Archive for the ‘* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving’ Category
Louisiana Smothered Shrimp
Recipe name is actually Louisiana Shrimp Etouffee (etoufee means smothered, but I am not teaching French class here so let's just go with smothered). Shrimp would be the easiest to obtain for this recipe, crawfish are here in country being raised, but that may be a challenge to find them however. Shrimp in a thick creamy sauce served over rice, a must try for me. Lot of ingredients and I am not normally a fan of say a 1/2 cup of diced pepper is needed, I use the whole pepper, but I think for this recipe, I will follow exactly and see where it can be tailored, which should be easy. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 5 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup celery
- 1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
- 1/4 cup spring onion, chopped
- 1 cup chicken stock, fresh or from powder
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Creole seasoning, OR make from a shortcut
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 500 grams shrimp, cooked, and peeled, including tails removed, see note on this
Instructions
- In a pot, melt the butter and then stir in the flour. Cook and stir constantly over low heat for about 20 minutes, until mixture is a caramel colored paste. Add the celery, pepper, and onions; stir until coated.
- Add the broth, water, parsley, tomato paste, bay leaf, salt, pepper, garlic powder, Creole seasoning, and cayenne. Stir the pot well to make sure that the roux is well incorporated and there are no lumps.
- Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Add shrimp and heat through. Serve over rice.
Notes
Shrimp from say Tesco, small whites, will run about 100 Baht for 500 grams. If you can source ocean prawn from a local fisherman, even less, even open markets for shrimp is very low cost. For this dish, for 4 people, the cost is about 75 cents per person, even less for 6 people.
Shortcut: Creole Seasoning Mix.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Chicken, Chili, and Basil
No set recipe here, and no measured ingredients per say. This is a typical Thai meal, spicy, and goes together quickly. Photos are mine that I took yesterday while my wife cooked this.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken legs, skin and bones removed, slightly chopped
- 20-30 Bird's Eye Chilis, slightly mashed, seeds and all
- 4-6 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
- fresh Thai Basil, several good handfuls
Instructions
- Heat a heavy non-stick pan (or a wok) with some oil and add the chilis and garlic and cook for a few minutes.
- Add the chicken meat and stir to combine with the chili and garlic and cook until juices run clear, about 10 minutes, stir occasionally.
- Rinse the basil and squeeze dry and add to the pan.
- Cook until the basil is wilted, serve with rice.
Notes
The cost for the 4 chicken legs is minimal, the chilies came from our garden. This is probably a 30 to 50 cent meal per person, for easily 6 people.
Provided courtesy of my wife, Rrayada Thayer.
Thailand.
Thailand.
Pinto Bean Chili
An easy chili using our Chili Beans recipe listed on this site. The chili beans are the bulk of the recipe, just add ground meat, an onion, tomatoes and chilies. I made this on 1 Aug 2016, excellent, my comments below. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 4 cups Chili Beans and Sauce, Shortcut
- 750 grams ground beef, OR pork, OR chicken, (1 1/2 lbs)
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped plus juice
- 1-2 Bird's Eye Chilis, chopped
Instructions
- Cook the ground beef in a large pot along with the onion, when cooked, drain off fat, not all, just most of it. Add the chili beans, chopped tomatoes, juice from the can, chilies, stir to mix and simmer for about 20 minutes to heat it through.
- Serve and enjoy.
- Or serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, diced onions, sour cream, well, you get the point. Enjoy.
Notes
The chili beans would cost about 65 Baht for 8-10 cups worth, 3-4 cups is minimal. Ground beef would be about 75-100 Baht for 500 grams, pork and chicken would be less. Easily less than $1 per meal for 4 people.
Shortcut: Chili Beans.
Variants: 1. Use a 1 lb 8 oz (680 g) can of ground pork or beef, drained, in place of fresh beef or pork. 2. Use a can of diced tomatoes in place of chopped whole tomatoes.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Chili Beans (Slow Cooker)
I like to cook with dried beans, they are nutritious and versatile. This is the homemade version of canned Chili Beans, healthier and more nutritious. These can be served as a side, as a main, or as a base for chili. Takes some time but well worth it. I made these on 30 July 2016, very good! The recipe is a total rewrite to make into a slow cooker recipe. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 500 grams dry Pinto beans, (1 lb)
- 1 large onion, minced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup taco seasoning mix, (two 1.25 oz packets), Shortcut
- 1 can tomato paste, the small 170 gram can
- 4 cups chicken stock, or vegetable stock for vegetarian
Instructions
- Pick through and discard irregular beans or stones. In 5 quart container, add dry beans and soak for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. Drain beans, discard soaking liquid, rinse and drain beans.
- In your slow cooker add the chicken stock, or 4 cups of water and stir in the stock powder, add in the taco seasoning and whisk well. Add the tomato paste and whisk more so no lumps, then add the onion and garlic. Add the beans and give a quick stir. Add salt to taste. Cook on High setting for at least 8 hours up to 12 hours, depends on the age of the beans so you will need to check them (this is based on my slow cooker) and the beans will still have a bit of bite to them but are not mush either.
- Serve as a main dish as a soup with topping just like chili, such as grated Cheddar cheese, diced onions, and sour cream, with crackers or cornbread on the side. Serve as a side dish with Mexican dishes, burgers, pulled pork, or as a base for other recipes listed below.
Notes
A bag of 500 grams of beans will cost between 50 and 65 Baht. Make the stock from scratch or from stock base powder. For 10 cups of beans and sauce, this dish is well under $1 per person per serving.
Shortcut: Taco Seasoning.
Used in Recipe Listed on this Site:
- Mexican Casserole.
- Chili Cornbread Pie.
- Pinto Bean Chili, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Taco Soup.
- Slow Cooker Cowboy Casserole.
Hasselback Chicken
This recipe has great potential to be modified greatly to suit your tastes. This is a must try. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup fresh spinach, OR frozen thawed if that is all that is available
- 1/4 cup Cottage cheese, OR make from a shortcut on this site
- 2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
- 1/4 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
- paprika
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200 C, lightly grease the bottom of a baking dish.
- Cook the spinach on a medium heat in a splash of olive oil for 3-5 minutes until it is slightly wilted. Stir in the ricotta and cook for a further 30-60 seconds. Allow to cool.
- Cut slits into the chicken breasts about 1/2 inch apart but don’t cut all the way through - about 75% of the way down is what you should aim for.
- Stuff all of the spinach and ricotta mixture into the slits. Season the chicken with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the Cheddar cheese on top. Shake a good bit of ground paprika over the chicken to add some color and flavor. Place chicken in the baking dish.
- Bake in the center of your oven for 20-25 minutes until the cheese has melted and the juices are clear. Serve with a side of egg noodles and vegetable, enjoy.
Notes
Without even doing the math, this is under $1 per serving.
Variants could be add diced onion and garlic to the spinach when cooking; adding chopped mushrooms; wrapping with bacon.
Shortcut: Cottage Cheese.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Stir Fried Ground Chicken on Mashed Tators
An original recipe from a good friend of mine in Phuket. Sounds excellent and will be a must try for me.
Ingredients
- 4 large potatoes, quartered and boiled
- butter, for mashing potatoes
- milk, for mashing potatoes
- 500 grams ground chicken
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- fennel seeds
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- salt and pepper, to taste
- plum tomatoes, for garnish
Instructions
- In a big frying pan, lightly coated on olive oil, add ground chicken, cover and cook on low so that it retains the juices. Chop it up further with a spatula and then add green bell pepper, onion, a good dash of fennel seeds, stir to combine then cover and let it simmer for 10 - 15 minutes , stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, mash the potatoes with a good amount of butter and a splash of milk. Set aside.
- Add mildly spicy tomato sauce to the chicken mixture and stir. Simmer again, stirring occasionally until heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- To plate, make a flat bed of mashed potatoes on a plate (add a bit more butter to the center) and ladle the chicken mixture over the top.
- Garnish with quartered plum tomatoes.
Notes
Ground chicken would run about 50 Baht for 500 grams, potatoes, tomatoes, etc is minor costs. For 4 servings this is about 38 cents per serving.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Dave Williams.
Thailand.
Thailand.
Slow Cooker Spicy White Chicken Chili
Chili without tomatoes is a cousin to classic chili. Chicken and white beans make it "white chili," while cumin, pepper sauce, and cilantro give it the zip. The recipe called for canned beans and canned corn, I am revising this to stay with fresh or less processed. I made this yesterday, 13 Feb 2016, excellent! My remarks are in the comments section.
Ingredients
Chilli base
- 6 chicken thighs, skinless, excess fat removed
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
- 1 3/4 cups chicken stock, make from powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper sauce
- 2 ears white corn, boiled, and kernals cut off
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
Beans
- 500 grams dried Great Northern Beans, soaked overnight, rinsed
- 1 onion, quartered
- 2 bay leaves
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In your slow cooker, mix onion, garlic, broth, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper sauce. Add chicken. Cover; cook on Low setting 4 to 5 hours. (I used 4 large meaty thighs, this photo is when they went into the pot.)
- While the chicken is cooking, prepare your beans. Drain soaked beans and transfer to a large pot. Cover by 2 inches with cold water, add onion and bay leaves and bring to a boil; skim off and discard any foam on the surface. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, gently stirring occasionally, until beans are tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Drain beans, discard onions and bay leaves and season with salt and pepper. Set aside. (This photo is just when I turned on the heat, the onion will fall apart as it cooks, so no need to expend any time chopping it, just quartered is fine.)
- At the 4 hour mark, check on the chicken, if tender and cooked through, if done, go to the next step, if not cooked through, just keep cooking until about the 5 hour mark.
- Remove chicken from slow cooker using a slotted spatula. Use 2 forks to remove bones and shred chicken into pieces. (keep the bones for your dog.) Return chicken to slow cooker. Stir in beans, corn, lime juice and cilantro. Add a tablespoon of cornstarch if you desire a thicker chili. Cover; cook on Low setting 15 to 20 minutes or until beans and corn are hot. (Photo is the cooked chicken at the 4 hour mark, tender and juicy.)
- Serve.
Notes
Chicken will cost about 65 Baht/Kilo for thighs, 56 Baht/Kilo for quarters. Go with quarters for a lower cost, use 4 thighs and 4 legs, or 6 thighs and save the legs for another recipe. Beans will run about 60 Baht for a 500 gram bag. About 140 Baht for the meat and beans. For 8 servings, cost would be 45 cents per serving, an excellent value meal.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Slow Cooker Beef and Gravy I
This is an easy recipe much like the slow cooker Easy Pot Roast recipe listed on this site. Use the shortcuts stated and you make make this dish for less than what you think. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 kilo beef, any cut, such as a roast, stew beef, large chucnk from a market, you get the idea
- ground black pepper, OR lemon pepper would be good as well
- 1 packet onion soup mix, OR make from a shortcut
- 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, OR make from a shortcut
- 1 3/4 cups beef stock, make from the powder
- 2 tablespoons butter, optional, see Step 4
- 3 tablespoons flour, optional, see Step 4
Instructions
- In your slow cooker, add the soup, beef stock, and dry onion soup mix, whisk to mix, lumps are ok, they will work out when it cooks.
- Cut beef into about 1 1/2 inch cubes. Sprinkle beef with ground black pepper or lemon pepper if you have that. Add the beef to the slow cooker and stir to get everything mixed.
- Cover and cook on low for at least 6-8 hours. Check at 6 hours, beef should be tender.
- Now, you can serve this up just as it is when it is ready. But if a thicker gravy is desired it couldn't be any easier to make. First, remove the beef from the slow cooker, draining the liquid into the slow cooker. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan, then add 3 heaping tablespoons of flour, whisk together until it turns a light golden color, then add 2 cups of the liquid from the slow cooker. Whisk this until smooth, whisking continuously, then increase heat and it will start to thicken, when you have the right consistency, remove from the heat and pour into the slow cooker, mix, then add the beef and mix to coat the beef.
- Serve over rice, mashed or boiled potatoes, or egg noodles. A vegetable on the side makes this a complete meal.
Notes
Beef will cost about 200 Baht/kilo. Just go with a large chunk from an open market, the slow cooker takes care of the tenderness. Use the shortcuts listed for a big savings on the other ingredients. For 4 people, the cost is about $1.50 per meal, for 6 people, the cost is about $1 per meal. If you can locate a local farmer that slaughters their own beef, you can normally get beef for a bit less than 200 Baht/kilo.
Variant: Add fresh mushroom at about the last 30 minutes of cooking.
Shortcuts: Onion Soup Mix, Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Denise Georgiades.
South Africa.
South Africa.
Mushroom Chicken Thigh Soup
This is my recipe and is a variant from the Baked Mushroom Thighs recipe. I like Cream of Mushroom soup, I make it here at the house, it is so easy, takes about 5 minutes and the main ingredient is evaporated milk. Mushrooms go well with chicken. When I was making Baked Mushroom Thighs, I had one thigh left over that could not fit into the baking dish, so I added it to the soup mixture, good move. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 4-6 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
- 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, OR make from a shortcut
- 1 soup can milk
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon corn starch, optional, depends if you want a thicker soup
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1-2 handfuls fresh mushrooms, Tesco variety pack is good a good choice
Instructions
- Boil the chicken thighs until cooked through, drain and remove the meat from the bone. Keep the bone and skin for your dog, cube the meat, reserve the water, you just made chicken stock (refrigerate and use in recipes that call for stock or chicken recipes that call for water).
- Pour the soup into a pot. Fill the empty can with milk, and add to the pot along with the parsley and onion powder. Mix well, season with salt and pepper if desired. Add chicken meat and mushrooms. If you want a thicker soup, add the cornstarch before adding the chicken and mushrooms.
- Heat to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer (the soup will thicken if you used cornstarch) and simmer until chicken is heated through and mushrooms are cooked through.
- Serve in a bowl over rice or pasta.
Notes
Chicken is the most expensive part here, chicken thighs run on average, 59 Baht/kilo but are smaller due to being trimmed. Chicken quarters average about 56 Baht/kilo, you would have to buy 8 quarters, probably a kilo and half or so, then cut yourself (very easy), you get larger thighs and you get 8 drumsticks that you can freeze for use in another recipe. I'll say the chicken costs you 150 Baht, half of that is 75 Baht since you have 8 legs to use later. The soup would cost on average 54 Baht for a can, about 18 Baht if you make it yourself. About 129 Baht if using store bought soup, for 4 meals this would be just under $1 per meal, when stretched to 8 meals (easily done with the larger thighs) this comes out to about 50 cents per meal. All other ingredients are minimal cost or already on hand.
Shortcut: Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup.
My own recipe.
Crockpot Slop
Me, I like this name, it is what you do with a slow cooker, load it up and let it cook, slow cooker meals are normally not the most attractive dishes. Not a attractive name but this sounds really good! This is a load the slow cooker and forget meal, for about 4 to 6 hours anyways. Think Kielbasa (that would be Spicy Smoked Pork Sausage in Makro), regular pork sausage (Bangers), Italian sausage, and chicken sausage. If you are making the sausage, think meatballs! This is a rewrite from what I seen to make it less processed.
Ingredients
- 2 cups yard beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 6-8 potatoes, washed and cut into large pieces
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 Kielbasa sausage, cut into bite size pieces, see Step 2 for these notes
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons powdered chicken stock
Instructions
- Add to the slow cooker pot in this order, yard beans, potatoes, sausage, onion. Add water to just cover over the potatoes. add chicken stock powder and salt and pepper to taste.
- Note for the sausage, Thai Kielbasa is a spicy (mild) smoked pork sausage, I have had this a number of times and it is excellent. I think pork sausage (Bangers) would also work well but leave a links until cooked. Italian, pork, or chicken sausage, homemade and in bulk, rolled into meatballs would be ideal as well.
- Cover, and no peeking, for 4-6 hours on High setting. At the 4 hour mark, quickly check the potatoes for being tender and done and sausage (regardless of type used) for the liquid to run clear. Stir and serve with a green salad.
Notes
Sausages are not a show stopper, if you buy sausage from Makro, perfectly acceptable, a 8 pack of bangers is about 250 Baht, this recipe calls for 2, if you buy the Spicy Smoked Pork
Sausage (very muck like Kielbasa) that is about 200 Baht for 8 sausages. If you get the Sausage Scraps pack (still Spicy Smoked) these can be chili sausages, garlic sausages, etc, and would be a great option, this is only about 180 Baht for a pack about 1 kilo. Now, if you make the sausage yourself in bulk, either pork, Italian, or chicken, roll into meatballs (use an egg or two for a binder) and add to the pot, these would be excellent. Regardless of what you use, this is easily under $1 per serving. Adapted from an internet recipe.
Sausage (very muck like Kielbasa) that is about 200 Baht for 8 sausages. If you get the Sausage Scraps pack (still Spicy Smoked) these can be chili sausages, garlic sausages, etc, and would be a great option, this is only about 180 Baht for a pack about 1 kilo. Now, if you make the sausage yourself in bulk, either pork, Italian, or chicken, roll into meatballs (use an egg or two for a binder) and add to the pot, these would be excellent. Regardless of what you use, this is easily under $1 per serving. Adapted from an internet recipe.
