"red beans and rice, I could eat a plate twice"

(I'd do a yousendit but haven't figured out how to send to mecha as a whole, rather than an individual)

mihail: in the "send to" feild on the YSI page, put in your own email. When the file is uploaded, copy and paste into a comment here at metachat. Et voila!

Here we go:

red beans n rice

Hmmm... looks like I may have sent the whole album by mistake. It's track #12.

Ooopsie.

but seriously, a jumbo bag of pintos and a jumbo bag of white rice will keep you in quality protein for a long time.

Just add what ever extras you feel like--various spices, some frozen veggies (also cheap & available in jumbo bags)...whatever.

'course "easy to prepare" doesn't necessarily apply to the soak time, cooking time, etc. of dried beans.

Good investment items:
(1) pressure cooker
(2) beano

Chickpeas are good too: like other dried beans you soak them overnight, rinse, then boil them for a few hours. Adding a piece of cheap, fatty pork to the boiling water can help impart an extra bit of flavour to the beans (provided you're not vegetarian). When I've got chickpeas, I do one or more of three things:

1 - Make a salad: chop up some green onions & fennel, mix with the beans, & top with an improvised vinaigrette (good olive oil & wine vinegar, a pinch of salt & pepper, plus a smidgeon of honey - sweetish dressings seem to complement bean salads especially well - and/or mustard).

2 - Make hummus (easier if you have a food processor or hand-blender) mix about 500g the chickpeas with a few cloves of garlic, and roughly equal amounts (about 120ml each, I think) of lemon-juice, tahini and good olive oil, plus salt (maybe half a tespoon) and a couple of teaspoons of ground cumin: blitz all ingredients together into a smooth paste - great on bread with extra olive oil.

3 - Make a curry. I enjoy just simply heating up the chickpeas with a little curry-paste (you could use ready-made stuff, or, preferably, make your own). But a more elaborate curry is good too: search up 'channa masala' recipes for some examples.

Handful of cooked macaroni, Handful of cooked vegetables, a dab of olive oil or butter, Chow down. The taste isn't fantastic, but it is healthy, cheap, fast and gives you lots of energy. Especially if you wash it down with have a bag of oreos and a few Guinness.

Oatmeal.
Grits.

I second the chickpea idea. Here's a warm salad.

Sautee or caramelize chopped onion. Add chickpeas and a little cumin, cook it up a little. Maybe some hot pepper.

Dice a cucumber, squeeze a little lemon, crack a little pepper, maybe toss some salt in. Bust up some rosemary and jack that shit in there if you want.

Mix 'em together. Finish with a drizzle of olive oyl.

Pretty mild, but tasty and a nice texture. Not hard to cook. Goes well mit Mountain Dew.

Oh yeah, use canned beans for this. They cost less time and not much more money. Food has never been cheaper.

Bust up some rosemary and jack that shit in there if you want.

I see someone cooks like I cook.

I love to cook, but I eat a lot of cereal because it is easy.

Other staple dishes:

1)(20 min) Poached eggs and tomato sauce: Make your favorite tomato sauce, as it is simmering, crack a few eggs into the top of it. Voila. Polenta on the side is fabulous, or you could use something easier to make like bulgur. I suppose you could use canned sauce to make it faster.

2) (20 mins) Pasta e Fagioli: Chop and saute onions, carrots and celery (or any combo of these). Add garlic. Add herbs de Provence, and hot pepper flakes. Add canneli beans from a can. Add water (and boullion or broth) and simmer a few minutes. Add bowties or macaroni or some other short pasta. Soup's done when the pasta is done. Variations: Add a green right before serving. Add tomatos. Add tuna (sorry). Serve with grated cheese.

3) (20 mins) Squash Soup: Saute onions, add chopped winter squash (any variety). Add water to cover and simmer. Add broth or boullion if you wish. Puree or use a potato masher to make soup smoother. Add a dark leafy green just before serving. Season with rosemary, thyme, a splash of vinegar.

Please don't ever give up taste (or nutrition) just because you have to cut back on the grocery money!

a 1 lb bag of split peas cost 69 cents-- you can't get much cheaper than that.

Split Pea Soup with Rosemary and Garlic

Saute a chopped onion in olive oil for 10 minutes until onion is golden brown. Add two or three chopped carrots and some fresh garlic. Saute another minute. Add in split peas and sprig of Rosemary and enough water (or broth) to cover by several inches. If you like a meaty flavor, throw in a smoked ham hock (these can usually be bought very cheaply.) Simmer with a lid for 2 hours, adding water if necessary until peas are soft and mushy. Blend in blender or simply continue to cook until soup is thick and mushy.

I just made a fabulous Thanksgiving day leftover soup. I boiled the bones with onion and carrots for several hours. Strained it, then added a chopped cabbage, some zucchini, and some carrots. Simmered until vegtables were done and then stirred in the leftover mashed potatoes and gravy. The potatoes thicken the soup and turn it into a Cream of Turkey Soup.

It is yummy. (And the strained meat and bones are being eaten by the cats)

salads (with cut up beef, chicken, or fish--just throw them in the broiler first)

omelets (throw in whatever you like)
related: scrambled eggs with whatever

pastas (with...see salad)

shishkabob in the broiler without a stick (cut up and put veggies and some kind of meat in the broiler and just turn them till done)

Actually, YSI works just fine with no e-mail addys at all. Psst. You didn't hear this from me.

I just remembered my favorite Mexican Soup from a Can which is cheap, nutritious, and low fat.

1 can refried beans
1 can chicken broth
1 can of salsa or Rotel tomatoes and peppers
1 can of black beans
1 bag of frozen corn

Heat and serve.

I use frozen corn instead of canned because frozen is more nutritious and less gummy. You can zest this up quite a bit by adding in sauted jalapenos, shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro, garlic, or whatever else you like in your Mexican food.

I think frozen veggies are cheaper, as well as being nutritious...they put way too much salt into canned.

AND I just found a treasure at a book sale: "366 Delicious Ways to Cook Rice, Beans, and Grains". One recipe per day, including leap years!

(did the YSI link even work?)

Please don't ever give up taste (or nutrition) just because you have to cut back on the grocery money!

I agree...when I was bemoaning my financial status in "the" mushroom post, and was scolded for eating too many ramen noodles, something clicked and I thought "they're right....I can do better, dammit."

Don't mock the friendly noodle, instead enliven it with a tin of mackerel and a chili or a tin of mackerel, a tomato and a mushroom. That's a number of major food groups covered in about 6 minutes.

Peanut butter sandwich and a glass of milk.

Dinner is ready.

Omurice.

seriously cheap.

always good.

What is that?

It's an omelet filled with rice and ketchup.

Canned wild salmon (most canned is wild) on sale, then make as you would a tunafish sandwich. Grilled open face with onions and cheese on rye. . .

Buy a roasted chicken at the grocery store. 1st meal is yummy chicken breast. Then roasted chicken on salad, cold chicken legs in the lunch bag with some pickles and rice cakes, then pick off the rest of the meat and throw the bones in a pot of water and simmer a couple hours. Strain, add some veggies and cooked noodles or rice for tasty soup. Easy, tasty, and the variation are pretty much endless.