Cooking is too expensive

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Agreeably4263 said:
How hard is it to get a pot of lentils boiling and then put in on low and cover for an hour? Prep is entirely optional, a good idea obviously but it doesn't change the taste in my experience, wash then if you feel like, soak them for awhile if you want to cut down on the cook time.
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The process of cooking something is not the same as making it edible. Yes you can boil lentils in a pot of water but it is an entirely separate process to turn that into a meal. There are better options. I don't know what country OP is from but if it isn't Venezuela, it's unlikely they are going to have to survive on lentils.
 
Food in general is expensive anymore, but I find that pre-made stuff is a lot more expensive than food made from scratch. Cooking is more "time expensive" than anything, but meal planning helps, and you can learn to enjoy it as a skill to hone and improve on.
 
777Flux said:
The process of cooking something is not the same as making it edible. Yes you can boil lentils in a pot of water but it is an entirely separate process to turn that into a meal. There are better options. I don't know what country OP is from but if it isn't Venezuela, it's unlikely they are going to have to survive on lentils.
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I posted a perfectly fine recipe that makes ten meals for less than ten dollars, with only five of the easiest to follow instructions imaginible. It is not hard. I admit it may be hard for some bourgeoisie faggot to make lentils into something comparable to steak tartare or ice cream with gold flakes in it or whatever retarded shit ivory tower retards eat these days, but for any normal person it is not difficult to make a tasty soup with lentils.
 
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I'm surprised no one here is talking about learning how to use spices, sauces and seasonings. You can make as many basic things as you want to survive but until you master spices, sauces and seasonings your food will suck.

I'll buy pounds of ancient grains/rice blend at a time that will last for a couple months. I will buy protein like steak, chicken thighs, and others in bulk, vacuum seal, then freeze it and work through it with different meals. People say steak is expensive, but you can get 3-5lbs of tri-tip boneless steaks on sale for $20 at times, stock up and vacuum seal, then freeze that shit. It stacks well. You can sear it on the stovetop, bake for 15-17 mins, then broil to finish, and you've got yourself a DELICIOUS steak. Whatever you don't finish can go into a stew or chili for a few more days after that. Chicken thighs are great in everything, very versatile, and insanely cheap. They also seal flat and can be packed well into your freezer.

I do the same with vegetables, but fruits I do have to buy fresh. I bake those, eat them fresh, etc. Most fruits don't freeze unless they're berries, generally. But if you can master sauces, stews, seasonings, spices, you can turn a few staple things into dozens of dishes and never be bored. You shouldn't be spending a ton on premade shit. I cut my budget in half by planning ahead and vacuum sealing stuff whenever it's on sale, get the app for your local supermarket (practice data poisoning and give them a bullshit name) and keep an eye on deals. You don't have to just eat lentils homie.
 
I mean what's your definition of cooking?

Buying fresh veggies to chop, mushrooms, beef, and rosemary and bay leaves, and a decent Cabernet Sauvignon to make an incredible stew? Yeah, that's expensive to do, it's definitely real cooking.

Making some stir fry with rice, sliced kielbasa, and some frozen veggies and eggs mixed in? Or a simple casserole, still cooking, but on the cheap.

Popping pizza rolls or nuggies or frozen pizza into the oven, isnt cooking, but still way cheaper than door dashing goyslop or hitting up a fast food drive thru.

I can't recommend hunting for everyone as a solid cheap food source anymore, unless you're in a place with low license fees and abundant access to public land loaded with squirrels or deer if deer tags are cheap, and you're willing to process your own deer, meat locker prices have gotten insane. You need to cut that deer up yourself, not just field dress it to come out ahead. If you don't already own a meat grinder, don't even think about it.

Fishing at least where I live is still affordable and a great source of free food. When I was poor and in my 20s I lived off of catfish and bluegill and walleye and crappie. Baked or fried. I'd walk to the bridge downtown most nights of the week and catch my dinner. Not good long term if you want to live past 60 though, the mercury will get your ass. Still, kept me fed when I was young and broke. Nowadays I eat my caught fish only once or twice a month if that. If you live somewhere that trout are stocked regularly, target those every time they stock them. They freeze well when gutted and hatchery raised trout are pretty much mercury and pollutant free. And don't feel bad about eating smaller fish in general if they are legal, they will be the most contaminant free.
 
Rice costs pennies to make, and chicken is super cheap. Also frozen veggies for cheap sides. There's also burritos which are generally pretty cheap to make. Those have been my staples lately. Because these ingredients are so cheap, they aren't affected by inflation *as much*. If you really want to save some money, you could live off ramen, which is basically inflation-proof, for a while. You can also make simple egg and rice dishes for pretty cheap, assuming eggs are on sale, and if not, you can always buy repacked eggs. If there aren't any, you can ask the dairy guy to make you some. At least, that's the case in my store, I don't know if other stores do this as well.

No joke I've eaten pretty much nothing but chicken for the past 3 weeks, and before that it was rice and veggies with cheese.
 
I have a dream that one day holy men of all nations will impose a new and bigger than anything else seen before in history of mankind tax on fattie products that will subsidise chicken, pork, beans, fruit, eggs, milk, vegetables, rice, pasta, cooking oil, bread.
I have a dream that one day in your local store, at the candy and soft drink isles, the local fatties will cover the floor with their oily tears as they grab their bag of crisps, their can of coke, or their tootie frooties for 10$ and more each.
I have a dream that the salt of the world will take the environmentalists and force them to watch as we create new and improved chicken factories. So far we have been merciful to them. Now they will pump out 5 times as many eggs for 10 times cheaper. They will give more meat and live in smaller cages and worse conditions. The environmentalists often say: "What is happening is the holocaust of the animal world. We must stop this.". However, not only can't and mustn't we stop this, we have to holocaust them chickens even more. Billions of them will grow just for their meat to be sold dirt cheap and their millions of billions of eggs for even less. I know what you want to say "But we don't and can't keep pigs in the cages that we keep chickens in. How will we make them cheaper?" And to that I say: after the environmentalists see the new chicken holocaust, we will throw them to the pigs.
I have a dream that justice will finally prevail in this wicked economy where fatties rule.
 
Doubling up on the Aldi support in this thread. I've converted multiple people irl that have said afterward they should've just listened to me. Aldi's secret is that for 90% of their products, they just order from the name brands and have them put it in an Aldi box. They just didn't spend the money buying up market share (advertising) like name brands. They let the product's quality speak for itself, and have grown a loyal fan base over time.

Cooking is fundamental. It involves math, chemistry, physics, finance/economy, art (creativity), etc - you could go on and on.
But you only get out what you put in. It's a long-term investment learning recipes, figuring out what goes with what, how to make it fit your life, and so on. But you only have to make that investment once.

tl;dr stop being lazy

Edit: sentence clarity
 
Cheap cooking is a skill that's easily learned,and well worth the short time investment. You can make some great stews for 3-5$ each serving, with 6-800kcal. Depending on how you use rice, beans, chickpeas, root vegetables, eggs and other cheap and filling ingredients you can reduce cost even more.
Theres a wealth of youtubers you can look to for inspiration, who makes great meals on low budgets.

I think the real problem for many people is, that they don't plan out their meals and portion sizes, or don't cook for multiple days at a time. I used to waste food by not using all of it in time. Potatoes, cabbage, parsnips and carrots are cheap, unless you only use half and let the rest rot. Whenever i cook i make at least four to five portions. One for now, the rest for my fridge/freezer, and since i started that practice i have saved a lot on my food bill.
 
777Flux said:
lentils are incredibly difficult to prepare and cook with. especially for someone who is new to cooking. unless you are in destitute poverty and have traded away your EBT for fent and tranq I advise against this.
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Are you retarded or something? Lentils aren't difficult to cook with. You soak them overnight and then cook with them in stews and soups -- children here can do that.

Back to the topic at hand...

As someone that cooks a lot, the issue is that people have some retarded expectations on portion sizes and what an actual meal is.

Not everything has to be a fancy dish with 10 ingredients. People also seem to have an issue with eating the same dish several times a day, which is insane compared to only 60 years ago.

Stock up in seasoning -- you can make something like chicken breast or thigh very versatile with only a few changes in seasoning.

I'll give you a breakdown of my eating habits for the last week:

For breakfast:

Overnight oats - a bag of oats, top with yogurt, add some frozen fruit and leave overnight. It's <£1 a portion.
Toast and butter - filling, cheap, and delicious with the right butter <20p a portion
Bacon sandwich - 3 strips of back bacon, two pieces of bread. <£2 a portion
Toast and Lemon Curd - cheap and delicious, also good for vit-c

Lunch:

x2 sausages with mash potato. Pretty cheap at <£1.50 a portion.
Cheese and crackers - pretty cheap depending on the cheese
1 chicken breast over a mixed salad with some salt and pepper, you can add cheese too
Pickles and cheese
Cheese and ham toastie - two bits of bread, some ham, cheese and done
Chicken noodle soup - a chicken breast, pack of noodles, some spring onion, and chicken stock


Dinner:

Egg fried rice with beef strips
Chicken curry with rice (I had this twice as I really like it)
Fries with cheese with bacon and beef strips chopped up to make dirty fries
Pork steak with boiled potato, steamed veg, and peas

I'll probably have the same chicken curry over the weekend as it's fine to repeat meals.

Prepare stuff in advance and FREEZE IT. Americans seem to have some repulsion against freezing shit. Your marketeers have convinced you that your fridge should be larger than your freezer.

From the ingredients above, they all intertwine.

1 pack of chicken
1 pack of sausage that will stretch 2-3 weeks depending on my mood for them
A multipack of steam veg
A bag of rice which will last for months
Beef strips, with enough portions frozen for 2 other meals
Chinese Curry mix (which probably isn't available outside the UK)
A bag of oats that will last 2-3 weeks.
A pack of mixed frozen fruit
Bread
Butter (that will last about a month)
Potatoes (that will last about a month)

That's about £25 worth of food, but there are ingredients that carry over and reduce the next cost of purchases.
 
if cooking your own food is too expensive then stop having champagne taste on a beer budget
Londo said:
Prepare stuff in advance and FREEZE IT. Americans seem to have some repulsion against freezing shit. Your marketeers have convinced you that your fridge should be larger than your freezer.
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damn straight nigga. cook up a big pot of pasta sauce then freeze it in portions ready to rocknroll for dishes. They out here actin like a microwaved home made frozen sauce is like taking a shit in their mouth yet they'll open a jar of "pasta sauce" without blinking every 2nd day. fkn kids today I swear
 
Freezed food tastes like shit.

But there is a good student recipe.

You need a few carrots, blackpepper, salt, rice and chicken gizzards, and a lot of rice.

Or whatever organ meat is cheapest.

Slice meat and carrots into desired size, put water on it and boil until the meat is softened.

Students loved this as they could study and chexk on it every 15 minutes, and it is cheap.
 
Your Greatest Ally said:
Doubling up on the Aldi support in this thread. I've converted multiple people irl that have said afterward they should've just listened to me. Aldi's secret is that for 90% of their products, they just order from the name brands and have them put it in an Aldi box. They just didn't spend the money buying up market share (advertising) like name brands. They let the product's quality speak for itself, and have grown a loyal fan base over time.

Cooking is fundamental. It involves math, chemistry, physics, finance/economy, art (creativity), etc - you could go on and on.
But you only get out what you put in. It's a long-term investment learning recipes, figuring out what goes with what, how to make it fit your life, and so on. But you only have to make that investment once.

tl;dr stop being lazy

Edit: sentence clarity
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Aldi and Lidl are great stores for saving money on groceries even without the apps.

Looking up recipes is a good start on learning how to cook, and once you comfortable with it you can change certain ingredients to it.
For example I like making Shashuka for breakfast since it's cheap and easy:
One can of crushed tomatoes, 1 or 2 bell peppers, paprika, cumin, and garlic.
Cook down the tomatoes on low heat for 9 minutes then add in the egg on top and cook until the egg white is firm.
And if I feel like or can afford it sometimes I'll add mushrooms and some tortillas I bake in the oven.
 
Agreeably4263 said:
I posted a perfectly fine recipe that makes ten meals for less than ten dollars, with only five of the easiest to follow instructions imaginible. It is not hard. I admit it may be hard for some bourgeoisie faggot to make lentils into something comparable to steak tartare or ice cream with gold flakes in it or whatever retarded shit ivory tower retards eat these days, but for any normal person it is not difficult to make a tasty soup with lentils.
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Agreed. It's really not difficult or expensive to throw some lentils, water, a ham hock, ground black pepper and crushed garlic into a pot on top of some caramelized onions that still costs around $2 for a 3-5lb bag. If you want to add more protein, throw in some meat of any reasonable kind such as pork, beef, chicken or turkey; whatever is on sale to brown in the pot with the onions. If lentils aren't someone's thing, there's a hundred or more ways to combine meat, onions and potatoes with basic seasonings like salt, pepper and garlic.

Thinking that cooking from scratch is expensive or difficult is absolute cattle brained behavior when we have more access than ever to an infinite library of cooking instructions while goyslop is outpacing inflation so much harder than raw ingredients are. God forbid anyone learn to do absolutely anything for themselves. Last I checked, a Mcdouble went from $1 to over $4, while pork chops have gone from $2 per pound to $3.88. Just look at how much pre cooked rice costs compared to raw and dry. I can't fucking stand retard cattle who whinge about the cost of ingredients while sucking down shit like $600-$1,200 of Starbucks "coffee" every month, or their $6lb frozen Tyson tendies. They're the actual definition of corporate cattle.
 
Londo said:
Are you retarded or something? Lentils aren't difficult to cook with. You soak them overnight and then cook with them in stews and soups -- children here can do that.
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you all are fucktarded, my point is you don't have to restrict yourself to lentils if you want to cook cheap. you can easily get ground beef, ground turkey, pork, etc that is also inexpensive.
 
Learn to cook and meal prep. You have two resources here money or time. You can buy shit premade to save you time but shits overpriced right now so making it is much better yourself and you get a better quality too.

A lot of times when I cook it saves both money and time in the long run especially if I make meals for half or a whole week at once.
Slow cookers are also great for this. If you have a crock pot use it, they can be a massive time saver and can slow cook meals like stews and roasts for you as you work or do something else.
You can get filler foods that are cheaper like rice and add them in with meals for cheap starches. Potatoes are also cheap as a side with proper meals. If you want to save costs and are willing to put in the time making your own breads or rolls isn't tough either. Beans can also help as supplemental protiens but you shouldn't be skipping on meats too. Like everything it just takes practice. If you like sandwiches deli cuts are more expensive then just making the ham yourself and carving a weeks worth of meals off on the weekend.
Learn multiple meals that can come off some primary meal too with leftovers. For example with hams I can have ham and cheese, fry some up with eggs, throw it on a pizza, etc. Some of these meals like pizza, quiche, eggs, soups/stews, etc. you can use leftovers for to make a meal of this helps mitigate wasted money and time.

Meals I tend to meal prep:
Grilled Chicken (can be made a million ways), Tacos, Burgers, Sandwiches, Salads (goes great with the chicken), roasts, stews, stuffed peppers, Hams, etc.

If you want some cheap but nice food hunting season is rolling round and venison is great. Get a doe tag they are easier to bag than a buck. In total tags and and hauling to a butcher will cost you less than $100 for $300-400 worth of food. If you want to cut the butcher middle man and butcher yourself this can save you ~$80 but you have a lot of work to do.

It should only take you an hour or two to literally set yourself up for most of your week.
 
oldTireWater said:
That's a bald faced LIE! Oats are so expensive they have become rich-mans food. They've gone up close to 300% in the last couple years and there's no sign they'll ever come back down. The demand is so high that Big-Oat can charge whatever it wants. Do not develop a taste for god's fiberest grain or you will eat yourself out of house and home. Think of your children, it's too late for me.

Seriously, oatmeal is very good but also very fucking expensive. It makes up probably the third largest single portion of my average grocery expenditures. Stick to dry beans and rice.
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I was curious made a quick comparison for my local grocery store prices in bulk:
  • Corn flakes, $0.18 per ounce or $0.17 per 100 calories
  • Oats, $0.12 per ounce or $0.11 per 100 calories
  • Rice, $0.045 per ounce or $0.05 per 100 calories
  • All-purpose wheat flour, $0.17 per ounce or $0.03 per 100 calories
 
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