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How do!

Intended as a resource thread for Dakkanauts, as times get tougher and belts get tighter. And a general thing I’m interested in, even when bills aren’t soaring. Mostly because cheap food can often be the tastiest.

Tonight, I did a really simply veggie noodle stir fry. Not only are the ingredients cheap, but being quick to cook, it doesn’t pressure your energy bill. What follows would probably do as supper for two adults, or three kids. As I tend to only really eat a meal once a day, I scarfed the lot. Prices are based on where I bought each part of it, rather than necessarily the cheapest available.

2 Nests of medium noodles (£1.00 for 4 nests from Sainsburys

Oyster Sauce £1.60 for a bottle. I used maybe a tablespoon, tablespoon and a half.

Light Soy Sauce 65p for a bottle. I used maybe a tablespoon or so?

White Rice Vinegar £1.50 for a bottle I used a bit of a splash? I wasn’t exactly measuring, just winging it![/url]

Garlic Powder 80p for a jar. Only used because I didn’t have fresh. Probably about a teaspoon used.

Ground Ginger 80p for a jar. Again used this because I didn’t have fresh. Measurement was “whatever was left”. Probably around a teaspoon.

Stir Fry Oil £1.70. Used a tablespoon or so.

Frozen stir fry veggies £2 for 500g. Used around a third of a bag, I reckon. Give or take.

Cooking was easy peasy. Put salted water on to boil, and the wok to heat up, with the stir fry oil.

Whilst those were getting to temp, mixed up the sauce, ready to go. Veggies and noodles in their respective pans at the same time, as the frozen veggies take a few minutes to thaw and cook. 3 or so minutes in, put the sauce in with the veggies. Give it another couple of minutes, drain your noodles (not like that. Dirty boy), then toss them with the sauces veggies in the Wok.

Now the total price is of course a bit misleading, as the bulk of the cost is buying in everything you’ll need. But, once you have the sauce ingredients? They’re good for a fair few runs of this dish. Veggies and Noodles work out at 50p each per production thought, so per serving this is super cheap.

I do wish I had more ground ginger, but had to make do with what was in the rack. And yes, fresh ginger would be better for flavour, or even Very Lazy Ginger, but I’m not sure if it’s cost effective, as the ground ginger, like the garlic granules/powder are shelf stable for ages….

Best of all of course, is that this is pretty healthy. If you get reduced sodium Soy Sauce (shouldn’t affect the price, but again just using what was to hand) even more so. Don’t skip the rice vinegar though. It imparts a really nice flavour!

Right. Your turn!

Oddly enough I made fried rice for the first time this week, in very similar fashion. It's a fantastic way to make cheap ingredients taste satisfying. What should the cutoff be, meals under 20 dollars, or 10 pounds? I'm not sure how the exchange and inflation rate translates to food prices over in the UK.

Anyways, I present, simple quiche.
The most expensive ingredient is the meat- cubed ham, or 4 slices of bacon about 6 dollars.
6 eggs, 2 dollars
3/4 cup of milk 1 dollar
Cheddar cheese 3 dollars
Frozen pie crust, 4 dollars, but it's a 2 pack.
salt, pepper

Mix eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Cook the bacon or meat (some ham comes precooked) and put about half the shredded cheese and the meat in the pie crust. Pour the egg mixture over it, top with the rest of the cheese and a little salt, then cook it at 375 until a knife put into the center comes out clean (20-45 minutes).

Simple dinner for under 20 dollars, and it will feed 2 adults and 2 kids with leftovers for breakfast.I tend to make two at a time, as once you're in the mood for them, they're similar to pizza- you just grab them out of the fridge and microwave them.

In a pinch, you can definitely use whatever meat you have to hand. Bologna does just fine in this, as does a dash of leftover ground beef or taco meat. Just adjust your seasoning accordingly. Vegetables as well, if you're into them- it'll take mushrooms, onions, cubed potatos- pretty much anything your heart desires.

Mine is the same as yours just more ghetto. Ramen, hot dog, egg. Scramble egg in bowl, throw in microwave for 1min (you can do the hot dog at the same time). Remove egg, stir, nuke for 30 more secs. Might have to do this one more time. Boil water, put noodles in for 2 mins. Drain water, chop hot dog, scramble eggs, mix them in w noodles, boom dinner is done for about $2. You even get all your food groups if you count the little dehydrated carrot pieces as veggies...

Don’t wanna be too strict on defining budget, as it’ll depend on how many you’re feeding.

For instance, a £20 stew feeding 8 people is different to £2 Ramen for one.

Just….anything fairly cheap, where part of the dish is knowing how to cook and get the most out of normally cheap ingredients.

Stew for instance? Can make cheap, normally chewy cuts of beef incredibly delicious because the cooking process turns all that normally unpleasant stuff into rendered flavour of deliciousness.

Also fair game are Scrap Dishes. Stuff to use up leftovers, veg on the turn etc. I only ask they’re fairly nutritious meals, because cheap does not mean nasty when I comes to cooking.

As a starting point, a tip from my first paleo diet book:

Check the catalogs for discounts on meat. Go to the shop with the best one, buy a week's worth, and also grab a week's worth of whatever vegetable they have on sale.

Definitely.

Provided you’ve the time, home cooking is usually cheaper and often healthier than buying ready meals etc.

But if due to work and life commitments you just don’t have a lot of time? Cheaper sauces can be improved by adding your own spices and seasoning, ensuring you’re not having to pay more than necessary for decent tasting foods.

Idk what you guys have across the ocean but we have a dollar store here with produce and other things.
While I find the individual ingredients lacking, they are perfect if you are making food that you just throw stuff in.

Whilst I utterly failed to remember to check out Dollar Stores when in New York? I think we in the U.K. do have cheaper fresh food overall?

Proper fresh veg is pretty cheap. Head of lettuce for instance is 55p, so around 40c, give or take?

I’m not sure why our veg prices seem to be cheaper. It’s not like we’re particularly self sufficient in that regard. But I first noticed the staggering price disparity maybe 10 years ago on FB, when a Canadian was excited at finding a cheap lettuce which was a good four times the price I’d have paid.

Not necessarily a recipe, but if you know someone with a membership to sams or Costco, the rotisserie whole chicken is usually $5-$6; Break it down and package it up for cheap fresh meat for meals and sandwiches.

 Genoside07 wrote:
Not necessarily a recipe, but if you know someone with a membership to sams or Costco, the rotisserie whole chicken is usually $5-$6; Break it down and package it up for cheap fresh meat for meals and sandwiches.

And boil the bones (with an onion, celery, and carrot if you have them) to make your own stock.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Whilst I utterly failed to remember to check out Dollar Stores when in New York? I think we in the U.K. do have cheaper fresh food overall?

Proper fresh veg is pretty cheap. Head of lettuce for instance is 55p, so around 40c, give or take?

I’m not sure why our veg prices seem to be cheaper. It’s not like we’re particularly self sufficient in that regard. But I first noticed the staggering price disparity maybe 10 years ago on FB, when a Canadian was excited at finding a cheap lettuce which was a good four times the price I’d have paid.

It might just be variation on where shops place the profits. UK might be cheap on veg but expensive elsewhere. Eg I seem to recall that meat in the USA is a lot cheaper, or at least meats like beef*.
Then again I also get the impression that the US system is more expensive and then makes it up with more coupons; which of course means those on lower income have the "potential" to save with coupons, but most likely only a few actually manage to make meaningful savings with them.




* heck in the UK almost the only local shops left are butchers in smaller villages and towns

 Nevelon wrote:

 Genoside07 wrote:
Not necessarily a recipe, but if you know someone with a membership to sams or Costco, the rotisserie whole chicken is usually $5-$6; Break it down and package it up for cheap fresh meat for meals and sandwiches.

And boil the bones (with an onion, celery, and carrot if you have them) to make your own stock.

This is solid advice.

At least a smidge over 10 years ago, I was a minimum wage chimp, with little disposable income.

If I bought a whole raw chicken on Sunday?

Sunday Roast, done. Typically frozen accompaniments.

Monday? Living on my own, chop up the other chicken breast, put in in a curry sauce. Add in rice, job’s a good’un.

Tuesday? Wings, thighs and legs stripped of tasty meat. Add it as protein to something.

Wednesday/Thursday? Break out the dried couscous, add chopped veggies, soak in chicken stock or vegetable stock. Not the best thing I ever shovelled down my oesophagus, but still fairly tasty and definitely filling,

But…..keep the bones for stock. You simply cannot such potential flavourings lightly.

If you have an Instapot or similar pressure cooker, you can make a good stock in a shorter period of time and don't have to worry about pungent aromas inside the house for many hours.

Related note, sometimes your local butcher will give away or sell bones for very cheap, I used to get knuckle bones pretty cheap for the dog but they also can be used to make excellent bone broth. I mix mine with scraps of onion, carrot, celery, shitake stems, and thyme.

Slow Cooker/Crock Pot type things are very useful when you have a strict budget.

But.

The sort of But Sir Mixalot wrote at least one ode unto?

That equipment stills costs money.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Slow Cooker/Crock Pot type things are very useful when you have a strict budget.

But.

The sort of But Sir Mixalot wrote at least one ode unto?

That equipment stills costs money.

5 hours in a basic pot on a weekend vs. an hour with an instant pot. Time or money. Instant pots open up meal options after work, but you can just plan to do things on your day off.

If you have space in the freezer you can just toss the bones in there to wait until you have a day free to make stock. Then make a big batch of soup, a stick jars of that back in the freezer for a rainy day.

True.

When you’ve have money to invest in such a device.

I think the one I’ve got was £40. And I’ve had it coming up 10 years. So I’ve most definitely extracted excessive value from it.

But…£40 is £40. When you’re on limited income? That could be too much.

I’ll revisit this later.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
True.

When you’ve have money to invest in such a device.

I think the one I’ve got was £40. And I’ve had it coming up 10 years. So I’ve most definitely extracted excessive value from it.

But…£40 is £40. When you’re on limited income? That could be too much.

I’ll revisit this later.

There are a lot of gadgets in the kitchen that save time and make things easier. But are expensive. Most things you can do by hand with simple tools. It would be an interesting thought exercise for what kitchen basics are good to have for someone starting out, and what’s worth getting quality, or gizmos for.

A lot of that probably depends on the sorts of things you want to be cooking/baking though, so would vary by person.

For sheer kitchen efficiency? I’d argue for the Slow Cooker/Crock Pot.

They’re pretty energy efficient as such things go. And even if your entire prep is just “chop stuff up and bung it in”, the slow cooked process will ensure it’s well tasty.

To the point that I would recommend if you’re like me and are lucky enough that, despite tough times, still have some disposable income? To help those on lesser means, treat them to a crock pot and a super simple recipe book. Especially if all the adults in the house are busy working.

I genuinely couldn’t live without my one. It’s ace!

In the spirit of the crockpot- today I'm making pulled pork, which will serve as dinner tonight, and sandwiches for the next several days for my family.
Boston butt roast- 13 dollars.
One bottle of barbecue sauce- 4-5.
One loaf of bread- 2 dollars.

Plop the boston butt roast into the crockpot with brown sugar and spices (or just pour about half a bottle of barbecue sauce over it) add water or stock, and let it go on low for 8 hours or so. Let cool to a little above room temperature, and tear it apart with fork or hand. Very high yield, great leftovers, and extremely cheap. If you're single, you can even freeze the pulled pork once finished.

Crockpots are awesome…so long as you like leftovers. (I do, but I’ve had coworkers who were unable to stomach eating any leftovers. Not as good for the budget.)

We use a lot of frozen vegetables and canned beans/lentils along with fast cooking rice or quinoa for the bulk of our healthy meals. Baked chicken or salmon for protein can last for days. We have a lot of spices we use to add flavor so the meals each taste different.

When I have leftover bacon grease or beef fat, I’ll use some corn flour to make Johnny cakes.

For breakfast, unsweetened oatmeal packets are stupid cheap. We add some egg whites before numbing them, then milk, sugar, whatever needed to give them taste. A little vanilla extract add a lot of flavor.

Just in general?

Your spice rack is your friend. With just half a dozen or so, you can pep up pretty much anything.

My essentials would be Garlic Powder/Granules, Onion Powder, Chilli Flakes, Chilli Powder, Ginger Powder and Five Spice. But then, I do do a lot of Stir Fry food.

I’d also endorse keeping a stock of bottled sauces, like Ketchup. Again to lend instant flavour to dishes.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Just in general?

Your spice rack is your friend. With just half a dozen or so, you can pep up pretty much anything.

My essentials would be Garlic Powder/Granules, Onion Powder, Chilli Flakes, Chilli Powder, Ginger Powder and Five Spice. But then, I do do a lot of Stir Fry food.

I’d also endorse keeping a stock of bottled sauces, like Ketchup. Again to lend instant flavour to dishes.

Five spice is a little specific IMHO for general use. I have some I picked up for a recipe, but almost never use it.

I’d add cumin, oregano, and basil to your list, which I otherwise agree with.

No curry powder or garam masala?

I use those to make cheapo imitations of real food, like my my chicken trick-ya masala. Chicken, onion, bell peppers, frozen broccoli and peas/carrots. Add in some raisins or pineapple chunks maybe, cook it in a shallow mix of butter and chicken stock, then add a can of tomato paste. Yummy. Disconcertingly not quite right, but close enough for yummy.

Might as well serve it with quinoa.

If you're a lunch box prepper, one I do fairly often as its a dish that is decent as a leftover:

Chicken fried rice.

Yeah. We're going there.

Now, I do it on maybe less of a budget than some, but the amount of leftovers and how well it reheats for lunch is worth it.

Ingredients: rice (duh), frozen mixed veggies, chicken breast. Soy sauce, and other associated seasonings as desired (I use garlic powder, black pepper, 5 spice, and occasionally a dab of ginger paste)

The trick to a good home made fried rice, is the rice.

1. Cook your rice the night before. Steam it, rice cooker, pot boil/insta rice instructions, whatever, doesn't matter, so long as its cooked.
2. With the rice cooked, dump it on a plate/pan, and set it out overnight.

3. Heat your rice frying pan (I use a wok, if ya got one this is a great time to exercise it), add a cooking oil of your choice. Personally, I go all bougie and use safflower oil, but olive oil is perfectly capable here as well).

4. Once the oil is hot, ad your veggies.

5. After the veggies are good and hot, but not shriveling/soggy, add the chicken. Start getting some light seasoning down while mixing these.

6. Add the rice, and put enough soy sauce down on it to get a slight color change. Keep tossing/mixing the ingredients, adding seasoning as needed/desired for results.


At this point, you could, with the skillset, fry an egg and mix that all up in there, but I generally don't cuz I do suck at that piece.

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:
If you're a lunch box prepper, one I do fairly often as its a dish that is decent as a leftover:

Chicken fried rice.

Yeah. We're going there.

I would add that for the vegetable mix, I usually use frozen vegetable mixes like Asian Mix or California Mix and cut them into smaller pieces, sometimes they can be chunky.

If you make this and have a bunch of leftovers, the next step is to buy wonton/eggroll wrappers, stuff them, and deep fry them to golden brown making yourself homemade eggrolls.
But make sure you read the instructions on the back of the package because I am sure I am skipping a step or two.

This Epicurious playlist, hosted by Dan Giusti is an absolute goldmine for cheap and good recipes.

The recipes for the frozen veggies is solid, and very economic if you want to cook off-season vegetables.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9aWbTVXMBo&list=PLz3-p2q6vFYWyNfs1353zIEVTE1JmlDST&index=10

I hate to cook, but sometimes I make my own tacos (I know, I know, that hardly counts as cooking). I have yet to try making my own seasoning for them though; I use the premade seasoning packets you can get for a buck at the store. Cheap and tasty and extremely low effort!

I also sometimes throw a few pork chops in the Crockpot. Just put them in, pour some barbecue sauce on top of them, turn the thing on, and when I come home from work I've got dinner. I just use instant mashed potatoes as a side dish. Again, low effort and I get 3-4 meals out of it since I live alone and don't have to share .

 ZergSmasher wrote:
I hate to cook, but sometimes I make my own tacos (I know, I know, that hardly counts as cooking). I have yet to try making my own seasoning for them though; I use the premade seasoning packets you can get for a buck at the store. Cheap and tasty and extremely low effort!

I also sometimes throw a few pork chops in the Crockpot. Just put them in, pour some barbecue sauce on top of them, turn the thing on, and when I come home from work I've got dinner. I just use instant mashed potatoes as a side dish. Again, low effort and I get 3-4 meals out of it since I live alone and don't have to share .

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.

 ZergSmasher wrote:
I hate to cook, but sometimes I make my own tacos (I know, I know, that hardly counts as cooking). I have yet to try making my own seasoning for them though; I use the premade seasoning packets you can get for a buck at the store. Cheap and tasty and extremely low effort!

This is a great recommendation, Also Taco dinner packs in the States have clear easy instructions for beginner chefs, plus you get about a week's worth of food out of it at the cost of a night's dinner at Taco Bell. Then I can put as much sour cream on my Tacos as I like, hated the stuff growing up, but now it's not a good taco without it. Anyone can cut corners by just buying season packs and flour tortillas, the meat will be your biggest expense and then toppings can be selective. No tomatoes for me thank you!