Archive for January, 2012

Honeymoon Hash for Food Stamps Cooking Club

January 28th, 2012

Alice, everything but the kitchen sink?

Sometimes, when you cook,  do you feel as if various recipes call for so many things it’s dizzying?  And overwhelming?  Does it just make you want to forget meal prep altogether?

Judy came by today and, as we always do, we discussed food and food prep.  And rising grocery prices.  She mentioned Honeymoon Hash and I was intrigued.

Here’s the thing:  You can make Honeymoon Hash from leftovers or you can make a fresh batch.  I love using leftovers but this would be very tasty as a new entree AND IT’S CHEAP AND QUICK TO MAKE!  Thank you, Judy!

Honeymoon Hash

1# ground beef or ground turkey or ground chicken

1 medium onion

1 potato for each person at your table, peeled and chopped **This will come together more quickly if you scrub the taters and leave the skins intact.  More fiber, more nutrition, as well.

1/2 head green cabbage, thinly sliced

1 carrots, washed and sliced  ** Note the instructions for the potato

1 can hominy, drained

1 or 2 bouillon cubes + 1 cup water  **Use leftover gravy, if you have some on hand

Garlic to taste **This is optional; use whatever your gang grooves on…the Kitchen Police will never know.

Brown the meat in a good sized skillet, when it looks the way you like it to, add the veggies and the bouillon.  Salt and pepper to taste.  When the veggies are tender, your meal is ready!  Now, how easy was THAT?

Here’s hoping you’ll toss together some fruit for a salad, or crisp greens.  That will round out your meal and satisfy everyone’s hunger.

**Here’s a tip for frazzled cooks:  While you are cooking, offer the children a big plate or bowl of salad with lettuce, cabbage, celery, onion, peppers, carrot or any combination of those.   Also, have them drink tall glasses of water with their pre-meal treat.    They will load up on nutrition and consequently will need less of your main dish.  It might help your grocery bill, as well as your medical bills.

If you are a user of SNAP or WIC EBT cards; if you are a bargain shopper; if you have food commodities or depend on a food pantry for your family’s food needs, this recipe is meant to help you S T R E T C H those foods and food dollars while providing good nutrition.  Our goal at the Food Stamps Cooking Club is to help you.  We think YOU have better and more creative  ideas about food than we do so we encourage you to contact us:  foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com 

You  have been telling others about us–we know this because we are seeing more and more names of people who have signed up for our series of cooking tips.  THANK YOU!

Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know there are links in this post.  Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated.  Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline.  Always do business with those you trust implicitly

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Dill Pickle Soup for Food Stamps Cooking Club?

January 19th, 2012

It sounds odd, but Dill Pickle Soup is really tasty and satisfying!

After parting company with a tooth recently, all my menu called for was soup.  No problem; soup is one of my comfort foods.  When I was offered Dill Pickle Soup I was intrigued.  Now it is my new favorite soup.  Best of all, it’s easy and quick to make and it is really inexpensive.

Here is the list of ingredients and how I tweaked them:

DILL PICKLE SOUP

2 tablespoons butter or oil

1/2 cup flour

7 cups chicken broth *Make your own broth to save the big bucks; use bouillon + water if you have no broth

1/2 cup very finely chopped dill pickles  *I used the food processor

2 tablespoons dill pickle juice  *add this as  you process the pickles

2 tablespoons + 1 pinch white sugar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce  *Remember, the Kitchen Police will not arrest you if you do not have this in your pantry!

2 teaspoons minced garlic  *I used garlic powder and nobody died

4 teaspoons onion powder  *I know; it sounds excessive.  It’s perfect.

1 teaspoon curry powder  *Raise your hand if you ever had curry powder on hand…grin…

1 teaspoon dill weed

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2  cups warm milk

Melt the butter in a large soup kettle over medium heat.  Whisk in flour and cook til it becomes pale and light brown.  May take a coupla minutes.  Whisk in chicken broth until thickened and smooth.  Crank the heat to medium high, add dill pickles, juice and all; add sugar, W. sauce, garlic, onion, dill, curry  and pepper.  Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium LOW and simmer for about 5-7 minutes.  Remove from heat and whisk in warm milk.  This will serve 4 people.

***Mother Connie prefers a soup that is a bit thicker than this recipe made.  To accommodate this, I used some of the liquid from the soup pot with a spoonful of cornstarch, stirred it well, and added that back into the soup.  I whisked the whole business until it was the soupy consistency we prefer.  I could also have added leftover mashed potatoes or instant potato flakes.

The fun of cooking is the opportunity to be creative.   And devouring what you create!

I did not calculate the cost of this soup but I know it’s way less costly than most soups.  It will go really well with your favorite sandwich and a piece of fruit.

If you are a user of food stamps from the SNAP program; if you utilize food commodities; if you love dill pickles and enjoy being frugal, this will be ideal for you!  Those of you who depend on food pantries will find this recipe useful as well!

Drop us a line about your experience with this creation: foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com.  Thanks!

Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know there are links in this post.  Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated.  Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline.  Always do business with those you trust implicitly

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What’s New at Food Stamps Cooking Club?

January 16th, 2012

We hope everything is PEACHY in your world...

My, but it feels good to be back!  When life happens, we roll with it.  I’ve been rolling around awhile now but I’m back…with a grateful heart for all the new Members we have collected in my absence!   Thank you ALL so much!

SIDEBAR:  When this blog was  “born” I was warned that nobody would read it because the folks who would benefit the most would not have access to it.  I pooh-poohed their admonitions and pressed onward.  Our mail indicates that it IS helping people.  This is our mission, helping people to learn how to create nutritious meals for very little money AND LOVE DOING IT!  END SIDEBAR

The economy continues to be malodorous…people are still looking for work AND they are looking for ways to get dinner on the table for next to nothing.  Those who have jobs are working redonkulous hours and they are too tired to worry over their meals.  We hope the Food Stamps Cooking Club can be of service in this regard.

Let’s think for a moment about slashing food costs:  Are you utilizing any leftover food?  We had meat, gravy and veg for dinner yesterday…today I morphed what was left into hash by adding some sauteed onion and celery and a handful of corn.  It was quick to fix and really delicious!

Food that sits around in your refrigerator, looking more and more like a science experiment every day, loses its vitality-not to mention its appeal!  Make sure you grab what you can to use things efficiently.  Soup can be made from leftover bits of this and that with maybe a can of your family’s favorite vegetable.  Add the flavor of onion with powdered onion if you have some on hand, make it more interesting with spices or boullion or herbs.  This is your chance to be creative.  Just don’t get too heavy-handed; you only want to add flavor.  No need to create something that sets someone’s tongue on fire!  grin

Conventional wisdom dictates that low cost meals include beans.  Very true.  But don’t cook the same “flavor” of beans every time.  Use black beans today; later in the week use pinto beans and save the Great Northern beans for the week end.  I’m sure you get my drift.  I have learned that you can soak and cook them in ordinary tap water but after you have cooked and drained them, add some bouillon or chicken broth for good flavor.  Watery bean soup just tastes like watery bean soup.  Not your family’s best rave…

Food is not the only expense to consider.  There is the little matter of fuel for cooking.  By baking a dozen potatoes instead of 4 or 6 for your gang, you will save money on energy and time in having pre-cooked taters.  Oh, the fun you can have with THOSE.  Twice baked potatoes, warmed over in a steamer to be topped with veggies and sour cream;  fried up with scrambled eggs…oh, the list is long and yummy!

Here’s hoping I tickled your imagination with some new thoughts.  Surely YOU have better ideas than I.  Please share those novel notions with us at foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com 

Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know there are links in this post.  Should they be clicked, resulting in sales, your humble blogger would be fairly compensated.  Please do your due diligence when conducting affairs online or offline.  Always do business with those you trust implicitly

 

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Posted in Message from Mother Connie