Hello.

My microwave died in spectacular fashion today. It was the lifeblood of my kitchen. I’ve had it so long I’ve forgotten how to cook without one. And I can’t afford to buy a new one. I was going to post in eatcheapandhealthy but that place looks as dead as my microwave. I don’t know what I’m going to do.

Jamie Oliver often went on about cheap recipes… that required 30 ingredients and a bunch of equipment I don’t have. These are not helpful. I need recipes that are cheap to shop for, cheap on electricity usage, easy to prepare with limited equipment, and it would be a bonus if they are healthy and tasty. I know I’m being picky, but I don’t have much to work with.

I figured this would be the community to ask because to cook well, you need to know stuff that a bad cook wouldn’t know. I hope I can get a few useful ideas. Thanks.

  • dumples@kbin.social
    3·
    2 months ago

    My household makes pasta ala pomodoro once a week which is delicious and cheap. You cook whatever pasta you want al dente (still a little hard). While that’s happening you cook tomatoes in a pan with salt until it’s mostly sauce. Add in a ladle or two of the pasta water and cook the pasta down in the sauce. Add fresh basil at the end with pepper and cheese (we use burrata).

    It takes almost 30 minutes and it’s cheap. You can use fresh romas which we usually do but canned san marzanos as well. With this as a base you can add anything you want to your sauce to change it up.

      • dumples@kbin.social
        2·
        2 months ago

        I love fancying up basic meals like Kraft Mac and cheese. We sometimes throw in leftover cooked sausage in with it and broccoli which I blanched in the pasta water. Cook them all down in the same liquids as the package to make fancy Mac and cheese.

        • Kalvo@lemm.eeOP
          1·
          2 months ago

          Ooh broccoli mac and cheese! Capsicum and onion would work too, maybe. Cheers!

          • dumples@kbin.social
            2·
            2 months ago

            Yeah. Really anything can be added. I love using pre-made bases as the backbone of a meal. We fancy up a Rice Pilaf mix every couple of weeks by throwing in sausage (we use a lot of sausage), mushrooms and any green vegetable into the mix. The meat and mushrooms are cooked and then let simmer with the rice. The green vegetables either go in for the last few minutes if its broccoli, green beans or anything that needs a little steaming. If its baby spinach or something very delicate we just mix it just before serving. Its an easy add on, fairly healthy and delicious.

            • Kalvo@lemm.eeOP
              1·
              2 months ago

              I’ve been eating a lot of sausages lately too, they’re the cheapest source of (reasonably decent) meat I can find. Sometimes I braise sausages in a tin of tomatoes, and sprinkle with basil and curry powder. It’s a really satisfying meal for how cheap it is. But it’s always good to have ideas on how to change it up.

              • dumples@kbin.social
                2·
                2 months ago

                We open up sausage links often and break it up to get different textures. We usually cook a whole pound at a time and use half for each meal. We have been doing stuffed peppers using rice as a base filling it with tomatoes, onions, sausage or anything else we have. Its pretty much the only meat we purchase regularly.