by compound complex 49 Replies latest jw friends
This is a good topic. I eat a lot of beans. They are healthy and inexpensive. Beans and brown unprocessed rice. The people in Cuba are some of the longest living people in our modern day and they live on rice and beans. You can add onions, garlic, peppers.
Thats my contribution. Now I will go back and see what the others have said.
bttt
Hi! Try joining this yahoo group for ideas and then type what you're looking for specifically into the search box: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/healthycheapcooking I joined this site because I'm a diabetic trying to keep to a special diet on a pretty low food budget. If you're looking for ways to use up frozen soup stock try searching on stews and soups. Good Luck! Johannah
Welcome, Johannah!
What a privilege [sorry, JW-talk!] to have your 1st post on this topic. I am grateful for all the helpful suggestions and, as a matter of fact, am cooking right now. Something new - turkey thighs, for about $2 - is going into a pot of a noodle/vegetable concoction, frozen at the time of the mastadons.
Thanx jag, snowbird, r., Black Swan ....
CoCo
I'm a vegetarian, so my food (noodles, beans, rice, veggies) is pretty cheap anyway. But my honey eats meat, so I've had to learn what to feed...those people.
Sometimes, I get him a big hunk of meat, some cheap cut that would normally be tough and stringy. I put it in the crockpot on low, for like 12 hours or so. Throw in some celery, garlic, onions, and a couple of glugs of balsamic vinegar. Well, you could use wine instead, but that would be wasteful, right? It's important to not add any salt while it cooks, as salt will make it tough. The acid in the vinegar or wine acts as a tenderizer. After it's cooked all day, it will fall apart as you slice it, it's very tender. My man says it's delicious, but I'm not a barbarian eater of flesh like he is, so I wouldn't know for sure. I serve it with some sort of noodle or rice dish, and whatever veggies look good. There's tons left over for his lunches.
When I was a student, I ate a lot of cereal. It's cheap, yummy, quick to prepare, and very nutritious. And, there's always delightful, delicious ramen; add some veggies and a handful of grated cheese, and it's a little bit nutritious.
Gee, you've gotten a lot of great ideas. I'm not sure I can add more. Some things I've tried lately:
REPACKAGING. Buy a family pack of hamburger. Plump it up with a cup of bread crumbs, eggs, spices. Shape about thirty in to meatballs, broil them both sides and freeze them. Shape a whole bunch more in to burger patties, wrap them in saran wrap and freeze them. Shape the rest in to meatloaf (I use disposable tin pans) and freeze them.
I take a package of bacon and re-wrap in single serving sizes. When I am ready to cook, I take out the frozen slices and lay them directly on the pan. This saves the bacon from going bad in my fridge while they wait for inspiration to strike me.
There's a few items I keep on hand always. With these few items I can make biscuits, pancakes, breads, etc. etc. and I know we won't starve. Eggs, Flour, (baking powder, salt), margarine or butter, potatoes, powdered milk.
Eggs. Gotta love them. Complete protein, a great binder, and you can't make pancakes without them. Well you can, but they won't be nearly as fluffy. I have a great recipe for Breadmaker Challah bread where some of the rise comes from the egg. It's the best breadmaker recipe I have. http://www.williams.edu/Astronomy/people/kkwitter/breadmaker.html
I used to have potatoes on my list but I've developed an intolerance. I'm experimenting replacing them with yams or squashes.
I'm not a big soup person. It has to be thick and full of interesting things. Try adding tomato paste or sauce. If the stock is too sweet, add salt. If it is too salty, add sugar.
My financial counsellor delicately reminded me that I probably have some interesting things hiding in the back of my pantry. At the end of the month, I pull out those rarely-used items and get creative. I've learned that I can make up to two substitutions in a recipe, but three is usually too much.
I have a Safeway club card and always bulk up when they have a club special on something I use.
One time I had the crazy mad stash of Rice Chex because of that.
I confess: I buy from the almost-expired-best-before-date corner of the meat aisle at the supermarket. I get excellent cuts of meat at half the regular price, some we'll have right away, and others I'll put in the freezer for later in the week.
If they have some Italian or German sausages, I'll open them up and cook the innards, drain off the fat and repackage it for the freezer. This makes an excellent base to go with your soup stock. If you don't have sausages, you can start with a few strips of bacon that have been cut down to smaller bits. You can deglaze your pan of the leftover browned sausage bits using some soup stock for extra flavoring. Shred some cabbage, slice some carrots, onions, celery, potatoes and peppers, throw in some leftover veggies and/or meat (like chicken or beef or pork) and a can of mixed beans or navy beans, some tomato sauce or V-8 juice and let simmer. That's a staple in our house through the winter. Sometimes I'll pick up some turkey kielbassa sausage and cut some chunks to throw in the soup too. It all depends on what you like. I make a vegetarian variety of this recipe as well, using homemade roasted vegetable broth for the vegetarian family member and always get rave reviews. This tends to use up all the leftovers that would otherwise accumulate in the fridge.
At least one night per week, I make a meatless meal. We really enjoy having omelettes or fritattas or a pasta dish with veggies and cheese.
Rather than ordering out for pizza, I make my own from scratch. Way less fattening because I know what is in my toppings and pizza dough is pretty much the only thing I use my bread machine for these days. We ordered in pizza a couple of weeks ago as a treat - everyone commented on how unpleasantly greasy it was compared to mine.
I go eat at moms
Cookers and Chefs on a shoestring budget:
Eating like a king - on a pauper's empty pockets! Gratitude wells in my heart as my bottomless pit gets its fill. And so tastily, too!
Insomniac - thanx for the vegetarian ideas, and tips on vinegar for tenderizing and no salt on meat while cooking. Do not waste the wine!
jgnat - good and useful tips on repackaging. Gave an elderly neighbor my recipe today for caraway meatloaf. Thank you.
Spectre - 'If your idea of a hearty breakfast is moosemeat pie and spaghetti, then Rice Chex is not for you!' - I always loved reading the back of Chex cereal boxes. It's very clear that you have good taste! Gracias.
Scully - I grew up on Italian sausage but never thought of their eviseration and such preparation. Gets rid of some of the grease, correct? Good idea with home-baked pizza; less greasy means longer life. Excellent vegetarian ideas also. Many thanks.
JH - Eat at Mom's - for less! And she sure loves cooking for sonny boy! My mom was in heaven cooking for me. Thank you for your brevity and wit.
Did I say thank you?
THANK YOU, dear friends,
CoCo of the Contentment
