Make It Yourself Monday: homemade seitan

As I mentioned previously, I wanted to do a post about making your own seitan. I really don't know why it took so long to post it, or even come up with the idea to do a post about it. We eat seitan on a regular basis, it's kind of a remnant of the time when we had to live very frugally out of necessity when we didn't really have money. Seitan is insanely cheap to make, it's probably the cheapest protein, even beating dried beans. The only downside is that it's not suitable for those with gluten sensitivity/celiac disease. Fortunately, we can just tolerate gluten normally. Even though we don't have to live insanely frugal anymore, I've kept a lot of frugal practices that just make sense to me, and making my own seitan is one of them. 

 This is what seitan looks like (for those new to vegetarian cooking)

So, here's what you need for a big batch of seitan: 

Flour 

Water

And a whole lot of patience 😅

Start off by mixing 2 KGs of white, all purpose flour with approximately 1 liter of water- it could be a bit more or less. Knead it like you would knead a regular bread dough. If it's too sticky, just add in a bit more flour. 

After kneading for at least 10 minutes (kneading well is essential as the dough has to develop the gluten), leave it to rest in a bowl, cover with a damp tea towel. Leave it rest for at least 3 hours. 

Then after 3 hours, take out the dough (it's probably become slightly stickier, but that's ok) and put it in a colander in the sink. Now it will become a bit repetitive, but I'm ok with that. You'll need to rinse the dough under the tap. As you're rinsing your dough, knead gently, just to make sure all sides of the dough are being rinsed equally. 

In the beginning, it will look like this: 

Then after a while, it will look a bit more like this: 

The only way I can describe it really are brains 🤣 As you keep rinsing, the rinsing water becomes less white (like milk coloured) and more white transparant. Keep rinsing until the water is totally clear. By then, the dough has more of a spongy consistency, rather than looking like brains. 

Then it's time to cook your seitan. There are various ways to do this, but I prefer to cook the seitan in a broth. I've also tried to steam it, which is fine too, but it will really stick to the steaming basket and has a bit less flavour, since the seitan gets most of its flavour from the broth. So to cook it, put the seitan/dough in a pot and cover it with cold water, then add salt and whatever seasonings you like. You can keep it simple using salt, pepper and some bay leaves, or you could really go fancy. It's all a matter of preference. Put it on low heat for 45 minutes, it should be simmering and not boiling. The lower the better. After 45 minutes, when it looks like this: 

You just leave it cool down in the broth, preferably with the lid on the pot. This takes quite long and for this reason, it's not advisable to make seitan to use that very same day. I always make seitan in advance. When cooled down completely, get your seitan out of the broth and process it further. I usually cut it in small chunks, similar to meat, and then fry it or cook it. You could also make bigger cutlets, and I've read that some people grind it, similar to mince (but I'm yet to try that!). 

The other day, I made a simple pasta with small chunks of seitan, a jar of red sauce that I canned last summer and some vegetables that were in the fridge and needed to be used up. Everyone loved it! 

• Seitan is very versatile, you can use it in about everything you'd use meat. Some suggestions; pulled seitan, seitan cutlets, pasta and rice dishes, stews, soups, and many more.

• Keep in mind that this recipe is for quite a big batch; for our family, we use it for two main meals, and even then it's still a big quantity per meal. Since seitan freezes very well, just portion how you'd prefer it for your family size. Or just halve the quantities. 

• Also, don't throw away the seitan broth! It's quite tasty and can be used as any other broth.

• Don't waste money on whole wheat flour for this recipe. Since all the starches are going to get rinsed out, using whole wheat is kind of pointless. 

Some very affordable meal ideas

Lately I've been kind of binge watching budget cooking videos. And I've noticed thar with an exception of a few of them, their approach is usually a bit negative, using words like "surviving" and "poor man's meal". Now I know that those words don't have to be taken negatively necessarily and it really depends on the context. But still, especially for those struggling and watching those videos hoping to get some tips, it's not very uplifting, almost like rubbing it in the face of those having to live on such strict budgets. After all, those vloggers will go back to their old budgets once their "challenge" is over. Looking back at the situation we were in ourselves, I'm glad I didn't approach our being on a tight budget as surviving. It's just what it was and I was really trying hard to make the best of it. 

What also bothers me is that a lot of these vloggers assume that a very tight budget means unhealthy, processed foods, such as instant ramen. Now I know this is true for some people, but for me, this is just kind of conforming the prejudices there are about cheap food. It would be much better to see those vloggers actually teaching how to actually eat more healthily on a tight budget. There are a few that do that, but honestly, the majority of them are just there for the likes and views and the more dramatic their "challenge" gets, the more attention it means for them, so actually teaching others is not quite in their own benefit. 

So I decided to offer some ideas for very frugal meal ideas for those that don't want to be eaten ramen noodles everyday (nothing wrong with having them from time to time, though!) I wanted to compose a list with very budget friendly meals, the "struggle" kind of means if you will.

Rice and beans 

This is a classic and probably the meal people think of when it comes to food on a very tight budget. And probably for a good reason; it's easy, affordable and, depending how you make the meal obviously, so tasty. It's also a go-to for people with various dietary restrictions, unless they can't eat beans for some reason. You can keep it very simple with a bag of dried beans, some basic seasoning and the cheapest rice if that's all your budget allows, to a bit more of an elaborate meal with a more fancy kind of rice, other types of seasonings, and add a bit more healthily in the form of vegetables. Or even add a side of meat/fish if the budget allows that (I usually don't add meat to pulses, as they are already a replacement for meat in and of itself, but that's just me). 

Eggs 

I was hesitant to add eggs to the list due to the increased price of eggs nearly everywhere in the world but most notoriously in the US (where the majority of the readers of this blog are from). But, I figured that since egg based meals are still cheaper than meat based meals, I'd still include it. Especially if you eat the eggs to replace the meat, rather than to have eggs and meat (sometimes you've got to set your priorities!). There are so many egg based meals out there, but to name a few: shakshuka (which is called ojja in Tunisia), anda gravy (also known as egg curry), khagina (Pakistani scrambled eggs), Tunisian tajine, food young egg... It doesn't even have to be a "real" existing meal, you can just add an egg (or two, if the budget allows it) to any meal that lacks some flavour/protein. Wether it's boiled, fried or poached, just add egg to rice, pasta or a sandwich and there you have your complete meal. It's as easy as that. It's good to note that on a very tight budget, and in today's economy, it's probably best not to have eggs daily but to alternate between eggs and other, cheaper,options. 

Seitan 

This is something a bit sentimental to me, as I was raised on a vegetarian diet. In the 1990s and early 2000s, there were very few meat alternatives like the ones common today. What we did eat a lot, was tofu, tempeh and seitan. Tofu and tempeh are both soy products, but seitan is a bit different; it's made out of wheat gluten. Personally, I liked seitan most. The only thing is that seitan, when store bought, can be really expensive. Which is a bit weird in my opinion as it's just one ingredient (or two, if water is counted as an ingredient...) and very easy to make! Later I found out that seitan can be easily made at home; not even with the more expensive vital wheat gluten, but just with all purpose flour. All in all, seitan is the least expensive meat alternative out there, even beating beans. Assuming that one KG flour costs half a dollar/half an euro, and one KG of flour made into seitan yields 3 to 4 portions. So that's just over 12 cents, for one person's portion of protein. Not bad at all, especially on a very tight budget. This does involve some work obviously, but it's doable, especially when you're making a double batch. I'm planning on doing a post on how to make seitan, for those interested in doing so. 

Anyway, back to meal suggestions. Seitan is as versatile as chicken or even more I'd say. It doesn't have a strong flavour in and of itself, so it really absorbs a lot of the flavours that you cook the seitan with. For this reason, it can be used in anything from pasta dishes, to hearty soups and stews, to rice dishes and sandwiches- the options are limitless really. Some suggestions: pasta with seitan, marinara sauce and vegetables, rice with seitan and sautéed vegetables, mashed potatoes with vegetables and a side of fried seitan, seitan sandwiches, loaded soups (a nice broth, some pasta or potatoes or any other starch, small chunks of seitan and beans, and of course nicely seasoned). As I said, the options are limitless. I usually just throw in some seitan to whatever leftovers there are in the fridge. 

Other pulses

While rice and beans may be the most famous pulses-and-starch meal, it's obviously not the only one. There are many other legumes/pulses to perfectly match a starch. Lentils, for example, are very versatile and as an added bonus, much easier to prepare ad they don't require soaking time, plus their cooking time is less. Some well known lentil dishes I can think of: koshary (Egyptian dish with rice, pasta and lentils), dhaal (south Asian lentils served with rice or flatbread), mujaddara (Levantine rice and lentil dish), lentil soup (in its many, many varieties), l3ades (north African lentil stew, served with bread) mercimek köfte (Turkish lentil "meatballs"). These are just a few of the many lentils dishes out there. Sometimes, just a bit of online searching is enough to find yet more dishes you've never heard of: 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpHGeH3bWu8&pp=ygUaYmVyeWwgc2hlcmVzaGV3c2t5IGxlbnRpbHPSBwkJxwkBhyohjO8%3D

And then there's also the humble chickpea- probably my favourite of all! I use chickpeas a lot. I mostly cook Tunisian meals and there's a lot of chickpea based meals in Tunisian cuisine, such as couscous with lamb, chickpeas and raisins (the lamb is obviously expensive but can be left out), lablebi (a winter breakfast dish made with chickpeas, broth and stale bread), barley and chickpeas soup, and even Tunisian pasta usually contains chickpeas. They can be added to pretty much any dish. And homemade hummus is also one of our favourites; I usually make a big batch and then freeze smaller portions. Chickpea flour is a pantry staple for us and can be used in many ways. Believe it or not, but Tunisians even make cookies with chickpea flour. 

Pasta 

Pasta must be on this list! I think there's no starch more versatile than pasta, not even rice. Due to the many varieties and shapes, you can make about any meal with pasta, even "rice-y dishes" by simply using orzo instead of rice. The options are limitless, and you can choose from so many shapes, combining different vegetables, protein, and sauces. And make sure to not just stick to Italian foods. Who said one cuisine could have patent on a certain kind of starch? Italian cuisine is lovely, not trying to put it down- it's just that there are many other countries using pasta too in their own unique way. Or just make up your own recipe- even better! 

I was intending to do a recipe post but this turned out to be more a list of suggestions, so stay tuned as I'll try to do a "struggle meal" series with very cheap recipes. 

Fried rice with egg, onion and pepper - easy and cheap!

Tightwad tip- eat more cabbage

We're big on eating mainly seasonal produce. It just makes sense: it's healthier, cheaper and has less of an environmental impact. However, when I tell people about this, the main response is that they don't really have an issue with eating summer produce, but don't really like eating cabbage all the time. Now we don't eat cabbage all the time during the winter (other local in season produce includes turnips, fennel, parsnips, chard, carrots, etc), but it is something we do eat a lot. Cabbage is very nutritious- it belongs to the cruciferous vegetables, and is often referred to as a superfood. The word 'superfoods' might turn some people off, because of its price and the fad around them, but the great thing is- this particular superfood is super affordable! I know that fresh produce is expensive and makes up the bulk of the grocery costs of many people these days, so it's actually nice to know there are options that are a bit more affordable and just as healthy. 

When it comes to taste, it really is a matter of preference obviously.  We do like cabbage, but to each their own. I can't say that cabbage is my absolute favourite vegetable of all though, but it does rank quite high on my list. I like that it's just so so versatile so there's probably always a way in which people that don't prefer cabbage still like it. You can: ferment, fry, steam, stuff, bake, boil (and probably a lot of other things...) this lovely vegetable. And it's even nice for making winter salads. I find it hard to think of a dish to which you can't add some sort of cabbage. It can bulk up meals very nicely. That's how I use it a lot: as a "filler" for meals that lack enough vegetables. 

Even though most in season produce here is quite affordable, the thing is that most vegetables are sold by the weight (per kg). Some other vegetables, such as carrots and turnips are being sold in bunches. At times, you can get big bunches, and there are times the bunches are as tiny as three not very big turnips, which obviously make them more expensive. The thing with cabbage is that they usually aren't sold by the weight, but per piece, which typically make them even more affordable than other in season produce. Also, unlike most vegetables, cabbage is kind of 'what you see is what you get': there's no need to peel anything, nor does it shrink. And cutting cabbage is done in a few minutes, unlike some other vegetables, which comes in handy for those days when you're short on time. 

So, all in all, I believe that eating cabbage is a really is a good strategy when wanting or needing to cut back on groceries. 

Making something out of nothing

As we're reaching the end of the month, it seems like most people's budgets are getting tighter. Perhaps it's coincidence, but when I'm on YouTube, I always get a lot more "extreme/emergency grocery haul" content, so I thought about doing the same. 

We ourselves have been in the situation where we had to stretch every €, and even then we're not certain about making it through the month. We used every tin of food to the last drop, had very simple meals (porridge for dinner was quite the norm towards the end of the month!), our sandwiches were certainly "creative" (i'm looking for the right word I guess... and the generic brand of simple cookies or chocolate were such a treat. We were blessed to never go hungry, even though finances were so tight, but it took a lot of work and creativity. It truly could feel like a sport to make something out of nothing. 

And that was pre inflation! I can imagine the stress so many people go through right now. A grocery haul that used to cost €100, has now doubled in price. So naturally, almost everyone is trying to stretch their budget as fat as possible. And that usually means that as the month lasts, the money is getting tighter, and the food is certainly getting more "creative". And for a lot of people it's not just to cut down on takeout coffee, or to wait for next month to buy that treat you were craving. For a lot of people, tough decisions must be made: to buy the kids some fruit or to have an occasional meat this week. To buy new sport shoes for your child because they're beyond repair or to skip breakfast yourself. And you're too embarrassed to borrow money from your neighbours yet again... As I said, I'm fortunate enough to not be in that situation anymore, although finances are getting tighter with the increasing prices which does stress me out honestly. It's just that I do know what it's like to have to make tough decisions, so hopefully I can give some tips here for those that are struggling. 

Using up odds and ends- this can mean everything from using up that last bit of ketchup on a slice of bread (which tastes surprisingly good, my children still love ketchup sandwiches!), to combining various leftovers and turning them into a meal - some of our favourite dishes were invented this way. Don't be afraid of "weird" combinations. Search your kitchen cupboards, you might find some half empty packages that need to be rescued from being wasted. Have breakfast for dinner more often! Especially if you have kids, it will probably be a big hit. I remember how excited I got about eating pancakes for dinner. Little did I know that my mum made this when she was struggling towards the end of the month! Reconsider the items you think you need- are they really an essential, or just a nice extra? And if you're like me, and you're saving way too many one person's sized meal portions in the freezer, this is the right time to thaw them. 

Try to find cheaper substitutes- a bit of your own creativity and a lot of Mr. Google go a long way. You might know of some substitutes already, such as lentils or beans instead of meat. But I bet not everyone knows how to substitute butter for oil, like I do in many baking recipes (it's 3/4 cup of oil for every cup of butter, to be precisely). Or that you can easily make your own oat milk for pennies if you've ran out of milk or if you find oat milk expensive. I know, I might know a bit more tips and tricks than the "average" frugal person, but that's exactly why I'm suggesting to just Google anything. It really does help a lot. This is why internet is essential to me and it was even more so during our poor period. Even when it did cost a bit, that was totally worth it, since I've saved hundreds if not thousands by just paying monthly for my pretty basic (and cheapest) internet connection. It definitely paid off with all the frugality tips I found over the years. 

Struggle meals - this is probably an unofficial word but I've seen it for some time now in the frugal bloggers/vloggers atmosphere. A struggle meal is just that: meals to eat when you're struggling. It doesn't sound fun but some struggle meals are surprisingly good. One of my favourite meals are "rice and beans" with its numerous varieties (couscous and lentils, pasta and chickpeas, or even lentil soup and bread). Nourishing, comforting and cheap at the same time! What's not to like? Other struggle meals may include various pasta dishes, mostly vegetarian obviously because meat is expensive, or porridge. I think every family has their own "struggle meal". We have quite a few dirt cheap dishes that we repeat often, but since we eat them just because we enjoy them, it doesn't quite feel as a struggle meal. I honestly think that's the trick: you can serve insanely cheap meals but as long as they don't feel cheap it makes the struggle somewhat less. You can achieve that by serving it in a nice way, adding as much as fancy seasonings you have on hand, and variety (if possible). You may have some other tips on making struggle meals feel a but less "struggle-ish". If you're looking for other's people's struggle meals, you might be interested to look up great depression recipes, when people made nice meals with very few and with beyond frugal ingredients. It's basically just struggle meals buy from an certain era. For people that aren't really familiar with struggle meals, it's probably an eye opener that you van still make relatively healthy meals on a tight budget. Sure, Mac 'n cheese is nice every so often, but even on a very tight budget you can cook foods that are as affordable and healthier. 

Don't be afraid to ask- OK, I know this is a tough one. Especially for people that rather give than take. Been there, done that. But you can't always be the giver, we sometimes are just on the receiving end too. And remember, the people that are willing to help you have as much as a giving heart too, so don't deprive them from giving too. Keep in mind that giving doesn't always have to be money wise; even if you're broke you can help out others babysitting their children, help paint a wall or deep clean/declutter their homes, etc. Or just to keep company, perhaps there are others that are feeling lonely and are craving human contact. Being broke doesn't mean you can't help people. 

Fast food vs real food, which is cheaper?

We've been told a lot of lies by the food industry. One of my biggest pet peeve is the claim that fast food is cheaper than real food. It's probably one of the biggest food myths out there, but somehow people keep believing it wholeheartedly. And I don't think it's to fraud themselves, it's just that the food industry's propaganda machine is really working. 

First of all, let's define fast food. I'm not necessarily talking about the literal meaning - grabbing an apple from your counter could be faster than driving to your nearby McDonald's restaurant. I think we all know what's meant by fast food. But just for clarifications sake, when I (or most people) think fast food, we think of not so nutrient dense meals, coming from factories or fast food style restaurant, highly processed at least. And usually not very expensive, which is why people get attracted to those foods. 

Secondly; it might be interesting to look at some reasons why people buy fast food. Some may like the taste, but for the majority, it probably has to do with a lack of time or not a very big budget. 

What I find quite interesting is that looking at the poor people from the past (and no, i'm not necessarily talking about centuries ago), they all cooked from scratch. Eating out was considered a rich person's hobby, and absolutely unaffordable for poor people. And not just the past- it's still like this in most parts of the world; where we live, eating out or having a takeaway isn't the norm, even for people that are financially well off. And not only that; people were very resourceful and great at not throwing away anything, stretching whatever they had to feed as much people as possible. It sure might have been nice for that exhausted homemaker living in poverty to have had the ability to have a takeaway, but when everybody's living like that, it's just your normal. So, despite limited resources, people still put a lot of love and effort in making simple yet wonderful meals- and above all, used their creativity! It's amazing how much that has changed over just a few decades. 

When it comes to time, I get that people that are working multiple jobs and come home exhausted late at night don't have energy to cook. Still, there's solutions to (almost) every problem, including this one. Why not do one from scratch cooking marathon on a day you're not working and freeze all those meals? Or just buy canned vegetables or frozen vegetables, which are usually just as nutritious, but it's still saving you some time. Eggs are also fast to prepare, as is boiling some rice or pasta. A sandwich can be whipped up in a few minutes and can be made as healthy as you like. And these days, with all our technology, we can use crock pots (some people put them on right before they go to work), or they do some meal prep in advance and they throw those ingredients in a pressure cooker once they've arrived home. Others might throw some "homemade fast food" together of items that are considered convenience foods, but still are healthier than what most fast foods restaurants would sell (for example: some tinned vegetables, instant mashed potatoes and something quick as a protein on the side). 

There's so many options!

But now, when it comes to money- which are actually cheaper? Is fast food really that cheap? It probably depends on where you buy your food and to which restaurants you go to. Some restaurants may have an "happy hour" with reduced prices, or some small convenience stores in food deserts will have higher prices. I'm not really up to date with most prices in the US (I'm talking about the US specifically since that's where the fast foods are so prevalent and more of an issue than in other countries), but I'm sure that cooking healthy, homemade foods from cheap ingredients still is much cheaper than fast foods or even convenience foods such as frozen dinners. It's just that it takes a bit more effort and adjustment, but once you're used to cooking from scratch, you'll probably don't want to go back and you're not really into that greasy, MSG-ish fast food taste anymore. 

Remember that you don't have to buy meat or fish products all the time, as those are quite expensive. Or even the more expensive vegetables... For example, now that it's winter, we have plenty of cheap vegetables in season, such as different kinds of cabbage, turnips, chard, carrots, pumpkins... Those are all so cheap and very versatile. In fact, I'd find it hard to mention a dish in which one of those vegetables don't fit. When it comes to starches- just find the ones that are most affordable for you. For us, it's bread, pasta and couscous. Potatoes, barley, and rice are more expensive but can still be made into a healthy frugal meal, especially when you keep it vegetarian. I like to have lunch with leftover pasta or some fried potatoes, an egg and some vegetables on the side- nothing special but still a nice and filling meal. On the days when we don't have meat (those days outnumber the days that we do have meat), we either have legumes such as lentils, chickpeas or white beans, or I make an egg based meal. Yup, no eggs for breakfast here 🙂 Same goes for breakfast foods. Just keep it simple, don't set very high goals- that way you'll burn out and are tempted to get a takeaway.

Not that there's anything wrong with a takeaway every so often; we just shouldn't make it a frequent habit. I could go on but I think you're getting the idea of trying to make meals stretch as much as possible, prepping ahead and thinking of cheaper ingredients. While fast food may seem cheap, when keeping our health in mind it's not quite that cheap at all. 

Egg replacements

We've probably read or heard all about the egg shortages in the US lately- that is, if some of us aren't affected directly by the shortages. While we don't live in the US, nor do we eat US imported eggs (as far as I know anyhow), eggs still aren't quite as cheap as they once were, so it definitely won't hurt to reconsider the amount of eggs we consume. 

Since we don't have egg shortages (unlike the other products that we have shortages of, which I blogged about a while ago), we don't strictly have to ration them. But I still like to save money whenever we can, and if that's by replacing one more expensive ingredient by a cheaper ingredient, that's good! And frugality aside, there are other circumstances in which eggless options become an necessity. Think of allergies and ethical/religious dietary requirements. If you're not allergic or being religious forbidden from eating eggs but you're in company of people that are, it's still nice if you can all enjoy the same meal. That's what I would feel like anyhow- being the one with a "special" meal will make me feel left out,  but perhaps that's just a remnant of my childhood trauma when I was always the only vegetarian among the meat eaters 🙂

Enough said... let's talk egg replacements. Since there are quite a lot, I'll just go through my list! 

Banana (mashed)/applesauce: this is great for baked goods such as (pan)cakes, muffins etc. 

Sweetened condensed milk: also used for making baked goods. I remember using them to make brownies and wasn't disappointed at all! 

Corn starch: haven't used it enough honestly, but I do know that they make great French toast. In fact, I actually prefer French toast made with cornstarch now over the variety that includes eggs - even if eggs were free, I'd probably still be using corn starch! I have read (but not tried out myself) that cornstarch is also very suitable to make pancakes, muffins etc. 

Gram flour/chickpea flour: this is whet it gets a bit different. While chickpea flour is a great egg replacement, it certainly has to be used with caution as it does, obviously, have a strong chickpea flavour, which won't always taste great in sweet baked goods (unless you bake Tunisian ghorayba 7oms, or chickpea flour cookies 😉 but that's for another post!). Still, in a lot of savoury dishes, chickpea flour is a very good option. Or when you want scrambled eggs minus the eggs! If you do like the texture of chickpea flour but you're not a huge fan of the taste, you can always opt for other legume based flours, such as soy or lentil flour. I once got a bag of soy flour from a friend that she wasn't using (yes, my friends know I waste nothing, lol) and it tasted quite neutral. 

Speaking of chickpeas- chickpea aquafaba is also a terrific egg replacement that can be used in many ways, I once posted a mayonnaise recipe that uses aquafaba instead of egg. Other people even make meringue with aquafaba instead of eggs, but I'm yet to try that out. Btw, make sure it's chickpea aquafaba and not another kind of bean/pulse water. Chickpea water is really the best to use. 

Flax seeds: flax seeds are very versatile. I mostly use them in my yogurt for breakfast, but I've also used them as an egg replacement. It's usually 1 teaspoon + some water to replace one egg. To get the best result, it's best to use broken seeds, but I just grind up whole seeds in my small coffee grinder, which works perfectly. Apparently, chia seeds function the same as flax seeds, but I'm not a chia seed fan so haven't tried that myself. 

Tofu: if you don't really like the chickpea-y flavour, you still can make scrambled "egg" by using tofu. 

Cream/milk: when you neef an egg specifically for an egg wash for your bread, cream or even milk seem to work as a decent replacement. I've heard that some people have even used pasta water... Not sure how great it would work, so iv you're trying it, do so at your own risk. 

Mayonnaise: apparently this works in savoury dishes such as casseroles as well as certain baked goods as cake, but don't hold me accountable as I've only vaguely remember once using mayonnaise for these purposes 

No eggs at all: you may find yourself in the situation with no eggs and no egg replacements, or just can't be bothered to use any substitutes. The good news is that in many cases you can just leave out the eggs altogether. I've made eggless cakes, pancakes, muffins, and cookies... sometimes you need to alter the recipe a bit, or switch to another recipe but it can be possible. 

Seasoning food on a tight budget

I've been watching some "emergency grocery budget" videos lately (you've gotta do something when you're feeling sick and can't do anything but being in bed, right?). One thing that I noticed was that most of these vloggers - no matter how good their intentions are - somehow assume that people have all these "pantry staples" on hand. I'm talking about basic items, or even less basic items, like rice, oil, flour, tinned tomatoes, but also the seasonings. And while that's true in some cases, there are also people that are truly broke, having nothing but empty cupboards and with a budget of maybe 20 euros/dollars for the next week or two weeks for ALL their groceries (been there, done that...). If that's the case, it's hard to expect your meals to be flavoured with dozens of different seasonings and all kinds of additional ingredients. With 20 euros, you want to stretch your meals as much as possible so seasonings just won't be as important as your main staples. In such a situation, it's more about filling your stomachs with whatever is the cheapest. 

Yet, at the same time, you still need to have a tiny bit of flavour in order not to feel very deprived when you're going through such a situation. Not having a lot to choose from for a few weeks isn't that difficult. But sometimes, these situations can go on for years. So I get that people want to "indulge" on at least some extra flavour, especially when you have to make do with so little already. Having been there, done that I definitely know that it can be a challenge, but still possible when you precisely budget and shop smartly. 

Bread: while bread toppings aren't strictly necessary, I find it kind of hard to eat bread as is, especially if it's not day fresh. I've found that toasting bread enhances the flavour (which is the very reason toast was "invented"- to make stale bread a bit more palatable). During rough times, I didn't mind to have just a bare toast with a cup of tea. We also had times when we just had margarine (because it's much cheaper than butter), which felt quite luxurious when compared to bare bread. Or even margarine sprinkled with some sugar (and cinnamon, if possible). That wouldn't even feel like "cheap food" to me honestly. It's not that healthy obviously, but with an extremely tight budget, that's not always the #1 priority. Bread can also be part of the main meal, such as a slice or two of bread along with a cup of soup. Which is good, because then the soup becomes the topping/easoning of the bread without needing anything else. I would advise using butter (or at least margarine, if butter is too expensive) over oil, because butter is more versatile/multi purpose. You can use it both for bread as well as cooking, whereas cooking oil isn't that suitable for bread obviously (unless you have olive oil... Which isn't quite what I'd expect for someone on a very low budget). Alternatively, you can buy peanut butter, and then use it for bread as well as for main dishes (you can make sauced and salad dressings based on peanut butter). 

Main meals:

Salt : the bare minimum, in my opinion, is salt. Black pepper would be nice too, but as long as you have salt, that's the most important. Salt can make such a difference to foods, even foods that initially would seem to be bland. 

Herbs/spices: if you don't have any on hand and your budget allows to buy a few spices, the ones I'd suggest would be black pepper, cumin, oregano, parsley (dried or fresh), ginger (ground is cheaper), and paprika. And cinnamon, especially to flavour up sweet dishes/breakfast foods. If you don't have money for all of these, just pick a few. Pepper, oregano and cumin would be good to start with. Usually, herbs and spices are more affordable at Asian/Middle eastern stores. Spices bought in supermarkets are just so much more expensive. And in my opinion, spices bought from those stores usually taste stronger too, which means you'll end up using less. That makes it even more cheaper. 

Onion/garlic: in my humble opinion, each meal must include either onion or garlic, preferably both! It doesn't just add a bit of nutrition - they're both great flavour enhancers. You don't have to use a whole onion or cloves of garlic, just a bit is usually enough to flavour your food so it doesn't taste bland. If you just have a tiny bit of garlic, the best thing you can do is to add it towards the end of the cooking time, so it tastes as garlicky as possible. As for onions: when I make a stew or soup of some sort, I sometimes add onion peels instead of whole chopped onions. I keep a container in the fridge with some onion peels; that way I don't have to peel and chop another onion (and possibly washing up another chopping board...), for as much flavour. If you're truly broke, that's an affordable way to add more flavour to your food. Even a small amount of chopped and sautéed onion does wonders to about any dish. 

Tomato paste: it's a key ingredient in most Tunisian foods, so needless to say, we go through a lot of it! Even for many non-Tunisian dishes, we use tomato paste. However, tomato paste has become ridiculoudly expensive lately. We're paying now exactly double for the same tin compared to three years ago! And it's not that it was that cheap back then. We definitely try to be more frugal now with the tomato paste, often resulting in a bit more runny sauce, but still with a nice tomato-ey flavour. When you're in that bad of a financial situation that you barely can afford seasonings, if you can afford some tomato paste, I'd highly suggest buying it. You can use a tiny amount just for some flavour. When I'm being lazy I sometimes make a "soup" of some tomato paste, salt, and garlic paste- and then add vermicelli. My children absolutely love this. If tomato paste is more expensive than pasta sauce/marinara sauce, that's absolutely an option as well. It's basically just tomato paste with added seasonings, so you can just forego adding extra seasonings. In an emergency, even ketchup would be an option. I must admit that we never ever have ketchup at home but on the rare occasion when we crave it, I make it myself. But if you do have ketchup on hand, just use that as a seasoning. It won't be as good as real tomato sauce, but most people will prefer ketchup over blandness. 

Stock cubes/bullion cubes: not as good and certainly not as healthy as real brother made out of fresh ingredients, but does a decent job to flavour up your food. Just one cube will do wonders to your rice. It's not limited to rice of course. You can flavour up soups, sauces etc. One cube will probably be enough for one 4 persons meal. Maybe one of package of stock cubes is not the cheapest item out there, but it will last a long time. The good thing here is that you can buy them per cube (for the same price you'd pay in a complete package), but that's probably not possible everywhere. Still, a complete package will not break the bank even on a very tight budget. 

These were the bare basic seasonings that I'd recommend when on a very restricted budget. If you have some more breathing room, I would also advise to have mustard, sesame seeds, marmite, soy sauce (and/or fish sauce), and any hot condiment of your choice on hand. BBQ sauce is also a versatile condiment to flavour up your food. I posted a mock soy sauce recipe, just in case soy sauce us hard to find, too expensive, or in case you're allergic to soy.                        And remember- the best seasonings are the main ingredients. If you use good, fresh ingredients, you'll likely use less seasonings. Although that can be challenging on an extreme budget, I must admit. 

As I mentioned, there were periods in our life when we had to go through similar situations; having to ration everything and calculate precisely so we wouldn't go hungry. Even though it was tough at the time, it really taught us to be resourceful and creative. Hopefully this can help people in similar situations. There are many people struggling these days, so I'm convinced tips like these are needed more than ever.