[Mara]

I'm getting tired of ramen, Lean Cuisine, and cereal with milk, but I live alone which means usually, it is just not practical or cheap to do any legitimate cooking. I'm wondering if anyone has any recipes for yummy meals that are inexpensive to make and can be made in small quantities, or that I can freeze.

Anybody have suggestions?

[Chinchilla of Doom]

1 lb ground beef
1 large onion chopped
3 1/2 cups water divided ( you may need more, you just have to judge it)
2 cans rotel
2 cans black beans or pinto beans or kidney beans (I use 1 of each)
1 (16 oz) jar picante sauce or salsa
1 package brown gavy mix
shredded cheese

1. In 4 qt saucepan cook and stir ground beef and onion until cooked. drain
2. Add 3 cups water, tomatoes, beans, salsa. Bring mixture to a boil.
3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, blend gravy mix with 1/2 cup of cool water, pour gravy
mix into boiling mixture. Stir well, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
4.Top with cheese and sour cream if desired

serves 8-10

Cost $15 to make, give or take and can be frozen easy.

Also frozen vegetables.

Boil noodles, butter them and season to preference.

[bobthecockroach]

One of the best things to freeze is soup, and now that Fall is almost upon us, it works perfectly.

Chicken noodle, tomato, cream of X, chili, stew, it all freezes great. Curries freeze good too. As do cooked beans.

One of the best tricks I found when living alone is make really small main courses and supplement with things that keep well and are healthy, like carrots or frozen whole-wheat bread (bread also freezes great) with butter, meat or cheese. Bananas are a good extra. As are apples. All very cheap too. That way you never have to worry about having enough to eat, so you can make small enough portions that you know you can eat it all. If you're still hungry, you'll have plenty of your supplement foods.