Archive for the ‘* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving’ Category
Slow Cooker Cincinnati Chili
What is Cincinnati Chili? I have no idea except that is has cinnamon and allspice in it. Normally, I guess, this is made with ground beef which is boiled rather than pan browned, but I will be using minced pork, but by all means if you use chicken, leave a comment on the results. I will make with ground chicken as well. Maybe Cincinnati was the start of Chili Mac? Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 kilo ground beef, or ground pork, or ground chicken, (2 lbs)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 cup tomato sauce, Shortcut
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon Worcherstershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 teaspoons chili powder, adjust to your liking
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 can red Kidney beans, Shortcut, 1-2 cups cooked
- pasta, spaghetti, fettuccine, or linguine, for serving
- Cheddar cheese, shredded, for topping
- onion, diced, for topping
Instructions
- In a large non stick pan, add the onion and ground meat.
- Brown the ground meat and onion, breaking up the ground meat with your spatula but still leaving it a bit chunky. Drain fat, then place in your slow cooker.
- Add to the slow cooker the garlic, tomato sauce, water, Worcestershire, vinegar, salt, pepper, chili powder, cinnamon, allspice, and beans. Give everything a mix, there is a lot in the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on High setting for 2 hours. Then switch to Low setting for another 1 hour. (You can also cook just on Low setting for 5 hours.)
- Cook your desired pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until tender, drain. Put pasta in a bowl and ladle on the chili. Top with cheese and onions as desired. Enjoy.
Notes
Beef in my village will run about 250 Baht/kilo, but you have to mince that yourself. Minced pork at Tesco will run about 115 Baht/kilo, chicken, I have no idea on the price for ground chicken as I have not done this yet. For 8 servings, made with beef this is only 92 cents per serving. For 8 servings, made with pork this is about 43 cents per serving. Using beef and 8 servings, this is still only about 92 cents per serving.
Shortcut: Tomato Sauce.
Variants: 1. Replace the tomato sauce with a can of whole peeled tomatoes, chopped, plus juice. 2. Use your favorite chili seasoning packet in place of the chili powder, cumin, and black pepper.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
One-Pot Pasta Curls with Bacon and Tomato
The name is deceptive, make this with any meat you have, chicken, pork, or beef. This sounds really good.
Ingredients
- 5 slices bacon, sliced into strips
- 1/2 onion, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 250 grams spiral pasta, OR any bite size pasta
- 1 3/4 cups chicken stock
- 1 can whole peeled tomatoes, finely chopped, 565 gram can, retain juice
- 1 teaspoon chili flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- salt, to taste
- fresh parsley, chopped for garnish
- Parmesan cheese, grated, for garnish
Instructions
- In a heavy-bottom pan, brown the bacon in a little olive oil. Once the bacon bits are brown, transfer them into a bowl and set this aside. In the same pan, add the diced onion and cook for 30 seconds. Add the minced garlic and cook a further 30 seconds. Add chicken stock. Use your spatula to gently scrape the bottom of the pan (OR use a non stick pan).
- Finely chop the can tomatoes and juice (or use tomato puree) and add into the pan. Bring this to a boil and add the pasta. I used pasta curls but you can use any pasta you like.
- Give everything a good stir, reduce the heat and simmer this for about 10-15 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked. The sauce would have thickened slightly as well from the starch that was released when the pasta was cooking. If the sauce is too tart, add a little sugar to balance the flavor.
- Turn off the heat, season with salt (if needed), chili flakes and freshly ground black pepper. Sprinkle the bacon on the pasta and top with chopped parsley, as well as grated Parmesan before serving.
Notes
Minimal costs, easilly under $1 per serving. Now if you want to start adding chicken, pork or beef, yes the costs go up.
Provided by The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and the link to this recipe is here.
Singapore.
Singapore.
Sloppy Joe Grilled Cheese
Or Grilled Cheese Sloppy Joe. I normally have a thick slice of onion with my Sloppy Joe sandwich, some people use a slice of cheese. But cooking like a Grilled Cheese, this is interesting. This recipe, more of a guide than a recipe, is for one sandwich. Think leftovers.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Sloppy Joe mix, leftovers are perfect for this, cold
- Cheddar cheese, real cheese, sliced thin, as needed
- 2 slices bread
- butter
Instructions
- Spread butter on one side of each piece of bread. Place one piece of bread, butter side down in your heated frying pan.
- Place on slices of real cheese on the piece of bread. Top with leftover Sloppy Joe mix (cold works best, so that you can spread it evenly without it sliding out). Top with remaining slices of cheese and piece of bread, butter side up.
- Cook until the first side is golden brown. Flip sandwich and cook until the second side is equally golden brown. Enjoy.
Notes
Actually, not that really an inexpensive meal, real cheese is the costly part, as the Sloppy Joe mix was already prepared. This would be about 75 cents to $1 per sandwich.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Mike Early.
United States.
United States.
One-Pot Creamy Barbecued Pulled Chicken Penne With Cherry Tomatoes
Sounds like a great pasta dish. This recipe assumes you have already made the Smoky Barbecued Pulled Chicken, recipe link is in the steps.
Ingredients
- 2 cups BBQ pulled chicken
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
- 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 250 grams dry Penne pasta, OR any bite sized shaped pasta
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock, fresh or from powder
- 3/4 cup cream, OR milk
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Parmesan cheese, for garnish
- fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish
- chili flakes, for garnish
Instructions
- In a skillet, saute diced onion for a few minutes until the onion turns soft and translucent. Add minced garlic and diced red pepper and stir to mix.
- Add the chicken. Recipe is here http://thailand1dollarmeals.com/recipe/smoky-barbecued-pulled-chicken/
- Once mixed, add the chicken stock and cream. Bring this to a boil and add the pasta. Give the pasta a stir. Cover the skillet and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the pasta is tender. Remember to give the pasta a stir occasionally. If the water level is too low, add a little more chicken stock. The starch in the pasta will thicken the sauce as it cooks.
- Once the pasta is tender, the dish is ready. Season with salt and black pepper as desired. Serve the pasta, topped with cherry tomatoes, Italian parsley, chili flakes if desired, and Parmesan.
Notes
Well under $1 per serving since the chicken was cooked in another recipe.
Provided by The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and the link to this recipe is here.
Singapore.
Singapore.
Smoky Barbecued Pulled Chicken
This is a useful recipe that can be served as is or used as a base in other recipes. This is quick and simple. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, OR legs and thighs skin off bone in
- 3 tablespoons garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon course ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup BBQ sauce, OR make from a shortcut on this site
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients except the chicken and the barbecue sauce to make a dry rub. Coat the chicken with the dry rub. Place the chicken in the bowl of a slow cooker, pour the barbecue sauce over the chicken and cover with a piece of baking paper. Put the lid on and cook on Low setting for 3 to 4 hours, or until chicken is tender.
- Cool slightly and remove the chicken from the slow cooker then shred the chicken with a pair of forks. If using thighs and legs, remove bones and any gristle on the ends of the legs, then shred. Ad the chicken back to the slow cooker and mix with the juices in the pot.
- Serve as is with buns, lettuce, and cheese available or use in other recipes.
Notes
Chicken breasts run anywhere from 60 to 75 Baht/kilo. 4 breasts should be less than that. This is about $1 per serving for 4 servings. Very reasonable and inexpensive meal.
The baking paper is used to keep the moisture in and keeps the chicken moist.
Shortcut: BBQ Sauce.
Provided by The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and the link to this recipe is here.
Singapore.
Singapore.
One-Pot Garlic Black Pepper Chicken Pasta
Sounds really good! I like everything about this recipe. I had to put anchovies on my shopping list, I have seen many pasta dishes that ask for this to make a great sauce.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons all purpose flour
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 250 grams fresh mushrooms, sliced, King Oyster, Shiitake, Straw mushrooms, etc
- 6 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 4 anchovy fillets
- 1/2 cup white wine, OR use chicken stock
- 1 3/4 cups chicken stock, fresh or from powder
- 500 grams spaghetti, or pasta of your choice
- coursely ground black pepper, to taste
- fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish
- chili flakes, for garnish
Instructions
- Season the chicken with salt and coarsely ground black pepper. Toss with a little flour. In a pot or large skillet, brown the chicken in batches in a little olive oil. Once the chicken pieces have been browned and cooked through, transfer them into a bowl. Set them aside.
- In the same pot or skillet, add a little more olive oil. Saute the garlic over medium heat for about 30-40 seconds, or until fragrant. Add the red pepper and stir to mix. Add mushrooms and the anchovy fillets. Mush the anchovy fillets – they will disappear into the sauce and impart the most amazing savory flavor to the dish!
- Return the chicken into the pot or skillet and stir to combine. Transfer all the ingredients from the pot into a bowl. Set this aside.
- Add white wine (or replace with the same quantity of chicken stock if you want to omit wine) into the pot. Bring this to a boil. Using your spatula, gently scrape the bottom of the pan to dislodge the brown bits of flavor. Add the additional chicken stock, bring this to a boil then add the pasta. Make sure the pasta is submerged in the liquid, turn the heat to low and cover the pot. The pasta will cook and soften. Stir occasionally and cook until the pasta is done.
- Return the ingredients into the pot, add more black pepper if you like, and toss to combine. Sprinkle chopped parsley and serve.
Notes
Chicken breasts run anywhere from 60 to 75 Baht/kilo. 4 breasts should be less than that. This is about $1 per serving for 4 servings. Very reasonable and inexpensive meal. I need to locate anchovies so I can better price this.
Provided by The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and the link to this recipe is here.
Singapore.
Singapore.
Sausage, Peppers, and Onion
This is an old school recipe that has been a mainstay for years of many folks. This used to be considered poor folks food, but sometimes the simplest recipes are the best. I have been making this for years but stopped when I got to my present location due to availability of the sausage, now that I have found the sausage, this is a excellent dish and low cost. You can change this up to your liking. You can use any sausage you like, chicken, beef, or pork.
Ingredients
- 500 grams smoked sausage, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
- 1 onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large non-stick skillet on medium high heat, add the sliced sausage.
- Brown the sausage, about 5-10 minutes.
- Then add the onion, garlic, and bell pepper.
- Season with oregano, and salt and pepper to your liking. When the pepper and onion are tender, remove from heat. (I cover with a lid while it is cooking and just mix it every few minutes.)
- Sprinkle on the cheese and mix to coat everything, serve.
- Serve as is, or over hot rice or pasta.
Notes
The sausage at Makro will cost about 125 Baht for 500 grams. This comes to about 90 cents per serving for 6 servings. From my experience, Makro has sales on this sausage, buy 1 kilo get 500 grams free so there is even more savings.
Variants: 1. Use more sausage and add a red bell pepper. 2. Add a good handful of sliced mushrooms, King Oyster or Shiitake would be good, and I think Straw mushrooms sliced in half lengthwise would be excellent.
Another variant, provided by good friend John Petersen, United States, serve this on a bed of freshly cooked hash browns and top with a couple of sunny side up eggs. (This I will do!)
Been making this for years.
One-Pot Spaghetti With Chicken Parmesan
Sounds really good, and I really like on pot dishes.
Ingredients
Seasoning for the Chicken
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2-3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
Ingredients
- 500 grams chicken breasts, OR thighs, skinless and boneless, cut into bite size pieces
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 can tomatoes, chopped, reserve the juice
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock, fresh or from powder, OR water
- 350 grams pasta, Spaghetti, Penne, or Sprial would work well
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- salt and pepper, to taste
- fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish
- chili flakes, for garnish
Instructions
- Season the chicken with items listed for chicken seasoning, Toss to combine and coat the chicken. Cook the chicken in large pot in batches, in a little olive oil until brown and cooked through. Set aside.
- In the same pot, add a bit more olive oil if needed, saute the onion for a minute or two to soften them. Add the minced garlic and continue cooking for another 30 seconds.
- Open the can of tomatoes, I use Brook brand whole peeled tomatoes in tomato juice, drain the juice into the pot, chop the tomatoes and add them to the pot. Add the chicken stock or the water, bring to a boil. Add the pasta then lower the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook the pasta for about 8-10 minutes, time will vary so keep an eye on the pasta, stirring once ever so often, until the pasta is cooked.
- When the pasta is cooked, remove from heat and add the Parmesan cheese and mix until combined, season with salt and pepper to your liking. Pour this into a large serving dish, top with the chicken and garnish with parsley and chili flakes if desired. Serve.
Notes
Chicken breasts run anywhere from 30 to 38 Baht/500 grams. Easily less than $1 per serving for 4 servings. Very reasonable and inexpensive meal.
Provided by The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and the link to this recipe is here.
Singapore.
Singapore.
One-pot Creamy Smoked Chicken Penne
Sounds really good! Several steps involved but I think this will be great. On my to cook list! Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
- 3 tablespoons garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup BBQ sauce, OR make from a shortcut
For the Pasta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 zucchini, thinly sliced ad quartered
- 2 cups chicken stock, fresh or from powder
- 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, OR make from a shortcut
- 1/2 cup cream
- 500 grams dry Penne pasta
- salt and pepper, to taste
- fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish
- chili flakes, for garnish
Instructions
For the Chicken
- Combine all the ingredients except the chicken and the barbecue sauce to make a dry rub. Coat the chicken with the dry rub. Place the chicken in your slow cooker, pour the barbecue sauce over the chicken and cover with a piece of baking paper. Put the lid on and cook on Low setting for 3-4 hours, or until chicken is tender. Cool slightly before shredding the chicken with a pair of forks. Set aside.
For the Pasta
- Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add onion and garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the red pepper and zucchini. Stir to mix. Add the chicken, followed by the chicken stock, condensed soup, and cream. Stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to your liking. Bring to a boil. Once the liquid is boiling, add the pasta, give everything a stir and lower the heat to a simmer.
- Place a cover on the skillet and simmer the pasta for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the liquid dries out too much, add a little water. Once the pasta is cooked, remove from heat and serve, garnish parsley and chili flakes if desired.
Notes
Chicken breasts run anywhere from 60 to 75 Baht/kilo. 4 breasts should be less than that. Make the shortcuts listed and this is about $1 per serving for 4 servings. Very reasonable and inexpensive meal.
Shortcuts: BBQ Sauce, Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup.
Provided by The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and the link to this recipe is here.
Singapore.
Singapore.
One-Pot Tuna Rice
This sounds really good, use fresh tuna from local fishermen if you can, or you can use canned tuna packed in oil. On my to cook list for sure.
Ingredients
- ½-1½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large red onion, halved and sliced
- 2 large red chilies, seeded and sliced
- 3 cans tuna in oil, drained, (185 g / 7 oz)
- 1½ cups cooked Jasmine rice
- 2-3 plum tomatoes, diced
- â…“ cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
- â…“ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- salt and pepper, to taste
- olive oil
Instructions
- In a non-stick skillet, heat a good splash of olive oil with the ground cumin and ground coriander until they turn fragrant and start to foam. To this, add the onion and fry until the onion starts to soften. Add the minced garlic and chili and stir until the onion and garlic starts to brown.
- Add the drained tuna. Season with salt and black pepper. Stir to combine. Add the rice, tomatoes, chopped coriander, parsley and mint leaves, turn off the heat and toss until well-combined. Adjust the seasonings, adding more black pepper as desired and the dish is ready to be served!
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Shortcut: Tuna.
