Thread: too expensive to cook?

i sure spent a lot of many gathering all the goodies to make some pretty simple stuff, sesame oil, soy sauce, brown sugar, sour cream, ..i guess a lot of these things you dont have to buy each trip to the store but dang its' expensive to cook

anyone know of super simple things to cook that dont require anything other than mrs dash? (things that are healthy etc)

black-eyed peas and greens (or spinach) with cornbread. Leave out the cornbread if you want it healthier. Although a veggie boullion makes it taste better, but that is pretty cheap. mmmmmm

To give the cornbread extra flavor and squeeze in another veggie add cream corn to the dry mix. Info probably online.

I make a huge pot of stew twice a month, freeze portions for later. I toss all leftover veggies in a container in the freezer and add them along with leftover rice and pasta. Healthy and not price-y.

we keep a pantry full of spices and eat a lot of curries. we use whatever vegetables we have, whatever bean/lentil, if we have canned or fresh tomatoes we might use those too. everything goes in a pot and we hope for the best ;)

chicken turnovers, here's what you need:
Pillsbury rolled pie shell, chicken (cut up into bite size bits), frozen mixed veggies and your choice of condensed soup in a can. Oh and small bite size potatoes - pealed, and of course seasonings.
combine ingredients and roll out the dough then cut in half. Place dough halves on a cookie sheet and spoon the ingredients onto one half of of the dough halves. pull over top portion of the dough and pinch sides. Cook for 40 minutes to an hour or until you see the crust is nice and ready. The turnovers are enough for two people to share and you can freeze the rest until you are ready to eat them. If you have any ingredients left over, you can make a soup.

Pasta Primavera

Chopped onion and garlic
Can of diced tomatoes
Bag of frozen veggies
Box of spaghetti

If you have wine or balsamic vinegar already in the pantry, you can put a 'lil splash in there, but it's not necessary.

It costs about $6 and feeds my family of three with leftovers the next day.

My Mom made a recipe she calls Peasant Stew
1 lb ground beef (you could skip it if you don't eat meat or use a different ground meat)
1 lg can vegatable soup
1 lg can of baked beans
brown the meat, mix it all up, cook and serve

You can serve rolls with it or bread if you like. Great on a cold day.
Feeds my family of six.

Actually (as the husband puts it), it is expensive to set up a kitchen. All the little things that go into making a dish/cooking add up in a hurry. Once you have your "basics" in stock in your pantry, cooking becomes much less expensive.

Originally Posted by TediThomas

Actually (as the husband puts it), it is expensive to set up a kitchen. All the little things that go into making a dish/cooking add up in a hurry. Once you have your "basics" in stock in your pantry, cooking becomes much less expensive.

I agree. I rarely have to buy spices, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, etc. But one or two of those ingredients is in almost everything I cook.

It seems I'm always buying olive oil... the big aluminum canister - about once a month. I'm a big salad eater and love making my own dressings instead of buying that crap in the store. In fact when you see movies with men eating a big mixing bowl of cereal - that's me only with salad.

Jes- the greatest secret of Hawaiian cooking is to cook fish and poultry in soy sauce. I'm serious. It is awesome, and I've done it ever since I lived out there!
Here's an easy one:

Shoyu Chicken and Cheese

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Soy sauce
Yellow curry/pepper/ginger/rosemary (your choice how much you put on)
Pepper Jack cheese
American cheese
Saffron/jasmine/basmati rice

(A variant I've started on this is doing it in olive oil in the oven)

Put soy sauce in a pan, cook chicken evenly on both sides while putting the spices on; once you are sure the chicken is cooked all the way through, put 1 or 2 slices of pepper jack on each piece of chicken, then lay a slice of American cheese over it. Cover for about 30 seconds until the cheese is melted. You should be cooking the rice separately. When both are done, put a pat of butter and a little soy sauce on the rice, then the chicken on the rice.

I make this all the time. It's cheap and fantastic!

Slice zucchini lengthwise and grill on the George Forman grill. I drizzle a little olive oil on them, freshly ground black pepper. Do the same with slices of eggplant (skin still one), onions, peppers, sliced sweet potatoes.

Simple,fast, cheap pasta dish: Toss angel hair pasta with a little olive oil, freshly ground pepper, sun dried tomatoes, and add a little crumbled feta cheese.

Luxury fast salad: romaine lettuce, slices of granny smith apples (or other tart apple), dried cranberries or raisens, feta or gorgonzola cheese crumbles, poppy seed dressing.

Turkish stew: saute eggplant, onion, mushrooms, zucchini, green beans with ground lamb, ground beef or ground turkey. Season with black pepper, cumin, red pepper flakes, coriander, nutmeg and a little ginger. Add lots of water or chicken or veggie stock, turn down the heat and let it simmer. Right before you are ready to eat toss some cous cous or cream of wheat right into the pot, turn off the heat, cover and let it sit for 5 minutes or so.
You can also make it meatless too.

OK, you win. Now I'm hungry. Send cyber-samples of everything to everyone reading this and we will have a taste-test.

Curries, baked potatoes with various toppings, pastas, stews with left over vegetables... if you're making things more or less from scratch you can cook pretty cheaply. My partner and I spend a lot when we go shopping for the basic elements of food, but they last months and individual meals are pretty cheap.

How confident are you in the kitchen? I use a lot of recipes as "bases" and substitute ingredients for what I have on hand, or what's cheaper, but you have to be relatively comfortable in the kitchen.

You can bulk out pastas, stews, and casseroles with lentils/beans. This stretches the meal out so you can freeze it/eat it for lunch/dinner the next day, and you can cut back on meat, which is expensive both for you and for the environment.


Hillbilly Housewife has lots of inexpensive recipes.

Hillbilly Housewife has an awesome recipe for a lentil stew. It's awesome, low fat and cheap too.

Veggies and eggs! Call it a Fritatta or a Paella or what-have-you, but it's good. I often use up leftover veggies this way, just throw 'em into scrambled eggs after the eggs have started to firm up a bit. (Not-so-healthy: I often add cheese or potato chips, hehe.)

My favourite fish: rub fillets with butter and place extra butter in the glass baking pan (I usually end up using about 2 tablespoons of butter.) You can probably substitute olive oil, but the amount might be different. A bit of salt and pepper, a squirt of lemon juice (orange is good too) on each fillet, and that's it! Maybe add some of that Mrs. Dash if you aren't feeding dogs as well. I usually serve this with bread or Pearl (big) couscous and a vegetable. Of course, you have to actually like the flavour of fish to enjoy it this way. ;)

German red cabbage: (or green cabbage--just not as pretty) slice up cabbage and apples (usually 2 small aplles for 1 small head of cabbage) and sautee in butter or oil until wilted. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of vinegar (cider vinegar is best, but use whatever you have on hand) and 2 tbs sugar (any kind) and simmer for about 5 min, covered. Stir periodically to check done-ness. The cabbage should be soft but not mushy. Great with Spaetzle (German egg dumplings/noodles), grainy bread, and of course, sausages! Once again, you could add some onion (not too much, you won't be able to taste anything else) if you're only feeding humans.

NoDak Tacos: Brown up ground meat with Mrs. Dash to taste, and usually some tomato sauce and chilli powder is good. Serve in warmed torillas with shredded lettuce, tomato chunks and shredded co-jack or cheddar cheese.

Saudi Salad: I hate salads, but when my ex made this for me I ate every bit. Chop any combination of the following: zucchini, carrots, cucumbers, beets, romaine lettuce, arugula, watercress, bok choy... into small pieces. Add fresh parsley to taste (the way he served it was with almost as much parsley as lettuce--odd but good) and diced green onions. Immediately before serving, saturate everything with the juice of lemons or limes, and if you have some, top it with Za'atar. Best eaten with your hands... or a soup spoon.

Squid Squish... ok, maybe I won't post that one. ;p

My favorite lunch, that helped me lose 25 pounds this year, only costs about $2 total for an entire week's worth of lunches.

- 1 pound dry beans, under $1. I mix it up, using a different kind of beans each week so I don't get bored.
- 1 large package of mixed frozen veggies, these go on sale for $1/bag regularly. Again I mix up the blends from week to week. (Frozen veggies are nutritionally excellent, pre-chopped and cleaned, and I don't worry about mushiness when it's just going in soup anyway)

I soak the beans overnight, then dump them in the crock pot with the frozen veggies, along with either a bunch of homemade stock, or a couple of boullion cubes + water. Then I season the hell out of it. Some weeks, I go for curry, some weeks Chinese 5 spice, some weeks chili spices, or anything else that catches my eye. (I have invested a lot in a well-stocked spice cabinet)

Nutritional facts depend on the specific beans/veggies you use, but my favorite bean mix results in about 9 grams of fiber and 9 grams of protein per cup, and I usually have 2 cups for lunch each day.

Originally Posted by TediThomas

Actually (as the husband puts it), it is expensive to set up a kitchen. All the little things that go into making a dish/cooking add up in a hurry. Once you have your "basics" in stock in your pantry, cooking becomes much less expensive.

So true... it can take a long time to have a decently stocked larder. As well as a well stocked (and labeled) freezer... then all you have to buy is the fresh veggies, and even then there are some you can freeze and have on hand for quick dinners.

If you can grow your own veggies it is a great way to eat healthy and save the market trips. You get to eat seasonly; when the veggies are at their best, you can eat the veggies super fresh and you can grow them organically with no chemical sprays or wax coatings... nothing better than a tomato fresh off the vine, firm and bursting with that sweet tangy lushness... a few of them chopped up in a simple salad of rocket, cucumber and fetta (and some homemade dressing) is divine.

Who needs fancy gourmet salads with 12 different hard to get and expensive ingredients!?

Ooo, also, while I haven't tried their recipes there is a cook book by 2 aussie mums that is going crazy over here:

4 Ingredients :: Home

They published the first one themselves because no publisher would touch a non-celebrity cook and now they have the biggest selling book in the country... ha!

Haha, my mom bought me the Four Ingredient Cookbook when I first moved out on my own many years ago! Back then I burned spaghetti into pans so I wasn't too successful with it, but I'm sure that others would find it useful.

I can't believe I went from that to winning cooking contests, but I spent a summer as a Living History performer at a lighthouse and learned to cook on an old-fashioned woodstove. Those make the best food in the world, in my opinion, but I had to cook historical recipes and used a lot of lard.

My friends used to have an old poster of a happy laughing family running down a beach that read "They're happy because they eat lard". ..l;,

Not a recipe suggestion, but my supermarket sells bulk dry goods/spices in its health food section. It is sooooo much cheaper to buy spices and stuff there than it is from the regular shelves. I'd recommend finding a supermarket that does bulk, or a health food store that does. I'd bet that at bulk prices, even the health food store's offerings would be cheaper than the regular stuff on supermarket shelves (that's the way it is here).

Try your local farmer's market for spices, especially if you have a market in an area that caters to the international population! I've found that I can buy any spice imaginable, including the more expensive ones, for next to nothing there. I wish I had known this years ago. I never buy spices at the grocery store now.

Indian grocery stores often sell spices quite cheaply - and you can buy rice and ghee etc. in bulk to save $$$.

we have a standard here that was passed down from my dad god rest his soul

we call it barfmeat

it's basically ground beef (cooked), with french onion soup and rice mixed all together

makes you fart like you wouldnt believe

You can also find spices and foods cheaper at an oriental market, they usually have lots of veggies and fish. Something that my other half and I do is go in with friends and buy a whole beef or pig. It ends up being much cheaper than the grocery store and you know what you're getting and how it was raised. We also raise our own chickens, I always feel bad at butchering time, but I know they had a happy time until then.

Originally Posted by laura 2

Pasta Primavera

Chopped onion and garlic
Can of diced tomatoes
Bag of frozen veggies
Box of spaghetti

If you have wine or balsamic vinegar already in the pantry, you can put a 'lil splash in there, but it's not necessary.

It costs about $6 and feeds my family of three with leftovers the next day.

I wonder if you could omit the tomatoes, but use a can of cream of mushroom soup to make sort of a white alfredo sauce? Heat and thin it with milk? Any of you experienced cooks have any tips for adapting that?

If you have Mrs. Dash, whatever meats you eat and a Foreman grill, you can cook anything quick and cheap. I swear by the Foreman grill and Mrs. Dash table blend. You'll also save money on energy because you'll use your oven a lot less when you start cooking on the Foreman grill.

For more flavorful rice (rice is always cheap) I cook it with just a tiny bit of butter and a veggie buillon cube added before boiling. If you want healthy and you own a rice cooker, make brown rice in the rice cooker and throw the butter and the cube in there. It makes brown rice taste delicious and you can add chopped cooked meat and sauteed veggies to the rice to make a one-dish meal! A cheap, quick, simple and tasty meal around my house is always chicken or fish cooked on the Foreman grill and veggies and rice. I always season my veggies with the Mrs. Dash too. I even cook chicken wing drumettes (turning them a few times then sticking them under the broiler for a few minutes to make them crispy) seasoned with Mrs. Dash on the Foreman grill. It tastes awesome and frozen chicken wings are inexpensive.

Spaghetti with ground turkey is always cheap. If you like garlic bread with your spaghetti, make your own with regular bread slices. Spread the bread slices with softened butter, sprinkle them with garlic salt and toast under the broiler. Also make chili with the Texas chili kit. The kit itself is just over $2 and you need 2 lbs. of ground meat, canned beans (which are like .70 a can) and canned tomato sauce (.40 - .60 a can). Depending on your family size, you can eat it two nights in a row. You can never go wrong with tacos either. Ground turkey is cheaper and healthier than ground beef.

Also for flavoring, marinate your meats in Italian dressing. Keep Mrs. Dash and other seasoning blends, and your basic dry herbs and seasonings on hand (oregano, basil, sage, thyme, granulated garlic, onion powder, seasoned salt). You don't have to always use expensive oils and ingredients for flavorings for meals to taste great.

Buy frozen veggies as much as you can, make one-pot meals with simple ingredients that will last for a few days, and menu plan in advance. When you plan out your meals and grocery shop strictly from that menu, you will save money because you won't buy unnecessary stuff. And of course never shop on an empty stomach.

Originally Posted by Darbla

I wonder if you could omit the tomatoes, but use a can of cream of mushroom soup to make sort of a white alfredo sauce? Heat and thin it with milk? Any of you experienced cooks have any tips for adapting that?

If you use cream of mushroom soup, you will only get cream of mushroom-flavored pasta. Alfredo is made from cream and fresh parmesan cheese. If it's not made with cream and parmesan cheese, it's not alfredo sauce. You can buy alfredo sauce in the jar for $2.

An alfredo dish I like to make that's quick and cheap:

1 car of alfredo sauce
2 cans boneless, skinless salmon
1 cup chopped spinach
1 box spaghetti

I used to make it with fresh salmon but my budget doesn't allow that anymore. Add the chopped spinach to the pot of boiling pasta toward the end of the pasta cooking, drain, put in a bowl, add the salmon, the sauce, and toss. NEVER use frozen spinach for this dish. It's too soft and mushy and will make the dish slimy. I learned that the hard way. Cook the fresh spinach until it's just tender, not soft.

It's a big hit when friends come over and eat it and my daughter loves it.

For the ingredients the meal costs between $8-$10 and lasts a few days. Just freeze what you don't eat.

Another quick, cheap, tomato-less pasta dish I make:

Hot, cooked pasta
2-3 pats melted butter (just enough to coat the pasta)
Granulated garlic
Tender cooked veggies (frozen corn, carrots and peas mix or chopped fresh or frozen broccoli)
Chopped cooked chicken breast
salt and pepper

Cook everything, toss it together, top it with grated parmesan. It's like the primavera but has no tomatoes.

Without the chicken this is a $3-4 dish that can feed 2-4 people

I also make a pasta sauce out of:

Sauteed red bell pepper and chopped onion
1 tsp. dry Italian herbs
Season with salt, pepper
Pureed in a blender with 1/4-1/2 cup of heavy cream.

I toss this sauce with the pasta and chopped cooked chicken breast. I sometimes top it with fresh chopped basil.

It takes a while & requires a bit of attention, but I LOVE having a windowbox herb garden- still can't grow things like bay leaves & cinnamon, but we have to find people to help take away excess mint, oregano & rosemary. & yeah, once your set up, it isn't quite so expensive (hubby is addicted to fresh herbs, so our freezer is full of frozen nutmeg, ginger, etc that we can buy in bulk)

also, there are a lot of filling 'stretchers' in the grain department- gran's old adage of the further from the city, the thicker the gravy applies! if you can't afford much meat, fill 'em up with gravy, barley mash, yorkshire pudding, etc, throw extra barley or rice in the stew pot, etc. I wouldn't skimp on the herbs tho- a well spiced 'mash' tastes great whether it's peas, barley, lentils, etc- throw in the fish or meat bits if you have 'em, but that base stock being quality makes all the difference!

Big bag of spuds. Boil, add butter, eat.

Not that I do this, but I should. Potatoes are very cheap and good.

Brea, the way you describe the soy sauce chicken/fish sounds like you guys think it's unusual? It's completely normal here. My mother does chicken drumsticks in soy sauce and sesame seeds all the time.