(Part 2) Best products from r/budgetfood

Fellow celiac here! I have a horrible selection for grocery stores, so I buy a lot of things off of Amazon a case at a time. It is way cheaper than I can find anywhere this way. Stop buying the Udi's muffins. Honestly, they taste like crap and you can make ones that are soooo much better! I like to do a lot of baking mixes so I don't have to guess on what ratios of flours to use. Anyways, here are a few of my favorites:

• Pasta that tastes good and has good texture - Tinkyada
  
  
• Pizza crust mix that my husband likes even better than the gluten filled stuff I used to make - Bob's Red Mill GF Pizza Crust Mix
  
  
• Bread mix that we make in a dedicated GF bread machine - Glutino Gluten Free Bread Mix
  
  
• Muffins - King Arthur Muffin Mix
  
  
• Pancakes, waffles, cookies, biscuits, muffins, just all around awesome baking substitute - Pamela's Gluten Free Baking Mix
  
  
  If you get adventurous and want to try baking your items with a flour substitute, Cup4cup or Better Batter are both great. I've used them both as replacements of regular flour in things I've made and turned out very similar to using regular flour. I also make my own chicken fingers using the GF Bisquick (there is a GF chicken finger recipe on the box). We also eat a lot of rice and quinoa.

The cookbook is called "Good and Cheap" - it's available as a free ebook or PDF. The author, Leanne Brown, also has a website with those recipes and more (I see I'm not the only person to link it). There are really good recipes!

My wife and I use them a lot. Last week I made her chana masala recipe for my lunches, cost $6 total for all 5 lunches. I admit it got old by the end of the week, but for the first couple days it was really tasty!

Another good resource is budgetbytes (I see someone else also linked that one).

A couple broader "principles" (you may already know them, though):

• Prepared foods are often expensive. Making from scratch is good. But sometimes you don't want to cook and emergency mac'n'cheese is always okay. Add some frozen peas to make it seem healthy
  
• Meat is also often expensive. Tofu and beans (especially dry beans, if you have time to cook them) can be cheaper. Rice and beans is a super filling meal, and you can dress it up with cumin and onions, then garnish with cilantro and sour cream (look up recipes for Dominican rice and beans - "la bandera" - or Costa Rican rice and beans - "gallo pinto")
  
• If this is a temporary situation (some number of months) then you can probably cut a few corners on nutrition and lean heavily on rice, pasta, and other cheap carbs to do the super basic job of being filling. If there's an Asian grocery nearby you can often get a 50 lb. bag of rice for $30-$40 (my wife and I go through one every 8-10 months); Amazon may also help. If your financial situation will last longer (a year or more) then that's a worse solution. But short term, rice'n'spice with a couple fried eggs can go a long way
  
• Do you eat a lot of bread? Bread is not a super expensive item, but you can still save money by baking it yourself. A lot of people rave about Flour, Water, Salt, and Yeast for "artisanal" baking but those are mostly crusty, hearty loaves more than sandwich bread. If you want to go the homemade bread route and mostly need sandwiches, a bread machine might be worth it.
  
  But a lot of these depend on how much time you can commit to food prep. If you're limited on time then your strategy will change a bit.

My budget-version of an indulgent meal... New York Strip steaks are a tasty, decent steak option that are cheaper than a lot of the more popular varieties. Pair it with a cheap starchy side (corn) and a cheap veggie side (on-sale zucchini), and viola! Of course, prices will vary greatly by location and store...

Ingredients (per person)

• 1 New York Strip Steak ($2.41 for me)
  
• ~1-1.5 zucchini ($0.50)
  
• Leftover sauce for zucchini - or butter and garlic (~$0.20)
  
• ~1 cup frozen corn (~$0.20)
  
• 1 tomato (optional)
  
• 5 cloves of garlic
  
• ~2Tbspn butter
  
• 1Tbspn olive oil
  
• Copious amounts of salt and pepper
  
  Directions
  
  

1. Dice or julienne your zucchini. I use a julienne peeler and I love it. I don't know why julienned veggies taste better, they just do.
   
2. If you julienne peel, you may have odd bits of leftover zucchini. Chop 'em up! We can add them to the corn instead of wasting them. If you're not julienning, no worries. The corn is fine on its own.
   
3. Saute the noodles in about a half tablespoon of olive oil, over medium high. Don't overcrowd the pan if you want them to brown. For julienned zucchini, they'll only take about 2 minutes.
   
4. I would happily eat the zucchini just with salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon--or with some garlic butter. But, I had leftover marinara sauce so I threw them together as a kind of trendy 'zoodle pasta'. It was tasty, but not tasty enough to go out of your way to get marinara. Just use whatever sauce you have on hand or can make most easily.
   
5. Start prepping your steak! Take however many pieces you'll use (freeze the rest), put 'em on a plate, and sprinkle a truly ridiculous amount of salt on each side. The salt will pull out some of the water near the surface; having a dry surface will help the steak to sear and brown in the pan, rather than steam. Coarse kosher salt is best, but any will do. Set aside.
   
6. Chop up a tomato, if you want to add a tomato to your corn. I did.
   
7. Chop up your garlic. I use the smash-and-chop method.
   
8. Check on your steak. The surface should look much wetter than before. Blot off the moisture with a towel. Pepper each side of the steaks.
   
9. Get your heaviest-bottomed pan screaming hot. It might even smoke a bit. (Try to avoid non-stick for this, but if that's all you got, don't let them smoke.)
   
10. While your pan heats, start sauteeing the zucchini in 1tbspn of butter--if you're using zucchini in your corn.
    
11. Now that your pan is super hot, add 0.5 tbspn of olive oil and about 1tbspn of butter. The butter will sizzle and brown immediately--that's okay. Give it a swish so it coats the pan.
    
12. Drop your steaks in! Press against the pan immediately to make sure it's in good contact with the pan, to create that browned crust.
    
13. Let the steaks cook about 2 minutes, then flip. Cook on the other side 1-2 minutes, depending on the thickness of your steak.
    
14. When done, remove from the pan and let rest on a plate, covered loosely with aluminum foil. This lets the juices settle a bit so they don't run everywhere when you cut into the steak. Don't cover the steaks too tightly, or water vapor will get trapped and the crispy bits will steam.
    
15. Add the garlic to your zucchini, if using--or sautee garlic by itself. I chose to switch this part to the steak pan to use the tasty steak juices.
    
16. Add corn, cook until hot. Then add tomatoes if using give it a quick stir, and you're good to go!
    
17. Plate it and eat!
    
    Notes
    
    

• You can buy and sautee almost any veggie if your zucchini isn't on sale.
  
• If you don't have marinara that's about to go bad like I did, I'd just sautee some garlic in ~1.5Tbspn of butter, add some pepper, coat the zucchini in it, and maybe add a bit of lemon juice if you have it.
  
• When you're eating the steak, try to slice it against the fibers that run through the steak. This will make the meat more tender.
  
  Edit: Clarity, added notes.

I sometimes do the one-dish-for-the-whole-week thing too. These are my favourite and least expensive recipes:


Mint-Flavoured Lentil Soup -- Serves 6-8

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 2 med onions, chopped
  
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
  
• 1 small hot pepper, finely chopped
  
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger
  
• 2 cups stewed tomatoes
  
• 7 cups hot water
  
• 1 cup green lentils
  
• 1/2 tsp salt (original recipe calls for 2 1/2 tsps, but this was too salty for me)
  
• 1 tsp cumin
  
• 1 tsp pepper
  
• 4 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
  
  Method
  
  

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
   
2. Add onions, garlic, hot pepper, and ginger. Cook for 10 minutes.
   
3. Stir in rest of ingredients except mint. Bring to a boil.
   
4. Lower heat to medium. Cover and cook until lentils are soft (~45 mins).
   
5. Stir in mint and serve.
   
   This recipe comes from a great, but obscure cookbook called Arab Cooking on a Saskatchewan Homestead. The author's family came to Canada during the Great Depression and this book is a compendium of all the traditional Syrian dishes that his mom made using cheap and easy-to-find ingredients. Each chapter is built around a specific ingredient like chickpeas, potatoes, burghul, etc. Totally useful when you're trying to follow a budget and only have few main ingredients in the kitchen.
   
   Simple Lentil Dal with Fresh Ginger Green Chiles, and Cilantro
   
   Okay, this is technically one pot and a pan, but it's so cheap and delicious that it's worth the extra washing up. The recipe is for four, but it's easily multiplied. Also, once you know how to make the basic lentil mixture (lentils, turmeric, salt, water), you can completely change the flavour of the finished dish by adding a different tempering oil. The one in the link is quite tasty, but this one is equally good and even simpler:
   
   Cumin and Dried Red Chiles Tempering Oil -- Serves 4
   
   

• 2 1/2 tablespoons of canola oil
  
• 1 1/4 teaspoons cumin seeds
  
• 2 whole dried red chiles
  
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon/lime
  
  Method
  
  

1. Cook lentils per the linked recipe above.
   
2. Combine oil and cumin in a pan. Cook over med-high heat until light brown.
   
3. Add the whole chiles. Cook and stir for another 30 seconds.
   
4. Take pan off the heat. Add cayenne and sprinkle a few drops of water on top to stop the cooking.
   
5. Stir the tempering oil into the cooked lentils.
   
6. Stir in lemon/lime juice.
   
7. Serve over rice or with naan.

Hey, glad to help. I had the same epiphany a few months ago. The food really is designed for it. If you live somewhere with any sort of international market, go there and grab some Indian spices in bulk. I drive half an hour to closest one for black peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric, green cardamom pods, and garam masala. It's so so cheap and totally worth it. Also brown rice and whatever special lentils they have like unsplit black lentils. Oh man are those foods cheaper and better than I imagined.

I also have this great book about instant pots by Roger Ebert. I'm also a U of I alum, and just found it fascinating. It's a great read and it's really interesting to read a short book by someone that is so incredibly passionate and funny about a subject like this.

I live in Hawaii so food like this is pretty common, but when I was in college in Boston it was a winner with all my white friends.

Find an asian grocery store or even a regular one if you live in a large city with a sizable asian population and buy this:

https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Curry-Sauce-Mild-8-4-Ounce/dp/B007FMLMFS

I suppose you could order it off Amazon too. The one I linked is mild, but you can get the spicy ones if your friends can handle it.

Other ingredients: Stew meat, carrots, celery, onion, whatever other vegetable you think you might want with curry.

I generally use a little under 2lbs of meat, 1lb of carrots, 1lb of celery, and 2 onions, but you can adjust based on what you like.

1. Get a big pot and put enough cooking oil in it to coat the bottom. In a cold pot, the oil will move around slowly, heat up the pot until the oil moves around easily. Then add the meat and chopped up onions.
   
   
2. Using a spoon or spatula or something move the meat around so that it doesn't burn at the bottom of the pot until it looks cooked on all sides.
   
   
3. Add as much water as the curry instructions say to add and all the curry cubes. If you are unsure, it's better to add less water because you can always add more later. Cover the pot, turn the heat down to low-medium (3-4 if your stove dial goes from 1-10). and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
   
   
4. Open the pot and stir it around to make sure all the curry cubes are dissolved. Keep stirring it for another 5 minutes or so. Stew meat is very tough so even though it looked cooked in step 2, you are cooking it longer to make it tender. If you put a lot of extra meat in, you can pull a piece out and taste it to see if the meat is tender enough yet. If not, let it simmer another 5 minutes or so. You can't really overcook it unless you cook it for hours.
   
   
5. While all that simmering was going on, chop up your other vegetables. Make sure you rinse all the dirt and stuff off first and peel the carrots with a carrot/potato peeler. Throw the vegetables in and cook them for about 5 minutes or so. Again, you can taste a piece to see if they are cooked to the level you like. I don't like my vegetables too mushy.
   
   
6. Make some rice and serve the curry on the rice. I won't tell you how to make rice because there are enough youtube videos for that. Rice is cheap, maybe make a small batch first for practice if you've never done it before. The key is finding the right water/rice ratio.
   
   
7. If you want your curry to be thicker, get some cornstarch and mix it in a small bowl with a little bit of cold water until all the clumps are gone and it's just liquid. Then pour the mixture into the hot curry and mix it some more. This is the proper way to add corn starch to thicken something without getting clumpy corn starch nuggets.

These look icky. Recipe looks unreliable, too. If you want a good bagel recipe, I suggest you buy this book:

http://www.amazon.ca/Artisan-Bread-Five-Minutes-Revolutionizes/dp/0312362919/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348260951&sr=8-1

...and follow the bagel recipe in here, because it's delicious and much better. Actually, all of their bread recipes are awesome, and super fast to make, and because it's homemade it's definitely budget-friendly. I have this book and their Artisan Pizza and Flatbreads book as well, and I love 'em.

I know it sounds simple compared to all these other great ideas, but you might check out the [Student's Vegetarian Cookbook, Revised: Quick, Easy, Cheap, and Tasty Vegetarian Recipes] (http://amzn.com/0761511709) As the title suggests it has a lot of simple, easy to make recipes that might inspire you. I wish you luck and btw 1st post.

Any of these travel coolers. I have two of the tote bag style ones, which is like a big ass shopping bag for when I do my road trips and travel with meals or regional perishiables I get on my travels. Takes up less space and easier to transport/pack than a hard cooler. You can meal prep and store stuff in the bags replacing the ice bags or getting some really good ice packs or both. One thing I also do is I put water in plastic drinking bottles (used water bottles, 1 liter bottles) and freeze water so when it melts it's also cool drinking water as well as an ice pack.

Also great to use if you shop at Aldi! The other day I fit about $50 in groceries in one bag!

The other "But wait! There's MORE!" is these bags are also great for HOT items and perfect for when you pick up pizza or other hot items. That's why I have two in different colors to indicate which is which if I'm packing all sorts of stuff.

This is something I think about a lot when packing lunches for my daughter. She can't have anything that needs to be heated, either. Here are my tips. First, get some of these: http://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Container-Divided-Rectangle-2-Count/dp/B003U6DJ90/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345207791&sr=8-1&keywords=ziploc+divided+container They are divided and waterproof between the compartments. There are other divided containers, and some things called Bento Boxes, but these will not leak. So if you have strawberries in one of the spots, the juice won't leak onto your pretzels (for example).

I make her a trail mix, but it's a peanut-free school, so I usually use some of these things, depending on sales: almonds, raisins, M&Ms, craisins, yogurt-covered raisins, cereal. That goes into the smallest compartment.

The next-sized compartment usually has a muffin of some kind. Here are some of my favorites:

• http://weelicious.com/2012/01/24/chocolate-zucchini-bread/ I make this in mini-muffin pans and put them in the fridge for the week. You can also freeze them.
  
  
• http://iowagirleats.com/2012/02/16/mini-ham-cheese-quinoa-cups/ These are DELICIOUS. You can also put these in the fridge for a week or so.
  
  
• http://www.marthastewart.com/339779/healthy-morning-muffins Ditto on the fridge thing.
  
  I rarely pack sandwiches, but she loves Greek yogurt, so I bought some of these http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-431-4-Piece-Silicone-Maker/dp/B0036B9KHO/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1345208411&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=norpro I either make a smoothie and freeze them in these or just put straight yogurt in them. They are usually thawed enough to eat by lunch time.

I'd get a cast iron skillet and a ceramic coated Dutch oven. Then I'd check thrift stores for a metal spatula, cleaver, paring knife, wooden or plastic solid and slotted spoon, and measuring cup/measuring spoon set. Sometimes dollar tree carries measuring instruments and these great thin but viable stainless mixing bowls. I've even used them as double boilers before. That's a good set of equipment to get you started. As you make Things you'll start to build a wish list of other pieces.

Edit: I meant to say that I cook all my rice in the Dutch oven listed above. Add water and rice. Bring to boil with lid on. Stir and let boil for a moment. Replace lid and remove from heat. I love how all kinds of rice turn out that way and I save myself another piece of equipment.

Go to the grocery store on sunday right when it opens.

Do your shopping fast and don't buy a lot.

Breakfast

12 eggs. 1 package bacon. 1 pack shredded cheddar. Butter (unsalted).

Cook all the bacon in the oven allowing fat to fall below into a dish or tin foil.

Crack the eggs into 5 separate tupperware containers. Scramble all of them, then drop a little butter, salt and pepper into them. Close containers and refigerate.

Take 5 sandwich bags, fill each with a small handful of cheese.

Wrap 5 portions of bacon in paper towel, place inside bag of cheese.

Refigerate.

At work, 30-60 seconds of your eggs in the microwave (don't overcook).

Spread the cheese on the hot eggs, mix together well.

Enjoy.

Lunch

• Those cans of chili and soup that you can microwave right in the can are a lifesaver. They have much less saturated fat than a fast food burger.
  
  
• Chop up all your favorite vegetables (cucumber, broccoli, carrot, bell pepper) throw them into 5 lunch bags. Refrigerate and bring to work. Small container of balsamic vinagrette or italian.
  
  
• Buy a good lunch bag. This will make you WANT to pack it with food and bring it to work. Your cold food will stay cold until lunch and you will have enough room to toss a drink in there. Trust me, it's a good investment. Here's mine (14 bucks, good size, insulated): http://amzn.com/B006HFC3K2
  
  
• People crave carbs during lunch. Buy some good quality french or italian bread and give yourself a portion size to bring to work.
  
  
• Water. Seriously. For fucks sakes. Bring a big bottle of water to work. Throw some ice in it and drink throughout the day. You won't feel lethargic and it will wake you up, I promise.
  
  3 years ago here was my daily work routine: Skip breakfast, work ass off all morning, Huge lunch full of saturated fat, loads of salt, and a huge soda or energy drink. Tired as fuck by 3pm. Go out and buy another red bull. Get home tired as shit. Can't figure out why. Order pizza, go to sleep, repeat 5 days a week.
  
  I work 12 hours a day. If you allow it, it will destroy you.
  
  I let it rule me for 3 years, but I couldn't handle my own diet ignorance anymore. Now I actually USE food to help me be productive at work.
  
  Eating an orange to wake me up.
  
  Blueberries & sliced mango to kick my craving for candy.
  
  
  Dinner
  
  Google: 5 ingredient dinners.
  
  Your life will never be the same.
  
  
  Good luck man!
  
  
  Edit: Good luck MISS!
  
  
  
  

Making miso soup from scratch is easy and it's much healthier than ramen. Miso paste, bonito flakes, frozen spinach (instead of costlier wakame) & tofu might cost about $20 total, but that's enough to make it 10-15 times. Extremely healthy and filling but cheap and low-cal.

If you need more substance and want to save a few bucks, add ramen noodles to that instead of the tofu. Save the ramen packets to season something else like rice for a stir fry.

Popcorn can be healthy if you use as little oil as possible and skip all the cheese and sugar/caramel ideas. Olive oil is great for finishing but has too low a burning point for popping and will release carcinogens and lose nutrients when it burns. Safflower oil is great for this, has a much higher burning point (well out of popcorn popping range) and is close to olive oil in terms of nutritional value.



For topping the popcorn, you should start infusing your olive oil. Just get some small flip cap bottles and add whatever fresh herbs you want. Just be sure to keep the herbs submerged in oil or they will mold. Some of my favorites:

• Garlic infused oil with sea salt (use a mortar and pestle to finely crush sea salt into popcorn friendly salt)
  
• Rosemary infused oil with sea salt and black pepper
  
• Cilantro infused oil with sea salt, cayenne pepper and a sprinkling of fresh lime juice
  
• Oregano & crushed red pepper flake infused olive oil (not too much!) with sea salt

You could also invest in a SodaStream. It's under $100 for the starter kit, and the refill carbonators are around $30 (less if you can find a place that exchanges them.) The one pictured is just a sample size, the real ones can carbonate 60 liters of water. Then you can add a squeeze of citrus or really any fruit with a little juice to it, or if you really want to up your soda game...

• Ginger Syrup makes a great ginger ale
  
  
• Vinegar Shrubs - if you've never had craft cocktails with vinegar shrubs, this might sound a little weird, but they are so versatile, refreshing, and they'll keep in your fridge for months. The combinations are literally endless. The best part: you can use overripe or frozen fruit! Those berries that are losing their firmness, or those squishy peaches are perfect for making shrubs!
  
  My SO and I have never been big on drinking brand name soda, but having soda water encourages us to drink more water. Add in a little all natural, homemade flavor and it's all I want to drink.

Grab one of these toasters to make the egg boiling process even easier! I know boiling water isn't hard - but I've always hated using the stove and having to clean a big pot. This toaster is GREAT! You put the water in and up to 4 eggs, press one button and 10 minutes later you have PERFECT hard boiled eggs. Just thought I'd share!

http://www.amazon.com/West-Bend-TEM500W-Muffin-Toaster/dp/B008YNFB3Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1412730719&sr=8-2&keywords=egg+boil+toaster

Solid recipe! I'd recommend messing around with some higher temperatures, I like to do my baguettes at around 500-550. Also, buying a pound of yeast like this is generally less than $5 at a store, and will last you years if stored properly. Happy baking :)

My parents use this to slice cheese and it works well:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00KFO3BMK/ref=s9_zwish_hm_b1DNY_g79_i1

IIRC, it's not big enough to make "normal" sized cheese slices, but it's perfectly fine if you don't mind making the slices a little smaller.

Edit:

Otherwise there's this, which might work better for you but I've never used one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000HMB0IM/ref=s9_top_hm_b1DNY_g79_i1

Non-mobile: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KFO3BMK/ref=s9_zwish_hm_b1DNY_g79_i1

^That's ^why ^I'm ^here, ^I ^don't ^judge ^you. ^PM ^/u/xl0 ^if ^I'm ^causing ^any ^trouble. ^WUT?