Cheap Meals: Eating on a budget.

Dr.Retarded · Mar 21, 2024

There was the derail the other day in the politics thread regarding cheap food or meals, or depression era cooking.

As opposed to dumping a bunch of stuff into the cooking thread, I thought maybe this might be a nice repository of good ideas and tasty recipes that people can do on the cheap, or just shit they remember from their childhood.

I want to say

Arbitrary was asking about beans with noodles. I think that was a variation of Hoover stew, which apparently was a thing.

Cowboy Kent just put out a video about it, and I figured I'd share it an appropriate to the derail.

If you got any secret family recipes for cheap stuff, weird combinations, or just things you remember fondly from growing up, feel free to share it.

Also, fuck canned tuna with Kraft macaroni and cheese.

joz123 · Mar 21, 2024

Burns · Mar 21, 2024

Dr.Retarded said:
There was the derail the other day in the politics thread regarding cheap food or meals, or depression era cooking.

As opposed to dumping a bunch of stuff into the cooking thread, I thought maybe this might be a nice repository of good ideas and tasty recipes that people can do on the cheap, or just shit they remember from their childhood.

I want to say Arbitrary was asking about beans with noodles. I think that was a variation of Hoover stew, which apparently was a thing.

Cowboy Kent just put out a video about it, and I figured I'd share it an appropriate to the derail.

If you got any secret family recipes for cheap stuff, weird combinations, or just things you remember fondly from growing up, feel free to share it.

Also, fuck canned tuna with Kraft macaroni and cheese.

Cowboy Kent had some interesting videos on the chuck wagon, cast iron cookware tricks, and cowboy coffee, but never made any of his recipes.

Cooking meals at home is step one for eating on a budget, which, if the fake/gay news is to be believed, seems like way too many people have a problem with these days.

Dr.Retarded · Mar 21, 2024

joz123 said:

Hey I'm just trying to provide a spot so we don't crap up another thread with a derail, not that it was a bad one, hence the reason I made the thread.

What cheat meals did you eat when you were growing up or in college or whatever?

I know one fan favorite at least my mom always made, and I'd cook with college roommates was a massive pack of ground beef, couple packs of pioneer gravy whatever flavor, mushrooms, Bell pepper, and white and green onion. Use whatever seasonings you enjoy. Can also use a can of cream of mushroom or whatever floats your boat.

Just Brown the beef, add the mushrooms and onions, mix up your gravy on the side, and combine.

Just spoon out on baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, pasta, rice, tater tots, whatever. How you can even get a cheap loaf of French bread, like a New Orleans roast beef Po Boy. You got all the other accoutrements, you can turn something pretty cheap into a pretty damn good meal.

Dr.Retarded · Mar 21, 2024

Burns said:
Cowboy Kent had some interesting videos on the chuck wagon, cast iron cookware tricks, and cowboy coffee, but never made any of his recipes.

Cooking meals at home is step one for eating on a budget, which, if the fake/gay news is to be believed, seems like way too many people have a problem with these days.

I just seemed that there was a pretty big interest in it and I figured maybe we can all learn some tips and tricks from folks growing up having to skimp by with their family. I know I had a lot of super cheap meals growing up that my mom always resorted to, but I still make them today because they were good, well and cheap cheap, especially nowadays.

Not that I don't like to make some gourmet stuff, but it's nice to have budget-friendly meals planned that you can always keeping the rotation. Make maybe a nice meal once a week and then everything else is cheap, seems that's kind of what we do.

Also repurposing leftovers is key, and if you can take a dish and flip it on its head and turn it into something else for you're not eating the same thing for another couple of days, well mission accomplished.

Harshaw · Mar 21, 2024

In high school I used to go to my friends house almost every Friday after class. I would always get asked to stay for dinner. His parents were easily middle class, but his mom grew up pretty poor. Anyway, like every Friday they would have tuna noodle casserole. Being from an Asian family the dish was probably the whitest thing I had ever had. I was wary at first, but it was actually pretty damn good. I make it still from time to time. I mean egg noodles, some canned tuna, cream of mushroom soup, and some frozen peas and carrots. Top that shit with some breadcrumbs or crushed potato chips.

Burns · Mar 21, 2024

Dr.Retarded said:
I just seemed that there was a pretty big interest in it and I figured maybe we can all learn some tips and tricks from folks growing up having to skimp by with their family. I know I had a lot of super cheap meals growing up that my mom always resorted to, but I still make them today because they were good, well and cheap cheap, especially nowadays.

Not that I don't like to make some gourmet stuff, but it's nice to have budget-friendly meals planned that you can always keeping the rotation. Make maybe a nice meal once a week and then everything else is cheap, seems that's kind of what we do.

Also repurposing leftovers is key, and if you can take a dish and flip it on its head and turn it into something else for you're not eating the same thing for another couple of days, well mission accomplished.

I don't remember making anything creative in ye olden times and now I only eat gourmet or at least everything from scratch. As a kid, for cheap meals we had hamburger helper, tuna casserole, and other stuff like that, which were somewhat easy-ish things for my mom to make after work.

I love plain ol Kraft Mac and Cheese (leave all the other trash out of it) and could eat it everyday for a month, if it didn't have like 2000 Cal a box. So college was basically white chicken meat with some type of seasoning or Frank's Hot Sauce. The stores used to put chicken breasts on sale at least once a month, so that was stock up day. There was other stuff mixed in (sometimes restaurant, never fast food), occasionally, but chicken seemed to be the bulk of what I ate through my 20s.

The best meals were when the grocery stores in the 2000s would have a last chance meat area, where you could buy steaks for over 50% off, but you needed to cook or freeze them that night. Toss in some vegies, potato, or can of beans and that was good enough for the calories to be worth it.

Fogel · Mar 21, 2024

Amateur spaghetti. Cook up ground meat, boil some spaghetti, then add spaghetti to skillet you're cooking ground meat in, add a can or two of tomato soup and stir fry together.

Dr.Retarded · Mar 21, 2024

Burns said:
I don't remember making anything creative in ye olden times and now I only eat gourmet or at least everything from scratch. As a kid, for cheap meals we had hamburger helper, tuna casserole, and other stuff like that, which were somewhat easy-ish things for my mom to make after work.

I love plain ol Kraft Mac and Cheese (leave all the other trash out of it) and could eat it everyday for a month, if it didn't have like 2000 Cal a box. So college was basically white chicken meat with some type of seasoning or Frank's Hot Sauce. The stores used to put chicken breasts on sale at least once a month, so that was stock up day. There was other stuff mixed in (sometimes restaurant, never fast food), occasionally, but chicken seemed to be the bulk of what I ate through my 20s.

The best meals were when the grocery stores in the 2000s would have a last chance meat area, where you could buy steaks for over 50% off, but you needed to cook or freeze them that night. Toss in some vegies, potato, or can of beans and that was good enough for the calories to be worth it.

My mom used to buy that all the time, the discounted stuff, and she always called it green meat, I think because she was making a pun but maybe there was a green tag on it. HEB does 25% off meat but it's erratic, but anytime I'm in the store that's what I'm always scanning for that 25% off red tag. If it's something I want it's coming home and getting vacuum packed and going right in the freezer.

Fucker · Mar 21, 2024

Fogel said:
Amateur spaghetti. Cook up ground meat, boil some spaghetti, then add spaghetti to skillet you're cooking ground meat in, add a can or two of tomato soup and stir fry together.

Add in jar diced tomato, throw in fresh muchroom and a pepper. Easy way to spruce up jarred spaghetti sauce.

Dr.Retarded · Mar 21, 2024

Fucker said:
Add in jar diced tomato, throw in fresh muchroom and a pepper. Easy way to spruce up jarred spaghetti sauce.

Couple cloves of garlic, and a sprinkle of whatever Italian seasoning blend, typically has all the herbs, and it really does make a difference.

Lanx · Mar 21, 2024

Harshaw said:
In high school I used to go to my friends house almost every Friday after class. I would always get asked to stay for dinner. His parents were easily middle class, but his mom grew up pretty poor. Anyway, like every Friday they would have tuna noodle casserole. Being from an Asian family the dish was probably the whitest thing I had ever had. I was wary at first, but it was actually pretty damn good. I make it still from time to time. I mean egg noodles, some canned tuna, cream of mushroom soup, and some frozen peas and carrots. Top that shit with some breadcrumbs or crushed potato chips.

dude you know what the whitest shit happened to me as a kid? i grew up in a italian/jew hood so white ppl food was normal, but one time in middle school i had a partner project so the dude just invited me over to finish up and his mom was home and said, "wow you brought home an oriental, lemme make you guys my dumplings"

hey back then oriental wasn't even a microaggression and i was taught to be respectful, and someone invited me in and feeding me... however i did grow up chinese having dim sum every weekend, so when the mom brough out this

drop globs of dough in water is white ppl dumpling

Aldarion · Mar 21, 2024

Our cheap meal growing up was beans and cornbread.

Pinto beans, cooked with a little seasoning but nothing special. Plain old homemade cornbread.

I still like it.

Fogel · Mar 21, 2024

Lanx said:
dude you know what the whitest shit happened to me as a kid? i grew up in a italian/jew hood so white ppl food was normal, but one time in middle school i had a partner project so the dude just invited me over to finish up and his mom was home and said, "wow you brought home an oriental, lemme make you guys my dumplings"

hey back then oriental wasn't even a microaggression and i was taught to be respectful, and someone invited me in and feeding me... however i did grow up chinese having dim sum every weekend, so when the mom brough out this

drop globs of dough in water is white ppl dumpling

Chicken, gravy made from said chicken, and dumplings made from bisquick. No water needed.

Dr.Retarded · Mar 21, 2024

Fogel said:
Chicken, gravy made from said chicken, and dumplings made from bisquick. No water needed.

Haha, that one's a classic, and I make it, as does most of my family to this day. But if you want easier dumplings you can also use the canned biscuit dough, just cut it into little chunks, and you can use the generic whatever brand, doesn't make much of a difference.

LiquidDeath · Mar 21, 2024

Growing up living in a one-bedroom apartment with just my brother and my dad during high school, our go-to cheap and filling meal was chicken spaghetti. Just a full box of angel hair pasta cooked and combined with a full jar of you favorite pasta sauce, then as much shredded chicken breast as you could fit into the pot.

Filling enough to last for days in the house of 3 dudes.

Fogel · Mar 21, 2024

Fucker said:
Add in jar diced tomato, throw in fresh muchroom and a pepper. Easy way to spruce up jarred spaghetti sauce.

I'm living off of tomato soup here, you think I can afford tomatoes!?

Khane · Mar 21, 2024

Chicken with cream of mushroom soup over rice was a staple in my house. "Living it up" was a London Broil.

A lot of these things aren't cheap anymore. Hipsters and cooking shows have artificially, massively increased the price of a lot of what used to be "cheap cuts". Even chicken thighs are over almost $5/lb here now. It's ludicrous.

Before Covid they were around $1.49/lb.

Don't even get me started on ANY cut of beef. When ox tail is $7.99/lb I get visibly angry

Khane · Mar 21, 2024

Also, traditionally American "cheap meals" were always still much more expensive than immigrant cheap meals.

Go figure people from a rich country don't know how stretch money when feeding themselves like people from destitute countries.

Lanx · Mar 21, 2024

Khane said:
Chicken with cream of mushroom soup over rice was a staple in my house. "Living it up" was a London Broil.

A lot of these things aren't cheap anymore. Hipsters and cooking shows have artificially, massively increased the price of a lot of what used to be "cheap cuts". Even chicken thighs are over almost $5/lb here now. It's ludicrous.

Before Covid they were around $1.49/lb.

Don't even get me started on ANY cut of beef. When ox tail is $7.99/lb I get visibly angry

i'm at $10/lb
these are my local reviews

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Cheap Meals: Eating on a budget.

Dr.Retarded

joz123

Potato del Grande

Burns

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Dr.Retarded

Dr.Retarded

Harshaw

Throbbing Member

Burns

Avatar of War Slayer

Fogel

Mr. Poopybutthole

Dr.Retarded

Fucker

Log Wizard

Dr.Retarded

Lanx

Aldarion

Egg Nazi

Fogel

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Dr.Retarded

LiquidDeath

Magnus Deadlift the Fucktiger

Fogel

Mr. Poopybutthole

Khane

Got something right about marriage

Khane

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Lanx