Leah Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 What's your cheapest dish for dinner? http://blogs.smh.com.au/lifestyle/chewon...llpage#comments The article is good, but I really liked the ideas in the comments section afterwards... Link to comment
Fritz_Monroe Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Interesting thread. I've never really added up the ingredients to do this. I have done some fairly inexpensive bean/rice dishes lately, but have little idea how much it costs. I'd love to see some of your recipes for cheap eats. Link to comment
Abigail Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Well, I'm assuming Ramen noodles don't count, right? Seriously, though, I really like the subject you've brought up here. My last grocery shop was $214 for fillers!!! I've seen others saying the same thing, too. I'm taking this as a challenge; be back later with some ideas... Link to comment
CrabGrassAcres Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Polenta with just about anything. I start with field corn and grind it fresh. One dish I like is to spread out the cooked polenta in a baking dish, spread cooked pink or pinto or black beans over the polenta, then a layer of cooked diced chicken, layer chopped stewed tomatoes (with onions and bell peppers and jalepeno peppers in it), and top with shredded cheese. Heat in oven till hot thru and the cheese melts. Serve with salad on the side if you like and a dab of sour cream if you have it. (Don't know how much it costs to make, depends on how much you pay for ingredients tho. For us it is cheaply made. Daughter gets hers on rice and sometimes I just use rice instead of polenta, depending on what mood I'm in. We normally have the stewed tomatoes and chicken home canned. Salad is usually from the garden.) Link to comment
Snowmom Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 I think that Beans and Corn Bread are about as inexpensive as anything. We really like it but we don't have it a lot. This is a meal that is easy to make and filling too. But, the beans do bother me for at least 2 days, so I have to be careful when I make them. Link to comment
serendipity Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 I will make sausage gravy and biscuits for an economical meal. It goes pretty far for little cost, and is very filling. Link to comment
Leah Posted January 9, 2008 Author Share Posted January 9, 2008 Snowmom, do you discard the soaking water when you make dry beans? That contains a lot of the 'offending' enzymes, if that is your trouble with them. I pour boiling water over them, leave for an hour; drain, repeat. Add new water and cook until done. Hippie Dad is a great deal easier to live with after eating beans since I started doing that... Link to comment
BiscuitMaker Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Beans and rice with cornbread or biscuits pretty cheap!!!! Link to comment
Andrea Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 I just made home made refried beans and homemade tortillas a few days ago. Coupled with a tiny bit of grated cheese, homecanned salsa(from homegrown produce), orange wedges from the tree, and a rather eclectic green salad made exclusively from stuff growing in the garden, I made two complete meals for four people for about $1.20, which averages out to 15 cents for each individual meal. I won't deny that it was labor intensive or that each serving was about 5cents more than ramen, but it was definitely more tasty and nutritious than ramen! Link to comment
PureCajunSunshine Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 I'm gonna have to dig up my recipe for Apache Acorn Stew... and a side of fresh wild greens salad... ...comfrey/raspberry leaf tea... ...or maybe rosehip and sumac "lemonade". Link to comment
HSmom Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Snowmom & Leah, I've had good relief by taken Bean-O before eating beans. The more you eat them, the more your body adjusts and the less trouble you have with gas. I'll post some cheap recipes later. Link to comment
Buttercup Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Oatmeal. Cornbread with milk and sugar.. Rice with milk and raisins. Potato Soup. Neck bones and potatoes. Hamburger Gravy over mashed potatoes. Chipped beef gravy over toast. Link to comment
Skagitgal Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Yeah Buttercup, That's a list of good, cheap eating! Link to comment
Buttercup Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Sometimes you can find some real meaty neckbones. Mom always boiled them and then added potatoes.. boil them until done. Maybe add an onion and salt.. You can either get pork or beef neck bones. What meat and fat are on the bones (not much meat but alot of flavor) sure makes those potatoes taste yummy... Link to comment
CrabGrassAcres Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 I can only eat white beans if I do them like this: Pour beans into boiling water and bring back to a boil. Boil for 10 or 15 minutes, pour off water. Pour more boiling water over the beans and boil for 10 to 15 min and pour off the water. Cover with boiling water again and let simmer till tender. If I don't do it this way the beans taste too 'beany' and bitter for me to eat. You can let the poured off water cool and use it to water your plants so all the good stuff and water isn't wasted. I want to be able to eat beans because they are healthy and stretch the food budget. Link to comment
Snowmom Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Leah, I have done my beans several different ways. One way I soak them all night, drain and wash them off, sometimes I use soda in the soaking, other times not. Then cook them until they are done. Another way, the way my mother did it is, to bring the beans to a boil, put in a teaspoon or so of baking soda and let them cook for about 10 minutes or so, then drain them, and rinse them off and put them on to cook until done. So, guess it is just me. It isn't just the gas, but they have a way of bothering me other wise too. Link to comment
quiltys41 Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 A big pot of white beans with a ham bone in it for flavor, sliced onion and some cornbread. Now that will warm you up and fill you up on a cold winters night! q Link to comment
kappydell Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 i have had good results with a pot of "bone soup". out of the freezer come the bones i've saved...into the crock or dutch oven. Ditto with any veg. peelings. just match the type of veg. trimming to the kind of soup you want. Simmer with water to cover and a dash of vinegar or lemon juice (helps dissolve some nutrients into the water) until the bones fall apart. this falling apart is good, means connective tissue nutrients are in soup too. Strain the new stock. Remove bones from colander, pick off the meat, return to stockpot with the broth. Add saved leftover veggies to suit. Heat through. Serve as is, or thicken with a bit of flour or cornstarch and some milk powder for a cream soup. Thicken even more, pour over rice. This is especially good with any poultry bones, the turkey carcass; ive used pork chop bones with lima beans and chicken bouillon; steak bones are a nice difference. Add homemade bread, preferably warm and by magic it becomes a feast. Link to comment
Amishway Homesteaders Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 stop in at any area fast food place and get 3 packets of ketchup and 1 of pepper. Peel one layer off of that onion you been using for the last month and dice it up real fine. Put all 3 into a pot and add some water until it just looks right? heat on stove until hot and then eat. PS there have been times years ago when I did have to make soup with the ketchup packs. Link to comment
still survieving Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 2 squirrls caught in a trap, about 15 dandlelines from up in the field..also some mushrooms from the field and some rolls made from wheat we ground and cooked out on the dutch oven. salt, pepper,total cost about ten cents.. Link to comment
westbrook Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 the cheapest meal? eating at your house! *smile* and AH... I am sorry! I am NOT eating at your house *LOL* Link to comment
mommato3boys Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Cheap meals? Which one do you want...butterbeans & cornbread; redbeans & rice; chicken and dressing; chicken and cabbage, potato soup; cabbage pockets; split pea soup; bean burritos; elephant ears (and no not the kind you get at the county fair it is baked bolonga and mac & cheese) and the all time fav at my house (which by the way I am cooking tonight) sausage gravy and homemade biscuits. Link to comment
lau3turtle Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 My cheapest dinner is re-fried pinto beans thinned with water or broth made from veggie trimmings, etc., the broth adds flavor and extends the beans a little bit (I prefer thicker re-fried beans). I cook some white rice, and I use masa harina to make my own corn tortillas. Both can be made using broth or water. Hot sauce made from home-grown chiles is cheaper than store-bought, but I tend to buy the huge bottles of my favorite when it goes on sale. For veggies or fruit, it depends, but the cheapest is during the summer when the garden is really producing, and friends and neighbors gift their own excess produce (oranges, avocados, tomatoes, etc.). The cheapest vegetables I buy are carrots and cabbage, which makes a nice slaw dressed with a little vinegar, oil, dill and parsley (home-grown, fresh or dried). In-n-out style grilled onions are also cheap, easy and delicious. The pinto beans, white rice and masa are bought in bulk and usually on sale, making them much cheaper for me than similar foods (black beans over brown rice and cornbread, or white bean sauce over rice noodles and polenta, or lentils with rice flat-bread and grits) which are still cheap, but not cheapest. Epazote is an herb that is treated like a weed where I live, it can also sometimes be found with spices for Hispanic or Latin food. When beans are cooked with this herb there is very little occurrence of gas. The herb by itself does not smell great, but it gives the beans a mild, pleasant flavor. Large amounts of the herb are not recommended for anyone, and it is best for pregnant women to avoid it altogether. Link to comment
kappydell Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 1-lentils & rice with browned onions on top. got the recipe from the more with less cookbook. Fast for a bean dish, too. 2-butterbeans cooked in chicken broth with margarine (or butter if on hand) on top. 3-dogfood (which is what the hash looked like....at least it tasted good!) Link to comment
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