Since the Club Members are VIPs, we used my mother’s good china for the event!
Mildred demonstrates her expertise making sauerkraut with caraway seeds! We must wait for it to process before we add the weiners!
BELOW:
All the ingredients for an apple salad were presented for the class to prepare.
Group Photo
Standing: Mildred, Annie, Mother Connie,
Seated: Velda
Not shown: Judy, who snapped this shot and those to whom life happened and could not join us!
Our heartfelt thanks to
Tecumseh Central Market
for partnering with Food Stamps Cooking Club. They graciously
offered these items for display in order for us to learn more about cost comparisons, Shurfine vs National brands, and coupons!
Now you can see why we are so excited to bring you the next event which will be designed especially for those who use SNAP or WIC or Angel Food Ministries! We want to help anybody who is using food commodities, food pantries, or Farmers Markets Coupons. We also want to help anyone who is interested to shave their food budgets and eat as well as possible to gain or maintain their good health!
WE LOVE PEOPLE!
WE LOVE FOOD!
Thanks, everyone for your support in our efforts to reach out and help one another!
Did you hear us shouting? And laughing? And COOKING?
Oh, for those of you who could not join us, we missed you. Truly we did!
If you have graciously given us your names and email addresses we will be soon sending out some of the highlights of our class, which was held here in the “clubhouse” on Saturday morning.
We shared ideas; there was a surprise or two; the food nourished our bodies and the companionship nurtured our souls!
The table was extended to reach from one end of the dining room all the way to the living room. We gathered there and “toured’ the kitchen to peruse the layout of the canned goods, the freezer and fridge and all the supplies for cooking and baking. Nobody said a word about any dust or crumbs or windows that needed to be tended! grin
Because more of you were NOT here than were, we are seriously considering how to include all of you somehow. For one thing, we will host a “Cheap Desserts” night and we have had requests to have a class about WATER. Yes, that’s right. WATER. We may be able to utilize video and give ALL of you a peek into the clubhouse and the fun we have here.
As you know, we began this Cooking Club to focus on those who may need help with their food budgets. We thought of those who use SNAP and WIC and food commodities. We had in mind those who must shop in food pantries and get things from Angel Food Ministries and the bounty of neighbors’ gardens and the Farmers Markets. But to be honest, we ALL want and need to save money on our food expenses. Our food budgets demand that in these troubled economic times.
We want to be INCLUSIVE. We want everyone who might be interested to take part in the fun and learning and sharing of this journey. Not to mention the food!
With respect to our class, we certainly offer heartfelt thanks to our supporters: To The Anonymous Benefactor who graciously and generously funded the food, we are eternally grateful for your kind and thoughtful generosity. To Jason at the Tecumseh Central Market, we so deeply appreciate all the time and attention you gave us in our preparation and we thank you for the items we had for display and comparison. We are extremely fortunate to have a clean, cheery place to shop in our little town, and one that offers great selection of food and meats.
We must acknowledge the Tecumseh Chieftain for so faithfully placing our news item where the public could be informed of our event. Small town newspapers are so important to the life of a community! The Chieftain went beyond the call and sent a reporter to cover the story. We were so happy and grateful to have Ann Wickett on board for our excursion!
Mildred Panec is to be commended for driving a long distance to share with us her expertise on food preservation! Thank you, Mildred. We are sending 10,000 thank you hugs your way!
The last round of applause goes to our students, who moved heaven and earth to share the morning and lunch hour with us.
If you have not, you are cordially invited to put your name and email into the box at the right upper corner of this page. You may also enter your information on Food Stamps Cooking Club in order to receive the tips from the class and other infrequent messages we send along from time to time.
For those who may like to see the other pies Mother Connie has her fingers in: The Healthy and Wealthy You is a blog about health and wealth-isn’t THAT a big surprise?-as is Mother Connie Sez. She writes a blog about business and internet marketing at Rapid Cash Review.
Your comments are welcomed on each of the blogs, including this one. THEY ARE VALUED AND APPRECIATED, JUST AS EACH OF YOU IS VALUED AND APPRECIATED.
We are getting our ducks in a row! Preparations are underway for our Cooking Class scheduled for Saturday!
Someone suggested we do as the French: lay out all the ingredients, measured, chopped, whatever might be required. Then each item could be added in order and no errors would cause problems.
Sounds good to me. You could easily check to make sure you have all the necessary ingredients on hand. You would know whether you needed to make substitutions before a crisis arises!
When our Class members arrive, they would have everything ready to work at their stations, too! I think that’s how we should proceed!
On a different subject:
Have you fallen heir to end-o-the-garden goods but you aren’t sure what to do with them? I know I’ve run out of freezer space for zucchinis and the garden still yields oodles of the silly things! How much zucchini bread can we handle? And how many potatoes can we “hide” zucchini in? Is there enough cheese in Johnson County, NE to cover the zucchini we have grown? grin
It isn’t that we don’t feel grateful. We ARE grateful to have such an ample supply of food. And if you are using SNAP or WIC or Angel Food Ministries you know exactly what I mean! If you have picked up food from a food pantry or have been blessed with food commodities, this makes perfect sense to you. Even the Farmers Markets Coupons can only handle so many zucchinis! I’m watching our food budget like a hawk and I still have TOO MANY ZUCCHINIS!
Maybe you also have an abundance of cabbage now.
My first thought with cabbage is to make slaw. When there is a large head of cabbage and only two pairs of toes under the table, that slaw can get to be pretty boring after awhile.
I would make sauerkraut. Unfortunately, I don’t have experience with that but my good Czech friend does. Maybe I can inveigle her to teach me about that soon?
There is creamed cabbage, boiled cabbage, roast chicken and cabbage…and polish sausages or ham simmered with cabbage. Our gang likes “kraut kruders” which is a cabbage and ground beef filling wrapped with dough then baked to a golden brown. I know that caraway seed enhances cabbage; maybe I’ll see if I can add that into the food budget ASAP!
What do YOU do with cabbage? We would love to hear your ideas about the different ways you use it in your kitchens. Leave your comment or email us at foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com .
We appreciate your looking into the opportunities our partners present. Their affiliate marketing programs could add dollars to your household and make your life even better!
If you have not yet done so, you might enjoy reading the messages on our sister blogs: The Healthy and Wealthy You and Mother Connie Sez. We warmly invite you to leave your comments on those pages, as well as on this one. Comments must be moderated before they are published but we are happy to see what you have to say. It’s true that more heads are better than one!
Jason, from Tecumseh Central Market, our little local grocery, has been very helpful. He spent quite some time with me as we walked around the store. He had some extremely valuable information to share.
I had invited Tecumseh Central Market to partner with us for the Cooking Class. I explained how we wanted to assist those who use SNAP or WIC or food pantries and food commodities as well as those who just want to save money on their food budgets. He was totally down with all of it. He made some items available to us for samples and to demonstrate how cost affects the bottom line.
One of the points Jason made that I feel is worth sharing with all the Club, not just those who will be here for the class on Saturday: He talked about how the local store brands help. I presumed the one way they help is to save us money. They do that, of course, BUT, they help THE STORE who handles those brands. Those store brands cost less money to put onto the shelves than national brands. With the overhead expense store brands save the store owner, he is able to hire more people and pay them decent wages. Jason also talked about using COUPONS. He really encourages those of us who are concerned about the cost of feeding our families to use any coupon they find. They will shave off many dollars from the cost of food and really impact the family food budget in a positive manner!
We are fortunate in our little town to have a wide selection of products in a clean, friendly environment. They do their best to serve the community. If they were to close their doors, we would have to drive a minimum of 30 miles just to buy food!
Oh, how we wish EVERY Food Stamps Cooking Club member would be here to put their toes under the table on Saturday! But we will have photos to share, so please stay in our loop.
Thanks so much, everyone, for visiting our site here, as well as our sister sites: The Healthy and Wealthy You and Mother Connie Sez. If you are some of those who have stopped by our partners to increase your household income, we salute you!
Please feel free to leave your comments on this page! We love hearing from each of you!
We are in the last few days before the Cooking Class! Things are exciting in the Club House!
Before I forget, please let me take a moment to thank all the people who have recently joined The Food Stamps Cooking Club! We see new faces among the members and we so appreciate your being here. Please feel free to post your comments here on this page as well as sending us your ideas and recipes at foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com
There was a bit of a buzz at our church yesterday when Pastor Kathy mentioned the Cooking Class-people had questions and are excited about it! There was even more excitement at home when we learned that our Mexican neighbors have rearranged their plans so they can come to participate! YAY!
One of the topics we will discuss Saturday will be SOUPS and the Soup of the Day will be Split Pea. Here is my idea for that soup:
HEARTY SPLIT PEA SOUP
8 cups water
1 meaty ham bone (I will use chopped bacon in the class)
1 pound split peas
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup diced ham (For our class, I’ll omit this, as I am using bacon)
METHOD:
In large soup pot, bring water to a boil. Add all ingredients, except salt and diced ham.
Cover and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Remove ham bone and allow to cool.
Add salt and diced ham to soup. Trim meat from ham bone and add to soup.
Adjust seasonings. Serves 8
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This soup is great served fresh but it has even more flavor if there is any left and it is reheated and served the next day!
For our Class, we will have cornbread baked in a cast iron skillet! And there will be Southeast Nebraska honey to go with it.
And, of course, great conversation! grin
Whether you buy groceries with your own earned dollars, the assistance of WIC or SNAP or Angel Food Ministries or if you use Food Commodities, or Food Pantries–it makes no difference. We ALL gotta eat and we all want to eat well for less money!
We hope you have time to stop and visit our partners; their aim is to help you BRING IN more dollars.
I’m so excited I am shaking as I prepare this post for you!
We have been blessed by AN ANONYMOUS DONOR who wanted to help with the upcoming Cooking Class! Thank you to our generous Giver; we appreciate you so much and your gift will be used to purchase food for our Class. Should we have food left, you can rest assured it will go to the proper place in order to be utilized by those who can benefit.
There are still more blessings to report: We have been given a flat of white peaches! We may use these as we see fit. I think they will become peach pies to share with the Class. I believe we have enough to serve our TEN students! THANK YOU TO CHARLIE AND CHARLENE!
Our Food Stamps Cooking Club made the world wide web yesterday! If you would like to see Mother Connie in her kitchen and read about the movement blogger Julie Flynn is promoting to feed hungry people, go to her blog: On Food Stamps. She, like Mother Connie, would really love for you to post your comment on her blog, so won’t you please do her that honor? Thanks; Julie is a young woman who lives in Los Angeles and works with the Food Bank there. You may recall that she was a Guest Blogger on this Club’s page.
Life happens, as you know, and we have some spots open for our Cooking Class. If you or someone you know can attend the Cooking Class on Saturday, September 19 they may register by emailing foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com. There is NO COST for this class but you must be registered, for the number of BOWLS is limited! grin
Please visit our partners, too, won’t you? They are eager to help you with your bottom line. It does not matter that you use SNAP funds or WIC. You might be a user of food commodities or food pantry items. We all need to monitor and protect our food budgets, even if we use Angel Food Ministries, Farmers Market Coupons or goodies from the neighbor’s bounteous garden spot! And if our partners can help us bring in some rapid cash, so much the better.
Our Cooking Class is going to take place on September 19 and people are clamoring for information about WHAT’S COOKING? So I decided to reveal the whole program right here. Those of you who have enrolled will have a clear picture and will know what to bring; those who have not sent their registration to foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com will get into gear!There are a few-very few-openings.
Here is the straight skinny:
2009 COOKING CLASS SCHEDULE
Welcome/Message from our Partners and Housekeeping Details
Introductions: Special Guests
Who’s Here?
Demonstrations Regarding Health
Tour the Pantry and Fridge; Discuss Menus
Chopping and Shopping; “Commercial”
Freezer Meals w/Emphasis on Building Lunch
Beans, Beans, Beans! Are We Full of ‘em?
SOUP’S ON!
Mildred struts her stuff and we take time to share
Evaluation
*Students are invited to bring a favorite knife, a recipe, and tips!
As we have previously announced, the class begins at 10 AM and runs through lunchtime. We are not going to rush; we want all the students’ questions to be addressed to their satisfaction.
There is no cost to attend the class but we only have enough bowls for 10 students so reservations MUST be made by sending your request to foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com .
Regarding cost for this class, we are pleased to tell you that it is a privilege to Pay It Forward.
This class was originally designed for users of SNAP, food commodities and food pantries. We have added those who avail themselves of Angel Food Ministries, WIC, and Farmers Markets Coupons as well as people who are interested in eating well for less money, easing the strain on their food budgets. WE WELCOME EVERYONE.
We understand it has been a challenging year for all of you. The economy has taken a nose dive; your personal finances may have taken a hit; you may be faced with issues of job loss, failing health and all manner of doom and gloom…
It is because of your misery that we exist. Our aim is to help you by educating you in ways that will make your food dollars stretch, to help you to prepare health-giving meals for yourselves and those you love. We want to give you ideas to make your lives happier, healthier, more cost-effective AND WE DEARLY HOPE TO HELP YOU MAKE GOOD MEMORIES FOR YOU AND THOSE CLOSEST TO YOU.
This Christmas is for you to enjoy. Savor each moment you have with those you love. Make every second count by living in the moment…recalling the reason for the season.
The New Year will bring with it many good things. The Cooking Classes will go on; the cooking tips will continue…We wish for you vibrant good health, abundance and prosperity in heaping amounts and all the love your hearts can hold. Surely 2009 will bring the world peace we all yearn to have.
Please know that you are loved and appreciated and consider yourselves hugged.
History was made today! It was the best fun I’ve had all week!
The first of the series of Cooking Classes is all over but the shouting…it was so much fun! By now you understand that if it isn’t fun, I’m not interested in the effort! Grin/Wink
The discussion centered around the pantry, the fridge, and the freezer. We had a lunch of soup-using split peas, pantry goods, and carrots from the fridge. There was a bean salad in a lettuce cup, too. Dessert? HOME MADE chocolate pudding FROM SCRATCH. Oh, be still, my heart! All my fave raves!
That I opened every cupboard, every door, every drawer was the biggest surprise. But if students are to learn how to manage their food budgets well it will help them to know how to manage the whole kitchen efficiently.
I wanted there to be enlightenment. I yearned for what I love and enjoy about cooking to be infused into the students. I so hoped the food would please the palates.
The evaluation form said it all. I got comments that warmed my heart: “I most appreciated the Teacher’s TIME” and “I will incorporate some of the suggestions I heard here today”. The comment that motivates me the very most was the one that seems to be the most heartfelt: “Please, MORE MORE MORE of the same”!
Next session? Show and Tell: Shopping and Chopping. They will bring their favorite knives and we can talk food prep like old friends. Besides that? We get to drink coffee!
My fervent hope is that folks will visit Food Stamps Cooking Club, get into the loop, and join the fun! These classes have the potential to help a lot of people!
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