Staples

So a staple is a food that you enjoy enough to eat on a regular basis, can make large batches of easily, and can cook in a low impact manner (most of the work can be done sitting and/or there are long breaks built in). They also provide nutrition and should be comparatively cheap to make.

This should be the thing you cook first in any meal plan, because it's the highest effort:reward ratio of all the planned meals. If all else falls through, at least you made a solid 7+ meals that can augment your sanity food/takeout/depression meals/whathaveyou.

It helps to change out the meat or main protein depending on what's cheap around you. e.g. if you have a Costco membership, you can use their rotisserie chicken in the soups or curries; if you have an Indian grocery store near you, you can sub in paneer; if there's a sale on beans, you can make some of these extra vegetaian. Things like that.

Here are a couple low impact, highly forgiving staples that I like:

Basic Chili

https://www.budgetbytes.com/basic-chili/ web archive mirror

Protein substitutes: Any ground meat, any chunked meat (cooked or raw), (more) legumes

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 15oz. can kidney beans
• 1 15oz. can black beans
• 1 15oz. can diced tomatoes, with juices
• 1 6oz. can tomato paste
• 1 cup water

Chili Seasoning

• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp Freshly cracked black pepper

Instructions

1. Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add both to a large pot with the olive oil and cook over medium heat until they are soft and translucent.
2. Add the ground beef to the pot and continue to sauté until the beef is fully browned.
3. Drain the beans and add them to the pot along with the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 cup water, and all of the ingredients for the chili seasoning. Stir until well combined.
4. Place a lid on the pot and allow it to simmer over a low flame for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally (the flavor gets better the longer it simmers).
5. Give the chili one final taste, adjust the salt or seasonings if needed, then serve hot with your favorite toppings.

Notes:

1. DO NOT USE INDIAN CHILI POWDER. Or "hot" chili powder. Unless you're a glutton for pain, in which case you do you lol. The chili powder referenced is a mild spice blend that adds only a little bit of heat. Replace it with smoked paprika if you're a wimp like me.
2. It's one of my favorites because it makes a bunch of meals very cheaply. The cans are under $1 each at Winco and the onions are less than 50c. If I leave out the meat, I can have dinner for me and my partner for 3 days for under $7, including spices and garlic. Even adding meat, that's still cheap.
3. Feel free to add vegetables (frozen, fresh, or canned and drained) to the mix if you need to clear out your space. I've had luck with: corn, broccoli, bell peppers, carrots, celery, and mushrooms. Add them when you're adding the cans, except the broccoli; save those for the tail end of the simmer.
4. If replacing the meat with pre-cooked meat, especially leaner meat, especially chicken, I wouldn't recommend cooking it with the onions. Add it with the cans. It dries out easy and it dries out fast.
5. If replacing the meat with chunked meat, don't worry too much about getting it cooked all the way through at the frying stage. Just get it a little browned for that Maillard reaction and let it finish cooking in the sauce.

Curry Stand Tikka Masala

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/228293/curry-stand-chicken-tikka-masala-sauce/ web archive mirror

Protein substitutes: any chunked meat (raw or cooked), paneer, chickpeas

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste (Optional)
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 (14 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon white sugar, or more to taste (Optional)
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder

Instructions

1. Heat ghee in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook and stir until translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in garlic; cook and stir just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, ginger, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and turmeric into onion mixture; fry until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
3. Stir tomato sauce into onion and spice mixture; bring to a boil and reduce heat to low.
4. Simmer sauce for 10 minutes, then mix in cream, 1 tablespoon sugar, and paprika. Bring sauce back to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until sauce is thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Heat vegetable oil in a separate skillet over medium heat. Stir chicken into hot oil; add curry powder. Sear chicken until lightly browned but still pink inside, about 3 minutes; stir often.
6. Transfer chicken and any pan juices into sauce. Simmer chicken in sauce until no longer pink, about 30 minutes; adjust sugar and salt to taste.

Notes:

1. You don't need to cook the chicken separately. It works fine as a one-pot meal if you add in the spices and meat at the beginning (with or just after the onions) instead. If you're subbing another raw meat, do it at the beginning too. If you're doing paneer, do it toward the end of the simmer. Chickpeas can go in just about whenever, but taste best when you add them at the beginning of the simmer.
2. You can sub out most of the heavy cream with coconut milk and it works great. Trader Joe's has very inexpensive canned coconut milk and I love it.
3. You can sub out the ghee for butter or any other liquid oil just fine. I can't speak for the authenticity of it, but it still tastes damn good.
4. Again I'm a wimp, so I sub out the cayenne for more paprika/cumin/curry powder.

Here are some slightly more prep-heavy meals that are easy to freeze and pop in the oven as needed: