Roasted carrot & thyme risotto: $1.19/serving

We buy 10-pound bags of carrots at Costco (only 50 cents a pound!) for juicing, so since they’re always around, I find myself on a neverending quest for creative and delicious ways to use them in meals (see: carrot ragout, carrot ravioli, carrot soup, carrot pickles, carrot muffins, carrot sauce for pasta….). This time up, I decided to use one of my favorite blank templates for flavors: risotto. I simply roasted the carrots with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme from the garden, processed them with a little cream until creamy but still slightly chunky, and stirred them into risotto with some Parmesan to highlight their sweetness. I have to say, it was pretty darn good, especially for only costing less than $2.40 for the entire pot.

Rotelle with roasted-carrot sauce: 97 cents/serving

It may sound boring, but this rich and flavorful sauce is anything but. In fact, if given a choice, I just might choose it over tomato-based sauce, if such a choice were to present itself. That’s how good it is. (B. agrees with me, so this isn’t a completely biased opinion.) I needed to use up an old bag of carrots in the crisper, so I fashioned this dish based on the filling for roasted carrot ravioli, with butter, sautéed shallots, Parmesan, and a little bit of nutmeg. I had originally intended to top the pasta with toasted pecans, but it turned out I didn’t have any. If you have some, I highly recommend it, as a subtle crunch would’ve put it over the top. Some coarse toasted bread crumbs would’ve been a welcome addition as well. Surprise yourself!

Chinese chicken and ramen soup: 76 cents/serving

This is, admittedly, the first thing I’ve made in the slow cooker since November’s Malaysian beef curry that didn’t have me thinking, “meh.” I want to love my slow cooker, I really do, but anything cooked over four hours or so (with the exception of large cuts of beef or pork) just ends up tasting homogeneously, disappointingly bland. And if you’re only going to use a slow-cooker for four hours, that more or less defeats the purpose of using one in the first place, doesn’t it? Maybe this problem is due to my having a cheap Rival model, but buying a super-expensive slow cooker is just not something I ever plan on doing. Oh well. In any case, this is essentially glorified ramen, but the broth is phenomenal, the prep is simple, and it makes a ton.

Carrot cake muffins: 5 cents each

A few months ago, we purchased a Breville juicer with all the money we saved from not drinking this year (we did slip up a couple times in February, but we’re over the hump now). Not only is it a tangible reward for our efforts, but it’s another great way to clean out the crisper, since pretty much anything can be juiced, from lettuce and cabbage to carrots, ginger, and fruit, to make an inexpensive liquid snack. Of course, with carrots being so inexpensive (especially at Costco), that’s what we find ourselves juicing most often. This is my first time owning a juicer, and I have to admit I was surprised by now much fiber was left behind. Two cups of carrot juice can yield almost two cups of desiccated orange fluff. I started accumulating the fluff in the freezer, knowing I’d come up with a use for it eventually, and this week I finally did: these muffins. B. has declared them to be the best muffins he’s ever had, and I have to agree they’re shockingly good. I don’t know if it’s the fine texture of the carrot fluff or the amount of sugar that veers them dangerously close to unfrosted-cupcake territory, but if you have a juicer, they’re a must-try. (If you don’t have a juicer, you can probably substitute grated carrot.)

Bibim naeng myun (spicy Korean noodle salad): $1.38/serving

This is another dish that’s a little more summer than it is spring or late winter (both because it’s chilled and it calls for cucumber, which is usually too expensive to buy this time of year), but it’s super-tasty and easy enough to throw together on a weeknight, especially if you have a mandoline that juliennes. (Cuts vegetables into matchstick shapes so you don’t have to do it yourself.) Usually bibim naeng myun includes meat or hard-boiled egg, which you’re more than welcome to include, but I prefer the clean flavors and easy prep of this vegan version.

Biscuits and chicken gravy: 77 cents/serving

My brother used to live in North Carolina, and while I never got a chance to visit, my parents did, and were introduced to the phenomenon that is Mama Dip. During one particular visit they brought back for me an only-in-the-South brand of sausage gravy mix (by now I’ve forgotten which kind, of course) and a recipe for the buttermilk biscuits served at Mama Dip’s restaurant, which turned out to be, at that point, the best biscuits and gravy I’d ever had. I probably made those biscuits once a week for the next five years. I’ve fooled around with my own sausage-gravy variations, but this chicken version, which is not unlike pot-pie filling, might just take the cake. It’s hearty and comforting without making you feel like you just had a heart attack, and it’s not much more of a hassle to make than the sausage kind. I don’t think I’ve ever used a recipe for it, so please bear with my reconstruction. You will not be disappointed.

Whole-chicken dinner with vegetables: $2.29/serving

This is one of my favorite meals to make: Not only does it utilize every last scrap of the chicken, but it takes the logical tack that intact whole birds—whether chickens or turkeys—don’t really cook that well. The breasts cook faster than the thigh, the thighs cook faster than the wings, and so on. The solution: Cut the chicken up and cook each part separately yet concurrently (in its own stock and/or fat!) to ensure each section is at its best. This stupendous idea and accompanying recipe came from an old Mark Bittman column in the New York Times Magazine. I recall being so excited I ripped the page out of the magazine before I had even finished reading it, which is probably the first and only time I have ever done that. I implore you: Any time you find yourself craving roast chicken, give this technique a try instead.

Root vegetable and rice gratin: 92 cents/serving

The first time I ever had a traditional gratin, I actually thought I was being virtuous. Look at this! I thought. A dish based entirely on vegetables! That is, until I actually took a bite, and realized the vegetables were nothing but a coagulant for what seemed like an entire carton of cream and a pound of cheese. Don’t get me wrong—I’m a bona fide cheese and cream fan, but it was even too much for me. A single bite was so thick and heavy, the only discernible flavors were fat and salt. This gratin is far from traditional and probably even pushes the definition of “gratin,” but the flavor of each vegetable (you can use whichever ones you like) comes through loud and clear. Plus, you can eat it as a main dish without a whit of guilt.

Carrot soup with miso and sesame: 53 cents/serving

Yes, yes, I know: more carrots. What can I say? Our crisper is packed with them. They’re 50 cents a pound at most; can be pickled, roasted, pureed, or eaten raw for a snack; and last practically forever in cold storage. I realize this dish is veering into pious, ascetic spa-food territory—territory I usually prefer to enter wielding some bacon strips and a six-pack of beer like a crucifix—but I saw the recipe on Smitten Kitchen earlier this month and filed it away for consideration because we have a tub of miso that’s about to expire. Turns out that while this soup is indeed virtuous—vegan, gluten-free, low-fat, you name it—it’s also incredibly satisfying. Unfortunately for the picture, however, I tried to artfully drizzle the sesame oil over the top instead of just pouring it on haphazardly as I normally would, and it ended up looking like an abstract modernist painting of human eggs being fertilized (don’t ask me what the green onions are. Confetti? Perhaps the sperm are having a party?). So, I apologize.

10-cent snack: gingered carrot pickles

Unsurprisingly, a budget of $35 a week does not leave a lot of room for snacks. If lunches and breakfasts have to be under 50 cents, then snacks—if we have them at all—have to be under 10 cents. This pretty much limits us to things like tomatoes, apples, and peas from the yard; air-popped popcorn; toast with homemade jam; free food at work…you get the idea. We already buy carrots in bulk to make carrot-and-daikon slaw for these, which one or both of us eat almost every day, but snacking on plain, raw carrots tends to get real boring, real fast. These are wonderfully sweet, zingy, and different, and when when properly canned will last almost a year. (We just keep an open jar in the fridge.)