I’m trying to learn to buy groceries, cook for myself again.
Can’t afford to buy and keep produce. Limited cookware. So, any recipe telling me to crush garlic, dice onions, etc, can’t do.
Need budget, ghetto, for people on a fixed income, easy no frills way to make diy tomato paste pasta sauce.
Good suggestions so far. Tks. I have 1 bowl, 1 plate, 1 spoon, 1 fork, 1 butter knife ; 1 small sauce pan; Only stores nearby are corner stores. Hardly any produce. Having to make due with what you can find in a liquor store.
Most people are giving you good advice on how to make a good sauce for cheap, but I hear you on the low-equipment and storage issue.
I’m going to assume you have access to a microwave or portable stove top/burner or other heat source, a glass bowl or cooking pot, something to stir with, and maybe a tiny little space in a fridge.
If you mix any or all of the above to your taste, heat it through and for long enough without a lid to thicken the sauce by evaporation, you can get some extremely tasty food. And the only things you will need to store in a fridge are the leftover end-result or tomato-based or rehydrated ingredients.
But, you will experience poor nutrition relying only on shelf-stable foods in longer situations. If you can boost that with a variety of frozen or fresh veg, you will be doing yourself a huge favour. You also need to consider protein sources. Meats nd cheese usually need the fridge, but beans and lentils in the right balance can work for no-fridge situations too.
I unfortunately have a lot of experience with this issue, so if there’s anything else I can suggest solutions for, let me know.