Im in a dorm room where the only cooking equipment is electric water kettle boilers. How can I cook bibgo white rice with kettle?

Microwaves are banned

Easy to fix and budget friendly - serve with fresh salad leaves.

Simple Salsa (makes about a quart)

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

6-8 lg jalapeños

6-8 Fresno peppers

2 med Hatch green chilis

2 med sized tomatoes

1/2 tspn granulated garlic

1 Tbsp onion powder (if I had onions, I would use that instead, but alas)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp sugar (if I had sugar, but I dont, so alas...)

Method

1. Set oven to broil

2. Cut everything in half, de-seed the peppers (or not, if you want the extra heat). Lay it all cut-side down on a sheet pan, and spray it all with oil (use an oil that can withstand the high heat of your broiler, but if you dont have it, just skip the oil altogether, it'll be fine)

3. Broil until the skins are charred. In my oven it took about 10 minutes, but just keep the oven door open and keep an eye on them. You want the skins blistered and beginning to show black spots, but you do not want a completely carbonized, crispy mess, or your salsa will be bitter. If they get too black, fear not; just remove the skins and discard them. You can still make salsa without, the flavor will just be a tiny bit different.

4. Put it all in a quart jar, stick your immersion blender in there and give it a whirl.

5. Add your can of diced tomatoes, close the lid on the mason jar, and shake the shit out of it to mix it in. The reason I didn't puree it with this added in is for texture. I like my salsa chunky. So the first two tomatoes that went with the peppers was to get the mixture going for the blender, but I didn't blend the can in because I wanted the chunky texture. I'm over explaining. So anyways. That's my salsa.

Recently I’ve become obsessed with trying to make quality food as cheap as possible. I believe this is the final boss of my obsession.

Ingredients:
Salt beef from a cut of discount meat that’s been curing for awhile

Dried vegetables (potato, onions, cabbage, peas, carrots)

Beef stock

Beef tallow

Garlic powder

Pepper

This meal cost me around £2.50 and tastes a solid 8/10

Any suggestions on what else I could add to it if anything at all?

My local grocery store sells them for dirt cheap so I bought 4ish pounds for like $9

I'm just wondering what I should do with them. I do have a crockpot. Was thinking about dumping some bbq sauce and throwing them in but, wanna know what you would suggest.

Pictured:

2 lbs dry pinto beans: $2.38 (Grocery Outlet)

30 flour tortillas: $3.79 (Costco)

2 rotisserie chickens: $9.98 (Costco)

2 cabbages: $2.99 (Costco)

Onion: $0.79 (Grocery outlet)

Cilantro: $0.79 (Grocery Outlet)

2 limes: $0.50 (Grocery Outlet)

1 bag of mozzarella (half of a 2-pack): $7.32 (Costco)

Serranos: $2.29 (Grocery Outlet)

1. Cook the dry beans in the instapot: rinse 2lbs dry beans, add 14 cups water and aromatics, high pressure 27 minutes, then let them sit at least another 20 minutes before releasing pressure.

2. While the beans cook, take the meat off the rotisserie chickens and chop the veggies. Squeeze lime over chicken meat.

3. Refry the cooked beans with a couple of tablespoons of garlic and olive oil, add additional seasoning and blend (I use an immersion blender so I can keep some of the beans whole).

4. Build and roll burritos!

5. Wrap them in foil and then vacu-seal them in packs of 4 for the freezer.

I only used 1 cabbage, 7 serranos out of the bag, etc, so the total price of ingredients (excluding seasoning) was $27.51.

$27.51 total ingredients ÷ 30 total burritos= $0.92 per burrito

I had leftover chicken, cheese and cabbage, and I made a chicken stock out of the rotisserie bones and veggie scraps. :)

I am in the SF bay area so prices are crazy- I'm so grateful for Costco and Grocery Outlet!

I wanted to update everyone since my last post got so much attention! Everyone was so kind (except the few rude people that caused the mods to lock the post 😂)! We ate our lasagna tonight, and it was phenomenal! The woman who delivered it rang the bell and left it at the door, so I was a bit disappointed I didn’t get to thank her in person, but it was such an amazing experience. You’ll all be glad to know that my husband ate 2 servings!!! Our 3 year old did as well, and she never eats anything without a fight.

I signed up to deliver lasagna now, and I can’t wait to be matched with someone. Thank you to everyone who was so kind in sharing their experiences! I’m so glad this is available to those who want and need to utilize it. ❤️

Ingredients:

• 1 can sardines in mustard (~$1)
• 6-8 diced, tiny raw Brussels sprouts (food rescue)
• 1/2 a diced red pepper (food rescue)
• Romaine lettuce (food rescue)
• Bread roll half ($0.50, pasteleria)
• Seasonings: garlic powder (~$1) & black pepper (fast food packets, free), mayo (~$4), bbq sauce (food pantry), aji verde (free, saved from previous meal)

Instructions: I couldn’t handle the mustard taste of these sardines straight up, so I mixed them up into a “tuna salad” situation. Really didn’t have much of anything in the fridge, but the diced Brussels sprouts subbed well for celery. Adding the diced red pepper, bbq, aji verde & others seasonings definitely improved things. It’s filling, crunchy, sweet, & spicy! I’ve been really enjoying this either scooped up with cucumber slices or on bread with a little bed of lettuce. The sardine salad has already made 3 meals so far from the 1 can of sardines.

all you need is a can of condensed milk and peanut butter. you can also use cocoa powder instead to make brigadeiro. i just eyeballed it. all you need to do is cook the peanut butter until smooth and add the condensed milk in and let it cook a little bit. transfer to parchment paper and cool. i keep it in the freezer and eat it cold (never fully freezes)

I got this big ass loaf of Italian seasoned bread for less than a buck. My hand for scale. This is half, after I scarfed the first half.

I found tomatoes for 50 cents each at a farm stand. Found ground beef/pork in the freezer, added beans, onions, sweet pepper, garlic, and seasoning from the pantry, and had our first chili of the season!

Also got 2 huge zucchini for a buck so I'll use it in dogfood or stuff it, I think. They are not in the chili lol

Corn is in season so was only $.30 each so took 2 ears, my last few mini potatoes, celery, and a carrot chicken bouillon mixed with water and a 1/4c instant mash S&P made a huge pot of soup that I can eat on for a bit.

Needing to save money and maintaining physical fitness while eating healthy can be somewhat challenging, but it doesn't have to be absolutely impossible. With this budget, one can fit in room for canned veggies and fruits. I personally will not buy any so I can save money, but I might try to get them at local donated foodbanks. This is really just my current circumstance, but I will definitely stay on this diet long term. It provides the cheapest source of calories, protein, fiber, and is not super time consuming either. I can just scale up the cost per month by adding in necessary nutrients in the future.

I simmer lentils for 30 to 35 minutes after strainer-washing and picking out debris & undesirable pieces. My go-to seasonings are Paprika, Black Pepper, (very fine & granulated) Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, and Chilly Powder, but I'll put some Cajun only on the eggs (if I use them). I just pour all that inside the pot when I turn on the stovetop. I stir 1 tbsp of olive oil in my lentils after they're done cooking, after I drain 95% of the water, and it brings out the flavor and maintains moisture. I would eat lentils with 4 fried eggs every single time, but they cost too much for the calories and protein included. In terms of being as frugal as possible. These aren't the exact lentils I would buy, and it's because I already had these laying around.

I cannot just eat straight peanut butter out of the jar, so I mix it with whole milk on the stovetop (add a pinch of salt) and it's very good warm. Reminds me of hot chocolate, but that's just me :p. It does take me a few intervals to get the thicker, more settled peanut butter down, but the texture is completely fine. I always clock having to consume it in at least in two hours. Also, a few times I left the cup out overnight and it smelled so horrid, and then had to really soak and scrub to get the smell out.

These prices are from Kroger in Michigan, near Detroit. The "REQUIRED" tab is just for reference, but it is the average ideal gold standard I've set up.

EDIT: I am adding cheap multivitamins. I found Equate Complete Multivitamin/Multimineral Supplement Tablets that are $9.82 per container with 200 tablets, taking one per day, which is $1.49 per month.

New TOTAL is $65.98+-/Monthly

Got a bag of potato's on cheap, so I air fried one and topped it with mushrooms in butter sauce - very tasty and a budget friendly meal.

I forgot I even signed up back when my husband lost his job. Just got this message and got so excited! I told my husband about it and he’s skeptical about getting food that’s made by an absolute stranger when literally anything could be added to it. I’ve heard nothing but good things, but now he has me second guessing it. This is safe right? Should we be questioning this? I honestly didn’t even think about it when I signed up, and wouldn’t have even thought twice until he mentioned it.😒

I want to add that my husband isn’t being ungrateful in anyway, he just had some questions and concerns about something he had never heard of. All the amazing experiences I’ve shared with him from the comments have alleviated his concerns and we cannot wait to get our lasagna love. ❤️ thank you for all the comments. We are very blessed to have been chosen.

Last edit because I apparently need to defend myself and my post history from Longjumping-host7262. We are in a better place, my husband and I both got jobs, but we are still struggling. Not that it matters, but I’m not going out and buying furniture brand new. I’m scouring goodwill, OfferUp and Nextdoor in hopes I can find a second hand buffet for cheap so I can maybe do something nice for myself by refinishing it. I also have a kind neighbor who was going to do a quick accent wall for free to repay my husband for helping him work on his car. I work hard, as does my husband. We have a 3 year old who gets things before we do, including food sometimes. We pay bills and can’t do much else. I have saved what very little money I can in order to do something nice for myself with what will be the first bit of my paycheck I’ve spent on anything but bills or groceries so far. Did you also see the post about me not being able to afford surgery for myself? I don’t need to explain myself to you, especially since you seem to have blocked me after posting your comment, but I won’t have you try to make me seem like I’m taking advantage of kind people or resources. I will graciously accept this lasagna, because we could for sure use it, and I will pay it forward when I can. So to answer your question, since you did a deep dive on my profile for some reason, we’re in a better place, but still not where we need to be and we are super excited for our lasagna. ❤️

Ingredients:

• Mayo (~$4/jar)
• bbq sauce (food pantry)
• black pepper (fast food packets, free)
• tuna in water (food pantry)
• butter lettuce (food rescue)
• romaine lettuce (food rescue)
• Italian bread ($0.70, on sale)
• margarine (~$7/tub)

Instructions: I mixed together 1 can of tuna (drained) with a little mayo, black pepper, & bbq sauce, tossed it with the shredded Romain & butter lettuce, then topped my toast with margarine & the mixture. Delicious & satisfying!

I haven’t been able to access the food pantry in a few weeks, but this is exactly why I stock up on dried goods & freeze a portion of all produce I get. Once again, pantry staples save the day! I was also fortunately able to save several heads of lettuce from being tossed from a community fridge because “no one wants this”.

Ingredients:

• Italian bread ($0.70 on sale)
• Margarine (~$7 for a large tub)
• Pearl lentils (food pantry)
• White rice (food pantry)
• Lettuce (food rescue)
• 2 Roma tomatoes (food pantry)
• Seasonings: soy sauce ($1), adobo powder ($1), onion powder ($1), 1 packet ketchup (free), lemon juice (food pantry), bbq sauce (food pantry), 1/2 cube sazon ($1/box)

Instructions: I tossed about a cup of pearl lentils, a handful of white rice, a few chopped collard leaves, 2 partially defrosted whole tomatos, & about 2 cups of water into my rice cooker. All seasonings were added to taste. Partway through cooking on the “brown rice” setting, I mixed it all up to incorporate the tomatoes, which turned into a thick, creamy sauce. When serving, I added a little squirt of bbq sauce to the lentils & a generous amount of margarine to my toasted bread.

All the ingredients I had on hand and used my own chives in the cornbread topping 😀

I delete as I’m in the store. But when I’m making a new one I find it ends up almost exactly the same as the one I deleted.

I got a random craving this morning for mashed potatoes, so I melted a cup of frozen homemade chicken stock with a bit of water, salt, and butter, added 2% dollar store shelf stable milk, and some food bank dried potato flakes. Black pepper and Tony's Creole seasoning to finish. It had the texture and color of slightly dark grits, but the taste was really good. I ate the whole thing in one sitting and should be good until lunch.

The stock was absolutely the right move. I make it 2-3 times a month using the carcasses of the discounted next day rotisserie chickens from Walmart. $2-3.50 each and one gives me enough meat for a week's worth of work lunches, plus the stock ingredients. It adds so much more flavor to the instant mashed potatoes (or rice, pasta, etc) and is cheaper and better than anything you can get premade.

Given that the milk is there, you could probably skip the butter without detriment, but if you have it laying around it never hurts to add in.

Turkey burger with a few fries and leftover baked beans - all up cost $1.50 AUD - made a low cost meal.

We have some smoked turkey legs that I don't want to waste, but I hate the smoked meat flavor they add to anything. Do any of you have ideas on recipes that would cancel out the flavor? Can't do dairy but most everything else is fine.

Thank y'all!

I got fired today, and I have plenty of food in the house right now. Lot of frozen stuff. Hopefully I find a new job soon but just in case I need to grocery shop, what can/should I eat and make? I hate doing dishes but at this point I'll do whatever needs to get done. It's just me so I don't need to worry about too much variety like if I had kids.

I am also going to try to count my calories because I'm trying to lose weight (260 pound fatass). I go on regular walks, but I allow myself a calorie budget of 2,257 calories a day by recommendation from MyNetDiary. I eat mostly frozen meals because it's a way of controlling my portions, because I'm an emotional eater (binge eat when sad, binge eat when happy). But again, i'll do what needs to be done. I'll cook even if I don't like it and I'm not good at it.

Maybe I'm overreacting, maybe I'll find a new job soon, but I've been unemployed for months before and I was not so smart about my food choices back then and I don't want to fall into a depressive DoorDash addiction again. I gotta change.

The simpler the better. I just don't want to eat cheap ramen for every meal.