Each week, I link up eight food-related stories and blog posts from the previous week that somehow caught my eye or tickled my fancy (this week, it's mostly sweets, soups and eating on the cheap). Here's the list for this week:

1. One way to save money in the kitchen is to do the processing yourself. Culinate breaks down the difference between cutting up a chicken yourself and buying it pre-skinned and quartered.
2. On Minimally Invasive, Amy uses inexpensive pork necks to make a deeply flavored and warming ragu.
3. For those of you who like lots of mashed potatoes (or applesauce), but don't like the work of peeling, invest in a Peel-A-Meal electric peeler.
4. Need a good, professional way to get your knives sharpened? Try doing it by mail!
5. Orangette serves up a Tomato Soup with Red Onion and Cilantro Stems. Sounds delicious and economical.
6. Deb at Smitten Kitchen makes a batch of Salted Butter Caramel Sauce. There are no words for how good that sounds to me right at the moment.
7. Want to eat less meat and but still eat well? Here are some quick and simple vegetarian dishes to check out.
8. CityMama's Best Split Pea Soup ever has me adding ham hocks and dried peas to my shopping list.

Looking for more economical recipes that don't involve canned chili or hot dogs? Kevin Weeks, a food writer at Gather.com, does a twice-monthly column called Paisano, which offers luscious-yet-affordable rustic recipes from culinary traditions worldwide. Think rich, slow-cooked, peasant-y foods - sumac-spiced chicken kebabs, steak and mushroom pie, lamb with caramelized onions. Stuff from cultures that, out of necessity, invented really really tasty ways to use up that cheap cut of beef.

I might try the Middle Eastern-inflected chicken kebabs, marinated with yogurt, garlic, lemon juice and spices, over green salad for a quick warm-weather dinner. Do you have any favorite peasant recipes in your repertoire?

Lots of cities have a stretch of road in a particular neighborhood that has amazingly good, inexpensive food. It's almost like the restaurateurs got together and planned to all gather in the same vicinity in order to pull in the the clientele. Here in Philly, Washington Avenue around the Italian Market is home to some of the best and cheapest food in town.

Good Magazine is on to this trend and has traveled around the country, looking for the very best examples of these cheap and tasty strips. Sadly, my beloved Washington Ave. didn't make the list. However, if you live in Queens (Roosevelt Ave.), Houston (Travis Street), Seattle (Fremont Avenue North), Chicago (Broadway), Miami (SW 8th Street), Nashville (Nolanville Road) or Los Angeles (West Sunset Blvd.) you've been blessed with some good chow.

What's the strip in your town or city that you know you can head for without a reservation or much cash and still get a good meal?

[via la.foodblogging]

Hungry, but down to the last quarters in your laundry money jar? Head to The Culinary Review, a consumer guide to food costs, to figure out just how much grub that last $.75 will get you.

The Culinary Review has broken down the costs of various common meals, some of which make a McDonald's Egg McMuffin look like caviar on toast. Make yourself a fruit yogurt smoothie, hard-boiled egg and toast for a mere $1.11 or a cup of black bean soup for $.80.

They also give the prices of a number of Food Network chef-prepared meals. Some are surprisingly expensive - Tyler Florence's mozzarella grilled cheese is $5.59 a serving, certainly pricier than at many diners, while others are grad student-cheap - Alton Brown's baked mac and cheese is a mere $0.96 a serving. Serve that with some sauteed greens or cabbage slaw and you've got lunch for less than the price of a cup of coffee. Also check out the handy tips for saving money in the kitchen (don't buy pre-cut meat) and a list of where to splurge (olive oil, canned tuna) and where to save (canned veggies, cured meats).

Recently I've been hearing from some friends that while they want to eat better and more healthfully, they just can't seem to afford to make it a reality. I don't believe that healthy eating needs to be particularly expensive (okay, it might be a little bit pricier, but it doesn't have to break your budget). Our friend, the Urban Vegan, has compiled a list of 25 money saving tips for eating a better diet. These tips are geared for frugal vegans, but many of her recommendations can extend out to a variety of eating patterns and choices.

She reminds us that some kitchen appliances will eventually pay for themselves (her ice cream maker has been pulling its own weight for some time), that baking your own bread will save you money (try the No-Knead recipe if you are challenged by yeast) and that the goal should be (classic New England wisdom) to "Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do, or do without."

The Times staff went hunting high and low to find 25 of the city's best deals in food. Fifty-nine cents for a Roasted-spices Samosa at Bharat Bazaar & Samosa House, $30 for a three-course tasting menu at Opus, and everything in between. Enrique's in Long Beach gets a thumbs up for its Guadalajaran food, and if you have a little more to spend, head over to The Grill on the Alley in Beverly Hills. SIV gives it 2½ stars (**½).

Cooking at home? Regina Schrambling reviews Doña Tomás: Discovering Authentic Mexican Cooking. Jalapenos in this chicken could kill you. Tender Greens in Culver City shares the recipe for their Sherry Dijon Vinaigrette.

Th Wine of the Week is a "vibrant and juicy" 2004 La Spinetta Ca' di Pian Barbera d'Asti. If you're feeling creative, make beer at home.

I love articles that list the best restaurants, the worst restaurants, the best bars, and similar lists for a particular city. I don't always agree, but more often than not they get me to look at a place again or make me want to try out a place I've never been to.

The Boston Phoenix picks the 50 best meals in the city that you can get for under $10. The choices range from the Tasca Lunch Salad at Pastis for $8.95 to the Cubano Sandwich at the Miami Cafe for $5.50. The all you can eat Taco Lunch Box at the Sunset Grill and Tap is only $6.99 (they also have 112 beers on tap and another 400 in bottle!), and the Chicken Sub at Il Panino Express sounds good at only $5.95 . I also have to try out the famous Mac & Cheese at the Bukowski Tavern (named after the writer). Comes with a choice of sausage or broccoli, but you can get it with bacon too. It's $9.00 and you can get it at 1:30 in the morning on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. As for their #1 choice, I can personally vouch for that. It's excellent.

I would add the burritos at Boca Grande (a couple of locations, one in Coolidge Corner). When I was tight on funds their giant "burritos grande" for $4.25 really helped me out.

The August 7 edition of New York magazine features a guide to 101 of Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld's favorite cheap eats destinations in NYC. Unlike most cheap eats guides, all of the restaurants in the list are ranked on a scale of one to five stars. The authors are also careful to note that the term "cheap" is used in a New York context. Don't be surprised then, when you see things like Lupa, Room for Dessert and Bouchon Bakery. It looks to be a great, if a little overwhelming, list. There also listings for top pizza places and prix fixe menus, although I'm still not sure if a two-hot-dog-and-drink combo qualifies as prix fixe.

The best place to get a cheap meal is no longer your local McDonald's, Burger King or other fast food establishment - it's Costco. The warehouse store, known for its enormously sized products and low prices, is also known for good eats at even better prices.

The first way to eat there, and certainly the least expensive, is by stopping in for free samples. The store gives out samples of many of its products every day, with the highest concentration of sampling stations set up around meal times. The range of foods is huge, form coffee (roasted in-store) and cookies to crab cakes and beef taquitos. Even without making a second round through the tables, there is a lot to eat.

I know that there are plenty of people who enjoy ramen noodles, but I can't help but associate them with the image of a "starving student." Many college-age men and women still rely heavily on this ultra-inexpensive packaged meal. While none can really be considered "health food," they still make a better and more economical meal than relying on McDonald's to get you through lean times.

If you're going to eat it, you may as well make an effort to pick out a good one. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has done a very comprehensive taste test of one dozen different flavors of Ramen across a range of different brands. Their favorite was the Myojo Chukazanmai Soy Sauce flavor, while the Ve Wong Peppered Beef is one to be avoided at all costs, especially since one taster described it as "the worst instant noodle I've ever tasted in my life." Read the whole review for a rundown of the all options, with critiques of the various flavorings and noodle quality.

One of the best things about my Inner Richmond San Francisco nabe is its proximity to the real Chinatown in the city. Not the touristic place where dollar store owners hawk fake jade and shot glasses to tourists, but the bustling, neighborhoody area where Chinese and non-Chinese alike do their shopping.

One of my favorite establishments in the Inner Richmond is Wing Lee Bakery on Clement and 5th. Not a bakery like you are thinking (although they do offer up sweet treats), "bakery" is the traditional name for shops that sell dim sum, too. The best thing about Wing Lee is that they serve fresh dim sum and other savory tasties for cheap. An order (3 pieces) will cost you no more than $1.30, and if you just want a bite, they also sell their dim sum by the piece.

Today I shoved $5 in my pocket and headed off in search of lunch. I selected coriander dumplings, both boiled and pan-fried leek dumplings (my fave), pork siu mai, a spring roll and a couple of baked char siu bao (pork buns). Then I took it all home, brewed some chrysanthemum tea, and my daughters and I had a feast for lunch.

[Photo Stefania Butler]