Okay guys,
So kind of on a budget. Not working for the next two weeks due to injury and need some ideas.
I have a toaster and kettle. i need ideas on foods to eat during the day with only using these two appliances.
I usually eat mcdonalds etc but due to needing to budget I just need simple things to get me through until dinner.
I live with a large family and I live downstairs. There is a kitchen. But upstairs with a family I would prefer not to see.
Anything! go!!!
go on gumtree, get a used microwave for $10 (cheapest that i saw after a really quick look, in sydney)
Don't forget to be a sh$%head and say you'll pick it up for free (mate).
Or the typical "yeah mate ill take it for $10…can you drop it off at my Nan's 40km away…"
Yeah GT or a second hand shop. Couple years ago when our microwave shit the bed and was being repaired under warranty we bought one for nix from the salvos or somewhere. Good solid model from the 80's (i.e. made to last), only problem was it didn't have a turntable but we got over it.
80c tins of safcol tuna from somewhere. Have some cheap ass bread and grate some cheese on top to melt if u can, and u have student meal #101.
student meal #101 is Indomie noodles.
student meal #102 is Indomie noodles with a can of corn kernels (hey big spender)
student meal #103 is Indomie noodles with a can of corn and peas (big league now)
Or Indomie with banana…. Nigerian style!
https://yourindonesia.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/nigeria-and-i…
Eeww no way bro! :p
Yeah I tried that. Got sick of them eventually lol.
You forgot student meal #104, Indomie noodles with Indomie noodles.
Yo dawg
As other people have mentioned:
Tuna, salads, tinned food in general.
Scrimshaw also mentioned a slow cooker. That is worth its weight in gold. It will do a delicious stew etc over a day. Soft meat and tender veggies.
Even a Coles roast chook (see Ozbargain) special would work. You can do a lot of things with a roast chook, including sandwiches.
Ignore Indo Mie etc. Constipation in a plastic packet.
I think you are going to have to starve for a while so u can afford all the suggested appliances.
All you need is a $10 rice cooker and a cheap sandwich press and you are pretty much masterchef (Not really. But close).
Sandwich press = frying pan + grill
Rice cooker = pot + oven + steamer + pan
In a rice cooker you can make soups, rice, puddings, steamed cake, vegies, hot pot, stew, congee, frittatas.
Even buzzfeed is onto it: http://www.buzzfeed.com/arielknutson/surprising-things-you-c…
Frittatas might be the way to go for you - cheap, delicious, filling and portable.
You can get reusable Teflon bags that let you make Toasties in the toaster! You could probably throw in a pile of other things in them too.
I think you should just screw the family and do your own thing in the kitchen. Unless they have some legal right to make you do something you rather not do. At most it is an annoyance and letting them influence your eating habbits means that have won.
Domino's Pizza.
Buy a few when it's cheap, put in the fridge.
Reheat with teflon bag + toaster, or you can simply put the pizza on top of toaster, the heat generated will be sufficient to heat it up.
I'm more curious as to why you won't share meals with family? That would be free no? Plus all these suggestions about buying more appliances, why not just use the kitchen upstairs which likely already have those things.. Puzzling
OP never stated its their family ahah
Correct, they are not family. Just a family I live with. I have downstairs and they have upstairs. I would prefer to stay away from them. Was planning on moving out this week but can't now due to not working for a few weeks.
…I sorta know how that feels. Nothing makes meals into a painful experience than having it with someone you don't want to have it with. Good luck.
Boil fish
budgetbytes.com
best website
I've made a number of her recipes, and they're ridiculously cheap and delicious!
(and mostly healthyish)
My best purchase was a portable induction plate. For around $50 plus a frypan and saucepan, you can pretty much cook/fry/heat/boil most things leading to a healthy food intake.
go to council park with free bbq
peanut butter and toast, noodles, corn beef, hot chicken sandwhichs, bakes beans if u love ur own stench, sushi, take up smoking that will supress ur need for food.
goto woolies/coles at 8:30 on tuesdays and get cheap sushi / bakery items / chickens.
Boiled eggs, hard, soft, everything in between.. good protein and balanced cholesterol.
You can boil eggs in an electric kettle if you're careful.
If the kettle is the kind with the heating element in the base, then you can cook stuff like rice and soup in it as well.
You can stock up a variety of fruits, veggies (eg lettuce, tomato, cucumber), cheese, milk, yoghurt, and other deli stuff eg ham.
How about getting different types of cereal and muesli as well?
I don't thing salmon can be categorised as "budget" ingredient. Even ham is already pushing it.
ALDI have Chicken Skewers in all flavours $9.99 for 10 ($1 each)
I grill them in the sandwich press and if I have 2 for each meal it costs me $4 and fills me up - the sandwich press is super non stick teflon so I just clean it with a paper towel. Easy.
Alright, if you can get a sandwich press;
Hash Browns, Eggs, Bacon (breakfast stuff)
Toasted cheese sandwiches (obviously)
Spaghetti Toasties (simply put cold spaghetti in between two bits of bread and cook, also works with baked beans)
Migoreng Noodles (or any instant noodles)
Mac Cheese
That's what I'd do anyway, good luck!
Buy yourself a bag or pure whey protein from Bulk Nutrients and stir it up in some full cream milk bro.
I've never done it but you can boil an egg in a kettle and have it with toast.
I've survived on this for a week:
http://aussiesoylent.com.au/
I suspect it's healthier than most other items in the category of "food with quick preparation time and no cooking required."
Mind me asking how was it?
Taste/Texture wise?
How did you feel during the trial?
I've been keeping my eye on the kickstarter Soylent but this seems like something I'd love to try
Taste is pretty neutral, like oats. That means I can add banana/hazelnut/yoghurt/chocolate etc to stop getting bored of it.
Texture is not great. It coats your mouth with a feeling of sediment. Some things help, like using an immersion blender, letting it settle overnight in the fridge, having it over ice… but mostly it's something you just have to get used to.
Health wise I haven't noticed any changes. First few days had bloating/burping but that went away. Poop stayed normal (3-4 on bristol stool scale.) Makes you feel full.
hmm, thanks for the info!
I might stick to trying to make my own formula right now! Hope that works out :x
If you can find a way to get your pasta cooked with a kettle, try this: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/simple-summ…
buy some instant oats for breakie, just need boiling water. fills you up too.
1) get some Vietnamese pork rolls for about $4 each. Not exactly healthy but they have good nutritional balance (bread, vege and meat).
2) when you are over there you may as well ask for yesterday's bread rolls. I don't know where you live but my local one sells a HUGE bag (>20 rolls at least) for ONE buck. The downside is you still need to work out what to put it in them (spam maybe?)
3) If you are truly desperate, try cook rice somehow and eat it with soy source.. I am not joking, one of my friends used to live on that and he reckons it tastes pretty good.
If you can still move around without too much hassle, I would recommend you to check out the food range in big Asian supermarkets, you might even enjoy these two weeks :)
Fritz with cheese and tomato sauce in toast. Can't go wrong.
Not sure where you are but Aldi in Vic sell a 500gr bag of cooked chicken breast (where the deli meats and cheeses are). Its chunky pieces works great in salads, 2 minute noodles or on sandwiches. It costs between $6 and $7 if I remember correctly but goes a VERY long way.
Buy a cooked roast chicken from Coles / Safeway or anywhere else. Usually marked down at the end of the day. It will last up to 3 days in the fridge. You can do all the above with it.
Add shredded lettuce and finely sliced onion to tuna in oil with a bit of pepper (lemon juice if you like) - great on toast or as a salad (good alternative to eating plain tuna!)
Use tinned chickpeas as a salad base, add anything you like. I usually use chopped onion, tomato, cucumber, lemon juice, pepper and a drizzle of oil. Very filling and cheap.
Can't go past a cup o soup and a few crackers. The creamy ones tend to be much more satisfying. Aldi has a decent chicken noodle.
Muesli bars and oat bars are always on special and you usually get 6 serves per packet.. good just as a filler in between.
Mushrooms are great raw in salads if you can get them on sale or just buy a handful. A good addition to two minute noodles. Pop in a few frozen peas to stretch it further. (Sit frozen peas in a cup of boiling water to defrost first).
Good luck!
Canned fish ( salmon, tuna etc)
Boiled eggs
Cold meat
Dried fruit
Nuts
Delivery Hero!
I've seen someone at work cook eggs in the microwave in 2 minutes
I guess you will need a microwave and/ or a bar fridge and/ or a mini stove and you will be ok
CANS ARE YOUR FRIEND! They are cheap healthy and nutritious and you can shape them any way you want with a few basic herbs without the need to cook. Choose basic cans such as red kidney beans or corn or butter beans etc without sauce and just chop a little bit of garlic, pepper and soy sauce - with a bit of chili and lemon if you like and it tastes really good. You can do this with most things to change/dress things from bland to tasty. just get the herbs you enjoy ! obviously you can have salads, sandwiches/rolls on top of that which you can change to your liking. I suggest cooking meals at night when youre comfortable or when the family isn't around and then keeping it in the fridge so you can use it at other times (I do this sometimes as my roommate often has people over and I don't feel comfortable using the kitchen so I keep stuff around in fridge for quick snacks)
Find an asian grocer. Get a box of Indo Mie Mi Goreng. Go to coles, grab tuna tins. Go to woolies, grab chicken tins. Some cheap greens (spinach leaves etc) and a carton of eggs.
Perfection.
Oh man! I lived like this for a year (not completely, but I did mostly only have my kettle to work with and then takeout)
Easiest thing (and its great for winter) is to buy some powdered milk and oatmeal/porridge. Instant is best, but normal oats are workable. Just put them into a bowl with a bit of boiled water and stir.
Lunches can be instant noodles. Don't buy the pre-powdered ripoffs, go to Asian grocery stores and buy the 20-pack just noodle packs for like $4. Some eggs, chicken stock and you have a lunch.
I also just ate a lot of fruit. And it would just be "buy a kilo of the cheapest food that week and eat it."
I also boiled pasta this way, but that didn't turn out too well.
Pork chops in your toaster. You'll need to do it a few times but you'll get a result.
It's dizzy stuff :)
Wait… serious?
That's bloody genius. Or bloody idiotic. I'll try it myself and decide.
LOL yeah, I heard it on a radio program years back. The caller said he'd put pork chops through his toaster several times and when the hosts asked how it turned out, he said you'll get a result :)
The radio program was "Get This" on Triple M in 2006-7 with Tony Martin as host and Ed Kavalee as co-host. Richard Marsland later came in to be the subject of most of Ed's jokes and be the 2nd co-host. It's all recorded and uploaded to a few websites but I doubt I'll be able to find that moment in all the hundred of hours.
Canned or dry cat food. Cheap, nutricious, doesn't require cooking.
try pocket pizzas in the frozen foods section. just pop one in the toaster.
can you buy a cheap microwave, I remember getting one from kmart a few years back for $40 so send hand should be really cheap.
Flat sandwich press can cook a schnitzel, fry egg, make bacon, and also make toasties. Haha, all so healthy! Leave lid open, put a slice of tasty cheese on it, let it bubble away and create a tasty crispy cheese thing (blot the oil before eating). Guaranteed 100% delicious. You just need to be creative.
If you have any cast iron or pots that are magnetic (edit: ie high steel content that a fridge magnet will attach to..check 18/10 stainless..some do, some don't), all hope is not lost.
For $50_ish delivered, get a portable induction cooktop off ebay (some even have a bonus pot). Stovetop cooking is back on the menu :-) Extremely quick and energy efficient. Very light unit so can store away easily.
Useful for when moving into accommodation that only offers crappy electric hotplates.
Or make a DIY solar oven like I did with old cardboard, aluminium foil, starch glue, a black pot, some oven bags, (a thermometer) and of course sunlight!
http://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/146478/30910/1011640291…
http://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/146478/30911/1011647175…
http://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/146478/30912/1011640443…
A very cheap and environmental-friendly cooking method. It takes longer to cook than traditional methods but you can just leave it outside under the sun, do your stuff and come back after 1-2 hours and lunch is ready.
The bigger oven can help the pot reach up to 92 oC on sunny days. If you use metal instead of cardboard and aluminium foil and increase the oven's size, it will be much more powerful. Not to mention box type or parabola ovens which you can use for BBQ and roasting.
If going the instant noodle way frozen peas+corn is good.
Can also buy a half kilo mince (leave a small portion of mince out before you eat to get it closer to room temp, cook it through with the boiling water to make the "soup" and then add the instant noodle stuff) to get more nutrition out of it.
A simple coleslaw pasta salad can be pre-done up quite quickly in a larger portion and kept in the fridge. Might not hold it's own for a meal but might make for a nice side or in-between meal to add to variation.
-Ready coleslaw
-Pasta (get the ones that can cook easier since you only have a kettle)
-Ready cold meat (tuna/chicken loaf/ham from aldi maybe)
-Mayo (extra)
-salt + sugar to flavour (extra)
-shredded cheese to toss through (extra)
Buy Soylent, it costs me $7 a day (for 3 meals), it's like baby formula for adults, it has everything your body needs.
http://diy.soylent.me/recipes/australian-soylent-10-improved…
This thread is mad dumb.
Hell if you're in Sydney I'd give you my old microwave.
Or go to Kmart and buy that $49 shitter they have.
How unfortunate :( Best of luck!!
Don't forget to exercise because it really does help with recovery. Lots of youtube videos for that. I can recommend some for you.
I can't stand my family either :)
Sandwiches can be boring.
Chicken and vegetables are the best because it's filling and LOTS of food.
As to filling in time with a shoulder injury, Reading? (I don't know if you can turn pages though), streaming shows.
Unfortunately with restricted arm movements that restricts activities.
EDIT - I tried to PM you some more support and a menu but you don't receive new messages so message me if you are interested :)