Food Ideas for when you are broke

Rice & beans are cheap, easy, and filling! Buy dried beans and cook them in a slow cooker with some seasonings and then serve over brown rice, and you have several meals that only cost a few dollars!

A few deals I've seen at the store recently:

Tuna in water - $1 per can
Bag of dry black beans or lentils- $1.50
Greek yogurt (store brand 6oz)-$1
Fresh express salad- $1.86 per bag
Lean Cuisine dinners- $2 each
Mangos- $1 each
Zucchini or yellow squash- 99 cents per pound

Don't forget about coupons. I go online to my grocery store website and add coupons to my store card. I also clip coupons in the paper and online. I can often get some items for close to free.

I did a quick google search and here sites that came up with good ideas:

http://www.divinecaroline.com/22177/52070-twenty-healthiest-foods-1
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/cheap-healthy-15-nutritious-foods-about-2-dollars
http://www.aarp.org/money/budgeting-saving/info-11-2009/foods_under_a_dollar_per_pound.2.html

Here a site I found that has recipes for Ramen with calorie and nutrition breakdown.

http://allrecipes.com/search/default.aspx?qt=k&rt=r&origin=Home+Page&pqt=k&ms=0&fo=0&wt=Ramen noddles

I think the hardest part is being creative. If you buy a whole chicken you can easily separate it into smaller portions for several meals. It cheaper than buying chicken breast, chicken thighs, legs ect.... If you eat red meat you can buy a roast and cut in half, boil half with spices, bake the other. Now you have two different tasting types of red meat. The boiled half of course can even be stretched out to other meals, salads, tacos, sandwich ect... Veggie and fruits are always cheaper, make them apart of every meal or snack. They are filling and good for you. Sometimes it just a matter of thinking outside the box in recipes. I have found some of my tastiest meals have come from almost empty pantry, and they can be healthy.

Last night I made this delicious black bean salad. I used 2 cans of black beans, 1 can of corn, i can of rotel (or just diced tomatoes if you want), 1 cup of italian dressing, 1 lime, 1 green pepper, 1/2 onion, 1 jalapeno pepper, and some garlic salt. You can obviously tweek it how you like, but it was cheap and delicious and I'm planning on it lasting me all week for my lunch.

I also started buy the store brand greek yogurt, which is just as good as Chobani.

If you have any farmer's markets close by, maybe check it out for produce. Usually it's cheaper there then in the grocery stores.

I'm still figuring out ways to save money too, but this is what I've done so far. Good luck!

My favourite breakfast is overnight oatmeal. Add 1 cup Scottish oatmeal and 3 cups water to the slow cooker in the evening, then cook on low all night. Serve with your choice of milk, cinnamon, honey, butter, maple syrup, fruit, nuts, etc.

It's healthy, delicious and very filling!

i buy my food at aldi which cuts my expense alot.....remember canned veggies are just as good as any and when im broke ...i know its sounds gross....i do alot of canned meat too... salmon...chicken and tuna .......all much less expensive then fresh or bulk frozen

I dont know if you have one near you but I find alot of stuff at the Dollar Store....ours has a frozen food section and alot of times they get stuff that are brand name only because they are close to expiring.

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