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.

The Indomie brand of Indonesian style noodles is usually pretty good, too, and super cheap. Mi Goreng Satay, curry, etc. All the good flavours, little packets of fried shallot, etc.

# ¿ Sep 28, 2012 23:07

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 10:11

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

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).'

You just have to be inventive. People garden enough to provide almost all of their own food in environments as varied as the hell-blasted deserts of Nevada to the cold and constantly gray Greenland coastline. Certain crops do better in certain conditions. For instance, if you have a lot of shade and a lot of rocks in your yard or something, just grow a bunch of kale and turnips - that's what they do in Scotland where the conditions are exactly like that.

# ¿ Oct 23, 2012 15:34

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

Saint Darwin posted:

Even the H Marts I go to, while they have potatoes and onions and steal prices, as well as the cucumbers I pickle for extremely cheap, stuff like bell peppers are still $1 each (and I can eat those like candy).

That's a loving fantastic idea. I can actually do stuff with those. I'll look into it.

That's the spirit!

# ¿ Oct 23, 2012 16:13

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

And on the off chance that you forget about a bunch of radishes that you planted in a far off corner of the garden and forgot about and they go to seed and then develop little seed pods that look a lot like peas well by golly those little seed pods are super fantastic in salads or to top noodles or anywhere you would use snow peas.

# ¿ Oct 24, 2012 17:23

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

Don't spend your dollars at a moral hole in the wall like Walmart (which owns Sam's Club). Rice is generally very cheap if you're buying in large amounts. Also, if you venture into more ethnic markets, you'll find varieties of rice much tastier than enriched long grain.

# ¿ Mar 12, 2013 07:12

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

Calrose is a wonderful, fragrant, chewy rice that is the perfect utility selection, and is what I grew up eating every day, so I was only being partially facetious. Sometimes, however, it is appropriate to serve jasmine or basmati or some other such variety.

# ¿ Mar 12, 2013 14:49

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

Etc. etc. etc. but let's still remember the central point here: It is possible to get better quality ingredients for the same or even less money without even having to go to Walmart.

# ¿ Mar 12, 2013 16:59

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

Our mobile green grocer carries all chiles (that includes bell peppers, when he has them) for 50 cents a pound, or sometimes 25 if there's a glut. Of course, you have to speak Spanish/Spanglish/Italian and he only sets up in the Ace Hardware parking lot on Sundays, but it's pretty nice for those times of year when you don't have anything fresh coming out of your garden.

# ¿ Mar 13, 2013 06:00

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

You are suffering from broken heart.

Make anticuchos.

# ¿ Mar 17, 2013 03:08

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

jhorphear posted:

This thread has been an amazing help for me. I have been lurking through it for a couple months and have managed to cut my grocery bill down quite a bit, and have improved the quality of food I am eating. My normal grocery bill was running around $60-$100, i have that down to around $40 now( except when i need coffee and soda ). I feel so much better about myself when mt cart is filled with fresh raw ingredients and not processed crap food. On top of that my cooking skills have improved significantly. Thanks you guys/gals so much!

This is why GWS is here. Good job!

# ¿ Oct 18, 2013 20:11

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

As a serious point, you should not use self checkout stations, as they take away jobs from people who need the work and yet provide almost no tangible benefit. Rather, you should support grocers where the employees are unionized or at the very least work in a coop type system. This way the workers, you included, are all supporting each other against the system which is rigged against them!

# ¿ Jun 11, 2014 23:17

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

MasterFugu posted:

1930 called, they want their logical fallacy back

It's not a logical fallacy you dolt, it's less grocery checkout jobs available for people who may not have anywhere else to work, an extremely localized issue. Someday, when we have an educational and social system which will see to it that every person has the opportunity to do meaningful work and that nobody is in danger of poverty, then bring on the self check out aisle. Until we've solved our social structural problems, though, it is literally reducing the pool of available jobs in a given locality.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2014 03:57

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

If you were so poor that you dreamed of having enough kraut then you'd damned well appreciate it.

# ¿ Aug 5, 2014 06:16

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

Then you're not really that poor. The world you fear? That's poor.

On the other hand, those of us with good taste adore kraut. :wotwot:

# ¿ Aug 5, 2014 15:09

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

What doesn't melt away will come out when you strain it (always strain your fish stock well). That said, I only ever put anchovy heads in mine because the backbones are too fiddly.

# ¿ Aug 10, 2014 14:43

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

Well no I'm pretty sure that heating things is cooking them but kay man whatev.

# ¿ Aug 11, 2014 04:41

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

The Lord Bude posted:

Just remember that liver isn't something you should make a habit of eating often. It's loaded with cholesterol and incredibly bad for you.

Liver is not bad for you unless it's polar bear liver and you have a shakleton thing happening. Try again.

# ¿ Aug 20, 2014 14:34

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

Butch Cassidy posted:

Julia Child's potato gratin with anchovy (gratin de pommes de terre aux anchois) from Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 1 is pretty great:

It walks a delicious line between gratin and quiche when you use eggs whisked in cream rather than her suggestion that b�chamel will also work. I'll probably crank out a scaled batch for Christmas supper as it is easy to pre-prep before things get busy and then slide in the oven when ready.

Post the recipe please because I don't have that book but I want that pie.

# ¿ Sep 3, 2014 18:41

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

Adult Sword Owner posted:

BudgetBytes had been doing the "SNAP challenge where she tries to eat on $4.50 a day. She posted an update on the first week and what went wrong, how things haven't worked out because of some mistakes, etc

http://www.budgetbytes.com/2014/09/snap-challenge-week-1-summary/

My friends are absolutely up in arms over her choice to buy "too expensive" rice because "taste is a luxury." She clearly admits she messed up a few ways and had to cheat with reaching into her pantry and yes if she had gone with the 70 cents a lb rice she could have probably bought them, but I don't think this is a bad thing she's attempting, is it?

Taste isn't a luxury and your friends are probably the worst type of libertarians if they believe that.

As for the lady doing the challenge, her first big problem is that she's shopping at Whole Foods. None of the things that she bought there are exclusive to the store, and are available for anywhere from 1/2 to 1/10 (!) the price at other stores which sell bulk products.

# ¿ Sep 15, 2014 16:57

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

Adult Sword Owner posted:

Right, she made clear mistakes, but I take the point to be that its a learning experience. Hell even reading about, I've taken some things away. I bought a big box of parboiled rice for $2 and with the addition of garlic salt and spinach (and hot sauce sometimes) I can then toss on leftovers and have a decent lunch.

Tempted to grab a value pack of thighs and cook em all, and bring in 1 a day.

Boxes of parboiled rice are rather going in the wrong direction by every conceivable metric.

# ¿ Sep 15, 2014 21:18

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

Adult Sword Owner posted:

I have never had rice reheat properly in my life. It always comes out dry and lovely.

Also being able to prep it here means I can do things on a whim since I'm a half mile from a grocery store. Throw in frozen vegetables, etc. Yesterday I threw in a ginger sea salt and frozen spinach and topped with left over chicken. I know overall its not the absolute top of monetary efficiency but its way better than I've been doing.

I reheat rice at work all the time because work is 35 miles from the nearest gas station, let alone the nearest eatery or grocery store. If you cook your rice properly, heating it up is no big deal. You cover your rice in the microwave, right? This helps a lot, too.

# ¿ Sep 16, 2014 17:02

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

Nicol Bolas posted:

Guys, the blogger from Budget Bites only bought stuff from the bulk bins at whole foods. She's doing all her other shopping at a regular grocery store called Rouses. She's posting all her receipts, for crying out loud. She literally spent $8 at Whole Foods (and got almonds, oat bran, rice, and garbanzo beans) and she just posted her Week 2 summary where she didn't visit whole foods at all. Also, bulk bins are fantastic and cheap and incredibly useful, particularly for stuff like nuts and spices, or when you don't want / don't need / can't afford a giant huge bag of whateverthefuck. Scale back the judgement and hate a little bit, maybe?

Bulk bins are great. The bulk bins at Whole Foods, much less so. Because they cost a lot more than other places. Something I already posted.

But whatevs.

# ¿ Sep 16, 2014 20:16

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

Leper Residue posted:

This looks awesome and I think I'm gonna try it out next week. How long do they take to cook usually? And how long does fresh pasta stay? I usually like to make big batches of stuff at the beginning of the week so I don't have to worry about anything when I get home from work.

Oh yeah, the channel is awesome. I love watching that little old lady talking about the depression and making the food. But seriously,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51VhG8MKxJYHere you can watch her pick dandelions from the neighborhood and eat a big ol' bowl of dandelions. No thank you.

Dandelions rule. I use them all the time. My favourite thing is to sautee them very quickly in olive oil with garlic and finish with just a bit of vinegar and salt.

# ¿ Sep 18, 2014 02:26

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

Plan your menu for the entire week and go shopping once. This allows you to make use of leftovers, ingredients that may be plentiful enough for multiple meals, etc. For instance, buying and roasting a chicken for Sunday dinner, then having chicken tacos with the leftovers on Monday night, and then chicken soup on Tuesday night by cooking the carcass all day in the slow cooker while you're at work.

# ¿ Oct 7, 2014 18:49

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

Charmmi posted:

When I started planning meals for the week, I wrote all the meals out on a 7 day calendar and built my grocery list off that. I picked meals that would reheat well since I packed leftovers for lunches. It sounds like you guys like to decide on meals at the last second? Having the calendar meant we could both look at it and know what is coming up.

Yep, I plan for the entire week as well. Good planning is the core of good kitchen management :eng101:

# ¿ Oct 7, 2014 20:12

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

adorai posted:

You also get the liver, heart, and gizzard (I fry these for my dog)

quote:

and the carcass (I pitch mine,

You are broken.

# ¿ Oct 8, 2014 05:35

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

Best food I ever ate was the liver from a turkey last thanksgiving. Heritage, local (not one of mine, got it at the FFA raffle), quickly sauteed on butter and eaten by itself.

# ¿ Oct 8, 2014 07:08

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

Daedalus Esquire posted:

I'll use vegetable shortening for a lot of things that don't actually rely on butter flavor, it's pretty neutral in taste so you wouldn't want to use it in pastry crusts but it's fine for a lot of cookies and cakes that are based around other strong flavors. Plus a tub is cheap, and I've found its better for when I'm cooking Mexican.

Are you a vegan? If not, switch to lard in place of shortening. It's even cheaper, tastes much better, bakes better, and is arguably healthier.

_{* this message brought to you by the Nevada Pork Growers Association}

# ¿ Jan 12, 2015 15:24

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

Adult Sword Owner posted:

Weird question: I don't like beans, but I've decided that I need to force myself to get into them because they're extremely inexpensive and everyone's always all about them. What's a good recipe to start with?

e: Besides the thing above of course.

Soak dried beans in a bowl overnight. Drain the water the next morning and put the beans in a pot with a ham hock, black pepper, and bay leaves, and enough water to cover everything. Simmer covered for 12 hours, serve with cornbread.

# ¿ Feb 18, 2015 19:38

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

Infinite Karma posted:

This is kind of old, but should I be paranoid about leaving the stove on for 12 hours unattended while I'm at work? I feel like that's a bad idea.

Either use a crockpot (i do this) or use a dutch oven in the stove or on the woodstove (i do this in the wintertime if I'm at home).

# ¿ Mar 30, 2015 22:00

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

Just cook for a long time with the onion and bay leaf, then add other veggies when there's a few hours left. Meatless bean soups (without chili) have a unique and delicious flavour all of their own that you can bring out with only vegetables, herbs, and some mild spices.

Also, try a white bean soup with onion, some caraway, a little carrot, and lots of dill. Some cabbage would be good in there too, finely shredded in the last half hour. Top with some vinegar just before serving.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2015 14:29

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

So, a thing I have mentioned in other threads, and I'll keep talking about because it's important- beans take a long time to cook. Like 8 or 12 hours if you want them to get really good - and that's after soaking all night. Unless you're using a pressure cooker, you've got to give your beans some time.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2015 14:43

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

It's one of the primary reasons I keep a slow cooker around (well, also for congee and oatmeal and what not, but beans are the big reason). I cook with dried beans a lot, and my favourite thing to do is to soak overnight, then put them in the slow cooker before I go to work. That night they're ready to go and at the perfect texture. Some recipes are better on the stove top for that time, though, because in the stirring action you break up the beans a bit, giving that nice creamy consistency.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2015 15:20

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

neogeo0823 posted:

Are you talking about making some kind of bean gravy, or perhaps a very smooth refried bean? Because I tend to do pretty well quick-cooking my beans in 90 minutes in the oven, and I've never really had a problem. I mean, yeah, granted, if you cook them low and slow, you'll get a much creamier texture out of them, which might be what you want, but quick-cooking them like I do keeps them solid enough for use in most dishes while actually cooking them all the way through so they're edible.

I don't think you "get" beans.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2015 17:27

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

PiratePing posted:

While I'm showing off my European ignorance: I thought the whole point of chili was beans in a spicy red sauce. We don't really get much of the traditional Mexican stuff I see on the forums here.

Chili is not Mexican. Rather, it's Tex-Mex, which is it's own genre of food that despite it's name has very little to do with traditional Mexican cooking.

In any case, traditionally chili is a stew of meat with hot chilies and other spices and nothing else. Beans are a thing added to chili as a filler, and while not out of place re: Tex-Mex cuisine, they tend to denote a "cheapening" of the chili in many people's minds. Hence the vitriol often attached to discussion of the subject.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2015 18:29

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

KettleWL posted:

Literally Kroger brand natural peanut butter is exactly what you want.

Or Jiff has jarred stuff that is very low on added sugar, like 2 or 3g a serving I think?

I always buy Jif, because it's good.

If you live on the west coast, though, and have a Winco Foods near you, you can make peanut butter in store.

# ¿ Aug 5, 2015 17:11

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

I eat almost no chicken because of the expense of quality birds and the rarity of birds for butcher. When we do get them we make a nice roast whole chicken.

What I DO do is pick up a bunch of turkeys after Thanksgiving to eat throughout winter, and in the fall the ducks and geese fall from the sky, so to speak, but that's about it for poultry in our diet. But if you don't mind not having chicken all the time it's not bad - makes it taste better when you do have it.

# ¿ Sep 7, 2015 06:15

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

That is fantastic.

# ¿ Sep 17, 2015 19:51

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

If you live in California, the best place to buy oranges (besides ranch 99) is always the side of the highway. Same for avocados and so forth.

If you don't, try to find your local Mexican green grocer, because they're likely tapping into that same stream of "cast offs" that they sell for über cheap. And the thing about cast off oranges and such is that the fruit is usually better - when insects or what have you attack the fruit in the field, the natural response from the plant is both to scar where the damage occurred but also to boost sugar production as an antibacterial method. This means the fruit is no longer appealing to the eye of the average Ralph's shopper and thus doesn't make the marketing cut, but the fruit in actuality is much tastier. These are the fruits that show up on the side of the highway in unmarked plastic bags or at the local Mexican fruit seller.

# ¿ Sep 26, 2015 18:38

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 10:11

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

Aishlinn posted:

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.

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.

# ¿ Nov 17, 2015 21:01

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