You spent your last $20 on a supreme pizza from Round Table, your dwindling bank account is overdrawn by 50 cents and eating rats and drinking blood for a million dollars sounds tempting after a glance into the vast nothingness of your refrigerator.

To help in your quest to prepare something easy, cheap and edible, here are some student suggestions that will leave both your tummy and your piggy bank full.

Seven out of 15 Sacramento State students listed Top Ramen as the cheapest meal they could think of. With this extremely cheap noodle, priced at 25 cents per package on average, there are many different and creative recipes you can conjure up.

Ryan Barrett, a sophomore majoring in psychology, said one year he was so broke he ate Ramen noodles for a whole month.

“My friends call me the Ramen king. I can make virtually any dish out of Ramen noodles,” Barrett said. “My favorite creation is a Ramen pizza. It can be cut into slices just like a real pizza and has a pan crust quality.”

The Ramen King pizza

4 packages Ramen noodles

1 tbsp oil

1 cup spaghetti or pizza sauce

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Your choice of toppings (pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, etc.)

For the crust, boil the Top Ramen without the seasoning packets. Drain, then slightly brown noodles in a pan with the oil. Top with pizza or spaghetti sauce, cheese and your favorite pizza toppings (or whatever you may have in the refrigerator). Set the oven to broil and cook for four minutes.

“Ketchup also works as a substitute for pizza sauce, for those that are really hurting for cash,” Barrett said.

Another inexpensive noodle dish, popular in Mexico, is fideo. “My brother and I always used to ask my mom to make us fideo,” said Matthew Hamid, an accounting sophomore. “I?m surprised that when I have talked about it, not very many people have heard of it. It?s a lot like making Rice-a-Roni, and it tastes great, too.”

Fideo

12 oz. fideo noodles (vermicelli if you can?t find fideo)

2 tbsp oil

2 cups water

1/4 yellow onion

2 tomatoes

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp salt

Fry fideo in oil until golden brown. In a blender, mix water, onion, tomatoes, garlic and salt. Strain. Pour over fideo and simmer until there is no liquid remaining.

For the vegetarian college student, there are many ways to eat healthy and cheap. Junior Taryn Sampson, a sociology major, says she likes to eat vegetarian foods because they give her the energy she needs to stay awake through all her “boring classes.”

Although noodles are certainly cheap and filling, there are plenty of other inexpensive ingredients out there to spice things up.

“Although I am not strictly vegetarian, I try and stay away from the heavy, typically meat-based meals because they make me so tired,” Sampson said. “Eating vegetarian is also really cheap, and gives me the opportunity to be creative and eat a variety of different foods.”

Sampson?s favorite vegetarian meal is a dish called vegetable baked rice.

Vegetable Baked Rice

1 cup rice

1 can vegetable soup

1 can water

1 vegetable bouillon cube, melted

“You can add carrots, potatoes or any other vegetables that you like,” Sampson said. Put all the ingredients in a baking dish and cover, then put in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour.

“It?s worth the time,” Sampson said. “You will be guaranteed to get your fill and have leftovers for at least three days.”

“The cheapest meal I can think of besides Ramen would probably be tuna melts or grilled cheese sandwiches,” said freshman English major Lane Monet.

“I could probably live off of grilled cheese for a while, as long as I have some fresh sliced tomatoes on it,” Monet said.

Tuna Melt

2 slices bread

1 tbsp butter or margarine

1/2 can of tuna

2 slices of cheese

1 tomato

Butter outside ends of bread and spread tuna inside. Place cheese in center. Toast until golden brown in pan. Add tomatoes.

“Tuna melts can be a great meal if you don?t have much money. That way, you get your meat, bread, dairy and vegetable groups all in one meal,” Monet said.

Salsa dogs, according to senior Daniel Binns, can be another cost effective way to get your fill and not empty your pockets.

“I like sausages and hot dogs, and adding salsa and cheese on them makes for a tasty, low-cost meal,” Binns said.

Salsa Dogs

Hot Dogs or Sausages

2 tbsp salsa

Shredded cheese

Hot dog buns

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Boil hot dogs, drain, then slice lengthwise and place in buns. Fill with salsa and cheese. Cook hot dogs in oven for three minutes or until cheese is slightly melted.

With the arrival of winter, Melissa Youra, a senior majoring in anthropology, recommends beer cheese soup. The Wisconsin dish, she says, is as popular there as chicken noodle.

“It?s really thick and cheesy and feels good to eat when you?re sick or it?s cold outside,” Youra said. “I used to always ask for it when I was little because I thought I was getting away with drinking beer.”

Beer Cheese Soup

2 16 oz. cans chicken or vegetable broth

1 cup water

1 cup diced onions

1 cup diced celery

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup diced mushrooms

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp dry mustard seasoning

1 can beer

6 oz. grated cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Fry the vegetables in butter, then stir in flour and mustard seasoning. Add broth and water and cook for five minutes. Add beer and cheese and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Remember, you are not alone in your mission to find the most inexpensive, easiest meal to make. When graduation takes you away from Sacramento State and meals are more affordable, you can say you survived college because Top Ramen, fideo and grilled tuna were there.

For more cheap student recipes, check out these links:

www.yumyum.com

www.campusaccess.com

www.runet.edu

Got recipes to add? Post them on the feedback forums at www.statehornet.com.