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A Fistful of Dicks posted:I'm trying to figure out ways to incorporate more vegetables in my diet without constantly resorting to freeze dried broccoli and the like or salads all-the-loving-time. Freeze dried? Frozen vegetables are 2nd only to fresh. Buy a few Pyrex containers with lids, throw frozen vegetables in there with a tablespoon of water and microwave about 6-8 minutes, then saute them if you like. You can also steam fresh vegetables in the microwave but you need a little more water... I don't measure, just enough to cover the bottom. And no, this will not make rubbery or gross vegetables, you're just steaming. For salads, break out of the lettuce/dressing/crouton mode if that's what you do and mix up 4-5 different ingredients. Nothing says a salad has to have lettuce or be mostly lettuce.
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Oct 19, 2011 08:21
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My Little Puni posted:My rice creations could still use some work, they end up quite bland... so a LOT of salt is used, and I would rather avoid that. A few dabs of olive oil, stock (or bullion powder + water), pinch of salt, and from there you can add almost anything. Diced onion adds a lot of flavor. Whatever I have for leftovers often gets thrown into the rice.
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Oct 23, 2011 09:41
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I have a cheap Oster rice cooker that works great. The warm setting will make crispy rice at the bottom if you don't unplug it but I don't consider that a negative since I like crispy rice. I prefer a dutch oven for pot roast & stews.
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Oct 23, 2011 18:49
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My wife picked up a couple nice cookbooks from the Cook This, Not That! series. They aren't budget focused necessarily but have real food alternatives to popular chain restaurant dishes. They also include helpful basic info on preparing food. One of the neatest features are charts that give you great ideas to assemble a variety of dishes like sandwiches, pizza or salads. While they aren't budget focused, they can save you money over going to a restaurant. Everything I've made from them so far has been delicious. Here is one, this one is 350 calorie meals, but there are other versions. http://www.amazon.com/Cook-This-Awesome-350-Calorie-Meals/dp/1605291471/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319425642&sr=8-1
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Oct 24, 2011 04:16
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nm
wormil fucked around with this message at 08:14 on Oct 25, 2011 |
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Oct 25, 2011 07:36
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Ethnic markets are no guarantee for cheap prices. All the groceries around here basically copy one another. Rice used to be cheaper at the Asian market but recently the price shot up, it's now $12 for the cheapest 10# bag. I do like their chicken better but it's the same price per lb as Krogers. Spices are cheaper but that's less than .01% of my grocery budget and anything I use regularly is much cheaper in bulk. My wife grows herbs which are 1000x better fresh so I try not to buy those dried. The farmer's market is great but very expensive though I've never tried going at closing time.
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Oct 30, 2011 10:05
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Pope Mobile posted:It's mainly a texture thing. My wife has that problem so I blender bean soup after it cools a bit.
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Nov 27, 2011 07:55
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A good tip I found in the coffee thread is grind up a couple spoonfuls of rice to clean out your coffee grinder, it will also absorb any oils. I've ground up spices a number of times and the rice cleans it out nicely.
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Jan 3, 2012 06:47
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Spices shouldn't be taking up a significant portion of your monthly food budget.
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Jan 8, 2012 09:54
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taqueso posted:But they sure can hurt bad when you are first starting out and have none. Exactly my point, buy one or two a month and learn how to use them. The worst thing to buy are those spice kits because most of them will sit in your cabinet until it goes stale. I have a 24x30 drawer filled with spices but most of them are used for rubs so I buy in bulk but it isn't something I would necessarily recommend to someone starting out who can barely pay for groceries.
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Jan 9, 2012 05:25
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razz posted:By "buy spices in bulk", I don't think people are implying that a person go out and buy a giant amount of spices at once. I think they are just suggesting that you buy them from the bulk bin. Ah, I don't think any stores near me sell spice that way. By bulk I thought people were talking about the 18-24+ oz jars. Nevertheless, I still think it's wise to just buy a few at a time and experiment with them. It doesn't take much.
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Jan 10, 2012 17:31
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Iron Chef Ricola posted:Are there no non-suburban grocery stores near you at all? Maybe some in the city but any savings would probably be eaten up in parking fees. Near here we have Krogers, Food Lion, Walmart, International Foods (Hispanic Market), A&C (Asian market), & Lowes Foods. Spices are cheaper at International but I haven't seen anything not prepackaged except chilies. Spices are such a small portion of my grocery bill that savings become fairly negligible except on certain stuff (cayenne, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin) that I buy in big containers and even those last me months.
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Jan 10, 2012 18:31
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KingColliwog posted:But chops are pretty thin so that might not work all that well. Pork chops are tough when cooked well done, I prefer mine medium, even just med-well is okay. Treat your chops like a steak, trim, allow them to come up to room temp, salt, pepper, sear and finish in the oven if really thick. For thin chops you can't get a crust without making shoe leather, sort of a tan color is the best I can do. Always buy bone-in if you can. Pork chops make the best pan gravy, even better than steak. Sometimes instead of making a pan sauce, I'll finish my vegetables in the meat skillet. The moisture loosens the fond and cleans the pan while making the veggies absolutely delicious. Works best with corn. With green vegetables like peas you have to be careful not to overcook them or you lose all the flavor.
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Jan 12, 2012 03:58
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KingColliwog posted:Used a thermometer and pulled them out at 160f. Used the fat on the bottom of the pan (I removed some of the fat before cooking them, but let it melt in the corner of the pan) to make a roux and then added some old red wine that was hanging in the fridge, salt, pepper and some herbs to make some sort of sauce which ended up being too thick but still pretty tasty. Bourbon is particularly tasty with pork. I remove my chops to rest, drain the grease, add a pat of butter and deglaze with bourbon, then add back that bit of juice that collects under the chops, heat to thicken. Then I swish the chops around in the bourbony goodness. KingColliwog posted:Also there was some meat close to the base of the bone that isn't usually there on deboned pork chops. This part was ridiculously good, is it usually part of a different cut of meat? It's part of the tenderloin.
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Jan 17, 2012 04:12
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babies havin rabies posted:What? Is this a joke? How is this possible? Worms. (kidding... I hope)
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Jan 31, 2012 08:37
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It was iceberg, you didn't lose out on much.
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Feb 2, 2012 06:14
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Eggie posted:Okay guys, chicken breasts are on sale so I need some great meal ideas to feed a family of five. I have a wok if needed and none of my eaters are vegetarian and vegan. My chicken is boring but juicy and tasty. Bone-in I always bake it, 400 degrees uncovered on a broiler pan for about 35-40 minutes (perfect in my oven). I apply a variety of rubs to the skin with a bit of olive oil. Boneless, I slice them to an even thickness and saute with salt & pepper, sometimes with a rub, sometimes blackened, sometimes with a bourbon/honey sauce. Occasionally I cut them into fingers, bread and fry. Like I said, boring. The key is not to overcook them. Also, chicken burritos, chicken Parmesan.
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Feb 4, 2012 07:46
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BastardAus posted:Chicken legs ... put on a rack over a roasting dish with some water in the bottom for 20-30 minutes. What temp are you baking them? I usually roast mine for an hour @ 400F, turning once, makes the skin crispy and the meat really tender.
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Feb 29, 2012 21:39
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The no beans crowd got shouted out of the chili thread so I see they moved here to try again.
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Jun 26, 2015 06:48
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18 Character Limit posted:I think a lot of this problem would be making sure you're continuously updating inventory ... Like you say, the problem with apps is they become a job keeping inventory updated. I haven't found anything that beats an old fashioned grocery list. A piece of paper on the counter .. when you run low on something, write it down. If you need something for a future meal, write it down. Take the list with you to the grocery, if there is something you don't buy, it carries to the new list.
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Jul 23, 2018 08:16
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