When money is tight, sometimes the grocery budget has to take one for the team. Sometimes there is no budget for groceries. Read More
The following five recipes have gotten my family through tough times on more than one occasion. They’re all made with inexpensive ingredients that many chefs (and most moms) always have in the kitchen. They may not be the most elegant dishes to grace your table, but they sure do feel good on an empty stomach.
1. Spaghetti
This one is a no-brainer. Pasta is cheap, plentiful, and most kids will eat it. If you’re short on store-bought tomatoes or even salsa, find change at the bank and buy a can of tomato paste. A pinch of salt and a little Italian seasoning make a 60-cent pasta sauce that rivals anything you can buy in a jar. Basically, cut up any leftover meat dishes and viola, you have impromptu meatballs! My favorite inexpensive spaghetti topper is a microwavable hot dog cut on the diagonal. Stylish and affordable.
2. Rice pudding
My kids don’t like rice as a side dish, but when I put out a bowl of rice pudding for my daughter instead of her usual steel oatmeal, she screamed. She thought she was being pampered, but really I was too broke to buy breakfast food. Like many moms, I always have a half-empty bag of white rice in the pantry, and I usually have raisins, cinnamon, and enough milk to make a delicious empanada. Plus, it’s always nice to feel a little pampered when money is tight.
3. Bean soup
You knew you wouldn’t use that 15 bean bag of soup you bought last October, but it was 25 cents! If you remember where you hid it, just toss it in the slow cooker overnight and it will keep your belly full until payday. Not a fan of exotic beans? You have an entire aisle to choose from, and they’re all equally plentiful and affordable. A few extra coins will get you an onion to throw in the slow cooker; otherwise, the inedible stale bread will absorb this soup like a carb-filled sponge.
5. Macaroni Casserole
A 50-cent box of macaroni and cheese, diced bologna, and a bag of frozen peas. Need I say more?
5. Steaks
Imagine yourself in the days of the hunter and the gatherer, when ancient rituals were sacred and nature was a force to be reckoned with.
Restaurant Mirdif is my take on a visceral steakhouse and bar experience that celebrates the dawn of culinary tradition in a modern restaurant setting.
Enjoy quality meat and products and enjoy the aromas of meat at Hunter & Barrel Dubai.
Quality steak, meats and produce are at the core of everything on the Hunter & Barrel menu. We let the ingredients speak for themselves, with fresh meats, poultry and seafood grilled over our signature charcoal grill for an irresistibly smoky charred finish.
