RoamerRV428
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big old cheeseburger patties on the grill tonight. YUM
What's for dinner?
- Thread starter squire
- Start date
Help Support Van Living Forum:
My "go to" breakfast
bring 1 cup to boil/remove from heat add
1/2 cup 1 Minute oatmeal
wait 5 minutes add
1 Tablespoon cocoa mix (1part cocoa powder/2parts sweetener)
1 Tablespoon peanut butter
stir and enjoy.
adjust cocoa mix to level of sweetness.
bring 1 cup to boil/remove from heat add
1/2 cup 1 Minute oatmeal
wait 5 minutes add
1 Tablespoon cocoa mix (1part cocoa powder/2parts sweetener)
1 Tablespoon peanut butter
stir and enjoy.
adjust cocoa mix to level of sweetness.
RoamerRV428
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HA HA John, not old, just my manner of speech for something I eat all the time 
the old hamburger, such a staple for me
the old hamburger, such a staple for me
texas0322
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Had breakfast tacos this morning. Chop up some raw bacon, fry it up in a pan, use the bacon juice (yea, i know it's grease lol) to fry up some cubed up potatoes and then scramble some eggs when that is done. Enjoy it on a couple warm flour tortillas with some homemade salsa and some cheese.
Great on a cold morning.
Great on a cold morning.
Speaking of what’s for dinner, this is about a cookbook for meals using mostly canned foods.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...8604ed88993_story.html?utm_term=.18c7f863a7bc
https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...8604ed88993_story.html?utm_term=.18c7f863a7bc
Dingfelder
Well-known member
I've made rice patties before, with rice mixed with onions and such, or it would be so boring. I wanted it to be something closer to a meal in itself.
It's not that easy to get it to all stick together unless you add some raw egg and use that as a binder. And it's still not easy. You need to leave it long enough to get a nice brown crust, or it will all fall apart when you try to flip it. Also it helps not to make them too wide. I found that I could do it, but that it was a bit tricky and ultimately more trouble than I wanted to bother with.
I bet it would be much much easier if doing it inside of pastry rings inside the pan, to help keep it all together. Or egg rings, like these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...4df-15aac5223b10&pf_rd_r=SGJ89VKD1BRG0XXRQRQV
It's not that easy to get it to all stick together unless you add some raw egg and use that as a binder. And it's still not easy. You need to leave it long enough to get a nice brown crust, or it will all fall apart when you try to flip it. Also it helps not to make them too wide. I found that I could do it, but that it was a bit tricky and ultimately more trouble than I wanted to bother with.
I bet it would be much much easier if doing it inside of pastry rings inside the pan, to help keep it all together. Or egg rings, like these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...4df-15aac5223b10&pf_rd_r=SGJ89VKD1BRG0XXRQRQV
Dingfelder
Well-known member
Today's dinner will be leftover meatballs on garlic toast, some pasta salad on the side.
I had frozen tortellini in bottled alfredo sauce yesterday, but they were very dull. I don't think I've ever had good premade tortellini. I'll work on the leftovers by turning them into a pasta salad of sorts with a vinegary dressing and some raw onions so it doesn't taste so boring.
I'm really tempted to just toss them, but unless food is so bad it makes me sad, I find it very hard to throw it away.
I had frozen tortellini in bottled alfredo sauce yesterday, but they were very dull. I don't think I've ever had good premade tortellini. I'll work on the leftovers by turning them into a pasta salad of sorts with a vinegary dressing and some raw onions so it doesn't taste so boring.
I'm really tempted to just toss them, but unless food is so bad it makes me sad, I find it very hard to throw it away.
Thanks WR. I hadn't heard of her yet.
Here's a link to an interview about a woman who wrote a cookbook for trying to eat well on a limited food budget.https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/08/01/337141837/cheap-eats-cookbook-shows-how-to-eat-well-on-a-food-stamp-budget
There's a free downloadable pdf of the book online. I would put the link here but that'd be obnoxious for someone to accidentally click on it because it downloads automatically, so if you want it, google search for good-and-cheap.pdf. I've read it and there's some interesting ideas in there.
~angie
Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk
Here's a link to an interview about a woman who wrote a cookbook for trying to eat well on a limited food budget.https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/08/01/337141837/cheap-eats-cookbook-shows-how-to-eat-well-on-a-food-stamp-budget
There's a free downloadable pdf of the book online. I would put the link here but that'd be obnoxious for someone to accidentally click on it because it downloads automatically, so if you want it, google search for good-and-cheap.pdf. I've read it and there's some interesting ideas in there.
~angie
Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk
Tonight will be scrambled eggs and ham with homemade almond/flax bread and spiced wild plum jam.
^^Dingfelder
I know what you mean about eating it even if it's not your favorite. I hate to waste food.
~angie
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^^Dingfelder
I know what you mean about eating it even if it's not your favorite. I hate to waste food.
~angie
Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk
I fed myself and two children on nickels and dimes for a number years, using this cookbook as a guide.
Not vegetarian, but low meat and protein complementary using inexpensive foods.
No one ever went hungry, everyone was healthy and well nourished, but I would not voluntarily do that again.
Not vegetarian, but low meat and protein complementary using inexpensive foods.
No one ever went hungry, everyone was healthy and well nourished, but I would not voluntarily do that again.
Attachments
Yup it can be cheaper and healthier at the same time, but the problem is that there are so many really cheap 'foodlike substances' that are mistaken for food but have very little nutritional value. Pop, for instance, is lacking in so many ways. If I'd eaten a piece of fruit or a vegetable and drank a glass of water every time I slugged down a can of pop I'm sure that would've been way more nutritious.
When I was a kid I liked this stuff called "canned luncheon meat." We got it in commodities (govt food distribution). I'd cook it til it was crispy. Its pretty much like spam, only in a 30oz round container. Now I can't stand spam. Ugh. I see it at the dollar store and can't help but wonder what I liked about it as a kid. I know why we ate it, it was free and we had mouths to feed. But it's not real food.
There's loads of cheap food that's not real food.
I think the way it can be both cheaper and healthier is that you gotta do the cooking yourself.
~angie
Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk
When I was a kid I liked this stuff called "canned luncheon meat." We got it in commodities (govt food distribution). I'd cook it til it was crispy. Its pretty much like spam, only in a 30oz round container. Now I can't stand spam. Ugh. I see it at the dollar store and can't help but wonder what I liked about it as a kid. I know why we ate it, it was free and we had mouths to feed. But it's not real food.
There's loads of cheap food that's not real food.
I think the way it can be both cheaper and healthier is that you gotta do the cooking yourself.
~angie
Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk
Thank you Angie, very nice cookbook. I plan to print it out and give to my youngest step-granddaughter. I hate to say it about a 22 year old but I think life is going to be hard for her. Unmarried mom, no h/s diploma, and a crappy chip-on-her shoulder attitude and the dad to her son is in and out of jail and will not work. Sorry just needed to vent.
The thing I liked about this cookbook was that it only uses “real” foods, like beans, rice, oats, lentils, eggs, cheese, etc.
I learned a lot from that little paperback cookbook, one of the first i ever owned.
I learned a lot from that little paperback cookbook, one of the first i ever owned.
Hey Squire, no prob. We all gotta vent sometimes. If you want to chat feel free to PM me.
Have you heard of crockpot freezer meals? I found them very helpful when living in a S&B where I had freezer space and a need for cheap good meals with little money and less time. (A common state for a single parent)
There are tons of recipes online. Search "crock pot freezer meals" or " slow cooker freezer meals". Basically, you prep everything and throw it in a freezer bag. When you decide you want to eat something, the night before you take it out and let it thaw a little in the fridge. The next morning, dump it in the crockpot and turn the crockpot on. That night, when you get home it's waiting for you.
This was very helpful for me when I was at work and my son and I would get home from school hungry (I worked in the school transportation Dept) there was something ready to eat. I'd bring leftovers regularly for lunch. We ate like this a lot, even after I quit working for health reasons. I'd use one of my "good mobility" days as a freezer prep day, and do all the chopping and measuring then. On the days when I could barely make it out of bed, my 17yr old son would put it in the crockpot before he left for school.
One of the benefits of cooking this way is buying in bulk when you can find things seasonally on sale and then having a plan for them so that they don't go to waste. I used to buy whole pork loin when they were really cheap and then cut them into 3to4 lb roasts and freezer prep them. One whole loin would last us many meals. The same goes for any other bulk priced meats.
A lot of the recipes I got when I first started making crockpot freezer meals out came from a place called "The Family Freezer", but you can find a lot of recipes from blogs and videos online.
~angie
Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk
Have you heard of crockpot freezer meals? I found them very helpful when living in a S&B where I had freezer space and a need for cheap good meals with little money and less time. (A common state for a single parent)
There are tons of recipes online. Search "crock pot freezer meals" or " slow cooker freezer meals". Basically, you prep everything and throw it in a freezer bag. When you decide you want to eat something, the night before you take it out and let it thaw a little in the fridge. The next morning, dump it in the crockpot and turn the crockpot on. That night, when you get home it's waiting for you.
This was very helpful for me when I was at work and my son and I would get home from school hungry (I worked in the school transportation Dept) there was something ready to eat. I'd bring leftovers regularly for lunch. We ate like this a lot, even after I quit working for health reasons. I'd use one of my "good mobility" days as a freezer prep day, and do all the chopping and measuring then. On the days when I could barely make it out of bed, my 17yr old son would put it in the crockpot before he left for school.
One of the benefits of cooking this way is buying in bulk when you can find things seasonally on sale and then having a plan for them so that they don't go to waste. I used to buy whole pork loin when they were really cheap and then cut them into 3to4 lb roasts and freezer prep them. One whole loin would last us many meals. The same goes for any other bulk priced meats.
A lot of the recipes I got when I first started making crockpot freezer meals out came from a place called "The Family Freezer", but you can find a lot of recipes from blogs and videos online.
~angie
Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk
Dingfelder
Well-known member
I can and usually do eat cheap and can eat very cheap ... but I'd do it even more if I could eat more beans. They tend to play a huge part cheap eating, but except for green beans, they tend to give me terrible gas. The beano stuff doesn't help at all. I read epazote leaf helps, but I've never seen that available anywhere.
Too bad, because beans, especially dried beans, are about as cheap as it gets.
I'm still thrilled to have found chicken thighs/drums at Winco and Walmart, same package in 10 pound packs for 55 cents a pound. That might be cheaper than I've ever seen it in my adult life, and I'm not young. Though I do remember chicken wings were 29 cents a pound before they became popular. Back then, they were the only part of the chicken that didn't really sell, and fast food joints like KFC always tried to put them in an X-number bucket, as much as they could get away with and still keep their customers, instead of any other piece.
I did find quinoa in bulk much cheaper that it usually is pre-packaged, so I bought a bunch and look forward to figuring out how to prepare it well. Something that cooks up as easily as a grain but can still be used as a protein sounds ideal to me.
Too bad, because beans, especially dried beans, are about as cheap as it gets.
I'm still thrilled to have found chicken thighs/drums at Winco and Walmart, same package in 10 pound packs for 55 cents a pound. That might be cheaper than I've ever seen it in my adult life, and I'm not young. Though I do remember chicken wings were 29 cents a pound before they became popular. Back then, they were the only part of the chicken that didn't really sell, and fast food joints like KFC always tried to put them in an X-number bucket, as much as they could get away with and still keep their customers, instead of any other piece.
I did find quinoa in bulk much cheaper that it usually is pre-packaged, so I bought a bunch and look forward to figuring out how to prepare it well. Something that cooks up as easily as a grain but can still be used as a protein sounds ideal to me.
In a mobile context, space is so much more limited, I prefer doing the cooking up front then freezing.AMGS3 said:
So all that remains at mealtime is a quick reheating.
I also love having 5-8 choices available, choose what I feel like at the time.
A bit less daily forward planning required,
also good when the resources needed for "real cooking" are only rarely available.
I look in my freezer and think “what am I going to eat today”, pull out an MRE and microwave it.
My problem is when there are 30 days worth in there, and I need to whittle them down before I cook anything else.
I have eaten quinoa, and it’s really good for you, but I don’t care much for the little granular texture. I like it best cold, eaten for breakfast with fresh blueberries and almond milk.
My problem is when there are 30 days worth in there, and I need to whittle them down before I cook anything else.
I have eaten quinoa, and it’s really good for you, but I don’t care much for the little granular texture. I like it best cold, eaten for breakfast with fresh blueberries and almond milk.
^^^ John61CT
I 100% agree that freezer space and access to a slow cooker makes doing the way I described above not practical for many mobile dwellers. (I did say that it was something I used to do in S&B, and as a response to Squire. I was basically sharing what used to work for me as a single mom on a super tight budget).
I had considered PMing it, but thought that sharing might be helpful for people with access to elect. (many of us)
I, too, tend to now make a lot and freeze the leftovers. I like wide mouth pint jars for storage because I can freeze, microwave, even bake in them.
~angie
Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk
I 100% agree that freezer space and access to a slow cooker makes doing the way I described above not practical for many mobile dwellers. (I did say that it was something I used to do in S&B, and as a response to Squire. I was basically sharing what used to work for me as a single mom on a super tight budget).
I had considered PMing it, but thought that sharing might be helpful for people with access to elect. (many of us)
I, too, tend to now make a lot and freeze the leftovers. I like wide mouth pint jars for storage because I can freeze, microwave, even bake in them.
~angie
Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk
