CC cooking on a budget in a small kitchen

[Celini]

Here is my kitchen and some recipies of low budget food

 

[Celini]

The pictures are of my kitchen where i do all my cooking. it is situated in a council bungalow in the UK.

First picture is a view from the door with the washer and the kettle
Secund picture is the gas cooker.
Third picture is showing the larder i store all dry goods.
Fourth picture is a bench hubby made for me for prepairinmd and dishing up.
Fifth picture is of my slow cooker and my steamer

 

[BH51]

Low budget cooking in close quarters is indeed a challenging
art form....I invision many a tasty meal coming out of yours.
I prefer a gas stove but I'm stuck with electric..I envy...BH51.

 

[Celini]

Hiya BH i have a gas coker yes. WE had one when we moves and they had to re route the gas pipe so we could hook it up.

Will take pictures of our dinners tonight.

Estamated cost of our dinner tonight is about £2, yes for the two.

 

[JJSH]

Is that a slow cooker a.k.a. the budget cooks best friend, on the left of the last picture? Mine saved my life when I lost my job as was without an income for nearly 3 months!

 

[Celini]

Yes it is a slow cooker. We are on a budget and it is invalueble. Cook a lot of food in it. Curry turn out really good in it.

I make curry with different sort of meat i have leftover or tofu.

Hubby made me some more work space in the kitchen wihich is great. Have more space now even though my kitchen is small I can make 3 course meal without a problem and without it stretching our budget too much. We grow lot of our vegetable ourselves and get meat cheap. We are going to start fishing for our fish since we live ina fishing town so that will help keep cost down.

Cheers

CC

 

[bakechef]

I have a small kitchen and have grown to love it. I do have more counter space than you do though. I love having everything within a few steps from any station.

 

[YumYum]

I buy a lot of pre-cooked whole chickens, and I also buy bulk and then freeze food into portions.
I have a small kitchen as well, the pre-portions help so I only have to cook what I need at 1 time.
I also keep my big kitchen in my basment so I have more space. I just go down and get it when I need it.

 

[YumYum]

oops. I meant to say "I also keep my big kitchen EQUIPMENT in my basement". Not my big kitchen. hahahaha

 

[Celini]

I have grown to love my small kitchen and I also buy portions of meat and freeze them in portions. I wrap them in cling film so they are sealed and don't get freezer burn, or small freezer bags I get cheap from £shop or similar shops. i have managed to learn to cook for 2 no, used to cook for 6, 2 adults and 4 growing kids, a big difference but then I had a bigger kitchen.

I have a storage for my equipment out in the passageway from the front door to the backdoor and back garden. It is 6.5'x7' and has a big tall fridge, a big tall freezer and a small table top freezer. I store everything there I don't use on a daily basis.

In the prosess of getting sorted with everything, moved in in feb, and haven't really gotten sorted yet. Growing lot of veg for food and love it.

Cheers

CC

 

[larry_stewart]

When I first got married, I was in school full time ( didnt work) and my wife had a $6 an hour job. So needless to say, the cash wasnt flowing in and we were on a tight budget. Our limit per meal was $3. This forced us to be very creative. At least 3 times a week we had spaghetti. Other meals included pierogi, soups ( pea, vegetable, onion, mushroom barley...). Once a week we would even get one of those lipton rice packets ( the broccoli and cheddar cheese) and we would chop up a fresh broccoli and add it in to give it a fresh, homemade feel).

One of our best finds for inexpensive meals was this local produce store. It was kinda hidden in a rural area. We would buy literally crates of vegetables and fruit for about $10 in total, and Id spend all day Sunday cooking pots of things that I could freeze for the rest of the week to eat ( sauces, soups). It was probably this time in my life where i got the joy and ability to cook, because I had no other choice than to cook my own stuff, and be creative to keep the budget under $3 a meal.

The kitchen was no palace either. If you stood in the center of the kitchen and stretched out your arms, u could literaly touch all 4 walls. Just enough room for the stove, sink and fridge. But many good, memorable meals came out of that kitchen.

I used to get upset that my brother has the bigger, better , fancier kitchen, yet all they eat is frozen prepared food. And here I am, cooking homemade meals every day, watch the food channel, belong to cooking forums, cooking magazines, go to food and wine shows, expos... and my kitchen is quite inferior to his. But , the good thing is, that I know the better , more creative food comes out of my kitchen.

 

[Celini]

I am glad you said that. I have a friend that has a great big kitchen, he lives on his own and lives on M&S ready meeals, fish and chips, chinese takaways. cuz it is easy. Needless to say he is overweight and has a bad heart.

My kitchen might be small but my creativety is huge, and you make do with the means avaleble and make what you can out of bad situations.

When my friend comes to visit I try and teach him how to cook, goes in in one ear and out the other. .

I have made 3-4 course meals for 5 people in this kitchen and it has been very good according to hubby.

 

[Celini]

hi, today I mad a brekfast of, ready break, very cheap and nice to eat with some home madepear and pinapple jam that hubby made the other day from pears he got cheap down the super market and some tinnes pinapple.

For lunch I made super noodles that I buy in bulk every 4 weeks when we get out DLA, fresh cabbage from the garden and some cold peppered ham.

For dinner I am making a pasta sauce, we don't have any pastaso I am having some rice with mine and and hubby that don't like rice will have mash. Total cost for todays food £4

pasta sauce
500g of minced beef
500g of mushrooms
2 carrots
4 onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 bayleaf
3 tins of chopped tomatoes
water
salt
pepper
chillipowder according to taste

if you have a slow cooker brown beef and then add all the rest of the inredients in to it and let it sommer for 5-6 hours.

if not simmer on hob for about 2-3 hours