Currently reading: Good Housekeeping Budget Dinners

I'm currently reading Good Housekeeping Budget Dinners: Quick and Easy Everyday Recipes (thanks to a friend's Christmas present). The book has eight core strategies to eating on a budget:

1. Cook it slow and easy.
   I love my slow cooker and can't say enough about it. A slow cooker can cost as little as $30 and basically turns cheap cuts of meat into magic.
   
2. One dish, many meals.
   Think a roasted chicken turned into chicken mac and cheese or chicken pot pie for the following dinner.
   
3. Pasta for your crowd.
   Every college kid knows this tip; you can get two nights meals for about 99 cents.
   
4. Vegetarian for a night.
   Meat (aside from the occasional prepared stuff) is generally the biggest expense on my grocery bill. I like to pick hearty veggies such as eggplant and mushrooms so that I feel like I am full.
   
5. Breakfast for dinner.
   Who doesn't love breakfast for dinner?
   
6. A big hearty pot of soup.
   A spin-off of strategy #1, soups and stews are awesome in how easy and idiot-proof they are. You can basically put anything in a crock pot or dutch oven, and it will be delicious. In fact, just the other day, I took a mini-break from work to prep a slow cooker stew for dinner that evening. I was too lazy to follow a recipe. I threw canned tomato sauce, tomato paste, potatoes, beef chuck, onions, carrots, and spices (salt, pepper, paprika) into a pot. Ten minutes later, Kevin walked into the kitchen and said, "When did you make this?" I had snuck into the kitchen for only a few minutes and could go on with the rest of my day and would have dinner ready 4 hours later.
   
7. Supper in a salad bowl.
   I once got an interview question: "If you were a salad topping, what would you be?" Up until that interview, I never thought about it. I answered "eggs" because I reasoned they were a good source of protein and would keep me going for the rest of the day. I didn't get the job, perhaps, for my salad topping choice, but I do love eggs on salads.
   
8. Cheap grills.
   Oh, I do miss the grill (I now live in an apartment without a patio). If you can score a grill on Craigslist, it's definitely worth it. Grilling isn't reserved only for the summer. The best part is that there's virtually no clean up since you can do most of your grilling on tin foil.