Accidentally stumbled upon this sub, cheap food is my craft

• is it legal to use biological waste after consuming those peppers?
• is is healthy? Is it GMO?
• how patented food/seeds works?
• what are implications for society?

not sure what the cutoff point is between cheap/healthy food and healthy food so I'm just gonna go for it. made this for lunch today and it was tasty so I thought I'd share.

Tzatziki dressing

• 1 cup greek style yogurt (sour cream would probably work as well)
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled and then shredded
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp dried dill weed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp sour (I used vinegar, but I think lemon juice is traditional)
• oat milk to thin it down into a dressing consistency
• salt to taste

mix it all together & add however much oat milk you'd like to get it thinned down to be a salad dressing

Falafel

• 1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked for 12 hours, drained
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tbsp baharat spice blend
• 2 tbsp oil
• a generous pinch of salt

preheat oven to 390 F. grind it all up in a food processor until the chickpeas and onion are chopped very fine, like large grains of sand. form into balls/patties/lumps (I used my hands, so they're sort of oval shaped), bake for 17 minutes.

plate with whatever your favorite greens are (I used romaine hearts), chopped tomatoes (for color), a few falafel, drizzle with the tzatziki sauce & sprinkle a pinch of dill over top.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/1083769

Punch up cheap salsa; Use it creatively with what you have on hand; Boost what's good; Pizza fingers, chips, tacos

I hate cooking. And what is more, I hate cleaning up after cooking. Pizza was my go to. I would buy pre made dough and whatever toppings suited my fancy, it was cheap and delicious and only needed one pan. But it made me gain weight.

So I'm looking for a healthier alternative. Something I can cheaply and easily make, that tastes good, and only uses one dish.

Almonds tend to be one of mine in a pinch, a good fresh apple too, but I'd love to know some more, particularly in terms of meals.

Just another no-rush recipe, though this can be done in as little as 3 hours.

• 3 cups flour (bread flour preferred, but just unbleached white will do in a pinch)

• 2 tsp active dry yeast

• 2 tsp salt

• 1 tbsp brown sugar

• 1 1/2 cups warm water

mix all dry ingredients together & then add water bit by bit until the dough comes together. toss it in an oiled bowl and cover (I use plastic wrap) for 2 hours.

bake immediately, at 400 F for 35 minutes and then rest for 15 minutes

OR

put it in the fridge for up to 48 hours - this will age the dough and the slow fermentation develops all sorts of nice flavors. let it rest on the counter for 2 hours prior to baking.

occasionally I'll use my cast iron dutch oven to bake - pre-heat the dutch oven for 30 minutes at 450 F, put the dough on parchment paper and then put that in the dutch oven, cover with lid & bake for 30 minutes. remove lid & keep baking for 10 minutes.

allow to rest for 15 - 20 minutes before chopping it up.

just something I like to make occasionally, usually on the weekend when I'm not in a hurry

• 2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked for a minimum of 6 hours

• 1/2 cup olive oil (doesnt have to be expensive though it should be noted that higher quality olive oil will taste better - I use a Spanish oil blend when I make hummus)

• 1/3 cup tahini (I prefer a toasted/roasted tahini, raw tahini has a meh sort of flavor)

• 2 tbsp garlic powder

• 1 tbsp onion powder

• 1 tbsp shawarma powder

• salt to taste (use a good quality salt, not iodized table salt - I prefer Maldon sea salt flakes)

• 1 tbsp roasted sesame oil

add sesame oil to the pressure cooker, add chickpeas, and just enough water to cover. pressure cook the chickpeas for 18 minutes at pressure, remove from heat & wait 10 minutes, then manually release any pressure & drain.

• I use a Hawkins 3L stovetop pressure cooker, if you're using an instapot then maybe look up instructions for it

blend (or use a food processor) chickpeas, tahini, spices. slowly drizzle oil in over 1 to 2 minutes. it really depends on how oily you like your hummus.

keeps for a few days in the fridge, generally doesnt last that long for me, i usually eat it up quick. tasty w/ DIY naan.

Pressure cookers are amazing for easy meals and beans are super cheep bulk Some instapots also have a sous vide setting and that is a life saver

I make all our bread from scratch - regular loaves, rolls, buns, pitas, tortillas, dough, etc.

I really want to try sourdough, but I have no idea where to get it. I have two friends with starters, but they live across the country. Do I just go to a bakery and buy it? It feels like a secret society lol.

Please help with my entrance into the secret sourdough society!

If I'm in a hurry/tired/drained and don't want to put much mental effort into making food, I make rice, steam some veggies, and add a sauce.

We get big, inexpensive bags of frozen veggies with broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. I steam them for a few minutes while the rice cooks. Then I whip up a sauce, usually some kind of Thai-inspired spicy peanut butter sauce.

If there's leftover rice, I let it hang out in the fridge for a couple days, and then use it to make fried rice, which is basically the same as above, but all fried together and possibly with different flavors :)

My current favorite bean situation (a recipe from a friend):

• 2 cans* of beans (usually black)
• 1-2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1/2 onion, diced (yellow or white)
• Salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, to taste

• Drain and rinse beans (if from a can).
• Put them in a medium-sized pot.
• Fill pot with water just until beans are covered.
• Add all ingredients and stir.
• Bring to a boil with the lid on.
• Turn down to low to simmer for 30 minutes.
• Take off lid, stir, and finish cooking until you have your desired consistency (we like it a little mushy).

*I haven't been able to figure this out texture-wise with our dried black beans, even after soaking and cooking for a long time, so I'll have to work on that a bit. But beans in cans work really well!

What are your favorite ways to make beans?

Potatoes are so versatile. Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew, and more yet. We buy a 50lb bag of potatoes from the Costco Business Center and have fun learning new ways to eat them.

It's definitely possible to make potatoes unhealthy, but you can fix them up with your own ingredients and techniques to keep an eye on nutrition.

My current favorite thing to do: Bake 3 or 4 russets, ideally until just before they're baked-potato-mushy. Dice them up in to nickel-sized pieces. Gently toss with a little oil and seasoning. Air-fry them at 400 F until crispy.

Then you can add them to burritos, have them with eggs, or just with some roasted veggies.

What are your favorite cheap ways to eat potatoes?