Help! I'm poor and want to make good food!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Help! I'm poor and want to make good food!

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

You're not even a good troll. :ughh:

Everybody listen to .dino he has good ideas. More generally even, learn to eat like you're in an impoverished country. Fejoada is good enough for Brazilians and good enough for us as well, for instance. That is to say, the best food on earth is born of poverty.

# ¿ Oct 10, 2011 00:57

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 2, 2024 02:10

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

Mathhole posted:

These posts were too wordy for me to read them all while I'm at work, but I did ctrl+f to make sure my suggestion was unique.

Lately I've beeen doing a lot of beefed up RAMEN

You can make it surprisingly awesome by adding a few things in yourself.

soy beans! toss these in a minute before the noodles if frozen

eggs! toss these in last. they cook fast!

mushrooms! toss in whenever.

onions of various types! toss in sooner if you don't want the kick.

HAM! precooked, please.

I've also tried adding corn, peas, seaweed, pancetta, and others. Try whatever sounds good!

e: I also love spam. With ramen or rice or whatever. Can't eat too much or you die young, but it's good once or twice a week.

Ramen really isn't a great thing to eat a lot of. Also, Spam is made by Hormel which is a terrible company that takes delight in giving it's underpaid workers horrible diseases and then firing them, so you shouldn't eat that simply for morality sake.

The grits idea above is a great one, though. Grits (and cornmeal in all it's forms) are fantastic.

# ¿ Oct 10, 2011 19:49

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

picklejars posted:

I know many have mentioned vinegar for cleaning, and wanted to add that you can save a ton by making your own laundry detergent. My kids have really sensitive skin and we switched to homemade soaps and cleaners and it's great for the environment, your skin, and works great.

This is from a blog and is a variation of what I've used (I use Fells Naptha, which is a laundry bar soap). You can add essential oils for fragrance.

I do the same, but I just finely grate a bar of soap (I usually use Zote - it's a Mexican brand) with a cup each of soda and borax, and then just use that powder. Very convenient and inexpensive.

Admiral Snuggles posted:

I have to add that I completely disagree with this point. McDonalds is basically carbs, protein, and salt. These are things your body needs. Eat this poo poo if you're poor it will keep you alive.

You have solved the problem of inner city food deserts and poor nutrition. How could we have been so blind to such a simple solution?

----------------
This thread brought to you by a tremendous dickhead!

# ¿ Oct 24, 2011 16:12

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

Kenning posted:

Those were the saddest, beakless-est chickens that ever feebly attempted to cluck out their pain in their tiny wire cages.

Don't buy 39 cent chickens.

# ¿ Oct 25, 2011 15:54

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

noblesse posted:

Well, the thread is about being poor and affording to eat, so I'm just trying to contribute some ways for people to be able to eat affordably. VV There have been several mentions of megamarts and giant bulk stores already in this thread, which honestly are about the same on the morally corrupt scale if we're looking at it that way.

If you're poor enough that 2 dollars will break you in the price of a chicken, then by all means eat the battery chickens - people come first. But it should be a morally difficult decision, and anyone who can afford to buy better owes it to human morality to do so. And people shouldn't shop at most megamarts and bulk stores either, but for different reasons.

----------------
This thread brought to you by a tremendous dickhead!

# ¿ Oct 26, 2011 02:35

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

Hawkgirl posted:

I'd like to spend less money on food, but I'm not living paycheck-to-paycheck. So what ARE the things it's okay to buy cheap, and what things should I avoid buying the very cheapest version? Here's what I (think I) know:

Eggs: Buy free-range

Good.

quote:

Grains/rice/nuts/whatever: Buy in bulk

Probably perfectly fine.

quote:

Meat: I don't know? I like buying my meat in bulk from Costco and freezing it but I have no idea where they get their meat.

Costco, aside from their other issues don't shop at Costco does not carry the highest quality meat. The best thing is to find a local butcher - depending on where you live, this may be a kosher butcher, halal butcher, carniceria, etc. It's more than likely going to be an ethnic joint, though - this is good! They're serving communities which demand a certain quality. Ask these butchers questions, get to know them. Find out where they get their meat and how they treat it - they'll probably be very proud and happy to tell you after they figure out that you're not from PETA or something. Once you have this relationship built, you will be able to get super high quality, ethical meat at prices which are in almost all cases even better than Costco. I raise and butcher most of my own meat, but for those times when I don't have something on hand, I have a local Mexican butcher who gets me very high quality, local meat.

quote:

Milk and other dairy: No idea

This one is going to be a little more tricky, as the USDA has a total hard on for shutting down small dairy producers. But ask around at co-ops, farmers markets, etc. and you'll see who in your area is producing good quality stuff, and where you can get it. Sometimes you can luck out - where I am, the big local dairy company gets about half it's milk from the valley I live in, from cows that I can go visit. And the other half comes from dairies just like the ones here in my valley. So I can feel pretty good about getting the local big dairy company milk and butter. On the other hand, we're installing a new gray water system on the ranch in order to water a pasture where we're going to have some milk cows, so it's not like there isn't always room for improvement.

quote:

Processed items: Stop buying them, they're expensive and way more gross than what you can make at home

There you go!

----------------
This thread brought to you by a tremendous dickhead!

# ¿ Oct 26, 2011 03:34

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

If you're somewhere with an Albertson's, you're somewhere with Mexican grocers. Go there.

# ¿ Oct 26, 2011 21:20

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

Hawkgirl posted:

This actually drives me crazy. I live in a town where there are literally more horse trails than there are paved roads, and yet the closest farmer's market is the next (much more urban) city over. What?!

The CSA's near me all close down for the winter, so I have bad timing. But I will check up on them in January when they start opening again.

I would be so happy if there were a kosher butcher around. I can't even find bagels, around here. Bagels! And not "the only bagel place is lovely," no, more like "there are literally no places to get bagels here." (Bagels from the grocery store are not considered bagels for the purposes of this post, or for the purpose of eating.) However with some googling I did find a halal butcher nearby with some fantastic reviews about the quality of their meat. Thanks!

Good for you! You've taken an important step.

----------------
This thread brought to you by a tremendous dickhead!

# ¿ Oct 27, 2011 03:46

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

ma i married a tuna posted:

I agree - I just wanted to point out there's not really an ethnic butcher loophole.

Or you could, you know, talk to the butcher. Maybe you have lovely butchers in your area? But when I go down to La Chapala and buy meat, it's from cows raised in this valley, by ranchers that I know. So yes, there is an ethnic butcher loophole, if you're willing to take the time and investigate things further. You know, like I said earlier. So if you're poor and want to eat meat, you can eat perfectly ethically raised meat. You just have to do your homework.

As for Costco - they run local businesses out just like Walmart does, with the added bonus of treating you like a thief every time you enter their crappy store. And on a personal level, they don't sell a single thing I'm interested in buying.

----------------
This thread brought to you by a tremendous dickhead!

# ¿ Oct 27, 2011 06:16

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

Hardware store.

# ¿ Oct 28, 2011 05:58

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

amishbuttermaster posted:

Sorry but no, this is not true. I'm in Billings, MT. Plenty of Albertson's, no Mexican or any other kind of ethnic markets whatsoever.

There are no Mexicans in Billings? I bet there are! Talk to them and find out!

Also, there's a bunch of Hutterites up there, and I'm sure that they're selling good stuff if you ask around and find out where.

# ¿ Oct 28, 2011 20:03

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

slinkimalinki posted:

When you say gravy, what do you mean? The only gravy I know of is the stuff you make with the juices from your roast. It's delicious, but you have to roast something first.

For instance, country gravy. Cook up some loose sausage (are you in the US? If not, this is the sage flavoured US style "country sausage") in a pan. When the sausage has rendered out it's fat, remove the meat and make a roux with what's left in the pan. Add milk to the roux, then salt and pepper to taste, making a thick and creamy sauce. Add the sausage back in and serve it over buttermilk biscuits, or chicken fried steak, or mashed potatoes, or whatever. If you don't have sausage you can start from bacon grease or lard or something.

# ¿ Jan 9, 2012 21:33

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

babies havin rabies posted:

cook the sausage and drain most of the grease.

The grease is the most important part!

# ¿ Jan 10, 2012 17:46

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

Add the flour to the grease in the pan, allowing the two to combine into a nice roux (stir furiously with a whisk while doing this). Then add your milk to the roux.

# ¿ Jan 10, 2012 18:19

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

feelz good man posted:

You don't have to listen to Wiggles. I make country gravy by draining off the fat, then deglazing with a little water and some bouillon powder, then I thicken it with a really quick cornstarch slurry. It's really awesome gravy and you don't have to use all that awful fat.

Fat is not awful but gravy made without it is.

# ¿ Jan 11, 2012 06:17

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

BastardAus posted:

Not swimming in fat though I think is the point.
Enough to get a ping-pongball sized nugget of flour stuck together so you can then work it down. Gradually with water/boiled-vegetable-water. Don't forget the salt. I watched my dad do every Sunday of my life until I left home. He's a Pommie-bastard stickler too, these techniques are not shortcuts.

That's not country gravy.

# ¿ Jan 11, 2012 15:19

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

BastardAus posted:

Not your country indeed. Makes no difference to the flavour though, it's a binding ingredient in the English recipe. You can stop adding liquid when it reaches the required consistency. The pan scrapings provide the flavour.

In the American " country gravy", you have pork fat in some form providing the flavor to a thick, milk based sauce. As such, the fat is necessary no only for the roux, but also for the primary flavor. That's why you can make county gravy starting from sausage grease, bacon grease, lard, fatty parts of last night's roast, etc. That's also why it became such a staple in rural American cookery - it's a great way to extend the use of things already on hand, and it's a way to pack more calories into a meal; both important if you're trying to stretch your food budget.

# ¿ Jan 11, 2012 16:23

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

If you trust your pork, and no getting it from the supermarket or discount store doesn't count, try your chops rare. Rare pork is a revelation if you've been having dried out overcooked pork your whole life.

# ¿ Jan 12, 2012 04:26

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

Moey posted:

Ramen + Cheese. Use tortilla chips to scoop up the ramen.

Don't do this it's not good food.

# ¿ Jan 14, 2012 07:27

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

If you have the space, the most economical thing is o raise your own chickens. They eat chicken scraps and bugs in your yard, they give you eggs, and when they've gotten a bit older you can turn them into delicious suppers.

# ¿ Jan 15, 2012 04:04

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

Flour Bunny posted:

what is pasta sauce made with? magic?

Considering there are about 8000 different pasta sauces one could make? They could be made from lots of things. If you're talking about straight tomato sauce, though, the basics are olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, basil/oregano, and salt/pepper. There is no need for canned tomato soup in tomato sauce.

There is no need for canned tomato soup ever. In anything.

Better to save that money and combine it with the cost of your hot dogs and use it on something that has not only a higher nutritional value, but actually tastes good.

# ¿ Jan 16, 2012 06:48

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

feelz good man posted:

How is it GWS can both praise snout to tail eating and butchering lifestyles, have entire threads dedicated to eating obscure offal, then turn around and be absolutely disgusted by "bits from a carcass" or gland meat?

It's not bad because of what it's made out of, it's bad because the process by which it is made horribly sickens workers with utterly debilitating nerve diseases which Hormel then fires them for so they're not stuck with having to cover them on insurance or workman's comp! This is a bad thing!

# ¿ Jan 16, 2012 16:32

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

Valid. And there's lots of places where fish is VERY expensive. Here, only trout is cheap, and that's only if you catch it yourself. Fish is an indulgence.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2012 03:39

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

Actually where will you be living in August and how can I reach you?

# ¿ Feb 23, 2012 06:26

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

punissuer posted:

For people talking about Costco, get a Costco member to buy you a Costco cash card & you don't need a membership...

Don't advertise for Costco in here - they are a terrible company that treats their customers like criminals. Moreover, there is is no "deal" you can get there that you can't get at various and sundry other establishments. Also, every time you shop there, you contribute to the further corporatization of our food chain as well as exacerbating the environmental and societal problems which are the result of American urban planning.

Burn down all of the Costcos.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2012 07:26

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

And where else would you go to find a wife?

# ¿ Mar 5, 2012 22:22

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

silversiren posted:

Does Walmart tend to be cheaper than Most other stores?

Don't shop at Walmart.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2012 20:37

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

bunnielab posted:

Unless you need cheap socks or diet coke or trash bags or tin foil or flour or any of the huge number of items that make much more sense to buy in bulk from a warehouse type store.

Dude, we get it, the food industry in this country is horrid and it is better to do without then support factory farming, unsustainable production methods and unsafe/unethical butchering/packing. But, if one is poor enough for it to matter, buying poo poo like the stuff above for as cheaply as possible makes a lot of sense. If giving walmart money for stuff like this allows one to not buy factory farmed meat or veg that has been trucked halfway across the world then that would seem to me a pretty fair trade.

Also if you would cut your damm hair maybe the nice old lady's at the door wouldnt think you were stealing?

There's a lot more to it than that - Walmart also treats their workers terribly and we shouldn't contribute to that. And they're not always the cheapest place around for tinfoil and trashbags so that argument is out, too. Pretty much, Walmart is terrible in every concievable way and has no redeemable qualities, and the only reason for shopping there would be if one literally cannot get to anywhere else, and in my experience that's not very common at all.

And I don't know what you're talking about with cutting hair I've had my head shaved for a couple of years now.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2012 22:00

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

bunnielab posted:

The redeeming qualities is that I don't have to drive all over the place to buy 15 different things and very often they are the cheapest when you don't really care about brand.

If you can direct me towards a general purpose type store with decent labor properties then please do.

I generally have enough money that I only shop at walmart for a few items (pistol ammo, dog food. vacuum filters, and bottled water) but getting all preachy about the evils of corporations to people with $30 a week food budgets is kinda dickish and counter productive.

Being broke is no excuse not to be moral, and no reason to get taken advantage of by faceless megacorps. As far as a good store, it depends on where you live. If I need aluminum foil and washing soda, I usually get it at the hardware store because they have the best price and I'm in there anyway. Maybe the feed store, too. If I lived in a big town out west (like Reno, for instance) I'd shop for those things at WinCo, which is employee owned, and a hell of a lot cheaper than Walmart.

quote:

The hair thing was a dumb joke, irrc you and I have near identical hair/facial hair.

And that's why you're so cute.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2012 22:59

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

Charmmi posted:

Sometimes when I mince garlic by hand I wonder to myself if maybe I am using too much garlic. But then I realize I am being crazy because fresh chopped garlic is amazing and I am doing The Right Thing. Plus the Asian mart up the street sells them $1 for 3 bulbs so I am also doing The Cheap Thing.

That's expensive garlic. Must be a regional thing.

But even if it's expensive put garlic in everything.

# ¿ Mar 19, 2012 20:56

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

GrAviTy84 posted:

El Super and Superior are the same tier of market as these. Some things are better than others though. Cilantro and scallions are usually dirt cheap and are just fine there. Other things like jalapenos (mild. as. gently caress.), tomatoes (mealy as mentioned), etc are just not worth getting at places like these.

If any of you are living in SoCal why are you buying tomatoes anyway? You can grow tomatoes in Trona, for goodness sake, so you can grow them in LA.

# ¿ Apr 15, 2012 05:03

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

CzarChasm posted:

For me, it's not worth it to make my own sandwich bread for example. I'd be the only one who eats it, and I really don't make sandwiches that often.

What about toast? What about bread on the side of supper? Why don't you make sandwiches very often? Why why why?

# ¿ May 17, 2012 19:32

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

Wheelchair Stunts posted:

Is this as simple as Googling my city/area or should I just be hitting up farmer's markets and local suppliers and just seeing what they offer over time? I'm in a suburb of Los Angeles and we're not the best known for our game nor agriculture.

If you live in Southern California, there is nothing you can't really get, and you can get most of what is good in life for very cheap. Look especially at ethnic markets.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2012 16:00

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

GrAviTy84 posted:

What Wiggles said. I live in Riverside and have almost never had problems sourcing conventional American produce for cheap, or sourcing quite obscure ingredients. I know where to get elk, venison, squab, rabbit, pheasant, and buffalo, in direct response to your game question. If you think any part of California isn't known for agriculture, you don't know California very well.

Echoing what he said about checking out ethnic markets. Ranch Market 99 alone will get you a ton of cheap produce as well as a plethora of obscure ingredients (like that squab, rabbit, and pheasant). Sprouts markets have a ton of nice bulk ingredients and in their freezer case are shrink wrapped steaks and ground elk, venison, and buffalo (they also have defrosted buffalo at mine). Mexican, Indian, and Korean markets are everywhere in LA and offer even more cheap and obscure food. The key is to walk around, look at everything, read the tags, if you don't know what something is, ask or write it down/take a picture and ask in the General Questions thread.

Totes for serious. The biggest mistake people make living in California is that they assume that if they can't find it Lucky/Vons/Albertsons it must not exist, when in fact those temples to mediocrity and mass marketing don't carry even %25 of what is available with even the most rudimentary effort. California is blessed to be one of the places of greatest food diversity and access in the entire world, and Southern California in particular may in fact be the world's number 1 place for freshness, variety, and value. Just be a little adventurous and put a little time into research like Gravity said and you will find more wonderful, interesting, and inexpensive things to cook than you can possibly explore in your entire lifetime.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2012 18:09

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

nm posted:

I actually like Redlands a lot, but I want an Asian market I can walk to as I can drat near walk to everything else (though the Mexican market is a hike).

I believe I may be the only person in the IE who doesn't need a car (except to get to work because gently caress biking down Waterman or Tippecanoe at night).

edit: There's a sprouts in loving Hemet, but I have to drive to Riverside?

Hahaha, there's things in Hemet now? I've been away for too long.

# ¿ Jun 13, 2012 06:57

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

nm posted:

There's also a homeless shelter and a rehab place!

Ah, that's more like the Hemet I remember.

# ¿ Jun 13, 2012 07:09

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

Hamburgers don't have vegetables. :rolleyes:

# ¿ Jul 3, 2012 16:28

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

Football.

# ¿ Jul 4, 2012 07:20

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

Awfull Ioci posted:

Any meat can be cooked in a microwave.

Meat can be made hot in a microwave, but I would not go so far as to say it has been cooked.

# ¿ Sep 27, 2012 05:21

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 2, 2024 02:10

Mr. Wiggles: Dec 1, 2003; We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.

What was wrong with the stove?

# ¿ Sep 28, 2012 19:48

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Help! I'm poor and want to make good food!

«‹›3 »