Ghetto Cuisine

It was pretty tight for our family growing up.

You can make a lot of meatloaf with a little ground beef and a big box of cornflakes.

I still can't stand powdered milk...

Turnips too. There's nothing you can do to a turnip that makes it edible.

Now that I'm at a comfortable point in my life, I hate to cheap out on food. I love good food and I will give up having a new car, fancy house, giant T.V. in favour of eating really well.

Being broke sucked mightily.

Every now and then I do get a craving for some white trash comfort food though. A little Kraft Dinner, spaghetti on toast, Spam, etc.

ShawnG said:

Turnips too. There's nothing you can do to a turnip that makes it edible.

And I would add that this applies to either the leafy end or the root end of the plant.

I have once had a salad that included grated raw turnip root that wasn't bad. Tasted kind of like a coleslaw.

Stir fry can be done on the cheap and it's a nice way to get more veg on the plate.  An easy one I've done that generates a good six or more servings;

Pound of hamburger.  Brown in a big pan and don't drain.  Doesn't need to be especially lean; 80/20 is great for this.  

Add an onion, like a medium white or yellow diced up, or a bunch of green onion, whatever's handy/cheap.  

Throw in a bag of cole slaw mix, the stuff with red and white cabbage, carrot peelings, etc.  May add a tablespoon or two of cooking oil; the slaw mix will soak up a lot of fat.  You could add other stuff at this point as well like celery or broccoli.  

Tablespoon of lime juice.

Tablespoon of soy sauce.

Once everything is cooked nicely, serve with rice.

Can of corn, tuna packet and hot sauce or condiment of choice in bowl. Peas are a suitable sub as well. 

Tuna, some salsa, mexi cheese and a couple slices of bread mesh well together as well.

I filled a six-quart crock pot with turkey stew, not soup, but stew, for something like $12 last week.

3 Lbs. of turkey (even Butterball is <$1.00 per pound) 1 yellow union, 1 bunch or radishes, ½ a pack of baby carrots, 2 cans of chicken broth, 4 cups of brown rice, salt, pepper, and garlic power.

That’s easily 6 good sized meals for $12 = $2.00 a pop for healthy good eats.

MadScientistMatt said:

ShawnG said:

Turnips too. There's nothing you can do to a turnip that makes it edible.

And I would add that this applies to either the leafy end or the root end of the plant.

I have once had a salad that included grated raw turnip root that wasn't bad. Tasted kind of like a coleslaw.

Raw turnip is quite fine.  Bit of salt, and away you go. 

Cooking turnip, in any way, makes it very sucktastic.

MadScientistMatt said:

ShawnG said:

Turnips too. There's nothing you can do to a turnip that makes it edible.

And I would add that this applies to either the leafy end or the root end of the plant.

I have once had a salad that included grated raw turnip root that wasn't bad. Tasted kind of like a coleslaw.

I wholeheartedly disagree with the turnip thing. They behave like potatoes. Ive made mash turnips, used them in place of potatoes in ham soup, etc etc.  They're a pain in the ass to prep, but they are totally underrated. 

Word of warning...If you're tired of just using water in your Kraft Mac & Cheese when you're out of milk/butter, don't think just because it is a dairy-like product with dairy in the name and you have an old bottle of it in the back of your nearly empty fridge, that "Irish cream" might be an acceptable substitute.

It is not.

In reply to Driven5 :

Neither is almond milk. I still get queasy remembering that mistake.

In reply to RevRico :

I always make my box mac and cheese with almond milk and it is fine. Were you using vanilla or chocolate almond milk?

In reply to EvanB :

Vanilla. I didn't even know there was a chocolate almond juice. 

Chocolate almond milk is tasty. I get that once in awhile for a change of pace from vanilla almond milk.

ShawnG said:

Or fried Spam sammiches.

Nothing wrong with fried Spam or bologna sammiches. 

Throwing some ring bologna in the microwave for a minute will do wonders for it...

E36 M3 on a Shingle was a staple in my house growing up; same with hot dogs and mac n cheese.

Now? I've traveled and gotten fancier.

I brown chicken, I cook some carrots and cabbage, and then use those cheap $0.59 Yakisoba boxes (two of them), and make some delicious Yakisoba.

RevRico said:

In reply to EvanB :

Vanilla. I didn't even know there was a chocolate almond juice. 

I always use the original, I can imagine vanilla would be terrible. 

is this thread still about mac n cheese? because adding tuna to that is real good. like tuna helper but cheaper. (probably)

Driven5 said:

Word of warning...If you're tired of just using water in your Kraft Mac & Cheese when you're out of milk/butter, don't think just because it is a dairy-like product with dairy in the name and you have an old bottle of it in the back of your nearly empty fridge, that "Irish cream" might be an acceptable substitute.

It is not.

When I used to eat the Kraft stuff, I never used milk.  Just cheez and the quarter stick of butter.  Always came out fine.

One (1) stewed tomato on top is also a plus.

Scrapple.  Not really cheap but definitely low-end.  I love that E36 M3!

I also love using rice to make soup more filling. Like, so much rice that I'm adding soup to rice rather than rice to soup.

and canned sardines in hot sauce. Mama barely lets me go to the store anymore because I'll buy 10 cans and I'm the only one who eats them.

spitfirebill said:

ShawnG said:

Or fried Spam sammiches.

Nothing wrong with fried Spam sammiches. 

There is if you've not put a fried egg on it (for breakfast) or a lightly fried pineapple ring on it (for lunch)

Brett_Murphy said:

spitfirebill said:

ShawnG said:

Or fried Spam sammiches.

Nothing wrong with fried Spam sammiches. 

There is if you've not put a fried egg on it (for breakfast) or a lightly fried pineapple ring on it (for lunch)

Duly noted.

Going grocery shopping this week. Spam and pineapple are now on the grocery list.

AngryCorvair said:

Scrapple.  Not really cheap but definitely low-end.  I love that E36 M3!

Scrapple is yankee revenge for grits.  

Grits is good, but momma probably made it wrong.  That's okay, everyone fights over this, so nobody's ever going to agree.

I wouldn't touch scrapple with a ten foot fork.

/not a yankee, those people live in Boston

AngryCorvair said:

I also love using rice to make soup more filling. Like, so much rice that I'm adding soup to rice rather than rice to soup.

I do exactly the same thing.

When Mrs f1y makes soup I make rice to go with it. She uses a little but is somewhat less enthusiastic about it.

If you've ever had gamjatang - pork bone soup, you get a bowl of rice with it, and as you eat the meat, replace it with rice and you end up with a flavour and texture  like nothing you've ever had before