Cheap Meals: Eating on a budget.

Dr.Retarded said:

Most of the chops I make now or typically thicker and I do them on the grill, but there's something to be said for those little breakfast sized pork chops that are what maybe a quarter inch thick. You can get those big value packs that will have 16 of the damn things in there.

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Little woman loves those things. Season w/Watkins all purpose, a few dashes of Lea & Perrins, toss in pan w/butter. Quick to cook. Cheap. Pack of 4 gives 3 meals. W/rice and veg, comes out to $1.65 a meal. Fancy it up w/mashed potatoes, gravy, stove top stuffing, veg.

After years growing up with my family overcooking pork until it's dry lumps of cardboard, I can't eat much pork anymore. It's basically pulled pork, bacon, and a single pork chop recipe for me.

Here is the pork chop recipe, since pork chops are still cheapish, this recipe can be pretty cheep too. It's super simple, that makes it's own white gravy and cooks all in one pan. I add cayenne pepper and paprika to the flour. I also add the milk directly to the bag with the flour in it, after the chops are cooking, and shake, to get a good mixed/non lumpy gravy (instead of using a whisk in a bowl, like the recipe states).

It may not look great, but it's the best way I have found to have moist pork chops. I also mash/smash up potatoes for this meal.

its one of those really unfortunate cases where two cultures use the same word for completely different foods. like pudding

the asian meaning of dumpling is obviously superior here, the wet biscuit style ones are generally pretty bland and pointless

Years of playing MMOs had me guilded/grouped with a lot of various Asian type people (1st to 10th gen from China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan). So after a decade+ of hearing about how good "dumplings" were, I finally looked up a recipe and found this:

I was rather dubious of them and it took me a while to find a picture that looked... not terrible. It was actually pretty good, but nothing special, and thought that is what they were talking about for the longest time... so I have still never had an Asian style dumpling.

Anyway, that recipe should be fairly cheap...

Do you live in Antarctica? And how was that the best recipe you could find on the internet?

The pioneer woman sure does know how to make Asian style dumplings...

Whatever you want to call them almost every culture has "dumplings". Filling in small pockets of dough.

Ravioli is a dumpling
Pierogi is a dumpling

I've no doubt all those complicated chop recipes are delicious but a quick pan sear is less work, fewer dirty dishes, and I haven't had a problem with them being too dry.

Khane said:

Do you live in Antarctica? And how was that the best recipe you could find on the internet?

The pioneer woman sure does know how to make Asian style dumplings...

Whatever you want to call them almost every culture has "dumplings". Filling in small pockets of dough.

Ravioli is a dumpling
Pierogi is a dumpling

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Dumplings were dumplings in my mind. I had never heard of them before the dudes in my guild were raving about how good they were and they seemed to eat them all the time. So that's the recipe I ended up on sometime between 2007 and 2010. I don't exactly remember how I picked that one.

My family didn't/doesn't make or order Asian food (it's a rare occasion), which makes it so I never hunger for it. Nowadays that means trying to make Asian dumplings doesn't usually pop into my mind when thinking of what we need at the grocery store.

Braised is the way to go for pork chops. You can go with high heat for a short time, and end up with a moist but still really chewy piece of meat. Or (as most of our moms probably cooked them) baked in the oven for too long, so they're shoe leather. Braising avoids the toughness and the dryness.

Other thing I'll add is that theres several different cuts all sold as pork chops and success with a given cooking method is likely going to depend on the type

Burns said:

Dumplings were dumplings in my mind. I had never heard of them before the dudes in my guild were raving about how good they were and they seemed to eat them all the time. So that's the recipe I ended up on sometime between 2007 and 2010. I don't exactly remember how I picked that one.

My family didn't/doesn't make or order Asian food (it's a rare occasion), which makes it so I never hunger for it. Nowadays that means trying to make Asian dumplings doesn't usually pop into my mind when thinking of what we need at the grocery store.

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Okay, but you have to understand how weird that is. Never saw them on a cooking show or in a movie? Never saw them on a Chinese menu?

In 1950 I would expect that to be true. In 2007 though? That's kinda wild man. Especially since, presumably, these Asian guildmates of yours were explaining them to you.

Khane said:

Okay, but you have to understand how weird that is. Never saw them on a cooking show or in a movie? Never saw them on a Chinese menu?

In 1950 I would expect that to be true. In 2007 though? That's kinda wild man. Especially since, presumably, these Asian guildmates of yours were explaining them to you.

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Not really explaining them, no. Just saying stuff like "going to go get some dumplings, brb" and "damn these dumplings are great"... multiple times a month. If it was during a 40m raid break there was a lot of chatter and that kinda stuff goes in passing, like everyone just assumes that everyone else knows what a dumpling is. If it was during dungeon farming then I was probably too busy also eating to ask much about them, then it was back to farming as soon as we were done.

As for "fast food" Chinese restaurants, they have like 5 items on the menu: Fried Rice, Eggrolls, Sweet & Sour Chicken, General Tso Chicken, and Lo Mien noodles...

When I was growing up, before high school, I went to the single fancy Chinese restaurant in town, where you get little cups of hot Tea and shit, once. Still, I'm pretty sure they only had those 5 things on the menu!

Only other Asian restaurants I have been to is one high end Vietnamese place (I think. They had cabbage wrapped spring rolls that were good), a few times in Houston and a Thai buffet that a friend and I asked for some menu item that was listed as hot...

I'm trying to imagine where you live because chinese menus everywhere I've been in the US are the same as they are here in Connecticut. Like it's just one big franchise. And they all have like 80 things on the menu. And dumplings and wontons (fried dumplings) are heavily featured

An American Chinese menu without Chicken/Beef and Broccoli, Mu Shu Pork, garlic sauce, Chefs delight, firecracker chicken, golden fingers, spare ribs, etc... I've never seen it.

What about Crab Rangoon? Are you telling me you've never had Crab Rangoon?

Fuck... Dragon and Phoenix, Sesame Chicken, Orange Chicken, hot and sour soup? Egg drop soup? Pepper steak?

What the fuck kinda Chinese restaurant doesn't have these things?

He might be black, they only ever get wings at chinese take outs

Khane said:

Fuck... Dragon and Phoenix, Sesame Chicken, Orange Chicken, hot and sour soup? Egg drop soup? Pepper steak?

What the fuck kinda Chinese restaurant doesn't have these things?

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I was being funny, in that, all that I saw were those 5 things, because we never really ate Chinese food. I have lived in many places, but for the first half of my life I lived in small all-white towns. No Asians to make Asian food there.

Then I spent a few years in a medium city, where there were maybe a few fast food type delivery Chinese places, 1 fancy sit down Chinese restaurant, and 1 Thai buffet. My grand parents lived in that city, so if we were going to eat at a sit down place, they were probably coming with us (often with other family too), which meant we ate Italian or American, nothing else was an option. Fast food options were usually Subway, Burger King, or Wendy's, since that's what was close, otherwise it was homecooked. Even getting a pizza delivered was kinda rare.

Then it was big city Houston and we would all rather eat Mexican, Italian, or Steak, so no Asian food, with only a few exceptions. One of those was when I worked in the mall in high school and would eat Lo Mein noodles regularly at the food court, but I don't think I ever ordered a single different item on their menu.

As an adult, I would still rather eat Mexican, Italian, or Steak, and all of my family are fine with that, on the very rare occasion we go out to eat. I can cook food as good as any reasonably priced restaurant and we are not going to go to a $50+ a plate place outside of special occasions.

You should get over your fear of new things and try some Asian dumplings. They're usually cheap too so perfect theme for this thread!