My 5 go-to dishes when I only had $150 a month to spend on food

I moved to New York City in August 2015 from Auckland, New Zealand, leaving behind a commercial law career to enroll in a Master's program at NYU's journalism school.

Living in New York required me to quickly adapt to several big changes at the same time: the lack of living space, the noise, the subway system that always seems to break down when you can't afford a delay.

One of the biggest adjustments I had to make, however, was around money.

Naturally, my disposable income as a graduate student was much less than when I was a lawyer. At the same time, many of my expenses were higher due to the cost of living in New York City.

For the first few months, my husband and I would budget between $100 and $150 to spend on food per month.

Surprisingly, even in one of the most expensive cities in America, this amount still allowed us to whip up a variety of meals that were both nutritious and tasty.

Here are five of our favorites: