I have such a love/hate relationship with Ramen noodles. When we're broke with hardly any food, you couldn't get me to eat Ramen noodles if my life depended on it. When we go spend $300 on groceries and there's plenty to eat, all I want is the Ramen. Go figure..

Ramen noodles are actually one of my favorite things to eat. My boyfriend can't stand them, he thinks they are horrible and even hates the smell, so I can't make them for myself when he's around. If I get an evening alone where I'm only cooking for myself, I often go for Ramen noodles.

For about $10, you can buy a pound of dried pinto beans, a dozen flour tortillas, a dozen eggs and a pound of russet potatoes. Once you cook the beans, you can probably get 2 or 3 dinners and breakfasts from this. You can eat the beans whole one night, with fried potatoes and tortillas, mash up and refry some of the beans and make bean and potato burritos and make breakfast burritos with beans, scrambled eggs and potatoes.

For a few dollars more, you can add some kielbasa or smoked sausage to the fried potatoes for dinner and have enough left over to serve on the side with fried eggs for breakfast.