Please share a good thali place in Noida.

We got a nice extra garage fridge from my in-laws who are moving. Fridge and freezer both work great. My plan is to plan meals a month at a time. Print out a calendar and have meals on there. Does anyone buy their meats all at once and freeze? Drinks for the month (juice boxes, sodas, frozen fruit for smoothies)?

Hey all,

I have a bad habit of spending outside my budget on “fun drinks”. Think coffees, sodas, energy drinks, and stuff like that. I’ve been able to almost completely cut out coffee spending by investing in a decent second-hand espresso machine but am having a hard time with stopping buying sodas.

Does anyone have recipes for “fun drinks” that can be made for cheap at home and might scratch the same itch for a sweet treat?

So since I'm not good at cooking I made something simple cheap and tasty. I made sticky rice with cup-a-soup and bisto gravy mixed in. I toss in the dry rice with some water. Once it absorbs the water I add the gravy, soup powder with Italian seasoning. More water and stir until thick. Serve it in bowls.

Basic Polenta

1 C fine cornmeal

4 C savoury liquid (broth, bouillon, salted water)

1/4 C parmesan or similar cheese (optional)

In a pot on high heat, bring the liquid to a boil. Add the cornmeal, stirring constantly. Turn the heat down and continue stirring. Allow to cook, stirring frequently, until your stirring implement leaves a trail when pulled through the mixture, and taking a tiny taste yields no crunch. On my stove, this is 10-15 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir through cheese, if using. Serve immediately, or chill and reheat another day. Goes well with tomato-based stew, or a nice over-easy egg.

Makes 2-4 servings, depending on accompaniment and hunger.

So, I have 2 adult male neighbors that help me out occasionally with small tasks that I am unable to do by myself (i.e. move a piece of heavy furniture, bring over a ladder when I need it, etc.). When I asked how I could return the favor, they suggested that I cook them a meal. They are both bachelor's, athletes, mid 30's, and I get the feeling that it's been awhile since they have had real food. One of them mentioned that he liked ribs. Problem is that I am on a tight budget so I am trying to come up with a menu that I could prepare for them with a $20-25 budget. I need it to be something hearty that I can prepare in either the stove, slow cooker, microwave or convection oven, and isn't going to require a lot of different containers to transport. Ideally it would be comparative to the ribs but I would love to hear any ideas or suggestions.

I havent worked with them before and we got a huge bag of them so I want to try to get some ideas going for it :) I have chicken and ground beef as meat options, as well as a bit of bacon.

Shakshuka with chickpeas

1 15oz can of chickpeas $0.85 1 Cilantro bunch $0.50 1 Large red bell pepper $1.34 12 pack of eggs (I used 6) $5.70 1 medium onion $0.84 1 28oz can of whole peeled tomatoes $2.04

Total price around $11.27

Cheap pho

1 Mama clear noodle soup pack $1.33 1 jalapeño $0.17 1 pack bean sprouts $4.14 1 cilantro bunch $0.50 1 lime $0.20 1 bunch of green onion $0.68 1 bunch basil $2.58 Siracha $4.66

Total price around $14.26

Mediterranean chicken

1 bag of 6oz spinach $2.27 1 container of 10oz grape tomatoes $2.17 Chicken thighs 2.0lbs $7.68 Feta cheese crumbles 6oz $4.43 1 garlic head (used half) $0.77

Total price around $17.32

Mom used to make baked beans and hamburger called it cowboy beans. Through out the years I kept making it adding stuff etc Here’s what we nailed down my family likes it. Cheap for anyone on a budget and tastes pretty okay.

Baked beans - 2$ family size can I used Great Value Country style Diced tomatoes with chilis - 1$ (Great Value brand) Half an onion diced .50c 1lb ground beef 3.50$ (I buy beef in bulk so it’s cheaper if you don’t then it will likely be higher) Cornbread 1$ (Jiffy, 1 egg and a little milk)

Sauté the onion, add ground beef and cook it, drain the grease or keep it, season with whatever really I used garlic, paprika but there is flavor in diced tomatoes with chilis and in the country style baked beans, add the tomatoes with green chilis and then the baked beans heat them up until hot. Cook cornbread on side or even crumbled up and topped with it. Dinner for 8$ fed all 4 of us pretty good. Not going to be fancy but I like to share things to help struggling families. Been there still there. Hope it helps someone!

I would love to get a list going of some affordable meals! Specifically, SNAP eligible items. It can be hard to provide new/exciting meals for my kids especially when we’re restricted to certain foods. Thank you in advance!