Author Archive
Beer Shrimp
April 16, 2016 Lee
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Beer Shrimp

Beer and shrimp, sounds good to me! This sounds really good and is on my to do list to make this. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 500 grams large shrimp, peeled, tail removed, deveined if you choose
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
  • 1/3 cup tomato ketchup, OR make from a shorcut
  • 1 tablespoon Worcherstershire sauce
  • 1/4 cup beer, lager preferred
  • 1/4 cup spring onions, chopped, white and green parts
  • juice from one lime
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions
 

  • In a large non-stick pan over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter, add garlic and shrimp and cook until the shrimp is pink and cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes, transfer to a plate and set aside.
  • Using the same pan, add the remaining butter and melt, then add the remaining ingredients, season with salt and pepper to taste and mix. Bring to a simmer and add the shrimp back to the pan until heated through.
  • Serve with toasted french bread or as is for a great appetizer.

Notes

When I buy shrimp (prawn), they are large, ocean caught using a cast net, very eco friendly but also cost about 220 to 240 Baht per kilo. So at 240 Baht, and for 4 servings, this is about $1.75 per serving, not bad considering large shrimp. If you used small shrimp, the price would be less.
Shortcut: Ketchup.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
* High Cost $1.51+ per Serving,APPETIZERS / SNACKS,SEAFOOD - ALL,Seafood - Shrimp/Prawn
Chicken Loaf
April 16, 2016 Lee
2 Comments

Chicken Loaf

This is a great way to use leftover chicken or turkey or use purposely cooked chicken to make this. This is great for sandwiches that do not spill the contents on to your plate. You can make this plain or with what ever you wish to add. This is a must try for me as I love chicken sandwiches. No quantity is listed as to what this makes as the original instructions were quite unclear. I will make this and add step by step photos as well. This recipe is for purpose cooked chicken for this, but after you read through the instructions, it will be clear on how to use a leftover chicken or turkey.
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Course Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine German
Servings 0

Ingredients
  

Cooking the Chicken

  • 6 chicken quarters, seperated for legs and thighs, skin on and bone in
  • 1 cup celery, roughly chopped
  • 1 onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 bay leaves

Making the Loaf

  • 1 cup red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin, this is Agar powder, very common

Instructions
 

Cooking the Chicken

  • Add the chicken to a large pot and fill with water to cover the chicken by an inch or so. Add the celery, onion, white pepper, salt and bay leaves. Bring to a boil then put on simmer until the chicken can be pulled from the bones with a fork. DO NOT cook this until the chicken is falling off the bone, just simmer until the chicken is done.
  • Remove the chicken from the pot when cooked through and strain the liquid (see, you just made chicken stock). Reserve the stock. When the chicken as cooled enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones, save the bones and skin for your dog. Make sure you remove all cartilage, skin, and fat from the meat. Once it is all separated, chop the meat slightly for small pieces, like you would for a chicken sandwich.
  • Mix the meat and bell pepper and parsley together. and pack into a loaf pan (this can be a non-stick metal pan or even a glass loaf pan).

Making the Loaf

  • Mix the gelatin with 1/4 cup cold water and stir until the lumps have dissolved. In a small pot, add the gelatin mixture and add 2 cups of stock you made and heat this on low temp until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
  • Pour this mixture into the loaf pan to completely cover the chicken, if you do not have enough liquid, make another batch of the gelatin/stock mixture.
  • Once the liquid covers the chicken, allow to cool, then place in the refrigerator. Once the loaf has gelled solidly, it is ready to use. One option is to slice and serve as is on a bed of lettuce with chopped tomatoes, another option is to slice and simply make sandwiches using bread of your choice, a few lettuce leaves, and lots of mayo.

Notes

Chicken quarters run about 62 Baht/kilo, you might have 120 Baht invested in 6 quarters. At 120 Baht, this about 90 cents per meal assuming 4 meals from this. More accurate pricing when I make this.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,CHICKEN & TURKEY,LEFTOVERS
Egg Salad II
April 12, 2016 Lee
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Egg Salad II

From a good friend, a healthy twisty to egg salad. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Course Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 0

Ingredients
  

  • 6 hard boiled eggs, peeled, chopped
  • 1/4 onion, chopped
  • 1/4 bell pepper, any color, chopped
  • 5-6 slices pickle, chopped, OR make from a shortcut
  • palmful fresh dill, chopped
  • squirt prepared yellow mustard
  • 1 teaspoon tarragon vinegar
  • dash ground cumin
  • dash paprika
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • mayo, as needed

Instructions
 

  • Mix everything in a large bowl, then start to add the mayo a heaping tablespoon at a time until you get a creamy mixture but not dripping in mayo. Enjoy as is or put on a bun with a leaf or 2 of lettuce and make a sandwich.
  • Mixed and ready to serve, can refrigerate for a few hours, but not needed.

Notes

Low cost.
Shortcut: Dill Pickles.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Dave Williams.
Thailand.
Sides - Salads
Egg Salad I
April 12, 2016 Lee
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Egg Salad I

Basic Egg Salad, enjoy as is or make a sandwich from this. I have been making this for years. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Course Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 2 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 6 eggs, hard boiled, chopped
  • 1/2 onion, finely diced
  • 3-4 slices pickle, diced, optional, (Shortcut)
  • mayo, as needed
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions
 

  • Add eggs, onion, pickle to a bowl and mix to combine, add salt and pepper to taste.
  • Add mayo a large spoonful at a time and mix, you are looking for well mixed but not dripping in mayo.
  • Serve as is on a bed of lettuce, in a sandwich, on crackers, etc. This will make 4 thick sandwiches.

Notes

Less than $1 for the whole thing.
Shortcut: Dill Pickles.
Family recipe I have been using for many years.
#1 Go-To Recipes,* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,5 Ingredients or Less,Sides - Salads
Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili
April 12, 2016 Lee
1 Comment

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

I found this recipe and it does sound very good, but also very processed, the original ingredients involved 6 cans of items, 1 frozen product, and one store bought spice packet, overly processed, overly salty. This is my rewrite version to reflect whole foods and reduced to 2 cans. This is actually prepared over two days. This is a must try for me and I will be taking step by step photos as well.
Print Recipe
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 10 servings

Ingredients
  

Day 1 - Prepare the Beans

  • 2-3 cups dry black beans, cooked, see Beans Step 1
  • 2-3 cups dry red kidney beans, cooked, see Beans Step 1

Day 2 - Prepare the Chili

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 can tomato paste, this is the small can, see Chili Step 1
  • 1 ear sweet corn, see Chili Step 2
  • 1 can whole tomatoes, dice the tomatoes, tomato juice is used as well
  • 4-8 Bird's Eye Chilis, diced, seeds included
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, OR 1/2 teaspoon table salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 3-4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, diced

Instructions
 

Beans

  • Beans, this can be done several ways if you like a lot of beans on hand. Rule of thumb is 2/3 cup of dried beans will cook to 2 cups of beans. Now you can separately cook 2/3 cup of Black Beans, and 2/3 cup of Red Kidney Beans so you have the 4 cups of beans or you can cook a whole 500 grams of beans, and use the extra beans for another dish, totally up to you.
  • You need sort, rinse, then soak the beans overnight in water in the fridge, this reduces the chances of them fermenting overnight.
  • After the beans have soaked overnight, you need to rinse them, and using separate pots, cook the beans until tender, tender being if you put a bean in your mouth, you should be able to squish it it your tongue (sounds odd, but it is a good test for a tender bean). When the beans are done, rinse them again, then let cool and refrigerate until needed.

Chili

  • Open the can of tomato paste and put into a large bowl, add 2 tomato paste cans of water, add some spices, such as oregano, thyme, rosemary, etc, season with salt and pepper, whisk, there, you just made tomato sauce. Pour this into the slow cooker (crock pot).
  • Boil the cob of corn, if you like corn in the chili, boil two, then remove and cut the kernels from the cobs, and add this to the slow cooker.
  • Open the can of tomatoes, and drain the juice into the slow cooker, then pour the tomatoes into a large bowl, using a knife and fork, dice them, add to the slow cooker.
  • Add to the slow cooker, 2 cups of cooked black beans, 2 cups of red kidney beans, the chopped onion, the diced chilies, all the spices. (Adding the spices, you just made Taco Seasoning). Add the diced chicken breasts. Mix everything together.
  • Cook on Low setting for 8-10 hours, or High setting for 4-6 hours. Serve topped with fresh chopped cilantro, sour cream, grated Cheddar cheese, up to you.

Notes

Chicken is the most costly part of this recipe, 4 chicken breast would be about 100 Baht, all other items are minimal, this is a less than $1 per person meal.
Adapted from an internet recipe, and heavily modified to remove the processed items.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,Soups, Stews, Chili - Slow Cooker
Amish Breakfast Casserole
April 12, 2016 Lee
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Amish Breakfast Casserole

This sounds really easy and really good, a must try. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Servings 12 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 500 grams sliced bacon, diced
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 6 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 4 cups hash brown potatoes, OR make from a shortcut listed on this site
  • 2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 1 1/4 cups Swiss cheese, shredded
  • 1 1/2 cups Cottage cheese, OR make this from a shortcut listed on this site

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your oven to 180 C. Grease a 13x9 baking dish with butter. If you use the shortcut to make the hash browns, follow the steps right up to before cooking.
  • Heat a pan and fry the bacon until crisp, drain, and set aside.
  • In a large bowl, mix all other ingredients, then add bacon and mix that in as well. Pour into the baking dish and spread out to flatten and evenly distribute the mixture.
  • Bake uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes or until you can insert a knife near the center that comes out clean, remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting. Serve with toast on the side for a great breakfast.

Notes

The bacon will cost about 310 Baht/500 grams. The Cheddar cheese will cost 180 Baht/250 gram block which is good for 2 cups. The Swiss will cost about 90 Baht as you should only have to use 1/2 block of 250 grams. Cottage cheese I cannot price in a store as it is not carried over here where I am at. Just for the bacon and two of the cheeses, this meal, for 12 servings, comes out to about $1.42 per serving.
Shortcuts: Hash Brown Potatoes, Cottage Cheese.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
* Fair Value $1.01 to $1.50 per Serving,CASSEROLES
Tuna Patties I
April 12, 2016 Lee
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Tuna Patties I

Adapted from an internet recipe.
This is a simple way to enjoy tuna using either canned tuna or fresh tuna. Fresh tuna is always better, it is cheaper than canned and no can waste, plus you get material for your compost pile. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Notes section.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cans tuna, OR 1 cup of fresh cooked tuna, Shortcut
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • ½ cup white bread, torn into small pieces
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons spring onion, sliced
  • 2 eggs
  • olive oil, as needed
  • ½ teaspoon butter
  • 2-3 dashes hot sauce, optional
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 tablespoon water, see Step 1

Instructions
 

  • If using canned tuna packed in water, drain and reserve 1 tablespoon of water from a can then add 1 teaspoon of olive oil to the tuna. If using tuna packed in oil, just drain. If using fresh cooked tuna, add 1 teaspoon of olive oil.
  • In a large bowl, mix the tuna with the mustard, bread, zest, juice, water, parsley, spring onion, and hot sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed, then mix in the egg.
  • Divide this in to 4 parts, form each part into a ball and flatten to make a patty. Refrigerate for an hour, this helps keep the patties together when cooking.
  • Heat some olive oil in a non stick pan with the butter, place the patties in the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side to nicely brown them.
  • Serve as is with lemon wedges on the side for a light lunch or dinner, or serve with tartar sauce on buns to make a tuna burgers.

Notes

Low cost per serving.
Shortcut: Tuna.
#1 Go-To Recipes,* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,FISH - ALL,Fish - Tuna
Healthy Pancake & Smoothie
April 11, 2016 Lee
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Healthy Pancake & Smoothie

Dave Williams, Thailand.
Provided by a good friend of mine, this is a single serving that is nutritious and healthy, perfect for after a long bike ride. For more servings, just adjust the serving size and the recipe will adjust for you.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Breakfast, Lunch
Cuisine Vegetarian
Servings 1 serving

Equipment

  • Blender

Ingredients
  

Pancake

  • 5-6 okra, good sized, trimmed, sliced
  • 1 cup soy flour, fine organic
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon Chaat Masala
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Smoothie

  • ½ fresh pineapple
  • 1 tablespoon raw honey
  • 1 tablespoon Chia seeds

Instructions
 

Pancake

  • Mix together soy flour, baking powder, Chaat Masala, and 1 egg in a small bowl, season to taste with salt and pepper, add water to get the desired pancake mix consistency. Add sliced okra and mix.
  • Heat a non-stick pan with a slight splash of olive oil to medium heat. Pour in the pancake mixture, after a few minutes, watch for bubbles to appear on the top and check the bottom, when golden brown on the bottom, carefully flip the pancake.
  • When golden brown on the bottom, place pancake on a plate.

Smoothie

  • Add to your blender, ½ a fresh pineapple, raw honey, and Chia seeds, blend until smooth.
  • Pour into a large glass and serve with the pancake. A mild tomato based hot sauce pairs well with the pancake.

Notes

Healthy and nutritious. Easily under $1 per serving.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,VEGETARIAN
Tuna (actually Yellowtail not Tuna)
April 7, 2016 Lee
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Tuna (actually Yellowtail not Tuna)

Lee
Tuna is about as popular as chicken. I am not talking the tuna steaks or fillets, think canned tuna. This recipe is about making "homemade tuna" but without the cans and without tuna. In Tesco and fresh markets, yellowtail is very common, inexpensive, and tastes very much like tuna, but normally sold as whole fish. What this recipe is talking about is the smaller, 14-16 inch whole yellowtail fish one can buy in Tesco. This is a base recipe to get the "tuna" into a recipe usable state. There is no set quantities for this, if you have not done this before, this is very easy, just start with one fish and see how that goes. I have made this many times and when I do this again, I will take step by step photos, and revise the recipe to a more friendlier format.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 2 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 52 minutes
Cuisine American
Servings 0

Ingredients
  

  • 1 whole yellowtail fish, average size is about 14-16 inches

Instructions
 

  • Clean the fish by gutting and rinse the cavity, no need to scrub every part as that will not be used or even touched. There is no need to remove the head, fins, or skin, these will not be used.
  • Bring a pot of water to a boil, once boiling add the fish. Cook for about 20 minutes, the meat will start separate from the backbone and will flake easily with a fork.
  • When the fish is cooked through, remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let sit for about 20-30 minutes.
  • Once cooled, remove the fish from the water using a large wire scoop and place on a plate.
  • Using forks, pull back the skin and away from the meat. Then hold the tail and insert a fork near the tail area pointing towards the head and simply separate that side of meat from the backbone, flip over the tuna and do the same thing on the other side, discard the bones, head, and skin. Now you will have 2 nice big pieces of meat.
  • Now you have to remove the ribs, just use a fork and and lift the ribs out of the meat. There are no pin bones in this fish.
  • Now use the forks and chunk up the meat a little or a lot depending on what a recipe calls for. Place in a bowl and cover and refrigerate until used, This should last refrigerated for up 3 days. This makes several cans of tuna.
  • See, that was easy! You have fresh cooked "tuna", material for your compost pile, and no cans involved, all it takes is some time and effort on your part.

Notes

One average size can of tuna is approximately 1/2 cup. Some cans are smaller, some cans are larger, go with 1/2 cup per can, but with tuna, go a little extra as well, no one is going to complain. I have adjusted the tuna recipes on the site to reflect using this recipe as an alternative to canned. Remember the rule, 1/2 cup fresh "tuna" is about 1 can of tuna.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
FISH - ALL,Fish - Tuna,INGREDIENTS
Basic Lasagna
March 28, 2016 Lee
4 Comments

Basic Lasagna

I have made this recipe many times now and it is delicious. Lasagna can be intimidating, but following a few shortcuts and you can make a tasty and delicious meal, that serves a lot! Many recipes call for the meat sauce as ground beef and Italian sausage, I am going to make the Italian sausage as I cook ground pork. Cottage cheese can be expensive if store bought, I am going to use the shortcut listed on this site. The most expensive part will be the Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Not a $1 meal but you can feed a crowd. I made this on 10 April 2016 and took the photos. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
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Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 12 servings

Ingredients
  

For the Meat Sauce

  • 1 kilo ground pork, or ground beef, or half and half, (2 lbs)
  • 1 can whole tomatoes, drained and chopped, keep the juice
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 6 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons dried thyme
  • 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
  • 2 teaspoons dried parsley
  • 2 teaspoons dried basil
  • 2 teaspoons fennel seeds

To Assemble

  • 1 package lasagna noodles, the oven ready type, you will not use all of them
  • 400 grams Mozzarella Cheese, shredded, (14 oz)
  • 150 grams Parmesan cheese, shredded, (5 oz)
  • 4 cups Cottage cheese, (Shortcut)
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil

Instructions
 

Meat Sauce

  • Add a splash of olive oil to a large pot and heat, add onion and garlic, when translucent, add the meat and spices and mix well with the spatula (you are making a cheater Italian sausage. When cooked through and no longer pink, drain the fat, I use a colander for this, then return to the pot.
  • Add the tomato paste and the chopped tomatoes, and about half of the tomato juice. On a light simmer, cook for about 20-30 minutes covered. If the sauce is too thick, add a bit of tomato juice retained from the can of tomatoes, not too much though. Adjust the sauce for salt and sugar during the cooking.

to Assemble

  • Preheat your oven to 200 C (390 F). Get out a 9x13 baking dish.
  • Now, take out a small handful of Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese and set aside, this is for the final layer. OR, as I do, I just use shred another 200 gram block of Mozzarella and add additional grated Parmesan cheese for use on the top.
  • Mix the cottage cheese, remaining Mozzerella and Parmesan together with the beaten eggs and spices. If making the cottage cheese from the shortcut on my site, make 4 cups, meaning 4 liters of milk, vinegar stays the say in the recipe.
  • Spoon just enough sauce into the bottom of the baking dish to cover the bottom. Then place the following layers:
  • Noodles, you can overlap slightly, 1/3 of the cheese mixture. 1/3 of the meat sauce. Repeat with noodles, 1/3 the cheese, and 1/3 the meat sauce, repeat again with noodles, 1/3 cheese, and 1/3 meat sauce. Now sprinkle on the retained Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses that you set aside. Photo shows the first layer added.
  • Bake for 30 minutes, if getting dark, remove, if still light colored, continue for 40 minutes. Photo shows the completed dish before going into the oven.
  • Here is a lasagna I made for friends in Dec 2018, topped with 12 slices of Provolone, before baking.
  • IMPORTANT, after removing from the oven, this needs to rest and cool a bit, as right out of the oven you have 200 degree C cheese lava! Let it rest and it will firm up a bit as well.
  • Cut into squares, serve with a salad or garlic bread to extend this meal. Enjoy.

Notes

Minced pork is about 112 Baht/kilo. Mozzarella cheese will run about 145 Baht/200 grams. Will need at least 2 blocks for 290 Baht. Parmesan will run about about 180 Baht/125 grams, will need 2 packs for 360 Baht. For the Cottage cheese, I cannot stress this enough, make it yourself from the shortcut listed on the site, this will work out to about 220 Baht.
This works out to about $1.70 per meal per person, over all, not bad! This is well below what you would find in any restaurant! The beauty of this dish, is that you made it yourself, it takes an effort and time spent in the kitchen, but the taste is well worth it, and you know exactly what is in it.
Shortcut: Cottage Cheese.
Variant: 1. Top the entire lasagna with a layer of sliced Provolone, Gouda, or Edam, yummy!
Family recipe I have been using for years.
#1 Go-To Recipes,* High Cost $1.51+ per Serving,PASTA