Need help figuring out cheap hispanic foods to get me through the week.

[Adachi 772]

I've been wanting to get a lot of hispanic foods for a while, mainly mexican I guess. I have $50 to spend and I'll be buying it on tuesday, and it needs to last until next tuesday. And I've been kinda wanting to make fresh authentic foods, I tried the premade burritos, but whatever the "meat" is inside, it's decent, but nowhere near as good as fresh ground beef.

 

I'll be shopping at Wal-Mart, and here are the ingredients I was thinking of getting

 

- Rice

- Taco Sauce

- Tortilla Chips

- Salsa

- Velveeta (or nacho cheese sauce)

- Ground beef

- Tuna (possibly, I have a weird obsession with mixing tuna, crumbled bleu cheese, tortilla chips, and salsa together and microwaving it, then eating it)

- Crumbled bleu cheese (possibly, see above)

- Avocados

- Tomatoes

- Sour Cream

- Refried Beans (possible if enough left over)

 

 

Things I want to avoid

 

- Malta Goya (I tried it a couple times, I just can't get used to the taste)

 

Non hispanic foods I was thinking of getting

 

- Ice cream (Vanilla or choco)

- Sam's Choice 2 liters

- Milk (must buy)

- Fruit Juices (might replace with hispanic juice drinks if they have similar nutritional value, but the only ones I see are the non refrigerated ones like the sodas, coconut drinks, etc)

- Crumbled bleu cheese

 

 

Willing to modify the menu a bit to save money or add more good hispanic foods, my knowledge of them is barely the tip of the iceberg atm)

Edited July 20, 2014 by Galaxy Hero Rumble

[IceeBrony 251]

It depends on how much cooking/effort you want to do. I eat beans on a daily basis, so I buy them dried in bulk. Some spices and a slow-cooker and I've got food for the day if I do a small batch. If you don't want that kind of effort, canned they only run about a dollar each. You might consider trading chips for tortillas. I've found that anything I want to do with a chip, I can do with a tortilla, and then some. The cheese sauce from Velveeta is pretty salty, or at least the white one is. Maybe look at a mexican cheese dip instead. Your tuna dish might benefit from some cabbage; red cabbage is almost always added to fish tacos. Personally I get green cabbage because then I can use it for stir-fry too.

 

Spices and things to consider:

Garlic

Onion

Cilanto (fresh is really best here)

Lemon (or maybe lime)

Cocoa Powder (mole, not easy but yum!)

Chili Powder

Cumin

 

I keep chili, garlic, onion, and cumin powders around all the time

[DubWolf 17,263]

Tacos...lots and lots of tacos. "Bisteck" (I guess that's just chopped steak), "barbacoa", and "al pastor" (pork) are my favorites. Although you'll probably wonder what to ask the guys at Wal Mart when you want "bisteck" or whatever meat they use for the pork, so a carniceria would do it. It'll help if you can speak Spanish since I've never asked anyone in those for stuff in English .

 

It also may not be as cheap as Wal Mart, but those are some ideas.

 

Cilantro and diced onions goes well with all three I mentioned.

Edited July 20, 2014 by Super80 Wolf

[Dark Heart 284]

Well if you want real mexican food experience there is nothing better than to make it from the ground up IMO.

 

Walmart is good for someof the stuff you want but might consider going to a mexican super market as well.

 

but if there isnt one here are a few tips you can do also.

 

Mole Enchiladas:

Products youll need:

Mole Dona Maria (this one comes in 2 ways, premade which requieres some extra cooking, and another one that comes in a tetra pack which is ready to server.)

Corn Tortillas 

Cheese (I recommend those small bags of shredded cheese like "Mexican Mix or jack and Colby combinations)

Meat (optional, can be chicken or beef)

sugar (since mole tends to be a bit spicy if you're not used to it)

 

Preparations: 

Dump the mole contents in a pot and eat up,  put sugar in it as its cooking/eating up, ( put enough to the point its sweet but still spicy so putting a couple of spoon fulls then taste it to see how you like it)

 

Tortillas: 

2 ways to prepare depending on taste.

1. Fry them up to the point they are still soft to bend and roll them up

2. Eating up normally in a "Comal" or microwave your choice.

 

Once thats done Put cheese in the tortilla and roll them up like a roll taco, pour the mole sauce on top and if you want melty cheese put it on the microwave for about 30 seconds and you have cheesy enchiladas.

 

If you want with meat on them just make shredded beef or chicken and put some in the enchilada along with the cheese and then follow the previous instruction and  now you have chicken/beef enchiladas.

 

Also as a side tip if you make mexican rice you can mix the remaining mole sauce with the rice it taste awesome as well.

[Adachi 772]

Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately, I get my grocery money from my group home, and they're limited to Wal-Mart cards (although the agency running my group home has tax exempt status), so things might be a bit limited. Although, nothing is stopping me from using my PIA money to buy some of the ingredients.

 

And now, I know some new spices to add to my spice collection