Archive for the ‘* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving’ Category
Creamy Hamburger Vegetable Soup (Slow Cooker)
This is absolutely delicious delicious soup. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 750 grams ground beef, (1 1/2 lb)
- 2 1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
- 2 1/2 cups potatoes, diced
- 4 cups chicken broth, fresh or from powder, (Shortcut)
- 1 can evaporated milk
- 2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- salt and pepper, as desired, to taste
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 1/4 cup cold water
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef in a large non stick pan, drain off excess fat then add to the slow cooker. Add the mixed vegetables, potatoes, and broth to the slow cooker, give it a quick stir then cover and set to Low for 5 hours or High for 2 1/2 hours.
- Stir the soup, turn the setting to High, and slowly stir in the evaporated milk, garlic powder, salt and pepper as desired, then the cheese. Place lid back on the slow cooker.
- Mix together the corn starch and the cold water until no lumps remain to make a slurry. When the cheese has melted in the soup, stir in the slurry, cover the slow cooker and keep on the High setting. Cook for another 20-30 minutes to thicken the soup a little.
- Taste and adjust salt and pepper to your liking.
- Ladle into bowls and serve. A salad or rolls on the side would make a perfect meal.
Notes
I will price this when I order beef again. For now this probably low cost per serving based on 6 servings.
Shortcut: Chicken Broth (Pressure Cooker).
Variant: 1. Use bean broth in place of chicken stock if you are making beans (Great Northern, Pinto, and Chickpeas make great broth) a few days before making this.
Provided by Slow Cooker Kitchen and the link to this recipe is here.
United States.
United States.
Sauteed King Oyster Mushrooms
This is a simple and easy recipe, 4 ingredients, and this is for smaller King Oyster mushrooms, as they are more tender than the larger ones. King Oyster mushrooms have more of a texture than other mushrooms. No servings or quantities or times are given as this is a make with what you have or want to serve as a side dish. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- King Oyster mushrooms, smaller would be better for this
- cooking oil, your choice, I use Ghee, (Shortcut)
- salt and pepper, as desired
Instructions
- Cut of the root end of the mushrooms if not done when purchased and give them a quick rinse. This amount here makes 2 servings. These are the prefect size for this dish.
- Slice each mushroom lengthwise, about 1/4 inch thick.
- The smaller ones on the left simple cut in half lengthwise, the ones on the right were cut into 3 slices.
- Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil of your choice, ghee is highly recommended, in a non stick pan on medium heat. When hot add the mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Turn the mushrooms after allowing them to cook for a few minutes. The mushrooms will release a little water as well, and the key to nice and tender and juicy mushrooms is to keep oil in the pan, don't let the mushrooms dry out.
- Turn often, and add a bit of oil as they cook down, edges are starting to brown. Season with additional black pepper if desired.
- Perfect mushrooms.
- Serve as a side dish with any meal.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Shortcut: Homemade Ghee (Slow Cooker).
Variant: 1. Add a few sliced red Bird's Eye chilies with the mushrooms.
Common way to prepare King Oyster mushrooms. No secrets to this.
Chickpea & Rice Soup
Sounds like an excellent soup and another nice way to use delicious chickpeas. On my to cook and taste list. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 cup carrot, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, as desired, to taste
- black pepper, as desired, to taste
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed, (15 oz), 2 cups cooked, (Shortcut)
- 1 1/2 cups cooked rice, brown or white, your choice
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat the butter and olive oil on medium heat, when hot, add the onion, carrot, celery. Cook, stirring often until the onion is tender and translucent.
- Add the garlic, thyme, turmeric, red pepper flakes (if using), the 1/4 teaspoon salt, and the bay leaf. Stir together and cook the mixture for 1 minute.
- Add the broth and chickpeas, stir to mix, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer then cover let this cook 20 minutes, stir occasionally.
- Remove the bay leaf then add the cooked rice and stir into the soup. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Simmer for a few minutes to warm the rice through.
- Ladle into bowls and serve.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Shortcut: Chickpeas (Pressure Cooker).
Variant: 1. If cooking the chickpeas from dry using the shortcut, you can make bean broth to use in place of vegetable broth.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Soup Fixings in a Bag
This is a Thai thing and throughout Asia, and I am assuming a product like this is available in the US. Many village markets will have the 'fixings' in a bag, you add meat to make broth, add the contents of the bag, and you have a nice soup. Instead of buying the fixings separately, some vendors buy all the various ingredients, assemble the bags, and everything is used. They make stir fry bags the same way. And the beauty of these bags is the price, just 15 Baht (46 cents) or 25 Baht (78 cents) with the egg tofu tube.
Ingredients
- 1 bag soup fixings
- meat, of choice, pork, chicken, and fish is commonly used
- broth
- 1 tube egg tofu, optional (it may or may not be in the bag)
- salt, as desired, to taste
Instructions
The Soup Fixings
- This is a typical bag of soup fixings. This contains bok choi, carrot, pumpkin, mushrooms (Enoki, Oyster, or Ear Wood), bottle gourd, and winter melon. The ingredients vary by who is putting this together, many folks have their own types of flavors they add which makes soup bags different from village to village, or stall to stall in a market. Many of the bags will also contain a tube of egg tofu, which will increase the price of the bag by 10 Baht.
- Remove the tube of egg tofu from the soup fixings bag, and add the soup fixings to a colander and give that a quick rinse. To use the egg tofu, slice off one end of the tube and pinch the other end and the tofu will slide right out. Slice the tofu into about 1/2 inch slices, set that aside.
Using Chicken, Pork, or even Sausage
- For chicken, cut several breasts into cubes or even boneless thighs. For pork ribs, cut the ribs between each bone, for pork shoulder, just cut into cubes. Pork loin may be a bit to lean for a soup. For sausage, just slice into 1/2 - 3/4 inch pieces. Amount is up to you, 250-500 grams (1/2 - 1 lb) is a good choice.
- Add the meat to a pot and add 1 quart of water and more if needed to cover the meat by an inch or so. Bring the pot to a boil and hold that for about 2-3 minutes.
- When the water is boiling in the pot, there, you are making the soup broth, see, very easy, then add the rinsed soup fixings but not the tofu. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the carrot is tender and meat of your choice is cooked through.
Using Fish, Shrimp, and or Imitation Crab
- You can use any boneless skinless whitefish of your choice, cut into bite size pieces. For shrimp, peel, devein, and remove the tails. For imitation crab, just remove the packaging wrappers and cut into 1 inch pieces.
- Heat about a quart of water to a boil with two broth cubes, either vegetable or mushroom cubes work well.
- Once the water is at a boil, add the rinsed soup fixings, reduce to a simmer until the carrot is just tender, then add the fish, shrimp, and or imitation crab. Simmer until the fish flakes easily, just a few minutes. This can be served as a main dish as is, with rice on the side, or as a side dish.
Broth or Stock without Meat
- Simply add about a quart of broth or stock, chicken, pork, vegetable, mushroom, or even bean broth to a pot and bring to a boil.
- Once the water is at a boil, add the rinsed soup fixings, reduce to a simmer until the carrot is just tender. This can be served as a main dish as is, with rice on the side, or as a side dish.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Commonly used throughout Thailand and Asia.
Simple Fried Mackerel
Mackerel is an oily fish and is delicious without any sauces or special ingredients. This is the classic English way to prepare mackerel fillets with skin on. Three ingredients and about 2-3 minutes of cooking time is all that is needed. Overcooking mackerel will result in dry fish, so we do not want to do that.
Ingredients
- 2 mackerel fillets, skin on, pin bones removed
- salt, as desired
- olive oil, as needed
Instructions
- Here is my mackerel, these come frozen, two fillets to a pack, no bones are removed. First thing I did after this photo was remove the rib bones.
- Check the fillets and see if the pin bones have been removed, run a finger down the center line of each fillet, you will feel pin bones sticking up. Remove with needle nose pliers or just make an angled cut the length of the fillet, without going through the skin, on each side of the row of bones, then simply remove the strip of bones. Pat the fillets dry with paper towels. To make it easier to handle the fillets, cut each fillet in half crosswise, giving you 4 pieces, if desired.
- Heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, I used ghee, in a non stick pan. When the oil is hot, season the flesh side of the fillets with salt as desired. Place the fillets in the pan skin side down, if the fillets are curling upwards, just use your fingers and hold them down flat for a few seconds to make sure the skin maintains contact with the pan (this ensures nice and tasty skin). Cook for 1-2 minutes depending on the thickness.
- Once the skin is crispy and golden brown, turn the fillets over and remove the pan from heat, let cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Serve skin side up immediately. Enjoy with sides of your choice.
Notes
I have frozen mackerel fillets in the freezer, don't know what I paid for them, not too much, but I will verify this when I go to Tesco in town again. For now I will say Low cost per serving.
Buckeyes
This is a no bake candy similar to a peanut butter cup, and is tasty, very rich but oh so good!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups peanut butter, creamy or crunch, your choice
- 1 cup butter, room temp
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- almond bark, or chocolate chips, for dipping
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the peanut butter, butter, and vanilla extract. Use an electric mixer on medium speed and mix until the mixture is fluffy.
- Mix in the powdered sugar a little at a time, until all the sugar is added and completely mixed in. Cover the bowl and place in the fridge for 30-40 minutes to chill. This shows the perfect consistency, when you can form the mixture into a ball. If the mixture will not form into a ball add a little bit more peanut butter, and if the mixture is too wet, add some more powdered sugar.
- Lightly dust your hands with powdered sugar, prevents the peanut butter mixture from sticking to your hands, then roll the peanut butter mixture into balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil. Place in the fridge for 30-40 minutes to chill.
- Prepare the chocolate for dipping using your preferred method, microwave or double boiler, you will need enough chocolate, about 10-12 oz so you have enough to coat all the candies.
- When the chocolate is melted and the peanut butter balls chilled, place a toothpick in each ball and dip in chocolate making sure not to coat the very top where the toothpick is, so it looks like a buckeye. Remove the toothpicks and return the candies to the fridge to chill before serving.
- Or just coat the whole ball in chocolate.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Variant: 1. Dip the entire peanut butter ball in chocolate, remove the toothpick, and decorate with candy sprinkles if desired - but then you can't call them Buckeye Candies, so just go with Peanut Butter Candies.
Inspired by Spend With Pennies and the link to this recipe is here.
United States.
United States.
Sausage & Chickpea Stew
Sounds like a great use for chickpeas (Chicken Beans as my wife calls them, which is the actual Thai translation) and I will use my homemade sausage for this as well. On my to make and taste list. The use of the Shortcuts is highly recommended to reduce costs and make it more 'homemade'. Links to the Shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 340-500 grams Italian sausage, see Step 2., (12-16 oz), (Shortcut)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
- 2 cups stock or broth, see Step 1.
- 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed (15 oz cans), or 3 cups cooked, (Shortcut)
- 280 grams frozen spinach, or fresh Bok Choi, (10 oz)
- salt and pepper, as desired, to taste
- 8 slices bread, toasted, optional
Instructions
- For the stock or broth. 1. If you are using canned chickpeas, use 2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock. If making the chickpeas from dry using the shortcut, use 2 cups of bean broth.
- For the sausage, feel free to use bulk or links, or make yourself with the shortcut. If using links, just remove the casings and proceed as normal, breaking the meat up when you cook it.
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil on medium heat, when hot, add the onion, cook until softened, the add the sausage and break it up with a spatula as it cooks.
- Add the tomato paste and cook for another 1-2 minutes, while stirring.
- Add the cilantro and parley, stir and cook for another 1 minute.
- Add the chickpeas and broth then bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, add the spinach and reduce to reduce to a simmer. Partially cover the pot, and stir often with a fork to let the spinach separate. Cook for about 8-10 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired. Simmer for another 5 minutes.
- If using the toasted bread, and a slice or two to each serving bowl or even tear up the toast first. Ladle the soup into the bowls and serve.
Notes
Fish in Coconut Milk
This is a quick recipe with minimum ingredients. Nothing short of an excellent way to prepare white fish! I made this on 8 Dec 2018 and used two large Pangasius fillets, my wife and I really loved this, this will be a regular for sure now. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 2-3 whitefish fillets
- 1/2 cup fine bread crumbs, (Shortcut)
- 1/2 - 1 teaspoon paprika
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/2 cups coconut milk, or to cover
- fresh parsley, chopped, as desired
Instructions
- For the fish, good choices in Thailand would be Pangasius (Shark Catfish), Barramundi, and Tilapia. For those in the US / Canada, good choices can be Tilapia, catfish, whitefish, bass, drum, cod, grouper, snapper, redfish, etc.
- Rinse the fillets, don't dry them, and to make them easier to manage in a pan, cut each fillet in half crosswise to make 2 smaller fillets.
- Mix together the bread crumbs and paprika in a shallow bowl. Roll the fillets in the crumbs to coat them well. I used two large fillets, each cut in half to make 4 pieces, easier to manage.
- Heat the butter in a large non stick pan on medium heat. In a separate saucepan, heat the coconut milk to a near boil.
- When the butter is hot, brown the fillets on each side, work in batches if needed, then when all are browned, return all the fillets to the pan.
- By this time, the coconut milk should be at a near boil, or boiling, pour that evenly over the fish in the pan. The fish should be covered or near covered, let this simmer for 3-4 minutes, the fish should easily flake with a fork.
- Sprinkle with parsley as desired and serve.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Shortcut: Bread Crumbs.
Recipe adapted from Just A Pinch Recipe Club, Martha Price, and the original recipe is here.
United States.
United States.
White Bean Hash
I love white beans, known as Great Northern beans, or you can use Cannelloni or White Kidney beans. This sounds like an excellent dish. You can use canned beans, drained and rinsed, or fresh cooked dry beans (my preference). I look forward to making and tasting this. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 can Great Northern Beans, drained, rinses, or 1 1/2 cups cooked, (Shortcut)
- 4 slices bacon
- 2 leeks, trimmed, sliced, cleaned well, dry on paper towels
- 4-6 eggs, or as desired
- butter or bacon fat, if needed
Instructions
- Heat a non stick pan on medium heat, a cast iron pan would be ideal for this but is not required. When the pan is hot, add the bacon and cook until crispy, turning as needed. When cooked, remove to paper towels, leaving the bacon fat in the pan.
- To the pan, add the leeks, saute for 6-8 minutes or until starting to brown. If you need more fat in the pan, add butter or bacon fat as needed. While the leeks are cooking, chop the bacon.
- Add the bacon back to the pan along with the beans. Stir and cook for several minutes to heat the beans through until nice and hot.
- For the eggs, you have several options, you can cook the eggs in a separate pan, or to reduce clean up, just push the beans to the side and cook the eggs in the same pan, or just make some depressions in the beans and crack eggs into those. With the last method, after cracking in the eggs, cover with a lid to cook the eggs, set whites and runny yolk is the goal.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Shortcut: Great Northern Beans (Pressure Cooker).
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Steamed Egg Tofu & Pork
This is Chinese/Singaporean in origin, and sounds very good as I do like egg tofu in soups with pork so this should be perfect. The one ingredient, wolfberries, makes this very Chinese. This is a season as desired recipe, when I make this, I will try and nail down some accurate measurements. I look forward to making and tasting this.
Equipment
- Rice Cooker with Steamer Tray
- Steamer Handles
Ingredients
- 1 tube egg tofu
- ground pork
- soy sauce
- white pepper
- sesame oil
- dried Goji berries, aka Wolfberries
- water, as needed
Instructions
- For the steamer, I use my rice cooker that has a steamer tray. A basic pot with a trivet also works. Steamer handles are recommended to lift plates in and out of the steamer tray or trivet.
- Mix the ground pork with some soy sauce, white pepper, and sesame oil as desired. Set aside.
- Place some goji berries in a bowl of water to soften, set aside.
- Remove the egg tofu from the tube and slice about ½ to ¾ inch thick and place them in a heatproof plate that will fit in your steamer.
- Use a small spoon, scoop up some of the ground pork and shape into a half moon shape, place it flat side down on a slice of tofu. Repeat for the remaining tofu slices.
- Drain the water from the goji berries, place a berry on top of each mound of pork. Extra berries, just scatter those around the tofu.
- Heat the steamer of your choice with 1 inch of water, either a pot with a steamer tray or trivet, or as I will use, a rice cooker with a steamer tray.
- Mix together some water and a splash of soy sauce, pour this into the dish to be steamed, only about ½ as high as the tofu.
- When the water is boiling in your steamer, lift the dish with steamer handles (preferred method) and place in the steamer and cover immediately.
- Steam for 10 to 12 minutes, ensure the pork is cooked through. When the time is up, remove with the steamer handles, use a large spoon and scoop out the tofu to serving plates, 2-3 pieces per serving and serve with rice.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Variants: 1. Add fresh chopped coriander and or spring onion to the ground pork when mixing. 2. Replace the goji berries with half a shrimp. 3. Replace the ground pork with chopped shrimp/prawn.