New to Cooking & Very Tiny Budget

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  • Chunkahlunkah
    Chunkahlunkah Posts: 373 Member
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    Chili is another great cheap food. Ok, I'll stop now. Clearly I could go on forever about this subject. ;)
  • Chunkahlunkah
    Chunkahlunkah Posts: 373 Member
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    canadianlbs wrote: »
    and it's surprising how something that makes you think 'bleh' because you just ate it already can be exactly teh thing that you feel like having a few weeks later when you're not in the mood to cook or the budget/schedule is tight.

    So true :D

  • Chunkahlunkah
    Chunkahlunkah Posts: 373 Member
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    MKEgal wrote: »
    Here's a cookbook put together to help SNAP (food stamp) recipients make the most of the small amount they're given. Yummy healthy recipes, great photography, a nice departure from the usual bland government output.

    https://8e81c55f4ebf03323905b57bf395473796067508.googledrive.com/host/0B2A2SnkA9YgxaHdzbEhGSmJOZDg/good-and-cheap.pdf

    You tease. The link doesn't work. ;)
  • jo_nz
    jo_nz Posts: 548 Member
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    http://www.familybudgeting.org.nz/media/stationery/pamphlets/Cheap Eats.pdf

    This is a cookbook I have found useful in the past when hunting to budget-friendly recipes.

    I am in NZ though, so hoping the ingredients aren't too odd for those in other countries! (an obvious example is kumara = sweet potato) Also, oven temperatures are Celsius not Fahrenheit.
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
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    . . . oh. and the two things i grow in pots of my own? parsley and green onions. they're the two seasonings i can't be without when it's something that's calling for them, b ut i just stick at paying 2 bucks to some grocery store for a bundle of either of them, which i'm only going to half-use and then will either throw out or have to think up something else to cook just for the sake of using them up.

    they're great. the onions just go and go. supposedly parsley is a 'biennial' which means it lives for two years and then throws seeds and dies. but i forgot all about that this year and it just re-seeded itself, so i've got this great little parsley forest going outside in just an 8 or 9-inch pot. plus, i'll admit it's something where i'm really happy knowing there were precisely no pesticides or chemicals involved.

    i started out with the whole herb-garden thing, and i'm emotionally attached to my little rosemary bush. plus glad the oregano survived after all. but on the totally-finances level, parsley and green onions are the two go-to's for me.
  • not_my_first_rodeo
    not_my_first_rodeo Posts: 311 Member
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    When it comes to anything in the way of cooking equipment: garage sales and estate sales.
    Chunkahlunkah wrote: »
    MKEgal wrote: »
    Here's a cookbook put together to help SNAP (food stamp) recipients make the most of the small amount they're given. Yummy healthy recipes, great photography, a nice departure from the usual bland government output.

    https://8e81c55f4ebf03323905b57bf395473796067508.googledrive.com/host/0B2A2SnkA9YgxaHdzbEhGSmJOZDg/good-and-cheap.pdf

    You tease. The link doesn't work. ;)

    Is this it: https://cookbooks.leannebrown.com/good-and-cheap.pdf?
  • Chunkahlunkah
    Chunkahlunkah Posts: 373 Member
    edited November 2016
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    not_my_first_rodeo wrote: »
    When it comes to anything in the way of cooking equipment: garage sales and estate sales.
    Chunkahlunkah wrote: »
    MKEgal wrote: »
    Here's a cookbook put together to help SNAP (food stamp) recipients make the most of the small amount they're given. Yummy healthy recipes, great photography, a nice departure from the usual bland government output.

    https://8e81c55f4ebf03323905b57bf395473796067508.googledrive.com/host/0B2A2SnkA9YgxaHdzbEhGSmJOZDg/good-and-cheap.pdf

    You tease. The link doesn't work. ;)

    Is this it: https://cookbooks.leannebrown.com/good-and-cheap.pdf?

    Yes, I believe that's the one MKEgal was referring to. That's the same one I found during my google hunt. I have a lot of respect for the author for putting that together and posting the pdf for free. If I'm remembering correctly, she also donates the profits when people purchase the hard copy.

    I skimmed through it the other day. What can make it so hard to cook in the way she or other low cost recipe writers describe is, yes, the meal falls within the budget but having all the components on hand doesn't necessarily. Some investment has to occur first. Still, it's great work she's doing. :)
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
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    Red beans and brown rice, cooked with a ham hock for flavor is cheap and nutritious (you can buy big bags of beans and brown rice cheap). I also like caldo verde, which is a Portuguese kale-potato soup that's cheap to make if you find a spicy sausage to use that is on sale. Look in your local grocery for store brand frozen veggies and frozen fruits to save money. As someone else pointed out, eggs are also a great inexpensive source of protein; so is peanut butter. Here's a source for recipes:

    http://allrecipes.com/recipes/15522/everyday-cooking/budget-cooking

    If you search in Google or Bing for "budget recipes" you'll get a lot of ideas. Also, you might visit your local library and see if there are budget recipe books you can copy recipes from. I'm not a coupon clipper, but that's another way people save a lot of money.
  • fastingrabbit
    fastingrabbit Posts: 90 Member
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    What a wonderful thread this is. It's not easy to balance healthy & budget-friendly & tasty & fast, but some of these ideas make it sound like a lot of fun!
  • Vanilla_Lattes
    Vanilla_Lattes Posts: 251 Member
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    NJCJF wrote: »
    Quick and easy... black beans cooked with a can of diced tomatoes, onions and garlic over brown rice, melt some cheese on top and top off with some salsa delicious and filling

    I can't tell you how often I eat canned beans and canned diced tomatoes. I love it.

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