Cheap & Tasty Eats

There might be a thread on this already, but I haven't seen it if so.

Let's get a thread going of tasty, yet inexpensive recipes. They don't have to be too fancy, just something that tastes great and won't break the bank.

I'll go first:
Better Than The Mexican Place Down The Street's Black Beans
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1/4 - 1/2 onion, chopped
2 cans of black beans, partially drained (I like Hunt's)
olive oil
tablespoon of cumin
salt to taste
Splash of beer (Had the best luck with BMC :ducks: )

Sautee the garlic and onion in olive for a few minutes until they start to soften. Add the beans and a splash of beer. When they come to a simmer, add salt and cumin. Whiz it all up with an immersion blender or mash it up with a fork/potato masher/etc...

Add some tortilla chips, grilled vegetables if you're feeling fancy, chorizo, whatever. My wife and I have eaten some form of this 3 out of the past 5 days. Freaking awesome.

Sounds great!
So is this more of a dip vs. a side dish?

Sounds like a winning main dish to me! I love beans.

I have a simple cracker dip that everyone seems to like. My friend showed us this recipe.

1 package of cream cheese (not lite though...)
Some smoked ham deli sliced, then chopped pretty small
A few green onions, sliced, then run the knife through them to break open the slices

Smash it all together with your hands until it's well mixed. You can add a Tsp of milk to thin it down if you prefer it slightly easier to spread.

Also good inside ham and pickle wraps (omit the ham in the dip. Spread on some ham slices and wrap around a pickle spear).

Or mix with ham as usual, and spread on tortilla shells, then wrap around a pickle.

It's not a main dish, but tasty anyway.

Sounds great Homercidal!

Deuce, you can use it however you want. We use it as a main dish mainly.

My dad was pretty poor growing up and they would snack on saltines with margarine and a hefty layer of sugar on top. It actually tastes better than you think...but still not that good

Also, saltines with a thick chunk of swiss cheese then topped with spicy horseradish and yellow mustard. Does a nice job clearing your sinuses...

I make a super simple pretzel dip:

8 oz sour cream
8 oz cottage cheese
8 oz mayonase
1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch buttermilk ranch dressing/dip mix

Mix it all together with the ranch dressing packet, refrigerate for 1/2 hour and serve with pretzel knots. It's fantastic! :rockin: