Cookin' on a budget - help!

Cafe Society
1

Okay, so I’m a cheap college student and the only means I have of cooking is a 700W microwave (anything with heating elements aren’t allowed). I just went on a $10 shopping spree at Wal-mart, which means I’ve got food for a month. I’m not sure of how to prepare what I’ve got, though, and would like some suggestions. Here’s what I’ve got to work with:
[ul]
[li]Ramen in the following flavors: chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, oriental, chicken & mushroom, and lime shrimp[/li][li]Mahatma brand extra long grain rice[/li][li]Mahatma brand saffron rice[/li][li]Dried red beans[/li][li]Dried split peas[/li][li]Dried lentils[/li][li]Sauces galore: vinegar, tobasco, green pepper, worcestershire, and soy[/li][li]Diced garlic[/li][li]Salt[/li][/ul]
Anything I make has to be contained in a 6-cup pyrex bowl.
I know there’re some good meals hiding in that list, but I could use a few pointers. Luckily, rice cooks very well in this microwave; it gets sticky rather than overly dry. I got good results when I cooked a cup of rice with a ramen flavor packet, so that’s a seasoning option.

Any ideas?

2

You could make some vegetarian red beans and rice. There’s roughly seven billlion red beans and rice recipes on the web; find one you like and have at it. Soak the beans at least overnight to reduce cooking time, then microwave on low till they’re tender. You’ll have to really scale down the recipe, but a six-cup bowl ought to be about right for one person’s worth.

You might also check into recipes for lentil soups; I know Dr.J made some really tasty ones last winter.

3

Overnight soaking, eh? Hm, what kind of cooking times am I looking at with and without soaking beforehand?

Oh yeah, I forgot to include a bag of frozen corn in my list.

4

OK, you really need to get some veggies to go with all that starch. Please? (No, corn doesn’t count - it’s a grain. If you can make bread out of it, it’s a grain.)

Quick lesson in nutrition: combine a legume (bean-like thing that splits in two halves) and a grain (rice, wheat (like in noodles), corn) and viola! You now have a complete protein. Neat, huh? Add garlic, and you now have an edible meal.

You do not have to soak lentils or beans if you’re cooking them in the microwave, but I think you’ll be happier if you do. (You must for stovetop cooking.) Beans and lentils both need to be rinsed and sorted before use. Sometimes stones, bugs or other debris gets in with them. Put them in a colander, run water over them and pick out anything that doesn’t look right.

To use beans, follow the directions on this site. (Scroll down for microwave directions.) One pound dry will cook up to 5 or 6 cups. Beans last for a week in the fridge, tightly covered, so you can cook 'em once and add faster cooking stuff to them all week.

To cook lentils, combine one pound with 5 cups of water. Cover tightly and cook on high about one hour. Check the water level late in cooking. If there’s no more water but the lentils aren’t soft, add some more water. Lentils will also last a week covered in the fridge. Cook and store split peas like lentils. If you poach the seasoning packet from your pork ramen and cook the peas with it, I think you’ll like the smoky taste it gives split peas.

Did you get any oil? Your food (besides the ramen) is very low fat. Added fat will make your food will taste better and you’ll stay more full-feeling. Put a spoonful of oil in your dish, along with half a spoonful of chopped garlic. Microwave that for a minute and a half. You now have “sauteed garlic” via the microwave. (Of course, it’s not *really *sauteed, and don’t let me catch you saying otherwise!) If you don’t have any oil, you can use water instead, but it won’t be as yummy.

Add a grain (ramen noodles, rice or corn) to your cooked garlic.
A ramen noodle brick needs about a cup to a cup and a half of water to cook. Microwave for four minutes.
Rice cooks in a one to two ratio with water, and doubles in size. (1 cup rice + 2 cups water = 2 cups cooked rice.)
Corn just needs to be heated, about 4 minutes for a cup.

Add a spoonful or two of cooked beans and a seasoning of choice. Remember to save the little packets that come with the ramen - they make good seasoning. If you’re using the ramen for noodles, instead of as soup, one packet will often season two meals.

With 11 grain sources (8 ramen flavors+2 rices+corn) and 3 legumes (red beans, split peas and lentils) you have a month’s worth of experimentation before you have to repeat a combo. Play around with your sauces, and you can get even more milage out of the same food. Not bad! Remember to write down any combination you really like so you can have it again.

But do get some veggies to mix in. A bag of frozen mixed (carrots, peas, corn) will mix nicely with what you have.
And call your mother. :stuck_out_tongue:

5

Thanks, WhyNot! You’re right, I definitely neglected the veggies; do I get partial credit for the peas? :stuck_out_tongue: One question, though:

This is for a stovetop, right? All I have access to is a microwave.

6

No, that’s for microwave. Lentils are tricky things, though. They can vary in their cooking time a lot. A way lot. Like sometimes they need 20 minutes, sometimes an hour. It all depends on the age of the lentil on your shelf. Lentils continue to dry the older they get, and the drier a lentil is, the longer it takes to cook. That’s one reason why you shouldn’t mix old lentils with new - your newer ones will be mooshpaste by the time the older ones are chewy.

See here for more lentil tips.

Eensy, weensy credit for the peas. At least they have a color! :stuck_out_tongue: