Poor man substitutes, what are yours?

a reply to: mblahnikluver

I was making spaghetti bolognaise, but forgot to buy the Bolognaise sauce. So I used the small party jar of hot salsa dip instead.

originally posted by: ketsuko
My folks were reduced to picking up bottles off the roadside more than once in their poor early married days just to buy meat. Otherwise, they often lived on Bisquick pancakes.

You can make a type of carbonera with your pasta and eggs if you have a bit of cheese - parm works best, but we've used mozzarella before. It needs to melt. It also helps if you have some bacon.

Oh I always have cheese! No bacon, can't eat it. Gallbladder again! Oh how i miss bacon. It's torture! I can put it in a quiche but then I'm playing roulette because it could bother me with the eggs or it couldn't. lol

I have pancake mix but no milk. Can I use just water? I am not a big pancake person, they're for my son. They are some organic brand my friend sent. It asks for eggs and milk. I would eat a pancake right now. Actually that sounds really good.

You cook the bacon and reserve it to one side. Husband saves some of the drippings too.

You cook your pasta and drain it.

You beat your eggs and add in the cheese.

Turn the heat to just enough to cook egg and mix the pasta with the egg/cheese mixture, toss in the crumbled bacon, any reserved drippings and return to your pot over low heat. Toss pasta over low heat until egg starts to cook (a la scrambled egg) and cheese melts.

You are done.

You don't need the bacon, but it does add. Otherwise, you can just go with the egg/cheese mixture and seasoning.

Well I do have bacon grease I save. I could use that instead of actual bacon. For some reason the grease I use in eggs or cooking doesn't bother me as much as actual bacon.

Thanks for this idea!

I am loving these ideas! YAY!

a reply to: mblahnikluver

MEAL FOR ONE:

2x packets 2-minute noodles (beef, chicken, oriental) - drain water then refill with hot water to same level, add:
-seasoning sachets from the noodles
-light soy sauce
-chilli sauce
-sesame sauce
-fish sauce
-bok-choy / lettuce
-shredded chicken / ham
-spring onion
-celery
-crack egg into it and stir slowly.

ETA - lemon juice

a reply to: IgnoranceIsntBlisss

Quiche requires milk or HWC. I have none otherwise I would be alllll about some quiche. I love quiche. I have to be careful with eggs but I add lots of veggies to my quiche and it helps. If I could make a quiche right now I would. I have pie crust and eggs and everything else just no milk or cream which is a must in quiche.

I have a few quiche recipes on here

a reply to: mblahnikluver

Let's see, the one is a heavy dish that needs cream and sun-dried tomato, but the other is a stir fry where you marinate the meat in soy (or tamari), ginger, and garlic (crushed pepper optional). Then you get together all your veggies for the fry - stripped bell peppers (any/all colors), mushrooms, snap peas, squash/zucchini, carrots, whatever ... You stir fry the veggies in the sauce and the meat. And you're done.

originally posted by: olaru12
Asparagus from the garden and melted cheddar tacos

Oh asparagus. I have been craving asparagus for weeks but it is expensive here even at the local produce place. When I spent the last $7 I had on produce I wanted asparagus but it was $3 for a bundle! :O

Cheddar tacos! YES! I make quesadilla's because I do have cheese. I did just run out of flour tortillas but i have some corn ones in there and a can of diced rotelle tomatoes with cilantro and lime. I may use that this week for chicken quesadilla's with the last of my chicken. The hard thing is i have to be careful because of my stomach (gallbladder issues ever since it was removed) and too much cheese or eggs can cause problems, major problems. I was making mini cheese roll ups and almost ended up in the hospital because of my stomach so I had to lay off of them for a while but they are such a quick easy and tasty snack!

I always save any bits of meat left from meals in the freezer. I keep 2 plastic containers in freezer,one for red meats,one for chicken leftovers. Another canister for leftover veggies and creamy sauces combined. When broke,i fry up the meat with an onion,garlic,a tomato/a bell pepper if i have one,or even a finely chopped carrot,any bits+scraps veggie wise. Add to spags or ramen for a cheapo stirfry or Italian.For Italian style i add a bit of milk to the mix,if i don't have cream,which i normally don't on the poor days.Makes it creamy-ish. With the veg and sauce leftovers i cook a chowdery soup. VERY important to save scraps and leftovers,for po days.

In my country,a good solution for the poor was maize meal,it makes a delicious thick savory porridge,traditionally served with sheba,a tomato and onion type fried sauce. Plain but helluva nice. That has all gone GMO now,so we don't even use it for our dogs anymore,which is horrible-when you think that there are so many poor people in my country who has no choice but to eat the GMO maize every day.

But yes,keep spags and ramen in the house when you can-and scraps in the freezer. Usually that way you can still whip up something tasty on wasteland days.

a reply to: mblahnikluver

OMG that is harsh,so sorry to hear you cannot eat bacon..shudders..genuinely my sympathy

a reply to: mblahnikluver

I ate butter and hot sauce on white bread for a couple of days with water.
It isn't bad, but after a couple of days, something else was very welcome.
PS.... I am glad that you start your new job soon. We have to count out blessings.

I don't know how you are with fish, but another cheap protein you can keep an eye out for is catfish nuggets. They often go on sale for barely over a $1/lb here. We like to take them, cut them down into smaller squares, bread and fry them and then take lettuce, avocado, tomato, and some crumbly white cheese, top it with your pieces of breaded fish and either put that in a tortilla for a fish taco or simply serve it on a plate for a "taco salad."

originally posted by: dukeofjive696969
Pasta, olive oil,garlic and dried hot peppers, makes for great lunch and supper. Can feed a lot of people and is extremely cheap per servings.

My mom's side is Italian, that is a staple for us.

Its actually quite healthy as well.

a reply to: mblahnikluver

Hey good ideas, what kinda of area u live, perhaps there is good sources of natural supplies u could gather for supper, like from forests berries, plants, mushrooms, snails etc, u could learn trapping small game with very simple traps that u could learn to craft from youtube videos for example, from ocean u could fish (u could even trade/sell some fish to local markets), beaches u could gather small game as well.
Also if u live in land that has good conditions for growing ur own garden would be just awesome in the long run, all sort of herbs, spices, vegetables. Lately i been wondering why we cannot just plant these things all over the villages/towns/cities, parks, roofs, community places etc.

Anyways i do like to cook and often i end up mixing things i have left in the fridge, like few days ago i had bowl of rice pudding and bit of things for pancake recipe, so mix the rice pudding in the pancake mix and oven it for 40min about, it was pretty good. For ice cream i prefer to smash some bananas and could add some berries etc and put in the freezer for about 2hours, delicious!

a reply to: mblahnikluver

I will send you a 40 oz thing of folgers child.....ive got like 4 of them.

a reply to: mblahnikluver

When i get creamer, i get that 35% stuff. Which is whipping cream...just the cream form of it.
So your poor mans solution is my go to at all times!

originally posted by: Sublimecraft
a reply to: mblahnikluver

MEAL FOR ONE:

2x packets 2-minute noodles (beef, chicken, oriental) - drain water then refill with hot water to same level, add:
-seasoning sachets from the noodles
-light soy sauce
-chilli sauce
-sesame sauce
-fish sauce
-bok-choy / lettuce
-shredded chicken / ham
-spring onion
-celery
-crack egg into it and stir slowly.

ETA - lemon juice

Damn that sounds good minus the 2 minute noodles, cant eat them. They cause me to shake. They do something to my blood sugar levels. I use to love those things, you can do a lot with them. I do have lots of pasta. I don't however have any of the things you mentioned but eggs. lol I will save this for when I have money to buy food because it sounds good. I will use an asian noodle instead.

originally posted by: Raxoxane
a reply to: mblahnikluver

OMG that is harsh,so sorry to hear you cannot eat bacon..shudders..genuinely my sympathy

Bacon and sausage

I use to look forward to the holidays because of my moms sausage balls. Well after two years of trying to eat one I finally gave in and said no more. I ended up in the hospital. It was BAD! Bad bad bad. My GI doctor rattled off some long medical term that he says I have when it comes to my issues. He said a small percentage of people have this issue when they have their gallbladder removed. I was like great why can't I be the other percentage! I honestly think he just makes stuff up because he really can't figure it out. The ONE thing that helps my stomach and don't ask me why or how but TACO FREAKING SALAD!

I will make a huge batch of taco meat from scratch with my own seasonings and I add one can of diced Rotelle tomatoes with lime and cilantro. I then use the $2 tortilla chips instead of taco shells. I add romaine, tomato, avocado, cheese, sour cream and a little taco bell sauce (yes i love it because it doesn't make me have acid reflux lol). When I eat this my stomach stops instantly with it's issues. I have asked every single doctor why this is and they all say "oh it shouldn't" and I'm like BUT IT DOES! It honestly makes no sense but for months all I ate was taco salad. If I had beef and the makings for it I would have it. I don't know WHY that helps my stomach, it's a miracle food for me when I am having issues.

a reply to: mblahnikluver

Omelettes and lots of them.

Eggs can be dead cheap and can store for a while, if you've got space to grow a few things then that can really change things when you're broke as #.

This year I haven't really grown anything but usually I've got tomatoes, onions, garlic and peppers. You can make some great meals and all it cost you is time and eggs.

If you've got a couple of jars of spices lying around even better... Cajun Omelettes will always have a special place for me, it's not too bad being skint when you can go into the garden and pick a few things to make a yummy meal with.

Someone mentioned flatbread.... Again, homegrown stuff can go into that too, get creative and you could make a vegetable curry, onion bhajis to go with it.

I wish I had more to say or offer, unfortunately I make a lot of meals on the fly... But never write them down

Oh yeah, Yorkshire pudding mini meals. It's like a Sunday roast on a budget, basically use frozen yorkies or make some (you mentioned you don't have milk) and fill them with a little meat, a bit veg and top with gravy. I make them for parties sometimes and they always go down a treat.

Cost effective too.

originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: mblahnikluver

I ate butter and hot sauce on white bread for a couple of days with water.
It isn't bad, but after a couple of days, something else was very welcome.
PS.... I am glad that you start your new job soon. We have to count out blessings.

Hey I have butter, hot sauce and bread, rye bread but I have some.

Yes I can't wait either. Crazy thing is I lived off my taxes for months! I got quite a bit and paid all my bills through July including my rent. I didn't do anything extra because I knew I wasn't working but it finally fizzled out! I am so glad i had that or I don't know what I would have done! I was even selective with food shopping because I didn't know when I would be working. I applied for foodstamps but was denied. Not sure how that happened but it is what it is. I honestly don't care about that, sure it would have helped until I was working but everything happens for a reason right?

originally posted by: mblahnikluver
Poor man substitutes, what are yours?

Occasionally, when my personal assistant forgets to pick it up, I have to substitute cheaper American paddlefish roe for my preferred Sevruga caviar.

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