|
Grex > Cooking > #202: Cooking on a budget, i.e. when you are impoverished. | |
|
| Author |
Message |
jaklumen
|
|
Cooking on a budget, i.e. when you are impoverished.
| 
Dec 12 06:38 UTC 2002 |
We are well below the poverty level. Living with friends right now, in
fact.
Suggestions for cooking, then?
|
| 68 responses total. |
cmcgee
|
|
response 1 of 68:
|
Dec 12 16:00 UTC 2002 |
Good to see you online again! The Jeff Smith series of cookbooks, probably
available at the libraty, is full of hearty peasant (poverty) food. Also,
cookbooks for impoverised students, talked aabot in various othter items here,
are full of poverty level ideas.
|
jaklumen
|
|
response 2 of 68:
|
Dec 13 09:57 UTC 2002 |
Frugal Gourmet, eh? I should have thought of that..
I'm sure you're also referring to "Help! My Apartment Has A Kitchen,"
but for my apparent laziness, could you list the others?
I would also appreciate anyone's recipes. Some I've seen in the conf
look marvelous, but some seem to have exotic (and expensive)
ingredients I can't get, especially with foreign food.
|
keesan
|
|
response 3 of 68:
|
Dec 13 20:52 UTC 2002 |
Buy bulk through a buying club. We get flour for about 1/4 what the local
coop is charging for it. Don't buy prepared foods. Eat oatmeal. (Remember
when you visited us in Ann Arbor:) ). Buy from local farmers - I think you
may be in a potato growing area. Ask them if they have any that are not
pretty enough to sell to stores, cheap. Get a bread machine. Buy 50 pounds
of dry beans and soak them overnight before pressure cooking them.
|
jaklumen
|
|
response 4 of 68:
|
Dec 14 05:10 UTC 2002 |
Buying bulk through a buying club is not an option here.
We can't really buy from local farmers much unless we buy carrots,
really-- nearby Prosser is a national carrot growing area.
We have a bread machine, but our roomies ask that we buy bread from
where the husband works. They are lazy as far as cooking.
Things will be easier when we have our own place.
|
cmcgee
|
|
response 5 of 68:
|
Dec 14 18:49 UTC 2002 |
buying in bulk is only an option for those who have more than adequate storage
space. For me, the cost per square foot of obtaining more storage space, is
far more than the amount I could save by storing bulk purchase of food.
|
mary
|
|
response 6 of 68:
|
Dec 14 20:12 UTC 2002 |
Another option might be to seek our food service employment. Most
restaurants offer their staff at least one meal a day when they are
working. Do either of you have a job? That might be the place to start
if you are both poor and hungry.
|
keesan
|
|
response 7 of 68:
|
Dec 14 22:16 UTC 2002 |
Food does not need to be stored in a heated area - do you have a basement?
If there is a food coop in town they get deliveries from somewhere, and you
may be able to start your own buying club and buy from the same source.
Does your roommate work at a bakery? If so, can you get day-old bread?
Three-day-old bread?
We store our bulk food on the steps leading to the basement, in 4-gal jugs.
Grains, beans, flours, peanuts. Cheap and filling. Add carrots.
|
slynne
|
|
response 8 of 68:
|
Dec 15 22:43 UTC 2002 |
I have found that buying whole wheat pasta from the coop and putting
powerdered garlic and olive oil on it makes for a pretty cheap meal.
Cheese isnt too expensive either nor is canned marinara sauce.
Homemade pizza is pretty cheap too.
When I was working a min wage job, I found that I could eat pretty well
as long as I didnt eat meat more than once or twice a week (it was too
expensive). So, in that spirit, I would recommend a vegan diet as a
good poor person's diet. During my poor years I ate a lot of pasta, a
lot of beans and rice, a lot of oatmeal, etc.
|
eprom
|
|
response 9 of 68:
|
Dec 15 23:10 UTC 2002 |
I'm pretty frugal...so these are staples in my diet.
Bulk no-name brand cereal - if you have a Gordon food store check them out
Ramen noodles - $.20 at meijer
Frozen Burritos - $.33 at meijer
dinner for two - (insert name of grocery store here) brand Mac & cheese.
no-name brand yougart - usually around $.50 to .75 a container.
Bananas - usually very cheap even when not on sale.
I also always check the price-per-ounce listing on the signs when shopping.
|