Check out Albertson's ad.
They have a 5 for $5 sale going on through Tuesday.
Pineapples - $1
5 lbs Pillsbury flour - $1 (please get unbleached, whole wheat if it's offered!)
Albertson's cereal - $1 - good variety.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Soooo, what's cooking at the Stockpile Lady's Kitchen tonight?
That whole turkey breast I got for free at Fry's yesterday. Yes, I said free. There's a coupon for a free turkey if you spend $100 in the Albertson's circular this week. Fry's is taking competitor coupons. Hence, free turkey.
But, Mindy, we thought you said you spent under $60.
That's AFTER coupons. The cool thing is Fry's will honor a promo price BEFORE coupons. Since I saved over $300 yesterday, making $100 BEFORE coupons wasn't difficult.
Back to the turkey breast:
My freezers are packed. There just isn't anymore room. That's why I have to cook the turkey breast. When it's defrosted, I'll split it and pressure cook it with onion, garlic and whatever else looks good.
I have leftover mashed potatoes. I'm going to 'remake' them with some free Garlic and Herb Marie Callender's croutons I picked up a while back (soften with balsamic vinegar, mix into thinned down potatoes.) I'll put the potatoes in individual casseroles, place thin slices of turkey breast over that, top the whole thing with chedder and broil for a few minutes.
I think I'll add a layer of frozen broccoli from one of the many free or near-free bags of frozen veggies populating my freezers. I'll put that under the turkey.
It'll be kind of like a turkey, chedder, broccoli sandwich over herbed bread. It'll look great and I'm making it for pennies.
The rest of the turkey I'll refrigerate in the coldest part of my fridge, in the gellee left from the pressure cooking, sit back and try to think of other inventive things to do with it in the days to come. It's almost 9 pounds. The family will be turkey'd out by Thanksgiving.
The good news is, if I can clear some of those frozen veggies, I may be able to finagle some room to foodsaver and freeze some of the turkey before my family is tired of it.
Which is to say...
My family has flagged me from food shopping for a while. They say to eat what we have. I'm forced to agree or put an addition on our house for all the extra food. Therefore, aside from my stockpiling posts, you'll be subjected to running litanies of my daily attempts to eat a dent into our stockpile.
Preferably without me getting fat.
Showing posts with label Cooking with the Stockpile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cooking with the Stockpile. Show all posts
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
What I'm cooking tonight
THIS!
More or less. I had some leftover steamed carrots from the weekend, and some sweet potatoes I made last night so I went to All Recipes, plugged in the ingredients and got the mash. I have plenty of cooked apples. I'm still cooking down the honeycrisps I picked up from Bountiful Baskets a week ago. I'm pressure cooking a small pork roast I picked up for 4 bucks at Fry's a few months ago to go with it. From start to finish, this is a half-hour meal.
Good eating is as easy as having yummy ingredients in your stockpile. Leftovers aren't leftovers, they're another chance to make something that will keep your family at the table and under budget.
More or less. I had some leftover steamed carrots from the weekend, and some sweet potatoes I made last night so I went to All Recipes, plugged in the ingredients and got the mash. I have plenty of cooked apples. I'm still cooking down the honeycrisps I picked up from Bountiful Baskets a week ago. I'm pressure cooking a small pork roast I picked up for 4 bucks at Fry's a few months ago to go with it. From start to finish, this is a half-hour meal.
Good eating is as easy as having yummy ingredients in your stockpile. Leftovers aren't leftovers, they're another chance to make something that will keep your family at the table and under budget.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Can we talk? - baby food
When I was a new mom, I thought babies were some strange species requiring food different from the rest of us. When mine moved to solids (I had twins, I always refer to kids in twos!) I only fed them properly sealed 'Baby Food' in tiny jars and boxes lest I poison them. If there was a sale, I loaded up, but if there wasn't a sale, I loaded up anyway because the kids ate all the time and they had to have the special Baby Food or they would starve.
Right?
So one day, I'm wondering what babies ate before special Baby Food was invented. How did those pioneer ladies keep their babies alive? What did moms in third world countries do? How did Roman babies live to become Roman citizens? And how did early man ever evolve to walk on two feet without Beech-nut?
Answer?
They ate food. They ate the same food their parents ate just mushed up smooth and devoid of spicing.
Duh. I knew all those degrees I got would come in handy one day. Also, I saw on Discovery Channel that in a lot of primitive cultures, moms pre-chew the food, then squirt it into baby's mouth.
You don't have to do that. This is America. We have food processors. We have blenders. We have Magic Bullets.
Do you know what's in baby oatmeal? Oatmeal. Also wheat and it looks like they spray it with vitamins or something but basically it's very fine oatmeal.
What's in baby applesauce? Apples and water
Baby peach and bananas? Peach, bananas and water
Baby chicken? Pureed chicken.
Conclusion? You can make baby food at home for pennies rather than blowing dollars on it at the grocery store. Just cook whatever you want to feed baby. Leave out the salt and the sugar. Baby doesn't need it. Pop it into the processor of your choice with a little water and whirl it until the consistency is smooth.
Feed the baby.
Right?
So one day, I'm wondering what babies ate before special Baby Food was invented. How did those pioneer ladies keep their babies alive? What did moms in third world countries do? How did Roman babies live to become Roman citizens? And how did early man ever evolve to walk on two feet without Beech-nut?
Answer?
They ate food. They ate the same food their parents ate just mushed up smooth and devoid of spicing.
Duh. I knew all those degrees I got would come in handy one day. Also, I saw on Discovery Channel that in a lot of primitive cultures, moms pre-chew the food, then squirt it into baby's mouth.
You don't have to do that. This is America. We have food processors. We have blenders. We have Magic Bullets.
Do you know what's in baby oatmeal? Oatmeal. Also wheat and it looks like they spray it with vitamins or something but basically it's very fine oatmeal.
What's in baby applesauce? Apples and water
Baby peach and bananas? Peach, bananas and water
Baby chicken? Pureed chicken.
Conclusion? You can make baby food at home for pennies rather than blowing dollars on it at the grocery store. Just cook whatever you want to feed baby. Leave out the salt and the sugar. Baby doesn't need it. Pop it into the processor of your choice with a little water and whirl it until the consistency is smooth.
Feed the baby.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Can we talk? - Tomato Sauce
Take a look at this!
That's my Pro Ranch ad for this week. If you've a store anywhere near you, go visit. The produce prices are amazing. The pears I bought last week were sweet and nice when ripe. I cooked them in the slow cooker along with the bananas, and cloves and cinnamon, some peaches. We've been putting them on pancakes, on ice cream, in smoothies, with oatmeal. It's just so good!
Remember, there are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday specials. Wednesday is produce, Thursday are meats, Fridays are a variety of items. Wednesday is totally worth it this week. Check the ad for your location because there is some variance in prices.
So yesterday I took the 5+ lbs of tomatoes I purchased at Pro Ranch last week (at 4 lb/99c, same price as this week) and turned it into Tomato Sauce. I'm going to teach you the Italian way of making tomato sauce. You have to pay attention because you don't want to miss any of this.
Are you ready?
Sure?
Here goes:
1) Cut tomatoes in half
2) put in large saucepan with just a hint of water (waterless is best, but use anything you have)
3) turn on heat to high
4) sprinkle with a generous amount of Italian seasoning or basil or oregano or marjoram or all three or whatever you have.
5) Chop onion and garlic together, put in saucepan.
6) Cover saucepan with lid.
7) turn heat to low, simmer for 20 minutes, stirring and smooshing occasionally to keep it from burning on the bottom and make it look more liked gravy.
That's all there is to it. Cook your pasta, pour the sauce over the pasta and you have a beautiful chunky homemade sauce.
No, you do not have to blanch the tomatoes and peel them first.
It does not matter what order the ingredients enter the saucepan.
It does not matter when the ingredients enter the saucepan. If you forget the garlic, add it while it cooks.
You can't over simmer it.
You almost can't undersimmer it, except you may not like your onions and garlic underdone.
It's okay to cheat by adding onion powder and/or garlic powder instead. I won't tell anybody and you're the one eating it, not me.
If you have fresh basil in your garden, by all means, add it.
If you have capers in a jar that you haven't known what to do with, by all means, add it.
If you have any combo of roasted veggie in jars (probably picked up at the dollar store), including, but not limited to artichoke hearts, by all means, add it.
You can add that zucchini that's been sitting in your vegetable bin.
You can add those bell peppers you keep forgetting to add to salad.
You can even add ground beef, although truthfully, it will make the sauce greasy and wouldn't you really rather make Italian meatballs?
Cooking is easy.
Repeat after me:
Cooking. Is. EASY.
Go ye, and do it.
*******
EDITED TO ADD:
Albertsons has Pork Chops for 88c/lb this week. If you qualify for senior savings (55+, I think) take 10% or 9c off that price. Senior Savings are today only. Other than the whole chickens at Food City, nothing else of a protein nature is talking to me this week.
That's my Pro Ranch ad for this week. If you've a store anywhere near you, go visit. The produce prices are amazing. The pears I bought last week were sweet and nice when ripe. I cooked them in the slow cooker along with the bananas, and cloves and cinnamon, some peaches. We've been putting them on pancakes, on ice cream, in smoothies, with oatmeal. It's just so good!
Remember, there are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday specials. Wednesday is produce, Thursday are meats, Fridays are a variety of items. Wednesday is totally worth it this week. Check the ad for your location because there is some variance in prices.
So yesterday I took the 5+ lbs of tomatoes I purchased at Pro Ranch last week (at 4 lb/99c, same price as this week) and turned it into Tomato Sauce. I'm going to teach you the Italian way of making tomato sauce. You have to pay attention because you don't want to miss any of this.
Are you ready?
Sure?
Here goes:
1) Cut tomatoes in half
2) put in large saucepan with just a hint of water (waterless is best, but use anything you have)
3) turn on heat to high
4) sprinkle with a generous amount of Italian seasoning or basil or oregano or marjoram or all three or whatever you have.
5) Chop onion and garlic together, put in saucepan.
6) Cover saucepan with lid.
7) turn heat to low, simmer for 20 minutes, stirring and smooshing occasionally to keep it from burning on the bottom and make it look more liked gravy.
That's all there is to it. Cook your pasta, pour the sauce over the pasta and you have a beautiful chunky homemade sauce.
No, you do not have to blanch the tomatoes and peel them first.
It does not matter what order the ingredients enter the saucepan.
It does not matter when the ingredients enter the saucepan. If you forget the garlic, add it while it cooks.
You can't over simmer it.
You almost can't undersimmer it, except you may not like your onions and garlic underdone.
It's okay to cheat by adding onion powder and/or garlic powder instead. I won't tell anybody and you're the one eating it, not me.
If you have fresh basil in your garden, by all means, add it.
If you have capers in a jar that you haven't known what to do with, by all means, add it.
If you have any combo of roasted veggie in jars (probably picked up at the dollar store), including, but not limited to artichoke hearts, by all means, add it.
You can add that zucchini that's been sitting in your vegetable bin.
You can add those bell peppers you keep forgetting to add to salad.
You can even add ground beef, although truthfully, it will make the sauce greasy and wouldn't you really rather make Italian meatballs?
Cooking is easy.
Repeat after me:
Cooking. Is. EASY.
Go ye, and do it.
*******
EDITED TO ADD:
Albertsons has Pork Chops for 88c/lb this week. If you qualify for senior savings (55+, I think) take 10% or 9c off that price. Senior Savings are today only. Other than the whole chickens at Food City, nothing else of a protein nature is talking to me this week.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Adventures in Cooking
Today I went to Dottie's Kitchen Store out in Sun City for a lesson in pressure cooking. It was almost my first time there. Greg demonstrated how to pressure cook a hamburger rice medley, chicken and dumplings, and a bread pudding I might well be tempted to commit a crime to get.
Of course, I had to buy the pressure cooker, if, for no other reason than to keep me out of jail. And it's a nice pressure cooker, a wonderful pressure cooker, a cadillac of pressure cookers.
Or at least I presume, it won't arrive in stock for a week or so. In the meantime, I decided to pressure cook a chicken in my old pressure cooker, an ancient presto that was ancient when I picked it up for a few bucks at a flea market 20 years ago.
Here's what I learned:
It is indeed true that one can pressure cook a chicken from the frozen state. It's equally true that if one pressure cooks a chicken for longer than the recommended time, one will have high-calcium chicken because the bones will melt.
I'm eager to make that bread pudding, but it has to wait until my new baby arrives. Don't worry, my old pressure cooker is finding a good home with a friend who does not have one.
Whole chickens are 49c/lb at Basha's thru Tuesday. Limit per store visit is 3. Buy the limit. Go back and buy more. If you have a pressure cooker, you can get that chicken from frozen to done in under an hour.
Of course, I had to buy the pressure cooker, if, for no other reason than to keep me out of jail. And it's a nice pressure cooker, a wonderful pressure cooker, a cadillac of pressure cookers.
Or at least I presume, it won't arrive in stock for a week or so. In the meantime, I decided to pressure cook a chicken in my old pressure cooker, an ancient presto that was ancient when I picked it up for a few bucks at a flea market 20 years ago.
Here's what I learned:
It is indeed true that one can pressure cook a chicken from the frozen state. It's equally true that if one pressure cooks a chicken for longer than the recommended time, one will have high-calcium chicken because the bones will melt.
I'm eager to make that bread pudding, but it has to wait until my new baby arrives. Don't worry, my old pressure cooker is finding a good home with a friend who does not have one.
Whole chickens are 49c/lb at Basha's thru Tuesday. Limit per store visit is 3. Buy the limit. Go back and buy more. If you have a pressure cooker, you can get that chicken from frozen to done in under an hour.
Monday, August 17, 2009
S-t-t-r-e-t-C-H, Stretch, Stretch
The nicest thing about cooking is leftovers. The nicest thing about leftovers is remaking them into 'not-leftovers'.
To wit:
Dinner One: Slow-cook a chicken (skin chicken, put breast side down in slowcooker with a little water, sprinkle with chopped onion and garlic, or onion powder and garlic powder, and tarragon, or Italian seasoning...whatever you like. Add sliced carrots for cooking. When tender, scoop the chicken onto a plate and pour off the chicken broth and store for cooking on another night.)
Serve with biscuits (you got crescents cheap with coupons a while back, didn't you?)
Dinner Two: Slow-cook potatoes au gratin (thinly slice 4 to 6 potatoes, layer in crockpot, layer in some onions and garlic, pour 1/2 cup to 1 cup of half and half, top with a few ounces of shredded cheese, salt and pepper to taste, cook for 4 to 5 hours on low, maybe longer, I'm no good on timing, I just check the stuff)
Quick cook swiss steak that's been marinating in the freezer and as it defrosts. Put it in a skillet (you don't need butter) add whatever extra seasoning you want, cover, cook a few minutes, turn, cook another minute or so.
Service with potatoes and maybe some steamed broccoli.
Breakfast One: Scramble up some eggs with some leftover potatoes, steak and broccoli. If you have any leftover biscuits from dinner one, douse them quickly under the faucet and chop them right into the eggs. You can feed an army with a few eggs and a bunch of leftovers.
Dinner three: Remember the chicken broth you saved? Use it to cook rice, add the leftover chicken from Dinner One. Add whatever leftover broccoli you've got also. If you're sick of broccoli, serve with a salad and whirl the broccoli in your blender the next day with some more chicken broth, a little milk or half and half and some cheese. Heat in the microwave and voila! Broccoli/cheese soup.
Dinner Four, or breakfast Two: Any leftovers left? whichever you have, make two quiches - the swiss steak one and the chicken one. Add broccoli to either. Or mix them all together, just be cautious if you used tarragon. It's a great herb, but would do better in a quiche by itself
Hmmm...I'm losing count. From a whole chicken and a pound of swiss steak, you've got three/four dinners and one/two breakfasts. Remember the chicken cost you about 2 bucks, the swiss steak was under $3. The broccoli was 77c/lb, so may 2 pounds max, you picked up the cheese a few months ago for $1.25/8 ounces and the rice was about 60 cents a pound, or about 20 cents max for the amount you made for the family.
I don't feel like doing all the math, but I'm figuring less than 10 bucks for 5 really good meals. And soup.
Don't think you have to eat the meals in the orders listed. You can refrigerate leftovers for a few days, or even freeze them for a week or so before using. The addition of a little broth and a little pureeing can do wonder for anything getting a little dried out. Eggs are great ways to make leftovers look like you meant to use them in the first place.
Other good uses - bread pudding to use up stale bread or leftover biscuits and make use of some of those stockpiled dried apricots and raisins. Or grind the biscuits in the blender and call them bread crumbs. You can use them to bulk out any leftover swiss steak which you've doused with a little bbq sauce you picked up free with coupons to be served on day-old rolls you picked up in Albie's bakery section for make-shift sloppy joe's. The sauce softens out the bread.
Use your imagination. Put the leftovers away in the freezer or the fridge. Pull them out before they go bad and think of them in a new way. Since they're already cooked, remaking them can be done in a jiffy. When all else fails, puree with mayo, mustard or relish and call it 'sandwich spread'.
EDITED TO ADD: If you're wondering where you got the swiss steak - it's disguised as 'bottom round' for $1.37/lb at Basha's this week. Or you have it sitting in your freezer from having gotten the butcher to run something like it through the cubing machine in weeks past.
To wit:
Dinner One: Slow-cook a chicken (skin chicken, put breast side down in slowcooker with a little water, sprinkle with chopped onion and garlic, or onion powder and garlic powder, and tarragon, or Italian seasoning...whatever you like. Add sliced carrots for cooking. When tender, scoop the chicken onto a plate and pour off the chicken broth and store for cooking on another night.)
Serve with biscuits (you got crescents cheap with coupons a while back, didn't you?)
Dinner Two: Slow-cook potatoes au gratin (thinly slice 4 to 6 potatoes, layer in crockpot, layer in some onions and garlic, pour 1/2 cup to 1 cup of half and half, top with a few ounces of shredded cheese, salt and pepper to taste, cook for 4 to 5 hours on low, maybe longer, I'm no good on timing, I just check the stuff)
Quick cook swiss steak that's been marinating in the freezer and as it defrosts. Put it in a skillet (you don't need butter) add whatever extra seasoning you want, cover, cook a few minutes, turn, cook another minute or so.
Service with potatoes and maybe some steamed broccoli.
Breakfast One: Scramble up some eggs with some leftover potatoes, steak and broccoli. If you have any leftover biscuits from dinner one, douse them quickly under the faucet and chop them right into the eggs. You can feed an army with a few eggs and a bunch of leftovers.
Dinner three: Remember the chicken broth you saved? Use it to cook rice, add the leftover chicken from Dinner One. Add whatever leftover broccoli you've got also. If you're sick of broccoli, serve with a salad and whirl the broccoli in your blender the next day with some more chicken broth, a little milk or half and half and some cheese. Heat in the microwave and voila! Broccoli/cheese soup.
Dinner Four, or breakfast Two: Any leftovers left? whichever you have, make two quiches - the swiss steak one and the chicken one. Add broccoli to either. Or mix them all together, just be cautious if you used tarragon. It's a great herb, but would do better in a quiche by itself
Hmmm...I'm losing count. From a whole chicken and a pound of swiss steak, you've got three/four dinners and one/two breakfasts. Remember the chicken cost you about 2 bucks, the swiss steak was under $3. The broccoli was 77c/lb, so may 2 pounds max, you picked up the cheese a few months ago for $1.25/8 ounces and the rice was about 60 cents a pound, or about 20 cents max for the amount you made for the family.
I don't feel like doing all the math, but I'm figuring less than 10 bucks for 5 really good meals. And soup.
Don't think you have to eat the meals in the orders listed. You can refrigerate leftovers for a few days, or even freeze them for a week or so before using. The addition of a little broth and a little pureeing can do wonder for anything getting a little dried out. Eggs are great ways to make leftovers look like you meant to use them in the first place.
Other good uses - bread pudding to use up stale bread or leftover biscuits and make use of some of those stockpiled dried apricots and raisins. Or grind the biscuits in the blender and call them bread crumbs. You can use them to bulk out any leftover swiss steak which you've doused with a little bbq sauce you picked up free with coupons to be served on day-old rolls you picked up in Albie's bakery section for make-shift sloppy joe's. The sauce softens out the bread.
Use your imagination. Put the leftovers away in the freezer or the fridge. Pull them out before they go bad and think of them in a new way. Since they're already cooked, remaking them can be done in a jiffy. When all else fails, puree with mayo, mustard or relish and call it 'sandwich spread'.
EDITED TO ADD: If you're wondering where you got the swiss steak - it's disguised as 'bottom round' for $1.37/lb at Basha's this week. Or you have it sitting in your freezer from having gotten the butcher to run something like it through the cubing machine in weeks past.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
How to make popcorn
Hi all. I'll have a stockpile post up tomorrow, or later today. There's a lot of good stockpile buys out there and I'm putting the list together.
Somewhere in my recent Google travels, I came across some article that said microwave popcorn is bad for you because it has transfat, or maybe because it emits fumes, or possibly because it contains phalates. I checked out Snopes on the question and I'm no more enlightened on the matter than I was before checking it out. So here's the short version of why Mindy Likes to Coupon won't eat microwave popcorn herself and why she recently informed the progeny that she'll no longer be buying it:
It's expensive and it tastes nasty.
The butter in the popcorn isn't butter at all, it's some kind of chemical and the slick stuff that sticks to the side reminds me of an petroleum spill. Popcorn is so easy to make anyway, I don't get why anybody would settle for the oil-slicked styrofoam stuff in a bag when you can make your own in less time and without any tongue-twisting ingredients.
Ready? Here's the recipe:
1) put a few tablespoons of vegetable or corn oil into the bottom of a 2 or 3 qt sauce pan. You want enough to cover the bottom of the pot.
2) pour a layer of popcorn kernals into the pot, enough to cover the bottom.
3) cover, turn heat to high.
4) shake the pot, just like on those old Jiffy Pop commercials - this is your chance to burn a few calories in anticipation of this luscious, fluffy treat.
5) when popping slows, or pot lid starts to lift, remove from heat and empty immediately into a bowl big enough to hold the stuff, which you should have gotten out and had waiting on the counter in anticipation of this step. Otherwise, the popcorn will burn and be gross.
6) turn off burner, put pot back on stove, melt a tablespoon or two of butter in the bottom. Let it melt while you sprinkle a LITTLE salt over the popcorn.
7) Drizzle popcorn with the melted butter, toss it around with the knife you used to slice the butter pat to melt and you are DONE.
8) eat.
"But the dishes!" I hear you whining!
What dishes? A bowl and a pot and a butter knife? Get a grip. Eating involves crockery, that's why appliance manufacturers invented dishwashers. How much better than the box that needs to be recycled and that chemical-smelling bag that's destined for the landfill. I mean, you run your dishwasher anyway, right? May as well make it a full load.
And yes, it actually does take less time to make it on a cooktop than to microwave a bag of the stuff.
Happy Netflixing, tonight!
Somewhere in my recent Google travels, I came across some article that said microwave popcorn is bad for you because it has transfat, or maybe because it emits fumes, or possibly because it contains phalates. I checked out Snopes on the question and I'm no more enlightened on the matter than I was before checking it out. So here's the short version of why Mindy Likes to Coupon won't eat microwave popcorn herself and why she recently informed the progeny that she'll no longer be buying it:
It's expensive and it tastes nasty.
The butter in the popcorn isn't butter at all, it's some kind of chemical and the slick stuff that sticks to the side reminds me of an petroleum spill. Popcorn is so easy to make anyway, I don't get why anybody would settle for the oil-slicked styrofoam stuff in a bag when you can make your own in less time and without any tongue-twisting ingredients.
Ready? Here's the recipe:
1) put a few tablespoons of vegetable or corn oil into the bottom of a 2 or 3 qt sauce pan. You want enough to cover the bottom of the pot.
2) pour a layer of popcorn kernals into the pot, enough to cover the bottom.
3) cover, turn heat to high.
4) shake the pot, just like on those old Jiffy Pop commercials - this is your chance to burn a few calories in anticipation of this luscious, fluffy treat.
5) when popping slows, or pot lid starts to lift, remove from heat and empty immediately into a bowl big enough to hold the stuff, which you should have gotten out and had waiting on the counter in anticipation of this step. Otherwise, the popcorn will burn and be gross.
6) turn off burner, put pot back on stove, melt a tablespoon or two of butter in the bottom. Let it melt while you sprinkle a LITTLE salt over the popcorn.
7) Drizzle popcorn with the melted butter, toss it around with the knife you used to slice the butter pat to melt and you are DONE.
8) eat.
"But the dishes!" I hear you whining!
What dishes? A bowl and a pot and a butter knife? Get a grip. Eating involves crockery, that's why appliance manufacturers invented dishwashers. How much better than the box that needs to be recycled and that chemical-smelling bag that's destined for the landfill. I mean, you run your dishwasher anyway, right? May as well make it a full load.
And yes, it actually does take less time to make it on a cooktop than to microwave a bag of the stuff.
Happy Netflixing, tonight!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Rice is twice as nice
Sorry - you're all waiting patiently for what to do with this week's stockpile food, aside from eating it fresh of course, but I got caught up in getting the kids off to school. Today, I have my kitchen back and the first thing I did, besides defrosting cube steak for dinner and put potatoes on to boil for mashed potatoes, was make rice pudding.
My kids love rice pudding. It's sweet and filling and they don't know that it's full of protein and calcium (from the milk), as well as fiber (because I use brown rice). They just know that I don't care how much of it that they eat.
Rice pudding is versatile. You can add anything to it, like fresh blueberries or strawberries or peaches after it's made, or cook it with raisins or dried cranberries or dried apricots or with nuts or whatever you have lying around in your dried fruits and nuts supply. Homemade rice pudding can be plopped into a small plastic container and sent to school for dessert for a cheap and nutritious alternative to those Jello Pudding cups.
Here's how I make my rice pudding:
In a slow cooker put:
1 cup brown rice
3 cups milk
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 to 1 cup brown sugar
couple of dashes of nutmeg
a few more sprinkles of cinnamon
whatever dried fruit listed above I feel like adding
1 tsp vanilla (that's edited to add. Sorry about that. Don't know where my mind was. vanilla makes lots of recipes better.)
Stir it up and cook on medium to high for about 4 hours. You'll know when it's done. It will be creamy and nice and the rice kernals will explode. If it seems a little dry, add more milk (or cream or half-and-half). If it's too wet, let it simmer a little more. If your family is full of big eaters and rice pudding addicts, double the recipe, if this is for you and you're on a diet, use stevia or splenda and skim milk and skip the added butter.
Serve for breakfast or as a side to lunch or dessert for dinner.
When it runs out, slow cook some more.
Good stuff.
My kids love rice pudding. It's sweet and filling and they don't know that it's full of protein and calcium (from the milk), as well as fiber (because I use brown rice). They just know that I don't care how much of it that they eat.
Rice pudding is versatile. You can add anything to it, like fresh blueberries or strawberries or peaches after it's made, or cook it with raisins or dried cranberries or dried apricots or with nuts or whatever you have lying around in your dried fruits and nuts supply. Homemade rice pudding can be plopped into a small plastic container and sent to school for dessert for a cheap and nutritious alternative to those Jello Pudding cups.
Here's how I make my rice pudding:
In a slow cooker put:
1 cup brown rice
3 cups milk
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 to 1 cup brown sugar
couple of dashes of nutmeg
a few more sprinkles of cinnamon
whatever dried fruit listed above I feel like adding
1 tsp vanilla (that's edited to add. Sorry about that. Don't know where my mind was. vanilla makes lots of recipes better.)
Stir it up and cook on medium to high for about 4 hours. You'll know when it's done. It will be creamy and nice and the rice kernals will explode. If it seems a little dry, add more milk (or cream or half-and-half). If it's too wet, let it simmer a little more. If your family is full of big eaters and rice pudding addicts, double the recipe, if this is for you and you're on a diet, use stevia or splenda and skim milk and skip the added butter.
Serve for breakfast or as a side to lunch or dessert for dinner.
When it runs out, slow cook some more.
Good stuff.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
What to do with all that food!
So there you are staring at pounds of tomatoes, piles of apples, a plethora of papaya and thinking, 'Okay, Mindy Likes to Coupon promised me a post guiding me what to do with all this, so where is she?'
I'm HERE! I'm HERE!
Sorry about that. This has been a wonderful week for couponers - tons of FREEBIES and just in time for the holiday and I've been clipping and hitting the stores.
Let deal with the papaya first, shall we? I like papaya. It's kind of like cantaloupe in consistency and calorie density, so great if you're watching your calories. Also, it's a wonderful tenderizer for meat. Want to tenderize a cheap steak? Cook it with papaya . Lentils are always cheap. I picked some up at the 99c Only Store today.
Or how about making a Papaya Jam. (Yes, this is where the pectin comes in) Jam is really easy to make and once you start making your own, the store bought stuff just won't do. If you make smaller quantities you can just keep it in your fridge and not have to worry about the canning part of it.
As long as we're talking jam, how about strawberry-kiwi? This is a freezer jam. Yes, you pop it in your freezer when you're done. Cool, huh? (Pun intended)
How do you like them apples? They're as versatile as your imagination. I make this Apple-Barley Pudding often except I add more barley and skip the water because otherwise, it's kind of like a glorified applesauce. And I put milk or half-and-half over it, or leave it off altogether. My kids love this.
And remember the rolled oats I had you buy? Try this Apple Crisp-like Apple-Oat Pudding. You don't have to use quick oats, regular oats take like one minute longer to cook than quick oats and contain more fiber. Use whole wheat flour instead of white flour and halve the sugar (leave out the white sugar) and go ahead and use those Galas instead of a tart apple. You'll feel more virtuous so you can have a second helping without guilt.
If you don't eat up all the apples or cook 'em up before they start getting old, just cook down the rest into applesauce:
Core the apples (don't peel them, lots of fiber and good stuff in the skin), toss in a saucepan, add cinnamon and nutmeg, maybe a tiny bit of water and cook it down to whatever consistency makes you happy. Put in fridge, use in box cake mixes in place of the vegetable oil to save lots of fat and calories.
By the way, I also think the imitation crab meat at Fry's (Crab Classics, $1) is a good deal. If you were a couponer, it'd be an even better deal because it'd be free with coupons. I use this stuff with non-fat mayonnaise in mock crab salad. I also put it over bagged salads which are on sale for $1 at Fry's and Basha's this week.
Another item worth stockpile consideration are the Bone-in, Rib eye steaks at Bashas for $3.67/lb. They are being sold in the family packs. That's a good price for rib eyes and those are great on the grill. I also picked up the Kroger-brand canned pasta (like the Chef Boyardee) at Fry's. They were 78c/can. I'm doing a road trip this summer with the kids and items like this and the Van Camps I mentioned yesterday make great lunches while on the road. Leave on the dashboard to heat while you're off site-seeing, then take a can opener to them and chow down. A real money and time saver when on the road.
That's it for this week. I'll be back tomorrow or the next day to list all the items that couponers rarely shell out any of their own money for. Have a great evening!
I'm HERE! I'm HERE!
Sorry about that. This has been a wonderful week for couponers - tons of FREEBIES and just in time for the holiday and I've been clipping and hitting the stores.
Let deal with the papaya first, shall we? I like papaya. It's kind of like cantaloupe in consistency and calorie density, so great if you're watching your calories. Also, it's a wonderful tenderizer for meat. Want to tenderize a cheap steak? Cook it with papaya . Lentils are always cheap. I picked some up at the 99c Only Store today.
Or how about making a Papaya Jam. (Yes, this is where the pectin comes in) Jam is really easy to make and once you start making your own, the store bought stuff just won't do. If you make smaller quantities you can just keep it in your fridge and not have to worry about the canning part of it.
As long as we're talking jam, how about strawberry-kiwi? This is a freezer jam. Yes, you pop it in your freezer when you're done. Cool, huh? (Pun intended)
How do you like them apples? They're as versatile as your imagination. I make this Apple-Barley Pudding often except I add more barley and skip the water because otherwise, it's kind of like a glorified applesauce. And I put milk or half-and-half over it, or leave it off altogether. My kids love this.
And remember the rolled oats I had you buy? Try this Apple Crisp-like Apple-Oat Pudding. You don't have to use quick oats, regular oats take like one minute longer to cook than quick oats and contain more fiber. Use whole wheat flour instead of white flour and halve the sugar (leave out the white sugar) and go ahead and use those Galas instead of a tart apple. You'll feel more virtuous so you can have a second helping without guilt.
If you don't eat up all the apples or cook 'em up before they start getting old, just cook down the rest into applesauce:
Core the apples (don't peel them, lots of fiber and good stuff in the skin), toss in a saucepan, add cinnamon and nutmeg, maybe a tiny bit of water and cook it down to whatever consistency makes you happy. Put in fridge, use in box cake mixes in place of the vegetable oil to save lots of fat and calories.
By the way, I also think the imitation crab meat at Fry's (Crab Classics, $1) is a good deal. If you were a couponer, it'd be an even better deal because it'd be free with coupons. I use this stuff with non-fat mayonnaise in mock crab salad. I also put it over bagged salads which are on sale for $1 at Fry's and Basha's this week.
Another item worth stockpile consideration are the Bone-in, Rib eye steaks at Bashas for $3.67/lb. They are being sold in the family packs. That's a good price for rib eyes and those are great on the grill. I also picked up the Kroger-brand canned pasta (like the Chef Boyardee) at Fry's. They were 78c/can. I'm doing a road trip this summer with the kids and items like this and the Van Camps I mentioned yesterday make great lunches while on the road. Leave on the dashboard to heat while you're off site-seeing, then take a can opener to them and chow down. A real money and time saver when on the road.
That's it for this week. I'll be back tomorrow or the next day to list all the items that couponers rarely shell out any of their own money for. Have a great evening!
Monday, May 18, 2009
What's for Dinner - Monday
In a fit of domesticity, I cleaned out and rearranged my garage freezer. I found some ground beef that's been lurking there close to a year if its 'Sell By' date of Jun 8, 2008 can be trusted. This ground beef is prior to my FoodSaver days so I should cook it now or risk losing it to freezer burn. The ground beef is from Basha's and claims to be 90% lean, but I can already tell that it's way fattier than the ground beef disguised as London Broil I told you about in yesterday's post. So time to get rid of it.
But didn't you feed the family ground beef last night, Mindy?
Why, yes, I did. And, to be honest, I served it the night before. Last night we ate leftovers of Saturday night. (All right, all right, and Friday night. I made too much of the ground beef/Mrs. Cubbison's Stuffing mixture, okay?) That makes my mission to disguise the almost year-old ground beef so my family doesn't realize they're eating more of it tonight, all the more important.
There's a reason for Google. I hop on, input, 'ground beef recipes' and click to find this:
Fontina-filled Burgers with Sun-dried Tomato.
I'd like to tell you that this is what I'm making, but I can't. I don't have any Fontina cheese nor sundried tomatoes and ain't no way I'm running out to buy any. That stuff's expensive! Also, no way in heck I'm going to poke holes into little portions and grate smoked fontina into it and cover over with ground beef to make those luscious-looking burgers. Judge Judy is on at four and I'm still working on edits for the project from my real life.
So this is how this recipe will bebutchered um, REINVENTED, for the Mindy Likes To Coupon table tonight:
I'm mixing the ground beef with egg and Italian breadcrumbs, salt and garlic powder. Sundried tomatoes are reinterpreted with Kraft Sun-Dried Tomato Vinagrette mushed in with the egg and breadcrumbs. I smoosh the mixture out kind of flat, thin-slice mozzerella over it, then fold it in from either side, smoosh it into a loaf pan, and bake at 350 for about an hour until it's meatloaf. I'll pour some Hunt's roasted garlic and onion spaghetti sauce over the top before putting it into bake.
I'll serve it with more of those Green Giant Steamers that I got free a few months ago (see yesterday's post). If I'm feeling adventurous, I'll bake some Pillsbury breadsticks to go with. There's a Dump Cake baking in the oven now for dessert. I mostly more or less used THIS recipe minus the cherry pie filling because I didn't have it, plus canned fruit cocktail because I did, with extra walnuts and no coconut because the kids don't like it.
I'll be a hero, mostly because of that cake. Repeat ground beef dinners are forgiven when cake is involved.
So where did I get the ingredients?
1) I already told you about the ground beef. I should have used it long before this. I'm going to keep on top of my freezer contents better in the future.
2) The Italian breadcrumbs have been in my pantry a long time. Long enough that other than the fact they're Safeway brand, I've no memory of when or for how much I purchased it. In other words, they're probably older than the ground beef.
3) Told ya about garlic powder yesterday.
4) Picked up the mozzerella from Fry's about a month ago when they were selling various varieties of their store brand cheese for $1 for 8 oz. That's steal. My only regret is that I didn't buy way more than the 20 or so I did buy.
5) The spaghetti sauce is leftover from a spaghetti dinner last week and purchased some time ago for $1 for a 26-oz can. I'm pretty sure I had some coupons to make it even cheaper, but I don't remember. $1/can is a really great price for this stuff. The brand is Hunt's and they have a variety of flavors. In on sale at Albertson's until tomorrow for $1/can if you'd like to pick up a few.
6) Already told you about the free frozen veggies. Now let me tell you about the free or near-free Pillsbury breadsticks. Got 'em at Fry's with coupons when they were on sale for $1.
7) The cake mix for the Dump Cake was likewise free or near-free with coupons, the canned fruit was purchased at a 2 cans for a buck sale and the walnuts were $3.99/lb or less at Sprouts about a month ago. A pound of walnuts is a LOT of walnuts.
8) And the Kraft Vinaigrette? You guessed it - FREE with coupons.
How do I find all these great deals? It's my job. I'm an instructor at CouponSense. Check out the home page, kick a few tires. If you decide to give it a test ride, let 'em know that Mindy Likes to Coupon sent you so they can assign me to ride shotgun.
Gotta go, the first litigants are entering Judge Judy's courtroom.
But didn't you feed the family ground beef last night, Mindy?
Why, yes, I did. And, to be honest, I served it the night before. Last night we ate leftovers of Saturday night. (All right, all right, and Friday night. I made too much of the ground beef/Mrs. Cubbison's Stuffing mixture, okay?) That makes my mission to disguise the almost year-old ground beef so my family doesn't realize they're eating more of it tonight, all the more important.
There's a reason for Google. I hop on, input, 'ground beef recipes' and click to find this:
Fontina-filled Burgers with Sun-dried Tomato.
I'd like to tell you that this is what I'm making, but I can't. I don't have any Fontina cheese nor sundried tomatoes and ain't no way I'm running out to buy any. That stuff's expensive! Also, no way in heck I'm going to poke holes into little portions and grate smoked fontina into it and cover over with ground beef to make those luscious-looking burgers. Judge Judy is on at four and I'm still working on edits for the project from my real life.
So this is how this recipe will be
I'm mixing the ground beef with egg and Italian breadcrumbs, salt and garlic powder. Sundried tomatoes are reinterpreted with Kraft Sun-Dried Tomato Vinagrette mushed in with the egg and breadcrumbs. I smoosh the mixture out kind of flat, thin-slice mozzerella over it, then fold it in from either side, smoosh it into a loaf pan, and bake at 350 for about an hour until it's meatloaf. I'll pour some Hunt's roasted garlic and onion spaghetti sauce over the top before putting it into bake.
I'll serve it with more of those Green Giant Steamers that I got free a few months ago (see yesterday's post). If I'm feeling adventurous, I'll bake some Pillsbury breadsticks to go with. There's a Dump Cake baking in the oven now for dessert. I mostly more or less used THIS recipe minus the cherry pie filling because I didn't have it, plus canned fruit cocktail because I did, with extra walnuts and no coconut because the kids don't like it.
I'll be a hero, mostly because of that cake. Repeat ground beef dinners are forgiven when cake is involved.
So where did I get the ingredients?
1) I already told you about the ground beef. I should have used it long before this. I'm going to keep on top of my freezer contents better in the future.
2) The Italian breadcrumbs have been in my pantry a long time. Long enough that other than the fact they're Safeway brand, I've no memory of when or for how much I purchased it. In other words, they're probably older than the ground beef.
3) Told ya about garlic powder yesterday.
4) Picked up the mozzerella from Fry's about a month ago when they were selling various varieties of their store brand cheese for $1 for 8 oz. That's steal. My only regret is that I didn't buy way more than the 20 or so I did buy.
5) The spaghetti sauce is leftover from a spaghetti dinner last week and purchased some time ago for $1 for a 26-oz can. I'm pretty sure I had some coupons to make it even cheaper, but I don't remember. $1/can is a really great price for this stuff. The brand is Hunt's and they have a variety of flavors. In on sale at Albertson's until tomorrow for $1/can if you'd like to pick up a few.
6) Already told you about the free frozen veggies. Now let me tell you about the free or near-free Pillsbury breadsticks. Got 'em at Fry's with coupons when they were on sale for $1.
7) The cake mix for the Dump Cake was likewise free or near-free with coupons, the canned fruit was purchased at a 2 cans for a buck sale and the walnuts were $3.99/lb or less at Sprouts about a month ago. A pound of walnuts is a LOT of walnuts.
8) And the Kraft Vinaigrette? You guessed it - FREE with coupons.
How do I find all these great deals? It's my job. I'm an instructor at CouponSense. Check out the home page, kick a few tires. If you decide to give it a test ride, let 'em know that Mindy Likes to Coupon sent you so they can assign me to ride shotgun.
Gotta go, the first litigants are entering Judge Judy's courtroom.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
What we had for dinner tonight - Sunday
The grocery store ads change again on Wednesday. I'll post my first stockpile post then. Until then, I thought I'd entertain you with tales of what I make for dinner. Tonight was ground beef browned with onions and sprinkled liberally with garlic powder. Into the ground beef I mixed a package of Mrs. Cubbison's stuffing that I had lying around in the pantry. I added some water to the mix for the stuffing to soak up because the ground beef was very lean. So here's where I got the ingredients:
1) The onions were 25c/lb at Food City last week. (Sorry, ad ends today, but Food City often has onions at a really good price. Typically, you can find them somewhere for 3 lbs/$1.
2) The ground beef is still available at Basha's. It's disguised as London Broil and is selling in the Family Pack for $1.77/lb. You're limited to two packs, so buy two. Have the butcher (that's the guy in the white coat behind the meat counter) grind one of the packs into ground beef. As I said, you're limited to two packs, but if you want to drive around the block and go back to the store and pick up another two packs, I won't tell on you. London Broil is very lean, so your hamburger will be very lean and lean is good, right?
Right.
3) The garlic powder was purchased someplace for about a buck. You know those spices I'm talking about. Everybody sells them - Italian Seasoning, Seasoned Salt, Poultry Seasoning, Onion Powder blah blah blah. Don't be proud. Buy 'em. Use 'em.
4) The Mrs. Cubbison's stuffing was also purchased at Basha's a while back. It was 77c for that big box with two envelopes in it.
You must be thinking it's pretty lame that not only can I remember where I bought the stuffing and approximately how long ago, but also exactly how much I paid for it.
I agree. It's lame. Beyond lame. Which means I'll probably do it again.
How long did it take me to make this meal?
How long does it take to brown ground beef? (answer for those who don't know - about 15 minutes). Just cover with a lid when it's pretty close to done and turn off the heat to let all the goodness permeate.
And for veggies? Some Green Giant Steamfresh (or maybe they're called Steamers?) that I picked up free a while back and tossed into the freezer. How did I get them for free? The veggies were on sale for $1.00 and I had a coupon for 50c that doubled. How did I know to put the coupon and the sale together? Well that's where CouponSense comes in. You know that thing I'm an instructor at? If you go and you decide to join, mention that Mindy Likes to Coupon and that I sent ya. They'll match us up.
1) The onions were 25c/lb at Food City last week. (Sorry, ad ends today, but Food City often has onions at a really good price. Typically, you can find them somewhere for 3 lbs/$1.
2) The ground beef is still available at Basha's. It's disguised as London Broil and is selling in the Family Pack for $1.77/lb. You're limited to two packs, so buy two. Have the butcher (that's the guy in the white coat behind the meat counter) grind one of the packs into ground beef. As I said, you're limited to two packs, but if you want to drive around the block and go back to the store and pick up another two packs, I won't tell on you. London Broil is very lean, so your hamburger will be very lean and lean is good, right?
Right.
3) The garlic powder was purchased someplace for about a buck. You know those spices I'm talking about. Everybody sells them - Italian Seasoning, Seasoned Salt, Poultry Seasoning, Onion Powder blah blah blah. Don't be proud. Buy 'em. Use 'em.
4) The Mrs. Cubbison's stuffing was also purchased at Basha's a while back. It was 77c for that big box with two envelopes in it.
You must be thinking it's pretty lame that not only can I remember where I bought the stuffing and approximately how long ago, but also exactly how much I paid for it.
I agree. It's lame. Beyond lame. Which means I'll probably do it again.
How long did it take me to make this meal?
How long does it take to brown ground beef? (answer for those who don't know - about 15 minutes). Just cover with a lid when it's pretty close to done and turn off the heat to let all the goodness permeate.
And for veggies? Some Green Giant Steamfresh (or maybe they're called Steamers?) that I picked up free a while back and tossed into the freezer. How did I get them for free? The veggies were on sale for $1.00 and I had a coupon for 50c that doubled. How did I know to put the coupon and the sale together? Well that's where CouponSense comes in. You know that thing I'm an instructor at? If you go and you decide to join, mention that Mindy Likes to Coupon and that I sent ya. They'll match us up.
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