This weekend, I had two of the best cheapy meals ever.
Kraft Dinner and ramen noodles. I'm telling you, it's so tasty. You have to put cream and shredded cheese into the Kraft Dinner, and use the spiciest ramen noodles you can find. Mix them in the pot. So, so tasty.
And grilled cheese sandwiches. Why didn't anybody tell me about the proper way to do this before? I always toasted the bread then microwaved the sandwich until the cheese melted.
No! You must pan fry it. With olive oil and butter. And russian sweet mustard.
Posted by Traveler (Member # 3615) on :
You can also make grilled cheese with your broiler. This is usually a less greasy way then pan-frying them.
Must serve with Tomato soup!
[ December 20, 2004, 12:45 PM: Message edited by: Traveler ]
Posted by skillery (Member # 6209) on :
Stan the Man tells about his preferred method for preparing ramen noodles here.
I tried it once, but never again. Those uncooked noodles swell up to twice their size once they hit your stomach. Combine that with some raw cabbage, and you're in serious trouble.
[ December 20, 2004, 12:55 PM: Message edited by: skillery ]
Posted by Amka (Member # 690) on :
How cheap are we talking? What about time?
Chicken sauted in apple juice (no oil) with an onion and a couple of apples (if you have ones about to go mushy, that works great). Minced garlic, salt of course, and a couple of bullion cubes. Or if you can, half apple juice, half chicken stock.
Serve with rice. If you want the sauce a bit thick, use some corn starch.
If you have some time and inclination, making your own chicken soup will forever spoil you against the canned stuff. You need a whole chicken, onions, celery, carrots.
Saute an onion and a couple of stocks of celery in a bit of butter or oil.
Cut up the dark pieces of chicken in to rather large chunks. Put them in with the onions and celery. Fry them a good long time, until the juices release. Then add water, salt, a couple of bay leaves and some thyme, and boil about half an hour. Yes, you've pretty much ruined the chicken, but you have a chicken stock that can't be beat. Strain it out, setting the stock in reserve. My husband still eats the leftover chicken and onions.
In the same pan, cook the white pieces of chicken until a nice golden brown. Remove and reserve. This is going to cool a bit while you saute another onion and a couple of carrots, and celery if you like it in your soup. Add the stock back. Cook for about 20 minutes to tenderize the vegetables (this is when you'd add potatoes if you like them). Shred the white chicken you cooked from the bones, add back into the soup and cook for another 10 minutes. If you want noodles instead of potatoes, check the package for how long they need to boil and add them in at the appropriate time. Salt and Pepper to taste.
Perhaps not quite starving college student cheap, but damn good family fair. Using the basic stock instructions above, you can do just about anything. You can add corn instead of celery, cream the soup and you have a good chicken corn chowder.
Here is a cheaper alternative for the chicken soup. Say you got one of those rotisserie chickens at the store. You've had a good meal out of it. Now strip the extra meat off, throw all the bones into a pot and boil half an hour. Strain, and you have stock now. Saute onions, bla bla, put back in stock, add vegetables, then the chicken bits you previously stripped off in the last ten minutes. You've now stretched out your chicken into two good meals.
Recently have a bone in ham? Use that bone to make a ham stock for amazing split pea soup. Just boil the bone (of course there are bits of meat stuck to it) for about 20-30 minutes. Remove and reserve. Saute onions and carrots in same pan. Add the stock, a couple of Bay leaves, dried split peas. Cook about 20-30 minutes. Add potatoes. Cook until vegetables are all tender, adding ham bits back in in the last 20 minutes or so. Salt and Pepper to taste. Remember to fish out those bay leaves when you serve it up.
[ December 20, 2004, 01:28 PM: Message edited by: Amka ]
Posted by lem (Member # 6914) on :
Del Taco! 49cent dirty tacos. It doesn't get better then that!
quote: use the spiciest ramen noodles
The spiciest raman noodle is actually Korean ramen. It is called Shin Ramen. Many stores, like Smith's, have it in their asian section. If not, go to an asian market and buy a box of twenty. Yummie Yummie spicy spicy!! Add some green onions, eggs, tofu, and maybe even some tuna, and you have a hearty cheap, spicy, meal.
Posted by dabbler (Member # 6443) on :
Kimchi bowl noodle! My favorite kimchi ramen is from Nong Shim. Here is a photo of it from a webstore. It's spicy, and you can make it spicier by adding less water.
I make it this way: Take out the noodles and spice package so I'm left with just the bowl. Fill bowl with water to 1 cm below given mark (so there's less water than they suggest). Pour this amount of water into a small pot. Boil water. Add noodles and spice package. Cook for a couple minutes, until noodles are just soft enough to spread apart and soften but not all the way. Put noodles on a plate with a little bit of the spicy liquid. Pour off most of the rest of the spicy liquid until there's just a small layer left in the pot (like 1/4 inch deep). Add an egg, mix around to make a cooked eggy mixture. Pour this on top of the noodles.
Enjoy!
Posted by dread pirate romany (Member # 6869) on :
My favorite cheap, tasty meals tend to involve beans and jalepenos. Yummy. Chicken if I have it, usually some cheese, lime.....
Black Bean Soup
Mix in crock pot
1 cup dry black beans 1 can diced tomatos 1 can of water 2-5 jalepenos, diced 1 TBL cumin chicken, if you do it ( you can throw in precooked stuff, or even stiff frozen pieces) Leave alone all day. Before serving: remove and shred chicken if needed add 1-2 tsp salt ( beans cooked in salt take longer to soften, don't add at beginning) juice of 2-3 limes.
Yummy! This lasts for about three meals.
Posted by raventh1 (Member # 3750) on :
Mac and cheese + cream of mushroom soup - butter - milk.
mmm mmm good.
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
Just feels honored to be mentioned in a thread.
speaking of which....
nope, I got chili I made some time ago. Hey, if ya ever get into the military (theoretical)(sp?), go to the commissary. That is how to get cheap, but quality products. What cost me almost $100 now only cost me $25.
Posted by Paul Goldner (Member # 1910) on :
I make this vegetable stew with a little bit of turkey bacon, but thats not necessary. If you want a good meal without the meat, you can skip the first steps.
Fry two strips of turkey bacon until crisp.
Cut the bacon into bit size bits. Slice one onion, 2 potatoes, 2-3 carrots.
Cook the bacon, onion, potatoes, carrots, 2 1/2 cups water, 1/2 cup rice, 1 can sweet peas, and one cube of beef buillion (or use beef or chicken stock instead of the water and buillion). Add salt, pepper, and cumin to taste.
You can pretty much add in any other vegetables you want. I like to add a little bit of celery, or change one potato for a sweet potato.
Cook for about 35 minutes, or until moisture is absorbed.
Posted by Paul Goldner (Member # 1910) on :
This is something thats tasty and simple. ( My roommate loves this one far too much).
1 package cooked egg noodles, 1 can tuna, 1 can sweet peas. Mix with mayo.
![[Blushing]](graemlins/blushing.gif)
Just feels honored to be mentioned in a thread.