The Pauper's Gourmet

I love fish. I love catching fish, cooking fish, and eating fish! Yesterday I made a pan-seared tilapia with roast potatoes and a side of fresh greens. It was incredibly easy, and affordable. The following ingredients serve 2 people, but I bought a pack of tilapia that serves 5. If you buy a pack of tilapia and you are only planning to use part of it, then don't thaw the whole pack! You are not supposed to re-freeze fish (or any meats), so just thaw what you need and leave the rest in the freezer for future use. For dinner with my sister yesterday, I used: 1 pack of frozen tilapia filets: $6.99 for a pack of 5 ($1.40 for each person) a small dollop of oil: let's say $0.05 4 potatoes from my sack: about $0.25 worth mixed greens: about $2.50 for a pack (we have leftovers) salt black pepper paprika cayenne pepper 2 small cloves of garlic TOTAL: $9.79 to serve 5; $1.96 per person. Instructions: Potatoes: I have a million different ways of doing roast potatoes, but this is what I di...

I am so excited to be making this for dinner tonight! My friend Cathy taught me how to make this simple but scrumptious sauce, which is high in protein and very satisfying. It's very simple and very affordable... and it's on the stove right now and it smells like heaven wafting out of a pot. Yay! :-) Importantly, I used olive oil this evening, because I have it in my pantry. If you don't have olive oil, then you can manage with regular cooking oil. But you should absolutely add a big bottle of olive oil to your pantry wish list. It is a bit costly up front, but it will last you for a long time and is well worth the value. Here is what you will need, and what I paid for each required ingredient: 1 lb of extra lean ground beef: $3.95 1 onion: $0.20 (from my sack) 3 small cloves of garlic: $0.05 (from my pack) 1 jar of strained tomatoes (mine was about 660ml, but give or take): $1.99 3 tablespoons of olive oil (you can use cooking oil if you don't have it): about $0.30 fo...

After 3.5 weeks of being spoiled rotten at my mother's house, I returned to home and my kitchen, which was as barren as a wasteland. All I had in my pantry was some basmati rice leftover in my 10kg sack, some onions, garlic, a few potatoes, and some cooking oil. What a perfect way to start recipes for this blog! Here's what I picked up from the grocery store for today's recipe: 1 can of crushed tomatoes: $1.10 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs: $4.99 2 fresh garden tomatoes: $0.70 1 cucumber: $1.29 TOTAL: $8.08 for 3 normal sized servings (as pictured above), or two gluttonous portions that will loosen any belt. I also used a cup of rice from my 10lb sack, which is about $0.25, and an onion from a 3lb sack, which is about $0.30. Plus a 1/4 cup of cooking oil and a bit of salt and coriander. With this, I made my mother's simple but sweet chicken karahi with rice, with a tomato-cucumber side salad. That's between $2.5/person for 3 dinners, or $4/person if your idea ...