Some Help With Meals Please !!!

Even though I have no kitchen,I still enjoy cooking up a little something for myself now and then.Why,just last night,I feasted on some tasty pasta with sauce and some Louisiana Hot Sauce for kick. I keep it simple,cooking at a picnic spot along the riverbed (sorry,no water in Arizona!) with gathered mesquite wood and using my trusty blackened blue enamel coffee pot. I also have a wok,which I have used with good results. Any Coyote Cooks out there? (Sniffs the air..) Hmmm...:D

Hey great topic!

If you need a microwave to cook something, a few places that have them to heat up stuff they sell will often let you use their microwave for cooking your own stuff if you ask. Places like fuel stops and seven eleven.

A grill is easy to do if you can get away with making a fire pit somewhere. Not so easy inner city but if you are in a squat, I've seen that work.

I have the good fortune of not being homeless. My favourite thing to cook when I can afford it is seafood, which is pretty awesome here in Australia. Either stuff I catch fishing or at the fish shop. Pasta is a great fall-back when I'm broke.

It's also the standby quick meal served at Hospitality House (http://www.homeless.org.au/rebeccas-community/community-house.htm) when people drop in unexpected. I have the meat pre-cooked and can turn out a 'you want something to eat?' meal served in about fifteen minutes. Defrost and heat up the meat and cook fresh pasta.

This is how I cook the meat:
oil in pan
chopped onion
chopped garlic
1/2 beef mince
1/2 pork mince
brown
red wine
can peeled tomatoes
paul newman's pasta sauce
ciniman sticks
fresh basil
chopped mushrooms
cook
brown sugar
plus any other herbs or spices you feel like adding along the way
serve with pasta, topped with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano

Right on,Dominic!
It rained here in sunny Arizona last night,and I was grateful to have my good 'ol Aussie Duster to keep me dry! Thank You,mates! I dug into my food stash,stored at my friend's house in a 5 gallon bucket (very useful for every storage purpose) and pulled out a can of chicken in broth,another can of potatoes,carrots and gravy,and a packet of chicken gravy and one of strawberry muffin mix. I hunkered down under a picnic ramada,pulled out my Tommy Cooker and some heat tabs and went to work! As the wind and rain blew around me,I managed to fix a pretty good meal for myself,no pans even! I used the cans to heat it up with no bother. (It could have used some salt and pepper but oh well...) As long as you have a means of heating and a good can opener,you're in business!:)

Hi To All

I just thinking of what to cook for dinner

I know that sounds werid however my son and I reside in QLD housing Comm home not a house but a HOME big difference

Any way has any one got some got some really good cheap recipes as sometimes we live from one cheque to another each fort night :o

So i thought hmmm we could share recipes

My fav at the moment is rice cooked in coconut milk the home brand one

and about half way threw the rice has cooked add some dried fruit sultanas are good apricots if i can afford them

or let the rice cook and then add the fruit on top hot or cold

taste yuumy

"Sticky Rice " they call it at the asian resturants

ok has anyone got any more ??:D


Be Well

Donna

Hi Donna, try this,

Rice + Tinned tomatoes + Storebrand French onion soup mix.
Goes with just about any meat, without meat, tuna or with cheese/eggs.
If your budget stretches get a tin of butter sauce mushrooms to flesh it out.

(Mix french onion soup, 1/2 to 1 packet depending on how much rice you are making, with the tomatoes, and the mushrooms and a little water, heat to simmering and add to cooked rice.)
Makes plenty.

Cheers,
Konstantin

thanks Konstantin

i put that in my cook book smiles

Be Well My friend

Donna

one of my favs and cheapest meal is chicken and creamed corn soup
use the cheapest chicken pieces-i try and get thighs or legs-
cooked or just throw them in the pot raw with water
onion
can of creamed corn
pkt chicken noodle soup
you can add other vegies or flavours and when cooked pour raw egg into it (optional )
i make damper too which really fills the belly
3 cups self-raising flour
pinch salt
1 tbls of butter or marg rubbed into the flour
add milk preferably (or water) to make a soft dough like a scone
make into a round like a cake and place in a cake tin or flat tray
powdered milk is good for cooking it goes a long way and is always on hand

i am only employed part-time so i don't have much money for food but i am very fortunate to have a 2 acre yard...i grow my own vegies and have chooks.. i'm never without a feed
i can pick fresh cherry tomatoes,crisp snowpeas,corn and strawberries for breakfast or eggs
a salad for lunch- lettuce,tomatoes,celery,cucumber etc
and vegies for dinner with whatever
a vegie garden is the cheapest and healthiest way ...i know its not easy and most don't have the room or place but you can grow some vegies in pots with a small amount of water usage the mingnotte lettuces are so easy to grow...for around $3 a punet you will have 8-10 seedlings put them in some potting mix and within a few weeks you can continue to pick the leaves when needed for a month or so..
plants that are easy to grow,virtually pest resistant and fast yielders
mingonette lettuce-beans-snowpeas-zucchini-squash-shallots-cucumber-choko-cherry tomatoes-strawberries-chillies...there would be many more and the winter vegies.
bought vegies perish within a week fresh vegies last for ages
when i have an abundance of vegies we take them to the mish for the older ones....we also have macadamias,pecans ,lemons,oranges,mandarins-and from the bush close by near the river we get lilly-pillies,figs-wattleseed-guava,mullet,perch and my water is untainted...i draw it from the ground
i know it sounds to good to be true but i am so blessed that i live in a garden of eden..yes they still exist...i do feel guilty as i have so much but i do try to share my home and my food with my people and my friends in need...
i just wish that i could share this paradise with all of you, my friends this forum has given me.
my home is a little old cottage-kitchen,lounge with two verandahs one converted into my bedroom, my bathroom is in the shed, so is the hot water. i don't have hotwater in the cottage but who cares when you can wake up to only the sound of the birds, eat free from the land,breathe fresh air and have springwater on tap
im sorry i got carried away and went on and on i hope i didn't upset anyone i am just so thankful for the simple pleasures that i now have and that after the struggle your dreams can come true
mine did
cheers fudge

Im a huge fan of italian food myself.

Pasta (any type) 40c+
Tinned Tomato $1.20
Black Olives $2.99 (can be used for 3 - 4 batches)
Mushrooms $1.00+
Garlic 50c
Onion $1.00+ (If you buy a 1kg bag can last for many batches)

If you can afford chicken it also goes well and you throw it in before the onions and garlic.

Cook the pasta in a pot and add salt 1/2 way through cooking
Then add the the garlic and onion to a fry pan and cook till slightly golden throw mushrooms for about 1 min then throw in the olives and tomato.
Once the pasta is cooked throw it into the fry pan and mix.
You can add or remove any ingredients to taste and if you have access to fresh basil it makes the dish perfect.

This dish generally costs about $6 - $7 and you can make up a huge patch and reheat it the next day or so and it tastes even better.

I lived off this for a long time when I first moved out of home.

Get a box of macaroni dinner. Cook it. You now have macaroni and cheese.

Tacos are pretty economical.

For the taco filling fry one chopped onion in pan.

Add one cup of frozen or tin of corn.

Add one tin of three bean mix and cook.

Stir into pan one tin of tomato soup.

Whack in a packet of 'taco mix'.

Prepare the taco shells per instructions and then fill with 'filling'.

Then pop on top some lettuce, tomato and cheese (if you have it).

You'll have heaps of taco filling left over to put in the freezer to use down the track.

Even though I have no kitchen,I still enjoy cooking up a little something for myself now and then.Why,just last night,I feasted on some tasty pasta with sauce and some Louisiana Hot Sauce for kick. I keep it simple,cooking at a picnic spot along the riverbed (sorry,no water in Arizona!) with gathered mesquite wood and using my trusty blackened blue enamel coffee pot. I also have a wok,which I have used with good results. Any Coyote Cooks out there? (Sniffs the air..) Hmmm...:D

hey coyote almost sound s like your in tucson by the river i like that city i think that's where I'm going to this time also again I've been down there 1000 times and the only thing i keep leaving is family problems health my mother past so i had to come back tho Wisconsin i can't wait to get out of this shit hole the 'old say in goes come for vacation and leave on probation and it as the truth it's coming from the horse mouth hate to say it bu its true its easy to live here there so much vegetation here for free a person can live off the land if need be go fishing live off the fish every thing that i ever type on these threads is because I've done it more than once or still doing it when i escape fraom this nut house i'll be alright if i can get a way enough milesor a caross the border-4 they catch up tho me i can't stand how they 're treaching me they acta llike i'm mentaly retaraded and i'm far from tahat shit i have 5yrs of college in me i have an engneering degr3eee behind me the only reason that i don'ta go back tho work ause i can't pas tahe physical my balance is still a little bit off kilter they do'nt let me do any thing or off the yard i'm like a dog on a chain worse than that i don'at treat my animals as bad as im treated i feel worse than being in jail "cause fredom is so close and i can'ta teven go acarosss the street iknow that i've had a brain ijury but shit give me a break! itas been 9monthes ago i was i a car accident it was with my nefew and he feels real bad but i taold him tahat shita happens swerved tao miss some deer that were in the road if he would of hit thewm one probley came threw the wind sheild and killed one of us i'm just thanking god that tahe damage was to me instsed of him he's young and i'm 44he's llike 20 he just got back fraom iraQ and his grand mother past my mother rite after the wake ita was like 15 minutes sfter it well enough "bouta that ita s done and i'm try"in to puat it behind me thats probley why i talk so much sorry for that buta fit its the only thing thata makes me feel good it seems like all of you are in the rm withme and you'al arae here wish you were it feeels goood when peole are ;istening it make person feel like a person.to iwish i could pay for every bodies flight ticket to one placae so every body could ceet every body elsefpr one big gathearing i know when i jump on the rails again i'll run into a couple of youi've probly ran into one of you b-4 weeell not you'al tha live across the oceanbutintheu.s godbless youand take carezipcode.

Yes, you are A-OKAY in my book with this recipe being that
I am Italian and you covered it pretty well.
The sauce will come out great just the way you described
everything that you put in it.
Mangia.......:)

I had steak with mashed potatoes for dinner tonight, I have this at least once a week, probably my fave.

The trick with really nice mashed potatoes is:

Microwave 2 potatoes for 2 mins, place in pot of boiling water, continue to boil.

Finely chop an onion and cook in a fry pan with a teaspoon of olive oil till browned.

Heat 100mls of milk for 1 min in the microwave.

When potatoes are done, drain and return to pot, add tablespoon of unsalted butter, and some of the heated milk, mash, add onion, add more milk to suit right mushiness level...

If you don't put tomato sauce or gravy on your mashed potatoes, you should add a pinch of salt and mash some more.

In terms of cooking steak, the trick is to turn the steak once only. The more you turn it, the tougher it gets, so try and cook on one side only and then turn to cook on the other side, then remove, rest 1min and serve.

One of the best investments I've made was in a George Forman Grill. I usually cook steaks for 3 mins in it, it beeps and perfect steak ready to serve.

In terms of buying steak, my supermarket discounts the day's stock before closing, so you can get a really nice cut near closing and cook it that night. But if you have the funds, butchers usually have better meat.