The biggest take away is that once you have the skills, you can work with any tools. Better tools just make it easier. Work on learning how to cook, it sounds like you have some basic cookware that can probably work for many things.
For example, I have extensive cookware, in cast iron and stainless. A few inexpensive non-stick aluminum too. I’ve had anodized aluminum.
They all cook a little different, but I could probably make most of my 300+ recipes in any of them (stuff with rubber handles can’t go in the oven). It would just take a little re-thinking to work around how each pan/pot works.
I can brown on non-stick, and even develop fond (which is tricky).
As other have said, your best bang-for-the-buck will be inexpensive sets or cast iron. Keep in mind that inexpensive non-stick is trickier to work with (mostly because the pans are thin, so controlling heat is harder), and they wear out faster than better cookware. I’ve replaced quite a few over the years.
After decades of cooking and trying the “latest fad”, I lean heavily toward stainless, but only a few brands. There’s a lot of crap stainless out there, selling cheap… And in this case you get what you pay for.
These folks did some good research on stainless, and explain the difference more concisely than I can. Their research comports with a lot of other reviews and docs I’ve read over the years - I’ve even cooked with some of these brands, like the Cuisinart (which I own), the Tramontina (which I’ve gifted), and also a brand not listed - Heston (which is quite expensive, but really nice). My experience is they all cooked the same, which is to say they heat surprisingly quickly, hold heat well (similar to cast iron, though not as much thermal mass), make browning a snap, and require surprisingly lower burner settings than even good anodized aluminum.
Plus stainless is a breeze to clean - a quick deglaze and everything comes right out. I’d even argue it can run through the dishwasher (though it may dull a little, it’ll cook the same).
To come full circle, look for easy, one-dish recipes as a great place to start.
I think both America’s Test Kitchen/Cooks Country and Good Eats are great places to start to learn how to cook. ATK/Cooks Country has a bunch of recipes, and they design them to be simpler than what you’d find in something like The Joy of Cooking, while explaining how they changed a recipe or process. Good Eats is great for learning how’s and why’s, what’s going on when doing certain things - Alton is big on visualizing the chemistry and process of cooking.
One downside to no microwave for a single person is reheating leftovers becomes more challenging. Lots of dishes, especially casserole/stews, etc, reheat very readily in a microwave. Which reduces your cooking effort - you can make a pot of stuff, throw it in the fridge and have it for dinner tomorrow too. I do this, even freezing portions so I can have it next week (so I don’t get bored eating the same thing 3 days in a row).
Edit: find an inexpensive 4 quart pot to add to your collection. It’s a very useful size - great for boiling water for pasta, potatoes, etc.
I survived on fruit growing in my neighborhood and a potato a day for a while. I was extremely broke. During this time, I walked between two grocery stores logging prices for basics between the two and buying the cheaper items to stretch my budget. I know what it means to be desperate to make it work on low or no funds. Keep your head up cause life can improve. I wish you the best.
Russet potatoes are filling and cheap. They can be seasoned for flavor with whatever you might have. Pour oil over one and sprinkle whatever seasoning you have, wrap it in aluminum foil and bake for 63 minutes at 425°. Or do the cheaper version without spices and aluminum foil. It’s still a large portion of food.
Noodles are cheap. I have an adequate budget now, but I still eat noodles for breakfast almost every day (M-F) cause I like them and they’re easy. Distinguish between rice noodles and pasta noodles (wheat). They aren’t the same and probably provide different nutrients. Eggs are also fairly cheap (except when they weren’t) and can be cooked a bunch of ways. Rice is cheap, though a westener’s diet might find it bland over time. Beans are supposed to be a top protein source. If you eat red meat, probably look for hamburger and find ways to work that in.
Lots of good ideas. I haven’t seen the basics such as Mac and cheese and even hamburger helper. They aren’t great for you but if you don’t have a lot of money or are just feeling lazy that day, it’s an option. Grilled cheese/sandwiches and Soups also come to mind.
Assuming you have an oven, you can bake a lot of the things you would normally put in a microwave. Pizza rolls, chicken nuggets, chicken patties, whatever. Usually there is baking instructions next to the microwave instructions and even air fryer now. Browse through the frozen section and see what catches your eye. Might find something new to try. You can find frozen ravioli in the freezer section you just need to boil in water and add sauce (when they float, they’re done.)
It’s been mentioned but pasta and a sauce and protein of your choice is a winner. You can buy canned or take the opportunity to learn how to make some. Usually, the more from scrap you can make it the cheaper it will be. A lot of times recipes do go nuts and have some ingredients I don’t have on hand, usually it’s not a big deal to skip one as long as it isn’t like a main one. Like for spaghetti sauce you probably want oregano and wouldn’t want to skip it. Sometimes trying new stuff is trial and error. Very rarely is it inedible if you screw up, it’ll just be “off.” it’s just part of the learning process. You can also look into substituting an ingredient if you don’t have that exact one. I’ve learned how to make due with milk if I don’t have something like half and half which is something I don’t just have sitting around in my refrigerator.
Nof sure what country you are in but in the US, there are stores like Ross and Ollie’s that buy good from other stores at a discount because that other store wants it gone. If you have something like that it’s worth a look. I got an 80$ hand mixer for 20$ and a coffee maker for half off. My mother in law has bought several air fryers as gifts for like 20$. Browse through one of these from time to time and you might find a good deal on a microwave. They usually have lots of pots and pans too either as sets or single pans if you need one. If you’re not sure what a good pan looks like then do a little research. I think Alton Brown had a Good Eats episode just on pans that was very informative.
Last thing that comes to mind is while you’re cooking on your stove, keep an eye on Facebook marketplace to see if someone is selling a microwave if that is something you are willing to do.
Just dropping in to thank everyone for the ideas, encouragement etc, and a bit of an update.
I bought some onions and added them to my edible-but-not-very-tasty rice, and fried them together, and it tastes a million times better. I have pasta and tuna as backups, and will keep referring back to this thread every time I shop. The positivity in the thread also got me to clean my fridge, which was absolutely filthy (I don’t even know how it got like that) to mark the beginning of new kitchen habits. The fridge is still depressingly bare, but it’s clean and that makes it less depressing haha. It’s nice having more bench space where the microwave was… it almost looks like a kitchen now.
As far as cheap quick and easy it’s hard to beat Midwestern style “salads”. Egg salad is something I eat fairly often. Mix hard boiled eggs, mayo or miracle whip (I use light), and sweet pickle relish in whatever proportions you prefer. I generally add some frozen peas and top mine with Tajin powder but you can add veggies, nuts, seeds, cheese, seasonings or sauces… whatever you want to customize it. To make a different kind of “salad” replace the eggs with ground, chopped, or shredded meat (home cooked, deli, or canned) of whatever type you prefer or a can of beans with the liquid drained. It can be made into sandwiches, wrapped in a tortilla, used as a dip, served over rice, noodles, cooked or fresh veggies, it can be eaten cold or hot, if you add a lot of veggies, pasta, or rice and some liquid it can be baked off as a casserole maybe topped with cheese. The meat/eggs/beans should be cooked before they go in so all you have to do is dump it in a bowl and mix it up.
For a dessert “salad” there is cottage cheese salad. Mix a tub of cottage cheese, a can of fruit (pineapple is the norm but I use oranges because I don’t like pineapple and it’s suppose to be drained but I don’t), and a small package of flavored gelatin (sugar free store brand works fine) in a large bowl then fold in a tub of whipped cream. Sometimes I add some cherries and/or walnuts. Any fruits, nuts, or seeds can be added. It has to be refrigerated for a couple hours so the gelatin can set up.
When are you adding the bok choy to your stir fry? I’d wager you’re over cooking it; try adding it much later to the cooking process. It should only take a minute or two at most to cook.
The greens are also quite bitter, so possibly don’t use all of the leaf.
You could try separating the leafy part from the stem. Cook the stem with everything else but don’t throw the leafy part in until the very end when you’ve turned off the heat. The residual heat from everything else should be enough to wilt the greens.
I used to live off of Spanish tortilla when I was a student. All you need is potato, egg, onion, salt and pepper, and a bit of cooking oil for your pan. You can also add other ingredients like muahrooms, tomatoes, sausage, or bacon when you have it.
Historically, pressure cookers were used for canning things to be preserved, and it works better for that.
Unfortunately, grandma’s pressure cook can’t even get used on my induction stove top- it’s just too heavy, too bulky and since i force my veggies in a greenhouse, I don’t really need to preserve them. (Trying to explain aeroponics to grandma was fun! Even more fun was bringing harvest-fresh tomatoes and green beans on the tag end of winter/early spring.)
There was a gap in generations that stored things like that, and as large and bulky as the stovetops usually are… they really weren’t worth the storage space.
That said I do use a smaller electric counter top pressure cooker (ninja?) and where it’s useful, it’s definitely useful. Stay away from the ones that do more (parents got one that did air frying and it was awful. Tried to do too much and none of it well.)
I use it to brown protein and then braise (pulled pork, carnitas, roast chicken, shredded/bbq beef, etc) as well as for canning tomatoes or beans as gifts. (Seriously… red sauce from canned tomatoes? Nothing better.)
The Abuela next door and I have a very lovely relationship…. I give her fresh tomatoes and she gives me some salsa. (We split the batches 50/50, and yes. That salsa is amazing.)
I have an Instant Pot and love it. I use it daily and to the point I have had to replace some of the electronics that failed.
Presser Canning is a totally different beast. It’s hard to get your cans into the electric ones compared to the ones designed for canning. Also the amount of cans you can get into them. As someone who grew up using these. They are great for their use cases. Your food comes into harvest and now you have 50 lbs of corn or whatever crop now you need preservative it till next harvest in your cellar. The best jams and pickles I have ever had have been out of someone’s garden.
The best jams and pickles I have ever had have been out of someone’s garden.
yup. I have fond memories spending my summers with grandma and grandpa. she always maintained a garden… blackberries, strawberries, musk melons. Tomatoes (3 different kind, including cherry tomatoes for snacking- important lesson that,) green beans
When I say I pressure can in the electric… for the record there’s exactly one mason jar in there… It’s definitely not got the through-put of grandmas; but there’s something about the canning and storing for a month that just makes the sauce that much more.
Also, pressure cooker risotto might be cheating, but if you can nail it, it’s an easy risotto. (though I kinda like doing it the old way. it might take longer, but I enjoy the process.)
I also have an instant pot style pressure cooker and I agree that it’s not really the best for canning, but I love it for cooking. I’ve canned stock in it but only small batches of a few jars. Seems that the downside for pressure canners is that they take up a lot of room for the specific use you need them for. I can see that and it’s a good reason but I would suggest finding the room for one.
Cooking something on your smoker/BBQ and making stock with it is a game changer. It actually retains the smoke. Plus I use stock to cook all my rice. Rice cooked in stock is so much better than water. I’ve made shoyu stock for my Asian dishes, makes a world of difference.
You could always make small batches in your pressure cooker and if it’s something you like, you could upgrade to a designated canner.
So I know that Shoyu typically uses Bonito Flakes but I use dried shrimp as a substitute. I just grind it up in a mortar and pestle. You also need to use Kombu and a good amount of soy sauce. It’s usually made with pork and chicken stock but I’ve made it with chicken only. I use both dark and regular soy sauce.
Just simmered all of the ingredients for most of the day. I’m not someone who enjoys seafood but I actually liked the flavor the dried shrimp added. It’s not your traditional Shoyu broth but it’s close enough.
The next time I make it I want to use Bonito Flakes instead of dried shrimp. But overall, it’s amazing stuff and I love using it for ramen and rice.
Pressure cookers are quite awesome things, but I don’t think your ninja gets to the 15psi that Grandma’s cooker gets to. (Most of the electric ones don’t, last I looked into it).
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