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of thin white Chinese "paste" noodles (can't think of what they're called -- they're wheat, and they're about 33-75 cents for a pound).
Buy eggs there if they are fresh ($1 per dozen); otherwise get them at the regular market. Also get a bag or brick of frozen spinach. ($1 -- thaw in the fridge before you use them.)
This is my "eating cheap" quick lunch soup:
Anyhow...
Mix 1 part Memmi base with 9 parts water, enough to make 3 cups of liquid. (You can always add more Memmi if it seems too weak, or water if it's too strong.) Bring to a boil. Add a generous handful of noodles and let simmer until the noodles are al dente (you want them to be soft eventually). Throw in a handful of spinach. Return to a slow boil. Add two eggs and poach the eggs in the broth until they're as done as you want them. Alternatively, you can swirl the eggs and make more of an egg-flower soup.)
This makes a generous lunch in about 10 minutes (leftovers reheat OK but don't keep them for more than a day or it gets slimy).
Total cost per serving is about $1.
Asian markets, in general, are good for eating cheap -- you can pick up a bag of rice, some fresh veggies, a block of tofu, a bottle of hoisin and a bottle of hot sauce for $10 and make several meals out of it.
If I were in your shoes, I'd take $35 to the Asian market and buy a big bag of rice (long grain is fine, although I use Calrose as my multi-purpose rice), a pack of those white noodles, a packet of bean-thread noodles (same price), a packet of rice noodles (same price), the Memmi base, a bulb of garlic, a knob of ginger, a few onions, a few potatoes, a small bottle of Sambal Oelek (a chili paste --$2), a can of coconut milk (50 cents), a can of masaman curry paste ($1--look for the cans that can be added to one can of coconut milk), a block of tofu ($1-$2), a bunch of bananas and whatever veggies looked fresh that were in my budget. Make sure there's a green pepper and some scallions in there somewhere. Yes, you can get all of this for $35 at an Asian market.
Then, I'd go to the regular market and get a pound of bulk rolled oats, wheat, barley or a combination of all three (50 cents -$1 -- can be microwaved in a few minutes and tastes much better than the instant packets, but you can cut that out if the packets are acceptable to you or if you just don't eat breakfast), a carton of milk, a loaf of bread, a package of boneless/skinless chicken thighs (cheaper than breasts -- or else get frozen breasts), a 1# package of beef stew meat, a dozen eggs, a small can of tomato paste, a small box of cornstarch (optional), a small bottle of vegetable oil, a small bottle of apple cider vinegar, a can of pineapple. Oh, and get a box of pasta (50 cents - $1) and a jar of sauce ($1.50 if you find it on sale) -- make meat sauce with the ground beef, and that'll last a few meals. If you can't find a source of sugar, get a small box as well. Try to get some fruit in there as well (aside from the bananas you picked up cheap at the asian market).
You will need to beg, steal or borrow a knife, a vegetable peeler (only if you can't peel with a knife) and a can opener. A colander and a spatula are good to have, too.
Here's a simple Thai curry recipe:
Put half the coconut milk and all of the curry paste in the saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add the beef stew meat (cut into small chunks if it's not already) and a cut-up onion. Bring to a boil. Add a couple of peeled, cubed potatoes. Bring to a boil and let simmer until the potatoes are tender and almost giving up their starch. Add the green pepper (again, cut into small chunks). When the green pepper's done, check for seasoning -- you can add sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce (if you have it) as needed. (This will take no longer than making a pot of spaghetti, really.) Serve over rice. This will last you a few meals.
And here's sweet and sour chicken:
Sautee an onion and some garlic until soft. Add some cut-up chicken and cook until the chicken's done. Add whatever vegetables you want (I like carrots, peppers, tomatoes, but use whatever you found that was cheap), and cook until they're still a bit crisp. Add the can of pineapple, with its juice, plus a couple of spoonfuls of tomato paste, a couple of spoonfuls of soy sauce, about the same amount of apple cider vinegar and the same amount of sugar. Bring the mix to a simmer, and taste -- if it's not sweet enough, add sugar; not sour enough, add vinegar; if it needs body, add more tomato paste; if it seems lacking "something," try the soy sauce. Simmer for a few minutes, then thicken if you want -- make a slurry out of a couple of spoonfuls of cornstarch and the same amount of COLD water, then add to the pan and let it do its magic (adding cornstarch directly will result in gross lumps). Again, serve with rice; it'll last a few meals.
My basic stir fry (best done in a wok, OK in a big skillet, doable in a saucepan if you really have to):
Marinate whatever protein you're using (chicken, pressed-out tofu, you may even be able to get ground beef to work) in soy sauce, Sambal, sugar, vinegar (the apple cider stuff is fine), garlic and ginger. (I use sesame oil, too, but that stuff is probably out of your budget for the week.) Stir-fry the protein in a small amount of oil, add veggies (long-cooking ones like carrots go in first; spinach goes in last) and do the same. (You can add the marinade to the pan so long as you let it boil to get any meat-borne nasties out.) I like to serve my stir-fries tossed into softened bean thread noodles (in which case, you soften them up in a bowl of hot water, cut them with scissors a few times, then toss into the pan with the stir-fry...add some more soy sauce, or a mixture of soy sauce, sugar and Sambal, to season the noodles.)
Asian-influenced cooking is my specialty, and one of the things I appreciate is that it's cheap. Sure, a box of spaghetti and a jar of sauce is cheap, too, but I tire easily of that but find enough diversity in Asian flavors (given that I cook Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Indian) that I don't find it boring at all.
Remember that some of these recipes do take time (none should take more than 30 minutes, though) but they make enough quantities that you can cook once and eat three or four times. Oh: Cook a big batch of rice in advance, then reheat as needed.
Breakfasts -- oatmeal, or eggs with toast, and fruit.
Good luck!
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