I personally know some folks who spend all their money on fast food, and then online it seems pretty common folks not knowing how to cook causes massive financial problems.
My super duper cheap meal that takes no effort is “lazy rice veggie soup”: Can of peas and carrots cooked with a bouyon cube until cube is dissolved Add cooked rice to mix, and heat until rice is flavorful with absorbed broth
I do a cup of dried rice, and a can of peas and carrots which means the soup has 800ish calories and I think it’s pretty good as it’s either 2 small meals that you can have sides with, or one large one!
So what are your cheap meals you like to make? The less well known, the better!
Off-topic but this could be interesting: https://traumbooks.itch.io/the-sad-bastard-cookbook
Nope, most on topic link I’ve ever seen.
Also:
"Cheap. The Boomers destroyed the economy. Sorry to any Boomers reading this. We don’t like that you did it either. #NotAllBoomers. But if you voted for Reagan, Mulroney, or Thatcher and you don’t regret it, this cookbook isn’t for you. "
I like these people.
Delightful! Thanks for sharing! I just bought the printed book from Barnes and Noble.
Gruel! Three spoons of oatmeal in a bowl, pour about 500ml (~1 pint) of boiling water on it. You can put a bit more oatmeal in, but if you go too far you get porridge. You’re aiming for thin or miserly porridge.
For a mild seasoning, you can cry over the bowl, and let the salt from your tears enhance the subtle flavours. If you’re feeling rich, salt can be purchased from shops and used instead.
For optional nutrients beyond simple survival, you can then throw any leftover or past-best veg, precooked meat or edible garden plants in the bowl. For deliciousness, you can add a bit of butter, or even cheese.
Heat it in a pan on the hob, whilst stirring, for as long as you can be bothered waiting. Cooking for longer tends to make it taste better. Alternately, microwave it for a few minutes.
You’re ultimately going to end up with something like a thick soup (or a luxurious cheese sauce, depending on ingredients) that’s surprisingly filling, and significantly nicer tasting than you might expect from the description.
Gruel. It sounds shit, but it’s ace.
Some kind of broth or bouillon would be good in it too. Hot sauce. Garlic.
I add those kinds of things to porridge too sometimes. Savory instead of sweet porridge should not be ruled out.
Here’s an another idea for oats: basically make Mac and cheese except with oats instead of pasta. Whole oats if you can get them.
potato
The price on rice goes down dramatically when you go bulk. A cup of rice out of my 25 lb bag costs a few cents.
Rice and beans, rice and eggs, dirty rice, add tomato and Sazon for Mexican rice, Japanese barbecue sauce and you have hibachi rice, Korean sauce and a little sprinkle of some form of protein and you’ve got bulgogi. I’m starting to feel like Forrest Gump talking about shrimp.
Nothing makes me feel more secure than looking over at my giant bag of rice leaning against the kitchen wall.
The most important part is it must remain dry. I leave it in the bag that it comes in, cutting only a smallish hole (an inch or so on diameter) which I keep clamped shut with a spring clamp.
In my main pantry I keep a 2qt container of the rice. When that container empties I go back and refill it again. I’ve had a bag last the better part of a year with no discernible loss and quality just by keeping it closed and climate controlled. In my bug out supplies I have a bunch of dry in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. 3 years later they still taste exactly the same.
A $20, 25 lb bag has a little more than 50 cups of dry rice in it. Rice expands by a factor of 3 when you cook it.
A cup of cooked rice has little more than 200 calories with nothing in it. If I’m using as a main course, I plan for 1 and 1/2 to 2 cups per person, by the time you add seasonings and a reasonable amount of oil it brings it’s not hard to get about a third of your daily calories out of a couple cups. You just have to be careful about nutrition because it doesn’t have much.
So you could do 75 meals or maybe 150 sides out of a $20 bag of course paying for all the accoutrements to make it tasty.
Also of note stick to white rice for this. Brown rice still has the bran on it and a little bit of fat and tends to go bad faster. Also stay away from par-boiled rice, It cooks faster but it doesn’t keep the same.
The other commenter gave a good rundown, but you don’t have to get that scientific about it. I just use a large coffee mug to eyeball how much rice I want, and use the “finger method” to measure the rice to water ratio in the pot. Cook on high until boiling, cover and turn to medium for fifteen minutes, turn off heat and wait five minutes before uncovering and fluffing with a fork.
For storage I put the large coffee mug back in the rice bag, give it a twist and seal with a chip clip, and it’s ready for the next time.
As to how long it lasts, that will depend on how much you eat and how big a bag you get. ;) But it will last you: a long time.
Bananas, potatoes, corn, oats, bread and rice are all pretty cheap. When I’m trying to not spend any money I’m fine with a bowl of oatmeal with some sliced bananas in it.
I read this at first as an ingredient list,band I was so concerned for your health and stability. Lol.
