after reading through the debt threads id like to share some easy recipes

[aviator41]

One thing I've noticed here in Tulsa - usual goods like soap, sugar etc...are cheaper at "gringo" stores like Reasor's, Warehouse Mkt...
Meat, fruit, veggies are much cheaper (and usually better) at Las Americas or Nam Hai.
You can buy the stuff to make steak tortas with fresh veggies for 8 people for twenty bucks at Las Americas.
For the same twenty, you can get enough fresh veggies and rice (add chicken, pork, deer) to make a fantastic stir-fry that'll feed you for days....

Stir fry is a mainstay in our house. super simple, tasty and easy. I can eat it for lunch for an entire week:

1 package of pork chops, or whatever pork is on sale. cubed up the more the better. I usually go for one 'super saver' pack a wally world.
1/2 onion cubed (one of those gimmicky choppers makes this take no time at all)
1 package of frozen peas and carrots
1 tbsp garlic (or a little more, if you are like me), we like jar-o-minced-garlic from wally world. makes this easy.
1-2 tbsp oil
pinch of salt
little bit of soy sauce.

3 cups steamed white or whole grain rice.

1st, get the rice going in a rice cooker or pot.

cook up the pork, garlic and onion in a wok using the oil, drain most of the oil when done.

toss in the peas and carrots and let cook until no longer frozen, stirring on occasion

toss on the rice and remove heat. toss with soy sauce and let stand a couple minutes.

makes GOBS of food. can feed our family of 5 easily with leftovers.

feeds me lunch all week - and I'm stuffed to the gills every day.

Takes a little prep work, but the payoff is worth the time!

 

[TedKennedy]

Add some bok choy, lots of garlic and fresh ginger, use a little sesame oil when cooking....you'll throw rocks ar frozen veggies!

 

[HiredHand]

I think eating a plant based diet is worth considering if you are trying to spend less and eat healthy.

 

[beast1989]

My gf made chicken tacos the other day using the crockpot it was very simple but very good.

She put a few chicken breast (no bone) in the crockpot with store bought chicken stock, taco seasoning, a little chili powder, cayenne pepper, super cheap canned green chilis, chopped bell peppers, chopped onion, minced jalapenos and it came out great.

Once it cooked just enough to be shred-able she did so and then put it back in on low temp to continue cooking and absorbing juices and flavor. She also poked the raw chicken breast with a fork before she started to help with the flavor absorption. We ended up frying tortillas into hard shell tacos but that meat could have EASILY been used for chicken fajitas, burritos, chicken quesdillas, enchiladas, tortas, taco salad, or put onto a sandwich. If I put it on a sandwich I probably would have coated that tastie chicken in bbq sauce like you would pulled pork. lol

We topped it with a little black beans, guacamole (Sprout's had full size avocados 2/$1!!!), cheese, and lettuce. Pretty cheap meal I'd say.

What I liked is if you made enough chicken at one time you could make a different one of those options each time you ate some of the leftovers. There was no chicken left so I didnt get to try out any of the other options . It was very easy for her to make last weekend, it cooked itself while she did stuff around the house for a few hours.

 

[sureNsteady]

Thanks subprep that sounds superb! Here's one that I have:

Taco Soup Cost is about $10 and serves 4 with leftovers for lunch
1.5lb ground beef
1package Taco seasoning (can also be bought in bulk at Sam's)
1package Ranch dressing (bulk/Sam's)
1can Pinto beans (drained)
1can Black beans (drained)
1can corn
1can Ro-tel (I use Hot, but mild works too)
1cup beef broth
1can stewed tomatoes
salt/pepper to taste
minced garlic to taste
minced onions to taste

Brown the beef in a large pot
Drain grease
Add all other ingredients
Mix well
Maybe add a cup of water if it seems too thick
Let it stew for awhile

Serve with (all or none/to each his own)
1bag corn chips (to crumble in soup like crackers)
Sour Cream (helps cool it down and makes it creamy)
shredded Cheddar/Longhorn cheese
Hot sauce
jalapenos

This is great anytime, but we usually eat it in the fall/winter. Sometimes add some hot corn, or flour tortillas with butter. Have not met anyone that doesn't like it (or they aren't brave enough to tell me

This takes about 15 minutes to assemble, can be frozen, uses a good mix of fresh and canned food, can use any type of beans you like (navy, brown, pinto, blackeye, white, black).

(edited to add that you can replace the ground beef with canned, or cooked chicken and the beef broth with chicken broth if you'd rather have Chicken Taco Soup!)

 

[cody6766]

This is shamelessly copied from the food network website and is VERY good. Don't let the long list of ingredients fool you, it's easy, not terribly expensive and you'll have more chili than you know what to do with. You also need a VERY big pot to cook it in.

To this list, I add 1lb bacon, cooked, broken up and added in the end. Add some grease to the chili when finishing to taste. Tweak the dry spice blend to your palate as well. I always add more cumin. I also add a couple chilis in adobo sauce and their sauce to the mix. Lastly, I sub the chopped steak for more ground steak. I use 50/50 sirloin/chuck blend. Feel free to add peppers for heat as needed. This isn't terribly hot and I normally add a serrano to the mix.

Also, I rarely screw with the fries. Crackers work well enough.

2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons bacon grease, or canola oil
2 red bell peppers, diced (about 2 cups)
2 jalapenos, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
3 Anaheim chiles, roasted, peeled, chopped
3 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, chopped
2 yellow onions, diced (about 2 cups)
1 head garlic, minced (about 1/4 cup)
1 pound boneless chuck, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2 pounds ground beef, coarse grind
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
2 teaspoons granulated onion
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons hot paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup tomato paste
12 ounces lager beer
1 cup chicken stock
2 (15.5-ounce) cans pinto beans, with juice
2 (15.5-ounce) cans kidney beans, with juice
Double-Fried French Fries, recipe follows
Saltine crackers, for garnish
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup shredded Cheddar
Directions
In large stock pot over high heat, add butter and bacon grease. Add bell pepper, jalapeno, chiles and onion and cook until caramelized, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute a minute longer. Add chuck and brown. Add ground beef and sausage to brown and stir gently, trying not to break up the ground beef too much. Cook until meat is nicely browned and cooked through, about 7 to10 minutes. Add in granulated onions, granulated garlic, chili powder, paprika, cumin, coriander, cayenne, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add in tomato sauce and paste and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in beer and chicken stock. Add beans, lower heat and simmer for 2 hours.

Serve in bowls over Double-Fried French Fries and garnish with Saltine crackers, green onions and shredded Cheddar.

Double-Fried French Fries
4 (4 to 5-inches long) russet potatoes (about 2 pounds)
2 quarts canola oil
1 tablespoons fine-grain sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Peel potatoes on the sides, leaving the ends with the skin on. Cut the potatoes into 1/3-inch slices and then slice into 1/3-inch sticks.

Fill a large bowl with water and soak potatoes, submerged, for at least 30 minutes up to 24 hours. This will help remove the excess starch from the potatoes and keep them from oxidizing.

Heat a heavy stock pot fitted with a deep-fry thermometer with oil to 325 degrees F.

Remove potatoes from the water, and pat dry to remove excess water. Add 2 handfuls of potatoes to hot oil. There should be at least 1-inch of oil above the potatoes. Par cook until potatoes are light brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove potatoes, gently shaking off excess oil and let drain on rack. Repeat until all of the potatoes are par cooked.

Raise heat of oil to 350 degrees F.

Cook potatoes again, 2 handfuls at a time, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove from oil, shake off excess oil, and season lightly in a bowl with salt and pepper. Repeat until all potatoes are cooked.

Yield: 8 servings

 

[subprep]

who knew there were so many good cooks around here! taco soup sounds awesome. I make my own taco seasoning in bulk
1/4 cup chili powder
1/4 cup cumin
2T dehydrated onion flakes
2T garlic Powder
1T Oregano
1T or 2 depending on how hot you like it of Cayenne pepper (ground)
just mix it up and use as needed. its pretty versatile so you can add or take away stuff you dont like. and its way cheaper than those little packets :-) especially if you buy the big spice stuff at sams.

I also make what I like to call "lazy Fajitas"
1 can chicken breast
1 bell pepper
1 small or half lg onion
1 cup dry Rice
taco seasoning
Start the rice cooking ( i use brown or whatever)
chop up the bell pepper and onion & saute in skillet
add taco seasoning I like it real spicy so I use a 1/4 cup of my own mix!
Add chicken
when rice is done mix that in with the chicken mix.
Serve with all the fajita fixins.
This feeds us for days and the base mix is good fajita style, taco style or nacho style or just eat it with a fork.

 

[Gideon]

seriously though if you don't have one you should get a crock pot. All bachelors should have a crock pot <-- it's like a kitchen wife that doesn't ***** all the time!

My crock pot paid for itself in less than a week. I've probably cooked 20 whole chickens and made 50 gallons of broth this year so far. Plus, it's an air freshener for men. Nothing like waking up to a house full of the scent of gumbo or a nice pot roast that's been cooking overnight.

As a bachelor and someone who enjoys experimenting with cooking, recipes with too many numbers scare me. I can't be arsed to measure out X-ounces of something. I kind of eyeball everything and say, "Eh, close enough".
Most of my cooking plans consist of:
1.Get ingredients.
2.Heat them til they're safe. (Notice I didn't say "done".)
3.Eat before it goes bad.

You ladies are gonna have to simplify things for my primitive male brain.

 

[AKguy1985]

I'm the opposite with ingredient amounts. I try and be as precise as possible.

 

[cody6766]

Precision is for baking and chemistry. I measure the first time I make a recipe and usually eyeball the rest. I may use measuring spoons to get in the neighborhood, but I don't bother with how heaped they are or how tightly they're packed because I always add more in the end, right before serving to get the taste and smell just right. I'll admit, I'm a bit of a wannabe chef. My kitchen is like my garage, except I can eat the things I build. I don't cook dinner, I build it. I got spoiled to the finer things while waiting tables in a fine dining restaurant and had to learn the chef's tricks for when I moved up in job. A few failures at home, some demos from the chefs at work and I was well on my way.