Cooking Conservatively in Tough Financial Times

Vanity | Feb, 18, 2008 | JRandomFreeper

[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.

[Cap Huff]

Bump for later reference.

[OB1kNOb]

BTTT - keep it going. Lots of good ideas.

[tillacum]

Instead of soaking beans overnight, does anyone bring the dried beans to a boil, remove from heat, let sit an hour, pour off the water, rinse and bring beans back to a boil, then simmer till cooked?

[tillacum]

Wild hogs are great tasting and the sausage is wonderful. Yes, it’s still ok to trap or shoot wild hogs. We had a foreman who would trap the hogs, fatten them up then sell them.

[Grut]

I think there's a joke in there somewhere, but I haven't gotten it yet.

Until the introduction of New World varities, Fava beans were the only kind grown in Europe.

OK, stupid joke.

[tillacum]

When we were young and in the military, leftovers were put in “glop pots”. The veggies went in one freezer pot, beef, pork/chicken went into their pot and sauces into another. About every 2 or so weeks, the veggie pot, sauce pot and either beef or pork/chicken pots were raided and made into either a stew or casserole. I’d bake a couple loaves of bread, put together a salad and we’d invite friends or bachelors over for a feast. We learned how to cook eggs many different ways. Leftover seafood ended up in sandwiches or became fish patties. Nothing went to waste.

[tillacum]

We have some friends who’ve made a Mexican oven outdoors. They use a lot of wood to heat the sand under the cooking area, but the food they cook are very tasty, expecially the stews and soups and the breads are fantastic. The breads have an extra crunchy crust that I cannot get in my oven.

[elk]

We're on the other side of the Potomac.

Perhaps I can get some survival grub from the nearby cheese and chocolate boutiques over here, where the chattering classes hang out....

[Holding Our Breath]

Johnny, Mr HOB wants high fiber everything! Can you make high fiber bread at home? HOB

[Holding Our Breath]

That's how Paula Deen started with Gordon Elliot. He now is the executive producer of her show on FoodNetwork.

Your mystery basket idea sounds more like how my grandmother used to cook when no one had any money and everyone ate from the garden or traded food as money.

That's how I learned to open the fridge and cook something from what was there. Most of the time it works. The other night I made chicken "cacitore". The only problem is now I can't remember what I did!

[tillacum]

I would set my bread dough the night before baking. For breakfast the next morning, I’d fry about 5/6/7 pices of dough...wonderful fried bread dipped in hot blueberry/raspberry jelly or warm honey with hot coffee.

[tillacum]

I always peel the stem then slice it lengthwise, the same with cauliflower stem, I serve it with beer and martinis for nibbles. They are great. We do the same with fresh beans and asparagus. These make great finger nibbles.

[newhouse]

Fresh beans make great snacks. Half a dozen snap or snow peas are great. But fresh green beans - I can go through a half a pound of those before I reaach my saturation point.

[Kackikat]

That’s what my mama taught me, and we have never gone hungry. I believe it is sinful to throw away massive amounts of food, and not use leftovers...we Americans are so blessed and we have no idea what real hunger is like.

[Holding Our Breath]

Is this for Jerusalem artichokes? I’ve never seen one...I don’t think. What collor is it?

[Holding Our Breath]

I have one - used once because I lost the directions and don’t know how to use it. I hate relying on machinery!

[Plutarch]

I have one - used once because I lost the directions and don’t know how to use it. I hate relying on machinery!

Go to the manufacturer's web site and get a .pdf of the owners manual. Fire that thing up, and delight your family!

[Plutarch]

Breakfast should be considered here as well. I am a big fan of Meusli, which can be eaten either cold or hot (you soak it in milk for about 10 minutes if you want it cold).

You can get Bob's Red Mill muesli in 25 lb. sacs. for $50, or $2/lb., which is $4.4 per kilogram. Figuring 4 calories per gram, the daily caloric equivalent of 2300 calories is met for $2.53.

Even bulk purchase cereal alternatives, such as Cheerios , are much more expensive and any cereal from the grocery store is many times more expensive. Meusli, unlike cereal, doesn't go stale. It can serve therefore as emergency food, even more so as it doesn't require cooking to be palatable. With milk, fruit, yogurt added there is much variety in taste, so no need to get tired of it. Unlike processed cereals, it is broken down more slowly, and thus is a carbohydrate with a low glycemic index. It is fantastic in bread (see bread machine post above).

[angcat]

Tonight Gary made a delicious Chicken Cutlets with bread crumbs, lemon, olive oil, artichokes, garlic and Mozzarella cheese. It was first cooked in a pan and then put in the oven. OMG I am so full I can’t exercise tonight.

[angcat]

My husband came home with one last night. Recommended by Henry HIll, It's a hand held one and it came with the special bags.