[Vexed]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('duke3522', 'H')ey All,

I have to disagree that fast food is cheaper than homemade. When you are feeding 3 a trip to Wendy’s is $20.

[eric_b]

Oh, yes yes. I cook.

My parents forced me & my siblings to cook one meal for
the family each week. At the time I didn't like it, but
now I'm grateful. They sort of lured us into it by cleaning
up after us at first, then after a few months we had to
start cleaning up after ourselves

I'm surprised at how many people are completely incompetent
in the kitchen - don't know how to boil, saute or simmer,
can't clean slice and dice vegetables, meats, etc.

Cooking at home is much cheaper then going out to eat.
Probably healthier too.

I don't eat much meat these days as I'm afraid of the factory
farmed stuff, and I can't afford much of the organic meats.

Lately I've been experimenting cooking with various legumes -
cheap sources of plant protein. Got a very good recipe for
refried beans from scratch, but they are a lot of work. A
lot of cook time. The key is to fry the beans in bacon fat -
they need all the help they can get. Split pea soup is very
easy to make - just throw together about 16 oz split peas,
1 large diced onion, a few thinly chopped carrots, and 2-3
finely diced cloves of garlic. The key spice is one bay leaf,
salt + pepper. Bring to boil and simmer for 2 hours.

One thing, from an energy POV, is cooking dried foods, like
beans and rice, requires a lot of heat. Boiling and simmering.
Takes a lot of fuel.

Here's a couple recipes I like:

***

Rice & Lentils (super EZ)

1 cup red lentils, thoroughly washed
1 12-15 oz can diced tomatoes
1-3 teaspoons good hot curry powder.
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2-1 cup rice (your choice)

In medium saucepan combine lentils with two (2) cups water,
then add tomatoes (with juice), curry and olive oil. Bring
to boil and simmer for 20-40 minutes, or until lentils
are tender. At the same time start the rice (I'm assuming
you know how to cook rice - usually 1 part rice to two parts
water, bring to boil and simmer (both lentils and rice need to
be covered while simmering))

Serve lentil goo over rice.

This is very CHEAP and EASY recipe.

***

Beef/Garlic fried rice (personal favorite)

1/2-1 pound good ground beef (organic and/or ground round)
3 eggs.
1/2-1 cup rice (white or long grain)
2-3 carrots
1 BULB garlic
Tobasco sauce
Optional: small amount of fresh ginger

First start the rice. Bring to boil in sauce pan, skim
off the crud that rises to the top. Reduce heat, cover
and simmer.

Next, while rice is cooking, wash and peel carrots. chop
into 1-2" lengths, and further subdivide these pieces into
3-4 more sections, lenghtwise.

Crack eggs into bowl, add a liberal amount of tobasco
sauce, scramble.

Keep an eye on the rice. Once the water has boiled down and
you can see the top of the rice sprinkle the carrots over
the rice. re-cover and let it continue to simmer.

Preheat a skillet and scramble the eggs.

I then remove the eggs (to bowl) and clean the frying pan
to use to cook the beef.

Next you need to prep the garlic. I carefully peel each
clove of garlic (you can mash them if you want) then
very finely dice them. While you're doing this you
should be heating up the frying pan over a VERY LOW
heat, with enough oil added to cover the bottom of the
pan. (I usually use a good half bulb of garlic, however
many cloves that is)

Once you've got the garlic finely diced add to the frying
pan. THis part must be done right! You don't want the oil
to be too hot! Now, for just a minute or two, you want to
saute/render the chopped garlic in the oil. It should be
bubbling a little, but you don't want to burn or brown
the garlic. The idea is get the flavor of the garlic into
the oil. { note, at this point you can also add a tiny
bit of chopped ginger to the mix, no more than 1-2 teaspoons }
Add a few shakes of pepper to the oil.
NOTE - garlic should be chopped immediately prior to saute(ing)
it, while it's still fresh.

Next crumble the ground beef into the garlic/oil mixture,
turn up the heat, and brown the ground beef. I don't like
to cook the beef more than I have to - say 5-10 minutes (tops)
until browned.

During this time keep and eye on the rice, make sure it
doesn't burn. Turn off heat when done.

If everything has gone according to plan the rice and beef
will finish cooking at the same time. Combine all ingredients
(beef + rice & carrots + eggs) in saucepan rice was cooked
in and mix well.

At this point the dish is almost done, expect for salt, which
it MUST HAVE. I used to add soy sauce at this point (which
makes the dish), but since I'm trying to eliminate MSG from
my diet I just add salt to taste at this point.

This is a cheap and satisfying dish, though it does take some
cook time.

[duke3522]

Hey Eric,

Both of those sound good and I just might have to try the stir fry tomorrow.

It just amazes me that most folk don't even know how to make a nice spaghetti sauce or any kind of gravy.

Speaking of spaghetti sauce. Here is a sure fire recipe I got from an old Italian Holy Roller preacher I met during my parents "Pentecostal' stage back in the '70's. I didn't agree with his religion, but the man could make a killer sauce.


Duke's Homemade Spaghetti Sauce


1 Large Sweet Yellow Onion Chopped
4 Cups Chicken Stock or 2 Cups Stock and 2 Cups of a good red wine.
24oz Tomato Paste
1 Cup Sliced Mushrooms (or one small can)
2 Heaping Tablespoons Oregano
1 Heaping Tablespoon Basil
1 Heaping Tablespoon Thyme
1 teaspoon Rosemary
2 Tablespoons Honey
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Garlic
Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Get a nice heavy pot on medium high and sweat the chopped onion, garlic, and mushrooms seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. Then add the stock and the tomato paste. Heat until simmering. Add the herbs, honey, salt, and pepper to taste. Bring just to a soft boil. Reduce heat. Let simmer all day.

I usually double this recipe and use the leftovers for pizzas or calzones later in the week. Also, add garlic, and the other herbs for that matter, to your taste. And make sure to add more water, if needed, as the sauce cooks down.

[mekrob]

I'm only 19 and am in college. I'm trying to cut down on expenses with preparing my own food, but I don't have a kitchen so I'm kind of limited to heating stuff up. It's not as cheap as making it myself, but it's better than eating on Franklin everyday for every meal. I do have a rice cooker as well for when I'm hungry for very plain stuff. But when I have a kitchen, I can make the basics: eggs, toast, spaghetti, other pastas, etc. I've never really been forced to do anything other than this when I've had the materials, but I'm going to start trying more 'complete' meals soon.

[Princess]

I'll admit that until my mother became ill, I was the Queen of the one-pot meal. Spaghetti sauce. That's it. That was all I could cook.

Now, thanks to the Food Network and Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals, I can cook. I can even make light and fluffy biscuits from scratch. I've been toying with the idea of putting together basic cooking classes for the hords of hungry post-PO masses who think cooking is putting something in the microwave.

[Doly]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Princess', 'I')'ve been toying with the idea of putting together basic cooking classes for the hords of hungry post-PO masses who think cooking is putting something in the microwave.