Here are some meals that can be prepared at relatively low cost, and are tasty and satisfying.
Rice based meals - Rice is a major food staple around the world. It is the main ingredient in many kinds of meals.
Prepare the rice like normal - in boiling water. When you strain out the rice, save the water, and use it to make tea or soup. The water contains many nutrients that washed off the surface of the rice during cooking. Add other ingredients to make the rice into a satisfying meal. Ingredients such as chunky soup (Campbell's, Progresso, etc.), beef stew, etc.
Chicken - Chicken is the least expensive meat. Leg quarters are usually the least expensive (and tastiest!) part of the chicken. They can be bought at low cost frozen, or fresh (Walmart usually has them for about 69 cents a pound, at this writing). Boil the leg quarters for one hour in a big pot of water. This will make them so tender that the meat actually does fall off the bone! You can dice the meat into small pieces, and add them to rice dishes.
Pork - Pork is often available at low cost, especially before Christmas and Easter. Check the packaging. It might be pre-cooked and ready to eat. It's best to not cook it again. That only destroys the tenderness. If the pork is not cooked, boil it in a big pot of water for an hour, just like chicken. Fried pork often comes out very tough. Boiled pork is always at least fairly tender. You can cut it across the muscle fibers to enhance the tenderness. Diced pork can also be added to rice dishes.
Hot dogs and bologna - Prices can vary widely between brands, and from one week to the next. Flavor can also vary between brands. Hot dogs dipped in barbecue sauce can be very tasty.
Potatoes - Potatoes provide plenty of calories per dollar. It's best to not peel potatoes. Most of the nutrition is in the first millimeter under the skin. You can buy devices at the grocery store that you shove down onto the potato with both hands, to easily cut the potato into slices, sticks, or wedges. They can then be deep fried, pan fried, or baked in the oven. All the enhancements (meat, eggs, veggies, soup, etc.) that can be added to rice dishes can also be added to potato based dishes.
Eggs - One way to prepare eggs is to crack them open over a big pot of boiling water. Then, when the eggs are cooked, ladle them out with a strainer. If you cook eggs this way, you can cook a dozen or two dozen or three dozen all in one session, and then have plenty of egg on hand that is ready to eat. You can also add pieces of cooked egg to rice or potato dishes.
Pasta or noodles can be inexpensive, if you look for it on sale, or buy store brands. Rice and potatoes are healthier. Spaghetti sauce can vary widely in price. Pasta sauce can often be found at about the half of the price of the cheapest salsa.
Store brand tortilla chips are usually much less expensive than name brand chips. Tortilla chips are made from corn and tend to cost less than potato chips.
Popcorn is one of the least expensive snack foods. Pieces getting stuck in your teeth can be annoying.
With the cost of food skyrocketing, these meals can help keep everyone fed without going broke. I'm sure there are many more possibilities. Comments are open!
