Practical self-sufficiency: how to put food on the table when you don't have a job

[tree]

 

[DC1346]

How you prepare food is just as important as your ability to obtain food.

One very simple dish that's easy to make and cheap is red beans with rice.

To make this you will need:

1 fifteen ounce can of beans (red beans or kidney beans - DO NOT DISCARD LIQUID)
1/3rd cup water
6 tablespoons of vegetable oil (or margarine)
3 tablespoons of flour
2 cups of cooked steamed white rice
Salt and pepper to taste
1 onion, diced
Optional: Garlic powder to taste
Optional: ground cumin to taste (about 2 teaspoons)

Procedure:

1. Make a roux (sauce thickener) of vegetable oil (or margarine) with flour in a pot. Mix flour in until you have a runny paste.
2. Heat the contents over medium high heat. Add the diced onion. Stir.
3. When the flour in the roux starts to turn golden brown, immediately pour in the beans WITH the liquid. Add the water.
4. Add garlic powder and ground cumin to taste.
5. Bring the beans to a boil. Turn off the heat.
6. Stir in the rice.
7. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Total estimated cost: $1.67
Estimated time to production: 30 minutes
Production yield: 36 oz. (4 and 1/4 cups)

Don't know how to cook rice? It's easy.

1 cup uncooked rice will produce 2 cups of cooked rice.

Put 1 cup of uncooked long grain dry rice in a small pot. (You will need a pot with a lid.) Add 2 cups of water. You always double the amount of liquid when cooking long grain rice. If you like sticky rice, use medium or short grained rice and add THREE TIMES the amount of water).

So now you have your rice in the pot. Place it over high heat. Bring it to a rolling boil. REDUCE HEAT to low and cover the pot with a lid. Check it in 3-4 minutes to make sure that it's simmering i.e. barely bubbling but not boiling. Cook it for 20 minutes total until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender.

 

[Ste11aeres]

That reminds me of my grandparents and great grandparents on my dad's side.

 

[dragonwolf]

How you prepare food is just as important as your ability to obtain food.

One very simple dish that's easy to make and cheap is red beans with rice.

View attachment 21213

To make this you will need:

1 fifteen ounce can of beans (red beans or kidney beans - DO NOT DISCARD LIQUID)
1/3rd cup water
6 tablespoons of vegetable oil (or margarine)
3 tablespoons of flour
2 cups of cooked steamed white rice
Salt and pepper to taste
1 onion, diced
Optional: Garlic powder to taste
Optional: ground cumin to taste (about 2 teaspoons)

Procedure:

1. Make a roux (sauce thickener) of vegetable oil (or margarine) with flour in a pot. Mix flour in until you have a runny paste.
2. Heat the contents over medium high heat. Add the diced onion. Stir.
3. When the flour in the roux starts to turn golden brown, immediately pour in the beans WITH the liquid. Add the water.
4. Add garlic powder and ground cumin to taste.
5. Bring the beans to a boil. Turn off the heat.
6. Stir in the rice.
7. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Total estimated cost: $1.67
Estimated time to production: 30 minutes
Production yield: 36 oz. (4 and 1/4 cups)

Don't know how to cook rice? It's easy.
View attachment 21212

1 cup uncooked rice will produce 2 cups of cooked rice.

Put 1 cup of uncooked long grain dry rice in a small pot. (You will need a pot with a lid.) Add 2 cups of water. You always double the amount of liquid when cooking long grain rice. If you like sticky rice, use medium or short grained rice and add THREE TIMES the amount of water).

So now you have your rice in the pot. Place it over high heat. Bring it to a rolling boil. REDUCE HEAT to low and cover the pot with a lid. Check it in 3-4 minutes to make sure that it's simmering i.e. barely bubbling but not boiling. Cook it for 20 minutes total until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender.

That reminds me of another good tip - learn cooking substitutions and get a general idea of the role various ingredients play in recipes.

For example, sour cream, yogurt, and cream cheese are often binders and can very often be used interchangably. Likewise, eggs are also typically binders and can be substituted with milk or applesauce at 2 tablespoons per egg. This opens up a lot more options, because you can buy what's cheaper or on sale, and you don't have to make a special trip if you're out of exactly what the recipe calls for.

 

[ancusmitis]

This is more just a way of preserving food, but you can freeze bell peppers so long as you cut them first. If you freeze them whole, then you can't cut them any more. It changes the consistency to about the same thing that cooking does (so if you prefer to eat them raw, you likely won't want them frozen)