The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

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Illyrian
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by Illyrian »

Simple stuff I do, quick and easy:

1. Slice up 500 grams of chicken, a couple carrots and broccoli, add celery as well if you like
2. Throw it all that into a wok while water is boiling
3. Give it like 10 minutes on a relatively high heat, the chicken shouldn't be totally cooked through
4. Stick rice on, and at the same time put a tin of tomatos on the food
5. Turn the heat on the pan up and let the chicken etc. simmer hard
6. After 10 minutes when the rice is done, turn it all off and enjoy, you should get 3 portions out of this as long as you aren't a fat fucker

The good thing is that you always do 2 steps at once so it's easy to co-ordinate, the whole thing should take less than 30 minutes. You can add jerk sauce and powder to the chicken before you start cooking to make jamaican jerk chicken if you like.

Other simple things:
1. Baked jacket potatoes, cooked for 75 minutes, split open with baked beans on top
2. Tuna, garlic, and tomato sauce in a frying pan cooked for 10 minutes, and then pasta cooked and added on
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Mischief Maker
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by Mischief Maker »

I've been a huge fan of the BBC version of Kitchen Nightmares and if there's one thing I've learned from Gordon Ramsay, it's not the fanciness or complexity of the ingredients that make a great meal, it's the technique in the preparation:

I try to make this almost every day. Gordon Ramsay's Scrambled Eggs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU_B3QNu_Ks

I actually prefer sour cream instead of creme fraische because it makes the eggs less runny. For me the chives are a must, but to save on cost you can substitute dried chives at the cost of a slight popcorn-y flavor added.

The cherry tomatoes can be substituted with vegetable juice. If you're using store-bought sliced bread you're going to need to divvy the eggs between two slices.

The difference in my energy level between a breakfast of these eggs verses a breakfast of cold cereal is night and day.



If that's too complicated for you, here's Gordon Ramsay's broccoli soup:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvc8Au4YO60

Let me repeat that. Ingredients: Broccoli, salt, and water. AND IT TASTES INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS! Throw in some walnuts to make more of a meal out of it.



If you want something quick that looks and tastes fancy to impress a girl, Gordon Ramsay's Linguine with Olives and Capers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD9yXZBA45c

The Anchovies are optional. Once the ingredients are prepped the whole thing takes under 10 minutes to finish. Remember to chop the cherry tomatoes (grape tomatoes will do). Tastes like something you'd get from a fancy restaurant.
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CMoon
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by CMoon »

That's pretty awesome. I've always had poor luck with scrambled eggs and omelets, so that first video was rather eye opening. Love how he just turns some raw vegetables into something that looks delicious.
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Leader Bee
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by Leader Bee »

Cheap ass soup to a professional standard: Bee's Potato & Leek Soup.

Well for starters you need leeks and potatos.

You'll also need either chicken or veg stock, double cream, bacon (for topping the soup) and salt and pepper to taste.

Chop your potatos into small cubes, roughly 1cm by 1cm and drop in the pan and prepare 1 pint of stock to pour over them, I'll generally use 6 or 7 large potato's for this and I will usually let this sit while I prepare the leeks.

Slice your leeks into rings and sautee them in a pan with some butter until they become translucent, don't allow them to burn as this will impair the flavour. Once you're happyw ith these, transfer them to the pan with the potatos and stock.

Set the temperature of the potato and stock to a medium low heat and simmer for ~20 minutes, after this time, take off the heat and blend into a paste (I find a hand blender works best) at this point, mix in yoru cream, this is obviously down to you how much you want to use but generally I use 2/3 of a pot, the consistency of the soup will be thinner the more you use.

Add any salt and pepper to the mixture at this point and continue to cook on a similar heat for another 20 minutes.

During the final 20 minutes, you have time to prepare the bacon, I was taught to dice this and quickly fry in the pan; The amount again, is down to personal taste. You don't have to use it but I feel it tops off the recipie.

Make sure to keep a watch on the soup once the cream is added and to continually stir it so that the cream does nto have a chance to seperate from the water used in the stock, depending on how thick your soup is it may also be easier to burn so this is important.

Sprinkle over your bacon if you decided to use it, and serve.

Professional looking cream of potato and leek soup in about 40 minutes!
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BryanM
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by BryanM »

Mischief Maker wrote:I've been a huge fan of the BBC version of Kitchen Nightmares
Oh yeah, well from Hell's Kitchen I've learned that chicken is everyone's fuckin' Waterloo.

Gotta cook it slightly above the boiling point of water, any higher and all the delicious moisture flys away. And the only thing worse than a salmonella death trap is an overcooked dry turd. But! You can't serve salmonella. And all this takes forever to cook, so if you do it wrong you're fux0red.

A simple chicken thigh cooked correctly with pepper, salt, and some salsa is far more delicious than it has any right to be.

This is also a warning story to not order non-fried chicken at restaurants. You've no idea what you'll be getting. An olive garden might give you delicious one day, a stone rock the next.
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by burgerkingdiamond »

Huevos rancheros.

eggs, tortilla, black beans and salsa.

delicious and nutritious.
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by P_HAT »

Also, buy this book http://www.geometryofpasta.co.uk/

Because pasta is a MUST :mrgreen:
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PainAmplifier
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by PainAmplifier »

One of my personal favorites that I can do on the weekend and use for at least 5 days...


1 pack of Chicken Leg Quarters. (Cheap at ~$3.50 for 72 oz which is about 7-8 leg+thigh pieces)
Salt
Pepper
Additional seasoning (Usually butter/Garlic or Crushed Red pepper)

I stack the Leg quarters in a big pot, seasoning each layer as I go. (2 pieces per layer, a dash of salt and pepper, then the extra seasoning)
Then just put the pot in the oven at ~375 for about 1hr 30min

When done, I use the top layer for my dinner, (use whatever else is on hand to make the rest of the meal) and put the rest on a plate to cool down. The bottom layer(s) tends to get submerged a bit in water/drippings, so some care is needed to get em out. You could save the drippings to make a gravy, but I'm not that ambitious and just get rid of it. After dinner, and the remainder are cooled, I pull the meat off the bones trimming any excessive fat off the skin, but keeping most of it otherwise and save it in a container to put in the Fridge.

Then whenever I want, I pull it out and put it on a bun, rice, salad, taco shell or whatever else you might need it for, just nuking it in the microwave to warm it back up. (How much you cut/shred the chicked as you take it off the bone might make it better for somethings than others.

Side note, I recently started using the crushed red pepper as my extra seasoning. I was a bit bored with the plain garlic, as it does tend to overwhelm the chicken flavor for me somewhat, and I had some leftover red pepper packets from Pizza Hut/Domino's....and I though why not? And it turned out pretty good. Gives a nice zip without falling into that burning level of flavor that your other 'hot sauce' seasoning tend to reach. So it's still usable in more than one way. Although my favorite is just stacked on a bun and add some barbecue sauce or some cheese.
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by dukenukems »

I like making chi9cken and rice but i mainly eat the rice since i love that the most. Buy some cut chicken but chicken with bone makes the taste way better.use a glass dish that you put some cooking oil,then 2 cans of tomato sauce,2 packets of goya seasoning,2-4 pieces of chicken. before putting chicken in to the sauce mix it with the oil and seasoning then cover with tin foil and cook in oven at 400 degrees for around 45-50 minutes. I use real cooking rice instead of minute rice so the rice will take roughly 15-25 minutes. use measuring cup and put 4 cups of water and then put it into pot,then put 2 cups of rice into measuring cup.Wait till water starts to boil then lower it to setting of 2 or whayever is lowest setting on your stove's burner.Cover pot and let it cook while keep checking the rice to see if it's fluffy or not.

Once chicken and rice are both done put rice into big pot then the chicken and sauce and bam you have some damn good rice.
this makes about 4 servings of rice which i eat all by myself. Also you can add gondoolas which i don't prefer the taste of but you may.
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by rancor »

Just want to chime in that I love this thread, and hope you guys keep it up! ...errr That is all! :D
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by Leader Bee »

out of curiosity... has anyone tried making some of the recipies others have posted?
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by rancor »

Not a full recipe, but I do prepare my rice "johnny5" style now and it's remarkably better than the shit I used to make.
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by shmuppyLove »

Leader Bee wrote:out of curiosity... has anyone tried making some of the recipies others have posted?
Twice now I have made a slight variation of CMoon's red curry, substituting tofu for chicken and using just the green beans. I also add a bit of sugar for sweetness and some fish sauce for saltiness, to help cut the richness of the coconut cream.

So then instead of the potatoes I had it with some brown rice. Shit was mega tasty.
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by nasty_wolverine »

I was living alone for almost a year and a half, so i self taught myself survival cooking.
Few recipes from that dark time:

SELECT YOUR BURNER AND ATTACK

1) Egg Fried-Rice (survival version)
- cook steamed rice before hand
- take a pan, heat it, add some oil till its slightly hot
- break in two eggs, sprinkle salt and pepper to taste
- when the eggs are a little cooked but the top is still runny, throw in the rice
- stir the whole thing to mix well, add some vinegar and soy sauce to taste (1 tblspn is enough for 1 bowl of rice)
- serve hot

2) Plain Meat Soup
- about 250gms of fresh medium cut meat (i use pork, will work with chicken too, will take longer with beef or mutton)
- 1 green chilli, 4 cloves of garlic, an inch of ginger
- dice the above to small pieces
- throw in meat, diced stuff, a little vinegar and soy sauce in a utensil
- boil for 15-20 mins
- serve hot

3) Potato mash
- get half a kg of sweet potato
- skin the thing
- boil with few garlic cloves
- after boiling, drain water, smash all while adding butter, salt and pepper to taste
- serve hot(for this one specially coz it gets really hard once its cold)

4) Meat-Rice (I dont know what to really call it...)
- same steps as plain meat soup, but add rice to boil along with meat
- wait longer for this to cook

5) Egg-Rice (Japanese dish, survival style)
- cook rice
- put rice in a asian style bowl
- dig hole in center and break in an egg or two (yes a raw egg, and make sure its fresh)
- sprinkle a little soy sauce and salt to taste
- mix the whole thing well (if its too slimy theres too much egg, too dry too less, it should be just about sticky)
- EAT (its not disgusting, you cant even taste the raw egg)

6) Indian meat curry (survival version)
- marinate 500g meat in ginger garlic paste, vinegar and soy sauce, some oil
- slice a big onion (3/4 the size of a apple) and two tomatoes
- heat oil in a pan, stir fry onions till it turns golden
- add sliced tomatoes and fry a bit, add 1 tblspn red pepper powder and a dash of tumeric powder
- fry a little more till it gets pasty, add in the meat and stir to mix up the ingredients
- cover the pan, but open it to stir every 5-10 mins or it will burn up
- once the meat is half cooked (you can tell when its turning white) add 2-3 cups of water to make the curry
- add salt to taste, and cover and let it boil for 15 mins
- serve with rice or bread

Once i made a legendary sandwich, I ll describe bottom up
- bread
- fried bacon
- turned over bulleye omelet (forgot whats it called)
- cheese slice
- lettuce
- bread

I had one and i couldnt eat anymore.... :oops:
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by beatsgo »

I remember reddit polling a huge list of recipes for college students who never cooked in their lives. Can be obtained here from mediafire.
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

It is of uttermost significance to eat raw onions (and garlic, but I've yet to come up with the way of eating garlic that would please me) with some grease. Jewish paupers of starving, overpopulated Europe knew it.
Culinary dissident I am, this much I have to tell you.

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It was greased with rapeseed oil (bad for frying, good enough for this), seasoned with salt and black pepper (could have been white pepper as well), but cucumbers with onions have enough taste as they are, thus seasoning should be applied with moderation.
What's pictured above was enough to keep an adult male up and videogaming for a day. I'm not joking; rolled oats add more heft to it than you'd think.
Tomatoes can be used instead of cucumbers. As a matter of fact I'm about to have some of the tomato variety.
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CMoon
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by CMoon »

shmuppyLove wrote:
Leader Bee wrote:out of curiosity... has anyone tried making some of the recipies others have posted?
Twice now I have made a slight variation of CMoon's red curry, substituting tofu for chicken and using just the green beans. I also add a bit of sugar for sweetness and some fish sauce for saltiness, to help cut the richness of the coconut cream.

So then instead of the potatoes I had it with some brown rice. Shit was mega tasty.
I've been making that curry (although using different pastes) all the time. Try adding green peas or whatever else. It's so easy to make, stores well. Beyond the prep time of cutting veggies/meat, this one is a no-brainer.
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by PinkSweets »

Obiwanshinobi wrote:It is of uttermost significance to eat raw onions (and garlic, but I've yet to come up with the way of eating garlic that would please me)
Here's a great way to eat raw garlic and actually enjoy it.

You need:

Spinach (raw)
Cured, salty-as-hell black olives
Chopped raw garlic
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese, shredded (optional)

Mix all that shit up in a bowl and eat everything raw. Quick, easy and super tasty.
I usually just eat a big bowl of it by itself like a salad but will occasionally just spoon a big-ass pile onto a slice of sprouted grain bread. Yeeeaahh buddy.
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

Sounds like a good way of eating the fancier olive oils too... The kind I have here is just for frying. I didn't have much use for stuff with lower smoke point.
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by cj iwakura »

Uh, it isn't much, but a simple thing:

Requirements:

-A box of rotini noodles
-Sliced chicken breasts(ideally purdue or some such, grocery will do too I suppose
-Lemon pepper spice
-Skillet and/or pan
-Vegetable oil
-Broccoli!

-Tear breasts into modest size strips, apply seasoning
-Simmer for 10-15 minutes until brownish
-Boil noodles
-Microwave broccoli(or steam it if you're fancy)
-Mix
-Have an enjoy.


An easy 2-3 dishes, roughly for $5-$6. Only will last one group serving.
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by ZacharyB »

I have this great produce store near my house. I go there and buy a whole bunch of vegetables--zucchini, onion, red pepper, potatoes, celery, carrots, broccoli, escarole, whatever else looks good--and 2 cartons of soup stock that say they have no MSG (who knows if it really does). Come home, fry the harder vegetables in a pot with some olive oil, dump the stock in, add salt, tumeric, pepper, thyme. Cook for 4-6 hours, maybe throw some rice in. Lasts all week.

I've found that you can add variety to the same dish by preparing the ingredients differently. For example, dicing up onions really fine one time, and cutting them into coarse half-moons the next.
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by jonny5 »

rancor wrote:Not a full recipe, but I do prepare my rice "johnny5" style now and it's remarkably better than the shit I used to make.
Glad to hear it. It seems like a minor thing, but it makes all the difference in the world.
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by R79 »

Classic thread. After Uni, all I had for ages in this scuzzy bedsit was a toaster and a kettle, but you can get a lot of mileage out of that. Personally, I don't trust microwaves *tin-hat*

Here were the 3 staples to keep you in Saturn games and old flipped tellys:

1) Japan's fave

Singapore 'Koka' noodles, either beef, chicken or vegetable. Way better than most UK supermarket brands, for both taste and texture. They were 4 for a quid at one point, from smaller, south Asian staffed shops.
Tuna steak, Lidl, £1 - the classic tinned fish, at a superb price, now gone up most places to £1.50
Fresh Spring onions, Lidl, 56p.

Pour the boiling water over the tuna and noodles in a small suacepan. Cover and simmer for like 5 mins, then add the flavouring and chopped spring onions, another 5 mins then serve. At the weekends, crack a free range egg in before you pour the water, and maybe even grate some cheese in. Goes well with green tea and honey.

2) The Italian Job

Fresh pasta, bag with like 2 servings maybe £1.50 now from Asda. This stuff cooks real easy just from boiled water, no hob needed.
Sacla basil pesto. An expensive luxury at two pounds, but well made, and you'll find the supermarket own brand stuff at like a quid is fairly tasteless.
Tin of chopped black lives, around 60p, Asda.

Small saucepan, cover pasta in boiling water, let soak for like 8 minutes, stiring a bit. Drain, add about a third of the pesto jar and the olives. If you can afford a block of extra mature cheddar cheese, grate some over, but be aware if counting calories, good pesto should have cheese in already. Eat out of pan (use like a cushion if it's still hot underneath). Goes well with a strong, chilled glass of single variety cider.

3) The classic toasty

Pack of large pitta bread, pay no more than a pound.
Cheddar, around 3 thickish slices to fill. Look for offers on different brands across as many supermarkets as possible. £2-3 usually buys something with a decent kick at around 400 grams.
Lea & Perrins worcestershire sauce, maybe just over 2 quid for regular sized bottle? Last for ages though unless you go mad with it.

Whack pitta in toaster for like a minute, then pop it up. Knife it open, add the cheese, the carefully put it back and toast for like 3 mins. You'll hear the cheese melt and be able to smell it. When that's out leave it for a bit, then add in a few splashes of the sauce. Slice in half, then serve with a cold glass of semi-skimmed organic milk (£1 a litre).
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by trap15 »

R79 wrote:1) Japan's fave
Just reading this recipe made me want some.

This thread is great; I am probably going to start making these in a few months when I move out and get sick of Ramen :mrgreen:
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by KennyMan666 »

I've been considering buying a rice cooker. The supermarket where I do my grocery shopping have had them for a great sale price for forever while I haven't really had the money to justify getting one but since I have money now I should probably pick one up if they've not run out (so since I've decided that now, after months of passing them by, they'll not have them anymore). At the moment I only eat something containing rice (my own recipe of fried rice) once a week, but if I had a cooker I could try making sushi and stuff like that too. What exactly are the advantages of cooking it in a cooker rather than in a pot?

In general, I don't mind spending money on food. I really love cooking, I consider food to be one of my greater pleasures in life - both cooking and eating. Since I'm picky to a point (which mostly takes the form of that I'm not fond of sauces or stuff like that), it's good that I like cooking my own food since it means I get exactly what I want.

Don't think I have any good recipes to share - I eat the same stuff every week (because then I don't have to figure out "what should I eat today?"). Or, rather, I don't have any good and also extra cheap recipes to share.
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by Mischief Maker »

Every automatic rice cooker I've ever bought died on me within months until I splashed out on an expensive Zojirushi pot. Since the theme of the thread is "cheap," I'd skip the auto-cooker unless you eat a LOT of rice.
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by njiska »

Mischief Maker wrote:Every automatic rice cooker I've ever bought died on me within months until I splashed out on an expensive Zojirushi pot. Since the theme of the thread is "cheap," I'd skip the auto-cooker unless you eat a LOT of rice.
Even still, it's pretty easy to make rice in a normal pot. My rice cooker never gets used.
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by KennyMan666 »

KennyMan666 wrote:(so since I've decided that now, after months of passing them by, they'll not have them anymore)
CALLED IT

(well, they had one left, but it was the demo ex and the knob on the lid was missing, so I said "fuck that". And that's the end of this story.)
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by SuperGrafx »

PainAmplifier wrote:One of my personal favorites that I can do on the weekend and use for at least 5 days...


1 pack of Chicken Leg Quarters. (Cheap at ~$3.50 for 72 oz which is about 7-8 leg+thigh pieces)
Salt
Pepper
Additional seasoning (Usually butter/Garlic or Crushed Red pepper)

I stack the Leg quarters in a big pot, seasoning each layer as I go. (2 pieces per layer, a dash of salt and pepper, then the extra seasoning)
Then just put the pot in the oven at ~375 for about 1hr 30min

When done, I use the top layer for my dinner, (use whatever else is on hand to make the rest of the meal) and put the rest on a plate to cool down. The bottom layer(s) tends to get submerged a bit in water/drippings, so some care is needed to get em out. You could save the drippings to make a gravy, but I'm not that ambitious and just get rid of it. After dinner, and the remainder are cooled, I pull the meat off the bones trimming any excessive fat off the skin, but keeping most of it otherwise and save it in a container to put in the Fridge.

Then whenever I want, I pull it out and put it on a bun, rice, salad, taco shell or whatever else you might need it for, just nuking it in the microwave to warm it back up. (How much you cut/shred the chicked as you take it off the bone might make it better for somethings than others.

Side note, I recently started using the crushed red pepper as my extra seasoning. I was a bit bored with the plain garlic, as it does tend to overwhelm the chicken flavor for me somewhat, and I had some leftover red pepper packets from Pizza Hut/Domino's....and I though why not? And it turned out pretty good. Gives a nice zip without falling into that burning level of flavor that your other 'hot sauce' seasoning tend to reach. So it's still usable in more than one way. Although my favorite is just stacked on a bun and add some barbecue sauce or some cheese.

Great idea! I think I'll try it over the weekend.
Thanks for this! :)
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PainAmplifier
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Re: The lonely videogamer's guide to cheap cooking

Post by PainAmplifier »

SuperGrafx wrote:
Great idea! I think I'll try it over the weekend.
Thanks for this! :)
Your welcome, let me know how it works out for you...and if you can think of some other flavorings to stick in the pot! I'm always looking for cheap ways to make things tastier, as I tend to get bored easy if I eat the same thing too many times in a row. At the moment I have some extra Cream Cheese left over from some bagels I bought the week before and I'm trying to think of something that would go well with that on a bun. I tried it as a condiment sometime the previous year, with some sliced beef in a kinda toasted-Philly-sandwich way and it was pretty tasty...but I have my doubts if it would work with the chicken here. At least not without a proper toasting to the buns/bread and something to go with it....hmmm...

Here's another on-the-cheap recipe for those of us with more money in games than in food...except it's not food, this time it's something to drink...

See, I like General Foods "Cappuccino Coolers", but at a bit over $2 for a box of six packets, it's kinda expensive and I got a bit inspired one time to try something...and here it is. Although I warn you it's a bit vague on details, because it's still a bit of a work in progress and I really haven't bothered to measure things out exactly. But then again the best 'cooking' is done when you adjust for the meal as you cook it.

Ingredients:
[Instant Coffee] - I use Folgers. For some reason I really do think the "Folger's Crystals" adds something to the taste and texture of the mix. A small 2oz canister is about $2 and it lasts me almost a month. I've tried a few others, but the powdery granular kinds seem to taste a bit weak to me.
[Cocoa Powder] - The 100% pure stuff. I bought a container of Nestle (8oz) for under $4 and at the rate it's used here, it should last at least a year if not more.
[Milk] - I use Vitamin D/Whole milk. I don't settle for that crappy 2% or weaker junk. Not only that, but it get thinned a bit in the mix so starting heavier is a good idea, although you can use whatever you have on hand.
[Sugar] - Regular white table sugar. (I use the Cane sugar, not the derived from beets stuff.)
[One large Cup] - I've never measured it exactly, but it's a full sized drinking glass sized thing. Maybe 18-20oz at most.
[One sundae Spoon] - This is a long stem spoon with the small 'scoop' at the end. Something like you'd get with a large ice cream Blizzard or Shake at a restaurant.


INSTRUCTIONS: First we need to put the dry ingredients in the cup. Here's my best estimate of the amounts used.
Sugar, About two lightly loaded sundae spoons of sugar. If I got out the measuring spoons, I'd say it's about two teaspoons worth of sugar, maybe a little more if that.
One loaded (but not heaped) spoon of the instant coffee.
A tiny tipful of cocoa powder. If I had to measure it, I'd estimate it as about the same volume as 1 and 1/2 pencil eraser tips. That is the little pink eraser on the top of a #2 pencil that is not covered by the metal band.
Once you have all the dry ingredients in the cup, you want to add about 3 fingers worth of warm water. (About 1/2 a cup I think...) Then stir this good so all the powders dissolve as much as possible. The colder the water the harder it is to mix, so room temp at least, but slightly warmer isn't a problem. Once everything is all mixed in just fill the rest of the cup with cold Milk and stir again until it's thoroughly dissolved.
You can tell if you didn't mix enough, the water was too cold, or you used too much cocoa if you get some Coffee crystals or powder clumping after you add the cold milk. The ideal look should have some speckling of cocoa powder coloring without being powdery like you would get in the top of a cup of hot chocolate as it cools.

It's close enough to the retail stuff I don't feel the urge to buy it anymore, and it's super cheap on a per glass cost! Plus it tastes pretty good if you like the iced milk coffee mocha's. Although I suppose if you swapped the amounts used for the milk and the water, you'd have an iced coffee with milk.
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