By Sarah M Moore
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When money is tight, sometimes the grocery budget has to take one for the team. Sometimes, there is no grocery budget.
The following five recipes have pulled my family through tough times on more than one occasion. They are all made of cheap ingredients that many chefs (and most moms) keep in the kitchen at all times. They might not be the fanciest fare to ever grace your table, but they sure sit well on an empty stomach.
5. Spaghetti
This one is a no-brainer. Pasta is inexpensive, filling, and most kids will eat it. If you're too strapped for tomatoes or even store-bought sauce, dredge the couch for change and buy a can of tomato paste. A pinch of salt and some Italian seasoning will make a 60-cent pasta sauce that rivals anything you can buy in a jar. Chop up essentially any left-over meat dish and viola, you've got makeshift meatballs! My favorite low-rent spaghetti topper is a microwaved hot dog cut on the diagonal. Classy and affordable.
4. Rice Pudding
My kids don't care for rice as a side dish, but when I sat a bowl of rice pudding in front of my daughter instead of her usual steel-cut oatmeal, she squealed. She thought she was being spoiled, but in reality I was too broke to buy breakfast food. Like many moms, I always have a half-empty bag of white rice in the pantry, and I usually have raisins, cinnamon, and enough milk to make a nice pasty treat. Plus, it's always nice to feel a little spoiled when money is tight.
3. Bean Soup
You knew you weren't going to use that bag of 15-bean soup you bought last October, but it was 25 cents! If you remember where you stowed it away, simply dump it in the crock pot overnight and it will keep your tummy full until payday. Not a fan of exotic beans? You have a whole aisle to choose from, and they're all equally filling and affordable. A few coins extra will buy you an onion to chuck into the slow-cooker, and otherwise inedible stale bread will soak up this soup like a carb-filled sponge.
2. Macaroni Casserole
A 50-cent box of mac-and-cheese, diced bologna, and a bag of frozen peas. Need I say more?
1. White Chili (with or without chicken, depending on your budget)
When I was a kid, my mother made White Chili as a treat. Served in a bowl lined with a flour tortilla and topped with garden-fresh salsa, sour cream, and white cheese from the deli section of the grocery store made us all think this was a dish for times of plenty. But when I discovered you can make a bare-bones version of White Chili for less than six dollars, I began feeding it to my family on a weekly basis. Two cans of white beans, an onion, some canned chopped chili peppers, and a can of chicken (or vegetable) broth will run you about four dollars. Assuming you have cumin and a few tablespoons of flour at home, that is all you need to make the most basic version of this dish. Another two dollars will buy you a can of chunk chicken, or you might score a discount rotisserie chicken from the deli if the store is about to close.
These dishes won't feed your family forever, but they will get you through those nights when the cupboard just isn't overflowing with lean cuts of grass-fed beef and organic vegetables. The most important thing to remember when you find yourself scraping the bottom of the peanut-butter jar is that recipes aren't set in stone. Work with what you have, be creative, and most importantly, be brave.