tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
6-7 basil leaves


1) wash beans, dump in bowl
2) chop the tomatoes into the bowl
3) mince or finely chop the garlic into the bowl
4) finely chop basil into the bowl
5) add oil and lemon juice
6) stir and refridgerate for 10 minutes.

total time 20 minutes and about $3.50. Weight watchers score it about 1 point per serving (3-4 servings per can) and you get all your daily fiber in too.


EDIT: I thought you were starting a thread about my ex-girlfriend

I'll have to give that a try, though I'm not actually watching my weight. I could maybe even stand to gain some

 

[SP33Demon]

Cans of anything like tuna, chicken, soup (campbell's). Get a Foreman Grill, you can whip turkey burgers up in no time as well.

 

[MaxDepth]

Originally posted by: SP33Demon
Cans of anything like tuna, chicken, soup (campbell's). Get a Foreman Grill, you can whip turkey burgers up in no time as well.

Hear, hear! Take canned tuna (drain well) with panko (japanese bread crumbs), mayo, and spices and you have tuna cakes. Put them on a fForeman grill, aluminum foil on an outdoor grill or indoors in a pan. Sear until brown and warmed through.

 

[FDF12389]

Another vote for the foreman grill, works great for apartment owners like myself, also very speedy and easy to clean.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: SP33Demon
Cans of anything like tuna, chicken, soup (campbell's). Get a Foreman Grill, you can whip turkey burgers up in no time as well.

Or hamburgers like the real world.

 

[spaceman]

one cabbage,2 russets,vegtable boullion to taste,1onion,1lb carrots boil serve with bread

 

[Cristatus]

Originally posted by: thirtythree
What do you make for dinner (or lunch, maybe) that's quick, easy, and cheapish? It has to be tasty too of course, and not something like a frozen dinner or Rice A Roni. I'm a vegetarian but of course you can mention non-vegetarian items.

For example, I'll sometimes heat beans and salsa and saute some veggies to go in a tortilla with some cheese. I make pasta dishes now and then too, but would like some more variety.

Yay...! A fellow vegetarian.

Unfortunately, I have nothin interesting to add to this thread, but if I do think of something interesting, I'll let you know.

(C)

 

[oznerol]

When I was in college, I made it a point to use as few pots/pans when cooking as possible. Here are my 2 favorite 1-2 dirty dish meals.

Using just 1 large skillet:
-Cut up chicken breast (or leave whole if you want), drop into the skillet with a bit of oil. Cook until white all around.
-Turn down heat, pour in a bag of frozen vegetables (I dig the ones with water chestnuts), and a package of rice noodles (rice is best as they don't really need to be boiled first - regular pasta will stay a bit crunchy if you're into that).
-Add a little bit of water, cover, let sit for maybe 2-3 minutes or until vegetables are softer and noodles bend.
-Pour in some sauce - be it sweet and sour, teriyaki, general tsau's, whatever. Easily found in the supermarket. Mix it to cover everything. Cover and sit for another 1-2 minutes. Turn up the heat for another minute or so while stirring vigorously and you're done.

Using 1 large skillet and a pot
- Boil water in the pot and dump in pasta - any kind work well, really - Penne, elbows, linguine - whatever
- In the skillet, dump in a pound of ground beef (or chicken/turkey) with a little oil. Cook until brown (or white for poultry). Dump out excess fat if you want.
- Pour a jar of sauce into the beef (or make your own if you want to dirty more dishes) - I enjoy garlic and basil, but mushroom works well, too.
- Drain the pasta when done and put back into the pot
- Heat until the sauce begins to bubble a little - then either pour the beef/sauce mix directly into the pot (and eat out of it), or pour into a serving plate.

Both of these generally take 10-20 minutes tops and make enough food for at least 2 meals, all while dirtying very few dishes for easy cleanup.

 

[TallBill]

Bumpers I'm going shopping and don't feel like spending a lot.

Eggs, burgers, chicken (if on sale), pasta..