When I OD'd on ramen, my tolerance of the flavor packets was the first to go....

I think that might have been from the same person who passed along her father's advice to drink Chivas on dates -- it's expensive, so the guy won't get you liquored up, and you (18 year old girl "you") won't like it that much, so you won't get yourself liquored up, either...

This too! Except it's Glenlevet, and it's not so much that I don't like the taste, it's that they figure it's a waste of time because I'll drink them under the table.

I use the packets. I also boil it down until it's riiiiight before mush. so, it's less soup and more slushy noodles.

I used the flavor packets. I was too poor to own a spice rack.

Oh, another of my college dishes was mac-n-cheese with tuna and stewed tomatoes. Actually, that doesn't sound bad right now....

do you use those flavor packets? or toss them?

I use about half, and reserve the rest to toss into stirfry.

it's not so much that I don't like the taste, it's that they figure it's a waste of time because I'll drink them under the table.

I love DJ.

Ramen + eggs stirred in was one of my marathon-training meals. Bleagh.

Okay, when I buy ramen most of the time I wind up munching on the noodles dry.

So addicting.

I ate at the cafeteria in college (I lived in the dorms). Ramen doesn't enter our house anymore due to carb and high-fat issues--have you read the nutrition labels on ramen? Scary.

I lived at home through college and turned a tidy profit between scholarships (oh, how badly my crummy state university wanted my GPA in the mix!) and working part-time. So it was a mix of Mom's food on weekends and cafeteria or fast food during the week. I didn't get into ramen and rice until I was living roommate-free in 1998.

I ate at the cafeteria in college (I lived in the dorms).

Me, too. And we'd steal boxes of cereal from the caf. (particularly Cracklin' Oat Bran -- it's like dog food for people!) to snack on.

Buying store brands is one way to make your food budget go further, and you can still get reasonably healthy stuff -- store-brand oatmeal for $1, store-brand frozen veggies/fruit, beans (if you rinse the canned beans, the sodium content is lowered a lot), etc.

My favorite all-purpose food, which turns out to be a cheap food in terms of servings per $, is bulgur. When you cook it, it becomes 3 times the size that it is dry, it's filling, high fiber, high protein, and you can use it as a substitute for just about everything. Rice, couscous, barley -- even oatmeal (though I don't like it as a morning food).

Thus ends my paean to bulgur. (Seriously, though -- try it!)