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I'm single so mostly just cook for myself and sometimes friends. I have some cheap, tasty regular meals that don't take that many ingredients. Bonus points: most will provide several meals.
Sweet potato, sausage (I like smoked pork but any would do) and chopped onion casserole. Two or three sweet potatoes, a couple of hefty sausage links, one onion - yellow or red. Parboil potatoes, chop up onion and sausage, put in a covered casserole dish and cook for about 45 minutes at 350. Adding spinach, mustard greens etc makes it more nutritious. Red pepper flakes for extra spicieness.
Frittata, my new favourite thing, I just started a thread on that.
Beef stew in the crockpot. A pound of stew meat. Potatoes/turnips/parsnips (parsnips make it very sweet and flavorful), a few carrots, celery, onion, beans, etc. Enough stockk to cover. A can of beer makes it tasty, a can of tomato paste makes it richer. I can eat dinner for five days if I don't get bored with it from one pot.
Quesadillas: Layer all or some of the following between two flour tortillas and nuke:
Salsa, sliced tomatoes, green chiles, refried beans, cheese. Lots of different types of salsa and refried beans to choose from!
Stir-fried vegetables in olive oil...add curry spices or thai curry paste, fresh or dried herbs, parmesan cheese...all give a different flavor.
I eat a lot of meatless meals, so I can make a meal out of a bowl of vegetables or something like one roasted winter squash with some salt, butter and a dollop of orange marmalade on each half, yum.
Quesadillas: Layer all or some of the following between two flour tortillas and nuke:
Salsa, sliced tomatoes, green chiles, refried beans, cheese. Lots of different types of salsa and refried beans to choose from!
Try making those quesadillas on a cast iron or other heavy skillet instead of the microwave... SOOO much better and no rubbery cheese!
DH and I also like small quesadillas, so we'll just use the fajita size tortillas and fold them over in the middle.. usually just cheese and hot sauce when we have them that way.
You can make a yummy, cheap, and HOT hot sauce that lasts forever in the fridge by pureeing some dried chiles soaked in hot water, enough of the water to get a pourable texture, 1/4 an onion, a clove of garlic, and salt - chiles love salt. Lime juice is nice here too. You can also add a small can of tomato sauce to this but I like it better without. I dribble this sauce on the mostly melted cheese before closing my quesadilla.
I'm single so mostly just cook for myself and sometimes friends. I have some cheap, tasty regular meals that don't take that many ingredients. Bonus points: most will provide several meals.
Sweet potato, sausage (I like smoked pork but any would do) and chopped onion casserole. Two or three sweet potatoes, a couple of hefty sausage links, one onion - yellow or red. Parboil potatoes, chop up onion and sausage, put in a covered casserole dish and cook for about 45 minutes at 350. Adding spinach, mustard greens etc makes it more nutritious. Red pepper flakes for extra spicieness.
Frittata, my new favourite thing, I just started a thread on that.
Beef stew in the crockpot. A pound of stew meat. Potatoes/turnips/parsnips (parsnips make it very sweet and flavorful), a few carrots, celery, onion, beans, etc. Enough stockk to cover. A can of beer makes it tasty, a can of tomato paste makes it richer. I can eat dinner for five days if I don't get bored with it from one pot.
Quesadillas: Layer all or some of the following between two flour tortillas and nuke:
Salsa, sliced tomatoes, green chiles, refried beans, cheese. Lots of different types of salsa and refried beans to choose from!
Stir-fried vegetables in olive oil...add curry spices or thai curry paste, fresh or dried herbs, parmesan cheese...all give a different flavor.
I eat a lot of meatless meals, so I can make a meal out of a bowl of vegetables or something like one roasted winter squash with some salt, butter and a dollop of orange marmalade on each half, yum.
The orange curry looks good!
I love the quesadillas, sounds great and easy. I've never tried curry paste, I'll put it on the list.
Tip for stir fried rice, use cold rice out of the refrig or it won't work. It fries up crispy.
Claudhopper, don't know where you live but even in Michigan, decent mainstream grocery stores like Meijers have an "international foods" aisle. Good for different types of curry paste, fish sauce, like that.
Basic stir fry - wok is best if you have one - cook meat of your choice in oil. There's plenty of different flavored oils to try for variety. Remove meat. Stir-fry a variety of whatever vegetables you have on hand, add back meat, add soy sauce, plus fish sauce for extra flavor, stir at high heat for a couple of minutes, serve over rice. (The meat is optional of course.) Various curry sauces and mixes can be added, I like the green Thai curry paste.
Google around for Indian vegetarian meals, this is a good site:
That's a great recipe - I've made this for friends and it's always a hit - but there are many with fewer ingredients if you've invested in some good spices. I stock up at an Indian grocery store for things like garam masala, mustard seeds (LOVE mustard seeds!) coriander and fresh ginger. It's amazing how tasty a couple of potatoes or a bowl of cauliflower can be with the right spices. Just omit the chilies if you don't like a bit of fire with your food.
chiroptera, your post is much appreciated. I have garam marsala and fish sauce, but haven't known what to do with them. I also have hoison sauce, same problem.
I'll check out the Indian site, thanks.
Went to Safeway looking for thai curry paste, they didn't have it. I ended up getting a pouch of sauce for broccoli beef, which was great over rice noodles with veges. Panda brand, spicy, easy, and under $4.
I just wrote down a recipe that calls for chutney - where do I get that?
Last edited by claudhopper; 04-14-2011 at 08:35 PM..
You don't say where you live...seems most good grocery stores with an international foods section should have chutney but certainly Indian stores - or English food stores - will carry it.
It's been a long time since I've made this, but baked brie with chutney...mmmmm good!
You don't say where you live...seems most good grocery stores with an international foods section should have chutney but certainly Indian stores - or English food stores - will carry it.
It's been a long time since I've made this, but baked brie with chutney...mmmmm good!
I live in a small town near Redding, CA. There are a couple Sikh temples here, so there must be an Indian grocery somewhere. I"m on it.
Amish Baked Steak is a favorite in my house. It's cheap to make and there are usually leftovers.
1 1/2 pounds of hamburger - 1# is just not enough. Use the additional 1/2 #
2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup
2 cans water - split. One will go in the meat mixture, the other in the soups
1 package saltines - crush fine
1 cup flour
Salt & Pepper to taste - be aware the saltines have salt in them
Oil for frying
Mix burger, water and crushed saltines. Press into a 9x13 pan. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for several hours..overnight is better. Once deeply chilled, cut into 8 patties. Heat oil in a skillet. You'll need enough to really fry the patties well.
Roll each patty in flour and brown well on both sides. Cook them thoroughly. If you don't cook them all the way through, they will be pink inside even after baking in the oven. Don't ask me why. Just be sure they are fully cooked when you fry them.
In a bowl mix the soups, the can of water and some of the oil from the skillet. Lots of flavor in that oil. Mix it well. Pour a little in the bottom of the 9x13 pan to keep the patties from sticking. Put patties in the pan and pour the soup mixture over them. Cover with foil and bake for 90 minutes. Served with mashed potatoes. Fabulous and super cheap to make.
I like making this easy eggplant parmesan. You can easily adjust the amounts to make more or less.
1 med-large eggplant, sliced into 3/4" slices
1/4 c. regular mayonnaise
1/2 c. italian bread crumbs
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
1 jar of your favorite sauce
2 c. shredded mozzarella, or provelone
Preheat oven to 375
Spread both sides of each eggplant slice thinly with mayo, mix the crumbs and grated parmesan together and coat the slices with the crumb mixture. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 mins until lightly brown and tender.
Turn off oven. Spread spaghetti sauce over the eggplant and sprinkle with shredded cheese. The heat from the oven will warm the sauce and melt the cheese.
Serve with a side of pasta.
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