Best foods to include when cooking on a budget

[DevaMajka]

I'm trying to really keep food costs down for the moment, and I'm wondering if there are any other good "filler" type foods to help with that that I haven't already thought about. So far, I've thought of potatoes, rice, other grains (millet, barley), pasta, dried beans, and dried lentils. Oh, and cabbage (but I don't have many cabbage recipes).

Obviously I'd like to keep things somewhat healthy, so ramen noodles are sort of out. lol. (though we do enjoy them every so often, I don't want to make them a staple, kwim?)

Any other cheap foods that are good to include when trying to cook cheaply?

[Wolfcat]

It sounds like you have gotten the basics down...

We make veggie spaghetti alot (no meat, some cheese usually mixed in with the sauce).

For cabbage, try as a salad leaf, steamed and buttered, or in runzas:

pita or pizza dough in dinner roll pieces

meat cooked with cabbage (about a 1 to 1 ratio), salt & pepper to taste

roll out the dough ball, put about 1 cup of the meat mix in the center, fold and press closed, bake until golden

You can add some grated cheese to them when filling.

Also, when you buy meat, get whole hams, chickens, turkeys, etc. Cooking an entire turkey one night will usually give enough leftovers for several meals afterwards. Don't forget to save everything you DON'T eat off the bird to make stock for soups. A crockpot and about two - four weeks of scraps from meats and veggies makes wicked easy stock that is YUMMY.

Black beans can be cooked, ground up and mixed into ground meat to extend it, and it tastes pretty good too.

Also, you can buy wheat berries (we get it on amazon for about $1/lbs before shipping), which can be ground to make super whole wheat flour (we mix 1/2 n 1/2 with regular flour to up the gluten), or cooked and eaten like oatmeal or rice, OR cooked and baked to make bulgar wheat.

[mumkimum]

Bulgur wheat (ok - just noticed the pp mentioned it) - I use it with our outdoor mint and random fruit to make fruit tabouleh (soak in an equal amount juice or water/juice combo to prepare it).  

Couscous (specifically, as it is more liked than most other pastas here and more versatile for soups, stuffed veggies, or just plain).

Not exactly 'fillers' but I find carrots and spinach some of the most useful veggies to mix/enhance the most other dishes when trying to save food money here.  Plus they both tend to keep well for us, which makes a difference.  (I use both fresh & frozen spinach in different dishes).

Winter squashes (which you can also get cheaply frozen, and is pretty good that way as well as fresh) might also be good to consider.  There's actually a great burrito filling I've made with the frozen squash, black beans, and some spinach (just cook with onion & cumin & any other seasonings you like).