Post ideas on ways to make cheap (and lower on the calorie scale is nice) food taste better. Stuff like Ramen, rice.. things like that.
I sometimes make a normal package of Maruchan ramen and drop spoonfuls of white rice in.
Another one I do is put loads of Tabasco Chipotle sauce on a BocaBurger.
Please post your ideas!
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Anonymous2006-01-01 15:03
Spices. Specialty blends like steakhouse pepper and cajun if you can. Other options include adding vegetables or rice since both those ingredients are cheap (mostly to existing soups. alternatively, stir frying vegetables in diluted boullion is a cheap and easy way to add flavor to them when short on ingredients). Toasting bread and adding it to ground meat makes for good filler with moisture retention and makes for a cheaper serving too.
Don't buy spices at the supermarket if you can avoid it. If there's an ethnic market (Hispanic, Asian, Indian, West Indian, etc.) near you, they have big-ass containers of quality spices and herbs for far less. A tiny thing of McCormick cayenne pepper will run you $4-5 at a supermarket; a restaurant-size shaker thing of cayenne goes for the same price at my local Cuban market.
Marinating is your friend if you've got meat. A bit of cheap soy sauce, some oregano, black pepper, red pepper flakes (swipe a shaker from your local pizzeria if you need), let it soak for an hour or two, and you've got a hell of a piece of meat.
Signed. A little bottle of cardamon costs $12 (!) in the local supermarket - at the indian supermarket two block away it cost me about $4 for a bottle twice the size, plus they had whole caradmon (green and black) and cardamon seeds as well.
My two staple condiments: hot sauce and lemon pepper. Lemon pepper is high in sodium, so don't use that in ramen...
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Anonymous2006-01-06 0:58
Fry the ramen.
Cook it in just water, til it breaks apart and begins to soften. Drain the water, and toss the mess in a nonstick frying pan. Slop some oil on it and stirfry it with whatever.
Sprinkle the seasoning packet over it as you fry it.
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Anonymous2006-01-12 15:03
salt
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Anonymous2006-01-12 15:06
Ketchup
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Anonymous2006-01-12 18:20
Fuck ethnic food stores, that's where the stereotypes hang out. You know, the people who make racism look like a good idea.
Roasted chicken, sliced, and added to boiling ramen broth, add noodles, boil down. Chicken flavor Ichiban Ramen is the best for this. Sure, it smells like burning ass hair when it's cooking, but it tastes like chicken perfection when it's done.
I pissed a bunch of people off when I made Hamburger Helper with black angus steak. Worry not, it was beef and noodles, not some shit like twelve cheese lasanga.
"Frozen boneless ribs", aka McRibs, are SEXCELLENT when cooked in a toaster oven, put on a bun or a large piece of bread, and liberally sauced with Sweet Baby Ray's spicy barbecue sauce.
By "usual" ingredients are cheese and cayenne pepper. If it has meat in it, it can almost always be spicier and cheesier.
Tapatito hot sauce. It has the kick of tobasco but with a little bit more flavor. Ask anyone who's eaten an MRE and they will tell you that it can make dirt taste good. Also soy sauce when lightly used. I hate it when soy sauce overpowers food (bleh).
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Anonymous2006-01-15 2:44
Right in the last minute or less of making your ramen, throw an egg into it, just crack it open and break it up a bit. The egg will cook really fast. Also throw in a little soy sauce, and maybe some frozen peas and some chopped onion.
>>13 Oh hells yeah! Tapatio is the ultimate. Enough Tapatio and you can eat damn near anything, even sea-urchin eggs are edible with Tapatilo (but only just)
I personally enjoy Johnny's Seasoning Salt, made only in Tacoma Washington by Johnny's fine foods incorporated... but don't let the Tacoma thing scare you off, a little Johnny's makes anything better. (well, not most ice-creams) A big old 24oz shaker of Johnny's costs a good bit, but it'll last for two or so years.
The ultimate spice though, would have to be fresh ground white peppercorns. Just a little snappier than the black ones, with a smooth peppery finish that lingers without burning or overstaying it's welcome. A bit expensive, but hey... you only live once. (just be sure to grind it fresh every time, that pre-ground stuff is blah.)