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Homemade pasta, just made, with salt, olive oil some great tomatoes and fresh basil AND good parm.

I had it for breakfast a weekend or two ago and really enjoyed it. Bittman's always been a proponent of veggies for breakfast, utilizing different grains, etc. Not too far off from a traditional Japanese breakfast or congee.

Veggie Chili or Veggie Pho - both super spicy.

@latenac - when I started the $30/week project we didn't stock up our pantry or anything. We just started it. I mean, our pantry wasn't barren or anything, but we didn't stock up on sugar, butter, flour, oils, etc. We use what we have. The start date of the project was 9/9/08 - http://thirtyaweek.wordpress.com/2008/09/09/hello-world/

We're still going strong.

As for shopping at ethnic markets, I'm all for it, but I find that sometimes the produce comes from sources that utilizes pesticides and are not local at all. Which is something that is hard. How do you balance the cost effectiveness of a Chinatown mango when you probably be eating mangoes in January anyways? Tough one.

I am interested, but a little sticker shocked. My vegetarian banh mi at Banh Mi Saigon is tasty, huge, hot and $4.50.

Like @gsd96rk1 (above) says Banh Mi Saigon is the way to go. Here's where you can find it: http://www.yelp.com/biz/banh-mi-saigon-new-york

I would love to grow some of my food. We have an herb garden indoors and tried to grow veggies on a minuscule deck last year, but a gang of Brooklyn squirrels killed that idea.

The idea of doing weekly potlucks with friends is fantastic! A friend and I have been meaning to do a soup exchange. People make a big pot of soup, divide it up in ziplocks or tupperware and split it with friends. You can freeze them for later or use em up during the week. Which reminds me, I have to get on top of that.

dhorst, we've got a new sweet breakfast recipe on the site, but you have to like beans! If you make lots of pizza, have you tried cracking an egg on top of one while it bakes? Trust me, it's amazing.

Hey littlestcapy - it's Tina from $30/Week. Thanks for all of these good ideas. Coupons don't work for us because we shop at a Food Coop. You can read what we do at the blog - http://thirtyaweek.wordpress.com. I mean, we're vegetarians, which allow us to cook with the $30/week budget and we're doing pretty well with bulk, baking our own bread, making our own yogurt, etc. PumpkinBear, the only 99 cent store that's worth anything in NYC is Cheap Jack's - and really only for pasta, bread or condiments. Sometimes they have things worth buying - like Yves brand veggie "meats". For a buck, that's cheaper than any food coop.

Quinoa, chickpeas, red onions and whatever greens are in the fridge sauteed in a bit of olive oil and lemon juice.

I've been making Bittman's tomato jam obsessively, it really retains the taste of summer. I also made an apple ginger jam (use fresh ginger and grate it with a box cutter or shredder attachment on food processor, it makes a HUGE difference compared to powedered). I'll be making and canning some apple butter after I go apple picking this weekend. Also a favorite is Garlic Rosemary Jelly. Seriously, try it.

Consistently making this awesome sandwich bread in order to save money has been my biggest baking coup. I actually got it off a Serious Eats' reader comment and have tweaked it to perfection. You get a fresh baked loaf in about 2 hours and it's great for any type of sandwich.

Staples for me include quinoa with some sort of beans and greens mixture - very versatile if you vary the beans and greens. You can add salsa and cheddar to make it mexican, tahini and lemon for a more middle eastern taste, olives, feta, olives and olive oil for a greek take, etc. Soup is also big, as is stir fries with lots of veggies and tempeh. Get a good cookbook (I recommend Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian or any of his other cookbooks) and start cooking. Or scour food blogs for recipes. There are a ton of easy options out there.

The Lacinato Kale Salad from Franny's via NYT's is amazing. Really fresh tasting and very easy to whip up. Highly recommended: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/24/dining/241arex.html?ref=dining