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It’s ALL about the $ at Food Stamps Cooking Club

February 28th, 2013

It’s all about the $$$$ when it comes to feeding those you love.

You saw the video the other day about eating what $4.00 a day will buy.  No doubt you have opinions about what was purchased.  Responding to the film, some of our faithful Members chimed in, offering the practices they employ in their own budget/menu planning/food prep for the faces around their tables.  If you have not seen these messages, they appear in the Comment panel below previous posts.

Tomorrow the people in our government could lower our resources even more with the infamous ‘sequester’.  If you have a $100.00 for food, the sequester may set you back a couple of dollars or say, half a gallon of milk.   It really IS all about the money!

There is no reason for you who use public assistance or face lower incomes to go into fear over this.  There is, however, good reason to figure out how to feed the people you love by s t r e t c h i n g whatever resources you happen to have.  

You, like the Members who commented, need a PLAN.

Plan what your family will need and study the circulars and prices so you can spend your resources accordingly.  This will be a glorious opportunity for you to experience new choices and experiment with new ways of food prep.

Some users of SNAP or WIC or food pantry foods do not cook.  Maybe their caretakers worked or worked more than one job and did not have the time to teach them.  Perhaps they don’t LIKE to cook.  No matter, by preparing foods at home, great amounts of money can be saved.  Another benefit of cooking at home is the chance to bond with your family members.  Most cooks remember hanging out with Mama or Grandfather or Auntie or SOMEONE who gave them good experiences over food prep–snitching tastes, chopping vegetables, peeling fruit for pies…this gave them the desire to cook as adults.  And let’s face it.  It is the responsible thing to do.

Don’t fall for the idea that cheap food is OK to eat.  Ramen noodles do not support health; they only temporarily satisfy your hunger pangs.  Boxes with “food” are hideous imposters, only pretending to be edible.  Fruits and vegetables may SEEM to be more costly but by eating real food-raw or cooked-your body will be well fueled and sickness won’t visit you so much. Learning to create meals with grains you may not have used in the past can be such fun.  Using veggies you have previously avoided might be more interesting than you imagined.  And please, do avoid those sugary treats.  They won’t even taste good to you once you learn to love other, more nutritious foods.  Sugar can rot your teeth and weaken your bones faster than you know.  Who needs dental bills on top of high food costs?

We really encourage you to cook.  If this is a problem for you, please let us know how we can help in this regard.  If you can read, you can cook.  Surely you have a relative, neighbor or friend who could help you learn to shop and cook.  Absent that, there are cookbooks everywhere, video tutorials online and Mother Connie is available to consult with you.  Just drop her an email at foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com  and let’s see what we can make happen.  There is no charge for this, of course.

If you are living on a dime and hope you don’t have to manage on only a nickel; if you are concerned about how to feed your loved ones in the upcoming weeks, we do hope we can be of service to you.  The fact that you continue to send your sphere of influence to sign up for the Food Stamps Cooking Club and our little series of cooking tips tells us we are having a positive effect.  THANK YOU.

~Connie Baum. 

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Posted in Message from Mother Connie, Shopping, Tips

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Cooking at Food Stamps Cooking Club

February 15th, 2013

Creating meals stacks up to mean food prep and cooking. We hope we help you make it FUN!

Planning for and preparing three meals a day every day is, as you are keenly aware, relentless.  It can also be daunting, not to mention how physically draining it can be or how EXPENSIVE.

You may have snazzy cookware.  You might have a glitzy kitchen.  Your food budget may be unlimited.  It’s possible you have kitchen help-a spouse, a parent, a child, a roommate or “day lady.”  In any case, nobody eats until somebody steps up to make the meal.  It’s wonderful to have help but we all know that not everyone has that luxury.

Most cooks in my world have picked up their cookware at garage sales or their collection pots n pans consists of hand me downs.  Most are mismatched and with any good luck, some have lids that fit!

Many years ago your humble blogger sold cookware.  One of the most important things I learned during that time was to use the right sized saucepan for your food.  That is to say that you would not put a cupful of corn into a three quart pot-unless that’s all you had to use.

Making skillet meals or one dish menu items makes good sense if your cookware options are limited.  Saute some onion, celery and carrot and add whatever cooked meat you have on hand.  *This is a great way to use tuna, which is usually low cost.  Serve that combo over cooked noodles or cooked rice and you have a nourishing and satisfying meal for very little money and not many dishes to wash!

If you fell heir to a poached egg set-up, I’d advise you to use those little cups for dipping out flour or sugar from your canister.  When it comes to poaching eggs you can do it EASILY by filling a skillet with water-about 3/4″.  Salt the water, add a few drops of any ole vinegar you have on hand.  When the water simmers, lower the heat and carefully drop each egg into the water.  Because of the heat and vinegar combination each egg will immediately begin to cook and it won’t look like scrambled eggs under water.  It’s a quick way to fix eggs and there is no grease involved.  That saves you some money.

If you are blessed to own a cast iron skillet, it’s important to know how to season it.  Those will last a lifetime and they are truly non stick when they are properly cared for.  I season mine every time I use it by washing it, preferably without soap, and then I pat it dry so as not to stain the dishtowel.  *I’d use paper toweling but that is sooo expensive to use.  I put it on the burner, turn the heat setting to HIGH and let the skillet heat through.  I squirt a shot of spray oil on the bottom and around the sides and turn off the burner and let it cool before I put it away. 

Storage of cookware can become an issue.  My collection fits well in the drawer under the oven and I like to store each pot with its own lid.  It’s so frustrating to have to hunt for lids when all you want to do is get a meal over with and get on with life!  Hanging cookware can be a handy way to store it, too.  And it won’t matter if your pots are not gorgeous enough to appear on magazine covers.  

Here’s a word of caution:  If your cookware is not enamel lined or glass or stainless steel, do NOT store food in it in your fridge.  It only takes a moment to scrape left over food from a pot to a food storage container or bag and pop that into the fridge or freezer for later use.    Meat can be wrapped in waxed paper.  I learned the hard way that food left on a cookie sheet can be tainted very quickly, wasting food and making people sick.

It’s been my experience that users of WIC and SNAP with their EBT cards are smart.  Those of you who fit that description probably have super great ideas about using and storing cookware.  We’d love to hear from you at foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com 

If you are living on a dime, frugal by nature, or benefiting from a food pantry, food bank, or food commodities, you no doubt have had many learning experiences the rest of the Club Members could learn from.  We’d love to hear from all of you, as well.  The sharing that takes place here is wonderful!

We are hearing from peeps who have cruised by some of our favorite bloggers’ sites and it seems you are enjoying those immensely, as is Mother Connie. It’s a wonderful way to learn and to connect with like minded folks.  Thanks, everybody, for sharing the love.

We are looking forward to your stories about cookware!  Can’t wait to see your comments and messages!

~Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know there are links on this page. 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 Cooking, Tips

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Growing Greens at Food Stamps Cooking Club

January 31st, 2013

You might not be thinking about growing a garden just yet, even though the seed catalogs are pouring in these days. Leanne Ely, the Dinner Diva from Saving Dinner is showing us a wonderful idea we could do immediately-crummy weather notwithstanding- and I wanted to share it with you:

Grow your own lettuce bowl indoors
by Leanne Ely

I don’t know about you, but I have a really hard time buying produce that I can easily grow myself. At my house, we eat a lot of salad. As many of you know, I serve a large green salad with almost every meal that goes on the table. All of those heads of lettuce can add up!

So, I recently started looking into some ways to grow my own lettuce indoors and I thought I would share what I’m learning with y’all.

All you need is:

* A large round pot, about 6 inches deep (or a container of some sort with roughly the same depth)
* Organic potting soil (look for the kind with perlite in it-thats those little round white balls)
* Mesclun mix seeds (or whatever lettuce you like best)
* Water
* A sunny window

You’ll need a window that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight per day. If your lettuce doesn’t get enough sun, it will get tall and spindly and that isn’t what you want.

To grow your lettuce:

1. Fill your container to the halfway mark with soil. You can sprinkle some fertilizer on there if you want to. Moisten the soil and sprinkle a couple pinches of seeds on top. Sprinkle a little more soil over the seeds and spritz the surface with more water.

2. Water daily and keep the pot in the sun or under a grow light. The seeds should sprout up in about seven days and your first harvest should be ready in about a month.

To harvest your lettuce:

After you cut your lettuce the first time (leave the growing crowns alone!), you’ll only have to wait another two weeks for a fresh crop.

And it’s pretty much just that easy!

Fresh lettuce greens are just the best, aren’t they?

Do you do any indoor gardening? Have any tips to share?

http://www.facebook.com/savingdinner

Leanne has been teaching people how to Save Dinner and how to nourish our families for a long time. Her daily messages are full of information and heart. We appreciate being able to share today’s message with our Members.

Now to find a large pot…

~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 How To, Tips

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End of the Month at Food Stamps Cooking Club

January 28th, 2013

Good grief! Would you look at that calendar? We are into the very last week of January already! The month is nearly gone and the grocery budget is toast! What’s a cook to DO? Maybe we have an idea or two that will keep your loved ones fed until the food budget gets fat again…

Most people at your table are likely to be pasta lovers; everybody knows how inexpensive pasta is…you may think you must have meat balls with pasta to have a complete meal. But if your budget doesn’t allow for meat balls, try this: Just mix some bread crumbs with a bit of oil, toss in some herbs, like parsley and maybe a touch of oregano, a tad of garlic powder and salt and pepper. You might even have some of that dry “spaghetti cheese” to go with it! Now, a pasta bowl of that combo would bring most everyone to the table pronto! And they’d leave all satisfied…especially if you also had some roasted veg as a side.

Maybe you have not paid much attention to roasted vegetables. I love them raw, cooked, sliced, diced or mashed, no matter what vegetable it is. This is not true for all folks but veggies are sooo much more inviting when they are roasted! They are sweeter and so pretty on the plate!

You can use thick slices of cabbage, for example. Drizzle some oil or shoot some spray oil over a roasting pan, lay the cabbage out and season it with salt, pepper, whatever you like. Maybe a dash of hot sauce or cayenne if you like that extra kick and give it another thin coat of oil. Put it into a 400* oven for about 20 minutes. When it smells wonderful and has a caramel coating, it’s ready to take to the table.

Other vegetables that are perfect for roasting are carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, turnips…whatever strikes your fancy. Just make sure all the pieces are about the same thickness, make one layer, season them as you like, coat them with oil and pop them into a hot oven. I like to stir them gently and turn the pan around about halfway through the cooking process.

If you serve the pasta as described above and have a platter of roasted veggies, you will hardly notice there was no meat on the menu!

What do YOU do to economize when the money runs out before the month?

This blog caters to the users of public assistance for their food dollars. If you are a holder of an EBT card for WIC or SNAP, you might find this site helpful. Do you find yourself living on a dime? Using things from a food pantry, food bank or food commodities? Are you pragmatic and frugal and s t r e t c h your food dollars till the paper splits? You are in the company of others just like yourself.

You may have sent a friend of yours to this blog and they, like you, signed up for our series of cooking tips. We are welcoming new Members every day and we marvel that our Club House is bursting with all of you. We sincerely hope you find meaning and a sense of belonging here…we like to think it’s a bit like neighbors chatting over a backyard fence. All are welcome here…with the possible exception of those pesky spammers. :(

Members, you are welcome to contact us at foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com.

~Connie Baum

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Posted in Cooking, Tips

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Use It Up at Food Stamps Cooking Club

January 24th, 2013

Dear Club Members:
I am so excited I can scarcely breathe! One of my favorite bloggers-I have many of those-graciously agreed to give us a Guest Post and today’s the day! Pamela, of Feral Homemaking: http://feralhomemaking.blogspot.com/ offers us these thoughts.

“BE A HEDONIST AND USE IT UP!

I use things up, all the way up, because I’m a hedonist. It sounds counterintuitive, but it isn’t.

If I enjoy something, I want to enjoy every single thing it can offer me. I want to get as much use and pleasure out of it as I can. I don’t want to go through a hundred of them and leave a trail of peelings, ends and sad leftovers that are left to rot. I want to savor every single bit of it. That’s a big reason why I use things up completely—the other reasons are ecological (I don’t want to use more resources than I need) and financial (I like frugality). One area where I really focus on this is food. You can use this principal with anything—crafts, scraps and leavings from projects, old containers, etc., but I am all thumbs when it comes to crafts and I am terrified of ending up on the TV show Hoarders. So food and cooking it is.

Don’t get me wrong–I have made all kinds of flubs in my quest for low-cost, delicious cooking and general frugality. Everyone’s mileage varies, of course, but being a single woman, some of the stuff that works for large families may not work for me, and some things that I would have discounted actually ended up being quite useful. One things that really helps is making and using less. I have found that making smaller servings than I used to make really helps since I tend to make too much and then have a lot leftover. If I’m still hungry, I can reach for something else—maybe, if I had a little meat and some vegetable and rice, I can have some salad or a piece of fruit or yogurt. Often, however, I find that I’m actually full on the smaller serving I prepared for myself.

Buying in bulk is nice, if you are going to a) eat what you’ve bought before it goes off or b) remember that you even have it. (I have had many mold gardens in my fridge because I bought in bulk and never used it.) It’s way too easy to buy things because they are a good deal and then let them get freezer burn or gather dust in the back of your pantry. I’ve seen people suggest that you make up a list of what you have and then base your shopping decisions on that. I’m not nearly that organized. What I do is basically this:

Buy only what I need

Use it up completel

By “use it up completely” I mean just that. I don’t just mean, “Hey, I have some leftover vegetables, I’ll put them in a container with other leftover vegetables for a soup or stew,” though that is a good idea. Here’s an example:

DRIED BEANS

1) Soak the beans you want to cook

2) Save the water to water your plants (yes, you’re not using the water directly, but plants get thirsty, you’re not wasting water, and they may have some of the nutrients from the dried beans now.

VEGETABLES (fresh or frozen)

1) I cook them on the stove in water. When I drain it, I save the water it cooked in and save the water in a container of vegetable stock.

2) I eat the vegetables

3) If there is any leftover, I either put it in the fridge for my omelet/scrambled eggs the next morning (depending on the vegetable), or I put it in a container in the freezer for soup/stews or things like stir fries or fried rice.

4) I plan to make the soup/stew and make some homemade bread to eat with it. It’s especially nice on a cold winter day.

MEAT

1) Cook the meat and eat it.

2) If it was bone in, take the leftover pieces, cut the meat from the bones for another use, and make stock with the bones (this is especially good for roasts, but it works for any bone-in meat.)

3) Use the leftover pieces in soups, casseroles, or sandwiches, or as an added bit of protein to salads.

4) If there are several meat pieces with the bone in and leftover vegetables, you’ve basically got soup right there.

FRESH VEGETABLES—I don’t compost ends and scraps right away (and I wasn’t always in a situation where composting was doable). This is what I do:

1) Peel and slice the vegetables.

2) Save the ends and skin (if the skin is edible) in a freezer container for stock. Do the same thing with tough stems.

3) Use those ends, tough stems, and peelings to make stock.

4) If I have fresh herbs from my garden or that I got at a good price, I save the stems and add those to the container for stock. Flavor—stock is for flavor. So I am not shy with herbs.

5) Preserve the stock—either pressure can it, or freeze it in one to two cup servings, or freeze in ice cube trays for when you need a small amount of water to thin out a soup or add to something—this will add flavor. Once they are frozen, pop them out of the trays and put them in a clearly labeled freezer bag.

BREAD

Once bread starts to go stale*, I’m so tempted to trash it. But I don’t. I do one of the following:

1) Cut into squares, toss with a teaspoon of olive oil and mixed dried herbs, and toast in the oven at 350 degrees (turning over once or twice) until they are crisp for croutons

2) Grating them for breadcrumbs and storing them in the freezer

3) Chop roughly and use for a strata or bread pudding

*It’s very rare for bread to go off in my house as I love bread, and I bake my own. It’s a big downfall of mine.

I do my best to do root to stem cooking. Many parts of the vegetable are edible, not just the parts that we’re used to eating. Green leafy carrot tops are edible and quite delicious. They are a tasty addition to fried rice. You can pickle watermelon rind, or peel off the hard, green outer skin and chop up the rind for salads. You can use the leaves of a tomato plant to steep in a sauce, soup or stock for a few minutes to add flavor (don’t eat it, though, they aren’t good for you to eat). You can eat broccoli stalks—if you slice off the tough outer peel, you’ll find the stalks themselves are quite sweet and tender. Don’t want to steam them to eat? Slice them into matchsticks for a snack with hummus or dip, or as part of a crunchy salad or slaw. Got fresh radishes, beets, or turnips? Those greens on top are edible. Now, I don’t relish a big plate of radish greens, but chopped up finely and thrown into a soup they do just fine. (I do like steamed or sautéed beet greens and turnip greens, but they are also pretty good in a soup.) If you get a stalk of Brussels sprouts, you can actually cook the leaves. Celery leaves are a great garnish or substitute for fresh parsley. Potato peels? If they are thick peels from Russet potatoes, they are good roasted until crisp, with a little olive oil and rosemary. Or save them for stock. Otherwise, if they are thinner skinned potatoes, I tend to leave the skin on and scrub them very well as there are a lot of nutrients in the skin.

One thing I will buy a lot of if I’m out: lemons and limes. I take what I need for the day, slice the rest (or in the case of limes, cut into quarters) and freeze. They are very nice in cold drinks. If I squeeze the juice out of one, I save the rind in the freezer (in a bag with other fruit peelings). Then, if I want to liven up my place, I put a handful of the peelings, half a cinnamon stick, a clove, and maybe another aromatic herb or two in a mini-dipper crockpot, potpourri pot, or on a small pan on the stove and let it simmer all day. It makes your place smell nice and it won’t irritate your sinuses or leave a film of candle soot on your walls.

WHAT DO YOU DO TO USE THINGS UP?

Oh, Pamela! What great ideas you have offered us! Those who use EBT cards from SNAP or WIC will get so many fresh notions for s t r e t c h i n g their food dollars! Those who have food commodities or get things from a food bank or food pantry will have a fresh take on frugality, as well. Those who are living on a dime may already do these things but it’s always good to hear from people who are like minded!

To those Members of the Food Stamps Cooking Club, please cruise over to Pamela’s adorable blog and leave her some love, won’t you? Her blog is found here:
http://feralhomemaking.blogspot.com…I am so sorry WordPress will not allow me to insert a link for this…boohoo…

We are thrilled to welcome new Members again today! Send your thoughts to us at foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com – You are welcome to leave a comment in the comment panel here, as well.

Thank you again, Pamela!

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 Guest Post, Tips

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Dill, Cleaning Tips and Food Stamps Cooking Club

September 14th, 2012

DILL!  Makes us think of pickles, potato salad and…

You have been well aware that the faithful Club Members have terrific ideas and have generously shared them.  Well, the mail was especially fun this morning because I heard from a Member from Canada!  She and I seem  to have a kindred spirit, as do many of the people who take the time to share their lives, and she reminded me how good dill is with carrots!  Here is part of her dear message:

“One thing I really love to use dill for is my carrots.  especially new carrots, cook until just done, then I add butter and a good sprinkle of dill.  When we have company they always rave about my carrots and that is all I do if I am getting “fancy”.  “   ~Pat

Boy.  I wish I had thought of that!  grin  We appreciate you for sharing, Pat!

Mother Connie really cannot think of dill without remembering the blog post  featuring Dill Pickle Soup!  It’s time to prepare a pot of that again!  Maybe one day soon I’ll bake a loaf of dill bread. . . wouldn’t that make wonderful croutons?

Pat also had another dilly of an idea:  “Turmeric is another of my favorites.  Especially with rice!“

Because rice can be ‘blah’ turmeric would certainly give it a kick.  That makes me think of my pal, Velda.  One of her go-to quick meals when she is too tired to cook is to cook rice, add a can of spinach, juice and all and heat it all together.  If she thinks it needs a finishing touch, she sprinkles cheese over it.  Now, I’m thinking a pinch or two of turmeric would give that dish a whole new character!

Recently a visitor to the Club House kitchen spied the spice rack, which had recently been moved next to the stove.  She was curious about the little bottles and how the contents got used.   Really, spices are a reasonably inexpensive way to add punch to your cooking.  We get into routines, we humans, and when we use spices to flavor our food it helps to break the monotony. She assured me she would “steal” all my best spice ideas and try them out in her kitchen!

There is always cleaning to be done…

Changing the subject, as I am wont to to, I want to share the cleaning tips sent in by April.  Bless her heart, she must keep quite the tidy house and busy kitchen.  Still, she makes the time to share with the Club:

“April’s All Purpose Spray:
In a spray bottle, combine equal parts water and vinegar.  Shake and use.  DO NOT USE ON MARBLE.  You can add essential oils, if you want.

To help clean drains pour baking soda down the drain, then pour a little vinegar down the drain.

For cleaning toilets just pour straight vinegar into the bowl, let it sit for a few minutes and then scrub and flush.  **Mother Connie here:  I had a good friend who used a paper cup to dip all the water out of the bowl and THEN used vinegar + soda to scrub.  She cleaned for a living, so I think she must have earned her $!

To make a a soft scrub, mix baking soda and water. It is non abrasive and good to use for sinks and tubs.”

*Thank you, April!

One more cleaning tip for you comes from a good friend who also cleans for a living.  Her home made window cleaner is the BOMB and I have used it for years.  When she gave me the formula I was astonished at how simple it is:

“In a large spray bottle use a pint of  alcohol *NOT the drinking kind!

Fill the bottle with water *Filtered water is best, if you have it

Add 1 TABLESPOON  Prell shampoo

Mix the ingredients by shaking the bottle gently and spray on glass.  Use coffee filters to polish the surface.

*When washing the INSIDE of windows, wipe them from side to side; on the OUTSIDE,wipe them from top to bottom.  By doing so, you can easily see any missed spots. “

Dawn, thank you so much!

Cleaning must be done in our homes regardless of how tired we are, whether we like to clean or not.  The SNAP or WIC funds help feed our loved ones but they do not wash the dishes or clean the sink!  If you use food commodities or items from a food bank or food pantry, you still have to sweep floors and make beds!  Those of you who are frugal or living on a dime, know all too well that those chores pile up as they wait–we hope these ideas will lighten your load.

Again, we thank the Members who contributed their ideas to this post.  We really could not keep house without you people!!!

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.

PS/Did you fill out the questionnaire for the Public Insight Network yet?  They will be so pleased to hear from you.  Remember that there is nothing to buy.  Click here:  Public Insight Network.

PS#2:  These cleaning supplies will be pressed into full service to properly prepare the Club House for the Cooking Class in October!  WOOOO HOOOO!

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Posted in From the mail, Home Care, Tips

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Washing Up at the Food Stamps Cooking Club

September 6th, 2012

“

All the cooking we are doing requires some clean up; here is a great idea from one of the faithful…

The mail that comes in each day from our Club Members really is fun to read.  So many of you have wonderful ideas for food, clean up and household care that are frugal and easily accomplished.

April has shared a formula for laundry soap and so have others.  Here is the  composite of  them that Mother Connie uses:

HOME MADE LAUNDRY POWDER – or liquid

1  bar Fels Naptha or Lava soap

1  cup  Washing Powder *Mother Connie uses Arm n Hammer brand

***MAKE SURE THIS IS NOT BAKING SODA!

1/2  cup Borax

Cut the bar of soap into chunks and place in your food processor

*No food processor?  No worries; just grate the soap with a grater. 

Using a large bowl or ice cream pail, add the grated soap, washing powder  and the Borax.    Stir the mixture until it is well combined and store it in an air tight container.  You might like to tuck a 1/4 cup measuring cup in with your mixture so you can measure the powder into each wash load.  When you dump, you waste precious resources.

*These amounts are easily doubled.

*If you prefer a liquid washing product you can dedicate a large pot with a lid to combine your powders with 1 gallon of water.  Cook the whole works till it boils and add 1 gallon of cold water.  Store this in the pot, with the lid on, and use as you need it. 

Those who do laundry in a public laundry will likely want to use the powdered version, because is travels better.

Mother Connie has used this for a long, long time and has no clue how much money it has saved, but even when laundry soap is on sale it is pricey AND IT IS HEAVY, if you buy a liquid.  This formula does not produce loads of bubbles but it deep cleans your wash loads.  If you have greasy laundry, you might like to add more Borax with each load of work clothes.  Borax softens the water and helps de-grease items.

If your laundry is stained, you will still need to use bleach.  If you can’t afford bleach, just do the best you can with the home made powder.  The teeny bit of time it takes to make up this solution is well worth the effort and the kids will love getting in on the act if you make it fun for them!

The buzz about the upcoming cooking class is deafening!  I still have not received the photo I PAID FOR but as soon as it’s available I shall  post it for you!  We plan to use video so you can “experience” the class, too, even if you live half a continent away!

If you use SNAP or WIC we salute you.  If you depend on food pantries or a food bank for your meals, we honor you.  If you are a user of food commodities, we bow to you.  This blog is designed to help you with no strings attached.  Well, I take that back; we do hope you comment.  grin  For the rest of you, who are living on a dime or just smart, frugal shoppers, we thank you.  ALL of you have contributed to the common good of the Food Stamps Cooking Club and our hearts are filled with gratitude for your efforts.  Our mail is always so much fun every day, thanks to all of 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.

PS/Soap is good and cost effective for cleaning your teeth, too!  Check that out here: Tooth Soap

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Posted in Home Care, How To, Tips

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Networking With Food Stamps Cooking Club

July 27th, 2012

Your mail makes Mother Connie feel as if we are chatting over coffee!

Your comments and mail are the engines that make this ship fly!  Recently we have had a flurry of email messages and I thought it would be fun to open the mail bag and share the lives of our Members.  With her permission, I am sharing a dear note from Pat in Kitchener.  Getting acquainted with people from all over the world really trips my trigger.  If you love reading other peoples’ mail, this will warm your heart:

Please meet Pat of Pat and Ken:

“Hi  Mother Connie,

Hope I can stay with this group.  WE are a 2 person family, and we are retired.  We live in Canada and are not on food stamps, but on small pensions.
DH [dear husband] and I both have many small problems and I need to think about what I am cooking and my big problem that I am working on is serving proportions.  When we were working we were doing a lot of heavy work, now we are far more sedentary, and with low incomes I need to think through what I spend, and the size portions I serve.
I find that I get in a rut and cook the same things over and over.  So I try and change 2 meals a week into something I haven’t tried before .  Simple is the key idea here!. 
So new ideas and old ideas  -that I’ve forgotten about- are what I am looking for.  I also do some foraging around our country place, and most years have a garden, this year is got drowned out, and since we are both older and have many physical challenges I really can’t keep up like I used to.
We don’t seem to fit the main category of folks, but after looking around your site the other day, I thought this is somewhere I’d like to be.  I was sent to your site through Carrie at “Poor to Rich, One Day at a Time”.  I correspond with Carrie and like that what you see is what you get, no nonsense and down to earth.  Like me, she knows nothing goes as planned and you need to be able to roll with the punches and come up smelling like a rose -even if those roses are wild roses, and your using the hips for jelly, and the leaves for tea!   LOL.
Take Care,
Pat in  Kitchener”
Since that first message I have learned that Pat is a cook book fanatic, like many of our Members.  She and I have a lot in common; it’s probably true that she is much like YOU.  We would love to hear YOUR story, too.
Here are a couple of ideas I found on Pinterest that hit my hot button:
  • Serve summer salads in clear tumblers…I’m thinking clear plastic cups.  Salads look pretty and cool and require no dish washing!
  • Make a taco pie:  Fill a baked pie crust with layers of browned, seasoned hamburger meat, beans, tomatoes, lettuce and cheese!
  • Bake your cupcakes in regular papers that are set in little clay flowerpots.  Very cute!

What ideas have YOU come across that are worth sharing?  We can’t wait to hear from all of you! 

 

If you are using food commodities or food pantry items or if you have things from a food bank, this blog is meant for you.  We also cater to people who have EBT cards for SNAP and WIC.  Frugal people follow us because they are eager to learn ways to stretch their food budgets. We are concerned that you can eat well and wisely while making the buffalo on the nickel bellow out loud!


Our passion, our goal, is to help people.  Uh, and to collect your comments.  grin/giggle

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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Savory Pie? At Food Stamps Cooking Club?

July 18th, 2012

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What IS that lovely aroma coming from the kitchen? It can’t taste good if it’s zucchini!  Or can it?

Here in Nebraska we have to be very careful to lock our cars at all times from now until the end of zucchini season.  If we don’t, we’ll find bushels of zucchinis filling our back seats!   grin

It’s summer; it’s hotter than Haides and  not only are you hungry, you are tired.  It’s the back half of the month and money is tighter than a new pair of dress shoes.  Still, dinner has to be made.  What’s a family to DO?

Mother Connie is excited to share a dish that is just great and uses some zucchini in a new (to me) and interesting  way.  We can thank a shy contributor who did not want any credit for her offering.  Thanks, anyway to her for graciously sharing for our benefit.

Zucchini Pie 

~  Compliments of  “The Cook”

Saute 4 cups thinly sliced zucchini + 1 cup chopped onion in 1/2 cup butter or oil

Add 2  tablespoons parsley flakes + 1/2  teaspoon salt + 1/2 teaspoon pepper + 1/4 teaspoon EACH: garlic powder, basil,and oregano.

Separately, blend 2 beaten eggs and 2 cups grated Mozarella cheese.

Combine everything and pour into a pie crust you have spread with prepared mustard.  Bake in a 350* oven for 20 -30 minutes.

*COOK’S NOTES and cooking tips:

  • You could double the veg without loss of quality.  You might also vary the veg with mushrooms, green/yellow/red peppers, leeks, or summer squash.  Combining colors makes for a pretty pie.
  • The cook uses stone ground mustard
  • Fresh herbs can be used in place of dried…
  • For the crust, you might use home made pizza crust, dinner roll dough, or refrigerator rolls
  • For a crowd you can make a double or triple batch by using a sheet pan.  With a bread-type crust, warming this in the oven is a cinch.
  • You might like to dust the top with shredded parm or asiago cheese in the last 5 minutes of baking time.

Do you find yourself Living on a Dime?  Are you frugal to a fault?  Do you avail yourself of food commodities or food pantries?  Are you a holder of an EBT card for WIC or SNAP?  If so, this idea might help you stretch your food dollars a bit while you make something yummy and nutritious for those people you love.

According to the news reports that have been on the airwaves some changes are in the wind for the Farm Bill, which includes SNAP and WIC.  WIC also has made some changes, according to our last local newspaper.  Keep your eyes peeled for changes that may affect you and make sure you have loads of low cost food ideas.  We hope we are helpful to you in this regard.

Several cute blogs with new ideas have come our way lately.  You might like to cruise by some of them and do the name-dropping thing by mentioning that Mother Connie sent you.  Here is a partial list of Mother Connie’s  faves:

Tomorrow there will be some great LOW COST food ideas, too.  Summer is  a great time for simple food ideas!

Please remember you are loved and appreciated and again we thank you for the kind remarks and emails you have so graciously sent to us.  We hope your trust in us is well placed!

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.

PS/Did we mention how we ADORE your comments on this blog?  Oooooh, yes.  We do.  grin

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Beef Satay, Peanut Sauce and Food Stamps Cooking Club

July 2nd, 2012

Beef Satay with Peanut Sauce…looks yummy…and high end, doesn’t it?

It’s July.  The weather is brutal.  You are looking for things to grill; you want cold meals.  You wish you had someone to just take over the kitchen for you AND YOU ARE SQUEEZING YOUR FOOD BUDGET AS HARD AS YOU CAN.

So why does Mother Connie offer a high end dish?  FOR THE SAUCE! 

Peanut sauce is delicious; it has good protein, is readily available, not too spendy, and kids love it.   Big kids like it, too!  And since Mother Connie thinks food should be fun, here is a tasty summertime food that won’t bust your food budget and it is ADAPTABLE.  Beef is not a MUST HAVE…chicken  or turkey will work.  Even toasted cubes of bread on skewers make it interesting and just nibbling on cubes of bread dipped in peanut sauce can satisfy youngsters’ appetites.  Just see for yourself:

PEANUT SAUCE

2  tablespoons coconut cream  *this comes from the top of canned coconut milk

1/4  cup peanut butter

1  teaspoon curry powder   *No curry?  Combine what you like-pinches of turmeric, paprika, cumin, pepper, ginger, cloves-you only need 1 teaspoon so play with it until you like the flavor combination you create.  Remember, it’s supposed to be FUN.

2   tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar

1  tablespoon soy sauce

 1  tablespoon lemon juice

METHOD:

Cook the coconut cream in a saucepan over medium heat until it looks shiny and sizzles.  This will take a couple of minutes.  Add the curry and cook, stirring until it smells yummy.  This will take a minute or so.  Whisk in the coconut milk, peanut better, sugar, soy sauce, and juice.  Bring it all to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer til it’s thick.  This will take 10 minutes.   Pour the mixture into a serving bowl and cool to room temp.

If you will be using wooden skewers, soak them in water as you prepare the sauce.  When your sauce is ready and the bread  is toasted and cut into cubes or meat is cooked–thread the selected items onto the skewers and dip your bread or meat OR VEGGIES and dip into this delicious peanut sauce!

Here’s a thought:  You could form little meatballs with ground beef, turkey or chicken and cook or grill them for use on your skewers.  By adding bread crumbs, egg, onion and some seasoning you will s t r e t c h your food dollars further than you ever hoped! 

Here’s another idea:  No skewers?  Use toothpicks! 

Are you living on a dime?  Do you have goods from a food bank, food pantry or do you have food commodities?  Are you using an EBT card for SNAP or WIC?  Or do you just enjoy the challenge of making your food budget go as far as you dare to take it?  The recipes and ideas we share here-the very reason for this blog-is to help people help themselves.  We GET what a struggle it is to manage families, jobs, if you are fortunate to have a job, and meal making.  So we do what we can to make your life easier.

You have made our days delightful by joining us in the Club House and getting our series of cooking tips.  We do appreciate that you are sharing us with your sphere of influence. 

As many of you do, Mother Connie has signed up for email messages from other bloggers.  Today one came in from  Chef Wannabe.  His ideas for sweet potatoes, which are LOADED TO THE GILLS with nutrition hit me like a brick.  It might be something you will like, as well.  Cruise over to his site, give him some love in the comments section and let him know that Mother Connie sent you.  Go here:  Chef Wannabe’s Smart Kitchen

Since this is a week with a holiday smack in the middle, Mother Connie is going to have some R & R so until the next post pops up you enjoy your week.  Be safe, be happy, and be back when all the hubbub dies down!  Above all, please remember that each one of you is loved and appreciated!

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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