Cooking on a Budget
Not going to lie: I’m sort of cheap.
I also really enjoy cooking good food. I’ve been experimenting with making simple but delicious meals. My biggest success so far is a pasta dish with onion, garlic, peas, sardines, and tomato paste. It’s easy to make (Boil pasta. Saute onions. Add peas, sardines, and tomato sauce), and quite inexpensive– which is a huge plus, living in one of the most expensive cities in the world. I’m always looking for new recipes for good meals that won’t break the bank. Any suggestions?
http://popculturereference.net/2009/09/10/say-a-little-prayer-for-glee/
Hi there, I’ve just found your website whilst searching on Google as I’m looking for some material on wall ovens!. It is a very interesting website so I bookmarked your site and I will revisit tomorrow to enjoy a more detailed look when I have more time.
I just made cabbage rolls today and I figure with all the ingredients, it’s cost me about $20. Plus I now have extra to freeze for future meals.
I do a lot of pasta and stews and ratatouille, mainly because I’m fortunate to have a ginormous cast iron pot. So I cook on Sundays, and freeze for the week. Not always, but a lot.
I like to mix in a lot of inexpensive dishes as well. Like Katie, I do a lot of baked potatoes. Mine are usually done in the oven. I rub olive oil over the skin, sprinkle on salt and pepper and a variety of spices (paprika, garlic powder, onion powder), and then bake for about an hour until the skin is nice and toasty and the inside is soft. I then top with a variety of things, depending on my mood (plain yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, broccoli, cheese, etc.).
Pasta is another great, cheap, alternative. Even something as simple as olive oil and Parmesan cheese can be really tasty. I also add sun dried tomatoes to it at times.
Breakfast for dinner — omelets, scrambled eggs — is also an inexpensive thing I’ll do.
Just wanted to add that if you want to get really cheap, do Loaded Baked Potatoes. I nuke my potatoes in the microwave, then top with everything from sour cream, salt/pepper, onions, cheese, bell peppers, bacon bits, diced hardboiled eggs, etc. Tons of possibilities. Of course, I’m assuming that potatoes are as cheap in London as they are here in California, which may not be the case.
I, too, like to eat on the cheap. One of my favorite recipes is my own version of a margherita pizza. I use whole wheat pizza dough, spread a pesto-garlic paste on the rolled dough, top with tomato slices, fresh basil, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, and salt/pepper to taste. For a meat version, replace the tomato slices with salami.