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deli meat and cheese ends make some pretty awesome risotto for next to nothing, especially if you're making your own stock.
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Oct 30, 2015 19:28
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I've been reading the cajun thread and wanted to make some jambalaya, and while I was at the store making sure I had the right spices and picking up some andouille. I saw that chicken thighs were $0.68/lb!  I have 10 pounds of chicken in the fridge and six pounds of chanterelles I picked up in the woods a couple days ago, poo poo's gonna be good! coyo7e fucked around with this message at 20:22 on Nov 8, 2015 |
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Nov 8, 2015 20:17
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Faithless posted:Pro tip (England) - I've noticed a lot of butchers sell £1 bags of off cuts of 'ham' which is usually just the leftover bits of bacon thats too shredded to sell. Works really well to add salt/protein to beans and soups. aldi sell 400g of ham for £1.69 as off cuttings. they have a few different styles though like cooked, smoked, breaded that determine what the ham is going to be like. Smoked tastes the best and is usually thin slices that are mostly perfectly fine. cooked can often be thick slices with lots of fat also for any poor people who want to eat steak, buy skirt steak. its cheap as gently caress compared to traditional steak cuts. it needs to be sliced across the grain before being eaten but has an incredibly obvious grain and its really nice
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Nov 8, 2015 22:36
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Honestly the first thing I'd say to remove from your grocery list as a poor person is red meat. Even when it's cheap it's still 3x as expensive as pork or chicken, and if you don't eat beef regularly you'll find that it really weighs you down on the occasions you do spring for a steak or burger. The cheapest steak I can consistently find are those New York Strip cuts, they're a little on the lean side usually but cook up nice in a skillet or on the grill. If you take leftover steak and cut it into strips (hopefully across the graina bit), sautee up some onions, set them aside, then throw the steak into the skillet with black pepper and a bunch of worchestire then add the onions back in right at the end.. You've got an amazing steak and onion sandwich - I like a slice of monteray jack with it, on toasted bread. garnish with ketchup and worchestire.
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Nov 9, 2015 13:47
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Beef is cheap in Australia. I don't eat meat every meal, far from it, only 1-2 times a week. But when I do, it doesn't matter what type as it's all around the same price, and it's easy to make a beef stew. Chicken is $9-14/kg, pork is $12-17/kg, lamb is $14-35/kg, beef is $8-35/kg (chuck/gravy being ~$8, a decent grilling steak ~$17, high quality $30+) Of course I usually buy whole chooks for $5/kg unless there's a sale on thighs or breasts for $8, but sometimes I don't feel like chicken and beef may be cheaper than pork. There's cheaper prices around, but looking at average prices, and the relation of prices to each other which is a constant. poo poo, sometimes bell peppers are $10/kg, mushrooms often $14/kg. There's heaps of veg in season more expensive than meat here. You wouldn't be a vegetarian here strictly for financial reasons, and sometimes you need something a bit more interesting than beans, onions, pasta, rice, potatoes or bread, even if it costs a bit more. Fo3 fucked around with this message at 14:42 on Nov 9, 2015 |
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Nov 9, 2015 14:30
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Fo3 posted:Beef is cheap in Australia. You can get chicken for as little as $3/kg; if you stick to thighs. (And I'd rather have a bunch of thighs on the bone for a curry than whole chickens). I've seen lamb over $40 for frenched cutlets. You can get much cheaper veggies at a farmers market or a good Asian grocery store in an Asian suburb. Lots of cheap leafy greens and whatnot.
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Nov 9, 2015 15:03
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For the last few weeks I've been making rissoles to take to work for lunch. They're filling, a good way to get some meat into my diet and cost less than $10 for a week's worth of meals. I make a batch on Sunday afternoon and leave them in the fridge and can then either make sandwiches or just put them on top of a bowl of salad. Recipe: 1kg mince (any meat is fine) 2 large carrots 2 zucchini (or daikon, any crunchy vegetable is fine) 1 large onion 4 cloves of garlic 4 chillis A small piece of fresh ginger Breadcrumbs Sauce for flavour (you can use ketchup, oyster sauce, soy sauce, herbs, spices, whatever you want) - Put mince in a large mixing bowl - Use a food processor to blend onion, garlic, chilli and ginger and add them to the meat - Use the food processor to blend carrot and zucchini or whatever other vegetables you're using and add them to the mixing bowl (you want to have about 3/4 as much vegetable as meat for the mixture) - Add sauces / herbs / spices to your mixture - Add breadcrumbs and mix everything together until it forms a cohesive mixture - Shape your patties and put them on a tray - Coat with flour before cooking - Shallow fry on medium heat or bake in the oven until cooked You can also make a vegetarian variation by substituting the meat for a mix of mashed chickpeas and cooked, mashed sweet potato.
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Nov 9, 2015 22:11
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I note now this is the Australian variety of these. 2.2lb of 80/20 costs me almost $7 at this point (wowzers) which blows $10 but I suppose ground chicken or other things would be less, same if you grind yourself or shop smart. I made half this recipe and the zucchini accounts for quite a lot of volume. I added mushrooms and that. It does have a subtle "meatloaf" like flavor to it, but IMO could use some additional spicing of some sort, which the recipe calls for, I just was putting it together by memory late and forgot the flavor! Otherwise not a bad way to spread out the meat, thanks !
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Nov 10, 2015 15:03
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I'm gradually getting better at managing my kitchen and have tried making an effort towards better utilizing my freezer. I'm now pretty good at buying large packs of meat on sale so that I can divvy it up and freeze it in separate portions for cooking later, but unfortunately I'm still pretty bad with foresight and constantly forget to move things to the fridge so that they have enough time to defrost before I want them. This leaves me in situations like tonight where I have a bunch of fresh veggies, but the 8lbs of chicken and beef in my freezer is unusable so I'd still have to go to the store to put a complete meal together. Does anybody have good recipes for food that I can cook straight from the freezer? I could use a few meal options with ingredients that are either shelf stable or frozen so that I can keep them on hand for these instances where I'm between grocery trips. Teeter fucked around with this message at 21:52 on Nov 11, 2015 |
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Nov 11, 2015 21:48
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Microwaves usually have defrost settings. After using that a few times, you'll be much better about remembering to pull something out in the morning.
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Nov 11, 2015 21:50
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i like nice words
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I don't own a microwave  I've started to freeze ground beef as flat as I can in ziploc bags so that there's more surface area to defrost quickly in water, but I still have issues with things like whole chickens. I'm also trying to work on changing my habits, but regardless I'd love any recipes that I can keep on hand indefinitely as a failsafe option when I don't want to go to the store. Teeter fucked around with this message at 21:55 on Nov 11, 2015 |
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Nov 11, 2015 21:53
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Teeter posted:I'm gradually getting better at managing my kitchen and have tried making an effort towards better utilizing my freezer. I'm now pretty good at buying large packs of meat on sale so that I can divvy it up and freeze it in separate portions for cooking later, but unfortunately I'm still pretty bad with foresight and constantly forget to move things to the fridge so that they have enough time to defrost before I want them. I got a huge bag of shrimp on sale for like $10 and it lasted for a while and was an extremely quick thing. They defrost while water for pasta is boiling and you cook them really quickly. Normally I wouldn't put it in poor food territory but if you get them on sale it counts. Note I'm on a coast, though. Besides that, chicken sausages are fridge foods but last for a long time so they might be a good option. Tofu lasts a while, too. And beans for sure. My favorite "gently caress I forgot to plan" dinner is quesadillas. Just put a can of beans in a skillet with some water and a shitload of seasoning. Dump some on a quesadilla and top with cheese (can be frozen). Congratulations! You also have extra beans you can use for something else. Chickpeas can also be mixed with tomato sauce and vegetables to go on pasta.
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Nov 11, 2015 21:55
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Also keep in mind that you CAN cook meat straight from frozen. It's not always feasible depending on the recipe you're making, but it can definitely be done.
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Nov 11, 2015 22:12
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Teeter posted:I'm gradually getting better at managing my kitchen and have tried making an effort towards better utilizing my freezer. I'm now pretty good at buying large packs of meat on sale so that I can divvy it up and freeze it in separate portions for cooking later, but unfortunately I'm still pretty bad with foresight and constantly forget to move things to the fridge so that they have enough time to defrost before I want them. This leaves me in situations like tonight where I have a bunch of fresh veggies, but the 8lbs of chicken and beef in my freezer is unusable so I'd still have to go to the store to put a complete meal together. For whole chickens I just roast them for about 150% of the time usually needed. About 30 mins in I rearrange the bird so that it roasts the way I like it. I don't think there's a food safety issue as long as its roasting and not slow cooking. Chili and soups freeze well (or even just stock). I make a lot of 'leftovers soups' based on whatever I have handy in the fridge. A lot of veggie and beans soups come together really quickly/cheaply.
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Nov 11, 2015 22:28
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put whatever you want unfrozen into a ziploc and push as much air out as you can and then put it into not completely cold water with something to ensure it stays submerged. Pretty much all meat will defrost quickly this way but stay cold enough to never become dangerous to eat
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Nov 11, 2015 22:39
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Teeter posted:I'm gradually getting better at managing my kitchen and have tried making an effort towards better utilizing my freezer. I'm now pretty good at buying large packs of meat on sale so that I can divvy it up and freeze it in separate portions for cooking later, but unfortunately I'm still pretty bad with foresight and constantly forget to move things to the fridge so that they have enough time to defrost before I want them. This leaves me in situations like tonight where I have a bunch of fresh veggies, but the 8lbs of chicken and beef in my freezer is unusable so I'd still have to go to the store to put a complete meal together. Not really a recipe but frozen fish filets like basa or catfish thaw really fast and still bake well or go into curries and/or frying decently. It's a good cheap meat to keep on hand in the freezer given how fast you can thaw and cook .
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Nov 11, 2015 22:43
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Teeter posted:I'm gradually getting better at managing my kitchen and have tried making an effort towards better utilizing my freezer. I'm now pretty good at buying large packs of meat on sale so that I can divvy it up and freeze it in separate portions for cooking later, but unfortunately I'm still pretty bad with foresight and constantly forget to move things to the fridge so that they have enough time to defrost before I want them. This leaves me in situations like tonight where I have a bunch of fresh veggies, but the 8lbs of chicken and beef in my freezer is unusable so I'd still have to go to the store to put a complete meal together. One quick option I do with entirely frozen ingredients is to put a filet of some sort of whitefish, some veggies, and some rice in water. Cook the rice - when it's done, so is everything else. Make a quick sauce while it's cooking and you have a dinner for one or two people with no forethought or planning.
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Nov 11, 2015 23:58
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It's not really a problem now but it will probably become so again soon - I have a problem with packing lunches that are good food that can be eaten either cold or reheated with only a microwave. I've been experimenting with stews and curries because they reheat very evenly. Any other suggestions? I'm also trying to eat as much vegetables as I can, but usually that means just a giant mason jar of cucumber, grape tomatoes, bell peppers and whatever else was on sale.
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Nov 12, 2015 18:00
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Daal and rice is a thing. When you mix up the two together in your tupperware, you do it on the dry side. At work, throw in a spot of water, and nuke for 3 minutes or so, and you're set. Roasted vegetables reheat fairy well in the microwave. Pasta works ok, but not great. It's really best to eat pasta when it's hot off the stove. I've had it work fine for me, but I've had to do the thing where I add a bit of water before nuking it. Sometimes, it ends up a bit softer than I would like, but the taste is just fine.
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Nov 12, 2015 18:14
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Kafka Esq. posted:It's not really a problem now but it will probably become so again soon - I have a problem with packing lunches that are good food that can be eaten either cold or reheated with only a microwave. I've been experimenting with stews and curries because they reheat very evenly. Any other suggestions? I'm also trying to eat as much vegetables as I can, but usually that means just a giant mason jar of cucumber, grape tomatoes, bell peppers and whatever else was on sale. Stews and curries are good. I typically throw spinach and vegetables in a Tupperware while I make dinner the night before, then make a little extra dinner. So if I make chicken, At work I just heat the chicken and put it on the salad. If I make beans or meat for tacos or quesadillas, I add some cheese to the salad, then heat up the beans in a separate container and dump it on the salad. You can even bring a potato (russet or sweet) and do the same thing. I have a ton of pulled pork right now and tomorrow I'm going to bring a potato, microwave steam it, then put pulled pork and some cheese on top.
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Nov 12, 2015 18:25
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Beside the usual cheese sandwiches, I like to take leftover couscous with chickpeas to work. Normally I bake some finely diced onions, sweet pointed pepper, orange zest, red pepper and fresh ginger. Toss some chili powder over it, then squeeze the juice out of the orange. Add golden raisins and chickpeas. Then an equal amount of chicken bouillon (mL) and couscous (gram). Stir it, turn of the fire, let it rest for 5 to 25 minutes before stirring and eating it. if you let it cool down, it can be kept in the fridge for 5 days. Great cold as well as warmed up in the microwave. oh, don't forget to toss some spring onions over it before you eat!
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Nov 12, 2015 20:14
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Teeter posted:I'm gradually getting better at managing my kitchen and have tried making an effort towards better utilizing my freezer. I'm now pretty good at buying large packs of meat on sale so that I can divvy it up and freeze it in separate portions for cooking later, but unfortunately I'm still pretty bad with foresight and constantly forget to move things to the fridge so that they have enough time to defrost before I want them. This leaves me in situations like tonight where I have a bunch of fresh veggies, but the 8lbs of chicken and beef in my freezer is unusable so I'd still have to go to the store to put a complete meal together. Stuff like this: http://www.budgetbytes.com/2012/02/hearty-black-bean-quesadillas/ I love food that I can make in batches, freeze and then reheat quickly for a meal. Quesadillas are a favorite of mine, you can fill them will all sorts of stuff, and they're very little hassle to make.
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Nov 12, 2015 20:35
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Lurgy posted:Stuff like this: http://www.budgetbytes.com/2012/02/hearty-black-bean-quesadillas/ I've done a few variations on her black bean freezer burritos and they are really good. I like to finish them up in my toaster over, so the burrito shell gets nice and crunchy.
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Nov 12, 2015 22:12
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niss posted:I've done a few variations on her black bean freezer burritos and they are really good. I like to finish them up in my toaster over, so the burrito shell gets nice and crunchy. Freezer quesadillas are also great if the fixins goes on sale. I make chicken (cheese) spinach ones, nice and mild so mom can always have one if she wants ( much less spice tolerant then me). Cook, slice into quarters, freeze. Reheat in microwave, and a minute in the toaster if you can, top with spicy condiment of choice.
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Nov 13, 2015 02:06
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niss posted:I've done a few variations on her black bean freezer burritos and they are really good. I like to finish them up in my toaster over, so the burrito shell gets nice and crunchy. I do this a lot and typically use leftovers so it's crazy cheap. The goon in question doesn't have toaster access at work, so although that's better it's worth mentioning that it works just fine without one. Yesterday I made a pork shoulder in the slow cooker and it's turned out to be way more meals than I thought. After I shredded it I put a ton of bbq sauce in with it (it'd probably be cheaper to make your own but I bought a shitload on sale at one point). I made some baked potatoes, then put the pork on top with some cheese. I had one, my husband had one, I'm taking one to work tomorrow, and I'm eating one now. Plus, I still have half of the pulled pork left. Luckily it's physically impossible to get sick of pulled pork. But the shoulder was on sale for about $8 (DC area), the bbq sauce was probably $1 when I got it, potatoes were buy one get one free with a bag of onions. And it's apparently enough for infinity meals.
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Nov 13, 2015 02:21
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The pork you can do a lot with, either on its own or in other dishes, but the BBQ sauce is what does it in for me after a few days. If you can separate the sauce from the pork, then you can still use it in other things where the (assuming molasses) sugary sweetness of it would be off. Plain it would be rad for sandwiches, loaded potatoes, crisped up in oil for "carnitas", in a meat sauce, all sort of things. Today I'm trying to use some beets to do some beet "borscht" braised beef. Personally I chose the short ribs here but presumably any cut would work. Browned/blackened onion with carrots and celery, simmering in chicken stock with the beets and previously browned and seasoned meat. I don't see how this could go wrong.
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Nov 15, 2015 19:52
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The pork with bbq sauce was good with loaded potatoes, too  . But yeah, next time I'm definitely only adding bbq sauce to half and leaving the rest plain just in case. It would have been good to turn some into tacos after a few days of bbq pork. I ended up making some dough for steamed pork buns, wrapping up the pulled pork, and freezing the unsteamed buns. I'm really excited to find out how they turn out.
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Nov 15, 2015 20:25
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Loco moco is one of my favorite meals, without too many ingredients. What you need: Rice 1/2 lb of ground beef (roughly 1 burger patty of beef per person), traditionally made with burger patties, i find it easier to just do a pan of ground beef and portion it out small yellow onion (optional) 1 egg per person 1 small jar of brown gravy Start by sweating the onion while you cook the rice, then brown the ground beef. when that is done, heat up the gravy, and portion out rice for each person, put the ground beef on top, then fry and egg for each person. toss the fried egg on top, then spoon on the gravy on top, stir up and enjoy. Some people like a dash of soy sauce as well.
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Nov 17, 2015 04:59
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I have a bunch of pork shoulder in the freezer. Have already made carnitas a bunch of times. What else is relatively low effort to make with that? I work manual labor and am too wiped at the end of the day to make effort meals. E: currently have some green beans, if that can be worked into a recipe!
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Nov 17, 2015 18:12
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Aishlinn posted:Loco moco is one of my favorite meals, without too many ingredients. Instead of the jar of brown gravy, do this the real Hawaiian way and get the industrial brown powder gravy. Very cheap and a total guilty pleasure.
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Nov 17, 2015 21:01
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M42 posted:I have a bunch of pork shoulder in the freezer. Have already made carnitas a bunch of times. What else is relatively low effort to make with that? I work manual labor and am too wiped at the end of the day to make effort meals. Pork adobo is good. There's a bunch of variations but the basic recipe is put the pork in a pot, add 1 part rice vinegar, 1 part soy sauce and some water to cover the meat then simmer until the meat is soft and serve over rice.
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Nov 17, 2015 21:48
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I have enjoyed reading this thread on and off for awhile but I have a question about spices. Is the quality of basic spices like garlic powder, nutmeg, paprika etc worth the difference in price from say the very basic and super cheap value brand compared to others I see at the grocer? A lot of the times the cost is 3x.
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Nov 18, 2015 00:26
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TeeMerk posted:I have enjoyed reading this thread on and off for awhile but I have a question about spices. It's a case per case basis as to just how much the quality of the spice matters, but generally, yes. For nutmeg I would recommend just picking up a few whole nutmegs and grating them when you need some nutmeg, and paprika comes in a few varieties with radically different uses. Paprika freshness matters more than anything, so get something made well from the same country, order it direct so you know it hasn't been sitting too long on the shelf, and store it in the freezer. As far as garlic powder, I don't really know - I haven't compared the good stuff with cheap brands. Basically, what it comes down to is that cheap and poorly stored spices generally have very little flavor. Why bother, at that point? It's not like spices are ever a significant expense unless you're just starting out.
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Nov 18, 2015 01:14
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For the spices that I think "matter" in terms of taste (cumin, curry spices, turmeric), I get them cheap at the ethnic grocery store. Stuff like red pepper flakes, onion powder if I'm lazy/don't have onions already chopped up or cayenne, I don't mind the cheap alternatives. I get more annoyed by cheap versions of pasta, so I'll usually upgrade to the Barilla over the store brand.
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Nov 18, 2015 02:49
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For pasta, I'll either make it fresh, or for extruded shapes I buy De Cecco. It's more expensive, but I think the extra dollar or two per pound pays off in texture and flavor. It's not easy to find everywhere, though.
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Nov 18, 2015 03:52
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The Trader Joe's pasta isn't bad, and it's cheap ($1 per lb). Although my palate is not very discerning, so possibly if you want good pasta it might still be worth getting De Cecco or whatever.
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Nov 18, 2015 06:19
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My palate is like "I can tell if this is complete poo poo, but not only slightly poo poo." Same with coffee. We got two bags of Intelligentsia from my girlfriend's cohort buddy's girlfriend for free, so we're living the high fallutin' life for awhile. It's always really disappointing to me to find a store brand that doesn't make the cut at all in terms of quality. I use Peapod a lot and I tried their store brand gnocchi and it was basically inedible.
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Nov 18, 2015 16:25
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Years ago I bought big bags o spice for very few dollars from an Indian market and stored them in airtight containers. Almost out of cumin but I have black mustard and fenugreek enough to last me for the next decade, I think. In an airtight container it all holds up, just made pork vindaloo with them and it was fantastic.
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Nov 18, 2015 17:17
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M42 posted:I have a bunch of pork shoulder in the freezer. Have already made carnitas a bunch of times. What else is relatively low effort to make with that? I work manual labor and am too wiped at the end of the day to make effort meals. Portion some into a red bean and kale soup to simmer with the beans. Cheaply bulk a chili with toothy meat shreds. Replace the chicken in white chili with braised piggy. Braise the shoulder plain and shred into a dry skillet to crisp into pork floss type stuff and top some congee. Mr. Wiggles posted:Instead of the jar of brown gravy, do this the real Hawaiian way and get the industrial brown powder gravy. Very cheap and a total guilty pleasure. Yup. Only I douse it with either Lee Kum Kee of La Choy as my father raise me on it with the cheapest soy sauce he could find.
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Nov 18, 2015 18:32
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| # ? May 15, 2024 04:57 |
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Several grocery stores in my area sell chicken leg quarters or drumsticks for 0.39 cents a lb.(sometimes less). My deep freezer currently is about 50% full of chicken because of this.
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Nov 19, 2015 11:38
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