Cheap Eats: Oatmeal!

The Topic: The Cheapest Breakfast Around

The Dish: Sitting down and tallying up how much I actually spend on eating eating out (hello, sandwiches and Thai food), it seems overwhelming to think of cutting my food budget to an actual budget. I have friends attempting to spend only $21 a day who report struggling; I can't begin to imagine eating on a dollar a day. But there are plenty of versatile staples that cost pennies, and my co-worker Liz recently reminded me of a tried-and-true favorite: oatmeal. Skip the boxed variety with its excess packaging and budget-breaking sticker price. An 18-ounce canister of quick oats goes for $4.09 at my local Safeway. Grab a bag and fill up at the bulk bins—you can take home a pound for only 99 cents, which is about 11 servings. At less than 10 cents per serving, that's hard to argue with, especially considering oats have magical staying power to get me through midmorning snack time.

If you're a plain oats type of person, that's one cheap meal. Even if you like to jazz things up, throwing in what you have handy or investing in a few add-ins from neighboring bulk bins won't raise your cost too much. Personally, I'm a peanut butter and raisins fan. Liz's signature bowl takes things to the savory side, which I had never through of before (surprising, considering my love of savory breakfast dishes). A touch of salt, pepper, and 1/4-cup nutritional yeast is all you need for a filling breakfast.

A final tip for the best oats ever? Skip the microwave. I'm not here to lecture you on its potential dangers or domination of counter space. In my opinion, I just dig oats made on the stovetop more. Start with this simple base for the best breakfast ever.

The Best Stovetop Oats

This water-to-oats ratio makes for a more porridge-like base, so feel free to adjust the liquid to your liking.

Serves 1

What You Need:

1 cup water

1/2 cup rolled oats

Salt, to taste

What You Do:

In a small pot, bring water to a boil. Add oats and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a pinch of salt, sugar, or any other add-ins, and enjoy!

The Final Word: Oats are also great for bulking up morning smoothies to keep you full longer if that's more your morning routine. Any way you have them, they're a cheap, healthy way to start the day.

Cheap Eats: Popcorn!

The Topic: Snack Attack Savvy

The Dish: For me, three square meals a day do not suffice. I need my snacks, but bags of potato chips and Newman O's aren't the healthiest things in the world, nor are they the cheapest. One of my favorite evening snacks growing up was popcorn, but the prepackaged variety is inexplicably overpriced—not to mention, often laced with animal products and mysterious chemicals (my hypochondriac side will never forget the report of toxic chemicals and microwave popcorn). I've ditched the microwave and made a truly amazing (and penny-pinching) discovery—I can pop that stuff on the stove.

With a little bit of oil—whatever I have handy—a touch of heat, and some vigorous shaking, in no time I have an embarrassingly large serving of this movie-time favorite, ready to be covered in Tapatio. Since I'm the queen of condiments, it's easy to vary up the flavor—sea salt, kelp flakes (don't knock it 'til you try it), cinnamon sugar, and homemade fake parmesan rank high on my list. The only combination I'm not willing to try is something equivalent to "popcorn cereal" I discovered on VegWeb, but hey. Never say never.

If you're concerned about using oil, air poppers are an affordable solution at about $10–20 each, although how often you snack on the stuff might determine if it's a necessary purchase (probably not). You already have all the tools you need, so ditch the microwave, grab a pot, and get popping.

Dirt Cheap Popcorn

Serves 1 Abby

What You Need:

1–2 tablespoons oil

1/4 cup popcorn kernels

Hot sauce

Nutritional yeast

What You Do:

1. In a large, heavy pot, heat oil over medium heat. Place a few kernels in pot and cover. Once all kernels have popped, dump in remaining kernels, cover, and begin to lightly shake pot over the burner. Once popping has slowed down to around 5 seconds between pops, remove from heat.
2. Add a generous sprinkling of hot sauce and nutritional yeast, mix, and serve. Enjoy!

The Final Word: An overwhelming trend in my life has become "DIY over store-bought." Seriously, just put in a tiny bit of effort and you'll get so much more for your money. What's your favorite popcorn topper?