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Art For Food OR Food For Art?
11 years ago
~Remember~
before submitting a dish please read our club rules and TOS on the main page Chopped challenge: Red peppers; rotisserie chicken; radishes; relish; reblochon cheeseThis is a journal that
posted, and I'd love to know what you folks think :3From: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6217385/
Dragonwuff Musings
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Vargr has been lucky enough to encounter journals and other entries of artists asking for a friendly fur to buy them a pizza or other yummies, in exchange for an art piece. Well, anyone who has spent more than a couple minutes in this wuff's presence knows that Varg is, shall we say, "food obsessed". *grins* Seeing a fur going hungry really gets wuffy's attention, and being able to help them out gives wuff all sorts of warm feels.
And by "lucky", wuff means that he was able to come across those requests in his browsing while they were still pertinent (sometimes wuff doesn't get on FA for a few days or more). Also "lucky" that Vrghr had the means to satisfy those requests when he came across them.
So, wuff has been the recipient of quite a few "pizza commissions" over the years. And has been thrilled that technology has allowed a wuffy in CO Springs to feed in "real time" hungry artists in NY, TN, CA, OH, and other places. Placing orders, scheduling deliveries, and making payments all in a matter of minutes. And Vargr has received some delightful art as a result, and helped out a few hungry furs at the same time. Win win!
But wuff noticed as he was paging around on the Amazon site the other day, that they have added yet another new feature to their "Prime" list of services: Prime Pantry! And a little light went on in this wuff's often dimly lit attic. Perhaps here was another way to put arts and foods together!
The new "prime pantry" stuff works like this: Amazon offers a "Pantry box" that holds 45lbs/4 CuFt of stuff. You fill it with various pantry goodies, and they ship it anywhere continental US for $6. The neat part - you needn't buy bulk cases of stuff! Want a few cans of soup, some cereal, juice, pasta, etc.? Just put them in the box. The website tells you how full the box is, and how much room each item takes up. Pay for the items when you're done, specify the shipping location, and off it goes for $6.
AND, they also offer "subscription service" on lots of those things. You set how often and how much, and they auto-ship things in the time and amount you want. And the more items you subscribe to, the bigger the discount you get on the subscriptions.
So, wuff was thinking. What if some of the "Starving artists" out there might enjoy a "pantry box" or other goodies, delivered to their front door? Perhaps on a reoccurring basis for stuff they use frequently or want to keep in stock. And in exchange, they offer a "foods commission" picture every so often in return?
Also, the prices are VERY good - on par with those in the big discount or warehouse clubs. So wuffy could put together a very reasonably-priced "care package for starving artists", with lots of goodies. And those contents could be adjusted so the deliveries would be what the artist wanted/needed, as times change.
And wuffy gets some nice arts in return, plus a warm feeling for helping others enjoy something tasty and filling. If wuff can't be there to help cook for his fur friends, this seems like a nice alternative.
So, Vargr thought he'd put this idea out there, and see if others might be interested.
Thoughts?
Vargr Dragonwuff
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Little Cesaer's has $5 hot-n-ready pepperoni or cheese pizzas that taste great, are a great size (it can feed my family of 3 for 2 days) and best of all are totally cheap. I keep assuming more people know about these, and I keep being proved wrong! I hope that's a useful tip for you. It's helped us out a lot in more trying times. Some recycling will feed us some yummy hot food for a couple days with those.
And if you have a Winco Foods store nearby, they have absolutely stunning prices in their bulk bins. We can get the equivalent of 3 boxes of coco puffs for half the price of one box. They charge per pound. They also sell a stunning variety of things, including every spice you can think of and some you didn't even know existed, granola, snacks like cheetos and sugar wafers, powdered drink mixes, hot chocolate mixes, cereals, dried fruit, nuts, pastas, rice, dog treats and bones (yes, bulk), baby oatmeal and baby cereals, candies including M&Ms, skittles, Jelly beans, reese's cups, dainty mints, jordan almonds, Zotz, and they also sell prepacked small candies like halloween or Christmas candies. They have Fiber Bars, fig newtons, and even packages of special flavoured coffee grounds for a coffee machine, pre-packaged, for like...35 cents each. They have prepacked tea bags for steeping that are really actually very good. I could go on forever.
Their produce prices are incredible too. We can feed the whole family fresh cooked meals for $80 a week, including breakfast lunch and dinner. Winco is a savior of a store.
The idea of art for a whole pantry filled is amazing to think about!
Brilliant idea! ;w;
Even if it's just like baking materials... Flour and Baking Soda could go a long way... Fresh items that could spoil I'd still go and purchase but the dry or canned goods is a blessing. Even just packages of Ramen is a life saver! D: I've made so many meals out of ramen it's crazy...
I have made more meals by having a pantry stocked with cooking ingredients and spices than I ever have being stocked with only vegetables and meats. $65 in produce and a kitchen stocked with flour, bread crumbs, spices, oils, etc. can make so much.
I would love to know your secrets with ramen in a note maybe. I don't know how to make anything with them besides cooking it per package directions. D:
I have made Okinomiyaki using ramen before... (Osakan style where it uses noodles and lays a thin fried egg on top)
I could totally give you some super cheap recipes using fresh ingredients. We only have a weekly food & nonedibles allowance of $90 because it's for three people, rather than one (assuming that's $47 for yourself?)
[b}Vrghr's "Bachelor Sticky Noodles"[/b]
We used to make this from leftovers, so the ingredients varied from meal to meal. It was great for stretching that one remaining chicken leg from "the bucket", or a single pork chop, or similar bit that wasn't quite enough to make a full meal. The "Sticky Noodle" name came about from wuff using up the last egg and adding it directly to the noodles instead of frying it up a bit first (it was quicker to just crack it in, and didn't dirty up another pan - important considerations for a very young, hungry, beginner cook! *grins*). The egg made the ramen noodles stick together quite a bit, instead of looking like lo-mein. Hence "Sticky Noodles".
This only needs 1 microwave-safe bowl (bachelor wuff used empty whipped margarine containers) and a skillet to make.
Ingredients:
1 pkg Ramen Noodle (flavor should compliment your choice of protein, but isn't particularly critical)
1-2 pkgs leftover soy sauce packets, or about 2 tsp bottled soy sauce
~1/2 C frozen mixed vegetable blend (Oriental or Stir-Fry blend if you can, but really, any cheap blend is okay)
~ 1 Tbs oil
1 egg
~ 1 tsp granulated garlic (to taste)
~ 1.5 tsp ginger powder (to taste)
~ 1 tsp onion powder or 1Tbs minced onion (to taste)
Protein of choice (leftovers of previously cooked items. Most anything will work: chicken, pork, beef, keilbasa, heck - even spam or hotdogs, depending on your hunger and tastes!)
Enough Water to just cover the block of ramen noodles (to soften)
Directions:
Place the block of dry ramen noodles in a microwave-safe bowl and add just enough water to by about 1/2 inch. Microwave on high for ~3 minutes. Remove and stir. If noodles aren't fully tender, microwave another minute and repeat until fully tender. Poor off water into a cup and reserve (temporarily).
Dice, slice, chop or tear up your selected protein into bite-sized bits.
For safety, you should let the frozen veggies thaw, or warm them for about 45 seconds in the microwave and drain off any moisture from melted ice. When wuff was young and silly, Vrghr added the frozen veggies right to the skillet. It made for LOTS of spattering! But, as mentioned, wuff was young and silly!
Heat the oil in skillet until almost smoking. Toss in the veggies and stir fry for a minute or so.
Add the soy sauce and seasonings. Stir to combine flavors.
Add your selected protein. Stir fry until heated.
Add the drained ramen noodles and the contents of the ramen seasoning packet. Stir to combine and to let the flavors attach to the noodles. If noodles and mixture are too dry for your tastes add a bit of the reserved noodle-water, a couple tablespoons at a time, until they reach your desired consistency.
Remove pan from heat. Crack the egg over the ramen mixture and stir it in to combine.
Serve immediately.
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Definitely not the fanciest dish you'll ever eat. But it sure transforms the simple ramen soup into a new taste, and does so very cheaply.
Yep, you can just boil those noodles in a pan on the stove top. Heck, you can even prepare them in the same skillet. Just pour off and reserve the water, and put the noodles temporarily in another container. Make sure to dry out the skillet completely before heating the oil though! You don't want any steam explosions from a sneaky water drop under a layer of heated oil!
This is highly adaptable. Adjust the seasonings to fit your tastes and your pantry. It's basically just a quick and cheap way to do your own stir-fry noodles, but it sure made a lovely change of pace back when wuffy was looking for new ways to stretch the budget! *smiles*