Eating cheap in America (or any where).

[Dinner]

With inflation at its highest level since the 1970's many Americans are feeling the pinch and some people on a fixed budget are even facing the choice of eating or not eating. I truly feel sorry for America's college kids or seniors who have nothing but social security to live on. While most of us are concerned mainly with eating well these people are sometimes left wondering if they will eat two or just one meal per day.

With that in mind I'm starting the eating cheap in America (or any where) thread to help people on tight budgets still eat and sometimes even eat well. The goal is to get everyone to post tips or recipes for meals so that people can eat, or even eat well, for as little money as possible. So let's kick it off with our cheap eats recipes!

How does $5 for a two person meal of carnitas tacos sound? You'll get about three tacos per person (maybe more) and you'll leave the table full. Hand made corn tortillas from a Mexican market $1 for three dozen, "country style pork shoulder" used to make mexican style shredded pork $1 for two pounds of pork if you buy the stuff which is about to expire and so is on special (even if you aren't lucky enough to get the stuff on special it's still only about $2 per pound full price), kosher salt (pounds of it for about $1 but most people have salt in their pantry so it doesn't cost anything), some fresh celantro & 1 onion & 1 cabbage & 1 garlic about $2 at any farmers market and you can probably get it cheaper. Lastly a can of refried beans for about $0.75.

Put the two pounds of pork shoulder in a pan with about 1/3 of a cup of kosher sea salt then add in enough water to cover the pork. Let the pork shoulder simmer until virtually all the water is gone then let it keep cooking so that the pork shoulder browns, turn the pork frequently so that it browns evenly. When you hear it sizzling then it is just about done. At that point the pork should be just about falling off the bone and it will flake into pieces easily using just a fork. Chop up your onions, garlic, and celantro and toss them in the pan. Mix things thoroughly and break up the pork shoulder so that it looks just like shredded pork; remove any bones. You may want to save the bones so that you can add it to any soup stock you would like to make later.

At this point things should be smelling very good with the onions, garlic, and cilantro all mixing in with the salted pork so push all of that to one side of the pan, open the can of beans, and heat the beans up in the pan. It should only take a minute or two. Turn off the stove and load up your tortillas to make some very nice tacos or if you want toast the tortillas on the stove then load them up. If you have any grease left in the pan it is nice to dip the tortillas in the grease and then toast them so that the tortilla gets infused with the flavors. Chops some of that cabbage up and use it as a garnish. Very good stuff. For about $0.50 extra you can buy 5 dried hot peppers which you can turn into a nice hot sauce (soak the peppers, boil them for 10 minutes, add some of your onion & garlic, a bit of olive oil, and then puree it all in a food processor. Maybe add a bit of the water you boiled the peppers in if the sauce is to thick).

All in all a great meal for two people for about $5.

[Asher]

http://www.sandiegorestaurants.com/

[SlowwHand]

If you figure out what a bowl of homemade chili comes out to, it's pretty cheap. Ditto stews and soups.

[Dinner]

What if you don't want to cook? Well, it should be no surprise that fastfood companies offer the best calories to dollar ratio in America. All of them have a $0.99 cent menu with companies like McDonald's having a 450 calorie double cheese burger for just $0.99 cents. What if you don't want a fast food burger though?

Ethnic food is the answer especially food from cultures who are relatively recent immigrants to America. Many of these people have to scrap by on low incomes but they still know how to eat well for not a lot of money. Virtually all Vietnamese came to America as refugees and in most big cities you can find Vietnamese restaurants which sell Pho (Vietnam's national dish of beef noodle soup). You can often get a huge bowl of Pho noodles, chopped beef, and large amounts of herbs & greens for just $3. That's a value which is hard to beat. Mexican restaurants often sell carne asada (marinaded beef flank steak) burritos with beans, onions, cheese, guacamole, and hot sauce for just $3.99. Hong Kong style Chinese diners are massively popular any where you find a large Chinese population and you can often find places which sell two fried eggs, some beef stir fry, and a bowl of rice noodle soup for just $1.99. That's hard to beat on calorie per dollar count.

[Zero]

damn those vietnamese beef noodles. I cant stop at just one. I needz moar.


soooo good.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Originally posted by Oerdin
What if you don't want to cook? Well, it should be no surprise that fastfood companies offer the best calories to dollar ration in America. All of them have a $0.99 cent menu with companies like McDonald's having a 450 calorie double cheese burger for just $0.99 cents.

....Famine?

[ramseya]

Last I checked, the spread between 5-year TIPs and Treasuries is only ~2.2%. Inflation expectations seem to be low.

[rmsharpe]

Re: Eating cheap in America (or any where).

Originally posted by Oerdin
With inflation at its highest level since the 1970's many Americans are feeling the pinch and some people on a fixed budget even facing the choice of eating or not eating.

Where did you get either of those "facts?"

[Dinner]

More cheap home cooking advice. There is a reason hundreds of millions of east Asians can survive on $1 per day or less and that reason is rice. A rice cooker costs about $20 and will last for 20 years while a 20 pound bag of rice will cost you about $12 if you buy the good stuff. The cheap stuff will run you only about $9 per 20 pound bag. It's cheap and easy and helps round out every meal if you want it to.

5 pounds of pancake mix only costs about $6 and all you have to do is add water. Cook it in a nonstick pan and there is no additional cost.

Talapia is a cheap fresh water fish which is often sold for around $0.50 to $0.75 per pound frozen so it is just about the cheapest meat you can buy. Failing that pork is always cheaper then beef.

If you have a butcher shop near your house then they're often left with cuts of meat which they can't sell or which they give away for virtually nothing. An example is beef or goat neck. In college a Persian friend of mine used to make a traditional Iranian goat stew out of goat neck which the butcher shop sold for virtually nothing (like $2 for a 4-5 pound neck). You just put the whole neck in a large cauldron fill it half up with water, put in a handful of salt, chops up some onions and garlic then let the whole thing stew for 8-12 hours. If you like add some bay leaves or ground sumac.

When it's done you will be left with a thick lamb stew and all the meat will have fallen off the bones. The bones will have also contributed to making a thick stew stock and you can just remove them and enjoy a thick hearty stew. Try it with the steamed rice and some pre-cut mixed garden salad.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

on inflation

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/aug2008/db20080815_021990.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_news+%2B+analysis

The relative price stability of the past 15 years is giving way to worsening inflation, despite the recent softening of oil prices. The Consumer Price Index for all items shows the inflation rate averaged 2.6% a year from 1992 through 2007 but has doubled since January, reaching an annual rate of 5.6% in July (BusinessWeek.com, 8/14/08). By next year, the monthly figure could hit double digits, and the inflation rate for 2009 overall could triple 2007's 2.85%.

[Lancer]

In the Phils people go to the trees and gather wood and coconut husks for cooking fires. Could do the same here, save on electric. In wooded areas here there's alot more loose fallen branches and trees because they rarely get harvested for cooking. Just don't cut anything down, that's illegal without a permit. On private property ask permittion. You can burn more than store bought coals in those bbqs.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by ramseya
Last I checked, the spread between 5-year TIPs and Treasuries is only ~2.2%. Inflation expectations seem to be low.

You're not just wrong but you're also out of touch.

Energy commodities increased at a 34.7 percent rate and energy services rose at a 20.1 percent rate. The food index rose at a 6.8 percent SAAR in the first quarter of 2008.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Lancer
In the Phils people go to the trees and gather wood and coconut husks for cooking fires. Could do the same here, save on electric. In wooded areas here there's alot more loose fallen branches and trees because they rarely get harvested for cooking. Just don't cut anything down, that's illegal without a permit. On private property ask permittion. You can burn more than store bought coals in those bbqs.

I, and several people I know, burn most junk mail, pizza boxes, and other paper based stuff in the fire place. It's good for starting fires plus the ashes make a nice fertilizer for the garden. I just spread the ashes around in the garden and once a year when it is time for replanting I just rototiller every it into the soil along with any left over plant material in the garden. It composts naturally and helps keep the garden producing plenty of veggies. Waste not want not.

[MikeH]

Why get a rice cooker? All you need is a pan and water.

[MikeH]

$5 for 2 people is a lot.