Food/Happiness

4 Foods and 1 Drink That Make You Feel Rich On A Shoestring Budget

Eating well makes you feel like a King even on a Pauper’s salary.

Erin King is the author of How To Be Wise AF: A 30-day journalling adventure to your inner Guru.

“Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious.” ― Ruth Reichl

For many years, my husband and I struggled to pay our bills as we navigated this brave new world of part-time contracts and job insecurity.

Throughout that time, we managed to live well and stay strong because we learned to make more from less, and one fundamental way we’ve done that is through food.

My time as a personal chef taught me that it’s possible to make delicious rich, satisfying meals with everyday ingredients. So no matter how much or little money we’ve had, we’ve always eaten well.

These are my go-to foods and one drink that make me feel like a superstar no matter how small my budget:

Naan bread pizza with an olive oil base: by spreading a little olive oil on Naan bread, it becomes a rich, satisfying base for any toppings. The oil lends an air of sophistication and a protective layer for any juices that might occur during cooking, so the crust of this “pizza” won’t get soggy.

This hybrid of a pizza and bruschetta can support just about any flavor.

It can stretch expensive ingredients or elevate everyday ones.

By skipping the obvious red sauce base, you leave yourself open for a more sophisticated experience. If you have children in the house, you can make them their red sauce pizza and then easily make yourself something geared towards the more adult palet at the same time.

You can buy packages of Naan bread at Costco for next to nothing (or the grocery store). These are better than traditional ready-made pizza crust because they’re softer and chewier. They heat up nicely and don’t disintegrate with the natural liquid released from food when it cooks. I find Naan better than Pita for this application; they are thicker and sweeter and have a more delicate texture.

You could make it yourself, but I’m not that ambitious, my MO is always to do the things that are easiest with the best results. If you love baking though, go for it! Here is a recipe. A thin coat of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt is all you need to get started, then you can layer just about anything else on top of that. I like to use my old standbys mushroom, zucchini, and peppers, but you can add just about anything. Make it Mediterranean with tomato and bocconcini and some fresh basil when it comes out of the oven or mushrooms, and sausage is also good.

It’s a great way to stretch meat as you don’t need much. You can buy an expensive piece of steak, or some nice prosciutto and then just use thin slices for flavor.

Regular mozzarella or cheddar work well, or if you want to get something more expensive and flavourful like sharp cheddar, blue cheese, or something smoky, you just need a light sprinkling of it to get the taste.

Then all you do is bake at 350–450F for about 10–14 minutes depending on how you like your crust. A little black pepper, and some more salt to taste when it comes out of the oven makes it restaurant quality for a fraction of the cost.

The Naans are delicious and satisfying no matter what you top them with, and they are cheap, so you can save money on the base of the meal to splurge on toppings if you have a little extra in your budget. Even if you stick with the cheapest items in your fridge, they will still taste rich and delicious when prepared like this.

You can even teach yourself how to make a simple balsamic reduction if you want to get fancy. Gourmet pizza or bruschetta is always expensive to eat out, but this hybrid doesn’t have to be.

Picky platter: doesn’t a plate heaping with meat and cheese always look so good? Whenever I see a charcuterie tray or cheese platter on a menu, I crave its salty richness. But when you order that in a restaurant, it’s so expensive.

By visiting my local deli counter, I can have the same experience right in my own home for a fraction of the cost.

Sometimes I go all out and buy higher-end cheeses and meats, but sometimes I just want to make a fast dinner that we can all pick at. In that case, I shop in my fridge.

You can use any cheese. It doesn’t have to be fancy, and just about any cured meat will do. It doesn’t have to be the most expensive salami in the deli case. It can be as simple as pepperoni sticks. You can go even more basic and use sliced sandwich meat for the same effect.

Add a nice french stick, and a few cut up apples and carrots for freshness, and you have an easy meal that makes you feel like you’re having a European picnic. If you serve the french stick with a dish of oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping, it adds a level of sophistication and is even more flavorful and special.

There are so many ways you can modify this.

You can indulge in one expensive element, a nice cheese or a higher-end cured meat. You can add olives or pickles, red pepper jelly, or honey. You can add nuts, crackers, dips, and other bread. You’ll be amazed at the things you already have in your fridge and pantry to draw from.

Chicken thighs: chicken thighs are highly underrated. Everyone seems to love the breast and it’s the most expensive part of the chicken, but in my opinion, it’s not the best.

I buy chicken thighs because they’re cheap and they cook up great no matter how you do them. They are moist and more flavorful than the breast, and if you buy them boneless and skinless, they’re just as easy to work with.

I love to marinate them in butter and franks hot sauce and then grill them on the bbq with marinated vegetables.

You can eat them hot off the grill with the starch of your choice. You can put them on a bun as the base of any gourmet sandwich. You can use them with vegetables as the topping for a hot salad. You can eat them cold the next day on a salad or use the leftovers as the toppings for a Naan pizza if it isn’t quite enough for everyone to get a portion, and you want to stretch your leftovers.

Chicken thighs are also great for the novice cook as they are almost impossible to ruin. They can be overcooked, and they will still be moist. They work in just about any recipe, can take on any marinade or flavor you can think of and turn out great every time.

With chicken thighs, you can take a recipe that calls for an expensive cut of meat and adapt it for your budget, creating the flavor experience without the cost.

Twice-baked potatoes: when I make these at home, I feel like I’m at an expensive steak house. They’re an excellent, cheap side dish to a good piece of beef or a standalone meal topped with anything you can think of.

All you do is bake the potato and then take out the middle and basically make it into mashed potatoes and then put it back in, top it and bake it again. They are rich, delicious, and easy to make.

Because potatoes are so cheap, you can dress up a twice-baked potato to suit any budget and still feel like you’re getting a treat.

If money is tight, just add a little cheese and bacon, it’s a great way to stretch one or two pieces of bacon and a slight sprinkling of cheese to feed the whole family. Or just whip the middle with little butter and sour cream, for a rich decadent side dish.

You can take the idea as far as you want, you can top it with steak and blue cheese, or sausage and beans, you can do just about anything with the base, and it is delicious every time.

I’m married to an English man, and I know the English are no strangers to the glory of the topped baked potato.

Potatoes are rich and filling, to begin with, so they can stretch any protein into a gourmet feast.

Loose tea: Yorkshire or Yorkshire Gold. This one is the drink that makes me feel like royalty. It might seem strange that a cup of tea is on this list, but it’s no joke.

I like a nice cup of tea, and like most North Americans, I have my favorite tea bag brand. I’ve even tried flavored and plain loose teas from my local grocery store and bulk barn, but I was never too impressed with it until my husband got a package of PG tips loose tea sent over from England.

That was a revelation. Loose tea done right is a luxurious, smooth, dark dream. Somehow it has twice the flavor of bagged tea but with none of the bitterness. If you make it the proper English way: one spoonful for each person plus one for the pot, it turns out perfect every time.

After running out of the PG tips brand and not wanting to order it online, I stumbled upon Yorkshire loose tea in our local grocery store, and that was a game-changer.

It’s the most popular tea in England for a reason. It’s smooth, rich, and satisfying and all you need is a teapot and a strainer.

I don’t recommend a strainer that you put inside the pot, or a tea ball, just a little dollar store strainer to hold over your cup when you pour it.

You don’t want to confine the leaves inside the pot. You want them to be able to swim free and express their true character.

The two kinds of Yorkshire teas I buy are Yorkshire and Yorkshire Gold. One is the regular blend, and for a few cents more, there is the special blend, this one is made in small batches and is a little more exclusive. We like to mix the two (I don’t know if that’s bad form, but it’s lovely.)

Drinking really good tea is such an affordable luxury.

The thought that I have the same thing in my cup that the Queen has in hers gives me a little boost and makes me feel special.

Indulging in something of such high quality, elevates your mood, and sets your senses soaring.

We don’t drink it all of the time. I still keep bagged tea around for regular everyday use, but a couple of times a week, after dinner, we make a special pot and treat ourselves.

You could use this as the base of an English-style afternoon tea.

It doesn’t take a lot of money to make a few finger sandwiches, they don’t even have to be the traditional tea sandwiches, and some pastries, cookies on a beautiful plate will do if you want to have the experience without the cost.

You could go to your local thrift store and buy some fancy cups, a tiered serving plate, a vintage teapot, creamer, and sugar bowl for a few dollars.

When you go out to a hotel for an English Tea, they charge an arm and a leg, but with a few thrift store items, a dollar store mini strainer, and some Yorkshire Tea, you can make a special event in your own home.

So there are a few ways I try to make eating and drinking a little more special.

For most of us, money is something we can’t afford to throw away on things we don’t need, so finding ways to create little luxuries every day is a great way to keep morale up in uncertain times.

If you try some of these ideas I’ve listed, you can feel like a king even on a pauper’s budget and live well in any circumstance.

“All sorrows are less with bread. ” ― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

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