Pasta! Pasta! Pasta!

For the past few years, I have been on a very tight budget. These are a few of the foods that seem to go pretty far that don't cost a fortune. I have found that these are things that are just good to keep on hand.

1. Pasta - I have found that pasta can be used to extend a meal that you've already bought. For example, I bought a side dish that came in a box. It was a broccoli, rice, and pasta dish. So, when I boiled the water for the rice and broccoli, I just added in more pasta. Once everything was cooked, I just added the cheese sauce. The meal that barely fed one was stretched by a great deal. (There are a few things that you have to watch out for though. You should gauge on how much pasta you add. You don't want so much that it takes over the whole meal. You do want it to have taste.)

2. Spaghetti Sauce - I have found that this can not only serve as sauce for spaghetti, but also as a soup. Just add water. I have found that it can be cheaper to pour some spaghetti sauce in a bowl and add water than it is to buy a can of tomato soup. Another use is that I have also found that spaghetti sauce is pretty good over a bowl of plain rice.

3. Rice - Boy...a little goes a long way. I believe that rice is probably the most cost effective food that I've run across. You can boil a very small amount and it can go so far.

4. Eggs - Eggs are useful because they aren't expensive and can have many uses. You can have them boiled, fried, used in egg salad, and tuna salad.

5. Tuna - It's inexpensive and you can eat it alone, with a salad, with mayo and eggs, with tomato, or on a sandwich.

6. Ranch Dressing - It's not just for salads anymore. I boiled some spaghetti noodles and added ranch dressing. I tried it and it was good. (But, I love ranch dressing on almost anything.)

7. Potatoes - This can be turned into soup, potato salad, and french fries.

8. Oatmeal/Grits - Oatmeal can definitely fill you up. I buy the boxes that are already seasoned so that I don't have to add sugar, for example, apples and cinnamon.

9. Cereal - I like to eat them dry. They're a great snack.

10. Spinach - This is the one food that my eight year old eats without a problem. I just add sugar or honey.