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!

Ghost of Reagan Past: Oct 7, 2003; rock and roll fun

Lentils and rice dishes are filling as gently caress. I can get three or four meals out of a pot of lentils and rice. What I do is use 1 cup of brown lentils and 3/4 cup of rice (French green lentils are good, too; I've never cooked it with red lentils, but I'm skeptical given the fact that red lentils aren't TOO resilient when cooked for extended periods of time...maybe I'll try it sometime and report back). Cook the lentils first, drain them, then add rice and spices to the pot with some extra water. Whatever spices you choose can change the entire dish. I'll make it with some garam masala, curry powder, cumin and chili powder, some kind of cajun seasonings, whatever you like. I always cook up some garlic in some oil and add it to the pot as well. You can cook some onions and throw them in, as well. It's up to your tastes.

Now, what I'll usually do is cook up some vegetables or cook some potatoes and throw them on top of the lentils and rice. With some spices and creativity there's tons of stuff you can do with this, and this simple dish can have a lot of variety. I've done it with cauliflower, fried potatoes, roasted red onion slices (I love onions gently caress yeah), mushrooms, and fried green tomato slices. Once you get the basic idea it's such a versatile dish you may get excited about lentils and rice.

It is also cheap and really, really easy. I can come home, prep almost everything in five minutes, then go watch TV while it cooks.

EDIT: With some fried onions you can make some delicious, delicious mujaddara.

Ghost of Reagan Past fucked around with this message at 03:34 on Dec 4, 2011

# ¿ Dec 4, 2011 03:29

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 18, 2024 09:18

Ghost of Reagan Past: Oct 7, 2003; rock and roll fun

Pookah posted:

If you buy the spices in bulk (find a co-op) you can buy all those spices pretty cheap, and in the precise amounts you need. The rest should be pretty affordable.

# ¿ Jan 6, 2012 22:29

Ghost of Reagan Past: Oct 7, 2003; rock and roll fun

Joe Friday posted:

For more contribution, I tend to save on groceries by focusing on one cuisine type for a week or so and preparing dishes around the core ingredients of that particular food style. It saves cash because the dishes from the same part of the world usually use different combinations of the same stuff. It also gives me a chance to go into ethnic grocers that have all kinds of cool stuff for cheap.

Ethnic grocers own. It can also be really cheap once you have all the basic stuff for various dishes. For instance, go check out the Chinese food thread and look at the list of things you should have. It's a big list, right? Well, I started cooking a lot of Chinese food because I got a wok recently and I bought all the stuff. It cost me about $20 at an Asian grocer to buy all of it, and it's not like they come in small bottles, either. So once you have all of it, all you need is various proteins and vegetables, so you can basically get what's on sale. And once you start to understand how it all comes together, you can start experimenting and trying different ingredients and proportions.

And don't think you need to live in a big city to find a good ethnic grocer. I live in Lincoln loving Nebraska and I bought everything at a grocer here.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2012 03:10

Ghost of Reagan Past: Oct 7, 2003; rock and roll fun

With your veggies, make a vegetable soup! In a pot, throw some olive oil and saute some onions and garlic. Add a can of drained tomatoes and let it simmer a bit. Then add some diced carrots and potatoes, along with water. Let it all simmer, and add spices to taste. I like thyme and oregano, but throw whatever you want in there. Fresh cracked black pepper is awesome. Let the potatoes and carrots soften to a texture you're okay with, then add a bit of pasta (or, as people in the General Questions Thread have pointed out to me, leftover rice). It's great with some grated parmesan on top.

One thing I do is throw whatever OTHER vegetables I have in there. I had some leftover rainbow chard last time I made the soup, and threw it in near the end, about 10 minutes before it was finished. The soup was colorful and delicious. It's a nice, hearty meal, great with some crusty bread.

Or you can throw whatever (firm) veggies you have into a curry. Follow one of dino.'s recipes, and check the vegan food thread for some other ideas. Always a good idea to check when you have veggies. By the way, one nice way to firm up any vegetable curry is tofu. Trader Joe's tofu is $1.50/lb, and it's awesome. Many ethnic markets also sell cheap tofu.

YET ANOTHER WAY to eat greens is to cook them up with some sugar, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. Chop up some kale or collard greens or whatever greens you have. In a pan, heat some olive oil and quickly saute a bit of ginger and garlic. Then add the greens, toss with sugar and soy sauce, and cover for a few minutes, until tender. So good. Not sure whether it'd be good with other veggies, but greens are the best and everyone should eat more greens. This is really good served with some jerk chicken.

Ghost of Reagan Past fucked around with this message at 06:10 on Feb 29, 2012

# ¿ Feb 29, 2012 06:07

Ghost of Reagan Past: Oct 7, 2003; rock and roll fun

I wish the ethnic markets near me were that nice. My favorite has a really minimal produce section, but they're really cheap, well-stocked, and extremely friendly. The other one is basically the opposite.

Don't be afraid of ethnic markets. They're just grocery stores. I'm almost itching to take a trip down there tomorrow, but I don't need anything right now and I always buy about $10 worth of things that are really interesting, but I have NO IDEA what to do with them. This, of course, leads to googling and experimenting, and I somehow wake up with multiple new cookbooks on my shelf.

What I'm saying is take the trip. But if it's a good distance, be sure to keep that in mind and go with some idea what you're looking for, and know what you use a lot (but don't stick strictly to a shopping list). If you use lots of chili garlic paste, for instance, make sure you pick up enough until you can make the next trip cost-effective.

(I have no idea what transit costs are like in New York).

# ¿ Mar 6, 2012 05:09

Ghost of Reagan Past: Oct 7, 2003; rock and roll fun

bunnielab posted:

Wait, are you talking about buying guns or groceries? Either way this is decent advice, just make sure to bring a friend with you.

Why would you need to bring a friend when shopping for groceries?

For more content, I just bought a 25lb bag of rice. Really good rice, holy poo poo, and it's going to last me a long-rear end time. Just take $20 to your local Asian grocery and grab a bag.

# ¿ Mar 12, 2012 19:51

Ghost of Reagan Past: Oct 7, 2003; rock and roll fun

GabrielAisling posted:

We're in our early twenties, and more or less live together. I'm on horrible roommate via student housing roulette number 5, and spend most of my time at his place. He will go hungry before he'll eat something he doesn't want to. He was spoiled as a kid, unfortunately. And he'd rather eat the cold happy meal than vegetables.

This is why I thank my parents for forcing me to try new things.

Fresh vegetables are one of life's joys.

# ¿ Mar 17, 2012 06:49

Ghost of Reagan Past: Oct 7, 2003; rock and roll fun

Dogfish posted:

Best of all, if you can devote a couple of hours on, say, a Sunday afternoon to making an enormous bath of pierogi, you can then freeze them. That way, you have convenient frozen pierogi waiting for you, for a fraction of the cost of store-bought.

You can do this with any kind of dumpling, just an FYI. And if you don't want to make your wrappers by hand, buying them frozen at the Asian grocer is a good bet. Don't buy them anywhere else; they're stupidly expensive. For a reference, I pay $1.79 for 50 spring roll wrappers at the Asian market, but I could have bought 10 at the grocer down the block for $2.50.

Great deal, that.

EDIT: if you make a huge batch of dumplings, you can bring the stuff in front of your TV and just fold fold fold. It's loving mindless once you get the hang of it, and it's a nice meditative activity. When you freeze pierogi (or any dumpling), be sure to spread them on a pan in the freezer so they don't stick together in the bags. Once they're sort of frozen, then you can toss them in the bags

Ghost of Reagan Past fucked around with this message at 05:16 on Jun 1, 2012

# ¿ Jun 1, 2012 05:13

Ghost of Reagan Past: Oct 7, 2003; rock and roll fun

Yehudis Basya posted:

I've never made pierogi before. If I were to make a filling out of ground beef, potato, chive, and cheddar, would that be considered some horrible Shepard Pie hybrid, or could I still call the dish pierogi in its own right? Also, I'm assuming cook all the way, then freeze?

Freeze them raw.

# ¿ Jun 1, 2012 06:25

Ghost of Reagan Past: Oct 7, 2003; rock and roll fun

EAT THE EGGS RICOLA posted:

Quick someone tell 95% of the world to stop eating legumes and rice before they get digestive issues and diabetes!

There was a study published a few months ago that correlated white rice consumption with an increased risk of diabetes. It was a meta-analysis of four food questionnaire studies. I wouldn't read much into it, especially when rice constitutes a traditional staple food. If you're that worried about it (and you shouldn't be, given that billions of people eat it as a staple! and diabetes rates in those countries aren't higher than the US!), just eat brown rice.

As for beans I've never had digestive problems from beans???

Ghost of Reagan Past fucked around with this message at 03:10 on Jun 4, 2012

# ¿ Jun 4, 2012 03:06

Ghost of Reagan Past: Oct 7, 2003; rock and roll fun

You don't need to thaw pierogi. You can also make jiaozi, eggrolls, and samosas. Freeze them, and cook them straight from the freezer.

These are all exceedingly cheap. I made 80 jiaozi for about $7.50. If I'd made the wrappers it'd have been even cheaper.

# ¿ Jul 7, 2012 19:25

Ghost of Reagan Past: Oct 7, 2003; rock and roll fun

Valdara posted:

Is there a way to make wrappers that aren't absurdly thick besides a pasta roller? I can't get dough thin with my rolling pin AT ALL. What's the secret?

Circular wrappers. Roll them flat between your palms. It's way easier than flattening them with a rolling pin or a pasta roller.

# ¿ Jul 7, 2012 23:37

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 18, 2024 09:18

Ghost of Reagan Past: Oct 7, 2003; rock and roll fun

Saint Darwin posted:

Growing your own anything is a pipe dream for many Americans. Hell, I have a house with a small yard and I cant grow crap due to the constant shade from trees, the lack of clear land, and the angle of the house (blocks almost all light).

Re: vegetarianism for savings, I just dont see how. Fresh vegetables are expensive, frozen never thrill me, and canned is a combination of those. You can eat the hell out of rice and beans but thats not exactly balanced.

I mostly eat vegetarian. I eat veggies every day, but most of my protein comes from soy. Tofu is $1.69/lb at my local Chinese grocery. And yes, fresh veggies can be expensive, but learn to shop around and buy seasonally. I live in the Midwest, so during the winter I suffer through frozen and canned vegetables, knowing that come spring and summer I will have fresh ones. It is not expensive to feed yourself a balanced vegetarian diet, since meat is still pricey, too...

# ¿ Oct 23, 2012 06:51

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