Thrifty Cooking

Remember when there was a school subject called home economics? I believe there is a similar class offered today with various names about consumer science, but during my last grocery shopping trip I decided to put the economics back into my thinking.

Although there are many items that cause sticker shock in the grocery aisles, there are still a lot of foods that are a bargain. I leave all my menu plans flexible enough to accommodate the in-season foods and specials that I find at the store. I have lived long enough to go through economic down-turns before and it’s time to get out those thrifty skills and polish them up.

Of course, we are a lot busier now then we were then (at least it seems like it) and convenience usually costs money. But with emphasis on being frugal with energy and the earth’s resources, there are also ways to be frugal with meals and still save time.

One of those ways is a return to weekend cooking, especially of roasts. Most people are eating less meat and using meat as a condiment rather than the mainstay of a meal. I am one of them. However, I, and especially my husband, do enjoy a really good cut of meat from time to time; so I have returned to making a roast (beef, pork, chicken, turkey, etc.) on Sunday and using the leftovers all week for other dishes. We then have an old-fashioned meat and potatoes meal on Sunday and the makings of casseroles, stir-frys, sandwiches, salads, soups, you name it—all week. If you can’t stomach the same type of meat, cut the roast up in pieces the size of the various meals and freeze them.

For instance, I had a ham and a turkey breast on Easter Sunday. I really can’t deal with too much salty ham, so I sliced some for sandwiches, chunked some for casseroles, cubed some for salads and mini-diced some for “seasoning”. Many dishes are improved by using some very finely diced ham (only a little) in place of salt. The ham bone will make a fine split pea or bean soup. The turkey breast got similar treatment.

Time and energy economy is sometimes even more important than money. Most of you probably already make use of slow-cookers, but do you have a pressure cooker? I think they got a bad reputation in the olden days when they would occasionally blow up and make a huge mess—but those days are gone! The new pressure pans are fool-proof and you can cook food in minutes without a microwave and with nutrients and flavor intact.

Buy produce that is in season only. The fruits and vegetables that look so tempting but are out of season are not only expensive, they are rarely very good. Strawberries were on sale in Red Wing last week and I bought a lot of them. They are wonderful fresh, but not bad frozen and made into dessert sauces, etc.

Buy the largest freezer you can afford—it will more than pay you back threefold, if you
wrap things right, label them and keep it full. Even if you don’t like to put cooked food into the freezer, it does allow you to buy a lot of something that is a really good deal.

One other appliance that should have a come-back is the food grinder. Yes, you can use a food processor, but for some jobs, nothing works like an old-fashioned food grinder. I have an attachment on my Kitchen aid stand mixer and I use it a lot. You can make your own ground beef, turkey and pork which can be a great savings—and it really is fun. You can also take your cooked roast and make ham loaves, sandwich fillings, terrines and meatballs, adding meat extenders like whole grain bread crumbs, wheat germ or flaxseed meal. Put onion and garlic or other vegetables (carrots, parsnips?) into the grinder along with the meat and out comes a gourmet mix. You can even make your own sausage and an added plus is that you can use any meat combination you like, such as chicken-apple sausage. It’s fun, it’s fast, and it’s definitely economical.

Pot Roast Three Ways

Make a pot roast in your slow cooker, pressure cooker or ordinary Dutch oven. Use any recipe you like. Enjoy. When cleaning up, cube the meat and vegetables (if you have them) and refrigerate them separately from the liquid left over.

Use half the cubed meat for a hearty beef-barley soup. Put cubed beef and half the leftover liquid into a saucepan. Add cut vegetables (carrots, onions). Add water and beef base or instant bouillon to make enough for four servings of soup. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add ¼ cup of pearled barley to simmering soup and cook for 20 minutes more.

Use the other half of the cubed meat for a meat pie. Cook potatoes, carrots, rutabaga and onion separately if you have none left over. You can use a regular pie crust—your favorite recipe for a two-crust pie—or you can use filo dough layered with cooking spray to keep calories low to make a crust. Dice all vegetables uniformly. Take any remaining liquid from pot roast and add water and beef base to make about two cups. Simmer and add flour and water slurry to thicken. Line one pie pan or several individual tart pans with crust or filo and fill with a mixture of cubed beef and vegetables to the top. Pour thickened gravy over; top with another crust. Prick crust to vent and bake for 45 minutes at 350. If you freeze uncooked, cover with foil before freezing. Bake with foil on for 45 minutes at 375; remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes until top crust is brown and edges are bubbling.