Thursday, May 23, 2013

What do you eat when your money is tight?

Q. Thanksgiving is around a corner, but my money is tight lol. What does people eat when their money is tight? I cook some ground beefs like meatloaf, spagettie, sloppy joe or humberger helper, but getting bored. Any other ideas?

A. Meat is expensive. I eat a lot of beans to get my protein with only enough meat for flavoring. These can all be cooked in a slow cooker while you are at work.
dry Navy beans cooked with a ham hock. cornbread
dry Butter beans cooked with chicken backs. slice of hot home made bread.
dry Pinto beans with beef ribs. toasted garlic bread.
Kidney bean salad. (1 can kidney beans, 1 hard boiled egg, pickles, & onion chopped, mayo)
Pork & beans made into baked beans with chunks of ham. and scalloped potatoes.
Refried beans and rice. add some shredded pork and you have a meal.

The beans are about $1. for a 1lb. bag which will easily make two meals for 2 people-----$.50 per meal....plus another $1.00 for the meat that is $2.50 for the beans, .50 for the bread and a .35 to add a potato...for a total of $3.35 for a meal for two of beans cooked in meat broth, bread, and a potato.
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Eat potatoes...mashed, fried, hash browns, boiled, baked, potato cakes, scalloped, oven fried, creamed with peas or carrots....
A 10 lb. bag of potatoes is $4. on sale for less. You get at least 25 potatoes in that for two people that would be a veggie for each meal for 12 days. (.35 per meal for 2)

Refried Beans Recipe
2 1/2 cups of dry pinto beans (about 1 lb or 450gm)
3 quarts of water
1/2 cup chopped onion (optional)
2 Tbsp (or more to taste) pork lard, bacon fat, or olive oil (for vegetarian option)
1/4 cup water
Salt to taste
Cheddar cheese (optional)
1 Rinse the beans in water and remove any small stones, pieces of dirt, or bad beans.
2 Cook the beans in water.
Regular method Put beans into a pot and cover beans with at least 3 inches of water - about 3 quarts for 2 1/2 cups of dry beans. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer, covered, for about 2 1/2 hours. The cooking time will vary depending on the batch of beans you have. The beans are done when they are soft and the skin is just beginning to break open.
Strain the beans from the cooking water.
3 Add the onions and lard/fat/oil to a wide, sturdy (not with a flimsy stick-free lining) frying pan on medium high heat. Cook onions until translucent. (Note the onions are optional, you can skip them if you want.) Add the strained beans and about a 1/4 cup of water to the pan. Using a potato masher, mash the beans in the pan, while you are cooking them, until they are a rough purée. Add more water if necessary to keep the fried beans from getting too dried out. Add salt to taste. Add a few slices of cheddar cheese, or some (1/2 cup) grated cheddar cheese if you want. When beans are heated through (and optional cheese melted) the beans are ready to serve.


Looking for some hearty, filling vegetarian recipes?
Q. I am looking for some good, hearty vegetarian recipies. I am mainly looking for lunch items. I try to stay away from soy, I have reactions to it. I am breastfeeding and I have trouble finding food that fills me up.
Thanks!

A. I can absolutely help you out here. Here are some of my favorite recipes:

Vegetarian Meatloaf: http://www.recipezaar.com/Really-Good-Vegetarian-Meatloaf-really-33921

Tamale Pie: http://www.recipezaar.com/vegetarian-tamale-pie-392881

Shepherds Pie: http://www.recipezaar.com/Vegetarian-Shepherds-Pie-269553

Weight Watchers Barley With Butternut Squash, Apples and Onions:
http://www.recipezaar.com/Weight-Watchers-Barley-With-Butternut-Squash-Apples-and-Onions-245872


I use Morningstar Farms crumbles in 2 of the recipes, but you can easily sub them out for another soy-free brand (like Quorn), use beans instead, or just omit them.

There are so many other recipes on Recipezaar, that is definitely my favorite recipe site. You can use the recipe filter to only include vegetarian meals. If you're a fan of meat substitutes, Quorn is my absolutely favorite and it's soy free. I use the tenders and naked cutlets in place of chicken in all of my favorite classic recipes.


Cookbooks for beginners and/or college students?
Q. My brother intends to move out of his dorm and into an apartment. He's never really cooked before (stuck with the microwave and toaster.) I see a variety of beginner/college student cookbooks, but I was wondering if people had suggestions.

He's not vegetarian/vegan and he doesn't have any dietary needs/allergies at this time. (Maybe he will depending on his roommates, but that's not set yet.)

What do you suggest?

A. There are some really good "3 ingredient" and "4 ingredient" cookbooks for sale (I think I saw the 4 ingredient one at Costco)

These are a great starting point & not very intimidating. And, of course, you can totally spice things up to taste!

(I'm not much of a cook either! LOL - please check out my meatloaf recipe question!)





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