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Omg alder you're in flushing? I've been meaning to get out there anyway. If you want I could show you how to batch cook for the week so you're not bored. I love to cook. :3
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Jun 13, 2015 13:08
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Manager's specials are kind of meh for steak unless it's an already cheap cut (but those usually don't get that far) but when it's chicken or sausage it's amazing Dinner last night was a $3 pack of sausage, a frozen box of kale that was maybe 50 cents, and a bag of frozen red-green-yellow peppers which I think was maybe .99 cents. Easily 3 good meals right there.
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Jun 13, 2015 16:30
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copen posted:Manager special meat bin is awesome, especially beef (which is usually good longer than its use by date). That sounds delicious. I miss having a wok.
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Jun 14, 2015 00:17
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dino. posted:Omg alder you're in flushing? I've been meaning to get out there anyway. If you want I could show you how to batch cook for the week so you're not bored. I love to cook. :3 Yep, Flushing is unique. Haha, thanks for the offer but I'm alright. A part of me wants to try new recipe but then it's like what if I mess up and then I lose all my ingredients for the rest of the week. Then I end up eating rice and beans for another few weeks.
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Jun 15, 2015 03:17
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Alder posted:Alright, since meat is pretty expensive I'll be fine with a semi-vegetarian diet for $167/month via SNAP. Already bought beans, spices, and rice. Lots of affordable groceries in Flushing, Queens which is nice. Leanne Brown wrote a book specifically targeted at people on SNAP. You can get a .pdf version of the cookbook at http://www.leannebrown.com/ It's not all large batch things but there's a couple in there.
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Jun 15, 2015 04:14
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Alder posted:Yep, Flushing is unique. Haha, thanks for the offer but I'm alright. Someone already mentioned Budget Bytes, but I just wanna second my love for that site. There's so many good cheap recipes there, and if you want to try something, but don't like an ingredient, there's always a way to sub or leave it out or whatever you need. This whole week, I'm eating her African Peanut Stew for lunches. I made a double batch of it for this, and I'm adding in a scoop of rice to each bowl to bulk it out. The recipe is dead simple, and if you have none of the ingredients needed, you can buy them all for under $15 for that double batch. I'm pretty sure my most expensive item was a new jar of Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Stock Base, which was $4.50 at my local grocer. And if you can spare the change, definitely splurge for the bunch of cilantro for garnishes and sprinkle a few drops of sriracha on top for good measure. Sooooo tasty. As far as "messing up" and "losing your ingredients, don't worry about that. If you're not confident you can cook a recipe, try it anyway. If it's a technique you've never tried before, look it up on Youtube and watch someone else do it first. It's only a waste if you don't at least learn something from it. If you're still nervous, try cutting the recipe in half or quarters and making a small batch first. Then see how it turned out, and adjust accordingly. neogeo0823 fucked around with this message at 16:19 on Jun 15, 2015 |
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Jun 15, 2015 16:17
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Is there a similar thread along the lines of "help! I'm not poor, just lazy and eat out way too much"?
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Jun 15, 2015 17:57
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I think a lot of the same recipes work and the same ideas apply. I really got the most mileage out of this thread last year when I was working 60-80 hours a day, 5-6 days a week. I had more than enough money coming in to get takeout every night, but generally couldn't get anyone to deliver at 1 am when I was done working. Instead, I did a lot of batch cooking, crock-potting, etc. Turns out there's a lot of overlap between "dump stuff in crockpot, forget about it for an afternoon" cooking and "reasonably nutritious and tasty on an extremely tight budget" cooking.
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Jun 15, 2015 18:50
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captkirk posted:Is there a similar thread along the lines of "help! I'm not poor, just lazy and eat out way too much"? Well... there's this entire subforum. What, specifically, is your stumbling block? Is it that you don't know how to cook? Is it that you need new recipes? Is it that you want some simple-to-make options? Is it just that you don't feel like it? We can help with everything but the last one. If it's the last one there's only so much advice to be given, and you have to just get into the kitchen.
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Jun 15, 2015 18:51
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captkirk posted:Is there a similar thread along the lines of "help! I'm not poor, just lazy and eat out way too much"? Eh, they're both kind of the same. If you're lazy/don't know how to cook, you'll want to start off with simple, cheap poor-people food to get the hang of things/motivate you to make better stuff. From there, it's just a matter of trolling around for better/more complicated recipes.
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Jun 15, 2015 18:52
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Eeyo posted:Leanne Brown wrote a book specifically targeted at people on SNAP. You can get a .pdf version of the cookbook at http://www.leannebrown.com/ Alright, thanks will check it out since I like cookbooks/recipes. neogeo0823 posted:As far as "messing up" and "losing your ingredients, don't worry about that. If you're not confident you can cook a recipe, try it anyway. If it's a technique you've never tried before, look it up on Youtube and watch someone else do it first. It's only a waste if you don't at least learn something from it. If you're still nervous, try cutting the recipe in half or quarters and making a small batch first. Then see how it turned out, and adjust accordingly. Cheers, this will help reduce my anxiety wrt to ingredients a bit too.
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Jun 15, 2015 19:45
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making good food is literally sooooooo easy and cheap. Go to the market and get a bunch ofbrussel sprouts, they are like $2 a pound if you get conventional. cut them in half and tossthem with oil salt and pepper dump em in your grtill basket and set the flames to medium heat stir every once in a while take off when they are soft on the inside and toasted on the outside THERE YOU JUST ATE GOOD FOR FOR CHEAP YA DINGUS -- good thing you guys got Nooner around to hold your hand all the time
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Jun 15, 2015 19:56
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Nooner posted:making good food is literally sooooooo easy and cheap.
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Jun 15, 2015 20:12
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MasterFugu posted:where's the latin kick?? Got so caught up in "dishing" (just a little cook humor there for ya) out awesome cooking advice that Iforgot to include my own meme in that post. A shameful nooner ):
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Jun 15, 2015 20:18
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guppy posted:Well... there's this entire subforum. What, specifically, is your stumbling block? Is it that you don't know how to cook? Is it that you need new recipes? Is it that you want some simple-to-make options? Is it just that you don't feel like it? I think my biggest problem winds up being: I get serious about cooking instead of eating out again (like I used back when I broke), I get the ingredients and cook a week's worth of a dish (because that seems to be how all "eat cheap" sort of things work), I eat that for 3 days, get sick of it, go out to eat because I can, and having broken the chain I proceed to stuff my face with take out for the next two weeks.
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Jun 16, 2015 13:11
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captkirk posted:I think my biggest problem winds up being: I get serious about cooking instead of eating out again (like I used back when I broke), I get the ingredients and cook a week's worth of a dish (because that seems to be how all "eat cheap" sort of things work), I eat that for 3 days, get sick of it, go out to eat because I can, and having broken the chain I proceed to stuff my face with take out for the next two weeks. I always make 2 dishes minimum and then keep semi-prepared stuff on hand to make 1-2 others. Like this week it's a big bowl of Jambalaya and then a bunch of roast chicken and roasted veggies and in the fridge I have rice, kimchi, some cooked sausages and some frozen snap peas that microwave up nice into the rice etc and I also have everything for turkey and cheese sandwiches as well. Between all of that I rarely feel like I run entirely out of choices and nothing I've cooked is substantially expensive or difficult. I will admit that at least once every 2 weeks, sometimes per week, I will order out for food one time but that seems well within budget.
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Jun 16, 2015 13:33
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captkirk posted:I think my biggest problem winds up being: I get serious about cooking instead of eating out again (like I used back when I broke), I get the ingredients and cook a week's worth of a dish (because that seems to be how all "eat cheap" sort of things work), I eat that for 3 days, get sick of it, go out to eat because I can, and having broken the chain I proceed to stuff my face with take out for the next two weeks. Do this: make a big batch of something, portion it into single serving sizes in Ziploc bags, and freeze all but a couple of them. Eat the unfrozen ones over the next few days. Also, buy things that you can make quickly and eat those on days when you have a bit more time, but don't feel like eating the same thing again. One of the most valuable kitchen appliances I've ever bought was a rice cooker with a steamer basket. One of my favorite quick meals to make with it is steamed fish with veggies and rice. What you do is go to Walmart. They should have a big bag of frozen individually wrapped tilapia fillets for ~$10-15. We're talking like 20-30 fillets, generally 3lbs or so. While you're there, buy a big bag of white rice, and if you're feeling fancy, maybe a jar of Better Than Bouillon stock base. For this dish, get fish, veggie, or chicken stock base. Next, go elsewhere and buy veggies, because Walmart has lovely, lovely veggies. You could buy frozen bagged veggies if you want, or fresh, if what you like is in season. You don't need a lot, just a couple cups worth. Things I like for this dish are any color peppers, onions, carrots, string beans or snow/sugar snap peas, and maybe some leafy greens like collards. Keep it simple. Try to avoid veggies that get mushy when cooked, like potatoes or broccoli. Now, I know from working with my rice cooker that 1 cup of rice takes ~35 minutes to cook. Yours might vary, so if you do get one to try this, make a couple batches of rice by itself to get the hang of it first. For those first batches, melt salted butter and brown sugar into the rice to make a delicious Great-Depression-There's-No-Food-Left style snack. Anyway, once you've got your rice cooker's timing down, thaw a tilapia fillet and start a batch of rice. Instead of using straight water for the rice, drop in some stock base, but only enough to make about half-strength stock. You want a subtle flavor, not an overpowering one. While the rice is cooking, chop your veggies. Hard ones, like carrots, should be cut small/thin, to get them closer to done more quickly. The softer ones can be cut larger. Season the fish with salt and pepper, and pile the fish and veggies into the steamer attachment. Fish on the bottom, hard veggies around the fish, soft veggies on top. when the rice has about 20 minutes left on it, very quickly open the rice cooker, throw the steamer basket in there, and close it again. It's important to do this as quick as possible, so the cooker cools down as little as possible. Now sit back and wait for everything to finish. When the cooker beeps, out from it should come a batch of beautifully seasoned rice, steamed veggies, and flaky fish. Serve however you want, with whatever sauces/spices you want. I prefer to mix the rice and veggies, mound it on the plate, put the fish on top, and go to town with a fork. And all you had to do was cut some veggies, thaw some fish, and measure some rice and water.
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Jun 16, 2015 14:31
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captkirk posted:I think my biggest problem winds up being: I get serious about cooking instead of eating out again (like I used back when I broke), I get the ingredients and cook a week's worth of a dish (because that seems to be how all "eat cheap" sort of things work), I eat that for 3 days, get sick of it, go out to eat because I can, and having broken the chain I proceed to stuff my face with take out for the next two weeks. I think that's pretty normal, most people don't want to eat the same thing all week. You just need to work out a meal plan that works for you, it does get a but trickier if you're living alone though. You can just make smaller portions, our do as others have suggested and freeze soups and stews. (some people try to freeze other things like stir fry and cooked meat and veggie portions. I find the texture to be really gross.) What works well for my partner and I is to plan out two "big" things to cook, that will give us several nights of leftovers, on the weekends and one quick weeknight meal. So half the week we are eating leftovers, but not the same thing every night. Just don't feel pressured into cooking up a hundred portions just because it was on one if the "100 Greatest Slow Cooker Recipes" list. That gets old fast. Frozen fish fillets are nice to have in the freezer for a quick meal with some rice pilaf and roasted broccoli, and it shouldn't take more than thirty minutes to make. Must people will save enough money on just cooking anything at home instead if eating every night. You must likely don't need to just straight into salsa chicken every night mode.
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Jun 16, 2015 15:59
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captkirk posted:I think my biggest problem winds up being: I get serious about cooking instead of eating out again (like I used back when I broke), I get the ingredients and cook a week's worth of a dish (because that seems to be how all "eat cheap" sort of things work), I eat that for 3 days, get sick of it, go out to eat because I can, and having broken the chain I proceed to stuff my face with take out for the next two weeks. I've had this problem before as well. I don't have it as much anymore since I'm not just cooking for myself anymore, but yeah, you should make a couple things during the week and mix it up. If your recipe makes too much to eat in a few days you can probably freeze it and reheat it another time. The other thing is that you have to like what you made. If it sucks you won't want to eat it for several days. If that happens it's better to just write it off as lost and make something different the next day. It feels wasteful throwing food out but if you just go out instead you're going to end up throwing it out anyway after you've gone out for dinner for five days straight.
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Jun 16, 2015 16:22
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Sunday night i was inspired by this thread and make a roasted chicken and a huge batch of my favorite rice (using pan drippings of course). Divided the chicken and rice between three containers, including setting some rice aside for a side dish that night. Had it for lunch yesterday and am about to go heat the second container up for lunch today. So freaking good and it all worked out to well under $3/lunch. Plus I've got the bones from the roasted chicken frozen in the freezer so this coming weekend I can make some more stock.
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Jun 16, 2015 17:02
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I am shamefully bad about eating things for more than 1 day, but I will throw leftovers in the fridge and take them for lunch a few days later. I kind of wish I was better at it so I could do the huge crockpot of stuff and then take it later. It's also not helping that I'm severely cutting out starchy stuff and that's not only the cheapest, it's also a bit easier to reheat because meat sometimes gets questionable when reheated.
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Jun 16, 2015 17:24
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Stop making excuses and just do it. Like, just stop being a baby and eat the damned food. Make multiple dishes, freeze or fridge them so you're not eating the same thing every meal for three days, OR make one thing, say, roast a chicken or maybe two and then have it different ways for the next meals. First one, classic roast chicken and some veggies (roasted brussels, or carrots, purple potatoes, creamed spinach, whatever.) Second one, make a sauce, say cream or tomato based pasta with peas and noodles (or spagetti squash 'noodles' or spiralized zucchini.) Then a stir fry. Then a thai curry. Then 'poo poo on a shingle.' Then a bbq chicken salad. Then an asian chicken salad. Then a waldorf chicken salad on crackers. Then a curry chicken salad. Then 'tortilla soup.' Between the sheer amount of whining here and in BFC sometimes, I have no idea how anything gets done.
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Jun 16, 2015 17:50
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MAKE NO BABBYS posted:Stop making excuses and just do it. Like, just stop being a baby and eat the damned food. Why even have preferences, it's just a form of whining
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Jun 16, 2015 18:25
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Adult Sword Owner posted:Why even have preferences, it's just a form of whining Why even have thoughts? "Cook this food." "How do you want it co-" "Stop whining and just cook the damned food!"
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Jun 16, 2015 18:38
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Adult Sword Owner posted:Why even have preferences, it's just a form of whining
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Jun 16, 2015 18:39
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MasterFugu posted:why post if you're just gonna be snarky to people giving you tips "Stop being a baby" and "god all this whining" aren't a necessary part of encouraging someone to eat healthier and/or cheaper. Can we not have one thread on this forum that doesn't have any rear end in a top hat-ish posturing? It's not needed in a thread like this.
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Jun 16, 2015 19:40
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Unzip and Attack posted:"Stop being a baby" and "god all this whining" aren't a necessary part of encouraging someone to eat healthier and/or cheaper. Can we not have one thread on this forum that doesn't have any rear end in a top hat-ish posturing? It's not needed in a thread like this. MAKE NO BABBYS posted:Stop making excuses and just do it. Like, just stop being a baby and eat the damned food.
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Jun 16, 2015 19:44
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I don't think anyone would argue that they're not good tips
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Jun 16, 2015 19:59
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In the beginning, cooking for yourself seems time consuming and the food doesn't always taste great. Cooking is a skill, and it all gets easier the more you do it. I still feel like I take too long cutting veggies, but its 10x quicker than I was at the start. I remember eating the same thing for multiple meals a day when I was a college student. I understand people are used to a bit of variety, so I propose this to all of our newbie cooks who don't want to waste all this time and suffer through the same meal again and again. Right now, you're in this thread because you want to start eating healthier or cheaper. If that's the case any progress you make towards this will save you time, be better for you, and help you develop the skills to do it better next time. So when you're at the store next, just take one box of those hot pockets out of your cart, and go get some goddamn veggies. Make a thing recommended in this thread, freeze half. Next time you're jonesing for that pepperoni pizza pocket, get this instead. That's two meals healthier/cheaper than last week. Then feel smug, and go treat yourself a a big mac tomorrow. This thread isn't an all or nothing. It's supposed to help us. Make it fit your life.
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Jun 16, 2015 20:33
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MasterFugu posted:good point, if only someone had actually posted tips in here, what a place that would be.. Please quote the part of my post where I stated that there were no tips included in the post I referenced. Having dickish posting is bad enough but then having people white knight them is even worse.
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Jun 16, 2015 20:35
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People who just make a big batch of food and eat the same thing every night: What do you think about all day? Seriously, I'd probably have nothing on my mind if I couldn't contemplate what I'm going to cook for dinner when I get home from work, in great detail.
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Jun 16, 2015 22:51
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exquisite tea posted:People who just make a big batch of food and eat the same thing every night: What do you think about all day? Seriously, I'd probably have nothing on my mind if I couldn't contemplate what I'm going to cook for dinner when I get home from work, in great detail. Work, study, the bush around me as I go for a walk. Generally what ever it is that I'm doing that day.
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Jun 16, 2015 22:55
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Using this thread helped me survive and not eat like poo poo when I was on unemployment, and probably the best feeling after my recent first paycheck was buying an avocado and some mushrooms without feeling intense financial dread for the first time in years.
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Jun 17, 2015 02:44
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exquisite tea posted:People who just make a big batch of food and eat the same thing every night: What do you think about all day? Seriously, I'd probably have nothing on my mind if I couldn't contemplate what I'm going to cook for dinner when I get home from work, in great detail. I would read some food blog and then say "I'm sure as heck not eating that potato soup I made the other day again..."
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Jun 17, 2015 14:13
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exquisite tea posted:People who just make a big batch of food and eat the same thing every night: What do you think about all day? Seriously, I'd probably have nothing on my mind if I couldn't contemplate what I'm going to cook for dinner when I get home from work, in great detail. I try to focus on the bright side of life and apply to more jobs  IDK if it's just me but being unemployed has caused me to feel burned out and as long as I'm not starving I'm ok with eating rice and beans. I do worry time to time if I lack variety but all the linked recipe/cookbooks have fixed that problem 
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Jun 17, 2015 19:03
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Maybe I'm a weirdo but I loving love rice and beans and am happy to cook a big pot of it twice a week and eat it for lunch and dinner every day. Speaking of which, I think I have perfected my rice and beans recipe so I'll put it here for other goons to try: - Before you go to work in the morning put a cup of black beans in a pot of water to soak - When you get home from work put the pot of beans onto boil. Boil (or simmer if you have more time) until the water is mostly gone and you're left with a soupy pot o' beans - Take the pot off the stove, put some oil in your frypan and put it on the heat. Once the oil is hot put a big scoop (maybe 2 tbs) of cumin, half as much sumac and a pinch of brown sugar and stir (you can use freshly ground spices or powdered) - Add two finely diced white onions and some grated ginger to your oil, stir, turn the heat down, put the lid on the pan and leave until the onions are soft (5 minutes or so) - Add half a pound of beef mince and stir until cooked through - Add your cooked beans then add a splash each of white vinegar, worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Stir until everything is well combined - Serve with rice, garnish with chopped spring onions I've found that a cup of beans, two onions and a half pound of beef easily makes 5-6 servings and when served with a bit of salad (or really, some spinach leaves with balsamic vinegar on them) seems like a reasonably healthy meal.
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Jun 17, 2015 23:07
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Alder posted:I try to focus on the bright side of life and apply to more jobs Not just you. Being unemployed for any length of time grinds everyone down right quick. You were worried before about wasting ingredients. Here's the thing: there is a huge difference between "this didn't turn out right" and "this is inedible." The space between those is where you're going to live for a while, until you get some basics down. Everyone starts there, and we go back there every time we try a new recipe. All part of learning. cyberia: you don't rinse your beans after the soak? I'm not great with dried beans, but from a can I have to rinse them or else there's way too much starch and everyone gets uncomfortably gassy. Also do you salt your soak water or not? Never used Sumac. Think I need another trip to Penzey's...
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Jun 20, 2015 16:05
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TheNothingNew posted:You were worried before about wasting ingredients. Here's the thing: there is a huge difference between "this didn't turn out right" and "this is inedible." The space between those is where you're going to live for a while, until you get some basics down. I've eaten countless underwhelming dishes. They make you full all the same. This also helps you learn to remember your mistakes.
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Jun 21, 2015 00:44
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Lucy Heartfilia posted:I've eaten countless underwhelming dishes. They make you full all the same. This also helps you learn to remember your mistakes. This exactly. My process when trying new dishes is 1.) try it exactly as the recipe says, word for word. 2.) eat and critique. 3.) next time change things to make it better. The best way to learn what constitutes "making it better" is to try a bunch of different things, preferably with a very simple or cheap recipe. A good example is the fish with veggies and rice recipe I posted a bit back there. Try it exactly the way I posted it, then try it again, but add different herbs, or different veggies, or add the veggies in at a different time, etc. etc.. Of course it'll taste different, that's the whole point, so just take notes on what about it tastes different, what you did to get it that way, and remember that doing that thing to other dishes will make said dish come out similarly. EDIT: To elaborate, maybe you'll try the recipe and think "dang, this thing is bland as gently caress!" So next time, you'll try adding more salt. But when you taste it that time, it's a bit too salty, and it's also missing some other flavor that you can't quite put your finger on. So maybe for the third try, you cut the salt a bit and add a bay leaf to the rice. Then the 4th time, you try a bit of garlic powder. Keep going over iterations of this, and after a bunch of attempts, you'll not only have the flavor down exactly like you want it, but you'll be able to take a brand new recipe you've never tried before, try it once, and then go "Ok, that was good, but next time I'm going to add some herbes de provence, kick up the garlic a bit more, nix the olive oil for bacon grease, and throw in some cubed grilled chicken breast to make it a one dish meal. Hell yeah, that's gonna be tasty." neogeo0823 fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Jun 21, 2015 |
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Jun 21, 2015 01:39
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cyberia posted:Maybe I'm a weirdo but I loving love rice and beans and am happy to cook a big pot of it twice a week and eat it for lunch and dinner every day. You aren't alone. I will make a giant lot of mamposteao rice and eat it all week long at home. It's quick to reheat. Tastes good and fills me up.
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Jun 21, 2015 18:25
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