Cooking on a budget

Lately I've been a little short on cash, due in part to my own stupidity and in part to the perils of being a Poor Grad Student. ($350 student activity fee when I am on campus 3 hours a week? Really?) Since groceries are a flexible budget item, I've tried to spend as little as possible. Actually, it's been a good experience and has made me get more creative. Nostalgia for rice and beans night in the VSC house led me to cooking dried beans in my crock pot, which was possibly the easiest cooking method ever.

Given my current situation, I was thrilled to discover the recipe blog Budget Bytes. I absolutely love how Beth gives prices for ingredients and per serving. This is a nice contrast to Food Network magazine, which has pretty pictures but often requires me to buy some random ingredient I'll barely use.

So last week or so I tried this recipe from the blog, and it was very tasty. Here is how mine turned out:Pasta, protein, and veggies - yum! And yes, I made it gluten free. A word about GF pasta: Trader Joe's sells brown rice spaghetti and fusilli for less than $2. It's very similar to pricier Tinkyada rice pasta, and even my gluten-full friends have eaten it happily. Personally, I don't mess with that goofy stuff made of corn and quinoa. It basically tastes like bland corn, and that is not pasta, my friends.