Archive for the ‘* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving’ Category
Aush (Afghani Chili) (Slow Cooker)
October 20, 2018 Lee
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Aush (Afghani Chili) (Slow Cooker)

Adapted from an internet recipe.
This to me, sounds delicious, interesting use of ingredients. This uses the stove top, a slow cooker, and if you are cooking the chickpeas from dry, a pressure cooker may be used as well. On my to cook list. Links to the Shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 15 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Afghani
Servings 6 servings

Equipment

  • Slow Cooker

Ingredients
  

  • 500 grams ground beef, (1 lb)
  • 1 onion, diced large
  • 1 can whole peeled tomatoes, diced plus juice
  • 4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1½ tablespoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1½ tablespoons dried mint
  • 2 tablespoons garam masala, Shortcut
  • 1 can chickpeas, drained, (15 oz / 425 g), or 1½ cups cooked, Shortcut
  • 1 package frozen spinach, thawed, chopped, drained, (10 oz / 283 g)
  • 500 grams dry Fettuccine pasta, broken in half, (1 lb)
  • 1 cup sour cream, Shortcut

Instructions
 

  • Heat a non stick pan on medium heat and add the ground beef. Cook the beef, breaking it up with the spatula until browned and no pink remains, use a slotted spoon and remove the beef to your slow cooker. Leave the beef fat in the pan.
  • To the same pan, add the onion and cook, stirring often until golden brown, remove with a slotted spoon and add to the slow cooker. Discard the fat in the pan.
  • To the slow cooker, add the remaining ingredients except the pasta and sour cream. Stir and set on Low setting for 3-6 hours. Stir once an hour. The longer you simmer it, the longer the flavors blend together.
  • About 20 minutes before serving, cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until just tender. Drain, then stir into the chili then stir in the sour cream.
  • Serve.

Notes

Low cost if using the shortcuts.
Shortcuts: Garam Masala, Chickpeas (Pressure Cooker), Sour Cream.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,: AFGHANI,Soups, Stews, Chili - Slow Cooker
Cowboy Stew
October 16, 2018 Lee
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Cowboy Stew

Ground beef, bacon, and baked beans, sounds delicious! I used my homemade baked beans for this but if wanting to use canned, that is stated as well. Great comfort meal. Links to the Shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 5 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 250 grams bacon, (1/2 lb)
  • 500 grams ground beef, (1 lb)
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 medium potatoes, scrubbed and diced
  • 4 cups baked beans, or 2 15 oz cans, (Shortcut)
  • 1/3 cup BBQ sauce, (Shortcut)
  • 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke

Instructions
 

  • In a large pot (I like to use my pressure cooker pot) add the baked beans. I used homemade and they were quite thick so I added 1 cup of water as well. Bring that to a simmer.
  • In a pot add the diced potatoes and cover with water by 2 inches, bring to a boil and cook the potatoes until just fork tender. Drain, and add to the baked beans.
  • While the potatoes are cooking, in a large non stick pan, cook the bacon until near crispy. Remove the bacon and drain on paper towels. When cooled, chop into bite size pieces and add the bacon to the baked beans.
  • For the bacon fat in the pan, drain off most of it, then add the ground beef and onion. Cook the beef until no longer pink and the onion is soft. Drain and add to the baked beans.
  • Add the BBQ sauce and liquid smoke to the pot and stir into the beans, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.
  • Simmer the stew for 10-15 minutes. While simmering consider making some biscuits to ladle the stew over or heating some nice dinner rolls to go with this. Corn bread muffins would be perfect as a side as well as fried corn.
  • Serve and enjoy.

Notes

Low cost.
Shortcuts: Slow Cooker Baked Beans, BBQ Sauce.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
#1 Go-To Recipes,* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,BEEF
Brian’s Great Pizza Dough
October 15, 2018 Lee
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Brian's Great Pizza Dough

Brian Colligan, Thailand.
This recipe comes my good friend in northeastern Thailand and sounds like a winner as well. This makes enough pizza dough for four 8 inch pizzas.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Cuisine American
Servings 4 8 inch pizza crusts

Ingredients
  

  • 2½ teaspoons yeast
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1 cup lukewarm water, (¼ cup plus ¾ cup divided)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus as needed
  • 3 cups bread flour, use per the instructions

Instructions
 

  • In a medium bowl, add yeast, honey and ¼ cup of the lukewarm water and stir. Let this sit for 10 minutes.
  • Add the salt, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and 1 cup of the flour and ¾ cup of the lukewarm water, stir with a wooden spoon.
  • Now add another 1 cup of flour, stir with a wooden spoon or with floured hands.
  • Now add another ½ of the flour and mix in until a sticky ball of dough forms, add additional flour as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time.
  • Once a sticky ball has formed, remove from the bowl and place on a floured surface.
  • Kneed for 5 minutes adding flour as needed to have a have a surface on the dough that is a bit tacky.
  • Form a dough ball and place dough in bowl with olive oil, roll ball in olive oil to cover surface, cover with cloth and let rise for 30-40 minutes
  • Deflate the dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface, cut the ball into 4 pieces and form each piece into a ball.
  • Cover with a damp cloth and let rise for another 20-30 minutes.
  • Now you can use immediately or wrap balls separately in plastic wrap and store in the fridge until use.
  • Each ball will make one 8 inch pizza. If you want larger pizzas, adjust the number of balls accordingly.
  • Use your preferred method for preparing the crust.

Notes

Low cost.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,INGREDIENTS,PIZZA
Basic Crab Salad
October 13, 2018 Lee
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Basic Crab Salad

Lee
I use imitation crab for this for this for several reasons, 1. I like it, 2. good sized black crabs are hard to get as nearly all are sold to restaurants. Crab salad is commonly called 'Seafood Salad' which I would say is incorrect as the only seafood is the crab, or in my case, fish that tastes like crab (yes, imitation crab is just fish). So Crab Salad it is, sounds much better than "Fish Flavored Like Crab Salad." You can make this many ways so it is different each time. This is just a common salad I put together. Enjoy.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Appetizer, Lunch, Main Dish, Side
Cuisine American
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 500 grams imitation crab, (1 lb)
  • 1 red onion, finely diced
  • ½ cup celery, finely diced
  • ½ cup mayo, start with less and use as needed
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon dill
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Unwrap the crab sticks and slice them at an angle, add to mixing bowl.
  • Dice the onion and celery and add to the bowl. (Chopped cilantro works well if no celery on hand, which is what I used.)
  • Add remaining ingredients, but for the mayo, start with less than 1/2 cup. Gently mix everything together until all is coated with mayo, adding mayo as needed but not trying to make it dripping with mayo as well.
  • Cover and place in the fridge for 1-2 hours before serving. (Once I put the salad in a container for the fridge, I added some halved cherry tomatoes and mixed those in.)
  • When serving, gently mix the salad again. then serve. Serving options can be just as a side, on a bed of lettuce, or in a sandwich. Enjoy.

Notes

Tesco brand crab sticks, which taste perfectly acceptable, will cost about 95 Baht for 500 grams. For 4 servings this is about 68 cents per serving.
Variants: 1. Add halved cherry tomatoes. 2. No celery on hand? No problem, add ½ teaspoon of celery seed if you have that or use chopped cilantro. 4. Add ¼ cup sliced black olives. 5. Add ½ cup grated or cubed Cheddar cheese.
#1 Go-To Recipes,* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,BURGERS & SANDWICHES,SEAFOOD - ALL,Seafood - Crab - Imitation,Sides - Salads
Sauteed Chinese Sausage
October 12, 2018 Lee
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Sauteed Chinese Sausage

This is a basic recipe and I want to write this to make it easier, or rather better, for more enjoyable Chinese Sausage. In Thailand there is many brands of this sausage, don't look in the refrigerated or frozen meat section, this is air dried sausage and is shelf stable when it is packaged, so just look on a shelf. I am going to use the most common one, called Lap Cheong, which is the Chinese name and is a sweet sausage. My mother in law received several packages of this a few years back, from Northern Thailand, a very good brand. The family was excited about this but mother in law told everyone, no one cooks it except my wife, her daughter, her other daughters were not allowed to cook it. So I cooked a dish for the family and it was very well liked by mother in law, who stated, ok, now the only ones that may cook this for her is me and my wife. The secret to good Chinese sausage, steaming. Steam whole, then slice, then saute.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Asian
Servings 2 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 4 links Chinese sausage
  • 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
  • 1 onion, diced large
  • 2-3 spring onions, chopped into 1-2 inch pieces, white and green
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce

Instructions
 

  • First thing we need to do is soften the sausages, we are going to use a steamer of your choice, I will use my rive cooker with a steamer basket it came with. Add a 1-2 cups water to the steamer pot, when boiling, add the sausages to the steamer tray, cover, and steam for 15 minutes.
  • Remove the sausages to a cutting board and slice about 1/4 inch thick (or a bit less) at an angle. This is for appearance as well as making a larger piece of sausage. The sausage is hot so use tongs to hold them while you slice.
  • Heat a large non stick pan on medium heat, when hot, add the sausage and garlic, stir often. Lot of sugar in this sausage so it will burn rather quickly. Cook until the garlic is starting to brown.
  • Then add the onion and spring onion, continue stirring often to crisp up the sausage and soften the onions. Stir in the soy sauce.
  • Serve with sides of your choice.

Notes

Low cost.
My own creation, Lee Thayer.
Thailand.
#1 Go-To Recipes,* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,5 Ingredients or Less
Barley with Shiitake Mushrooms & Sage
October 12, 2018 Lee
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Barley with Shiitake Mushrooms & Sage

This is good, not great but good. certainly worth a try if you like barley. Overall good flavor but maybe I am more of a barley in a soup person.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Side
Cuisine American
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup dry pearl barley
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
  • 5 medium sage leaves, finely chopped (1 tablespoon), or 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
  • 8-12 medium shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced thin
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
  • water, as needed

Instructions
 

  • Heat large pot with 8 cups (2 quarts) water and bring to a rolling boil. Add the barley and cook for 15-30 minutes or until tender, this time will depend on the age of the dry barley.
  • When the barley is tender, drain and set aside.
  • While the barley is cooking, lets get the mushrooms and garlic ready.
  • Heat the oil in a large non stick pan, when hot add the garlic, after 1 minute add the sage and mushrooms. Saute until the mushrooms are starting to brown, stirring them often.
  • When lightly browned, turn off the heat and stir in the soy sauce and lemon or lime juice, stir the mushrooms.
  • Add the drained barley and stir until the mushrooms are mixed in and the liquid in the pan coats all the barley.
  • Serve as a side dish with any meal.

Notes

Low cost.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,SIDES
Potato & Chinese Sausage Hash
October 12, 2018 Lee
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Potato & Chinese Sausage Hash

I like potatoes and I like Chinese sausage, so here is something I just threw together as I always seem to have the main ingredients on hand, hash with an Asian twist. The sausage is a sweet variety and gives the hash a different flavor. Overall, easy and tasty dish. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Asian
Servings 2 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 3 medium potatoes, diced
  • 3 Chinese sausage
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • pepper, as desired
  • lard, or cooking oil, (Shortcut)

Instructions
 

  • Potatoes scrubbed and ready for dicing. I totally forgot to add the onion and bell pepper to the board for the photo. oh well, not a show stopper. Now the sausage is air dried but not safe for consumption yet.
  • Chinese sausage is stable at room temp before opening the package and refrigerated after that. This is a hard sausage, and a trick to get it soft is to steam it first before adding to a dish. The steaming also cooks it mostly through. The 3 sausages added to my hot steamer (rice cooker).
  • Steam for 20 minutes. Here you can see the sausage has swelled up a bit. After 20 minutes, remove them to a cutting board and dice them.
  • While the sausage is steaming, heat some lard or cooking oil, maybe 2-3 tablespoons, in a large non stick pan on medium heat. While the pan is heating, dice the potatoes and add them to the hot pan and give a good shake or two of pepper if you like.
  • Then add the bell pepper and onion and mix into the potatoes.
  • When the sausage is ready, dice that and add to the pan.
  • Continue cooking until the potatoes are browning up and tender.
  • Serve with sides of your choice.

Notes

Low cost.
Shortcut: Rendering Lard.
My own creation, Lee Thayer.
Thailand.
#1 Go-To Recipes,* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,POTATOES
Stir Fried Crab Curry
October 11, 2018 Lee
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Stir Fried Crab Curry

Cooked and provided by my Thai brother in law.
This is a Thai dish that uses fresh ingredients as well as a packet of stir fry curry. The curry paste is a Thai brand, Lobo, and is available in the US in Asian markets. Lots of photos for this but this comes together very quickly. This is based on using a large wok but is not needed if you do not have one, and most ingredients are just estimated, there is no set rules for this. The curry sauce packet has instructions on the back in English, but they are NOT used for this dish, this recipe (guide really) is based on me watching a Thai family member prepare this.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Thai
Servings 8 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1-2 kilos fresh crabs, blues or any swimmers are good (2-4 lb)
  • 5-10 cloves garlic
  • 1-2 palmfuls coarsely ground black pepper, be generous
  • 1 onion
  • 3-6 eggs
  • 5-10 spring onions
  • 1-2 bunches Thai celery, or Chinese celery
  • cooking oil, as needed

Special Equipment

  • large wok

Instructions
 

Preparation

  • 1. Crabs: Remove the tail flaps and cut each crab in half, from head to tail area. 2. Onion: halve then chopped. 3. Spring Onion and Thai Celery including the tops: chopped into 1 to 2 inch pieces. 4. As an alternate to coarsely ground black pepper, use whole peppercorns and crush them in a mortar. 5. Eggs, lightly beaten. Once everything is prepped, we are ready to begin.
  • Here is the curry sauce packet used.
  • With Thai families, there is usually more than one person helping in the kitchen, often times the prep work is done by the whole family and the best cook prepares the dish or directs others to prepare it, basically teaching in action.

Let's Get Started

  • Heat a splash of oil in your large wok or large pan on medium high heat. When hot, add the garlic, and since this is called a stir fry, so start stirring.
  • When the when garlic is browned up a bit, add the crab, keep stirring.
  • Sprinkle in about half of the black pepper, and you guessed it, keep stirring.
  • And stirring.
  • After a few minutes you will start seeing the shell turn red.
  • Add the onion.
  • And stir until the onion is softened up a bit, just a few minutes.
  • Add the remaining black pepper and stir that in.
  • Pour in the beaten eggs.
  • Stir for 30 seconds or so to distribute some of the egg.
  • Add the packet of curry sauce.
  • Stir some more.
  • Coming together beautifully. Liquid is water from the crabs as well as the sauce thinned out with that water.
  • Add the spring onion and Thai celery. A note about the celery, if you cannot find Thai or Chinese celery, use regular celery but cut 1 stalk into 3-4 ling pieces then dice plus chop up about 2-3 tops.
  • Stir again, almost done.
  • And there you go, Stir Fried Crab Curry. From heating the wok to this, maybe 10 minutes. This is the reason to have everything prepped and ready to go.
  • Pour everything onto a platter, ready to be served.
  • And the cook himself with his wife, my wife is peeking out from the doorway.
  • And honorable mention of the niece, she and my wife did the prep work for this dish.

Notes

Low cost as we did purchase the crabs direct from local fishermen.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,: THAI,SEAFOOD - ALL,Seafood - Crab
Slow Cooker Brats in Beer
October 7, 2018 Lee
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Slow Cooker Brats in Beer

Sounds like a good basic brat recipe, on my to cook list, and I will be using homemade bratwurst as well. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 10 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine German
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 750 grams Bratwurst, OR make from a shortcut, (1 1/2 lbs)
  • 1 can beer, or bottle, your choice
  • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Instructions
 

  • To the slow cooker, add the beer, brown sugar, vinegar. Stir together.
  • Heat a non stick skillet on medium heat, when hot, add the bratwurst. Brown the brats until lightly browned.
  • Place the brats in the slow cooker, and prick eat sausage 2-3 times with a toothpick to prevent them from bursting.
  • Top with the sliced onions.
  • Cover and cook on Low setting for 4 hours.
  • Serving options could be with sauerkraut on the side along with spicy mustard, another option could be in a bun. Enjoy.

Notes

Low cost per serving as I used my homemade bratwurst. Store bought is about is 270 grams at 129 Baht, gets pricey when you consider 750 grams needed for the recipe.
Shortcut: Bratwurst.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,5 Ingredients or Less,Pork - Sausage
Red Radish Salad II
October 6, 2018 Lee
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Red Radish Salad II

Sounds like an excellent use for red radishes. On my to make list.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Course Side
Cuisine American
Servings 2 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 3 large red radishes
  • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
  • salt, as desired

Instructions
 

  • Wash and thinly slice the radishes, the use of a mandolin is highly recommended.
  • In a mixing bowl, add the yogurt, dill, juice, and poppy seeds, mix together to make the dressing.
  • Add the sliced radish and toss with the dressing until evenly coated. Taste and season with salt as desired. Cover and place in the fridge until you serve.
  • Serve as a side dish, enjoy.

Notes

Low cost.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,Sides - Salads