Looking for decently healthy, cheap meals people ate as a kid, or just to get by
I’m gonna tag @Very Scary Fairy✨ for this one because she knows cheap but healthy meals!!!
Rice-based anything — add dollar store frozen veggies, canned beans, some chicken you get on sale or something.
You can buy dried soybeans and make them into tofu yourself for cheap protein.
Always look for the store brand canned veggies — they’re the same shit but only like 60¢ instead of 99¢.
Pinterest will be your friend in terms of cheap meal prep. Some things will be an investment upfront but you can pack it into servings and eat it for multiple days, so it comes out to like $1 per serving.
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@Very Scary Fairy✨ Potatoes, too, along with rice, are an excellent cheap base. You can get a big bag of baked potatoes from like Walmart and use them as bowls for stuff like chili. You can make a really cheap chili and eat it on potatoes or even get cans of chili to make it quick and easy. Those aren't usually as cheap as other canned food though.
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@Very Scary Fairy✨
The world stands on pillars called rice, potatoes, bread and beer.
Satisfying & Savory Oats
Time: 15m
Servings: 4
4 cup chicken bone broth
4 cup fresh spinach (or 1/3 cup thawed frozen spinach, squeezed dry, loosely packed)
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 cup quick 1 - minute oats
2 tsp Oyster sauce
4 fried eggs
chili oil (for drizzling)
scallions ((optional), for garnish)
fresh cilantro ((optional), for garnish)
1. In a large pot, combine the chicken bone broth, spinach, and soy sauce and bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Stir in the oats and cook, stirring frequently, until the oats have softened, about 1 minute.
3. Stir in the oyster sauce to evenly combine. Cover and set aside.
4. To serve, divide the oats among 4 individual bowls.
5. Top each with a fried egg and a drizzle of chili oil.
6. If you’ve had time to prep garnishes, add the scallions and fresh cilantro.
Instant Pot Lentil Soup
Website: https://kristineskitchenblog.com/instant-pot-lentil-soup/
Time: 1h 3m
Servings: 7
2 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion (chopped)
2 carrots (chopped into 1/4 inch thick rounds or 1/2-rounds, chopped into 1/4 - inch thick rounds or half-rounds)
2 ribs celery (chopped)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
6 cup low sodium vegetable broth
1 can fire roasted crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cup dry green or brown lentils (picked over and rinsed)
2 cup fresh spinach (chopped)
grated Parmesan cheese (optional, for serving)
1. Heat the olive oil in the Instant Pot using the sauté function. Add the onion, carrots and celery and sauté until softened, stirring often, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the garlic, dried thyme, cumin, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for 30 seconds and then press Cancel to turn off the Saute function.
3. Pour in the broth and scrape up any bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add the crushed tomatoes and lentils and stir.
4. Close the Instant Pot lid and move the steam release valve to the sealing position. Set the cook time to 8 minutes at high pressure using the Pressure Cook or Manual function. The Instant Pot will take about 25 minutes to reach pressure and then the cook time will begin counting down.
5. When the cook time ends, allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes by leaving the Instant Pot alone. Then carefully move the steam release valve to the venting position (I use the handle of a long spoon to do this).
6. Wait for all of the steam to escape and the pin to drop down and then carefully open the Instant Pot lid. Stir the chopped spinach into the soup. Serve with grated Parmesan, if desired.
One that we make at home is a Japanese curry and it's because all the ingredients are ones that are usually kicking around or are relatively cheap to purchase. The cost is roughly $2.50-$3.75 CAD per serving depending on the type of protein you choose. Cook time is about 30-45 minutes.
PS: I am sorry if my recipe is a little sloppy I am posting this from memory ☺
Ingredients:
1 cup Rice
Protein of choice (Chicken, beef, ground round)
2 golden potatoes - Cut into quarter size pieces
1-2 yellow onions - I slice them, no thought process here
2-3 large carrots - 1/2 inch coin size slices
4 cups of water
1/2 package of S&B Golden Curry Mix - We like the "Hot" version
Instructions:
1. Cook your rice according to the directions on the package/rice cooker.
2. In a large pot, cook your protein until browned. If there is a lot of fat ensure to drain it out.
3. Add the onions and cook until the begin to soften, about 5 minutes or so.
4. Add the potatoes, carrots, and water. Bring it to a boil.
5. Reduce the heat to a simmer for about 15-20 minutes, or until your veggies are fork tender.
6. Turn off the heat and break the curry mix into the pot. Stir until completely dissolved.
7. Return to a low heat and simmer for another 5-10 minutes, stirring every so often, until the curry thickens.
8. Serve over your rice and enjoy! 🍛♥
@kaylvang 𓍢ִ໋❀ hell yes. This is great for using up frozen and fresh ingredients that you've got laying around
It’s so good too, gives the feel of “take out” while still being a delicious home cooked meal 😊
Thank you for sharing all your great recipes too :D
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my go-to is two cans of tuna mixed with steamed rice with some sriracha on top. probably not the greatest thing nutritionally, but it's got 50g of protein, so that's something.
@soupbeing Excellent suggestion. And if I may add a related one -- the midwest special: tuna casserole. Boxed mac n cheese, can of tuna, and some peas. Sounds god awful. It's actually not that bad lol. $.99 box of mac, $.99 can of tuna, cheap canned or frozen peas. This will easily feed two people and you're in it for less than $5.
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All of you are so amazing for replying to this forum! Keep it going ❤️🖤
if we talking struggle meals.
The boy kibble with soup sauce.
make a good boy kibble. (rice, browned ground beef, keep most of the grease it flavors the rice etc, bag of mixed vegatables.) make a bowl of it, dump in a small can of cream of mushroom. season with adobe seasoning, pepper, hot sauce, add a lil bit of water till its the good thick but sloppy consistency that barely stays on bread.
butter bread.
dump contents on bread slices like like buttered bread tacos then eat.
The most basic but delicious guy dinner ever.
Tuna sandwiches, it's literally just tuna, mayonnaise and bread.
Maybe MySpace was all the friends we made along the way.
@ExMachina
i add some onion in mine. and it needs mustard. :P
@⸸⸸⸸𝕶𝖎𝖑𝖑𝖌𝖆𝐳𝖒𝖔𝖙𝖗𝖔𝖓⸸⸸⸸ mustard I can understand but onion 😬
Maybe MySpace was all the friends we made along the way.
@ExMachina
xD xD. try it. with a bit a mustard, it helps the onion. and chop the onion in the lil squares. promise you its good.
also pepper and a itsy bit of extra salt.
You can do a lot with just potatoes and/or onions. They can probably pair with just about anything else you have laying around, especially the potatoes. I like to add the onions to any type of veggie side that I make like green beans or butter beans, and those little smokey sausages pair really well with those too. Add a bit of garlic, salt and pepper and you're good to go!! (And a little bit of ground red pepper if you want a little kick like I do :D)
Then there's potato soup, you just need some potatoes, onion, celery/leek if you're feeling fancy, and a base like cream of chicken or chicken broth. You can season it with whatever, we usually change it up just depending on what we've got in the pantry.
If you've got nothing else but potatoes and onions, that can be a meal itself too, but probably not as healthy. Just chop them both up into little cubes and fry them. We used to have that for breakfast when I was growing up.. fucking delicious.
There's also the classic pizza bread struggle meal.. again probably not as healthy, but it's a struggle meal. get some basic bread, throw some cheese and pepperoni on it, and you're good. BUT to make it actually tasty, make a grilled cheese out of it, it goes a long way!! Especially if you have other toppings to add with it, I like to add onion and bell pepper to mine. You could put in sausage or bacon too if you have any.
My go to for reasonably cheap and decently healthy meals/meal-prep is what I call the "random bullshit go!" stews. Basically - rice and plenty of beans, with a selection of any and all of your other favourite veggies. Lots of garlic and lightly caramelised onions! I like to add some (not always all the same things) carrots, bell peppers, canned corn, sometimes green peas.
Maybe mushrooms, maybe replace rice with potatoes, maybe fry in some chicken as well. Sometimes if I'm lazy, I buy a frozen veggie mix for variety, over here it doesn't cost that much more, and adds a lot more variety if you pick a mix of stuff you can't get fresh. Oh, and your favourite sauces as well! Good for 4-6 portions, in my experience (and pan size). Sometimes I just make a big pan of the stuff and go home for lunch the whole week!
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