Fresh produce on a Shoestring?

Some final words for 2009…

After-Thanksgiving Sandwich

No tricks, just money-saving treats

Shopping on a GF Shoestring

Chicken Bones

Less $$ All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Alternative!

Edible Party Favors

Ratio, by Michael Ruhlman

The 'Okay' Chef

Moneysaving Tip: Dress Up the Basics

rutabaga (yellow turnip)

Start with a single ingredient.

Something inexpensive & plentiful. Something in season.  Sometimes something ugly.  Like a turnip.

Build a recipe around it.  It’s easy peasy.

More on this later….

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Tip #2:  Think Like a Restauranteur

Think like a restauranteur.  Make things early in the week that you can build meals upon all week long.  Like vegetable stock (see recipe).  And brown rice, that is inexpensive and can be used to “cut in” to all sorts of recipes to thicken & weigh your family down so they don’t ask you for food all day long.

Make a frittata for Sunday Brunch that uses your leftover fried rice from Saturday afternoon.  Kitchen sink your frittata.  They’ll think you’re a culinary genius.  And they’ll be right.

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Tip # 3:  Eat at Mom’s — For about $1 per person, per meal

Each weekend, I make a few staples that help me get through the week.  They are, generally:

CHOPPED CARROTS & CHOPPED CELERY, to use as a base for soups and stews.  The carrots are less than $1/bag, and the celery is $1 for a whole mess of it.  If you need to make vegetable stock in a pinch, just boil some carrots and celery, with some salt & pepper, maybe an onion, for 30 minutes and voila.

5 CUPS OF BROWN RICE, cooked with salt, pepper & a few tbsp. of butter.  Add it to soups to thicken them and make them more satisfying.  Give it to your children with eggs for a hearty breakfast.

POTATOES (any kind – whatever is on sale that week), roasted with salt, pepper and oil (olive or canola), at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes.  Reheat them in the pan after making eggs, and you have a balanced breakfast.

DRY PANCAKE MIX, 3 recipes worth, to use 2 cups of dry mix at a time + 2 eggs + 2 cups butter milk + 4 tbsp. melted butter.  I bake PANCAKE CUPCAKES in the oven in muffin cups rather than making individual pancakes, and they cost about $4 for more than a dozen pancake cupcakes.  I make BREAKFAST FOR DINNER sometimes, and serve pancakes with some homemade APPLE SAUCE or BAKED APPLES when apples are inexpensive.

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