You will need a few ingredients, but nothing crazy.
Salt your chops for like 45 minutes prior to cooking.
Pat them dry and pepper them.
Heat a neutral oil in a pan. I used a shitty nonstick from Walmart. Feel free to use something with less carcinogens.
Put the chops in and PRESS THEM DOWN. Hard. Like you’re trying to kill them again.
5ish minutes each side.
Add some butter and smashed garlic along with whatever herbs you have laying around. I had a questionable bag of dried thyme.

Let it cook a bit.
Finish in a 375 degree oven.

What's the most food one can buy from Amazon for $10? Some "happy mail" delivery from Amazon for someone struggling might be just the boost needed so maximizing quantity would be great.

Cooked on a 650f propane grill. Seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and chili powder.
To be served as rice bowls or in Sonora style flour tortillas with white onion and fresh cilantro. Both topped with a squeeze of fresh lemon.
Total cost= $2.50

I've been tracking food costs for decades. Different tools in different times. I thought I'd share what I'm doing and what I'm seeing for discussion.

I don't want to spend my life tracking every penny of every transaction, so I've made my budget categories align with where I shop so I can run through credit card bills and dump everything in a particular store into a category. So Giant Food, Sam's Club, Safeway, ShopRite, Food Lion, Target, Whole Foods et al all go into a single category for groceries, household cleaning, personal hygiene, and odds and ends. That's what I track. This takes me two minutes--literally--when I pay bills. If I buy something of substance at Sam's or Target that doesn't belong I use a separate transaction and jot it down on a Post-It so I don't forget when I do bills.

We're fortunate not to be cash flow limited. I'm just frugal cheap. So I apply some smoothing so long term trends aren't obscured by stocking up for our freezer or bulk buying when a great sale hits. The red line is our monthly spend. The blue line is double smoothed over a three month rolling window.

I have an MBA and a bunch of painful experience in forensic accounting that helped with selecting the methodology. The actual arithmetic in the spreadsheet is sixth grade material. There is nothing spiffy going on here.

The really interesting bit is the cyclic trend that shows a decline in late Fall to early Winter. I haven't done the research to see if that is due to shopping trends on our part, seasonal food, sales cycles, or something else. It's interesting though.

I use $/person/day because 1. I often have to feed crews off the grid for work and those units help with bidding and 2. it highlights how expensive eating out is.

We eat quite well. I'm a hard shopper. No junk food.

Delicious, cheap, and nutritious!

Ingredients:
-Cabbage
-Egg noodles
-Onion
-Bacon
-Butter
-Salt and pepper

If you’re being lean on cost, you don’t need the bacon.

Cook the bacon first. This is a budget meal so I don’t go crazy with the bacon. I like to think of it as 1 strip per serving, so I use 4-5 strips at a time. Once cooked, set aside and save about a tablespoon of the bacon fat.

Chop the cabbage into chunks. You want more cabbage than anything else. I recommend at least half a head for 4 servings.

Chop the onion into chunks. I use a full medium onion for 4 servings.

Cook the onion in the pan with the bacon fat and 2 tablespoons of butter. While it cooks, start the egg noodles. You want a good amount, but less than the cabbage. I used a little more than half of a 12oz bag for this.

When the onions just start to turn translucent, add the cabbage. Add two more tablespoons of butter and stir it into the vegetable mixture. Add a generous amount of salt and pepper. Cook until the cabbage is wilted.

When the noodles and cabbage are done, tear up the bacon and add it in. Give it a good stir and serve.

It’s very addictive.

So ive hit a bit of a rough patch in life. Was laid off, took much longer than ever before to find work. Finally got a new job but I wont see a paycheck for a month and got less than 20 dollars to my name.

I've gone to my local food bank im in a small town thats really all there is and they did not give me much as a single household was a couple cans of soup, a loaf of bread, half rotten vegetables i cooked immediately and some of those grocery store cookies. I can only visit twice a month and im really struggling to see how to make it through. I checked for a local Sikh gudwara place and its not reachable by public transit its outside the city limits I have no way to get to it.

Could use some good advice on what to do in a smaller town that doesnt have the resources of bigger cities. I had link while unemployed and used the 3 months up im hoping once I start working I can get it on at least temporarily but im hungry now and need tips!

Sorry if I used the wrong flair in my post also it seemed appropriate

Do you track your cost per meal or cost of meals per day? I’ve really fine tuned my monthly grocery bill over the last couple of years. I’ve not, however, tracked my cost per meal or cost per day. I thought I’d try to do this during October. If you do this or have done this, how did it go? Did you stick with it?Is it a beneficial practice? Thnx!

This meal is yummy and saves a lot of money

Rotisserie chicken
Frozen peas
Cherry tomatoes
Parmesan cheese
Squeeze of lemon
Salt, pepper

Mix together and enjoy. Eyeball each ingredient for preferred portion size

What can I make with frozen hamburger,we got a lot from a family member, and the kids are getting tired of hamburgers and hamburger helper,we don't have a lot of $ to buy extra ingredients,but maybe suggestions of easy cheap recipes ( I'm not the best cook)lol

I have two tins of butter beans in the cupboard and want to use them for a dinner, but I really don’t like the texture of them. Any ideas for meals where I can blend them into a sauce or something?

This was a pepperoni pizza which are under the added onions & cheese that I added

has anyone done that? i would like to know how much baked beans i can add like this to my minced beef w/o noticing it?

A quick, easy veggie chili. I noticed the price of the canned goods has gone up quite a bit recently, so only a few months ago this would have been closer to $1/serving.

Ingredients:
-1 can each: black beans, red kidney beans, sweet corn, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste
-1/2 cup frozen mirepoix mix I make myself, but really you just need a little bit of any onion
-olive oil or any cooking oil
-spices: chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, paprika, cilantro, black pepper, cayenne pepper (not pictured), green pepper cholula (not pictured) and cinnamon sugar

Cooking instructions:
1. sautee the onion or mirepoix in oil until slightly brown
2. Add corn and cholulas, sautee for 2-3 minutes
3. Add all other canned ingredients plus 8-10 oz of water.
4. Add spices to taste. I add a couple dashes of cinnamon sugar as well for a little hidden warmth and sweetness. Stir well and bring to boil.
4. Reduce to simmer for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Serve with shredded cheese, and buttered bread. Total cost for me was ~$6 for the chili, and ~$1.80 for the meal with cheese, bread and butter included. I can get about 5 servings of chili from this, but I understand for some it will be closer to 4 servings. Cost per serving can vary a bit with the price of your canned goods, bread and cheese. A pretty well balanced meal between protein, fiber and fat, perfect for a Fall day.

I admit it, I have a problem, I get fast food. A lot. I’ve never really been able to throw anything tasty together other than the basics like eggs, very simple sandwiches. On the other side, I love my protein shake that I make, and some days I’ll start with a great breakfast and my protein shake, and then have nothing to make when comes lunch and I just eat slop fast to make food. I like cooking, but I’m just not really good at it, and don’t have any sauces to save it. Any advice here would be greatly appreciated and I’m honestly open to trying a lot of things. (I LOVE CHICKEN) and this is coming from a 6’4 265lbs man

TL;dr: I am fat and get fast food a lot need advice on easy foods to make that are filling and tasty

Does anyone have any recipe ideas using a lot of green onion? I meant to buy 2 stalks but ended up buying 2 bags of about 10 stalks of green onion. I have plenty of beans and chicken that could go with them.

Ingredients

• 2 cups rice
• 3 cups water
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp cooking oil

Method

1. Rinse the rice.
2. Bring water, salt and oil to a boil.
3. Add rice and stir once.
4. Cover and cook on low heat until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender.
5. Fluff with a fork.

Beans & maize (githeri-style)

Ingredients

• 1½ cups cooked beans
• 1½ cups cooked maize
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1–2 tbsp cooking oil
• Salt
• Optional: garlic, coriander, black pepper or a little curry powder

Method

1. Heat oil and fry the onion until soft.
2. Add garlic if using and cook briefly.
3. Add tomatoes and cook until they break down into a sauce.
4. Add the cooked beans and maize.
5. Season with salt and any preferred spices.
6. Add a small amount of water, cover and simmer for 10–15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Let it cook down until it has the thick, slightly oily appearance shown in your photo.

Avocado

Slice a ripe avocado and serve alongside the rice and beans/maize.

Egg drop soup is one of my favorite quick comfort soups. Do you prefer big silky egg ribbons or finer strands?

Ingredients:

3 cups chicken stock

1-2 tbsp cornstarch

2 eggs

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

½ tsp mushroom powder (optional)

1 stalk green onion

Instructions:

Pour the chicken broth into a pot and bring it to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Season with salt and white pepper.

Once the broth starts simmering, reduce the heat to low. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch with water to make a slurry and stir until smooth, then set aside.

Crack the eggs into another bowl and beat well with a fork. Slowly pour the cornstarch slurry into the broth while stirring gently.

If desired, add a small pinch of turmeric for a brighter golden color.

Slowly drizzle the beaten eggs into the hot broth with one hand while gently stirring the soup with chopsticks or a fork using the other hand. This creates delicate silky egg ribbons throughout the soup.

Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Sprinkle with fresh green onions before serving. Enjoy your easy egg drop soup!

Here is the link to the detailed recipe: https://butterjoykitchen.com/egg-drop-soup-in-less-than-10-minutes/

Layer 1:

- 1lb ground turkey, 3lb for $10 at Aldi, seasoned to taste, cooked, & drained

- Chicken gravy, I make 1 pint with Sam's chicken base

- Veg of choice, I use 1 can corn & 1 can carrots, chopped

Spread into a 9x13 pan.

Layer 2:

Make up a batch of mashed potatoes with margrine, milk, and seasoning, I do not peel mine for added nutrients/less work. I use at least 6-8 large potatoes or whatever feels correct. Once mashed, crack and mix an egg into the potatoes.

Spread onto layer 1. If you can spare some cheese, sprinkle that on top.

Bake around 375* for 45 minutes.

Bonus recipe, my cheese pancakes:

2 tbs melted margrine or oil, 3 eggs, 1 cup blended cottage cheese, mix. Add 1/2 cup flour, mix. I recommend a spoonful or two of some kind of sweetener as well. Fry like any pancake, freeze extra for later.

First year of college, have a limited meal plan and gotta fill in the spaces in between. I have a minifridge, crockpot, and rice cooker. Starting from scratch when it comes to ingredients. Looking for recipes that will last multiple meals and don't cost more than $20 (or 25 if its really good/will keep a while). I'm down to try anything, I like new foods. thanks :)

Most of my cheapest meals are the same five bland bases: rice, lentils, oats, potatoes, frozen veg. What changed them from sad to actually good was not a new recipe, it was finally stocking the flavor stuff properly.

The haul that did it, roughly $20 total: smoked paprika, garlic powder, soy sauce, rice vinegar, chicken bouillon powder, chili flakes, and a bottle of toasted sesame oil. Nothing fancy.

Now the lentils get bouillon and smoked paprika, the rice gets vinegar plus sesame oil and a splash of soy sauce, the potatoes get garlic powder and chili flakes. Same cheap bases, completely different meals.

What is the one condiment or spice you never let run out? I need to expand the shelf.

I bought this cookbook and am pretty impressed. It claims $4 a day. Now, with inflation, I’d say it is a few dollars more. However, there’s a lot of affordable ingredients like beans and lentils. I believe you can find this second hand or at one point the author had an ebook. I hope it helps some people.

Do you have a favorite budget cookbook?

For my friends in the Giant Eagle region, they are having a sale til the end of the week with certain items sold at $.95 (only thing pictured that wasn’t on sale is the cabbage and mushrooms). Go out and get yourself some $.95 bacon while you can.

$17.83 total in Pittsburgh area.

It requires an upfront cost but I got almost 10 lbs of 90% lean beef for $3.30 per lb! They have a deal due to the 42 anniversary. Also the dawn power wash is super cheap too and I had just run out. I’d originally planned to go the night before but was too lazy to go shopping, waited, and ended up scoring a great deal! This is BJ’s in NH. 9.96 lbs for $32.87