Eat Cheap Without Ramen: Five Inexpensive but Delicious Meals

If you're like many people, you might associate the idea of "cheap food" with Ramen noodles and dollar hamburgers from a chain. However, that isn't necessarily true. If you know a few simple techniques for stretching your dinner dollar, meals can be nutritious, delicious, and dare we say it?- cheap.

This blog looks at five different meals, all cheap and easy to prepare.

1. French Toast

French Toast is an excellent meal for someone on a budget. It's incredibly cheap to make, especially if you buy bread at a thrift store and purchase large amounts of eggs at once. (If you live alone, this could mean a "feast and famine" mentality where you go for long stretches eating almost nothing but eggs to keep your two-and-a-half-dozen eggs from going bad, then don't buy eggs at all for a couple of weeks because you're so sick of them. If you have a family, on the other hand, buying the big cartons of eggs makes even more sense.)

To make French toast, crack one egg for every two pieces of toast into a bowl. Beat until lightly scrambled. Heat a "Sop" each piece of bread in the egg, thoroughly coating first one side, then the other. Lay the egg-coated bread into the skillet. (Most large skillets will allow you to cook two pieces of French toast at once.) Let it sit until the bottom side is lightly browned, then flip and allow the top side to brown lightly. Once both sides are lightly browned, the toast is done. Serve "as-is" or sprinkle lightly with sugar.

Ingredients that are versatile-such as eggs and bread, for example, are always a good choice. Invest a little time into finding a bakery thrift store near you. Even if nearly always worth it. Just "bulk buy" enough reduced-price bread to make it worth the trip (or, as much bread as you can afford, whichever is lower!), and freeze all but one or two loaves.

Eggs are another good choice. They're often not that expensive, and they provide needed protein without the cost of meat, tofu, or soy. Plus, they're versatile. The sky's the limit when it comes to the ways you can use eggs.

2. Rice

Basic white rice is one of the cheapest foods you'll ever find. Buy it in bulk whenever you can afford to, and put it up in airtight jars. It will keep pretty well forever like that. For an inexpensive but flavorful way of cooking it, begin with a 2-quart Corningware pan with a lid (The lid is very important.) Use a tablespoon of oil. Chop up a couple of cloves of garlic (more is always better if you're a garlic lover) and dice half an onion. Add them to the oil and turn the stove on High. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil until the onions are translucent and lightly brown.

Add two cups of dry rice to the garlic, onion, and oil. Stir this until a few of the grains start browning (wait grains in there). Add four cups of water; two cups of water for every one cup of dry rice. Turn your heat down to low.

Add half a cube of bouillon to the water; beef if you're planning to eat the rice with red meats, chicken if you're planning to eat it with white meat, poultry, or fish, either if you don't know or don't care. Put the lid on and just let it sit, with the stove as low as you can possibly get it. You want the rice to be able to absorb all the water, so don't lift the lid unless you have to. After about fifteen or twenty minutes, check it. If the water is completely gone from the top, and the rice looks nice and fluffy, lift the lid and push some of the rice over with a spoon. You want to be able to see the bottom of the dish. If there's still water at the bottom, it isn't done yet; cover it and let it sit another three to five minutes. If the bottom is dry, however, the rice is done. Tum off the heat and let it sit a couple of minutes, and it's ready to go.

3. Fish Tacos in Crunchy Shells

Is there a better way to end the day than a Fish Taco dinner filled with protein and nutrients and is easy on the wallet? This recipe calls for a boys’ or girls’ night in front of a good movie or game.

4. Mini Meatball Noodle Soup

We’ve heard of the delicious spaghetti and meatballs recipes, but imagine having that same meatball goodness in a soup? It’s like Christmas in a bowl. Healthy, warm, and only $3.43 per serving.

5. Crispy Fish and Peppers

Amazing recipe for anyone looking to change up their meals while keeping their macros in check and not going overboard on spending. Satisfies your crunch tooth (see what I did there?) and gives you all the protein you need to stay full and lean.