Cook dried black beans. In a separate pot cook an onion, add garlic, salt, cayenne, lots and lots of cumin. Add together. Simmer. Serve over (brown) rice.

-or-

Kale: simmer until tender. Add garlic, toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, cayenne. Add ramen noodles. (Discard salty packet.)

Mr. V just made an outstanding chicken salad using leftover cornish game hen, mayonaisse, honey mustard, relish, salt, pepper, garlic, dill, and turmeric. Eat as is, or spread on bread, either way it was delicious!

Throw a packet of green split peas into a pot with plenty of water. Throw in a few carrots if you have them in large rough dice. Add a ham-bone if you've got one in the freezer or a bacon-hock if they're on special. Let this simmer on a low heat until the ham-bone/hock is coming apart and the peas are mushy. Check for seasoning: add salt, pepper, garlic etc to taste. If you've used ham-bone or hock, skim the soup for fat, pick the meat off the bones, shred it and return to pot. Chop up hot-dogs and add to the pot. Simmer until everything is done. Serve with bread.

Done right, this soup should be thick enough to stand a wooden-spoon up in it.

Beans and rice are a standard for me when I'm down to buying food from the change jar. Tasty and filling, if uninventive. Sometimes I top them with roasted cubes of sweet potato. That makes it feel more like a treat than a poverty meal, but it doesn't add more than a buck to the bill.

Another standby is baked potatoes. Because really, all you have to buy is a potato.

Pinto beans, and lots of them. I'll toss some olive oil into a frypan and heat them up, break up some and melt it. Then get them mushy with a fork and let the water cook off. If I don't have corn chips around, I'll fry some up from the corn tortilla stash. Chips and dips - awfully filling.

Messican hummus, I guess. :).

If I'm feeling lazy, I'll tear up a corn tortilla and fry up the chips til they're pretty dark and crispy, then turn off the heat and toss the beans in to heat up and simmer. Makes a quick and easy breakfast.

If I'm feeling really lazy, I get the beans, grate some cheese, in a cast iron frypan and stick it in the convection oven for about 5 minutes, then toss some flour tortillas in for the last 30 seconds to get them soft and pliable (but not dried out - it takes practice)

My other is cooked egg noodles tossed with canned alfredo sauce.

I'll sometimes put extra eggs and milk powder in the pancake mix to "beef" them up. Get two and sandwich cream cheese in and you can go all morning and into the afternoon.

Then of course the emergency pizza.

Get corn tortillas (.99). Get green salsa ($2.50). Get can of jalepeno tomatoes (.60 on sale). Get 1 can black beans (.79.) Put a little salsa in the bottom of a pie dish. Layer torn tortillas over it. Sprinkle with black beans and a chopped portion of leftover onion, green peppers, or what-have-you. Dollop with tomatoes and some salsa. Grate a piece of that little hunk of leftover cheddar on top. Layer more tortillas. Repeat layers. Bake. Top with a sprinkle of cheese. Result: yummy black-bean tortilla pie that is good for 2 dinners and 2 lunches at least.

Egg noodles with sauteed garlic, butter/olive oil/whatever you've got, chopped parsley/chives/whatever herbs you might have, grated cheese/crumbled feta optional, only if you happen to have some in the fridge. Ditto chopped veg. I usually buy a jar or two of sundried tomatoes & marinated artichokes when I've got the cash, so they're there when I don't. These are ridiculously good additions to the above pasta. Not necessarily all that nutritious, but fast & filling & better than kd. My favourite student budget-seems-decadent meal involved roasting a head of garlic, buying a baguette & some just-about-to go brie on sale, & splashing out on a fresh tomato. At the time, it cost about three bucks, and was good for three meals. If the baguette got stale, I'd wrap it in a barely-damp tea towel and warm it in the oven.