Cooking On a Budget

[MSbklawyer]

Beef:

A little known fact is that some of the cheapest cuts of beef are also the most flavorful. Fat is the key. It's what gives beef flavor. The drawback, though, is that these cheap cuts are usually really tough, so they require some special cooking. Namely, low heat and moisture. Brisket is the perfect example. Sloooooooooooooow smoked on a loooooooooooooow, moist, heat with a good dry rub -- it's 10x as good as a filet mignon and every bit as tender. Smoking a brisket is an all day affair and is the perfect excuse to buy a case of beer, build a charcoal fire in the smoker, and sit in the shade and totally blow a Saturday.

But one of my favorites is pot roast. Any old roast will do.


Jab the roast full of holes and put in each hole a pinch of salt, black pepper and just a hint of red pepper. Easy on the red pepper. A little goes a long, long way. Plug the hole with slivers of garlic. Then brown the roast a minute or two on each side in a heavy pan along with a chopped onion. Celery is good too. Use a little vegetable oil for the browning, more or less, depending on how much beef fat is in the roast.

In the same pot, then add water about 3/4 covering the roast. Simmer the roast until it's fork tender. Usually 4 hours or more depending on the size. The cooking temperature is important. Do not boil the meat else it will be dry. A simmer is just below the boiling point. Add some vegetables about 30 minutes before it's done. I like baby carrots, pearl onions and tiny red-skinned potatoes.

Check out this blog: http://mostlycajun.com/wordpress/

Under recipes and food he has a TON of good 'po-folks' recipes. And the blog isn't half bad either.

[goodyphilips]

Beef:

A little known fact is that some of the cheapest cuts of beef are also the most flavorful. Fat is the key. It's what gives beef flavor. The drawback, though, is that these cheap cuts are usually really tough, so they require some special cooking. Namely, low heat and moisture. Brisket is the perfect example. Sloooooooooooooow smoked on a loooooooooooooow, moist, heat with a good dry rub -- it's 10x as good as a filet mignon and every bit as tender. Smoking a brisket is an all day affair and is the perfect excuse to buy a case of beer, build a charcoal fire in the smoker, and sit in the shade and totally blow a Saturday.

But one of my favorites is pot roast. Any old roast will do.


Jab the roast full of holes and put in each hole a pinch of salt, black pepper and just a hint of red pepper. Easy on the red pepper. A little goes a long, long way. Plug the hole with slivers of garlic. Then brown the roast a minute or two on each side in a heavy pan along with a chopped onion. Celery is good too. Use a little vegetable oil for the browning, more or less, depending on how much beef fat is in the roast.

In the same pot, then add water about 3/4 covering the roast. Simmer the roast until it's fork tender. Usually 4 hours or more depending on the size. The cooking temperature is important. Do not boil the meat else it will be dry. A simmer is just below the boiling point. Add some vegetables about 30 minutes before it's done. I like baby carrots, pearl onions and tiny red-skinned potatoes.

Check out this blog: http://mostlycajun.com/wordpress/

Under recipes and food he has a TON of good 'po-folks' recipes. And the blog isn't half bad either.

seem to be hell bent on scoring some brownie points on honesty.

[Exployer1234]

Thanks for posting this! I will look through it and see what recipes I can use. If anyone else has any other recipes to share please feel free to let me know!

[GoingDown]

There was a year where I had almost no work, and I had to get by on the money I had saved up from previous years of work, and the cheapest food sources I found were brown rice and pinto beans.

I bought them at a warehouse food store (such as Smart & Final, Costco, etc.) in huge bulk bags, and they were my principal sources of calories for months and months. I would sometimes supplement them with vegetables and cheap meat, spices, etc.

Another cheap meal is Ramen noodle soup. Mix in some veggies and a little bit of chicken, and you've got quite a tasty meal for very little money.

And one last thing is I started making my own bread. It is amazing how much cheaper you can make it in a bread machine than what they charge at the grocery store, and it tastes so much better than the grocery store's bread. Just buy your flour in huge bulk bags and freeze them, and get the yeast in the large container and store it in the fridge.

[nodollarsnomo]

MSbklawyer, brisket & roast are two of my favorite cuts of meat also, but the Texas heat has made it almost impossible to smoke a brisket outside. I have a great recipe for oven smoked brisket were you use liquid smoke and a lot of other seasonings wrap the brisket up tight in foil and cook it at 250 one hour per pound. It makes the whole house smell like a BBQ joint.
I like to use taco seasoning on my pot roast then shred the meat when it is super tender and serve it as tacos or tostados.

[tobee43]

yes, indeed....i pot a roast with white sweet potato, sweet onion, carrots and whatever is left in the house...then i take the broth and Make...french onion soup from it...

although i follow rules...
i'm not buying pot roast...any cut unless on sale....
i go to the open produce markets for veggies
i only buy what's on sale and stock the freezer
stuff it!!!!! eggplant, meat....peppers do it!!

buy booze....pour it on EVERYTHING...it makes it tender and if you get a sweet wine...call it Coq Au Vin....remember again....use GARNISH...weeds from the garden are just PERFECT!!!!!!!!....square plate help...and if they are black or white they have a elegant effect...much better than burger king...

[MSbklawyer]

MSbklawyer, brisket & roast are two of my favorite cuts of meat also, but the Texas heat has made it almost impossible to smoke a brisket outside.

That's what the beer is for. Mostly it's to mop the brisket with, but it helps with the heat too. The good thing about smoking meat though, is that you leave it alone for hours and hours at the time and go inside and cool off. It's not labor intensive.

But I'd like that oven recipe if you'd care to share it.

[tobee43]

liquid smoke

ahhhhhhhhh yes!! i braised some pork in foil just last week...fell right off the bone.

that with some red beans and rice worked out well!

[discouraged]

My staple for the winter is "Kicking Chicken Soup" saute onions and garlic, add cut up skiinned chicken and boil in broth or water 'til it's done (I never trust that five minute and boil for 1/2 hr or so). Add can of black beans w/chilies, can of green chilies, frozen or canned corn, can of diced tomatoes w/green chuilies and let it go til you're happy with the taste. I also add cajun seasoning but any seasoning you prefer works. Sometimes I put it over rice. Cheap and great tasting.

[alexloramer]

This post is making me hungry. Yeah you can definitely eat pretty well on a low budget. Spaghetti, Eggs, Chicken, Salads. That's healthy eating for very cheap.