May is a tough month in Texas...the weather is still deciding how it wants to behave while changing from day to day. First it is hot, then cold, then wet, then dry and time to get out the watering hoses for the garden. And while we are currently eating fresh cucumbers and zucchini from the garden, there has not been much time spent on recipe development. But what we have been doing....
Is putting together some ideas for you regarding kitchen and food budget management!
And food "prep" there is always lots of food prep around here! It was time to soak and dry almonds for the pantry. Make another batch of my favorite overnight oats for breakfast. Shake up another jar of Chocolate Sugar so my hubby can have a mocha each morning. Make Ground Bay Leaves and Garlic Salt for the spice cabinet. And a whole lot more to keep our kitchen pantries full. Plus another batch of Whole Wheat and Honey Bread for our grandson. I spend more time on food prep than I ever do recipe development!
When we were walking through the store on grocery shopping day,
I realized that it is easier to find one large sweet potato that we can share instead of trying to match up two smaller sweet potatoes so they will cook in the same amount of time. Or that a boneless pork loin is easy to cut into boneless pork chops, and it saves a lot of money in the process. Or that in today's current prices, ground beef is as expensive as stew beef cubes, so you might as well get the cubes if you don't want to eat ground beef, again. Or that many of the main dish recipes you routinely cook can in fact be made with a half measure of meat, to stretch your food budget dollars to next payday. And that with the price of organic potatoes, when they get root-y it's easy to wash them, coat in a bit of oil and roast until tender in the oven. Cool and freeze. These little spuds are great to stir in last minute or heat up separately, not only saving money, but time as well.
And while even the price of beans has gone up, they still are your best friend!
We tend to live by the motto, cook a pot of beans weekly. Beans and lentils are the easy way to stretch your food dollars. We also soak both beans and lentils overnight to help with digestion and to produce less gas...with cooked beans and grains in your freezer, ready to go, a meal on the table is easy on the cook. For those who wish to cook and freeze grains here are two helpful links:
Correctly cooking beans is a learned skill.
And one I felt I should know how to do as a first time cook. But of course I did not. However don't worry, correctly cooking beans is pretty easy. But beans are grains have one thing in common. Each is a yearly crop that to some degree is determined by weather and growing conditions. If you have gardened for any length of time, even if it is a simple patch of flowers in the front yard. You will begin to see that weather and soil do have a say in the success of the crop. Now multiply that by hundreds of acres of say lentils. Even if you purchase from the same grower year after year, you will, at some point observe that this year's crop needs a slightly longer cooking time to be as tender as last year's crop. That same set of circumstances happens with grains as well. And why most recipes have a range of time needed to cook or bake correctly.
One final word of caution in being frugal.
Don't be cheap on every meal. Because after awhile no one wants to come to the table for their meal. Or even worse, so tired of the same boring meals week after week, you splurge and eat out...and that does not do anything to help a food budget. We have found that it is easier to have a budget meal or enjoy a recipe that uses less meat 50% of the time. Then enjoying our favorites (that are still fairly budget friendly) the other 50% of the time. We don't feel deprived and we can easily make it from payday to the next payday. And honestly for us, in retirement, our payday is once a month. For those looking for more budget friendly suggestions I offer, Frugal Meal Time Suggestions for Times of Inflation, Yet Again...You will find main dish ideas, side dish ideas and even dessert ideas.
And finally this...
Who sits around the table with you, often make the meal! Go ahead and invite friends, and yes, do ask them to bring their favorite dish to share. Then when the meal is over, everyone shares in the leftovers. Wishing you happy and healthy meals for you and yours!
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