The cost of living certainly does suck.
With the cost of living rising it certainly feels like a lot of us are slowly back peddling into our uni days of eating habits. Pay day is four days away and I have to somehow survive until then with only what I have left in my cupboard and some of the ingredients I have left would be puzzling for Iron Chef Bobby Flay to make good. Whilst we absolutely don’t recommend you trying all of these, here are some of our favourite “Broke” comfort meals to have when money is tight but your appetite isn’t.
Mac & Cheese With Chicken Fingers and Hot Sauce
I typically keep a bag of chicken fingers in my freezer at all times for fast or lazy meals. When times get a bit tough I will absolutely fall back on a Kraft Mac & Cheese packet and a serving of chicken fingers. Layer those bad boy in a with some hot sauce and you’ve got a banging comfort meal on a budget. The 4 pack of Kraft Mac and cheese is $5.10, the chicken fingers is $8.50 for a total of $13.60 for four meals, meaning you’re paying $3.40 for a serving. (It’s an extra $4 for some franks hot sauce but that’s just if we’re splurging this week!)
Beans on Toast
I know it’s not very unique but an ol’ reliable for me is still the classic beans on toast. The cans of baked beans last for ages so I always keep a few tins in the panty. It makes me think of my childhood and with the added bonus of it being super cheap. It makes me think of home and forgetting and feel warm. A three pack of baked beans can be found for $7 and a loaf of bread is averaging around $4.50 these days for a grand total of $11.50, which gets you at least 3-servings.
Rice and Dim Sim
If I don’t get my dim sim fix I get a bit cranky. I’ve found this pack of Frozen Dim Sims (Marathon) which sell a 1.5kg bag for $12. I grab these and a bag of rice, cook up the rice and dim sims and have those. It says a serve is two dim sims but who is inly having two! I have four with two servings of rice and a rotating sauce. I can get 7 servings of dim sims from that $12 bag of dim sim. If I’m being extra cheap I grab the 1kg bag of Coles long grain rice which has 20 serves for like $2 (again I’m doubling that bad boy) so can have at least 7-meals for $14 total.
Noodle Toasties (Pure Carbs)
Every single sandwich should be toasted. I stand by this. I do this even when I’m not running tight on money toasties are absolutely elite and you can cram anything into those bad boys. Ham and cheese, lasagna, nuggets, pasta, not lettuce though. Learnt that the hard way. But one I’ve really come around to is a two minute noodle toastie. Try it! (Loaf of bread – $4.50 – Maggi 5-pack noodles – $5.00 = $9.50 for at least 5 meals)
Salad Bowl (Thankfully, Something with a Leaf)
I grab a $6 salad bowl from a nearby supermarket and grab some kind of protein to put in it. I’ve done ham, tuna, chicken tenders, last time I did chicken Kyivs. But I try to keep some kind of green on a plate with a rotating protein.
Pancakes and Nuggets
Hear me out, I know this going to sound nuts but it’s so good! Something I did in an hour of desperation one night during uni studying turned into my new go to for cheap eats when pay day is a couple sleeps away. I make a couple pancakes, air fry some frozen nuggets and top it off with no sugar maple syrup. It’s actually superb. Sweet and savoury, and a bit of energy to keep me going. Pancake mix is like $4 for 7 servings you can get a box of nuggets for $8 for 4 servings. ($12 for 4 servings is pretty good. It just means pancakes and nuggets for dinner)
