Cheap Ass Cooking

ChibiJosh

ChibiJosh

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I almost went with "Cheap Ass Gourmet"

Anyway, I've lived on my own for about 5 years now, and I've been rather lazy when it comes to prolonging my existence for much of that time. Always relying on the microwave to make food, and then sometimes barely eating because I've become bored of my meal choices.

It's only been in the last year that I've learned of the glory that is the oven! I can make things like hamburgers and french fries now. But, once again, the boredom has set in, and I'm in need of a few new meal ideas (or a woman who will make food for me).

One of my personal favorite meals is baked steak. :drool: Buy some cheap steak (the kind you can get for $3.50/lb). Submerge it in gravy, and throw it in the oven at 350º for about 2 hours. So delicious, so tender. Make some mashed potatoes to go with it, and it's heaven.
 
Just bake a pack of chicken and you can eat a few meals. Just be sure to use tin foil on the bottom and the top to cover it and keep it juicy. I recently found out how glorious the oven is as well.
 
I make alot of chicken alfredo fettucini when I want something tasty, or some homeade mac and cheese for a quick meal, with some egg noodles.

I BBQ some steaks on the weakends and make a potato salad or some spanish rice.

I cook almost everyday. Haven't eaten fast food in over 4 years
 
[quote name='joe2187']I make alot of chicken alfredo fettucini when I want something tasty, or some homeade mac and cheese for a quick meal, with some egg noodles.

I BBQ some steaks on the weakends and make a potato salad or some spanish rice.

I cook almost everyday. Haven't eaten fast food in over 4 years[/quote]

:drool: aww damn boy, now I am hungry for this. I make a good Fettuccine Alfredo with sauce guaranteed to harden your vines.
 
Dry instant potato flakes mixed with italian bread crumbs = best coating for anything. Ever.

Oh, and apparently deep-frying a well-battered raw brick of ramen isn't as disgusting as it may sound.
 
I make a pretty mean batch of Beans & Rice with Sausage.

Basically I just start browning the Sausage in a Pan, and then I add about 4 tablespoons of Garlic and brown that for a little. Then I toss in 2 cans of Kidney Beans, 1 can of Black Beans, 1 can of Pinto Beans and a can of Sweet Onion Diced Tomatoes.

For seasoning I add some more Garlic powder, a bunch of Cumin and some Onion Powder. That is it, a great meal for real cheap.
 
Soups can be filling and fairly cheap if you know what you are doing.

I make something I call Pelmeni Soup. Pelmeni is basically a Russian ravioli - so a noodle pocket stuffed with meat. In this case, the filling is ground beef and ground pork, mixed together with salt, pepper, garlic, and an egg (note - you can add onions if you want).

But making the noodle pockets and stuffing them and everything takes forever. So instead, I found that you can just make meatballs and then make a soup out of them. Make a broth with beef stock seasoned with pepper and garlic. Then add in tomato sauce/some sort of premade spaghetti sauce (I use homemade marinara) to make it kind of thick. Let it simmer, slowly dropping in tiny dumplings made with Bisquik (3 parts mix to 1 part milk). I also suggest adding in some sugar/teriyaki for some sweetness, and a little Worcestershire for some heat/salt.

Meanwhile, cook the meatballs by boiling them (though you can quickly sear them in oil if you want, which I will do, and then add the oil to the soup to give it some fat content, which does help). When they float, take 'em out and throw them in the soup. If you don't sear them (and it's not really required), then just add some oil to the soup (olive or veggie).

Once you got it assembled, drop it in bowls and add some sort of cheese. I suggest mozzarella - you can get some good stuff at a grocery store. Also, put a little lemon juice in for some acidity.

Takes maybe an hour from start to finish after you get good at it, and you can make enough of a pot to last a few days. Quite excellent. I'm betting the entire cost is around 12-15 bucks for everything, and can last 4-5 meals easily (with multiple bowls per meal).
 
Roasted whole chicken which is usually $0.99/lb. Incredibly easy, tastes great and it will last you for the next 3 days. Just season it liberally with salt and pepper and then stick it in the oven for about an hour to an hour and a half depending on the size, rotating the chicken every 20-30 minutes. You can also put potatoes, carrots, mushrooms or whatever other veggies you want beneath it and it'll soak up the juices from the chicken and just tastes great.
 
If you like pizza, I like to make pizza from scratch occasionally. Everything from standard pepperoni, to bbq pizza, to breakfast pizza, to veggie pizza. The ingredients typically are in the range of $4-5 and will last several meals and will taste as good, if not better than many restaurant pizzas. It helps if you have a bread machine, but you can usually kneed the dough on your own for 10-15 minutes or so if you don't.

Pot pies are also great to make and very easy. You just need two deep dish pie crusts and whatever you want to go on the inside. Mix in some veggies, some meat, some cream of potato soup, and some spices, pop it in the oven for about 40-45 minutes or so and you've got a great cheap meal.

And I know this sounds dorky, but watch Alton Brown on Good Eats on the food network. Entertaining AND you get some great food ideas.
 
[quote name='BlueLobstah']
And I know this sounds dorky, but watch Alton Brown on Good Eats on the food network. Entertaining AND you get some great food ideas.[/QUOTE]

That's not dorky. Alton Brown is a god.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions! Keep 'em coming.

[quote name='Liquid 2']I'm a big fan of anything pasta.[/quote]
I enjoy pasta too, and I do make spaghetti every once in awhile. I just can't bring myself to make it too often because it's a lot more work than most other things. Gotta brown meat, cook the pasta, make the sauce, combine...

[quote name='Lieutenant Dan']Just bake a pack of chicken and you can eat a few meals. Just be sure to use tin foil on the bottom and the top to cover it and keep it juicy. I recently found out how glorious the oven is as well.[/quote]
I do enjoy chicken. I usually soak it in teriyaki sauce and eat it with steamed rice. Or cook it without anything and eat it with some flavored rice.

[quote name='Strell']Soups can be filling and fairly cheap if you know what you are doing.[/quote]
I do love soups. I've never actually attempted to make any from scratch though. It's the only thing that I still rely on the microwave for. I do especially love cheddar broccoli from Panera, maybe I should attempt to find a similar recipe on the internets.

[quote name='BlueLobstah']
And I know this sounds dorky, but watch Alton Brown on Good Eats on the food network. Entertaining AND you get some great food ideas.[/quote]
Not dorky at all. I had a roommate a couple of years ago that watched that show religiously, and I sat and watched it a few times too, it was amusing. I just don't really watch TV anymore, never even hooked up the cable in my room.
[quote name='Capitalizt']hamburger helper
hamburger helper
hamburger helper

hamburger helper for the motherfuckin win[/quote]

I do enjoy hamburger helper. The only problem is that I'm usually only making food for myself, and it's just too much to eat in one sitting. I think most hamburger helper is one of those foods that don't reheat well.
 
Love to cook, and people always seem to enjoy it (at least they say so, and these are friends who would tell me if it was shit) which encourages me to do it more. I've got a pretty good knowledge now of what stuff to use to make almost anything taste good to certain people, so I can pretty much work with anything and make a decent dish.

I'm a big fan of using coconut, ginger, and wines in what I make, it always seems to just fit.

I hate almost anything cheesy, so I usually don't make much Italian food, but you can make a damn good tuscan soup ala olive garden really easily and fairly cheap.
 
You should try eating some Japanese Curry. I often get some and make it with potatos, pieces of chicken, and some small shrimp (not really good with the bigger shrimp), its the best food ever~!
 
Damn I could give twenty different examples of cheap meals that I prepare that are actually good for you (sorry, Ramen-guys... its ok once in a while but ain't no way to live...)

a good summer meal:

buy a big bag of frozen uncooked shrimp or find them on sale (and freeze them til you're ready.) you can usually get a huge bag for $10 on sale (four big servings).. sometimes cheaper. then you need to find a cheap seasonal veggie you like.

~$2.50 serving of shrimp
~.50 can of baked beans (look for sales and stock up)
~.25 fresh ear of corn (might be a little more where you live but seasonally it's 25 cents here in CA)

plus a little extra for cocktail sauce/butter, which you might have around the house already.

so, were looking at ~$3.25.. that's sub-mcdonalds cheap. and this isn't going to take you any longer than walking down to Mc'Ds.

get a pot of water boiling. half of your prep is done. open a beer.

shuck and then boil the corn for 10 minutes or so. take the corn out and set on your dinner plate. pour the beans in a bowl and microwave for 3 minutes.

throw the shrimp in that same pot for approx 4-5min (until they turn white, but no longer than that).

everything is ready to go.. corn is still hot. now butter and salt it up and dip your shrimp in the cocktail sauce. squeeze some lemon over it if you want. this meal is EXCELLENT when you put the remaining cooked shrimp in the fridge. i love the cold shrimp w/ cocktail sauce and the hot sides. sometimes i'll cook twice the amount of shrimp and have the cold shrimp with the other half of the beans the next day. try it; a great summer meal. healthy.
 
I go with pasta and rice. It usually can last for 2 meals for less then a dollar, plus if you like you can grill or pan fry chicken and put it in there. I have also been making taco recently, which are good and relatively cheap. For breakfast you really can't beat pancakes or waffles, a box of mix will cost you somewhere around a dollar fifty and will make tons of pancakes.

BlueLobstah, Good Eats is awesome. I actually watch a lot of the food network, when there is nothing else on tv. Its where I get ideas for different things to try in the kitchen.

Also, for all you single guys out there, cooking a meal for a girl is a sure way to impress. I cook for my girlfriend all the time. It is a simple and cheap way to get out of going out to eat, plus they are always impress and thankful when you put the time into making something nice.
 
I've been cooking a lot of Mexican food lately. Homemade tacos are mad good and cheap. Tostadas are easy. Quesadillas are easier yet. If you have a tortilla and cheese you have a meal; meat makes them better but optional.
On the Italian tip I make a mean chicken marsala, its pretty easy and most of the ingredients are either in the pantry or cheap.
Shake and bake with some rice is impossible to mess up and cheap as hell.
 
BBQ Chicken is easy and cheap.

Buy a couple chicken breasts.

Usually one breast will fill you up if it's a good sized one.

Rinse it in hot water, slice it up, put it into a bowl, drizzle some BBQ sauce in their, mix with hands.

Put into a sizzling pan with vegetable oil in it for about 10-12 minutes or until it gets brown. During the 10-12 minutes drizzle in some BBQ sauce during that time, make sure to keep mixing. Then at about the 8 minute mark if you want, put in some sliced green bell peppers.

Put in a flour tortilla, roll it up and their ya go.
 
BBQ Pork chops has been a recent favorite of mine. Buy and kind of pork chops, I prefer boneless, not too think, not too thick. Usually, about 4-5 good size chops will run you around $5. Put em' all in a pan, cook for 20 mins at 350, take them out and smother them with your favorite bbq sauce, then throw em' back in there for 10 more minutes and they are perfect! Crack open a can of frozen veggies or one of those .25 husks of corn (which you can also cook in the microwave for 10 minutes) and maybe some instant rice and you have yourself a well balanced, delicious, and really feeling meal.

A cheap dessert that I really like that basically has no calories is sugar free pudding and jello with cool whip free. When I make the jello, I will sprinkle some crumbled up pretzels on top of the cool whip for a little crunch.

Good suggestions so far! I'd like to hear the members recipe that suggested jambalaya.
 
Buffalo wings! Buy a bag, pop em in the oven and when they're done douse hot sauce, BBQ or the flavor of your choice on top of them.
 
[quote name='Maklershed']Make jambalya. Easy, relatively cheap, tastes great, and goes a long way.[/QUOTE]

QFT. You'll need a good crockpot (which i recommend to any blossoming cook). I've even made vegetarian/vegan jambalaya that's lasted me for days (and was delicious every time).
One more essential item for you:
images

get this book. don't waste your money on any other cookbook.
I'm quite a cook, you're inspiring me to start a recipe-a-day thread. OP if you or anyone else would like some good cooking tips or recipes I'd be happy to share.
 
If you want to make a cheap but good pizza, take a flour tortilla, sauce, mozzarella cheese, and anything you want to top it off with. Put it in the over for about 15-20 minutes on 350. You can also make quesadillas the same way, except use Mexican or Cheddar Cheeses and no sauce.

I also enjoy the taco and enchilada kits by old el paso and they usually last for 2-3 meals and are pretty easy to make. I usually add some of Mrs. Renfro's habanero & green chile salsas for some extra kick.

The Zatarin rice mixes are great to add chicken, beef, fish, or sausage to and make enough for a few meals.
 
[quote name='danito']Is eating healthy really all that expensive? That's what everyone tries to tell me...[/QUOTE]

Look up the prices of organic foods versus pre-processed/preservative loaded stuff. It's easily 2-3x the price.

Consider how McDonald's and any other fast food join can offer a double cheeseburger for 99 cents, but fruit can be upwards of 2 bucks a pound (even the non-organic stuff).

It's definitely more expensive to eat healthily. Not impossible, but you could fill up on cheap shitty greasy food way easier than you could on wholesome stuff.

[quote name='KillJoi99']Buffalo wings! Buy a bag, pop em in the oven and when they're done douse hot sauce, BBQ or the flavor of your choice on top of them.[/QUOTE]

No. Wings are never to be made in ovens. Ever.
 
Nice the recipe a day would be great! I'm not that great of a cook, but i can follow a recipe and don't mind getting my hands dirty.

But my fiance cooks and I help prepare and clean up and generally we eat healthy. Usually have chicken twice a week with cheap filling pasta/rice and either salad/broccoli. Taco salad, chicken and potatoes/rice with salad, fish with some sort of vegetable and then leftovers.

Twice a month, spend less then $150 on groceries for 2 ppl.
 
By myself I spend about 50 on groceries every two weeks. The most expensive stuff are snacks and
beer
, I have been trying to cut out the chips and things and replace them with fruit, cheese, and crackers.
 
[quote name='ph33r m3']BBQ Chicken is easy and cheap.

Buy a couple chicken breasts.

Usually one breast will fill you up if it's a good sized one.

Rinse it in hot water, slice it up, put it into a bowl, drizzle some BBQ sauce in their, mix with hands.

Put into a sizzling pan with vegetable oil in it for about 10-12 minutes or until it gets brown. During the 10-12 minutes drizzle in some BBQ sauce during that time, make sure to keep mixing. Then at about the 8 minute mark if you want, put in some sliced green bell peppers.

Put in a flour tortilla, roll it up and their ya go.[/QUOTE]

This also works well if you put it in the oven for about an hour instead of vegetable oil. Baked BBQ chicken? Yum.
 
Just make a turkey burger. I fry it with olive oil on a wok. I would use a grill but all I have is a George Foreman Grill. It takes all the fat out of the burger that the burger is tasteless.
:roll:
 
Great suggestions. I'm not a fan of pork. In fact, I really never eat it. Even my bacon is turkey. I'm not a big fan of fish either, only on rare occasions do I eat fish.

[quote name='sandrokstar']QFT. You'll need a good crockpot (which i recommend to any blossoming cook). I've even made vegetarian/vegan jambalaya that's lasted me for days (and was delicious every time).
One more essential item for you:
images

get this book. don't waste your money on any other cookbook.
I'm quite a cook, you're inspiring me to start a recipe-a-day thread. OP if you or anyone else would like some good cooking tips or recipes I'd be happy to share.[/quote]
I do need to get a crockpot. It would help things immensely, but I'm afraid that I'll just keep making turkey breasts over and over every day until I die (about a year from the purchase date).
I would love any tips you may have, and starting some sort of "recipe-a-day" thread would be awesome.

[quote name='ighosty']By myself I spend about 50 on groceries every two weeks. [/quote]
I spend $30-50 every two weeks.
 
A cheap and easy meal I like involves eggs. You take some eggs and make them like you would scrambled but you add in peppers and whatever else you feel like. Once they are done you put them on a hamburger bun and enjoy.

Another odd meal I enjoy is starts by boiling some bow tie pasta. Then once the pasta is done you put some onions into a pot, let them simmer a bit then add some cottage cheese. Then you add the bow ties and stir it well.

If you like hot dogs, try mixing them in with baked beans and some bacon (to add a nice flavor).

There is three cheap ass meals.
 
[quote name='VAD3R or Fro']Ramen + Grilled Cheese Sandwiches = Win

Its the only thing in the house I know how to cook.
[/QUOTE]
Seriously, I love that combination so much that it'd be damn hard for me to decide whether I wanted that or anything else delicious.

Dipping the grilled cheese in the juice + a glass of strawberry milk to drink is THE meal for me.
 
[quote name='Sir_Fragalot']
Another odd meal I enjoy is starts by boiling some bow tie pasta. Then once the pasta is done you put some onions into a pot, let them simmer a bit then add some cottage cheese. Then you add the bow ties and stir it well.
[/QUOTE]
That sounds really good. So you add the cottage cheese to the onions while they're simmering? Water with the onion's initially?
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']That sounds really good. So you add the cottage cheese to the onions while they're simmering? Water with the onion's initially?[/quote] What I do boil the pasta and in the same bowl after the water is drained, the pot will be empty so I add onions and then let them cook a bit. After they have simmered a bit (basically enough to get the flavor out of them, not very long), I add cottage cheese and then the pasta. You basically just want to warm up the cottage cheese so it goes in at the very end with the pasta.
 
When I was younger and single, I lived in a house with 2 other dudes and we were quite poor. I was deemed the house cook, so I would make the meals during the week. 2 of the house favs were stroganoff and pork chops. For the stroganoff, just brown some ground beef, add some cream of mushroom soup and sour cream, boil some bowties, and combine. It's cheap and damn tasty. Get some cheap, thin-cut, chops and simmer them in cream of mushroom soup. Boil up some brown rice, and combine the 2 when done. Also cheap, and tasty.
 
Pasta is good but it gets tired quick unless you love cooking sauces or rolling fresh noodles. I live out of a rice cooker right now and have come up with all kinds of crazy shit.

If you choose this route then your two main options are rice and ramen. For practical purposes with the rice you're going to want to go with long grain basmati, short grain asian and short grain South American. Basmati and South American mix real well with beans or chick peas and you can add a quick salsa on top of any South American rice or just gussy it up with lots of lime, cilantro and tomato. You can cook any of these plain and throw egg on top to steam them. Asian rice goes real nice with oil packed tuna, sesame seeds and a quick sauce. Any canned veggie dumps into these rices real nice but if you have a freezer then go on and pick up frozen when it goes on sale.

Ramen is king for me though. Cheap, filling and most importantly quick. Even the shitty maruchan bricks can be extended with enough spinach (buy bunches and wash it), snap pea pods, green onions and pork tenderloin. You can mix in shrimp, egg or even really shitty cuts of beef(they'll taste decent after cooking) to mix things up a bit. Tofu if you hate yourself. Enough basic Asian seasonings (shoyu, mirin, shoshu, miso) to last you a few months will only cost about $15.

If you're feeling even more adventurous you can start fucking with couscous. There are a lot of different ways to make it but large grain with cranberries and walnuts is great. Small grain with raisins, cashews and chick peas is also wonderful. Nuts can be incredibly expensive so be sure to buy in bulk NOT in cans or bags.

Also if you have a Whole Foods or any other hippie store near you then hit up the fresh peanut butter maker. It's cheap, it's nutritious and you can often make your own with bulk ingredients to come up with some crazy combinations.
 
If anyone's got a good chili recipe, I'm looking for one. Ditto for meatloaf.

The girlfriend cooks much better than I do - lots of Vietnamese food. The things I do cook tend to pretty simple "comfort foods" - a pretty awesome chicken cordon bleu, a couple of casseroles, lasagna.

I'm always up for good recipes.
 
[quote name='Maklershed']Make jambalya. Easy, relatively cheap, tastes great, and goes a long way.[/QUOTE]

This reminds me: I make fake jambalaya. It's super easy and super cheap.

I loved jambalaya back home in Louisiana, but I moved away and am too lazy to make it properly. I actually use my rice cooker for it, and it works pretty well. Total cost of admission is just chicken, rice, an onion and bell pepper, and a little chicken broth,

1. Cube the chicken (bite sized)
2. Slice some sausage (the spicier the better, again bite sized)
3. Dice 1 medium onion, 1 whole green pepper, and some green onion
4. Mix all of the above ingredients in a bowl, season heavily (I use Tony Chachere's , but otherwise some garlic, cayenne and salt will work just fine)
5. Add the seasoned meat/onion mixture to the rice cooker pot, add rice (choose your rice carefully, nothing sticky, I use Uncle Ben's)
6. Instead of adding water to cook the rice, use chicken broth.
7. Stir the mixture well, turn the rice cooker on, wait, and enjoy.

It's quite healthy, especially if you use lean sausage or omit the sausage entirely. Any meat can work, but sometimes you'll have to cook it first. Like, shrimp in particular, you have to cook down a bit before putting it in the rice cooker or it's gross. Steak, also, should be cooked down first so that it's tender enough for jambalaya.

$15 and $15 minutes can produce about 5 lbs of delicious food this way. Ingredients are quite versatile -- you can use whatever leftover meat you have, and change up the vegetables (zucchini, carrots, celery, broccoli, etc).
 
[quote name='JJSP']If anyone's got a good chili recipe, I'm looking for one. Ditto for meatloaf.

The girlfriend cooks much better than I do - lots of Vietnamese food. The things I do cook tend to pretty simple "comfort foods" - a pretty awesome chicken cordon bleu, a couple of casseroles, lasagna.

I'm always up for good recipes.[/QUOTE]

For cheapass chili I like to brown up some ground beef and mix it with ranch style beans.
 
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