Cheap meal?

[Dave6T4]

My wife buys those barbequed whole chickens at the grocery store for about $10.00. We get a couple of meals plus a pot of soup out of one.

 

[SteveSS]

I like the Nissan Chow Mein noodles, chicken flavor. Add a bit of water to the included bowl and microwave for 5 minutes. I think a serving costs about $1.50.

 

[MarPar]

With ketchup on it!

****. Just don't put A-1 on yer steak. If you have to, you picked the wrong piece of meat!

 

[67 WS23]

Can of sardines in Loo-Zee-Ann hot sauce and a stack of saltine crackers.

Fuggedaboutit.

 

[MarPar]

Can of sardines in Loo-Zee-Ann hot sauce and a stack of saltine crackers.

Fuggedaboutit.

 

[Detective D]

Depends on what you consider a meal I guess. Some of the stuff listed in here sounds more like a snack. To each their own though, not everyone is built the same.

My favorites, when it comes to cheap, which usually means not many ingredients:
Tomato soup+ grilled cheese
Canned chicken+ a bag of those Knorr alfredo noodles
Slow grilled/smoked mettwurst, then sliced up with a can of beans to go with it (Salmon's in WI makes a good one)
Egg sandwhich: english muffin, butter, egg, cheese

 

[Budnicks]

I do a big batch of spaghetti sauce when I cook it
the 1 # package of pasta/noodles is good for me & dad for 2 meals
the sauce both of us like 3 meals, maybe a lunch here & there
I'll put it over Top Ramen noodles even

I like to do Italian 'big' sausage/links chopped in like 1" chunks
as easy-peasy meatballs,
or
do the hamburger meatballs, mixed with ground sausage/pork
& some spices
add a couple cans of diced tomatoes
sliced olives, sliced mushrooms, some chopped onions & garlic
some sweet peppers diced or julienned
1 can of paste & 1 can of tomato sauce

I simmer the meat & garlic, peppers & onions for a bit, 1st
I add a lil' extra virgin olive oil to brown the meat
& render/infuse the onions & garlic
drain off the fat/grease/oils before I add the rest

sometimes I'll add other veggies to be Primavera

It's good stuff

 

[MarPar]

1 can of paste & 1 can of tomato sauce

What? No ketchup?

 

[Budnicks]

I like to do chicken & dumplings
like 8-12 pcs of chicken, legs & thighs usually
in a big stainless pot
(same pot for the spaghetti sauce)

put some diced garlic onions & chicken and saute' them for a bit
add white or red potatoes diced like 1" chunks

some pees carrots & corn (usually lil' frozen bags)

2 cans of mushroom soup after it's simmered/boiled for a while
like the last 45 min.s or so

then I add mix up a Bisquick, flour, corn starch & baking powder concoction
a lil' garlic salt & pepper to taste, to the dumplings mix

add a 1/2 pint of sour cream to the dumpling mix
a lil' Silk 'almond milk' for sweetness
& 3 eggs
all mixed up not too much but enough to blend it

let the dumplings mix stand for like 15 min.s
& it rises

I leave about 4-5" of room in the top of the pan
for the dumplings to have room to expand
mine are sort of more like wet biscuits,
more than traditional itty bitty dumplings

I use a big stainless like 3-4 tablespoons size spoon
scoop it in on top of the gravey as it's boiling,
turn it down to a low simmer
spread it around the pan as your putting/scoop them in
it will sort of be all together, but separate

put the lid back on, simmer on low for like 25 min.s
(meat will fall off the bones)
preheat the oven for about 10 mins, for 300*
just before the dumplings are done on the stove
put them on the lower rack, take the top rack out

I sort of just brown the top, so it's just golden 'sort of'
so the dumplings have some texture & better flavor
only takes a couple mins

it's like 4 meals for me & dad (dog Elvis too)
It feezes well too
(the dumplings don't but they don't last long around here anyway)

with a lil' leftovers
for my doctored-up Top Raman lunches every so often too

 

[Budnicks]

What? No ketchup?

In a pinch, I would




.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I eat what I like & I don't care about what other people think
no matter where they used to dwell

I like BBQ sauce on my dogs, I rarley do reg. hot dogs,
usually polish or Italian links or Brauts
I do like some of the kosher dogs (I'm not Jewish either)
& especially the 'Bar S' big jumbo Polish 'hot dogs', 14 to pack
But;
I wrap them in Mission flour tortillas usually at that too,
sometimes avocado, their dried tomato flavor warps/tortillas

I'm not a big hotdog bun guy, I don't like white bread much if at all,
it's gross, you might as well be eating 'Wonder bread', or freaken' cake,
no thanks-yuk

I'll also sometimes (both) or add a lil' spicey or brown mustard,
(or the best store-bought) BBQ sauce is 'Sweet Baby Rays',
some sweet relish, or Vlasic bread & butter sliced pickles,
sometimes even a fresh tomato slice or 3, maybe even diced onions
even some shredded cheese, or chile' when it strikes my fancy too

it's to die for,
if you haven't had it don't knock until you've tried it

I used to love the bagel ft longs dogs/sausages
at the As & Raiders ballpark, great food

I can't stand cheap lil' hotdogs, or hot dog snobs

 

[Budnicks]

5 Bean soup, soak overnight & drain
it's same deal start with onions peppers garlic & meat
maybe some sliced mushrooms & olives when I'm feeling fancy
in a white flour 'rue' thickened sauce
I like pork of some sort in all my beans
cook for a few hrs on a simmer, start it like 10:00 am
cook till like 1:00pm
let stand & thicken, heat in micro if need be
easily like 3-4 meals for both me & dad
(dog Elvis too, thank god he's not a farter)

I have some left over to doctor up some Top Raman too

Chile' w/beans, is the same thing, lots of dark chile' powder
just a red sauce & diced tomatoes

a nice pot of wild long rice
or barley to put it over
(It's a matriarch Grammies's, German/Norwegian deal)

yummie,
I love beans, split pee soup, lentils, 5 beans, navy beans,
even Lima, especially with the Ham bones & ham chunks
good protein too

 

[Budnicks]

Same deal with New England Clam Chowder (white)
or a Manhattan Clam Chowder too (red)

My old roommate PK, when I lived in Anchorage & later Palmer Alaska
in my 20's right next to Polar Raceway, back in the 84-86-ish
he'd make some killer sausage & sticky white rice
with Cajun Gumbo,
lots of okra (never thought I'd eat okra, even pickled)
usually huge shrimp, some onions, celery & peppers
he had a big jar of Cajun spices
He was stationed at Elmendorf USAF,
his mom would send up a blend of spices, that was freaken' great,
I don't remember all of it, it had a kick
I loved it too
we'd eat that gumbo concoction for a week, skip a day here & there
as to not get too bored

Fried Halibat was really good & plenitful too

oven baked Salmon, it was cheap (or freshly caught) up there back then

do it (Gumbo) with venison, moose, caribou, Dahl Sheep or bear etc. too
he did it with 'gator' when I went down to his place by Homa, La

 

[68BabyBlue]

Same deal with New England Clam Chowder (white)
or a Manhattan Clam Chowder too (red)

My old roommate PK, when I lived in Palmer Alaska
in my 20's right next to Polar Raceway, back in the 84-86-ish
he'd make some sausage & sticky white rice
with Cajun Gumbo,
lots of okra (never thought I'd eat okra)
usually huge shrimp, some onions, celerey & peppers
he had a big jar He was stationed at Elmendorf USAF,
his mom would send up a blend of spices, that were freaken' great,
I don't remember all of it, it had a kick
I loved it too
we'd eat that gumbo concoction for a week, skip a day here & there
as to not get too bored

Fried Halibat was really good too

oven baked Salmon it was cheap (or freshly caught) up there back then

do it with venison, moose or bear etc. too
he did it with 'gator' when I went down to his place by Homa, La

I think this stuff is awesome, my wife does similar versions, we were able to get cheap salmon when I was fishing for Chinooks in Lake Ontario a few years back, but jeez, Halibut hasn't been cheap for years, local Wegman's grocery in my area sells it for like 35 bucks a pound. Chinook salmon was $38 per pound the last time I checked. Had no trouble justifying the cost of my trips when I came home with 40 pounds.

 

[Budnicks]

I think this stuff is awesome, my wife does similar versions, we were able to get cheap salmon when I was fishing for Chinooks in Lake Ontario a few years back, but jeez, Halibut hasn't been cheap for years, local Wegman's grocery in my area sells it for like 35 bucks a pound. Chinook salmon was $38 per pound the last time I checked. Had no trouble justifying the cost of my trips when I came home with 40 pounds.

I just went to any local river or out in or just outside Cook Inlet,
for Halibut
Lil' Susitna River, right out my back door
or Eagle River or down to Kenai Penn. for huge king salmon too
all it cost back then was a lil' bait,
hell 1/2 the time they'd hit a bare gold Mepps hook, outback
spend lil' quality time out with Mother Nature
& the bears (had to be always packin')
& the gas was dirt cheap

or the many people selling off the back of their trucks, roadside
some natives some not, 'for cheap'
$1-$5 a pound, right off the commercial boat
as much as you could pack away, I'd fill my freezer in seasons

 

[Budnicks]

Soup Beans and Corn Bread or some people call them brown beans. They are even better the next day warmed up and the 3rd day you make bean cakes out of them. Beans beans good for your heart, the more you eat the more you fart!

I do love me some fresh homemade sweet cornbread too

 

[moparwacko]

Cheap?
Redneck surf and turf.
Homemade smoked kielbasa and fresh caught pan fried bullheads.

All this disagreement about hot dogs.

We have a local German Wurst House that makes killer Frank's and brats. They are however $12.99 a lb. Cooked on an open campfire with a fresh black birch stick on a top open bun, it's Weiner nirvana. And NO CONDIMENTS (but sauerkraut is sometimes acceptable)

 

[kiwigtx]

I do love me some fresh homemade sweet cornbread too

I like the occasional hot-dog with ketchup (tomato sauce), mustard, green pickle relish and grated cheese.....just warmed over slightly to get the cheese a little soft.

I would put a birthday candle and a flag on top, but the buns are not that big.

 

[33 IMP]

Cheap?
Redneck surf and turf.
Homemade smoked kielbasa and fresh caught pan fried bullheads.

All this disagreement about hot dogs.View attachment 1475085
We have a local German Wurst House that makes killer Frank's and brats. They are however $12.99 a lb. Cooked on an open campfire with a fresh black birch stick on a top open bun, it's Weiner nirvana. And NO CONDIMENTS (but sauerkraut is sometimes acceptable)

Reminds me of being a cub scout. Sitting around the campfire, in our short pants.....



Roasting our weenies.......


And warming our buns.

 

[MarPar]

 

[70ChargerRT]

I do love me some fresh homemade sweet cornbread too

And the next day with the left over cornbread we do cornbread and milk.