It's Monday. October 7th, time for the third part of the equasion. Scratch cooking.
One of the easiest ways to derail your budget and run out of money on a fixed food budget is to buy your food ready made and in boxes. That being said, there is always exceptions, but they are few.
Certainly, any pancake, waffle or pop up item is off limits, they are way over prices and easily cooked. Muffins or quick breads are an easy, fast, cheap alternative. I do use bisquick that I get at Costco. I have a recipe for baking mix, but it calls for shortening and I avoid solid fats.
Oatmeal from scratch is easy and not much more work than instant.
1 cup water
1/2 cup oatmeal in a microwave safe bowl.
1-1/2 minutes in the microwave.
I cook the oatmeal for 1 minute, stir and cook 30 seconds, it seems to keep it from boiling over.
I add fruit and milk, or some raisins and milk.
Cold cereal is a given. Avoid the sugary ones, they are expensive and whole grain Cheerios or corn flakes are better and I almost always can find coupons.
Some items for dinner are as cheap ready made, but not many.m instant mashed potatoes on sale cheap are sometimes cheaper than scratch. I buy refried beans because they are time consuming to
make . Ditto tortillas. I usually keep a cake mix on hand when I can get them for less than the flour.
There are ways to cook from scratch that don't mean that you have to slave over a hot stove for an
hour. Unless, you want to. Carla on The Chew introduced me to the word, passive cooking. I was well aware of the concept, just didn't have a name for it.
The slow cooker and the oven can be your best friend in the kitchen. There is something really comforting about the smell of dinner cooking all day, and I really enjoy having dinner done when I have worked the late shift and come home to dinner ready. Many recipes are a dump and turn on
Recipes. No hard work here.
Fries on the oven from scratch are really easy. I also get fries from the dollar store. my family does not like the shot string ones, I like steak fries the best. Oven roasted potatoes, and any root vegetables you can come up with including radishes. Radishes take on a different taste. They are really good.
Pre cooking meats helps make dinner time less hectic. The meat takes the longest time to cook. If it is already done, putting a Casserole together and putting it on the oven is really quick.
I heat sliced meat in a broth. If it is sliced thin , you can heat the broth, put the meat on and torn off the burner. It will heat through while you make the rest of dinner.
Meat balls are a real dinner boon. You can do a lot with them. Meatballs and spaghetti, meat ball soup, meatballs and gravy, meatballs with a cream sauce on noodles, meatball subs. Get a basic recipe and dome over mix them. When I batch cook, I put a rack on a sheet pan , make meatballs the size of walnuts and bake them off, the grease drips off the meatballs. You are better off using a higher fat content for meatballs and meatloaf. I use a 7-9 percent for tacos or crumbles.
If you cook crumbles, drain them in a colander, pour boiling water over them. This makes hamburger have LESS fat than boneless, skinless chicken breast. I return some crumbles to a pan with some water and my taco seasoning. The recipe for many mixes are on an earlier post. The crumbles I portion control and put on bags for meat sauce or pizza.
There is a recipe for pizza crust on an earlier blog. Also the concept of almost free pizza.
There is also a recipe for pizza crust on the back of the bisquick box, although we don't like it. Sometimes , Big Lots has a bag of pizza crusts really cheap. Big Lots has a twenty percent off everything sale ever so often. They don't have a very long shelf life. Use them soon. If your family is like mine, there is no twisting arms to get someone to eat pizza. LOL
Roasting a chicken is easy, and well worth your efforts. It takes me about ten minutes to put a chicken in the oven. It is a remarkable difference between a deli chicken and a cooked chicken.
never buy a chicken that is less than three pounds. The ratio of bone to meat is a break even at three pounds. Less than that you are paying for bone that you can't eat. you don't know where the deli chicken has been. I prefer locally grown chicken. You are paying early for a little bit of effort.
I can get chicken for a dollar a pound. Grill pack chicken for a dollar makes boneless, skinless
chicken breast and pulled chicken. Pulled chicken makes tacos, soup, and pulled chicken sandwiches.
Roasting off a pork loin makes a pork loin dinner and hot sandwiches. You can cut off pork chops before you roast the loin.
I cook a beef roast when I can get it for under three dollars a pound. That doesn't happen too much lately. But hopefully lower beef prices will return.
You need to average two to three dollars for protein a dinner to keep a five dollar dinner is get. It is a game for us now. The operative word is average.
If you add a couple of vegetarian meals to the mix, it affords a more expensive cut of meat sometimes. Eggs, beans and cheese are still cheap sources of protein when you get them on sale.
Eggs have a month fridge life. Buy them in bulk when they are cheap. I like close to a buck. Last time. I had to pay more. They are still a cheap source of protein. I want cheese for two to two forty a pound. I am still getting this price. I buy the one they let you buy even of I don't end it right then. It has a bit of a fridge life, you can always grate it and freeze it. I add a little cornstarch to it to keep it from sticking together. About a tablespoon per two pounds of cheese.
The the main thing to remember is avoiding the F word..... full price! LOL.
Don't let cooking from scratch overwhelm you. Take one thing at a time. There are books at the library, there is a Martha Stewart series on PBS.
Learn to substitute ingredients when a recipe calls for an expensive ingredient. Just remember you are looking for the similar taste and texture. Celery can replace mushrooms and take up the bulk of onions.
That's about it.
There are blogs on scratch cooking every month. I write off the top of my head like I am talking to you on my kitchen. Each one is different. Please feel free to read earlier blogs.
Every week I analyze the ads for the Seattle area, usually on Wednesday because our mail comes late on Tuesday afternoon. You can usually gleam the best of the ads on coupon connections on line. She, however, has been posting coupons I haven't been able to find. It is a good resource that saves you a lot of time. I print coupons for things I usually buy the first of the month. There is a limited amount of coupons to print, so get yours when they are there. I have a coupon binder that I put together cheap. I don't cut the coupons from the paper. I just put inserts together with a binder clip. By month and clip them when I need them. I rely on coupon connections to tell me when there is a good deal. I mostly use them for toothpaste and other deals that are cheaper than scratch. Sometimes at rite aid, they will pay you to take things home. If I can use the item, or I know where I can donate it where it will be needed, I "buy" it. Toothpaste and baby food are a natural here.
Thanks for stopping by
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Jane
