Baked Perogies

oil or cooking spray (optional)

1Kg frozen perogies

2 Tbsp full-fat sour cream

1/2 C water

1 C shredded cheese

Heat oven to 375F. Lubricate a 9x11 baking dish with oil or cooking spray, if using. Spread perogies in a single layer. Mix sour cream with water and pour over perogies. Cover with shredded cheese. Lid or foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid or foil, and bake 5 more minutes. Rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Makes 4 portions of 8 perogies each.

My partner and I are going through a rough patch financially, we have just about $50 a week for meals. I could survive off pasta, eggs, and rice on my own, but he is a very picky eater. I’m struggling on how to stretch our budget with his large appetite and food aversions. He doesn’t enjoy eggs but can handle them occasionally, won’t eat oats or soups, and is always digging through our pantry a few hours later if we have a meal without meat. He’s a classic “if there’s no meat, then it’s not a meal” kind of guy. We’re willing to splurge on meats so we can cut down on snacks, but we have no idea what to make. He also is against meal prep (contamination OCD has him convinced if its a day old its moldy). Whatever ideas or recipes you lovely folks have would be great. Thank you 💜

My husband and I are finally moving out of my abusive parent’s house and into our own place. We are using almost every penny we have to get into our new place and I need meals that can get us by for like a week spending as little money as possible. It’ll be me, my husband, and our infant. I do receive WIC so I get fruits and veggies, milk, a little bit of cheese, tuna, etc off of that but otherwise I don’t expect to get any other food benefits for probably 2 weeks. How can we make sure we don’t starve? My husband is lactose intolerant so if we can make that work even better

New year = less meat

Hit this sub with your favourite, easy and (mostly) meatless dishes and soups to keep the new year flavourful.

TIA

When you make your grilled cheese, do you use one slice of cheese or 2? Trying to settle a debate with my boyfriend.

As someone who lives off of SNAP benefits, meal planning can constantly feel like a puzzle. I’ve been trying to simplify things and getting my groceries delivered has helped SO much. I found out that Gopuff accepts SNAP now which I’ve been using for the last couple of weeks…

My go-to is making wraps with whatever veggies and protein I have. Pasta dishes are a fan favorite! I’m happy to share specifics. Looking for budget friendly recipe recs to mix things up!

One-Pot Chickpea & Chicken Pasta with Harira Soup Sauce

Serves: 4-6

Total Cost: Approx. $12-14

Ingredients:

•	1 shallot – $0.30

•	4 garlic cloves – $0.20

•	5 snack radishes (about 1/2 bunch) – $1.00

•	2 chicken breasts (about 1 lb) – $5.79

•	1 small can of chickpeas (15 oz) – $0.90

•	1 pack of pasta (8 oz) – $1.00

•	1 small can of Harira soup mix (or similar Moroccan soup base) – $1.50

•	1 tablespoon ras el hanout – $0.25 (for bulk spices)

•	1 tablespoon dried cilantro – $0.10 (for bulk spices)

•	1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional, for thickening and flavor) – $0.30

•	Salt & pepper – $0.05

Instructions: 1. Prep Ingredients: Dice the shallot and garlic. Slice the radishes thinly. Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces.

2.	Cook Chicken: In a large pot or deep pan, heat a little oil over medium heat. Add chicken pieces and cook until browned on all sides, about 5-7 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and ras el hanout while cooking.

3.	Add Aromatics: Add diced shallot and garlic to the pot. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until softened and fragrant.

4.	Add Soup Base: Pour in the can of Harira soup (or Moroccan soup mix) and stir to combine. Add a little water if needed to adjust the consistency. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.

5.	Add Cooked Pasta: Add the cooked pasta (already boiled according to package instructions) into the pot. Stir everything together and let it cook for another 2-3 minutes so the pasta absorbs some of the sauce.

6.	Add Veggies & Chickpeas: While the pasta is cooking, add the sliced radishes and drained chickpeas to the pot. Let them cook in the sauce for about 5 minutes until tender.

7.	Thicken & Season: Once everything is cooked, add nutritional yeast (optional) to thicken the sauce slightly and add a savory, cheesy flavor. Stir well to combine. Taste and adjust with extra salt, pepper, or dried cilantro if desired.

8.	Rest & Serve: Remove from heat, cover, and let the dish rest for 5-10 minutes for the flavors to meld. Serve hot!

Approximate Costs Breakdown:

•	Shallot: $0.30

•	Garlic cloves: $0.20

•	Radishes: $1.00

•	Chicken breasts: $5.79

•	Chickpeas: $0.90

•	Pasta: $1.00

•	Harira soup base: $1.50

•	Ras el hanout: $0.25

•	Dried cilantro: $0.10

•	Nutritional yeast: $0.30

Total Estimated Cost: ~$12-14 (for 4-6 servings)

Tips for Saving:

•	Chicken: You can substitute with cheaper cuts (like thighs) or use a can of chicken for a more budget-friendly version.

•	Harira Soup: If you can’t find harira soup mix, use any cheap vegetable or tomato-based soup mix and add spices like cumin, paprika, and cinnamon to mimic the flavor.

•	Nutritional yeast: Optional, but it really enhances the dish’s umami. If you don’t have it, it’s still great without.

Why It’s Budget-Friendly:

•	This dish uses affordable pantry staples like pasta, chickpeas, and canned soup mix.

•	It’s flexible—use whatever veggies or protein you have on hand.

•	Nutritional yeast is optional, so you can skip it if you need to cut costs.

Final Thoughts:

This one-pot meal is easy to make, filling, and packed with flavor. It’s a great way to use simple ingredients while still creating something hearty and satisfying. Plus, it’s easily adaptable to whatever ingredients you have on hand! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I’m using what I have at hand for this dish, but feel free to substitute any veggies, protein, or pasta types based on what you have available or your preferences!

Note: Prices are approximate and based on average costs in Portland, Oregon as of December 2024.

I'm in a need of saving money, but I cannot live without Sweets. I cannot find good recipes for homemade cheap snacks, anyone have good suggestions? Not low cost, but CHEAP

https://preview.redd.it/cfibh61kqn6e1.jpg?width=1989&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1a000321c164d600f93e05a0e677a24603a67f0f

I use premade sauce (Newman's Own Marinara), pre-shredded mozzarella cheese (generic), pre-sliced pepperoni, store-made French bread, and premade garlic & herb butter. Because of this, you could make these for less than $2 per pizza, but my goal is to have something that's both easy to prep and easy to cook.

It takes me about 30 - 45 minutes to make 18 of these pizzas, I then freeze them "open air" style in the freezer, then transfer them to sealable plastic bags. It would be cheaper over time to use reusable containers instead of bags, but because we use them after they are frozen, we can typically reuse the bags a few times.

Here's the process

• Slice the French bread in half, ensuring both halves are roughly the same thickness
• Cut those into 1/3, or 1/4 depending on how much you want to eat
  • You can cut after you freeze, but it often makes a mess
• Spread a thin layer of garlic butter on each slice
• Spread a layer of marinara on top the garlic butter
• Apply non-grease heavy toppings atop the marinara
  • Sausage, Beef, Veggies, etc. work fine under cheese; pepperoni will make the toppings loose
• Apply cheese
• Apply grease heavy topping atop cheese
• Freeze for 2-3 hours
• Move frozen slices to a container
• Cook for 15 - 20 minutes at 400F (205C) or until cheese is golden brown
• Make another because they are delicious

My roommate and I are accumulating dried beans and canned ham from food pantries and I was wondering how to put the two together into a soup? Preferably in a crock pot that I can leave while I go to work.

I'm not a chef, but soup sounds good...

Hi! I'm trying to find cheap, quick & easy foods similar to ramen or Mac and cheese that I can easily add vegetables to. The caveat is that I don't have a microwave, only a stove and an oven.

Thank you!

So, I am moving out in a few days. And I am renting a room from this family. The lovely folks have told me i have some space on my fridge for storing ingredients and food.

Anyways, I need some lists of ingredients I can buy to last me at least a week (but preferably more) worth of meals. I don't have much preference. I eat halal chicken and beef but I am okay with vegan meat too. Aside from that no allergies. I love easy sandwiches and i don't want to cook fancy shit since I am bad at it (but obviously I will need start cooking some stuff). I am okay with just the essentials I need before I start making food.

Here's a list I made so far: Rice Pasta Pasta sauce Egg Seasonings (salt, pepper... Sugar Black/pinto beans Bread Tuna Oat milk powder Sliced cheese Instant coffee Nuts/Biscuits (snacks)

I would love more ideas, specially for Seasonings and herbs. Are there any other basic Seasonings I can get? Also, if anyone has any easy and cheap one pan recipes, I am all ears.

Thank you guys.

Not a meal, but bear with me.

Sometimes, I've got leftover coffee, and need to find something to do with it. In summer, I might make ice cubes for iced coffee, but it's too cold where I am right now to do that. I have also been known to replace some or all of the liquid in a boxed cake mix with leftover coffee, but I didn't have any on hand, and it wasn't on sale at the store. So here's what I came up with, and I thought I'd share in case someone else might like it.

Coffee Beverage

400mL cold coffee

100mL dates (see instructions)

milk of choice

Add coffee to a measuring jug. Add dates until the level of liquid equals 500. Allow this to sit overnight. I do room temp, but if it's especially hot, I might do it in the fridge.

After soaking, blend the coffee and dates until smooth, using either a conventional blender or an immersion blender.

Pour half of this mixture into a mug, and add milk of choice to taste. Stir well.

Enjoy!

Makes 2 servings

Just made some of this today. It takes 200g of dried soybeans, which is a total of $0.76 CAD where I am, some water and basic seasonings, a mechanical blending device, and time. It makes 4-6 servings over rice, especially with the addition of greens, which I consider optional depending on availability.

Lazy Tofu (recipe from Chinese Cooking Demystified)

200g dried soybeans, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed

1L (4C) water

2 tsp chicken bullion powder

1 tsp each salt and sugar

1/4 tsp white pepper powder (optional. don't go buy this just for this recipe)

2 C leafy greens of choice (I prefer frozen chopped kale)

Blend the soaked beans with water. I happen to have a blender, but this can also be done with a stick/immersion blender. Using a larger pot than you think you'll need, heat the bean mixture, stirring continuously. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES LEAVE THIS POT UNATTENDED. The mixture starts off quite foamy, and boils over quickly and easily. When the surface begins to steam and/or you can see the liquid begin to bubble, turn the heat down to low. Keep stirring, gently but continuously. The mixture needs to cook this way for a minimum of 20 minutes. I usually do 30*. If, for some reason, the mixture gets too thick/dry before the 20 minute mark, add a bit more water and keep it cooking.

Once it's been more than 20 minutes, wait for the mixture to achieve the texture of porridge, polenta or dal. The bubbles should be 'borbles' or 'burbles', and your stirring implement should leave a distinct 'wake' as you pull it from one side of the pot to the other. Now is the time to season and add in the greens, if you're using them. Give it another few minutes on the heat - no more than five - then remove it to cool. You can eat some right away, but I always like it better the next day. Always serve over hot rice.

This dish is so cheap, but so tasty and satisfying. When I went to double check the price of beans (because I just used up my last few), I couldn't believe HOW cheap they are.

Enjoy!

*I have a stool I can pull up to the stove so I'm not standing the entire time.

Had to make this out of nostalgia, but can't afford meat. Here's an alternative if you're in the same boat, or don't eat meat.

Beef and Corn Bake (originally published in Company’s Coming), plus vegetarian option

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef OR 3 C textured vegetable protein (TVP) plus 2 C water and 1 beef stock cube

1 medium onion, chopped OR 1 C frozen diced

¼ cup oil

¾ C corn kernals

2 284ml (10oz) condensed tomato soup

1 tsp salt OR 1/2 tsp for vegetarian version, unless stock used is low sodium

½ tsp pepper

1 tbsp ketchup

2 c cooked noodles (I use broad egg noodles)

1 c grated Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

Combine ground beef, onion and cooking oil in frying pan. Stir to break the meat as it browns. Drain off and discard the fat. Put meat mixture into a large bowl.

For the vegetarian version, heat the oil, add the onion and hydrated TVP. Let it sizzle to develop some crust and colour, but be mindful of sticking/burning. After reaching desired doneness (maybe 5 minutes), transfer to bowl or casserole dish.

Add corn, soup, salt, pepper and ketchup. Stir to mix with meat or vegetarian substitute.

For both versions, prepare noodles according to package directions. Drain, measure*. Combine with all ingredients in bowl. Pour into 3 qt (3.5L) casserole.

Sprinkle grated cheese over top. Cover and bake in 350 °F oven for 45 minutes. Remove cover and continue to bake until cheese is melted and bubbly.

*Secret bonus: if you're already cooking the noodles, make up the whole package, take what's needed for the casserole, then to the rest add 2 Tbsp butter, 1/4 C milk, a handful of grated cheese and about 1 Tbsp mayonnaise. Pop this back on a low burner, stirring, until you have a sneaky couple cups of homemade mac and cheese.

Budget-Friendly Ravioli Pie with Eggs, Cheese, and Salami

This easy and filling recipe turns a can of ravioli into a baked comfort meal. You can customize it with what you have on hand, and I’ve included cheaper alternatives to make it even more budget-friendly!

Ingredients (Serves 4)

•	1 can of ravioli (28 oz / 800 g): ~$1.20–$2.50. You can often find store brands for around $1.00–$1.50.
•	4 eggs: ~$0.80–$1.00. Look for sales on larger cartons for a lower price per egg.
•	4 tablespoons of cream cheese (or about 50 g): ~$0.60. You can substitute with sour cream or plain yogurt for around $0.40.
•	8 slices of salami: ~$1.50. You can substitute with deli ham or skip the meat for around $1.00.
•	1 cup of shredded cheese (100 g): ~$1.50. You can use cheaper cheese options or reduce the amount for a more affordable dish, or skip entirely for $0.75–$1.00.
•	Salt, pepper, paprika, and herbs to taste: ~$0.10 (optional).

Total cost: ~$6.50–$7.00 (or ~$4.50–$5.00 with cheaper alternatives).

Instructions

1.	Preheat the Oven:

Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C).

2.	Layer the Ravioli:

Open the can of ravioli and spread it evenly in a greased baking dish.

3.	Prepare the Egg Mixture:
•	Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk them together with the cream cheese until smooth.
•	Add a pinch of salt, pepper, paprika, and any other spices you like.

4.	Combine:

Pour the egg mixture evenly over the ravioli to create a creamy layer.

5.	Add Salami:

Lay the slices of salami (or ham) over the ravioli and egg mixture.

6.	Top with Cheese:

Sprinkle the shredded cheese evenly over the top, covering the salami and ravioli.

7.	Bake:

Place the dish in the oven and bake for 20–25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden, and the salami is slightly crispy.

8.	Serve:

Let the pie cool for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Optional Add-Ons

•	Vegetables: You can add frozen or canned corn, diced tomatoes, or spinach for extra nutrients.

•	Herbs: Garnish with fresh herbs like parsley or basil if you have them on hand.

This recipe is super versatile and can be adjusted depending on what’s in your pantry. Even with cheaper alternatives, it still costs less than $2 per serving and is perfect for a quick, hearty meal!

Ingredient Pricing Notes: • Canned ravioli typically costs around $1.20 for a 28 oz can, though store brands can be even cheaper.

•	Eggs usually cost around $0.80 for 4 eggs, but larger cartons offer a better price per egg.

•	Cheese and salami can vary, but if you’re using cheese on sale or opting for deli ham, you can keep the cost under $2 for the cheese, and $1–$1.50 for the salami slices.

Hi all! 👋🏻☺️

After a bout of homelessness my family once more has a home, which means we once more have an oven! 🙏🏻 Now, I'm on the spectrum so I can tend to get overwhelmed looking through recipe books and websites. Everything looks yummy and I short circuit when faced with a vast amount of options.

I'm hoping for just a short list of some of y'all's favorite cheap meals that can help me jump back into cooking! But also, as cheap as possible, as I'm still job searching, so my husband is the sole provider right now.

Thank you for any and all suggestions! 😌

Chili Tuna Avocado Wrap (Budget-Friendly Recipe) Makes 2 wraps

Ingredients

•	1 can of tuna (5 oz)
•	1/2 can of brown beans in chili sauce (7 oz)
•	1/2 can of corn (7 oz)
•	2 teaspoons mayonnaise
•	1 clove garlic (minced)
•	1/2 teaspoon mustard
•	1 teaspoon capers (optional)
•	1 avocado
•	2 carrot wraps (heated in microwave for 30 seconds)
•	2 oz feta cheese
•	1 lemon

Optional toppings:

•	Dried chives, cilantro, or parsley (optional)
•	Iceberg lettuce (shredded)
•	Red bell pepper (sliced)

Instructions

1.	Make the tuna filling:
•	In a bowl, mix together the tuna, brown beans in chili sauce, corn, mayonnaise, garlic, mustard, and capers (if using). Season with salt and pepper to taste.
2.	Prepare the wraps:
•	Microwave the carrot wraps for 30 seconds to soften them.
3.	Assemble the wraps:
•	Lay a carrot wrap flat and add a layer of sliced avocado, sprinkled with lemon juice.
•	Spread the tuna mixture on top of the avocado.
•	Add slices of feta cheese.
4.	Optional toppings:
•	Add shredded lettuce, sliced red bell pepper, or a sprinkle of dried herbs.
5.	Serve and enjoy your hearty, budget-friendly wraps!

Estimated Total Cost

•	Around $7.75 to $8.25 for 2 wraps, depending on optional toppings.

Approximate Nutritional Facts (Per Wrap)

•	Calories: ~350-400 kcal
•	Protein: ~25-30g
•	Carbs: ~30-35g
•	Fiber: ~6-8g
•	Sugar: ~4-6g
•	Fat: ~15-20g
•	Saturated Fat: ~3-5g
•	Sodium: ~500-600mg
•	Cholesterol: ~30-40mg

Why It’s Great

This wrap is high in protein from the tuna, beans, and feta, while also providing healthy fats from the avocado. It’s a great balance of carbs, protein, and fats for a filling meal. The veggies and optional toppings give a nice boost of fiber and vitamins, making it both a nutritious and budget-friendly option!

Notes:

•	Cheaper Alternatives:
•	Tuna: Swap for sardines or canned mackerel (often cheaper than tuna).
•	Beans: Use black beans or pinto beans instead of brown beans in chili sauce, adding your own chili seasoning.
•	Corn: Frozen corn kernels are often more affordable than canned corn and have a longer shelf life.
•	Wraps: Use regular tortillas instead of carrot wraps, or go with lettuce wraps for a low-carb version.
•	Avocado: If avocado is too pricey, substitute with shredded lettuce or cucumber slices for crunch.
•	Feta Cheese: Use cheddar cheese or cream cheese for a cheaper alternative to feta.
•	Lemon: You can use lemon juice concentrate if fresh lemons are expensive.