Healthy Cheap Food

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Want something quick easy and tasty? Then pasta is for you! Start by boiling water in a kettle, once it has boiled put in a large saucepan, put on the stove and turn the heat up. Add to the pan about two generous handfuls of pasta (frusilli, penne, whatever you like) for each person who will be eating. Let this cook for about 10 minutes and regular stir it to avoid it sticking together. While you wait for the pasta to finish you start making the sauce. You will need:

- Garlic or garlic paste

- Tin of chopped tomatoes

- Herbs

- Vegetable oil (olive preferable)

Get small saucepan and pour a small amount of oil in and add around 4 crushed garlic cloves or a large amount of garlic paste. Turn up the heat and slowly add more and more of your tin chopped tomatoes. Keep in mind how many people you are making this for, you may not need the whole tin. Using a small spoon stir up the mix and start to add herbs. Oregano and mixed herbs work well. Now would be a good time to check how the pasta is doing! Once the water form the tinned chopped tomatoes has been boiled you should end up with a tasty sauce to add to you pasta. Serve and enjoy.

Okay, so my year in review post was a bit late this year, but lets take a look at some of the healthy (and not so healthy) cheap recipes of the year:

Ramaghetti

The Cheap Mac and Cheese

BBQ Pork

Corned Beef and Potatoes

Great Brownies

My Favourite Cookies

Grits Rice Porridge

Beef Chilli

I hope you enjoyed them!

It seems like every time I go to the stores, prices have gone up! It seems like there is no end in sight. I think the politicians are lying about this 4% inflation thing. I know prices have gone up a lot more than that and it is really starting to affect our budget.

In order to fight the high price of food, we are doing a lot more cooking inside. We have really done a lot of eating outside the home, but now we are really focusing on doing as much cooking at home as we can. It seems like we just continually are tightening our belts.

Maybe it’s time I really get down to opening up a real business of my own to augment our income. I am serious.

I spent a lot of time in Thailand, more than 6 years living and working, enjoying and hating Thai food. I have come to love certain dishes and loathe others. One dish I like is Phad Thai, sometimes called Pad Thai. It’s a very basic fried noodle recipe. In its native form, it’s not that healthy and in the west it’s not that cheap, but Phad Thai Farang is.

Phad Thai Farang is a special noodle that is cheap and relatively healthy. It’s basic ingredients are ramen noodles, lean ground beef(amount depends on your budget), shredded fresh carrots, shredded fresh cabbage, a couple of diced green chilis and a can of green beans.

First off, you need to buy 4 packages of ramen noodles. Take them out of the packaging, discard the flavoring and put the noodles in boiling water. Cook the noodles until they are soft, then drain and put them in a bowl for later use.

Second, begin browning the ground beef in a skillet or wok. As it starts to brown, add the diced green chilis. Add oil sparingly if you must. Once the beef is browned, add the drained can of green beans, the shredded carrots and the shredded cabbage. You shouldn’t put in too much carrots or cabbage, just a handful should do it. Continue cooking for several minutes. While cooking, use your spatula to continually mix things up. You want to ensure the beef is well cooked. You may also add soy sauce or any other herbs or sauces to spice it up.

Ok now is the expensive option part, adding a half a can of unsweetened coconut cream would make this taste very delicious, but it’s expensive and we aren’t gonna put it in.

Now add the previously cooked ramen noodles and continually mix things up for 2 minutes. Now you are finished. You have a great tasting healthy meal and a cheap meal.

You can do the math on the cost, but it is affordable. It should only cost two to three dollars for a dish that feeds four people.

What do you think?