Im broke and expecting some gift cards so im going to buy food with the gift cards.Cards will be worth no more than $25.00.

what are some food items i can make dishes with that have a long lasting shelf life?

I know pasta and pasta sauces have long shelf life.I buy penne pasta and sometimes I get gave angel hair pasts and elbow pasta noodles.Not sure what I can make with the angel hair and elbow noodles..

Im so tired of spaghetti.

I do have a box of white rice.

I cant have oranges,lemons,chili (I have acid reflex and those items make me sick)

trying to find things to make meals out of using what I have and can get for under $25.00

It's tough on a budget that low I know. I used to live on $20 a week for food that normally included one box/bag of cereal, 1 gallon of milk, one of those big flats of ramen, sandwich stuff like pb&j or light amount of meat and cheese, or cans of soup, or if cheap enough I'd buy a bag of chicken patties and bread and have that. Also either a few packets of kool aid or a on sale jug of juice/tea...

After getting what food I could for the week here's how I made it last: One small bowl of cereal One packet of ramen One of whichever I got (a sandwich or a can of soup) Maybe if I could spare it another packet of ramen And one or two small glasses of the juice, more if kool aid as you can get packets for 10 cents and each makes 2 quarts

If you want to use up the rice maybe some veggies and soy sauce? Canned veggies last awhile but they can each last for a couple meals if just you...

I have 20 regular tea bags and 20 green tea bags.I have 2 huge jugs of apple juice. hopping to find some meat on sale..

I cook for me and someone else.

currently having a snow storm roads are all closed.Hoping it clears up before i get my gift cards so I can go shopping.

Can't you get some state help for food? Or do you not live in the US?

Here are two sites with a list of recipes and ideas. I hope there's something useful in them.
Site One
Site Two

My favorite cheap meals are chili, split pea soup, and scrambled eggs and diced breakfast sausage. Chili over rice or a baked potato is pretty filling. (Or over spaghetti, though that's a regional dish.) I think you can get breakfast sausage for cheap in the freezer section, I like to dice a sausage or two, scramble an egg or two, cook the sausage with the egg, and then roll it into a tortilla or eat it plain. Split pea soup is a bit tricky as you have to find a ham bone, if you have access to a butcher shop or a good meat department at a grocery store you might find one for cheap. I don't think the sites I listed had a recipe, but I can give you a recipe if you want.

Dried foods like a bag of dried beans or canned foods or frozen vegetables all have long shelf lives.

no.all i can do is go to the 1 place that gives out food that's been donated.That's how I usually get pasta gave to me.They don't give much of anything.10-14 items mostly stuff like canned green beans,canned corn,pasta, but never pasta sauce.Just a bunch of random items that u cant really combine to make a meal out of.

There is no butcher shop around here.If you want fresh you have to grow it yourself.Which I cant do.Most of my property floods everytime it rains (a creek runs through it when it overflows and my pond overflows your knee deep in water in some spots,)

Well at least it's some food and then you could plan items to get around what's given to you. Many pasta dishes can be made without red or even cheese sauces. Otherwise maybe sandwich stuff and get a few different things for making them? like a bit of pb&j, meat and cheese, frozen meat patties?

, I live in northern canada where groceries are mega expensive (20$ for milk!?! wth?!) anyhoo some general rules i follow are: Canned goods are cheaper and last way longer then fresh. frozen produce tastes better then most fresh since its packaged at peak, and a lot of the time way cheaper then fresh, and lasts forever. Dry goods last forever, so you can save a lot of money and buy them in bulk. Save money on meat by buying family sized and freezing the portions you dont' use, i never buy on sale meat because it usually means it is old and the risk of illness is WAY HIGH which if you get sick.. only costs you a tonne more money. COUPON! we dont' have it up here but when i can coupon, life saver! if the discount/points card is free, get it. it'll help you at some point or another and might even get you free stuff (woohoo!), if there is a costco around go there for sure TOTALLY worth the membership fee 1000 times over. anyway hope these tips help! good luck and have fun shopping!

no big stores around here.Ive never cooked or used dry anything.. (except dried shredded basil) All the gift cards Im getting are for walmart.SO I can't spend them anywhere but walmart.

I'd go for more rice, wheat, canned beans (no green beans though), canned meat or fish, preserved tomato paste and some basics like oil, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, onions and spices in general. Of course everything depends on the price. In my area tomato paste is pretty cheap, so i use if for sauces a lot. Also, not sure how fond you are of potatoes, but if you can store them in a cold, dark place they last pretty long too. We buy like.. one bag in two months and they are still edible.

I am not sure if they give out cash if your total is lower than the actual gift card. If they do it would be a good idea to hold some money back for stuff like eggs, milk and meat. You can indeed get longlasting, preserved milk or freeze your meat - however, those items in general don't last very long.

Do you by any chance have a freezer? I know a lot of people are strongly against it, but we basically freeze everything. From prepared meals and leftovers, to meat, vegetables, fruits, chopped spices (like chopped garlic, onions, chive), bread, boiled pasta and rice and so on.. Not sure if thats an option for you, at least in terms of long lasting food.

no if total is lower than gift card the remaining balance stays on the card (even if its just 3 cents)they are not allowed to give cash for the gift cards.

I have a regular freezer it cant hold a lot of stuff.Just your basic fridge then on top is freezer with ice bin inside. Its not one of those fancy 2 door fridge things those are out of my price range.

Ah, in that case i wouldn't use up all the money on the card and leave some for dairy products and eggs. Especially eggs are cheap and healthy, but you can't really preserve them. So i'd keep some funds for useful items you gotta prepare while still being fresh.

We have a freezer like that too, that should work anyway. If you happen to find especially meat or fish for sale, i'd buy that, divide it into portions, wrap it and throw it in the freezer. If you still have some space to fill, i'd go for some vegetables (like.. broccoli, already chopped into pieces) or bread. However, i'd suggest to get some potatoes and onions, i checked and they really last long. But.. they smell. x)

its only 15 dollars..Just found out today.

And as far as this months food donation the meat was expired and so was some of the other stuff they gave..At least I got a box of mashed potatoes its something I can work with.

I hope no one eats the expired stuff that church should check expiration dates.They could give someone food poising.

Here take a look at thisLink. Also go to your local food bank and they can assist you.Also look into ramen.You can buy some cheap things to top it with.

um this county is the poorest in this state.We have no food banks.Just 1 church gives out food which this month and last months items where 2 months past expiration date. we have no soup kitchen just a battered womens shelter.

Bad enough the taxes around here have increased..This county is falling apart.

Oh.. thats unfortunate. =/ Did you already decide what to buy with it?

I wouldn't just throw expired stuff away - as "unhealthy" as it sounds. The food industry puts so many preservatives inside, a lot of canned (also canned meat) and already prepared food could last decades if its stored in a cold place. If its over due doesn't mean it automatically gets "bad" - it just means they are giving you a guarantee up to this date. If it starts rotting before that date, you are able to give it back and demand refund or replacement. I bet thats why church ended up with those items. The shops are not able to sell them anymore, but since they are still edible they rather donate them and give them out for free. May i ask what exactly was already expired, aside of the meat?

As for the meat, it depends how many days its already expired. If its just one or two days, open it and look at it. Does it smell, have weird color and a changed texture? (edible, raw meat should have a very,very faint smell) Then throw it away. If it doesn't, deep fry it and freeze it after it cooled down a bit. While meat can indeed be tricky, it doesn't start rotting straight from the point either, especially if it was stored in a fridge.

No ill have to look a the prices in the store.

some pre-maid vegetarian stock stuff.The meat is frozen but its 2 months past expiration date its not raw.Its ham u just thaw.

Well in that case the meat should still be fine, the freezing preserves it way over the expiration date. So, while i wouldn't store it another two months, you should be safe eating it. (especially if you fry or cook it before eating) You just have to check it for freezer burns. It most likely was frozen for a pretty long time, so there might be chances of burns. Those should be cut out before preparing the food.

For the vegetarian stuff i don't really know, sorry. In any case i'd rip it open and try it before i actually decide to throw it away. If its of course something you never ate before, you can't really tell if it tastes like its supposed to taste. But i'd always go for smell, texture and looks. Unprepared ingredients should all have a very faint smell. For example raw meat, fish, vegetables, fruits or even potatoes and onions have a rather faint smell if they are fresh. Their smells starts getting obvious the older those items get.

So, yeah, expired food can still give you a meal, you just gotta check them. If you think it smells weird you can still throw it away. But its worth a try.

Got a 6 pack of bottled soda for less than $3.00.They are $1.53 a piece for just 1 soda.So I got a 6 pack for $2.35 which is a lot cheaper to buy the pack instead of the single bottles.

Ive got around $9.00 left.Waiting on my last gift card to come in it will have $5.00 on it.

im going to have to get milk.

I have a coupon for 1.00 off any 2 barilla blue box pasta. also got a 1.00 off 1 barilla pasta sauce coupon.

That sounds like a pretty good deal. I personally would rather stick to water, but 2.35 for 6 bottles sounds good.

So in total you'd have around $14 left, minus money for milk.

What do you have left at home? I remember you said rice (and the expired ham, if you still have it), what else? Like.. spices, oil, flour, onions etc

The coupons sound good, however, i'd check if those really pay out or if they just attract customers. At least in europe barilla is one of the more expensive brands when it comes to pasta. If thats the case you might get a different product or something similar even cheaper. If you can't get any pasta, rice or potatoes for cheaper, go for the pasta coupon.

The sauce sounds of course tempting, but keep in mind that it gives you sauce for one - maybe two meals. If you invest the money in other products, which allow you to cook your own sauce, it will be much cheaper in the end.