Eating on a budget

[citygirl]

mmm...ditto! I LOVE falafel

 

[TomAtAlki]

Ashley, any spices, whatever your mood. Lots of pepper flakes, salt and pepper, chopped garlic, cumin seed, chopped fresh coriander,chopped fresh parsley or mix with indian spices. Then when serving have some chopped peppers, tomatoes, onions to put on top with some spiced up yogurt. Delish!

Nancy

 

[SteveD83]

Ashley, any spices, whatever your mood. Lots of pepper flakes, salt and pepper, chopped garlic, cumin seed, chopped fresh coriander,chopped fresh parsley or mix with indian spices. Then when serving have some chopped peppers, tomatoes, onions to put on top with some spiced up yogurt. Delish!

Nancy

What she said. I put a chopped onion (raw) in the mixture too to reinforce the flavour. While adding a bit of lemon (zest and juice) and grated carrot rounds everything quite nicely. It's not a strictly traditional falafel, but it goes down a treat.

I also like grated carrot in the accompanying salad. Then again, I also like marmite on roast potatoes, so each to their own, eh?

Right, I'm hungry...

 

[fifs2]

Im in my honeymoon period being back in Europe (Spain) where it feels like I´m eating on a budget everyday due to the crazy low prices for things I had seen sky rocket in Bsas. On our first shop to Carrefour (bliss, nothing like the crappy dirty Carrefours in Bsas) we bought everything you would need for a new house move in including washing powder, bleach, tinfoil, salt etc etc- basically the whole basic kit´n kaboodle and also lots of fruit (strawberries, watermelon, peaches etc), veg (5kg potatoes, brocolli, carrots etc), minced pork, beef, leg of lamb, chcken breasts, alcohol of course including 2 bottles of red wine and 12 beers...the trolley load came to 125 euros..we were flabberghasted as we had been expecting reverse culture shock for high prices. I guess we had just become accustomed to large supermarket shopping costing 1000 pesos for the family that we didn´t consider Europe could be cheaper.
5 weeks on we are now more savvy and shopping at the local markets for seafood, beef and fruit and veg and enjoying even lower prices. We didnt make the move to or from Argentina for money reasons but it is a pleasant surprise to see what I consider reasonable and thankfully sustainable pricing here.
This thread has been interesting to read and I second all recommendations for budget reasons and better health in cooking from scratch.

 

[Xeneizes]

We are 3 adults and two pets and I spend 600 pesos weekly on groceries and around 150 pesos on delivery ( pizza, etc ) so I manage to spend 750 pesos weekly and that includes beef, pork, chicken, lots of fruits and veggies ( one member is vegan ), dairy products, chocolate, pet food, wine, sodas, etc. We also have all meals at home... I am not sure what you guys buy or cook (?) I mainly buy from supermarkets ( mix of LeShop, Coto and chinos ) and take advantage of their credit/debit card offers and promo days.

That works out to 250 pesos/wk in total each for food, I spend around 250-300 for myself (with 3-4 lunches/wk out, and I live and shop in Recoleta) so I find that reasonable especially since cooking together usually saves.

 

[nikad]

That works out to 250 pesos/wk in total each for food, I spend around 250-300 for myself (with 3-4 lunches/wk out, and I live and shop in Recoleta) so I find that reasonable especially since cooking together usually saves.

We are in Recoleta too, probably in other neighborhoods one could save a bit more, but I have family in other places in the city and they spend more, I guess it really is about habits, shopping and cooking style.

 

[steveinbsas]

Im in my honeymoon period being back in Europe (Spain) where it feels like I´m eating on a budget everyday due to the crazy low prices for things I had seen sky rocket in Bsas. On our first shop to Carrefour (bliss, nothing like the crappy dirty Carrefours in Bsas) we bought everything you would need for a new house move in including washing powder, bleach, tinfoil, salt etc etc- basically the whole basic kit´n kaboodle and also lots of fruit (strawberries, watermelon, peaches etc), veg (5kg potatoes, brocolli, carrots etc), minced pork, beef, leg of lamb, chcken breasts, alcohol of course including 2 bottles of red wine and 12 beers...the trolley load came to 125 euros..we were flabberghasted as we had been expecting reverse culture shock for high prices. I guess we had just become accustomed to large supermarket shopping costing 1000 pesos for the family that we didn´t consider Europe could be cheaper.

Thanks for making it clear (now that you've fled) how much life in BA SUCKS compared to Europe!

As one "member" said in a post (that you thanked) earlier today to me:

Please find some other activity to fill your empty hours.

 

[mhenna11]

I almost feel embarrassed to say this, but last year I was so poor that I had to learn to get by on about 50-70 pesos per week for food - that would probably be nearer 80-100 this year. I'm getting by better now (paying native rent prices makes a big difference), but I'm still scrimping and saving in an effort to travel next year. Anyway, I'm not saying this to be smug, but rather to pass on a few lessons I've learnt. I should stress that I'm pretty much vegetarian, so I imagine that brings the price down a little. Anyway...

Don't try to have the same diet you had back home. I miss mushrooms, I really do. But I'm not going to pay 12 pesos for a packet I could get for 50p back in London. Zapallito will suffice. Likewise, I hardly ever eat cheese anymore, because unless you're going to pay through the nose, it's by and large awful here.

Don't buy from Jumbo and the like. Even Coto should be avoided if necessary. Get to know your local chinos; find out which items are cheaper in each one. If you live in a posh neighbourhood, head to a cheaper one to buy your fruit and veg - from a green-grocer of course. I live in San Telmo / Barracas, but often nip into La Boca (it's okay in places at certain times) for fruit and veg. Even the butchers are cheaper there.

Don't buy in bulk. It's no cheaper (sometimes quite the opposite) and in the case of veggies, will go off before you can use it. Mercado Central is great if you're shopping for three or four of you, but not worth it for one or two people.

A small investment in some luxury items in Barrio Chino can lead to long term savings. Stir fries and curries are very cheap to make, beyond toasted sesame oil and garam masala, respectively.

Someone mentioned stocking up on food and drink before they leave the house. Wise words.

Invest in learning how to cook rather than investing in expensive brands. A good cook can make cheap ingredients taste expensive while a bad cook can make expensive ingredients taste cheap.

Okay, here are a handful of dishes that have kept me going over the past year. I'm not a sensational cook, but I've met worse. Most are fairy obvious but all are fairly cheap:

Soup - yeah, I know. But it's very cheap, lasts forever, and surprisingly filling. If you want to eat cheap you can't turn your nose up at it. Leeks (although expensive, spread over 5 or 6 helpings are justifiable), onion, garlic, carrot, sweet potato, vegetable stock, butter. Yum.

Falafel - chickpeas/Garbanzos are dirt cheap. Throw in a few spices, an onion, a clove of garlic, lemon rind and (shhh, you heard it here first) grated carrot and you're laughing. You can make about 10-15 falafel burgers for 10 pesos. That's not 10 pesos each.

Porridge - dollop or cheapest available jam / honey for flavour. Nice and warming on a chilly morning.

Omelette - nowt wrong with an omelette once in a while.

Roast vegetable, cheese and breadcrumb bake - this is relatively expensive, but I made it recently and fed about 6 or 7 people for around 40 pesos. It's nice cold, so it keeps. It's a ball ache to go into detail with the recipe, but if you're really interested then PM me. Otherwise, just make something up. I did.

Stir fry - Perennial student / bachelor's favourite, I know. But there's no shame in cooking it once in a while. You don't need stir in sauce: ginger, garlic, soy sauce and toasted sesame oil for flavour. Serve with rice (cheapest brand is fine), cooked in stock and pre-fried with a chopped clove of garlic. That's a meal for two people for about 8 pesos.

Vegetable Curry - lentils and chickpeas are very cheap here. Don't make a creamy curry with coconut milk - it'll treble in price. Go for the spicy kind instead. For other ingredients, you'll need to do some substituting for whatever's cheaper locally. Hola zapallito.

Quiche - one sheet of pastry, 3 or 4 eggs, dash of milk, packet of spinach, small onion, tomato, clove of garlic, bit of cheese. Probably less than 10 pesos. Feeds four. Nice cold. Has a french name, so it sounds like it should be expensive.

Veggie Burgers - lentils and/or chickpeas make the base. Then add whichever vegetables you like. Lentils can be bland, so you'll need to add plenty of other flavours (mustard and tomato puree comes into their own here).

Potato wedges or re-stuffed baked potatoes (mayo, cheese, ham, onion, garlic, oregano/thyme/chives) and salad.

On that last point: the staples of potato, rice, pasta, etc can seem pretty boring, but they are very cheap here. There are lots of ways you can cook them to make them more interesting. Actually, there are a few websites that specialise in finding you recipes based on the ingredients you have available - supercook.com is one of them. I s'pose you could just type in some ingredients that you know to be cheap here and see what happens.

Anyway, I've gone on enough here. Sorry if I've stated the obvious in a lot of cases, but perhaps it'll be useful to someone who finds themselves in the same situation as I did last year.

I am now hungry after reading this. jajaj I even stopped buying orange dal, and now buy brown lentils, and I make my own masala, cheaper this way and the lentils taste almost good, jajaja. I agree, no coconut oil or tamarind. Tooo expensive. I am with you, I am saving so much on a vegan light diet and I lost weight. I sautee everything and make soups, lots of soups, and salads. Green smoothies are my fillers, I never get hungry when I drink chicory and bananas as gross it may sound. jajaja

 

[scotttswan]

You should try making your own pasta too.

Flour is cheap and you just mix 1 cup of flour with 1 egg per person and a little salt. add a little water then roll it out. Instant Pasta!

Check out your local cheese/meat shops. Coto is charging 30 pesos a kilo for the cheapest mozzarella but you can easly pick up some at around 20 pesos a kilo.
there are even better savings on some harder cheeses. Queso de campo costs around 40 pesos a kilo but for a similar cheese in Coto your talking about 60-70 pesos a kilo.
I picked up some Vacio at 33 pesos a kilo in Coto they're after 40 odd pesos a kilo.

oh and keep an eye out on your local Eki, They're effectively up for sale and at the moment Carefour, Walmart and an "unnamed" foreign company are all interested in buying them. They regularly have nothing on the shelves soviet style at the moment.

 

[fifs2]

Thanks for making it clear (now that you've fled) how much life in BA SUCKS compared to Europe!

As one "member" said in a post (that you thanked) earlier today to me:

Oh Steve, you old grouch...you remind me of that dustbin dweller in Sesame Street, a moaner but a funny one! Since we still have the business in Bsas and will be back twice a year at least I guess you can't banish me just yet sweetie!