Tight Budget, Tiny Kitchen, and No Time: How to Eat Well in Your First Apartment

By Angie Ballard

This e-book has a little something for everyone – whether you’re just starting out, starting fresh after a big life change, downsizing, or just trying to simplify your life and be more frugal. All of these scenarios can be stressful, and the last thing you need to be expending your valuable time, money, and mental energy on is cooking. Your food needs to nourish you, make you happy, and give you a sense of accomplishment – a feeling of “I’ve got this under control.” These tips, checklists, tutorials, and recipes will help you get there.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Angie Ballard
• Release date: Sep 21, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466097902

Angie Ballard

I love to read, drink sweet tea, and take naps with my dogs. I blog as The Jammie Girl and am at work on my second contemporary women's fiction novel.

Book preview

Introduction

If you’re moving into your first apartment odds are you’re studying hard and struggling to pay for college, working long hours at a low-paying entry-level job, or in a relationship that is taking a big step forward. Or perhaps you’ve just lost your job and your house or have just ended a relationship. All of these scenarios are stressful, and the last thing you need to be expending your valuable time, money, and mental energy on is cooking. Your food needs to nourish you, make you happy, and give you a sense of accomplishment – a feeling of I’ve got this under control. I started writing this book to help my son and his girlfriend prepare to move into their first apartment, but at the same time I was researching frugal recipes to help ease the financial burden while I was off work recovering from surgery. Somehow, this turned into a book that has a little something for everyone – whether you’re just starting out, starting fresh after a big change in your life, downsizing, or just trying to simplify your life and be more frugal.

I’m going to start with the few supplies you’ll need for that little kitchen, and then I’ll move along to some nifty time- and money-saving techniques for you to put into practice. After that I’ll share a few recipes to get you started. Cooking will quickly become a pleasure and a comfort rather than just another demand on your already limited resources.

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Supplies

If you are getting married you will register somewhere (hopefully a couple of places) for all the things you need. Register for a lot more than what I have on this list, and register for durable, high-quality items. People will want to give you nice presents and it will be a long time before you will be able to afford to replace all that stuff, so aim high! The list that follows is for people who are not expecting to be showered with gifts anytime soon.

Tableware:

•4 plates

•4 bowls

•4 cups

•8 glasses

•4 knives

•4 forks

•4 spoons

•4 stemmed wine glasses (White or Red doesn’t matter) – optional

•4 beer mugs or pilsner glasses - optional

Not a single one of these things needs to match. Half the glasses can be plastic. I used to drop by a local pottery shop now and then and browse their discount row at the back of the store. These were pieces of high-quality, handmade, hand-painted pottery that were just a little off. Sometimes a color would turn out weird; sometimes there’d be a chip or a crack. My favorites were the personalized plates that people had ordered for special occasions that had ended up with a misspelled name or the wrong date painted on them. Jackpot! Twenty dollar serving platter for three dollars!

Cookware:

•Small (1 1/2 Qt) aluminum saucepan with lid

•Large (3 Qt) aluminum saucepan with lid

•Small (8") non-stick skillet (nothing else works as well for scrambling eggs)

•Large (10-12") aluminum or cast iron sauté pan (not non-stick, and with an oven-proof handle)

•8 Qt (2 gallon) stock pot (Yes, this is big, but you need it. Store other things inside it if you must.)

• 3 Qt. covered baker (preferable stoneware)

•Cookie sheet (preferable stoneware)

•Pie plate

•Colander

•Set of three nesting non-metallic mixing bowls (they can double as microwave cookers)

Kitchen Utensils:

•Whisk

• Two wooden spoons

•Non-stick spatula

•Metal spatula

• Two pot holders

•Can opener (manual is fine, you don’t need electric)

•Paring knife

•Chef’s knife

•Scissors (kitchen shears if possible, but plain scissors will do)

•Serving spoon

•Slotted serving spoon

•Cutting board

•Measuring spoons (Tsp and Tbsp)

•Measuring cups (1 cup, 2 cup, and 4 cup)

•Tongs

•Pizza cutter

•Box grater

•Rolling pin

Appliances and Other Equipment:

•Dish towels (flour-sack type preferred)

•Apron (or an old oversize T-shirt) – just something so you don’t ruin your clothes if you’re messy.

•Sandwich-size, quart-size, and gallon-size Ziploc freezer bags

•Mixer: I don’t mean a two hundred dollar Kitchen Aid stand mixer, but if someone offers you one take it! All you really need is a small electric hand mixer.

•Coffee pot or French press. I’ve fallen in love with the taste of coffee from my French press, and it’s actually smaller and cheaper than my Mr. Coffee.

•Crock pot (This is essential. You’re going to use this all the time. Go ahead and buy one new the next time