> wrote in message
...
> in debt. My sends me about 50 bucks a week.
>
>
> Tonight we are going to pick up some ramen. Boringgggg.
>
> I know beans are cheap, and recommendations on which brands to get?

Really depends on what is on sale. Since you have Walmart, go there. Their
brand of beans is pretty cheap. Safeway probably has higher prices on most
everything.
>
>
> Any suggestions appreciated. It would be nice to have more options than
> beans and ramen. I'm a total noob to cooking(made scrambled eggs for the
> first time this year). Grew up on mostly proccesed frozen, and fast food.

Then that could present a problem. Get yourself a can of tomato sauce.
Whatever kind is the cheapest but not the tiny one. Get about a 16 oz.
size. Put that in a large pan with some water to thin it down. Start by
adding another two cans of water, but you can add more if you find that the
end result is too thick. Add a chopped onion, a carrot or two and a rib or
two of celery, sliced. If you have a potato or two you can add those, just
chop into cubes. Get some cheap Italian seasoning (Walmart should have it)
and add a few shakes of that and also some black pepper. Bring this to a
boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer. When the vegetables are tender,
add a can of whatever beans you have, a can of green beans and a can of
corn. Add the liquid as well. Heat through then taste. You may or may not
have to add salt. This will yield a very big pot of soup that will feed you
for several days. If you don't want to keep eating the same thing day after
day, you can freeze some. A little parmesan cheese goes nicely on top of
this.

You can make many different variations of this soup. If you have a little
more money, you can use V8 or tomato juice instead of the tomato sauce. You
can add some chicken or beef broth. You can vary the vegetables that you
use. Such as chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned), zucchini, bell pepper,
broccoli, cauliflower, hominy, whatever you like.

You can make cheap chili buy combining three different cans of beans with
their liquid, a can of corn with liquid and a jar of salsa. Heat through.
To stretch it further, serve over rice. If you want more heat to it, add
chili powder. If you can afford toppings, you can top with sour cream,
gaucamole or avocado, cheese, chopped onion, chopped tomato, chopped hot
peppers, cilantro. This will make a big pot but you can freeze the
leftovers.

Bread is easy to doctor up. Walmart sells some kind that is cheap. Spread
it with butter, margarine or even olive oil, then sprinkle on a little
powdered garlic and some Parmesan cheese.

Grilled cheese sandwiches are cheap to make but not something I do well with
so... You can either toast your bread in the toaster or oven, then spread
with butter or margarine, make a sandwich with cheese inside, and put it in
the microwave until the cheese melts. Note that this is not my favorite way
to do it as I don't think it is very good this way. But you can wrap the
sandwiches in foil and put in the oven until the cheese melts. That will
give you a texture more like a grilled cheese.

When you are doing your shopping, look for Thanksgiving type foods as they
will be cheap right now. You will likely find good deals on crackers, cream
soups and canned vegetables.

You can make an easy casserole by cooking some pasta, following the package
directions, then draining and putting it in the casserole. Macaroni is
generally your cheapest form of pasta. But look in the Mexican food
section. There will be little packages of pasta that might be your best
deal. You can usually get those for around 30 to 50 cents each but there are
not many servings in a package. You will then need some form of sauce.
Here's where your condensed soup comes in. Now you can make a sauce from
scratch but you likely won't have those ingredients. You can use cream of
mushroom or cream of celery. Mushroom goes well with tuna. One can will
make 4 servings. So use that much pasta, 4 servings. And your can of soup,
just straight from the can. Then add a can or pouch of tuna, salmon or
chicken. Or any leftover cooked meat. If you have no meat, you could add a
little cheese for protein. You can even use a gravy packet made up instead
of the soup. You should be able to find deals on those right now. Mix that
all up and put in the oven at 350 degrees until heated through. Should take
maybe 20 minutes. If you want a little crunch on the top, you can add a few
crushed potato chips or whatever crackers you have.

Another casserole that is cheap to make this time of year starts with a box
of stuffing mix. Make it as directed. You can add less fat (butter,
margarine, oil) than it calls for if you need to save money there. Put the
made up stuffing in your casserole then add a little meat. You can use
chicken or turkey lunch meat that has been cut up. You don't need a lot.
Then add a packet of gravy that has been made up. You can also add a can of
vegetables such as corn, peas or green beans. Bake as above.

The casserole that we ate tons of when I was growing up was called Spaghetti
Red, although my mom used macaroni to make it. It's just the cooked
macaroni, then some form of tomato product (whatever we had in the house at
the time) some cooked ground beef and a little chili powder. This doesn't
even have to be baked as a casserole but that's how my mom usually did it.
Can be heated on top of the stove. If you leave out the chili powder and
add canned or frozen corn, it's called Johnny Rozetti. You can add some
cheese on top of this for serving.

Keep an eye out for coupons. There should be a lot of food ones out this
time of year. You may be able to find some for things like Hamburger Helper
which you might not want to eat. Or you might want to make this up as a
side dish without the meat. Or you might do as some people do and dispose
of the seasoning packet and just use the pasta that comes in the box. I
would only suggest doing this though if you can get that box for free or for
around 25 cents.

You can also doctor up a box of macaroni and cheese (even the cheap store
brand) by adding a little extra cheese to it, a little cooked meat such as
chicken, tuna or ground beef or even some cooked vegetables.

Do you like yogurt? My Walmart has some in a box that is cheap. I think
there are 8 cups of yogurt in there and it is cheaper than buying the
singles. You can use yogurt to make a parfait with a little fruit and cold
cereal. Just make layers.
>
>
> Thanks a lot. I enjoy reading what's on your plate. Maybe one day I can
> cook like you guys
>
>
> BTW we have Walmart and Safeway near us, along with a few other places.