Formerfish's Advice Column

[James Brafin]

So a very good friend took me to the store for an emergency for class today. How can I show her my gratitude?

[James Brafin]

Good idea, thanks!

[James Brafin]

What are your favorite really easy and cheap meals?

Give me a little more to go on. What kinda budget are you on, or what's a normal meal for you? Are you opening a can of beans and cooking a hot dog to chop up and eating a roll with it, or are you having a meat and 2 sides?

What kind of cooking set up are you running? Camp fire, exec kitchen, easy bake oven?

I can give a variety of you like, or I can narrow in on you and give more specific answers. I've been working in the restaurant industry since I was 14, and that was 22 years ago. I've worked in fast casual, niche, and corporate staples. I'm self taught for the most part having watched my mom and dad cook growing up and then dicking around at restaurants I've worked at until I got promoted to manager somehow. It's amazing how quickly you get sick of the menu food and start to make your own. I've been able to translate that into my home cooking and have been able to grow drastically.

I'm just getting back to the point where food is an interest of mine beyond being necessary to live. I've thought about doing a cook book, but haven't worked up the dedication to put that together yet.

Let me know where your head's at and we can figure this out.

Here's one: Living in the dorms at college. Something quick, easy and tasty for $20?

[James Brafin]

Here's one: Living in the dorms at college. Something quick, easy and tasty for $20?

what appliances do you have at your disposal? Can you store fresh food? Can you store frozen food? I'd personally invest in a george foremen grill if you have any type of food storage situation + a way to wash it.

I have pots, pans, an oven, a fridge and freezer and various measuring cups and cooking utensils. I'm not allowed to have a grill on campus unfortunately, or a waffle iron/panini press/anything similar, because of fire hazards.
I'm seriously considering getting a blender though. Having access to smoothies and/or milkshakes would be BOMB.

[James Brafin]

Finding a cheap market, and also not having a TON of space (It's a mini fridge and freezer) so it does need to be something where I use anything that won't keep right then and there.
I'm also not very good yet and a suggestion on easier, but still more interesting than basics, would be good.

[James Brafin]

Finding a cheap market, and also not having a TON of space (It's a mini fridge and freezer) so it does need to be something where I use anything that won't keep right then and there.
I'm also not very good yet and a suggestion on easier, but still more interesting than basics, would be good.

What area are you in? I could suggest some places I like near me, but if you aren't in the same place it'd be like speaking Greek.

Let me know that piece first and I can fold it into a bigger answer about the basics.

Kirksville, Missouri. Basically the middle of nowhere.

[James Brafin]

Shop at Aldi, check.
Just so you know I'm not a picky eater! I like just about everything. My favorite things to eat tend to be ethnic, but anything goes for me (as long as it's not extremely spicy -- a decent amount of heat is ok, but not over the top)

[James Brafin]

Shop at Aldi, check.
Just so you know I'm not a picky eater! I like just about everything. My favorite things to eat tend to be ethnic, but anything goes for me (as long as it's not extremely spicy -- a decent amount of heat is ok, but not over the top)

Cool cool. I'm the same way, now, but used to be super picky. I feel the same way about heat as well, I like it for flavor but when it overwhelms it becomes a distraction.

What are some things you are making right now? Basics are going to include pasta with proteins, proteins with 2 sides, stir-fries, Mexican in all forms, salads, sandwiches, and for me I throw in a lot of kids meals for when I have my daughter. Homemade pizza is a nice alternative to frozen and you can customize your ingredients from the sauce and cheese to your toppings, they will normally have large and small shells so you can have extra or make it twice in different ways.

I buy a lot of my spice mixes from the store, but have also made some. I suggest investing in a wide variety of Ms. Dash or similar. They liven up meals and are versatile which is the name of the game with eating for one. You want to limit you amount of orphan items, things that only have one purpose. If you do then you might end up eating the same thing over and over again or you end up wasting food. There's also a website that you can enter the food you have and it can tell you what you can do with it. When you are waiting on a payday and you need to eat dinner you become quite creative. Necessity is the mother of all inventions and all.

I have been eating a lot of more simple meals recently. One of the benefits of being medicated is that I have an appetite again and care about what I eat. Before it was a lot of frozen meals, now most of my meals are prepared by me. Not complex at all, but they usually have a few different moving parts in each meal.

0.o
BRILLIANT
Thx mate, this is a great place to start! Pizza/pastas is genius, don't know why I didn't think of that.

[James Brafin]

I have a single reusable bag and hoping to get some more from my mom during break. My school is big on environmental protection.