Latest Articles by Sarah Canice Funke
Although you don't have to live in Flint to appreciate this.
I am eating a dinner of beef, potatoes, and peppers.
Now, normally food costs a lot. Especially meat. How does one make a dollar (especially if it is Canadian) stretch further?
Filler food: the Irish discovered it (we won't say first, because I believe they got it from the Native Americans) in the form of the potato. Buy a 20 pound sack. It will last a while (unless you happen to be feeding 12 mouths, or something).
Then, fry up your beef (you can get ground beef fairly inexpensively). Microwave your potatoes for five minutes or so. Throw them in the pan when the beef is thoroughly cooked. Chop up some peppers (I've been finding day old packages on the bargain shelf in the back corner of the produce section. The produce is just fine, usually). Throw them in as well. If you want your peppers cooked more, just start frying them earlier, in a seperate pan, and add them later when the beef is cooked.
Presto! Voila! If you add enough potatoes, then the meal expands from two servings to three to four.....
The meal is not fancy. But it tastes good. It's easy. And it's cheap.
Enjoy!
Posted by funke at 31.10.05 15:51 | TrackBack | Posted to Culinary CapricesA few more ideas from a fellow penney-pincher:
Buy a few spices: expensive, I know, but they make lots of cheap food taste great!
Speaking of spices, learn to love curry.
Don't buy boneless-skinless chicken unless it's on sale. Buying bone-in chicken or even whole chicken will give you something to make chicken stock with later, and you can use that for just about anything.
Canned or frozen veggies are not bad.
Keep those potatoes dry and cool, or they will rot.
Find friends who are within one generation of their agrarian roots. These folks can usually be found in church, at libraries, and in the doctor's office. :) They know how to do all sorts of useful (and money-saving) things in the kitchen.
Rice and pasta also make good, cheap fillers.
Eggs make for cheap protein. Dropping a whisked egg in boiling soup (and agitating it) will give you nice delicate egg noodles and make the simple soup into a main course.
Bread is not hard. It's a long process, but you can do it while you study, since it involves lots of waiting.
The Moral of This Story: Serve cheap food well, and you can get away with asking dinner guests to bring wine or a dessert. :)
Posted by: bob at 2.11.05 9:49Beans make meat stretch far, too. a la Mexican food vein. (black beans are my fave)
Along the chicken idea. I would buy a whole chicken fryer, bake the whole thing, eat off of it for a few days, then boil it down, pick whatever meat is left and add it to the broth and freeze it in serving increments, just add veggies, voila chicken soup. One chicken=5+ meals. :-)
I agree with Bob, making bread is easy and saves a way lot. I never feel poor if I have 10+ lbs of flour readily on hand.
Bon appetit!
Posted by: Jeannette at 3.11.05 13:27