!crock pot edition!
College fag here,
I posted a month ago about how I was challenged to only spend 100 dollars a month on food, and I have been trying to eat healthier and cleaner through the process. Canned vegetables and beans are much easier to handle and taste better than frozen things, eggs are a must and prepackaged soups might be a little too expensive for what nutritional value and how filling they are. I bought a crock pot to help make food while I'm doing homework. I'm going to try to incorporate more meats into my diet, and hopefully the crock pot will help with that as well in terms of preparation styles.
Any easy crock pot recipes that you guys use? Maybe something that is cheap going in but can last me a week?
>>7403444
Not a challenge. My roommates and I spend less than 40 a week a piece on groceries, that includes soda, beer, and all of my cheeses. And we're in New York, so you can't say it's regional.
cheap crock pot recipe? get your pen and paper
beans
salt
rice, lentils, pinto. good eating is pretty easy
also, lol at asking for crock pot recipes, but talking about using canned beans. get dry beans. almost literally what a crock pot is for. beans and meats
>>7403444
Checked.
It's actually pretty easy to stay under 100. I used to bang a welfare mom that did it easily. The trick is that you clip coupons, rely on cheap staple ingredients, and minimize meat use. Meat is used more as a flavoring, so cheap high fat ingredients like ham hocks and bacon ends are used primarily. Beans, Rice, Flour, and powdered milk are important ingredients. She always had a sourdough starter to save on yeast packets, and every meal included fresh bread to help fill people up.
The real thing to understand is that with cooking, you can save a lot of money, but it will involve an increase in effort. Pre-packaged anything is taboo if on a budget.
For an example that would work in the crockpot:
Split Pea Soup
1 pound bag of split peas, rinsed.
3 ounces of bacon ends, raw, chopped.
Pepper and Salt.
Add water to cover ingredients by about an inch. (If you have any homemade chicken stock, use this instead. Chicken is always bough whole, and stock is made from every carcass)
Cook for a few hours. when you stir it, it should become a thick paste. That's when it's done.
Serve with fresh sourdough. Total cost for about 8 meals is somewhere around 2 bucks. Cheaper if you buy the peas in bulk. I would suggest ordering them from http://www.webstaurantstore.com/.
You can get 20 lbs for 14 dollars.
Lentil Soup:
1lbs lentils
1 small onion finely diced
pepper
cover with water by about an inch and a half.
Cook for a few hours. When lentils get tender add:
1 carrot finely diced
Salt to taste. (Do not add the salt until lentils are tender, salt makes beans tough while cooking)
>>7403536
I forgot to add that you can hit the lentils with a potato masher or stick blender to thicken the soup. I prefer mine to be like mud.
>>7403444
Easy enough plan.
I still prefer frozen or dried over canned due excess salt in some canned veggies. The unit are usually equivalent anyway.
Pork and chicken can be had at less than a dollar a pound.
You can also always add rice to leftover crockpot liquid.
>100 dollars a month
>challenge
Salsa chicken
>>7403444
>$100 a month
I want college kids who live off mommy and daddy to get the fuck out. I live off less than $40 a month.
>>7403467
So Anon, let's do some elementary math!
How many weeks on average are in a month?
FOURRRRRR!
That's right class! Four!
And how much is forty times four?
ONE HUNDRED!
NOPE! TRY AGAIN, CLASS!
>>7404347
>My roommates and I spend less than 40
gonna assume that he means together they spend less than 40, so 4x20=80$/month
>>7403444
This reminds me of a kid in my study group who said something along the likes of "30,000$ isn't really much when it comes to buying a car" while we were discussing luxuries. Really nice kid and he's not pretentious at all but I was immediately thinking "damn I was pumped when I got my first 5,000$ beater."
>>7404318
Why does no one love you and why are you alone?
This cabbage soup is really good. I sometimes add chicken to it. Throw all of the ingredients in the slow cooker on slow for 7 hours.
I also love making this beef stew but if you are on a budget I'd only make it when beef is on sale. I also use extra Worcestershire sauce.
>>7403444
>100$ a month
>Eating canned vegetables
>Eating canned beans
What the actual fuck are you doing
>>7404775
$30k is about average for a new car price in the US.
$5k beaters don't factor in to that calculation since they are far from new.
I would consider anything in the $50k+ range to be starting to get into the "luxury" area when talking about new car purchases.