College kid kookery - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Mbwuto · 09-22-2004, 07:27 PM

Alright, so I'm sure many TFP'ers are broke college kids with a rusty teflon pan and five bucks to spend on dinner. The woes of being young and poor, right?

In my area at least, those prime cuts of meat(chicken breast, steaks, ribs) are getting hell of pricey lately. So, what is your favorite cut of meat that doesn't take a bite out of your budget?

For me, the pork tenderloin may be king. I feed three chums nicely off one seven dollar cut, add in fresh vegetables and we may hit ten dollars.

Also, the chicken thigh! I got four thighs for five bucks at the market today. The chicken breasts cost nearly three times as much. At the moment the four are soaking up dill, roasted garlic, and lemon juice. Add in mashed garlic taters and a few rolls and I have a damn feast on my hands.

So, let's hear some ideas and proteins for the broke ass folks.

*edit* I had this open on my desktop for a while and never saw the thread just underneath it. Goddang! sorry about the duplicate thread creating.

GM2 · 09-22-2004, 07:41 PM

I used to be that guy. Top sirloin is a pretty good cut of meat and it costs about 3 dollars a pound I think. You can make good stew out of it, there's some cheap eatin. Takes a can of tomato juice, carrots, onion, potato, and the meat and you have 8 meals easily for under 10 bucks. Pretty healthy, too. The only fat is the little bit from the meat and maybe a little olive oil.

I didn't mind eating the same thing every day for a week

ncgti · 10-09-2004, 03:31 PM

get a whole chicken that is cutup - sometimes you can get it for less than a $1/lb

william · 10-09-2004, 05:53 PM

Even if you can't get a whole chicken cut-up, buy a whole chicken anyway. It's not that dificult to figure how to cut it into sections. That will always be cheaper than buying pieces.
Another choice, if you have Winn-Dixie in the area: find a good used freezer (actually new ones aren't that expensive), and watch their adds. A lot of times they have bogo (buy one, get one free) and bogt (buy one, get two free). Stock up. If you're not sure how to cook the meat on sale, ask their butcher. Ours is very friendly, and even lets us know if a piece needs some serious marinating or not.
Read the adds, and check the sunday paper. Coupons are never an embarassment to use, if handled wisely.
Option - read your local paper, especially if they have a food section (usually on Thursday - can't say why). Check those ads. We have a couple of local (small-town?) markets that will have good deals. One recently posted t-bones for 3.99/lb. (reg. price 9.99/lb). Not a big buy, but it feels good to splurge and fire up the bbq, especially when corn's in season, w/a baking potato.
One final thing - check the recent posts on cheap meals. There's a world of food ideas there.

09-22-2004, 07:27 PM	#1 (permalink)
Mbwuto Crazy	College kid kookery Alright, so I'm sure many TFP'ers are broke college kids with a rusty teflon pan and five bucks to spend on dinner. The woes of being young and poor, right? In my area at least, those prime cuts of meat(chicken breast, steaks, ribs) are getting hell of pricey lately. So, what is your favorite cut of meat that doesn't take a bite out of your budget? For me, the pork tenderloin may be king. I feed three chums nicely off one seven dollar cut, add in fresh vegetables and we may hit ten dollars. Also, the chicken thigh! I got four thighs for five bucks at the market today. The chicken breasts cost nearly three times as much. At the moment the four are soaking up dill, roasted garlic, and lemon juice. Add in mashed garlic taters and a few rolls and I have a damn feast on my hands. So, let's hear some ideas and proteins for the broke ass folks. edit I had this open on my desktop for a while and never saw the thread just underneath it. Goddang! sorry about the duplicate thread creating. Last edited by Mbwuto; 09-22-2004 at 07:30 PM..

09-22-2004, 07:41 PM	#2 (permalink)
GM2 Insane	I used to be that guy. Top sirloin is a pretty good cut of meat and it costs about 3 dollars a pound I think. You can make good stew out of it, there's some cheap eatin. Takes a can of tomato juice, carrots, onion, potato, and the meat and you have 8 meals easily for under 10 bucks. Pretty healthy, too. The only fat is the little bit from the meat and maybe a little olive oil. I didn't mind eating the same thing every day for a week

10-09-2004, 03:31 PM	#3 (permalink)
ncgti Tilted Location: the great north state	get a whole chicken that is cutup - sometimes you can get it for less than a $1/lb

10-09-2004, 05:53 PM	#4 (permalink)
william Psycho	Even if you can't get a whole chicken cut-up, buy a whole chicken anyway. It's not that dificult to figure how to cut it into sections. That will always be cheaper than buying pieces. Another choice, if you have Winn-Dixie in the area: find a good used freezer (actually new ones aren't that expensive), and watch their adds. A lot of times they have bogo (buy one, get one free) and bogt (buy one, get two free). Stock up. If you're not sure how to cook the meat on sale, ask their butcher. Ours is very friendly, and even lets us know if a piece needs some serious marinating or not. Read the adds, and check the sunday paper. Coupons are never an embarassment to use, if handled wisely. Option - read your local paper, especially if they have a food section (usually on Thursday - can't say why). Check those ads. We have a couple of local (small-town?) markets that will have good deals. One recently posted t-bones for 3.99/lb. (reg. price 9.99/lb). Not a big buy, but it feels good to splurge and fire up the bbq, especially when corn's in season, w/a baking potato. One final thing - check the recent posts on cheap meals. There's a world of food ideas there.