tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62830686775851310462011-11-27T15:19:12.799-08:00A college student's adventures in cooking with things she can find for cheap/lying around her kitchen.natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.comBlogger201100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-81669994189478000522009-06-03T17:50:00.001-07:002009-06-03T18:11:31.140-07:00

Sorry about the overly long hiatus, everyone. It was a hectic last semester of college for me, but I'm out now and living in Texas. Have been cooking a lot lately since I don't have a job and have little else to do, so might start working on my backlog of recipe photos.This one doesn't really have a recipe, as I kind of made it up as I went along. In my search for cheap food I discovered that you

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-8255360850949302442009-01-18T15:58:00.000-08:002009-01-18T16:26:28.312-08:00

I bought some bacon on sale yesterday and was debating what to do with it. Clearly the answer is to add it to a vegetarian version of shepherd's pie!It was a good experiment.You'll need:3 slices bacon (I used thick cut; you'll need a couple more slices if it's thin)2 carrots1/2 onion2 cloves garlic2 tbsp. tomato paste1 tsp. basil1/2 tsp. ground sage1 bay leaf1 1/4 c. lentils2 c. water1/4 c. red

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-6511991940756783422009-01-04T10:56:00.000-08:002009-01-05T10:45:01.807-08:00

This is a nice hearty vegan dish for the winter months. Easy and quick to make!Our cast of ingredients today includes carrots, frozen peas, red lentils, garlic, red pepper flake, soy sauce, and oil.The sesame oil is just because I found it in the back of the fridge, lonely and abandoned, and decided someone should use it for something. You can use whatever you want.The red lentils are very

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-73638036197845003402009-01-04T10:44:00.000-08:002009-01-05T10:55:42.334-08:00

The first time I tried making risotto was a few months ago, when I found a nice-sized container of arborio rice on sale. And wow, is it delicious. The starch content of the rice makes it rich and creamy without any added cream (although added cream is nice, I won't lie). If you don't have any, Cook's Thesaurus suggests short-grain white rice (sushi rice) or pearl barley (which sounds really

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-49539587009380478352009-01-04T10:43:00.001-08:002009-01-04T11:50:49.408-08:00

I'm still working on the huge bunch of scallions from the last post; even after this dish I've still got a good dozen. But these were so good that I might even make them again. Ingredients: 1 c. flour1 tsp. baking powder1/2 tsp. salt1 1/3 c. chopped scallion1 clove garlic, minced1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes2 c. frozen corn2 cans tuna, drained1 egg1 tbsp. oil1/3 c. milk Rinse the corn under hot

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-16796142671885850862009-01-04T10:42:00.001-08:002009-01-04T11:51:10.042-08:00

I came upon a large bunch of red scallions at the farmer's market last week for cheap and am desperately trying to use all of them up--there were at least 20 in the whole bunch, and some of them were pretty huge. Here's one of my projects. Look for more later tonight, if the experiment is a success. My basic biscuit recipe (or, I should say, my family's basic biscuit recipe) is quick simple: 2

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-82555409821193223362009-01-04T10:41:00.001-08:002009-01-04T11:51:23.721-08:00

I have been baking a lot of bread lately because I found the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day at my library. I know making your own bread is cheaper and tastier but it has seemed like too much of a pain since my bread machine broke. But this book is wonderful--it has some very easy no-knead recipes that you mix up in bulk and store in your fridge. The only inconvenience is having to turn

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-29088833071596856212009-01-04T10:40:00.000-08:002009-01-04T11:53:19.741-08:00

This is my absolute favorite soup. I found the recipe here a while ago, and fell in love as soon as I tried it. Here is my first attempt at making a vegetarian version, which I was interested in because homemade vegan bratwurst are a lot cheaper than real brats. (I did a bit of calculating, and figured that if you buy wheat gluten and nutritional yeast in enough bulk to get a good price, you can

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-60395551379328944692009-01-04T10:39:00.000-08:002009-01-04T11:53:40.431-08:00

I love seitan. It's amazing how versatile it is, and it's amazing that, given how much I love it, I've never attempted to make seitan sausages before. It's also amazing how easy and delicious these are. I adapted these from a recipe over at Vegan Dad, changing the seasonings for bratwurst rather than Italian sausage, and substituting tofu for pinto beans (because that's what I had on hand).

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-8478297047318438872009-01-04T10:38:00.000-08:002009-01-04T11:54:16.415-08:00

I'm going to start off this post with OH MY GOD THIS SOUP IS DELICIOUS GO MAKE IT RIGHT AWAY. I think it is officially my second-favorite soup, and not only because it gave me something else to do with my huge-ass jar of curry powder. (My favorite soup will hopefully make an appearance here sometime soon.) I adapted this from a Good Eats recipe to make a just-add-water soup mix, which would make

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-36226621322659502052009-01-04T10:37:00.000-08:002009-01-04T11:54:37.260-08:00

Tuna & noodle casserole was a staple for me growing up. Ideally you would make it actually a casserole by putting it in the oven with some breadcrumbs on top, but it's been ridiculously hot lately and I was not about to turn the oven on. Besides, I was hungry. We start with milk, butter, flour, pasta, frozen peas, canned tuna, and cheddar cheese. If cheese isn't on sale, the dish works

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-65135910794475237402009-01-04T10:36:00.001-08:002009-01-04T11:54:51.982-08:00

No pictures, because it's the easiest thing ever: 3 parts creamy peanut butter, 1 part soy sauce, 1 part water, and as many red pepper flakes as you can handle. I used to eat it on ramen quite frequently, until I finally got the resources to cook things that aren't ramen. Yesterday I put it on chicken wings, because I got them on manager's special again, and ate it with $.99 shells and alfredo

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-40553453948795265582009-01-04T10:31:00.000-08:002009-01-04T11:55:06.625-08:00

I got the idea for this after googling around for cake mix cookie recipes and finding a few that used oatmeal. Of course, we don't have cake mix in the house, but we do have a shelf full of brownie mix that my sister bought a while ago for a bake sale. The texture of the brownie mix works wonderfully for cookies, and the oatmeal gives it some body and chewiness, and also an excuse to eat these

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-7459563944010056502009-01-04T10:29:00.000-08:002009-01-04T11:55:29.480-08:00

I like getting as much out of my food as possible. So when I cook bacon, which is not very often, I save the bacon fat. It's full of flavor, it has less saturated fat than butter, and it's such a shame to throw all that out. I really love tofu, although depending on where you are it might not be so cheap. At school, the local whole foods store has it for $1.99/lb, and I've seen it at the grocery

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-51022768237579818952009-01-04T10:28:00.000-08:002009-01-04T11:55:58.240-08:00

I got this recipe from Food Wishes (and slightly modified it, of course, because I am incapable of following a recipe to the letter). I needed something to do with manager's special ($1.99/lb) hot Italian sausage patties, and this seemed good. I think it's odd that there's a picture of a sausage patty on a bun, like a hamburger. Do people actually eat sausage patties like this? I kind of want

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-72654594836992227762009-01-04T10:27:00.000-08:002009-01-04T11:56:32.182-08:00

In case no one's noticed already, I make up my recipes as I go along. I just stand in the kitchen, throw some ingredients around, snap pictures, and hope it turns out all right--and if it does turn out all right, hope I remember what on earth I did. Usually even if the dish isn't exactly what was planned, it usually works out in the end, and today was one of those days. I was actually planning

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-16023678751949208152009-01-04T10:24:00.001-08:002009-01-04T11:57:12.198-08:00

This past weekend I was looking through some of my great-grandmother's dishes that have been lying around unused for the longest time. Among them was a donut cutter, so of course I had to make donuts when I got home. Deep frying seemed like far more trouble than it was worth, so I modified this recipe to bake. Here are our ingredients: Milk, apple cider vinegar, instant potato flakes, baking

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-33610606585779976932009-01-04T10:23:00.001-08:002009-01-04T11:57:30.246-08:00

AKA "Kinda like pierogi, but not." Yesterday I took a trip to HMart, my favorite source for cheap Asian food. (Actually, it's my only source for cheap Asian food. I miss it terribly when I'm away at school.) My findings included a 1 lb. package of wonton wrappers for $1.29, which I bought in the hopes that I'd find something around the house to fill it. In a Sudden Fit of GeniusTM last night, it

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-31039913824520604632009-01-04T10:19:00.000-08:002009-01-04T11:57:46.260-08:00

This is one of my staples at school, but I haven't made it since I got home because my mother has a thing against boxed macaroni & cheese. But the boxed stuff is cheap, quick, and does not require me to buy cheese that will inevitably sit around in my fridge getting moldy. (My fridge at school has been terribly unorganized because I shared it with three other people. I could lose food in there

natural0curiositynoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283068677585131046.post-17397743615465203972009-01-04T10:09:00.000-08:002009-01-04T11:57:59.711-08:00

Welcome to Party in my Kitchen, the new home of Cheap Cooking! I'll be moving over all the old posts manually, and then new posts to follow!var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));try {var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("

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