You are absolutely correct. Just by doing those things you create a good, nutritious meal for under a buck a serving.
I swore off white flour and I haven’t found a good box whole wheat pasta. The pasta I found at the market is pretty good and it is fresh. I am having the same problem with bread. There is an Amish family who brings their bread to the market. I sampled it and it is delicious. But you know those whacky Amish.
I have no idea what stores are available where you live. I usually buy whole wheat pasta in bulk at a local Winco store, at a Grocery Outlet store, or at my regular grocery store on sale and then use my pasta coupons and try to double them when I can. I have been paying about $1.00 per pound or a little less for whole wheat pasta.
I haven’t gotten any pasta for free lately, but I did get 20 boxes of various shapes of semolina pasta for very close to free rencently.
The boxes were on sale for $1 each on a store coupon, with a limit of 20 boxes. I had 10 manufacturer’s coupons for $1.00 off on 2 packages of that brand of pasta. I was able to double 4 of the coupons, so I ended up getting the pasta for .30 per 1 lb. package.
20 pounds of pasta may seem like a lot, but I am feeding a family of 5 hearty eaters, so 20 pounds of pasta is only about 20 family meals. We usually have some kind of pasta about twice a week, so that is only enough to last us about 10 weeks.
Amish are very good cooks! I haven’t had any in years, but I used to love their friendship bread. It was divine!