Talk about recession, sheesh. My fridge is having a serious economic slump, and I thank dog everyday that I work at a restaurant. The problem is my days off... =^\ I often have to make 'something from nothing' or go to the store w/ an extremely limited budget. In one way, I am lucky b/c left to my own devices, I only really like to eat one big meal a day. I drink coffee for "breakfast" and then eat somewhere between 3 and 6pm and that's it (they say that the healthiest way is to eat 6 small meals per day, and tho I have never tried it, I would have to say that they're probably right, LOLz). When shiz is particularly tight, one thing I like to make is spinach orzo. There are tips and tricks to making it delish that don't cost anything, for instance: I toast the dry spices as well as the orzo; cook the orzo risotto-style, keeping all the flavor inside the pasta (and also adding a nice, filling starchiness), and; I add just a touch of lemon juice before serving. Orzo is about a dollar a box, and I buy the Publix-brand loose frozen spinach which is $1.29. I always have my dry spices b/c I buy them super cheap at DeKalb Market (I have a quarter-pound of garlic powder that cost $1.36... and a quarter-pound is a damn lot of garlic powder), same goes for lemon juice which is 99¢ for the big bottle and kosher salt which is (thankfully) still less than a dollar. So for less than $5 I can make 4-6 servings (4-6 days) of spinach orzo...
So my question, should you choose to answer, is: what do you make when you're strapped for cash? What tips do you use to make it yummy, why is it your fave, and how much does it cost (approx)?
Can't wait to hear... *(^_^)*
4 comments:
Funny you should be talking about cheap inexpensive ways to put a meal together. As it is the first of the month I am broke and my fridge is bare.
It's sunday so I am looking for what I can do to put together a proper dinner. LOL
My fav meal is spaghette, with meat sause. I can eat it any day of the week and it's extremely easy to put together.
Publix brand pasta is 1.19 buy on get one free. (It's always on sale) I usually get two boxs of course. Two cans of the ragu (if it's ob sale) bottom shelf two for 3 dollars. A a can of diced tomatos .78 cents. A garlic clove, sea salt, a bell pepper, an onion. (.99, .99, 1.89,.79) and a pound of ground beaf.
Recipe is simple. Saute the minced garlic, diced onions and bell pepper in the bottom of the pot. In a little olive oil. (I keep that in the house.) Ground beef should already be browned (not seasoned) once tender toss the ground beef in, make sure to lightly season with sea salt. Then drop the whole can of diced tomatos juice and all. Let simmer muinute in a half. Add sauce, and let cook on low heat for an hour. ( I season with my own special ingredients as it simmers: I can't give all my secrete away.) But you learn little tricks.
That's how I get through the hard times. It last for three days.
Hey girl hey! So, here are my recipes when I'm pretty broke:
1) A salad with lettuce, chicken, olives, & dressing.
2) A dip with ground beef (chicken or turkey whatever you prefer) and Velveeta cheese. Melt the Velveeta in the ground whatever and use Doritos and the dipper.
3) A box of Wheat Thins or Cheezits. Girl the flavored ones last me like a good week in between meals so that could good in between the spinach orzo. ;)
I agree, I love, love, love Anthony Bourdain, so why am I not blogging him? In my next life I want to be Anthony Bourdain and why is it that when we speak of him, it's not Tony or just Anthony, it needs to be Anthony Bourdain completely?
I also agree, it's so expensive to cook, who says cooking for two is less expensive than one-if I were just cooking for me, I would be eating cereal every night. See ya on our blog!
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twodonnas :)
For me it's egg fried rice with coconut milk.
I always have a bag of rice around.
I get bags at around $2.50 $3.00 at farmers market.
I pick up some coconut milk at publix, like $1.99 a can. Maybe an onion and a chilli, then I get the eggs, again $2.50 to $3.00
I cook the rice with the coconut milk and the onion, maybe some garlic so the rice is so good you can eat it solo. (of course theres salt, but that's a given)
then I put the rice in the fridge. Cold rice is better to egg fry with.
When it's cold I get some oil hot and add my base. Usually garlic and ginger, then I add the egg till it's almost dry, then I add a little more oil, turn up the heat and put in the rice.
I stock up on dry seasonings. They last long and the one purchase equals a good number of uses. So I put in some basil and some cumin...
that's what I have lived on in the past.....
Love your blogs!
Keep it up!!
thanks
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