Posted on 02/18/2009 2:24:13 PM PST by JRandomFreeper
It’s tough out there and may get tougher. Job cuts, pay cuts, and expenses are going up. What’s a conservative to do? Conserve, of course.
That doesn’t mean you have to eat less healthy food, or eat foods that aren’t so good, or eat less. With a few of the right ingredients, some practice, some planning, and some time, you can produce excellent quality nutritious meals for surprisingly little money.
The catch, of course, is the time it takes. But if you are unemployed, or under-employed (like me), you have more time than money.
Fine cooking is about treating good quality ingredients right. Inexpensive cooking is about picking the right ingredients, some planning, and some labor.
My favorite ingredients are good quality, good price, and ingredients with many uses. That means shopping fairly frequently, watching for specials in the flyers that fill up my mailbox, and talking to family and friends about the REALLY GOOD DEALS that we all run across sometimes.
Ingredients
I rarely buy canned or frozen, with a few exceptions, (canned tomatoes and frozen corn, namely) I use what is fresh and in season, and cheap. I also have a garden, and eat what is seasonal from the garden.
Basil is expensive in the grocery store, but is easy to grow. And it shows up about the same time as the tomatoes. Can you say Italian?
Meats are more problematic. I’ve pretty much given up on beef, except once a month. I’m fortunate that I can get game locally, like venison and boar, and we raise a few goats for the freezer.
Pork can be found on sale in large roasts that can be cut up and prepared in many ways.
Chicken also can be found on sale in bulk and frozen in appropriate sized portions.
Bulk products, like flour, cornmeal, rice, beans, masa, and sugar can be purchased in bulk and transferred to appropriate sealed containers to keep the bugs out.
Planning
Since I’m single, I know how much of what I’m going to use in a month and plan accordingly. Breakfast is whatever you eat for breakfast times 30. For me that means 60 eggs, 30 sausage patties, 30 frozen biscuits, and 60 oz of homemade salsa for the month. Sausage patties weigh 2 oz each, so that’s 60 oz of that pork shoulder for breakfast for the month.
A word about individually frozen biscuits. I use them, they are good. I can, and have mixed up a batch of biscuit dough to cook just one biscuit. I won my bet, and would never do it again.
Lunch and dinner I plan for 8 oz of meat, 6 oz of cooked starches, and 4 to 6 ounces of vegetables. So for planning that’s 2 meals times 30 days = 60 meals. So I need about 30 lbs of meat, 22 lbs of starches, and 20 lbs of vegetables for the month.
A word about starches. 2oz of dried beans, rice, or pasta roughly equals 6 oz of cooked starches. For things like potatoes, rutabagas, and turnips, use the full 6 oz measure when buying.
Fruit is as in season, and inexpensive. Sometimes, that means that I just get preserves.
Salads for me come from the garden if they are in season. Down here in Texas, I’ve usually got something most of the year.
I make my own breads, desserts, and lots of my own sauces.
This article is meant to stimulate discussion on cost savings and maybe provide some advice during these difficult times. There are quite a few freeper Chefs, food service professionals, and darn good non-professional cooks on this site.
I also try to make extra of certain items: cook more rice than I need so I can make fried rice the next day, make extra mashed potatoes for potato cakess...
Just thought I’d share.
Good thread. Years ago, some one gave me the advice to buy seasonal/sale and cook from that rather than start with an idea for dinner and buy from that. I always have at least one leafy green vegetable on hand (kale, collard greens, “adult” spinach, etc). Kale in season is bar none the cheapest vegetable I can get. With a little chicken broth and paprika it’s very good.
When meat is purchased it is frozen into single or double servings UNLESS I know I have a crockpot opportunity. Crockpot stews have been a great bang for my buck and make workday lunch very easy to handle. Since I’m not a morning person, grabbing a plastic container from the freezer and a piece of whatever fruit is on hand makes lunch sooo easy.
I have a gallon jar in the fridge right now.
Yep, it is called “consumee”. Years ago, my mother used to buy it in cans from Campbells Soup, and serve it chilled on a summer day.
You are inspiring me to make some from scratch this summer. Another wonderful summer soup is “Vichysoisse”.
This is just potato-leek soup, flavored with chicken broth and dill, pureed and served cold. Your guests will think you studied in France. Google it, and read all the recipes. See where they differ, which ones are the purest, with the shortest list of ingredients, and do not call for “cheats”.
Also, avoid like the plague any recipe that calls for canned cream of anything. It is so ridiculously simple to make your own flavored white sauce, a fifth grader could do it, and you never have to eat all those chemicals again!
Oh my! Your food is very expensive. I refuse to pay more than $2.99 for any meat unless the whole ribeyes go on sale at Krogers for $3.99-$4.99 a pound then I’ll buy it and have them cut into 1” steaks for free that last the two of us for months.
I bought yams today....they were 99 cents a pound...Not sure if that’s a good price....I’m gonna roast them up tomorrow with chicken burgers....I also love to roast carrots and beets....they’re so sweet and delish.
I've SERIOUSLY considered pulling it off-line, out to the garage, and fabricating some real spray fittings for it. I've got the machine tools to do it. I've got or can make most of the parts from stock on hand.
But I do have guests over from time to time. An efficiency apartment oven with hoses and fittings and a small water pump, timer, and tank hanging off of the side would look sorta like the Borg had assimilated my oven.
It may happen. It could happen. But if I do it, I'll have to come up with a Borg/Acme logo to paint on the front.
/johnny
I wonder if you could make a beano starter?
More rising time makes a chewier bread.
The extra yeast makes it light.
Left over mashed spuds make great potato bread or rolls.
If you parboil the beans, rinse them, then soak them overnight in fresh water, you will find they lose a lot, but not all of the gassiness.
Also, if you make a vow to eat beans regularly, and I mean at least every other day, you will develop the digestive enzymes on your own, and you won’t find that they make you uncomfortable. We learned that from experience.
Stay with the garbanzos and lentils until you develop the enzymes before branching out into the red beans...
/johnny
/johnny
I think the longer rising time can make a very light bread, but the reason for less yeast is so that the bread develops better flavor.
A lot of yeast can make a bread light, but it will taste more of yeast than the nutty flavor of the wheat, which develops a wonderful flavor if allowed several long cool rises.
If there is a lot of sugar and other stuff in the bread, long rises aren’t possible, though. The long rises are best with the simple rustica breads, like italian, cuban, french, etc.
My biggest challenge is to make excellent Ciabatta. It calls for a very wet and sloppy dough, and a biga with a 24 hour rise. I always get more flour in it, and then don’t get those big yummy holes.
I always incorporate my entire pre-ferment into that day's baking, and pull the next day's preferment before I shape.
If the Italians have a different process, teach us. For breads, I mainly focused on classic french types and techniques.
/johnny
My favorite recipe is from Julia Child's The Way to Cook. It calls for nothing but potatoes, leeks, water and salt.
She writes: "You'll note there's no chicken stock here, just water, leeks, potatoes and salt in the soup base. However, you may include chicken stock if you wish, and you may certainly include milk. A bit of cream at the end is a nourishing touch, but by no means a necessity."
BTW, I do typically put a grind of pepper in mine, but have never tried dill. I shall do that next time.
Never tried making Ciabatta
$4.99 lb. Not what I’d call conservative or frugal cooking.
One gallon jar of kimchee goes for $12 at the Korean store near me. Made on the premises and they have a few varieties of it. I just get the normal boring one made with Chinese cabbage as the main ingredient. It is spicy but not excessively so by any means
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.