My mother used to insist that we had PLENTY to eat--as long as it included: Mayo=, bread, relish and leftover rice. Livin' large! One night she prepared pickled lima beans. We knew we wanted a new mother by then.

I've found that the key to eating cheap here is Aldi. That's 80% of the secret.

With about 20 bucks a week I can eat 3 "meals" a day by buying their cheap but untasty food.

Most everything costs a buck, tomato sauce, potatoes, cereal, saltines, ect.
The bread is actually a great deal because it only costs $.79 and people buy it up fast, so it's always fresh.

So, at 20 bucks a week, you're looking at about a buck a meal. This is actually pretty easy.The hard part is seeing someone eating *real* food knowing you only have the Aldi - I'm broke as a motherfucker food.

Back when I had a real job...income....life, I'd regularly get together with friends for lunch. That doesnt happen much anymore, although there is still the occassional old pal that offers to buy lunch. When eating something other than Aldi cheapass food I eat like a fucking wild animal. Like the dog that doesnt even taste the burger or steak you toss him. That tends to scare or embarass people, so I dont get many offers any more. :biggrin:

People that say they go hungry nowdays dont get a lot of sympathy from me. If they were to say they hadnt had a slice of pizza or a burger in ages, then I might be sympathetic. Food is cheap in this country. Food you look forward to eating is not.

My dad swears by all that's holy that years ago before I was born, and times were lean, that my mom used to make balogna salad. My parents are fairly well-off now, but my mom was raised poor, and is embarrassed by the mention of anything that might make her appear less than white-bread. I tend to believe she made it, but my dad was likely the one who ate it.

An engineer who worked for my dad, during his bachelor years, used to make balogna soup - just balogna boiled in water. Mmm - mmm good. He also made tomato soup using ketchup packets and hot water.

Did that..got grossed out when I found out what was causing some rattling late one night. (roaches were chewing through cardboard grocery bags and plastic bread bags. I killed some only to notice that the other roaches were carrying off the dead one for food. Sort of the roach version of Soylent Green)

Reminds me of when we used to make soup biscuits (I'm not that nostalgic, this is only last semester). Run warm water over the brick o' noodles until softened, but still firm, then take the packet of flavoring and sprinkle it over the noodles, and eat it like a biscuit. Actually quite tasty and better than boiling water when your roommate spilled *something* in the microwave that makes everything taste like goat ass.

Also, fried bologna may smell like boiling piss, but it's actually quite tasty. Microwaved salami is better, though.

My gramma made this stuff for my mother and aunt - in our family, it's called "monkey meat".

I'll NEVER eat it.
:dead:

I never really had to do something Fear Factor-ish like all that, to be honest. I was always the resourceful one of the group - especially to my friends that live off-campus. They'd have the "coffee pot ramen" stories, then be sitting outside my dorm saying that they're hungry. Someone'd say "Mac & Cheese", someone else "ramen", I'd be the one going "Let's see what I have in stock...I got a few chicken sandwiches, some cheeseburgers, some meatballs, pizza, country-fried steak...", all boosted from the cafeteria, all sealed away in wonton soup containers from the Chinese place. It's not great food, but appearance goes a long way.

I'd be the guy in the army that could scrounge up anything and everything while out in the field, I'm convinced of this. That's if I, you know, didn't have that whole family tradition of not being shot to uphold.

For a while my roommates and I were big into $1 microwave sandwiches from QuikTrip ... god I miss those things ... but they had a great variety. BBQ pork sandwich, bacon double cheeseburger, chicken with ham and swiss, twin chili dogs ... and only a buck a pop! Pretty big sandwiches too.

Only something so delicious, so beautiful could resurrect The Coffee Pot Ramen thread.

White Castle Foods presents: Breakfast Surprise

...probably followed by "Lunch Horrors", I assume.

That certainly is surprising.

If I remember my White Castle Math properly, that's one serving, right?

Actually, if you like White Castles, that sounds pretty good--all cheesy--mmmmMM! But, I hate White Castles. They taste weird.

Ew - I think you taste weird.

White Castle rocks. I had to pass on the weekly lunch trip there today, though - tummy not feeling too great after two slices of pizza at midnight last night. :dead:

My aunt calls them belly-bombers.

Though I love them, that surprise thing kinda has me leery.

There's no White Castles around Colorado. :( I wonder if the frozen thingies are comparable...

They're actually not too bad. While the ones I bought were from the restaurant, I doubt they're much different than the ice-caked ones you get at the local grocery.

The trick is to steam them, or cover them in wax paper or something in the microwave to keep the moisture in. Otherwise they get kinda ... oily and soggy.

I'm gonna have to try them, then. :yum: