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On the topic of budget cooking and spice packs:
If it’s something you are going to use often, look up what’s in those packs. Or other spice blends that do what you need (like taco seasoning). You might be better served just buying things of chili powder, cyanne pepper, paprika, etc and make your own. More of a start up cost, but long term savings.
Generally every time you buy little single serving things you pay a lot for packaging and convenience.
Absolutely, I generally make my own spice blends but the two areas where I do not are Old Bay and any common masala (Garam, Chana, etc.) since I can never replicate the flavor I want (and masalas can be very labor intensive). Taco Seasoning is a tough one, since I grew up on the old el paso spice packets and I'm quite fond of them, but making your own mix with flour, salt, paprika, etc. lets you adjust the range of flavors you want.
Will preface that I enjoy cooking for the sake of it, so may not be super easy, or cheap, but have tried to limit myself to it.
Meat tends to be the killer in cheap food... Along with cheese, although you tend to be able to do more with less cheese. Veggies are always going to be cheaper.
My go-to spices are mixed herbs (basil, oregano, thyme), ground cumin (to make any dish taste hearty and old times), smoked paprika, chilli powder, black pepper.
Ultra cheap and tasty - an old recipe I pinched from my grandmother.
Onion, mince, cabbage, 2 minute noodles. Curry powder and some soy sauce.
Fry the onion, add the mince, mix through the curry powder + spices to taste (suggest some ground cumin). Chop the cabbage into ribbons, lay over the top to wilt/cook. Add some soy sauce, and reduce down a bit.
Soften the noodles in water, and add to the frypan to firm them up a bit. Hearty, a little salty, filling, and ultra cheap.
Chickpeas, green beans, onion, coconut milk or cream, red curry paste, unsweetened peanut butter.
Fry the onion, add curry paste, add chickpeas. Add the coconut substance, and the peanut butter, mix thoroughly. Thicken, serve with choice of rice/noodles/etc. Extra peanut butter for extra rich, more curry paste for spicy.
Cheese sauce - for pasta bakes, potato bakes, or as a sauce itself. Do it to your own taste, nice and easy. Will admit it's probably not as cheap as jar sauce, but much tastier and better for you.
Plain flour, butter/margarine (oil also works, but...), milk, cheese. Herbs and spices to taste.
Melt the butter, add some flour, mix thoroughly. Once it starts bubbling, add milk slowly. Once it starts to thicken, add herbs, and cubed cheese, stir till melted. Stir through pasta or potato to bake, or just as a sauce.
All over low/low medium heat.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/09/28 10:03:11
My $0.02, which since 1992 has rounded to nothing. Take with salt.
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Interesting, I've done a few thai recipes but I haven't heard of using unsweetened peanut butter along with the can of coconut cream. I'll have to try it sometime.
In Hawaii, the secret ingredient for a franchise chain's chili was peanut butter. I've tried it a few times, especially with vegetarian chili and have always been impressed by the change a tbsp can make.
For the last 2 weeks I've been eating crumbles for dessert filled with free fruit from nature. Blackberries from the lanes near my house, and apples from a tree at work and another on the main road into my town. Also made my own jam with them. It's worth looking for free food that the world provides.
Butternut Squash and sage risotto.
Dice up the Butternut Squash, drizzle in olive oil, add a healthy about of sage, give it a good stir and bake in the oven till golden and soft.
While that is cooking, brown some Onion and Garlic in a pan, add dry Arborio rice, and sage. Mix well and then add some boiling water. Keep stiring till it gets nice and thick. Can add some white wine to give it a bit more body, I usually don't bother.
Mash up the Butternut Squash, then add the rice, give it a good mix, then grate in some hard cheese, mix again. Serve and enjoy.
Swedish Banana Pizza.
Buy some premade pizza bases, mix curry powder (or Sriracha sauce if you have it) into some tomato puree, mix well and add water till it is the desired consistency. Apply it to the pizza base. Slice up two medium sized bananas, place them on the pizza, then apply the cheese on top (I use grated strength 5 cheddar). Put in oven to cook as normal, then enjoy.
Vegetarian spag bol.
Cook wholewheat spaghetti in lightly salted water.
While that is going, brown diced up onion and garlic in olive oil, add spinach. Cook till the spinach has wilted. Add a tin of peeled plumbed tomatoes, a squirt of tomato puree, some diced up carrots, and healthy amount of Italian mixed herbs. Once the carrots have softened add diced up feta cheese. Stir this in well so that it melts into the mixture. Add either quorn mince or chunks. Cook till the quorn is done, drain the spaghetti, and serve it up.
I usually do these every week for a family of 3, and they don't cost much.
This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2022/10/02 22:41:09
The objective of the game is to win. The point of the game is to have fun. The two should never be confused.
Also:
Tater tot casserole.
Cook hamburger/ground turkey if desired.
Need a baking dish, big.
At least two cans of cream of mushroom/chicken soup.
Add some of the ground meat
Place layer of tots
Another layer of cream of mushroom/chicken soup
Ground meat
Another layer of tots
Layer of colby-jack cheese
Cook at 400 for an hour or as desired. (I like my top to be crisp)
This is a real fly by the seat of your pants recipe, so get creative.
Edit:
Another one...Ramen with an egg.
Buy that cheap ramen.
Bring water to a boil
Add noodles and spices
Cook for a while, then add eggs.
I have a variation on this where I use my cast iron pan to cook the ramen.
put about 1/4 cup of water in the cast iron pan. I usually make two packs of ramen at a time.
add spices
bring to a boil
add noodles
add egg/s
Between the noodles, eggs, and heat the water should cook down to almost a sauce.
Eggs do a lot to take in the flavor as well.
Serve
Edit: Spelling.
Edit: Another one.
Chicken Verde and Spanish rice.
Add 48oz chicken breast tenderloins to a crockpot
Add two jars of green salsa, cook till tender.
When chicken is almost done
Make 1cup of rice
add two jars of red salsa when rice is almost done
Serve how ever you desire.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2022/10/07 21:18:48
1 can Tuna oil/water
2 potatoes
1 Trader Joe's Everything but the Bagel (or desired spice).
Peel the potatoes and eat the skin.
Grate potatoes. Mix with drained tuna.
Dump into greased pan over fire.
Flip potato pancake as needed.
Apply desired spice wherever.
Get the corn tortillas (smaller ones)
Can of re fried beans
Cheese
Little oil in a pan, toss in tortilla to crisp it up. Add tbsp of beans, add a little cheese. Fold over tortilla. Should be able to make about 20-30 with 1 can of beans and 1 bag of corn tortillas. Toss the extras in a freezer bag. They will last a good month. Reheat in microwave. Add salsa and sour cream as desired.
Use leftover rotisserie chicken in quesadillas.
Tuna casserole
Can of tuna
Small can of peas
Bag of egg noodles
Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
Potato chips
Cook noodles. Mix tuna, noodles, soup, and peas. Add chips to the top. Cook at 350 for 30 minutes
Baked ziti:
Jimmy dean Italian sausage
Ricotta cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Ziti noodles
Tomato sauce
Cook and drain sausage. Boil noodles. Mix ricotta and 1/2 cup of mozzarella. Add half noodles to pan and mix with half jar of sauce. Layer ricotta. Layer sausage. Layer other half of nooodles with remaining sauce. Top wth mozzarella. Bake 30 minutes at 350.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Another couple of crockpot meals though:
Pork butt, Coca Cola (or Dr. Pepper), and an onion. 8 hours on low in a crock pot. Pull the meat out and pull it apart. Makes great sandwiches. Just add BBQ sauce.
Mississippi Roast
3-5 pound chuck roast, 1/4 cup butter, seasoning packet of ranch, seasoning packet of instant gravy, and 5 pepperchinos.
Brown meat on all sides. Get a nice crisp on all sides. When done put into a crock pot on low and add butter and seasoning packets. Cook 8 hours. The meat should pull apart. Eat with egg noodles or baked potatoes.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/10/26 05:32:30
So putting nutrition aside, because when you’re cooking for a family, full bellies are ultimately more important than bellies full of goodness. And hey, what’s not good for the body can be exceptionally good for the soul.
Rather than me wax lyrical about stomach fillers? Here’s a video by one of my favourite YouTubers. Who in fact inspired this very thread.
He has lots of videos on different food topics, but his Cooking On A Budget videos are truly magnificent.
Fed up of Scalpers? But still want your Exclusives? Why not join us?
Sautee chopped onions. Add light red kidney beans and warm.
In a separate skillet brown some ground beef. Once mostly drained, add in other skillet contents. Some broth or worchestershire sauce can be added to bulk up the taste.
boyd wrote: I have a couple of cheap meals/snacks:
Get the corn tortillas (smaller ones)
Can of re fried beans
Cheese
Tortilla meals are often a staple for lunch in our household. I personally prefer doing my own beans though, a little oil in the pan, a can of black beans and some leftover roja salsa from takeout then let it simmer on low for about 20 minutes. To make it healthy throw in a chunk of frozen spinach at the start to get some extra greens in your diet. For anyone who lives in the SW U.S. you can usually find good cheese for quesadillas for quite cheap, especially if you buy in bulk.
Been overdoing it on the winter comfort food, basically living on Freezer Crap.
So this week I’ve been enjoying Salads. Nothing fancy like, just your pretty standard greens and a bit of dressing. But it’s done me the power of good.
And in the U.K., it’s pretty cheap. Two Romain Hearts for £1, Cucumber 59p and so on. Not including dressing (which is easy enough to make if you’re so inclined) £5 will easily yield 4 Salads for a big strapping lad like me.
I do find salad fills you up in a very specific way. But that might just be my body dishing out some lovely endorphins in exchange for all the vitamins I just took on. And if I get myself a new George Formby type grill, I can add some grilled chicken, which is nice.
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If you want extremely cheap and filling food, I recommend what I call "fortified soup."
Buy a can of soup with some sort of meat. Set it aside and boil a potato or two with some onion. When it's cooked, add the soup. Maybe a can of corn or some other veg.
That's two or three meals from a single can of soup. Potatoes and onions are cheap. You can also use rice.
Soups and canned veg regularly go on sale and keep for years, so buy on the dip, as it were.
I'm finding the biggest savings are not what you buy but from where. Supermarket prices and profits are out of control in Australia. Ive started looking at shopping further away at Asian independent grocers where stuff is like 40% of the price and often looks fresher.
1kg onions were $5 at my local supermarket this week. I grabbed a 10kg for $15 at the independent.
Mangoes were $2.50 each. Again, grabbed a tray of 20 for $15 at the independent.
Tomatoes various types hovering around $4kg at supermarkets, a whole box is $10 at the independent.
Capsicums $9-16 at supermarket. $4 at independent and way fresher.
Its insane. And the thieves still claim its diesel costs...
One thing Ive been cooking is Mi Goreng noodles as a snack instead of chips. Works out about the same cost and I atleast get some goodness out of it.
Using 2 pots I boil 2 eggs, 1 diced carrot, half cup of frozen peas in 1 pot for 4mins. Then add boiling water to 2nd pot of the noodles and cook both pots 3 more minutes.
Drain both pots and cool eggs under tap. Mix sachets, a diced spring onion and the veg into the noodles. Pour into a bowl and drop the peeled boiled egg on top and break up with a fork.
Shopping tip; check out an Asian supermarket if you are near one. Great for veg, herbs and spices. For instance you can get a kilo (2lb) bag of chilli powder for maybe £3/$5, whilst you're paying £2/$3 for a tiny 100g jar in a supermarket.
Boil pasta, fire the veg in with about 5 mins to go.
Drain.
Add the tuna and mayo/salad cream to taste.
Stir, eat hot or cold.
You can mix it up by using different veg or meat.
Another dead simple and quick dish is mushroom chicken.
Take half a can of cream of mushroom soup and point it over some chicken, then microwave it for ~8 mins. Voila.
One of the other things is planning to avoid wastage - so many recipes involve half of something, so ideally you want to try and plan meals such that you can use any leftover ingredients from day 1 on day 2 and so on, or round up enough to freeze.
When I lived on my own I'd usually make HUGE portions of chilli, spaghetti bolognaise etc, freeze half and eat the rest over a couple of days.
So you're saving in time and cooking costs since cooking a giant pot and microwaving leftovers is going to use less energy than cooking 4 smaller pots.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/12/23 12:21:59
On the planning ahead? Just frying up a basic mince mix then portioning and freezing works, as once defrosted and heating through, you can spice it up as you wish into various dishes.
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Some years ago I took a course in Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Response planning. All graduates got a nifty waterproof red booklet with an insane amount of useful information in it, including charts and tables on how to feed the multitudes with staple foods, and ways to reach a 2500 calorie diet.
Rice is pretty much the answer, though you can use barley or something similar. If you took the advice upthread about buying canned soup when it goes on sale, another way to stretch it out is to add rice to it. Beans are also highly useful in this regard, especially if you put the two together. Much of the world lives on that diet because its cheap and it works.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: And if you can, get Golden Rice, genetically modified for better nutritional value.
Because having a full belly isn’t enough.
Given the audience here, my assumption is that with super-cheap rice/beans available, you can concentrate your spending on boosting the nutrition content with veg and other ingredients, especially spices.
Something we do to stretch the food dollar is to turn leftover dishes into soups. The classic example is the holiday turkey, but you can chop up just about anything, throw it in some water, add rice and now you've got a soup.
Another strategy is to use a thickener to your soup, like flour or corn meal (for the GF crowd). Add a biscuit or bread to go with it and you've got quite a meal for very little dough (heh).
When buying rice in bulk, Asian grocery stores are a great source. But if you're going to be storing that rice long-term, buy white rice. Brown rice still has oils in it that will go rancid if stored too long.
Buying staple foods in bulk is often the best answer to save money over time, but it does mean spending more money upfront. In the US, Azure Standard is a good source for bulk foods (I just got 75lbs of wheat to grind on my own as needed). Some restaurant supply stores also sell to the public, so getting a #10 can of pasta sauce for $7 can be a great deal. Webstaurantstore is an online option, but shipping can negate the lower food price. If you have a Restaurant Depot in your area, they should offer day passes to non-members. Being able to buy food at near-wholesale price can be a game changer, as long as you have the money and freezer/pantry space.
"Through the darkness of future past, the magician longs to see.
One chants out between two worlds: Fire, walk with me." - Twin Peaks
"You listen to me. While I will admit to a certain cynicism, the fact is that I am a naysayer and hatchetman in the fight against violence. I pride myself in taking a punch and I'll gladly take another because I choose to live my life in the company of Gandhi and King. My concerns are global. I reject absolutely revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method... is love. I love you Sheriff Truman." - Twin Peaks
Zed wrote: *All statements reflect my opinion at this moment. if some sort of pretty new model gets released (or if I change my mind at random) I reserve the right to jump on any bandwagon at will.
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