Eating Poor #2 — or, is that a 99 cent store in your pocket?
The sequel —
The entire point, of course, is to eat while poor, but not to eat poorly. The new recipe — append “whatever you can afford” to each ingredient:
1 can tuna packed in water
some cheese
some crackers
Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
Tabasco Smoked Chipotle sauce
sourdough bread
This also qualifies as a “one pot meal”, a bachelor’s friend.
Drain half the liquid from the tuna. Slice some cheese (the more piquant, the better.) Add both to a saucepan, and heat on medium high. Add a good squeeze of Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (or substitute Worchestershire) and a pour of Tabasco Smoked Chipotle to taste. Cook, stirring, until the cheese is melted. Crumble the crackers and add to the saucepan, and cook slightly longer until they are softened. Transfer to bowl. Serve warm on toasted sourdough bread.
A note on the Bragg’s and the Tabasco: if you can at all afford it, and are not homeless, develop a pantry of condiments, spices, and flavorings. They go a long way towards making otherwise boring food palatable. Yeah, it’s $3.50 - $5.00/bottle up front, but they last a long time, and you will quickly learn what to do and when (sweet paprika here, fenugreek here, Marie Sharp’s there). They are good for the long haul — except for the Tobasco Smoked Chipotle, discussed before, of which I could easily go through two bottles per week just by myself, and have to throttle my intake for my budget’s sake (one man’s fine dining is another man’s Hidden Valley Ranch, so feel free to scoff.)
The Bragg’s will take you to Whole Foods, and the Tobasco to a “regular” grocery store, but the rest is 99 Cent Only Store material.
Bob Mike, you told me lifetimes ago about the homeless man you had befriended who taught you about his breakfast feast. It involved Spam. Do you recall? Do you want to be guest chef for Eating Poor #3?
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June 20th, 2008 at 7:59 am
I have no recollection of the Spam-based breakfast feast, but I’ve recently fallen in love with Feijoada. If you have access to a slow cooker, the easiest and cheapest version that you can make will run you less than $10 for several meals worth of food.
Ingredients
1 pound dried black beans
1 pound beef stew meat, cubed
1 pound sausage
salt & pepper, to taste
1 onion, chopped
Directions
Soak beans overnight. Pour beans and water into crockpot. Brown beef and sausage. Drain excess fat. Stir ingredients into beans in crockpot. Cook on for for 6-10 hours. Check occasionally and add water if necessary.
I’ve eaten this stuff over rice, on toast, wrapped in tortillas, and with a spoon. Depending on the amount of water you use, it can be served a lot of different ways, and you can make a lot of it for cheap. The key is really to get the cheapest cuts of beef that you can and cube them yourself. I tend to go for the one pound rolls of hot sausage and break it up rather than buying links and cutting them. It doesn’t matter how tough or fatty the beef is; nine hours in the slow cooker will convert rubber tires into something that will melt in your mouth. This is also one of those dishes that works wonders with the Tabasco Smoked Chipotle.
June 20th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Just this week, the VONS in your area is advertising top sirloin (TOP SIRLOIN!) for $1.99/lb with VONS club. Buy several pounds, cube it yourself, and split it up into freezable portions. Now you have access to good, affordable meat in your freezer for pretty close to the best price you can get for good-quality meat. You don’t need to stick to the 99cent store for food bargains. Your weekly grocery store advertisement is a great resource. The “Sausage Shop” Sausage is $2.50/lb this week as well.
Also this week worth looking at:
B/S chicken breast: $1.99/lb. Marinate and cook the whole batch at once in the oven, slice and freeze in 1 to 2-meal portions. It goes straight from the freezer to the microwave.
Don’t forget to get some vegetables and fruit for good health. Not doing so could cost you more $$ in the long run:
Eggplant $1/lb
grapes $1/lb
Safeway brand frozen veggies, some varieties, $2 (for 20oz to 32oz bags)
By the way, freezer bags are on sale at VONS this week as well.