Inexpensive Dining

[Aable]

This is more a snack I enjoy.

Buy a box of freezer soft pretzels.

get a small dish, fill with the stuff you use to make Chex mix sauce. You would have to look for proportions online, I just eyeball it since I have been making it since I was about 5.
-Butter
-Worcestershire sauce
-Garlic Salt & Poweder
add paprika
melt this in the microwave for about 40 seconds and stir

Dip the pretzel in this like you would other soft pretzels and nacho cheese/mustard.

P.S. I am the one who made up the ground beef and mustard recipe. It works best if mix in some caramelized onions at the end. I usuallt carmelise the onions in the pan first, set them aside on a plate. start the other stuff and mix the onions back in to heat them up, but if you dont mind making tons of dishes(have a girlfriend/wife) it will be faster with 2 pans. Also use ketchup not mustard and it will turn out better.

[Elesirdur]

I made this for supper last night and am very much looking forward to the leftovers this evening. It's cheap, nutritious and very tasty.

Things you need:
-Fish. Any variety of whitefish fillets work. Sole, snapper, monkfish, cod; pretty much whatever's fresh and cheap at your supermarket's fishmonger.
-1 14oz can of chopped or whole tomatoes.
-7oz of crushed tomatoes.
-1 big carrot (2 if they're less than about 1/2" in diameter)
-2 big stalks of celery
-1/2 an onion
-1 or 2 cloves of garlic
-Spices to taste
-Olive oil
-White whine (red can work too)
-Butter
-A baking dish big enough to fit the fish fillets in without layering
-A high-walled frying pan, wok, or sauce pot.

Heat your oven to 350° and grease/oil/butter the bottom of the baking dish and lay the fish in flat, try not to layer it. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt, kosher if you have it.

While the oven is warming, place your pan on the burner over medium-low heat and add a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Chop onions, garlic, celery, and carrots and add to warm pan and lightly sautee until the carrots have softened and the onions are golden (but not brown). Too much heat here doesn't help, but you don't need to get all fancy and make a sweat here. (This is called a mirepoix and is the aromatic base in so many French/Italian/Iberian soups and sauces.)

Add the can of diced or whole peeled tomatoes as well as about 7oz, or half a standard can, of crushed tomatoes to the pan. Add about a cup of white wine; doesn't need to be fancy stuff, just something to bring out the alcohol soluble flavours in the tomatoes.

Here's the time to add spices. You can make this taste Italian using oregano, basil leaves, and some thyme. Go for more of a Portuguese flavour with a healthy dose of paprika and some sage. I never measure spices unless I'm baking so I can't help much there but, uh, use your best judgement?

Turn up the heat to medium or medium-high depending on your range and simmer for about 5 minutes until it reduces a little bit.

Once the sauce is not all watery and sloppy, pour over the fish in the baking dish and throw it in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the fish is cooked. If your fillets are anything more than 3/4" thick you may need a little more than 20 minutes to cook. The fish should flake easily with a fork when it's done.

Scoop out the fish and sauce onto your serving dish. I prefer shallow soup bowls over plates, but whatever you've got it is fine. Serve with bread or rice.


This might sound complicated, but in all it shouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes to prepare, has a good dietary proportion of protein to veggies, and canned tomatoes are super-healthy. On that note, try and find canned tomatoes that don't have any salt or seasoning in them already - often anything labelled "Tomato Sauce" has extra shit you don't need. This dish is also good for people who don't like fish because it tastes "fishy". Whitefish doesn't have much flavour to begin with and pretty much just absorbs flavour from whatever it's in.

Enjoy a healthy, tasty, and cheap supper!

[Jefe]

Chicken salad, Mexican style (I think).
Time to prepare: About 20-30 min.
Estimated price: Around $20 and feeds 8 heads.

• Chicken breasts (about 5 dollars)[/*:m:180bd]
• Mayonnaise[/*:m:180bd]
• Crema Mexicana (liek a high quiality dairy product)[/*:m:180bd]
• Potatoes[/*:m:180bd]
• Carrots[/*:m:180bd]
• Celery[/*:m:180bd]
• Green Beans[/*:m:180bd]
• Jalapeños[/*:m:180bd]
• Tostadas (it looks like the taco shell but flat)[/*:m:180bd]

After cleaning your breasts with lemon juice, dump em in boiling water for about 15 min. Meanwhile, mix half of a mayo container (depends on the size of the container, say 9 oz.), then add twice as much crema to the mix (18 oz.). Obviously if you buy your produce fresh it's going to be even cheaper, so I recommend you do that. It also gives you a sense of satisfaction. If on the other hand you want to buy it canned, then go for it. Buy the smallest containers of every ingredient, or buy a medium container with most vegetables mixed.

Once the chicken is ready, use your hands to "peel" small/thin pieces of the chicken. Mix everything together and you should end up with a delicious and healthy salad. If you are a pussy about chiles, then don't throw em into the mix.

[Epical]

This thread has made me realize just how bad of a cook I really am.

[Remyo]

grilled cheese sammiches will be cheap. bread + cheese.

[Zanz L. Barre The 3rd]

Mini-Pizzas:
Pack of 8-10 English muffins: $3
Squirt bottle of marinara sauce: $2
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese: $2

Total: $7

Slice your English muffin in half (they are most likely pre-sliced), and place the two pieces in your toaster. After the muffins are ready, drizzle marinara sauce and lightly sprinkle cheese on top. Microwave for 10-15secs to slightly melt the cheese. The beauty in this is that each English muffin = 2 pieces, that's a total of 16-20 pieces. I'm usually stuffed after about 4 pieces (2 muffins). It is truly a thing of beauty my friend, and really easy to make.

Edit: I know it's over $5, but it provides so much I figured it was worth mentioning. It's essentially 4-5 meals.

[Maguspk]

Mini-Pizzas:
Pack of 8-10 English muffins: $3
Squirt bottle of marinara sauce: $2
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese: $2

Total: $7

Slice your English muffin in half (they are most likely pre-sliced), and place the two pieces in your toaster. After the muffins are ready, drizzle marinara sauce and lightly sprinkle cheese on top. Microwave for 10-15secs to slightly melt the cheese. The beauty in this is that each English muffin = 2 pieces, that's a total of 16-20 pieces. I'm usually stuffed after about 4 pieces (2 muffins). It is truly a thing of beauty my friend, and really easy to make.

Edit: I know it's over $5, but it provides so much I figured it was worth mentioning. It's essentially 4-5 meals.

I like this one, mostly because it's easy to replicate and could easily get more complicated without spending alot more money but yield a better tasting result. Ifyanah'mean.

[Tajin]

[*] Tostadas (it looks like the taco shell but flat)[/list]

you could say "fried tortillas" too.

Taco shell wtf x.X

[Aable]

pizzaish
for this you need

-tortilla
-buafflo wing sauce
-flower
-cheese
-bacon bits

First mix buafflow wing sauce with flower to make a paste about the consistancy of pizza sauce.
Then using the mixture as you would pizza sauce, and the tortilla as your crust to make a pizza.
cook till cheese melts and your set.