Mixing and Matching and Using What You Have: Food

Now that Miss Em's friend has learned how to use her rice cooker to make RICE AND WHATEVER and MACARONI AND CHEESE, the possibilities are, if not endless, more than sufficient.

Just buy:
canned tomatoes
canned beans
canned corn
salsa
frozen veggies of your liking
soy sauce
cheese
tuna

Then you can make:
Rice with tomatoes, beans, corn, salsa=Mexican!

Rice with veggies and soy sauce=Asian!

Mix some tuna with your mac and cheese and you have a classic American dish, especially if you add frozen peas.

Add spinach to your mac and cheese for a rather sophisticated pasta dish!

Each ingredient you add increases your options exponentially.

Check out the book Frugal Son and I put together based on the limitations of the College Cook's situation. We figured that Miss Em saves AT LEAST $500/semester over the cost of the meal plan, which doesn't cover all meals anyway.

What do you want to do with your $500?