poverty cooking

[TheCG]

 

 

I was wondering if any of you on here worry about the processed foods and the chemicals used in the manufacturing/growing processs? I am trying to shop frugally, but am concerned about the growth hormones/antibiotics that most major food companies use in their foods? I would love to be able to only buy organic/hormone free food, but it is so freakin' expensive! I love Aldi, too. Any suggestions? I love these tips! I use beans in most all of my meals, especially in the winter to stretch it out.

Thanks!

Carrie

 

1. Google "Dirty Dozen" Produce - those are the produce items that are the worst in terms of pesticides and such. Buy those organic, or skip them. The companion list is the "Clean Fifteen" - the ones that aren't too bad even if they aren't organic.
2. Mix your ground beef half and half with beans once it's cooked. I use lentils.
3. Plan around cheaper foods. Rice and potatoes are cheap and filling.
4. Plan your meals ahead of time. The chicken you have roasted today turns into tomorrow's chicken sandwiches and the next day's chicken soup. Or Chicken Snot.
5. Figure out if it is cheaper to make your staples or to buy them. Google will find you plenty of recipes.

 

LOL - How did I ever miss the recipe for CHICKEN SNOT?!?!? Thanks for taking me back to that thread. It was nice to visit with Westie and some of the other members who are no longer visiting.

 

It's actually earlier in this thread. Re-read the whole thing, it's FUN!

[victorianlavender]

Thanks so much! I know that not all "organic" food is created equal, but the ones that are considered the "dirtiest" are the ones that I;d like to focus on. That is a great idea about focusing on single ingredient items. Thank you again! Off I go to Aldi for some canned beans and tomatoes!

Have a great day!

Carrie

[TheCG]

Mom put together the shopping list on Monday. It included a potatoes. So I picked up a 10-pound bag. When I helped carry groceries out to the camper, I pointed at the bag by the door and asked if we'd end up using all of them. She said no, take some home. Got out to the camper and realized...I hadn't brought the potatoes in from the car yet. So now I have a FULL 10-pound bag of potatoes and probably more next week once we get back.

 

Dinner tonight? Diced potatoes fried in lard, seasoned with garlic, an all-purpose blend, and smoked salt. Nomnomnom. Hubby told me thanks for making enough for him too, as we normally cook our food single. Wait, what? That was going to be my dinner TOMORROW night!

[The WE2's]

Perhaps a waste, but when I buy commercially canned vegetables I dump them in my basket strainer and rinse all the stuff off. Then I start from scratch with my own seasonings. Just sharing....

[Canned Nerd]

I also rinse thoroughly supposedly to reduce much of the salt content.

[dogmom4]

Bump!

[The WE2's]

MEATLESS SAUSAGE:

Thought I'd recycle this for some who may have missed it before and since I couldn't find it to share with CGA. And...it's really GOOD! I've watched several videos on youtube but tried Perbain's and liked it best.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Dkx5KSfPs

[The WE2's]

Love to make chicken casadillas using home canned chicken, home made totilla and lots of other goodies that might be called "left overs" :-)

[TheCG]

Bumping this thread up ('cause we're broke and I was re-reading it anyway).

 

Things on my meal plan for this week:

 

Fried rice (I have 2 leftover cooked porkchops in the freezer)

Potatoes with chili beans (I got 2 cans for free when I was buying something else, this will probably be my lunches as I doubt anyone else will eat them)

GF noodles (the walmart brand is pretty cheap for GF, even if they're not the tastiest) with Italian sausage and spaghetti sauce

Beef stew with dumplings (I'd bought the cans of beef stew already and have about half a box of GF Bisquick in the pantry)

Cornbread (I'll sour a bit of regular milk instead of buying buttermilk)

Pan-fried potatoes with cheese

 

I need to pick up more eggs and another loaf of bread or 3 (the kids and hubby still eat wheat, so they have a separate little prep area).

[TheCG]

Ooooh! I have a box of muffin mix. I can make those up for something sweet, and do the peanut butter cookies with just sugar and egg.

Edited October 31, 2016 by TheCG

[TheCG]

Baked potatoes topped with chili beans and a bit of shredded cheese is insanely filling. I think my dish with 2 medium size potatoes and 1 can of beans might last me 3 days!

[TheCG]

Mom put together the shopping list on Monday. It included a potatoes. So I picked up a 10-pound bag. When I helped carry groceries out to the camper, I pointed at the bag by the door and asked if we'd end up using all of them. She said no, take some home. Got out to the camper and realized...I hadn't brought the potatoes in from the car yet. So now I have a FULL 10-pound bag of potatoes and probably more next week once we get back.

 

Dinner tonight? Diced potatoes fried in lard, seasoned with garlic, an all-purpose blend, and smoked salt. Nomnomnom. Hubby told me thanks for making enough for him too, as we normally cook our food single. Wait, what? That was going to be my dinner TOMORROW night!

 

Huh. How is it that every time we're broke, I realize that I just bought a bag of potatoes?

[kappydell]

just re-reading....and noticed that folks had talked about rinsing canned veggies to remove some salt, but nobody mentioned rinsing hamburger to remove excess fat.

 

it is one of my favorite tricks when $$ are tight, and in Canada tests have been done, showing that running boiling water over browned cheap hamburger removes enough fat to equal ground round. Plus I find the flavor of the rinsed 'cheap' stuff is better than the pricey burger. AND if you catch that rinse water, chill it, saving the fat, you have a superior frying fat, soap making fat, candle-dipping fat, etc as a bonus.

[Jeepers]

Good ideas Kappy. I always rinse my hamburger when I can it, but I never thought to do when just cooking with it.

[The WE2's]

Made up a large cookie sheet of Faccocciah (?) bread and took it to the Christmas party Thursday. Brought some home. Very filling and loved putting some strawberry jelly on some of it for dessert! Cost me about $3 for the bag of shredded cheese...already had the flour and all the spices. Nobody at the party had ever heard of it...figure?

[Ambergris]

Call it chop bread instead of focaccia and more people might recognize it.

 

 

I've picked up a few recipes from here: https://the1940sexperiment.com/100-wartime-recipes/

Edited December 25, 2016 by Ambergris

[Mt_Rider]

How do you pronounce that focaccia? I see it in print all the time but like many words without TV for most of the past 30 yrs...I'm not sure how they're pronounced.

 

Never heard of 'chop bread'. Is that a local name, Ambergris? I Googled it and mostly get "breaded pork chops". I did get this one under 'chopped bread'. Is that it?

http://www.masterstech-home.com/The_Kitchen/Recipes/Household_Helper_Recipes/ChoppedBread.html

 

 

150 recipes link looks interesting! Finally found out what Bubble and Squeak is....and I might just make it.

 

MtRider ....love breads but DH is far better at making them.

[Jeepers]

Some people say: foe-CAH-sha

 

The correct pronunciation is: foe-COT-tcha

 

Those are my spellings. I know how to say it but not spell it. Phonetically or otherwise.

[Mt_Rider]

Gotcha, Jeepers.

 

https://the1940sexperiment.com/2012/07/31/bubble-and-squeak-no-78/

 

In case anyone else reads about Bubble and Squeak [from the noise it makes in the frying pan]

 

MtRider

[Jeepers]

My grandma used to make Toad-In-A-Hole.

 

A slice of bread with a hole in the center made with a drinking glass. Put it in a buttered skillet and crack an egg into the hole and fry it. Then flip it once. Was nice if the yolk was a tad runny.

[The WE2's]

My grandma used to make Toad-In-A-Hole.

 

A slice of bread with a hole in the center made with a drinking glass. Put it in a buttered skillet and crack an egg into the hole and fry it. Then flip it once. Was nice if the yolk was a tad runny.

 

Memories...LOL....I used to cut the hole in the bread (or pancake) put the egg in the hole...called it "Egg In A Basket"...LOL

[The WE2's]

Some people say: foe-CAH-sha

 

The correct pronunciation is: foe-COT-tcha

 

Those are my spellings. I know how to say it but not spell it. Phonetically or otherwise.

 

and no, it's not chopped bread.

[The WE2's]

Focaccia Bread the way I make it:

 

3 cups flour (plus 2 cups to set aside to use if you need it)

1 Tblsp fast rising yeast

2 Tbsp dried sweet basil

2 Tbsp onion powder

2 Tbsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp parsley flakes

1 Tbsp olive oil

14 oz water

1/2 cup of melted butter

1/2 cup of powdered tomatoes (or you may use Paprika)

2 cups of shreded cheddar cheese

 

In a large bowl I put all the DRY ingredients

 

In a small bowl, I put the very warm water, yeast, oil and sugar and let sit for about 5 minutes

 

I create a "hole" in the middle of my dough and then pour in the yeast mixture

 

Using my hands I mix well, adding small amounts of additional flour until the dough begins to form a nice ball and doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl.

 

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in your oven (warm) with the light on, for 1 hour, to raise about double

 

When dough has risen, remove dough and turn oven up to 375 and pour out onto a flat cookie sheet, and press until it's about 1/2 inch thick.

 

Using a fork prick holes all through the top of the dough..about 2 inches apart.

 

Sprinkle your powdered tomatoes (or Paprika) over the top of the dough.

 

Drizzle the melted butter over top of dough

 

Sprinkle your cheddar cheese over top of dough

 

Place in pre-heated 375 degree oven until cheese melts and sides of dough begin to brown.

 

That's just the way I make it :-)

 

(I think I have the ingredients right...I usually just make it from scratch and by memory)

[TheCG]

It's been a bit since anybody's bumped this up.  Has anyone tried out a good GF biscuit mix yet?

[Ambergris]

I saw a video about an Australian recipe book called, I think, 26 Ingredients.  It's not available on Amazon yet.  It's based on the theory that a full diet can be based on 26 common ingredients, including butter and flour and the like, with the goal of not throwing away so much.

The video made me think of this thread.

 

If you had to bring your diet down to 30 ingredients, what would you choose?  

 

Looks like this is hers:

The Ingredients

Apples
Butter
Carrot
Cheese
Chicken
Cocoa
Coconut
Cornflour
Eggs
Garlic
Lemons
Milk Powder
Mince
Mushrooms
Oil
Onion
Plain Flour
Potato
Pumpkin
Self-Raising Flour
Stock
Sugar
Tinned Tomatoes
Tomato Paste
Yeast
Zucchini

 

Edited October 22, 2017 by Ambergris