Cheap But Awesome Food!

[Jamie B]

The local mom and pop grocery store in the burg close to home have a freezer with specials.

We have been buying Swanson TV Dinners 5 for $5.

We especially like the meatloaf, which is like Salisbury steak with massed taters and corn.

Can't beat these for a buck each!  Nobody else around here is even close on price.

[K Frame]

I've not had a fat and salt bomb in years. My favorite was the turkey and stuffing.

[Jamie B]

I've not had a fat and salt bomb in years. My favorite was the turkey and stuffing.

We have been looking for those! 

[RoadKingLarry]

Swanson TV Dinners - 

[Sergeant Bob]

TV Dinners

[vaskidmark]

My Russian deli carries a variety of frozen dumplings - about 3 dozen ping-pong ball sized lumps of dough stuffed with veal, chicken, potatos, cabbage and onions, or cheese per bag.  $3.25 per bag.  Six of those dumplings, plus some sort of veggie, is enough to satiate me and that is quite an accomplisment.  With steamer-bag veggies going at 12/$10 and putting 1/2 to 2/3 in the fridge for the next meal(s) makes the Frugal Gourmet cry with envy.  Water is my beverage of choice with meals, and I do not count the cost of chili sauce (Sariacha (sp?) or some Thai-ish sweet chili) because that is a condiment purchased in bulk.

WalMart carrries a package of rough-diced (about 1/4-inch) meat trimmings (pork or beef) for varying between $1.50 and $2.25 per pound.  Transferring globs of this to the smallest-size freezer bag makes up a whole bunch of serving-size packets.  Some sort of pasta (Ramen or Udon have been in the rotation a lot lately) under stir-fried meat with left-over veggies means food on the table in under 10 minutes from opening the fridge to start pulling ingredients.  Ramen packets have gone from 3/$1 to 2/$1, pushing the cost up considerably.   I'm probably spending over $1 on each of these meals!

Back when this http://www.amazon.com/Food-Stamp-Gourmet-William-Brown/dp/B0006W0IGI came out it was eats on the cheap.  Beside inflationary creep, the cost of ingredients for the recepies have soared over the years.  Ox tails were $4.35/pound yesterday!!  No osso bucco for this fella.

stay safe.

[grislyatoms]

I give you - any kind of instant noodle. Dad's generation was Lipton Cup o' Soup. He made his, very meticulously, with 'just so much' lemon and a dash of pepper. That was the Fifties, early Sixties, mind.

We have had very little interaction, so I find it entertaining that:

Mine is a brick of ramen with the seasoning, a roasted chicken leg, french-sliced green beans, corn kernels, handful of Brussels Sprouts, and Tabasco. My version of Asian hot/sour soup.

The salt content will make ya cringe, though.  

[gunsmith]

thanks, now I'm hungry and nearly 300 mile round trip to the supermarket.

no microwave though, off grid living.

[grislyatoms]

You make a pass through NM (Albuquerque) and we'll go to the Talinn market. Anything a cook could want. Thai, Vietnamese, Eastern Euro, Western Euro they have everything, dirt cheap. They make Williams-Sonoma look like has-beens.

[vaskidmark]

I give you - any kind of instant noodle. Dad's generation was Lipton Cup o' Soup. He made his, very meticulously, with 'just so much' lemon and a dash of pepper. That was the Fifties, early Sixties, mind.

We have had very little interaction, so I find it entertaining that:

Mine is a brick of ramen with the seasoning, a roasted chicken leg, french-sliced green beans, corn kernels, handful of Brussels Sprouts, and Tabasco. My version of Asian hot/sour soup.

The salt content will make ya cringe, though.  

Ah, so, grasshopper.  There is where you are casing the bloating.  The seasoning packet is good for - well, I really can't think of anything it's good for.  Add your own seasonings to the water if you want soup.  And without vinegar all you have is "spicey soup", not hot & sour.

stay safe.

[Doggy Daddy]

The local mom and pop grocery store in the burg close to home have a freezer with specials.

We have been buying Swanson TV Dinners 5 for $5.

We especially like the meatloaf, which is like Salisbury steak with massed taters and corn.

Can't beat these for a buck each!  Nobody else around here is even close on price.

+yum.

I stock them for breakfasts.  I'm kinda set in my ways, there.  I'll have either turkey or salisbury steak on alternating days.  They're easy to find around here for a buck.

[cambeul41]

We buy a variety of ramen/ramyen/lomein type noodles -- usually Korean and labeled hot or spicy -- by the case.

We usually eat them for breakfast with some sort of protein and some sort of vegetables added and always topped with a handful of chopped green onions.

I must say, this thread has presented several ideas that I would like to try. Pork and beef trimmings from WalMart? Russian dumplings?  Sounds good.

[grislyatoms]

Ah, so, grasshopper.  There is where you are casing the bloating.  The seasoning packet is good for - well, I really can't think of anything it's good for.  Add your own seasonings to the water if you want soup.  And without vinegar all you have is "spicey soup", not hot & sour.

stay safe.

The amount of Tabasco I shake in qualifies it as "with vinegar". 

[Nick1911]

mmm... pelmeni. 

[vaskidmark]

The amount of Tabasco I shake in qualifies it as "with vinegar". 

Tobasco serves as "hot" for weenies.  It does nothing for "sour".

I know you are a newbie, but this* is verging on sending you back to pledge status.

stay safe.

* For the record, Tobasco =/= "hot" and anybody that thinks so needs to join me for lunch at any Thai restaurant worth its name.

[lupinus]

Instant noodles? I stir fry them with egg, soy, sesame oil, and a little green onion.

Course, there's always home made pasta. Dirt cheap.