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Nothing can be cheaper and more traditionally German than potato salad. Unless there is a fridge at school, I would suggest avoiding the mayo-based types.

If you think potato salad is not enough of a meal, try using the bacon option and double or triple the amount of bacon. That helps to make it more of a meal and not just a side.

She could also try a few variations to give her students an idea of the regional differences in German food.

Check the site below for good info and easy-to-vary recipes.

If she wants something more substantial, yet still inexpensive, try Falscher Hase. It is a unique meatloaf with hard-boiled eggs hidden inside. Ground beef and eggs are pretty cheap, and it works well warm or cold. Plus, it can be a bit of a German history lesson.

Good luck!

A very traditional meal is Kassler and Sauerkraut. However it can be expensive. There is an alternative, cheaper version at the site below. It uses a peameal bacon roast (smoked pork loin) that you can usually buy on sale. It is done in a slow cooker, so it's really easy to take someplace. You can plug it in and keep it warm until needed - usually a plus in a school setting.

Also, how about a quick and cheap version of Black Forest Cake is also available. It uses a cake mix, cherry pie filling and whipping cream.

There are other inexpensive and traditional German meals at the same site.

Get some sauerkraut and some pork spareribs. Just cook the ribs in a large deep pot with the sauerkraut for a few hours and serve with mashed potatoes and applesauce. Wonderful!

There is a great roasted garlic mashed potato or a roasted fingerling potato recipe that would go great with the pork country ribs at this site. Hope it helps, this is a dish my grandmother (from germany) would make all the time when I was younger. Oh you have to serve it with warm biscuits

cheap is a relative term, but buying a 1 pound package of smoked sausage, a bag of sauerkraut and a few large potatoes shouldn't strain most budgets. Peel, quarter and boil the potatoes until almost done. Rinse the kraut a couple of times and add to the potatoes in the pot. Slice the sausage in 1/2" pieces and add also, allowing all to heat. Drain the liquids and sprinkle with caraway seeds. Done! You can also add some sour cream to the entire dish and eat it that way as well.

These days you can learn how to speak German over the internet. Check out this online course, it's voted as the best German online course of all time: http://www.rocketlearner.com/german The course is very easy to follow, I was able to learn German in just 3 months.

I live in New York City, I wanted to go to a German language teacher but that would have cost me over $800 per month. Good thing with this internet, $800 it's a lot of money for me.