My wife and I agree that eating well is one of the most affordable luxuries. Eating in ordinary restaurants and ordering takeout becomes less attractive once you hit a threshold of kitchen competence. Our experience is home prepared meals costs 1/3 as much as purchased meals, and rarely results in a disappointing experience.
The Sad Bastard Cookbook
371–380 of 445 posts
Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook
#372Any non-wealthy single person faces an uphill battle to both 1. earn a living 2. take proper care of themselves. In the Middle Ages people invented a rather neat solution for this problem: go live together in a big building, work together, pray together, cook together and call it a monastery.
If you think monasteries were a solution thought up by poor people to be less poor, then I don't think you know much about the history of monasteries. Not that I'm an expert either, but from what little I gathered monks were relatively privileged people.
The fourth son of the landed gentry...
Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook
#373This is actually amazing. I’m not a person who loves food: I’ve lived or stayed in two dozen countries and I just eat whatever seems simple, mostly chicken, eggs and salads.
Although initially I was curious and adventurous with food, I realized I just don’t care much, with very few notable exceptions, like Pad Thai (which I’m pleased is in this cookbook!).
I’d love to see a variation of this cookbook that isn’t 90% carbs. Doesn’t have to be Keto, just not pasta-pasta-ramen-ramen-rice-rice.
A lot more boiled/fried egg-based recipes would be great, or something with canned Tuna / canned Chicken, I guess, if we’re aiming for no-planning recipes that use practically imperishable ingredients.
Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook
#374My wife and I agree that eating well is one of the most affordable luxuries. Eating in ordinary restaurants and ordering takeout becomes less attractive once you hit a threshold of kitchen competence. Our experience is home prepared meals costs 1/3 as much as purchased meals, and rarely results in a disappointing experience.
That's interesting because I find home cooking to be very expensive, if you value your time. Cooking for one, the marginal difference between the price of groceries vs eating out is easily outweighed by the time cost of shopping, food preparation and cleanup. Of course if you enjoy cooking it's a different story.
Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook
#375Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can also buy concentrated stock packages and just bring them to a simmer with however much water you want to use for the consistency. I basically never bother with doing it from scratch these days.
Where are these concentrated stock packages? I've had better than bullion and added gelatin to that, and I think I've seen heinz demi, but what concentrate stock packages to you have available?
Asian food stores have lots of seafood related stock that is difficult to locate elsewhere. For instance, I'll use shrimp paste sourced from Asian food stores when making shrimp étouffée.
Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook
#376Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I haven't ordered a pizza in 3+ years. Even building a pizza up from a prepared crust is way better than frozen. My mother needs gluten-free, and there was a GF frozen pizza we liked that a local store carried. But then it disappeared, and I decided to try building my own from a GF crust. The home-built pizza was so much better that there's no going back - not to mention the opportunity to try different toppings.
are communion wafers girlfriends
Fun fact! No. God hates celiacs, apparently.
* https://theconversation.com/why-the-catholic-church-bans-glu...
Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook
#377Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do some rice in a rice cooker. When that’s done, slap a good helping of kimchi in a hot frying pan (no need for oil). Let it sizzle for about thirty seconds, then crack an egg in and muddle it up some. When it’s nearly done add the rice. Add a bit of sesame oil at the end if you feel fancy. Eat. I got through a kilo of kimchi a week this way when I was a depressed 20-something living in a share-house abroad.
"I got through a kilo of kimchi a week...in a share-house" RIP roommate noses.
Luckily we had an excellent fume hood. Kimchi was far from the smelliest thing cooked on those hobs!
Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook
#378The trick for me is to apply engineering to the kitchen. You can actually enjoy really elaborate meals if you simply make more each time and utilize pyrex+freezer. Why make only 6 servings of spaghetti when there's still 50% free space available in your instant pot? (that 'max fill' line is but a polite suggestion :D) Planning ahead, logistics, etc. can make all the difference in the world. Imagine spending one hour…
"Imagine spending one hour in the kitchen to only feed yourself one time. That would be peak insanity to me today." YMMV. For me, spending time cooking is a great way to take a break from my computer and spend time away from a screen. And like showering, the process of cooking is now mechanical enough that it allows me to focus on broader tangents in whatever I'm working on and set myself up for the next session of c…
I think the general issue on cooking is similar to shopping, exercise, or "work" for some folks. Some have an interpretation of exercise = fun or pleasure. Some, like me, have a body that treats all exercise as the most dreadful idea ever, and even walking up a hill after years of walking up hills is an excuse for waves of fatigue. Endless little voices scream in misery with every step. You end up in a state of "how do I do this because I need to?" It's either lie down at the bottom of the hill because my body has immediately decided it wants to go to sleep with false exhaustion, or walk up the hill.
Eating can be close. Eat because my body makes complaints, otherwise would not even bother. Not even restaurants. More time, and food is often not very satisfying. The actual food made, whether its fresh, microwaved, ect.. does not matter, because my body has decided it no longer wants to enjoy food. I used to think the variation experimentation part was nice, until my body decided it was a mini game to eliminate that. I almost question the "Food you can make so you don't die."
Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook
#379Earlier quoted context omitted.
"I got through a kilo of kimchi a week...in a share-house" RIP roommate noses.
Doesn't need to be kimchi. The technique described can be used for pretty much any fried rice combo--best to let the rice dry out a bit but not necessary and that's not active time--which, given you have the ingredients (which could mostly be frozen) takes maybe 5 minutes.
Yup, it’s definitely best when the rice has cooled and dried a bit, but take care to avoid food poisoning! You only make _that_ mistake once…
Re: The Sad Bastard Cookbook
#380This is actually amazing. I’m not a person who loves food: I’ve lived or stayed in two dozen countries and I just eat whatever seems simple, mostly chicken, eggs and salads. Although initially I was curious and adventurous with food, I realized I just don’t care much, with very few notable exceptions, like Pad Thai (which I’m pleased is in this cookbook!). I’d love to see a variation of this cookbook that isn’t 90% c…
You can make omelets (most simply--there are also frittatas and the like) with just eggs plus whatever cut up. Normally I wouldn't used canned goods--though I suppose I could use canned sardines/small shrimp/etc. or various canned mexican and asian vegetables. Both bacon and grated cheese keep a long time in the fridge and there are various things you could freeze in small batches including vegetables out of the supermarket freezer section. An omelet is one of my lazy go tos when I don't have anything else really ready to go.