My pantry is a mess of buckets, boxes, baskets, and crates. I found three of these cold drink buckets for .25 cents each at a yard sale. One is filled with rice/grains, one with pasta, and one with dried beans. We have a rice maker for dried rice. But honestly, I love the Earthly Grains from Aldi. They only take 90 seconds to cook in the microwave. We aren't big eaters, so the packet can be stretched to six servings for my husband and I. Aldi's has them in brown rice, Jasimine rice, Basmati rice, brown rice with quinoa, and 9 grain rice. They are just pennies over a $1 each. 

The free food drops always have meat and vegetables. The rice packets round out the meal without costing very much money. We use Jasmine rice for oriental stir fry. The Basmati goes well with fish. We prefer the brown rice or the rice with grains for most meals as it is filling and healthy.