Fast, easy and cheap (foods)

Michael Angelo's frozen Italian dinners.

Chicken thighs marinated in Italian dressing.

And the masters: http://www.collegehumor.com/embed/6640562/top-chef-dads

 

Spaghetti squash needs a new agent. Maybe he should sign up pomegranate's agent or something, I dunno, because he certainly gets a bum wrap. He's one of the most versatile foods in the veggie aisle...is low carb and if cooked properly can pass as pasta in any number of dishes, including my personal fave:

http://www.food.com/recipe/low-carb-spaghetti-squash-alfredo-110565

 

Brown rice is cheap and fairly good for you, but it takes a long time to cook.

So, cook a bunch of it and keep it in the fridge.

Then you can put rinsed canned beans on some of it and melt some cheddar cheese on top. Add some salsa and you have complex protein for not much money.

 

Spanish rice. So easy you almost can't screw it up. Just takes a little time. One onion chopped and cooked till its translucent. One pound of ground beef browned. One big can of tomatoes -- look for the no salt added ones. Throw in your spices: CHili powder, cumin, pepper, Hot sauce to taste. Throw in a cup of brown rice and a half cup of water. bring it to a boil then let it simmer for 45 minutes. Lunch or supper for three or four nights. Cheap and healthy and easy.

Roasts have also been brought up, they are easy and they will feed you for a week. Don't even need a crock pot if you don't got one. Take a pyrex cake pan (either the square or the rectangle one, all depends on how much veg you plan to use), rub some olive oil into it. rub your seasoning into the roast. If it is beef I like to use Montreal Steak spice. put it in the middle of the pan. Cut up an onion, carrot (or even get the mini ones), and some celery, dump it in the pan. I also like to throw in some of the little potatoes that are about the size of golf balls. Throw in about a half to three quarters of a cup of water over the veg. Season the veg with some salt and cover the pan with a couple of sheets of tin foil. put in the oven for an hour at 350. Take tin foil off put back in the oven for 45 minutes at 200. Very simple. Lunch/supper at work for a week depending on the size of the roast.

If you go pork its even easier. skip the olive oil, rub it with cinnamon and a little pepper. take some brown rice, throw it in the pan. Dump in a can of mushroom soup and a half a can of water. Skip the veg. Same cooking directions. Also works for pork chops.

All three of these are cheap, easy and good, and if you spend one night cooking it, it is super fast to reheat in the microwave.

 

That sounds good, but it would also be easily the most difficult thing I've ever even attempted.

 

Little Caesars Pizza around here has an Oven Ready special...large pepperoni pizza for $3.95. Cannot beat that and can feed a family of four. One thing I rely on is eggs. I make omlettes with toast or scrambled eggs with grits and the kids love it. Always make sure to get grits. They are healthy, cheap and can go with anything. My one son puts pepper and butter on his, the wife puts hot sauce on hers, other son sugars them and I just throw some butter on them. Good, healthy filler. So eggs and grits is my contribution to the thread (not instant grits either. Have some pride).

 

I had to:

http://movieclips.com/Z4VDx-my-cousin-vinny-movie-magic-grits/

 

I just seasoned and packed in plastic bags a 6-pound pack of boneless, skinless chicken thighs from Sam's Club. Got seven bags of three thighs each in the freezer. I thaw them out and throw them on the grill for seven minutes a side and brush on Sweet Baby Ray's original barbecue sauce. Peel, boil and mash some potatoes and throw in some peas or corn and I have a pretty awesome meal within a half-hour.

 

Seriously? It's is just slightly more difficult than Mac and cheese. And only because you have to cut up an onion and brown some ground beef. It's all one pot (Don't use a soup pot or sauce pan use like a pot you would use to make a stew or chili in). It's also easy to adapt. I sometimes like to throw in a couple of bay leaves or liquid smoke. Basically whatever you like.

 

No self-respecting Southerner uses instant grits. Or so I've heard.

 

You do realize that the mac and cheese that Versatile and I make are either a microwaveable cup you sprinkle powder into, or a box of pasta that you squeeze a pouch of cheese into, right?

 

Well it doesn't sound much different than the KD I grew up on with the powdered cheese that you add milk and butter too.

Spanish rice is so easy it was one of the first things they showed us how to make in home ec way back n the day. I of course have changed it from what they showed us, but if you can cut up an onion, you can make it.