There has been some talk lately in the fast food thread about eating/cooking at home for cheaper calorie wise than fast food. I think the people arguing the fast food side(and i used to be one of them) typically argue that the time/startup costs/ingredient cost are worse than just ordering deals off the apps or whatever. So this is a thread for people to dump their easy/fast home snacks and meals that are cheap. Bonus points if they are healthy. I will start although this one isn’t healthy. When I am really lazy I brown some:
1 pack of chicken flavored ramen
1 chopped clove of garlic
1 sliced up hotdog
cook the hotdog in water, add the garlic, toss in the flavoring and the ramen. pour the entire thing into serving bowl. add 1 (or 2) slices of pepper jack cheese on top.
1 thing linguine
chopped/diced clams, your preference, you need to save the juice
garlic
parmesan
lemon/salt/pepper to taste
pretty self explanatory what to do here. cook the pasta, put some garlic on the pan, when its done you add the clam juice and let it simmer.
when pasta is done, add clam juice + clams + as much parmesan as you can handle. lemon/salt/pepper for seasoning although I usually ditch the salt because parmesan’s already naturally salty.
sometimes i add artechoke hearts to this which is pretty good but def not cheap. the clams can be subbed for a lot of different things, and arent always cheap, but you can make 6 solid large servings of this for less than $15. it’s always a hit.
Saute chopped mushrooms in butter. When brown, add sliced shallot and chopped garlic. Cook until fragrant. Add more water than the ramen instructions suggest so I can add my own seasoning on top of the ramen seasoning. Add ramen seasoning/veg. I buy Shin Gourmet Spicy. Once boiling add noodles and stir. Add a pour of fish sauce and a few drops of Maggi seasoning. Add chopped broccoli to steam while noodles cook. After a few minutes, take off heat and add chopped bell pepper and left over sliced chicken. To serve, top with spicy chili crisp.
Buying a pork shoulder and slow cooking it for bbq pulled pork sandwiches, carnitas, nachos etc is the first thing I think of for delicious and cheap.
I’ve also been trying out vegetarian taco varieties, poblanos and corn (rajas), Buffalo cauliflower, chipotle beets and carrots have all been very tasty. Basically anything made with chipotles in adobo is a big winner to me!
Shake N bake the chicken, when it’s done spoon a little bit of sauce on it, top with the cheese, and stick it under the broiler for a couple of moments until the cheese melts. Serve with pasta and sauce.
It’s half ass but makes a surprisingly tasty chicken parm. For ever more rave reviews, use the hot & spicy Shake N Bake.
For BBQ pulled pork I’m no connoisseur, I season the meat, brown it in a pan, put it in a slow cooker with beer and some onions and garlic on low and forget about for 10 hours. Shred it, let it rest in some of the juices for a bit, and then slather it in Sweet Baby Rays. Maybe put it in the broiler at the end the crisp up the edges. One day I’ll get around to making my own BBQ sauce…
Dry brine, cover it in Memphis Dust, and stick it in a 225 degree oven for ~12 hours until it’s 200 degrees. Doesn’t seem to be in the spirit of this thread tho.
For bottled sauce I like Stubb’s a lot more than sticky sweet KC style.
-One head of iceberg lettuce
-One pound of lean ground beef
-2-3 tablespoons of hoisin sauce
-a tablespoon or so of soy sauce
-a cheapo can of water chestnuts
-a bit of thai chili oil
Brown the ground beef. While that is happening dice the water chestnuts and tear off leaves of lettuce. When the ground beef is almost done add the sauce and water chestnuts and cook them together for a couple mins while stirring. Serve the mixture in the lettuce.
