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 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Anyone got suggestions for Quesadilla, beyond cheese and jalapeños?

Red onions, tomatoes, red/orange/yellow peppers, serrano peppers, bits of pork, chicken or beef.

Honestly, all cooking is effectively on a budget because even with increased prices recently it is still dramatically cheaper than eating out.

Cheap cuts of beef or pork in a marinade of oil, siracha, lime or lemon juice, salt, pepper, cummin, chili powder, paprika, garlic (optional, garlic tends to burn), roasted for an hour or so at 400F turn out really well and are great for mixing into stir fry with rice or rice noodles, pasta, or as a fajita meat.

Downside to scraps for Quesidilla is I live on my own, and the tortillas come in family packs.

Not that I’m adverse to scoffing loads of tasty tasty Quesadillas, just y’know, I need to be fairly sensible about what and how much of what I’m eating.

Though I’m thinking they’ll make decent snacks for TTRPG sessions, as they don’t exactly take long to make.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Downside to scraps for Quesidilla is I live on my own, and the tortillas come in family packs.

Not that I’m adverse to scoffing loads of tasty tasty Quesadillas, just y’know, I need to be fairly sensible about what and how much of what I’m eating.

Though I’m thinking they’ll make decent snacks for TTRPG sessions, as they don’t exactly take long to make.

Normally when I’m doing quesadillsa it’s with leftover tortillas that I had from making fajitas/burritos/etc. so I have a few left, but not enough of the fillings. So I improvise.

You could also use them for a southwest breakfast. Scramble some eggs with some onions/peppers, add a little salsa. Or cheezy breakfast burritos: scambled eggs, breakfast sausage, and queso.

Lately I've had some excellent opportunities for budget-minded cooking. The local store has had roasts on sale - buy one get one free. These are significant cuts of meat (2 pounds or so), so I've been buying them and cutting them up into 1 pound packages for use in stews, soups and stir-fry. I think stick 'em i the freezer. I find mid-week is when the "about to expire" meat goes on clearance, so that's when I shop for it.

Commissar von Toussaint wrote:
Lately I've had some excellent opportunities for budget-minded cooking. The local store has had roasts on sale - buy one get one free. These are significant cuts of meat (2 pounds or so), so I've been buying them and cutting them up into 1 pound packages for use in stews, soups and stir-fry. I think stick 'em i the freezer. I find mid-week is when the "about to expire" meat goes on clearance, so that's when I shop for it.

You bring up a good point about getting stuff on sale. For cooking on a budget, going into the grocery store with an open mind helps a lot. See what’s on sale/clearance, and work from there. Normally I check the meat isle and see what’s marked down, and double back and grab the other bits I’d need to make a meal out of it. If you go in with a fixed list, you are going to be subject to the whim of the market price.

 Nevelon wrote:
You bring up a good point about getting stuff on sale. For cooking on a budget, going into the grocery store with an open mind helps a lot. See what’s on sale/clearance, and work from there. Normally I check the meat isle and see what’s marked down, and double back and grab the other bits I’d need to make a meal out of it. If you go in with a fixed list, you are going to be subject to the whim of the market price.

Yeah, sometimes people call that "strategic shopping," and it's gotten a lot harder with the recurring supply chain issues. Yesterday my kid complained that I didn't get the exact flavor of potato chip she asked for and I said "Do you think you can just go to the store and they'll have what you want? Where have you been for the last two years?"

Lists have their uses, but it's best to have a certain amount of flexibility. I also work near a store, so I can go there on my lunch break. I can't count the times I've been able to take advantage of a "manager's special" or a closeout sale. If you only go once a week, you miss out on stuff like that. I also use coupons. Lots and lots of coupons.

If it hasn't already been mentioned in this thread, there are apps that you can use to locate flash sales in your area. Places that have about-to-expire produce that they're selling for $5 a box, or a restaurant that had a cancelled order or catering leftovers that are being sold for cheap.
Flashfood is one such app I've heard of. I've not used any of them myself, as they're often focused on specific cities and such.

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
If it hasn't already been mentioned in this thread, there are apps that you can use to locate flash sales in your area. Places that have about-to-expire produce that they're selling for $5 a box, or a restaurant that had a cancelled order or catering leftovers that are being sold for cheap.
Flashfood is one such app I've heard of. I've not used any of them myself, as they're often focused on specific cities and such.

I did not know that, and I'm not surprised.

Sounds like a decent idea.

For those who aren’t time poor, home made pizzas can be super cheap. The dough is a doddle of course, just need an appropriate recipe as not all dough is suitable for Pizza.

Time issue comes from making your own pizza sauce from scratch. However I maintain it’s definitely worth the effort, particularly as store bought pizza sauces can be very high in salt. Just have containers available to portion it out for freezing,

With those two, it’s just toppings you need to worry about. And those are entirely up to you. Cheese and deli meats can often be found discounted, and a little goes a long way.

Pizza making is also something fun to do with younger kids, so for super budgetting that’s dinner and a family activity twofer.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

Commissar von Toussaint wrote:

 Nevelon wrote:
You bring up a good point about getting stuff on sale. For cooking on a budget, going into the grocery store with an open mind helps a lot. See what’s on sale/clearance, and work from there. Normally I check the meat isle and see what’s marked down, and double back and grab the other bits I’d need to make a meal out of it. If you go in with a fixed list, you are going to be subject to the whim of the market price.

Yeah, sometimes people call that "strategic shopping," and it's gotten a lot harder with the recurring supply chain issues. Yesterday my kid complained that I didn't get the exact flavor of potato chip she asked for and I said "Do you think you can just go to the store and they'll have what you want? Where have you been for the last two years?"

Lists have their uses, but it's best to have a certain amount of flexibility. I also work near a store, so I can go there on my lunch break. I can't count the times I've been able to take advantage of a "manager's special" or a closeout sale. If you only go once a week, you miss out on stuff like that. I also use coupons. Lots and lots of coupons.

Even crisps are getting expensive in the U.K. Not eye wateringly high, but high enough that unless they’re on offer I’ll go without. Which in turn means I’m eating less empty calories, so guess that’s something.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

\For those who aren’t time poor, home made pizzas can be super cheap. The dough is a doddle of course, just need an appropriate recipe as not all dough is suitable for Pizza.

Time issue comes from making your own pizza sauce from scratch. However I maintain it’s definitely worth the effort, particularly as store bought pizza sauces can be very high in salt. Just have containers available to portion it out for freezing,

With those two, it’s just toppings you need to worry about. And those are entirely up to you. Cheese and deli meats can often be found discounted, and a little goes a long way.

Pizza making is also something fun to do with younger kids, so for super budgetting that’s dinner and a family activity twofer.

I like to use Adam Ragusea's pizza recipes.
And pizza sauce can be the easiest part. A good can of crushed or ground tomatoes is 95% of the job. Add a splash of olive oil, bit of sugar and oregano, and you're done. Some pizza places don't even add anything at all if the tomatoes are good enough to begin with.

True, but didn’t want to offer specific recipes.

Though I would always point out homegrown tomatoes are far more flavourful than shop bought in the U.K. Plus, making tomato based sauces can help preserve your crop, so double bonus.

I tend to make a big pot of red sauce that I use for all sorts of things, including pizza. But also pasta, meatball subs, chicken parm, lasagna, etc.

2 big cans crushed tomatoes
2 big cans diced tomatoes
2 big cans tomato puree
1 (small) can tomato paste.
onions, usually some green peppers. Diced, sautéed until soft.
Garlic, fine dice.
Salt, pepper, oregano, basil, parsley, worcestershire sauce (if it gets too sweet, helps round out the flavor).

Sauté the veg in the bottom of the big pot, add the cans and simmer away on the stove for a few hours. Add the garlic after the tomatoes so it doesn’t get burnt/bitter. Jar up most for the freezer and use some for assorted meals while it lasts. There is not a lot of skill or special tools involved, but does need an afternoon free to simmer away.

Pizza dough is again not hard to do, but being a yeast dough can be a little more tricky, and the rise times can make it hard to get done at specific times. A lot of stores will sell raw and ready to stretch dough, but I’m not sure how economical that is. Making your own is mostly flour/yeast/oil/salt and time.

If you don’t want to make your own dough, you can use things like english muffins or bagels. A fun thing to do for kid’s parties is have a selection of toppings and let everyone make their own mini pizzas. With English muffins you get the self-serve nature and can cook a lot on a cookie sheet all at once.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
True, but didn’t want to offer specific recipes.

Though I would always point out homegrown tomatoes are far more flavourful than shop bought in the U.K. Plus, making tomato based sauces can help preserve your crop, so double bonus.

My grandparents (who lived through the Great Depression) always had a garden wherever they lived and canned their own food. When asked about their various stops, my grandmother always included soil conditions in her description of the home.

When I was born, the house they lived in had pear trees growing in the front yard next door and these produced an abundant crop, far beyond the neighbor's interest in harvesting, so we would help ourselves. Canned pears were a very common (and much appreciated) menu item at their table. The raspberry harvest was also eagerly anticipated.

I planted raspberries in our yard but they never really took off. However, the wild variety appeared shortly thereafter and we have several quite productive patches at this point. We don't process them, just pick 'em and eat 'em.

That reminds me, I need to get to work on next spring's planting plan.

I’ve got a garden these days, front and back.

Must get some decking/planking down in the front, as I reckon a few grow bags with tomatoes and what have you would be a welcome hobby and pretty much free food. Also the front garden gets a good amount of sunlight in the brighter months.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oooh. Grow Bags are a piffling £3.50 a pop right now…

That’s a sign, isn’t it?

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I’ve got a garden these days, front and back.

Must get some decking/planking down in the front, as I reckon a few grow bags with tomatoes and what have you would be a welcome hobby and pretty much free food. Also the front garden gets a good amount of sunlight in the brighter months.

Oooh. Grow Bags are a piffling £3.50 a pop right now…

That’s a sign, isn’t it?

My problem isn't getting stuff to grow, it's keeping the ravenous wildlife at bay. I didn't plant anything last year because the year before that ended up as a charity operation for low-income deer and raccoons. I set up a trail cam to see what was going on and the critters actually lined up to take turns!

The deer were doing a number and a bunch of raccoons was sitting off the side waiting for them to leave. They then did their bit, and the bunnies came next, once the crowd dispersed.

Part of the problem is that the deer are really out of control around here. I'm going to do my part to thin them out next fall (and gain some free-range, organic and sustainable meat in the process), but they're crowding out everyone else and so every garden in the neighborhood looks like a Stalag Luft camp.

You cannot whack a bit of venison. Spesh if it’s free version!

Worst I need to contend with are Sea Gulls, the Guano Fleabag Pterodactyl of the Sea.