Posts Tagged ‘food budget’

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Comforting Pasta/Bean Soup: Food Stamps Cooking Club

February 13th, 2013
Who wants to spend the lazy days of summer in a hot kitchen?

Can we agree that pasta contributes to comfort food?

It’s entirely possible Mother Connie was Italian in another lifetime.  Oh, what delight there is in a bowl of pasta noodles, a salad featuring macaroni or a soup full of any kind of pasta product ever made!  Pasta is inexpensive and easy to make into whatever strikes your fancy.  Soup is wonderful on the cold days mid-February gives us so here today is an idea we hope will hit you like a brick:

BEAN AND PASTA SOUP

 2  cans cannelini beans, drained and rinsed *If you use white Northern beans, the Kitchen Police will not arrest you but it won’t be as authentically Italian…

1  can whole tomatoes, juice and all

2  ribs celery, roughly chopped

1 or 2 cloves garlic, finely minced

2  cups chicken broth *water will work, if you have no broth but the flavor your soup will not be as rich and the Kitchen Police don’t really care which you use…

2  tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2  cup pasta of choice *macaroni is Mother Connie’s fave but even rice would work if you are in a pinch.  Pasta swells as it cooks…

salt and pepper to taste

basil leaves – fresh if you have them but dry basil will flavor it nicely

4  tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Place beans, tomatoes with their juice, celery, garlic into a good sized soup pot.  Add the broth + one cup of water.  Bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add the oil and the pasta, then boil UNCOVERED for about 8 minutes, or until the pasta is tender.

**Mother Connie places a wooden spoon over the pot of cooking pasta to prevent boil overs.

Add the basil, salt and pepper.  Be sure to taste so you know if it needs more seasoning.  When you are satisfied with the flavors it is ready to ladle into soup bowls or soup plates.

Put the cheese on the table to be passed so each diner can top his own soup to suit his taste.

Are you living on a dime?  Do you scrimp by every month using an EBT card from WIC or SNAP?  Do you used food commodities?  Food pantry food?  Food from a food bank?  Are you stretching your food budget to the max every month because you love the challenge of doing all you can with your food dollars?  This blog is meant to help YOU, no matter who you are or how you fit into this grocery budget business.  Ya gotta EAT, after all… 

It is such a delight to read your comments and we love getting your mail at foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com    Thanks so much, everybody!

The Club House is BURSTING with new members!  This is because you have been urging your peeps to join and get our little series of cooking tips.  We know you find it refreshing not to be bombarded with sales pitches and you feel as if you can come here and be whoever you are.  That makes Mother Connie’s heart sing.

~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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Breakfast Chatter at Food Stamps Cooking Club

February 12th, 2013

Tuesday always means a good, hot breakfast at Southeast Nebraska Community Action Center

Magic seems to happen when people or families gather around a table laden with good food.  Is it the coffee?  Is it the wonderful aroma coming from the kitchen?  The conversation flows, our moods elevate and laughter fills the room every Tuesday morning as we gather for breakfast!

Topics always cover community news-who is ailing, who moved and what’s on sale at the grocery store.  Today there was much talk about food.

Liver and onions; roast beef with onions; spinach salad and eggs were the headlines.  The whole bunch buzzed about whether to plan out menus for one or two vs those who pop something into a nuke machine for a quick meal.  We agreed that if we all operated in the same manner it would be a very boring world.  All this chatter went on as we were treated to a hot breakfast casserole, strips of crisp bacon, toast, peaches and OJ.  Oh, and that yummy steaming coffee!

Most of our breakfast buddies will return at noon for the congregate meal served at SENCA every weekday.  Friendships are fortified, news is distributed, and it is a wonderful service available to kids our age.  We are blessed to have a talented cook who is all heart-Loretta Pope does a great job in her role at SENCA.

All this got me thinking about what to present to the Food Stamps Cooking Club Members about making meals.  Golly, it is an ongoing thing, this meal making.  When you are living on a dime or depending on public assistance for your food NO MATTER YOUR AGE you might benefit from some help.  We dearly hope we are helpful in this regard; it is our passion and purpose, after all.

One of the things we do at the Club House is to cook a potful of eggs at one time.  Some might be used for salads or snacks and others are put back, peeled and ready to go, for a quick breakfast.  It takes almost no time to make a white sauce, adding those hard cooked eggs, for a lovely sauce over toast.  Quick!  Easy!  CHEAP.  Boom.

Another idea is to put one part oatmeal and two parts water into a covered pot or casserole into the oven at bedtime on very low heat.  You could toss in some dried fruit-or not-and a sprinkle of salt.  A good hot breakfast will greet you as you wake!  Quick!  Easy!  CHEAP!  Boom

Sometimes I stir up some egg/milk/cinnamon and soak bread overnight in that mixture.  This goes into the fridge as soon as the bread is added.  Next morning it takes very little time to pop the slices of bread into a hot skillet for French toast.  These can be topped with syrup, honey, jelly, jam or plain fruit-even yogurt. Pretty much a people pleaser!  This is also quick!  Easy!  CHEAP!  Boom

If you need breakfast on the go, granola might meet your needs.  There you can make up the mix your gang likes best, store it in your pantry or cupboard, and scoop it into a fridge container or plastic bag.  Another idea along this line is to peel an orange the night before and pop that into a plastic container.  You are out the door with good fortification and it’s quick, easy and CHEAP!  Boom

We would be remiss if we did not mention heart shaped pancakes for the upcoming VALENTINE DAY…topped off with red jam or jelly.  Stir up the mix the night before and it’s a cinch to get them to the table for your Valentines who come to your table before school or work!  Again-quick, easy, and CHEAP.  Boom.

The internet is filled with blogs with ideas of every sort.  Some of my favorites, as you know, are Saving Dinner,  Creative Savv,  The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking , Poor to Rich a Day at a Time and Living On a Dime. I also really enjoy reading CT on a Budget. and Monroe on a Budget.   I’m sure you’ll find tremendously helpful ideas about breakfast and much, much more.  Give them some love, won’t you, please?  And mention that Mother Connie sez hey.  Thanks.

Here’s hoping you leave some love in our comments panel, too.  grin

We are loving your mail…you can reach us at foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com.

We hope you are staying warm and feeling well.  We appreciate you all so much.

~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 Action Center, Breakfast

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Green Beans at the Food Stamps Cooking Club

February 8th, 2013

There are many ways to prepare green beans but everyone has a favorite!

Fueled by the inspiration of the recently posted sweet and sour cabbage recipe, Mother Connie prepared some green beans in a similar manner…

The lunch table conversation slowed to a halt.  This was the first clue that The Normanator was not thrilled with this dish.  Instinctively, I knew that once again I had “blown it”…HIS MOTHER had always made creamed green beans by thickening some cream -they had cows so cream was not the Big Buy it is these days-with a bit of flour.  Salt and pepper finished off the commonly served vegetable and thus, a family tradition was born.

My grandmother served something similar but I remember as a small child that there was a pat of butter with each serving.  Delicious does not begin to do that justice…

So in each of our families we had a green bean tradition.  The first time I sauteed fresh green beans with onions, I thought The Normanator might have a panic attack.

Sometimes I make creamed green beans; sometimes I prefer to change things up.  I fancy you do this, too.

I was surprised by a recent blog post from The Dinner Diva, Leanne Ely.  She advises against creaming spinach (boo hoo – my all time personal fave) because this interferes with the absorption of the great nutrients .  She did not mention green beans…

Another prep idea for green beans, which came out of the 1950s I believe, is to add a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup to the beans, creating a sort of creamed vegetable.  You might think of the green bean casserole with the onion rings.  But that would not be the healthiest choice…have you READ the labels on soup cans?  Well, if that’s all you have, that’s what you’ll use but I hope you are going for fresh or frozen or home canned…just sayin’…

If you are not married to your usual way of doing things, this might hit your hot button:

GREEN BEANS EXTRAORDINAIRE

2  cans green beans, drained  *Users of food commodities, this is great for YOU!

salt and pepper to taste

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

2 teaspoons chili sauce

splash of vegetable oil  *Mother Connie prefers olive oil but corn oil would do, as well.  If you use what’s in your pantry the Kitchen Police can’t file a complaint….

METHOD:

Mix the garlic, chili sauce, and honey together in a bowl.

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet to medium, add the beans and heat through thoroughly.  As soon as the beans are heated, which will take 2 or 3 minutes, your dish is ready to serve.

This makes enough for 4 adults.

***How does YOUR family like their green beans prepared?

 

We are thrilled to have so many new Members coming to the Club.  We trust this is one corner of the internet where you are free to express your views, offer your ideas, share your experience and wisdom.  You are welcome to send emails to foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com

As you know, we cater to users of public assistance, those who procure their food from food banks, food pantries, food commodities and generous friends or neighbors.  Those who simply MUST s t r e t c h their food dollars can include users  of SNAP or WIC by use of EBT cards; those on fixed incomes, those who are frugal by nature.  People who are living on a dime seem to find some helpful notions here, as well.

~Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know there are links on this blog. 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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Searching for Menu Ideas? Food Stamps Cooking Club

February 6th, 2013

 

Are you searching the grocery ads in search of affordable menu items for your family?

It’s still winter; we still need to eat three times a day.  Although it’s the first part of the month, you are probably hoping to s t r e t c h your food budget dollars as far as March 1 without subsisting on beans and rice; rice and beans exclusively.

One of the best places to look for tantalizing menu items is the newspaper.  Wednesday’s papers are full of recipes,  photos and food columns, designed to whet our appetites.  Grocery circulars inside those papers tout the ads and special prices.

Here are  some shining examples from today’s newspaper:

“Beef Top Round * Boneless Beef Top Round * Boneless Beef London Broil are ALL ‘only’ $3.49 per pound”  I YI YI  Ground lamb is $5.99 and Ground Chuck is $3.49!  Holy Moley!

These price tags makes me think EGGS,  of which we happen to have a good supply in our fridge, thank God and our sister in law!

So my thoughts also turn to fish.  Lent is coming and fish is generally a good sale item then.  Tilapia and  Swai filets are $3.79 per pound; Salmon is $4.29 for FOUR OUNCES and Mahi Mahi is $7.49 a pound!  EEEK

Now I’m thinking beans and rice; rice and beans again.  My GOODNESS, food budgets are a challenge!

Vegetables are so important…I see there is a tiny mention of cucumbers:  4 for $3.00 and Napa Cabbage or Bok Choy for $.99 per pound.  I’m feeling slightly more hopeful.  Carrots are $1.19 and ginger root is $1.19.  I guess we could build a Chinese meal around these items.  The ad mentions that if I buy a 7 oz sack of salad greens I get a second one free.  Hm…It’s iceberg lettuce…  That’s about it for veg in this particular circular.  Surely they have more vegetables available in the store than what’s in the ad.

This circular is full of info about the bargain  prices on pre-made and deli foods, wines, pre-cut appetizer platters and bouquets of flowers.  They have a few dairy items but what is advertised is not anything humans ought to consume.  Things like processed cheese – not healthy and even it is way over priced.   None of these dairy items is budget minded and probably not the healthiest choices we could make.

It looks as if we are back to beans and rice.  Or rice and beans, whichever you prefer.

Tomorrow Mother Connie will have something tasty, healthy and much more budget minded for you to consider.  That is, if inspiration strikes like lightning!

Meantime, you are all to be commended for sharing the word about the Club…new members are signing on every day and we welcome each one with open arms.  We seriously mean to encourage anyone who is living on a dime, depending on public assistance for their food dollars.  We expect to be of service to people with EBT cards from SNAP or WIC.  We offer a hand to those who have goods from a food bank, food pantry or who get food commodities.  We love it when we hear from our members, either by commenting here or sending a message to foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com  We read every message and respond as we are able.  THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH.

~Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know there are links on this blog. 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:  After this post was published, I found a link you may appreciate:

 Shopping Tips for Healthier Eating

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Posted in Message from Mother Connie, Uncategorized

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Oh No! Not Red Cabbage! Food Stamps Cooking Club

February 4th, 2013
red cabbage

Why would anyone bring red cabbage to the dinner table?

At the church dinner on Sunday there was quite a lively discussion about the Czech Dill Gravy discussed on this blog recently.  One of the women’s eyes widened and got very excited about the meal they had eaten while vacationing in Texas.  “We had real German food!”  And then she raved at length about the red cabbage.

I recall eating in an International restaurant where the red cabbage was worth raving about.

SIDEBAR:  Mom  always used red cabbage for slaw and said it couldn’t be cooked because the color would run!  **Roll your eyes here and grin.  It’s pretty obvious my mom never ate Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage!  That’s odd; she was as German as they come but I guess my German Grandma thought the color would bleed, too!  END SIDEBAR.

Here are the secrets to making this mouth-watering delight:

SWEET AND SOUR RED CABBAGE

Shred one medium head red cabbage.

*Use your food processor or box grater.  If you use a blender you will need to use liquid and that will remove flavor and nutrients.

Place the shredded cabbage into a good sized saucepan with 1 quart of cold water.


Add salt to taste.  As soon as this comes to a full boil, add 1/2 cup of brown sugar.  If you have caraway seeds and want to be genuinely German, add a scant tablespoon full.  **If you do not have these, the Kitchen Police will never report this info to Interpol.

When the cabbage is tender, place the cooked veg into a bowl.  Pour 1/2 cup vinegar over the mixture, along with 1/4 cup butter.  Toss the cabbage until the butter and vinegar coats the cabbage.

Call everybody to the table!  Their side dish is ready!

This is very inexpensive to make, it goes together quickly and easily and it makes a very appetizing side dish for your dinner plate.  Served with poultry, beef, or pork, it is ideal.  It also goes well with venison or rabbit if you have that sort of protein available to you.

Are you living on a dime?  Do you love the challenge of wrestling with the food budget to see how far it will s t r e t c h each month?  Maybe you are using food commodities or goods from a food pantry or food bank.  You may be a user of SNAP or WIC and have EBT cards for your food dollars.  In any case, we hope this helps you immensely.

Your comments here are always appreciated.  We make every effort to reply to each and every (non spam) comment.   Just like any kid, we love mail:  foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com

~Connie Baum

The FTC wants you to know there are links on this blog. 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/Thank you all for sending your peeps to sign up for our series of cooking tips!  We love having new Members because we love people!  We want you all to be healthy and save $$$!

 

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Under Par? Help Might Be at Food Stamps Cooking Club

January 29th, 2013

First, the GOOD news: The Tech Fairy has offered to help with getting the blog back to where it should be. Keep your fingers crossed and send love to him as he takes a look-see…

Now to the business at hand. We all know life is hard enough under the best of circumstances. Then, when funds are tight it gets to be even more difficult. Add to that the illness of a family member and it is dreadfully draconian.

When I was 10 my mother sustained a very serious compound fracture in her leg. Those were the “olden days” so she was hospitalized nearly two weeks and when she came home she was down flat, with her leg elevated, for 6 months. At the end of that time she had developed an infection so she spent 2 additional months on her back!

It did not deter her much. Mom was able to teach me a tap dance routine for an event she had planned as chairman for the March of Dimes. She also taught me, from her ‘nest’ on the the living room sofa, how to cook.

One of the things I learned at that time was how to make breakfast with no heavy lifting. I learned that you could put oatmeal, cream of rice or any hot cereal into a pan, using 1 part cereal and 3 parts water, a dash of salt. Cover it tightly and slide it into a cold oven. Turn the oven to warm and leave it overnight. In the morning there will be hot cereal and no one had to hurry to make it! You could add apples or raisins or cut up prunes or even canned peach pieces to jazz it up, too. So simple even a child can do it.

Another thing I learned about breakfast was to be organized. At that age, I took it for granted that when I came to the table to eat, everything we needed was there. I was 10 years old before I came to understand that those things did not appear by magic.

One morning, Mom decided to have a late breakfast after I had gone to school and Dad had gone to work. She hobbled to the table, grunting and struggling all the way, with her crutches and settled down for a dish of cold cereal. She managed to get the cereal and the bowl. She even prided herself on perking coffee and getting a cup full of that to the table. ***Remember – this was before Mr. Coffee made getting a dose of caffeine so easy! But when she finally sat down, totally exhausted, she realized there was no milk on the table and no spoon! She did what anyone else would do under those same circumstances. SHE CRIED.

That was my first clue that I could set the table the night before. *I was a quick study, even then. giggle

I also learned how to chop vegetables during that time. I would place a chair beside the sofa, where Mom would supervise. There was a side table there and I used her wooden cutting board and big knife! Mom talked me through peeling and chopping vegetables so I could put them onto the stove and cook them. We spent some top notch together times then…this business of Mom being laid up had some side benefits for both of us.

We lived in a small town back then and ladies brought casseroles and pies and home made rolls when Mom first came home from the hospital. But people had lives so those events went away quickly…we were on our own when it came to meal prep.

SIDEBAR: Whenever there is a crisis, keep in mind that a family’s needs go on even though people go back to their own ‘normal;’ keep your eyes peeled for the opportunity to be of service to them in the following month or so. END SIDEBAR.

We had a tiny fridge in those days and no freezer so Mom had me cook things we’d eat fairly soon. I could fry ground beef, use some for supper’s goulash and make spaghetti sauce for the next supper. Dad’s favorite was pork chops and ham and those are easy for even young children to work with….any kid can make a ham sandwich! We had home canned veggies and fruits from the summer before so shopping was a cinch. Dad worked downtown and could stop at the market on his way home from work. He and Mom figured out the list; Mom planned my “cooking lessons”…

It never would have occurred to us to buy ready-made meals, even if they had been available in those days. I do recall that on Mom and Dad’s wedding anniversary, Dad brought home a whole meal from the local cafe–including chocolate PIE. Having a restaurant meal at home was unthinkable back then!

Learning how to make gravy at age 10 has always served me well. Knowing how to plan for the amount of food necessary to feed 3 people now and have something for the next meal was great experience.

Desserts were a little out of my league (even now! grin) so ice cream became the dessert of choice, topped with fruits from the orchard that cared for us so well. Jellies, jams and canned fruits graced our table often and well.

One idea that I came up with to surprise my parents was that I thought we should use the good dishes and have the nicest table cloths. That was fun AND it created the opportunity to learn how to launder and iron! I remember how amused they both were the first time they were served a banquet of spaghetti and green beans on Mom’s best china, replete with grape juice in the crystal goblets!

We ate well and wisely; we grew much closer as a family; we shared two meals every day and three meals on the weekends. I learned domestic skills and we made memories to cherish for all time.

I regret that my mother had to suffer so as she recovered from her injury but I feel no sorrow when I consider all the good that came from the experience.

As a Post Script to this, I want to tell you that on the day that Mom returned to the surgeon who had placed steel pins in her leg and rods to keep them in place to have the “hardware” removed my dad played quite the stunt. He shut the bedroom door and we could hear him rustling around and chuckling. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he burst through the door and THREW cash money all over, saying, “Let’s pay the doctor today! It’s ONLY MONEY.” Dad and I picked up all the money, giggling the whole time and he told me that it was a really big medical bill: Over $300.00. THOSE were the days!

So, if you are users of Public Assistance such as SNAP or WIC…if you have food from a food pantry or food bank or food commodities; fiddle/faddle – if you are just living on a dime, you can still live a high quality life–despite the chief cook and bottle washer’s being under par.

Our job here is to help you navigate those choppy waters. We fancy we are holding hands as we sail this journey called life!

Thanks for all the new peeps who have signed on! We love it and appreciate you. For those who have written to foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com we have read your messages and loved them all!

~Connie Baum

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Posted in How To, Message from Mother Connie

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Hard to Believe: Food Stamps Cooking Club

January 28th, 2013

Here is a statistic that will curl your hair:

Fifty percent (50%) of all babies born in the United States of America are eligible AT BIRTH for WIC!

It’s hard to believe that in the richest nation on earth, so many people are severely impoverished!

So, because Mother Connie has no control over the poverty rate, this little corner of the internet exists to help as best we know how to help people learn ways to deal with managing their food dollars with public assistance, like WIC or SNAP or all the other ways there are. You might think of food commodities or a food pantry or food bank. Now some of our members are living on a dime and others are truly frugal minded and love the challenge of squeezing a nickel til the buffalo bellows. It makes no difference here, ALL ARE WELCOME.

Maybe we can help someone to see that cooking is fun and can help to make treasured memories for children. Food and food prep can involve other family members; we might inspire folks to taste something new. It could be that we might show you ways to prepare things with new methods! THERE IS A DISTINCT POSSIBILITY THAT YOU WILL TEACH MOTHER CONNIE as we exchange ideas!

WIC has been emphasizing the use of fresh fruits and vegetables. Back in the day, WIC was more about making sure babies and mommies got milk, cereal and juice. We hope these days that all little people as well as mommies and daddies are getting more vegetables because vegetables are critical to vibrant good health. The more veg/fruit items we take in, the more alkaline our bodies can be. Alkaline bodies are not sick; acidic bodies are always unwell.

Acidic bodies have become out of balance that way because we drank soda pop, we “don’t like vegetables” and we have taken in oils and fats or an over abundance of animal protein that clog up our systems. Furthermore, if our bodies do not get enough good water every day, that creates an acidic environment and illness…in some cases it degenerates into chronic illness. It’s so easy to avoid that.

Oh, dear, Mother Connie means NOT to preach. It’s just that if these simple ideas are not explained, people may not understand WHY they need to eat well and wisely and WHY it’s important to be well hydrated.

We really hope you will offer YOUR thoughts about this by sending a message to foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com We read every word of every email, I promise you.

We are not here to sell stuff. We only want to contribute to the quality of your life. We want you to FEEL as important as you are.

~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.

14 comments »

Posted in Message from Mother Connie

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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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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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Oh, Nuts! and Food Stamps Cooking Club

January 22nd, 2013

Pretending that gremlins do not inhabit this blog-ugh-let’s discuss how to make it to the end of January and stay within the food budget.

We here at the Food Stamps Cooking Club understand how it is–January demands more of your household budget for fuel: gasoline and home heat. So your food budget may be more pinched than usual. February is more than a week away… Add to that your kids have been feverish, you are exhausted after working all day AND you have to COOK! We get it.

Here is a simple and satisfying dish that’s loaded with nutrition but not cost:

RICE NOODLES WITH PEANUT SAUCE

2 quarts water

1/2 cups peanut butter *creamy

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon ginger root, grated

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 cup chicken broth *The Kitchen Police will blink if you just use water

8 oz uncooked rice stick noodles

4 oz bean sprouts

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

2 green onions, sliced

2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped, for garnish *Optional

Heat the water to boiling. Mix peanut butter, soy sauce, ginger root and pepper flakes. Stir til smooth. Slowly add the 1/2 cup broth/water. Break noodles in half and pull apart as you add them to the boiling water. Cook ONE MINUTE then drain and rinse in cold water. Place noodles in very large bowl, add the peanut butter mixture, bell pepper, bean sprouts, and onions. Toss gently.

This makes 4 servings and could easily be doubled-or halved if there are only 2 diners.

This is comfort food, if ever there was comfort food!

A great big THANK YOU is going out to all you who have signed up as Members! Please know you are always welcome here and we hope you will share your ideas with the others. You may contact us at foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com

As you know, we cater to users of public assistance who depend on help to meet their food requirements and stretch their food budgets. People who used SNAP or WIC’s EBT cards or those who frequent food pantries food banks, or use food commodities seem to find help in this little corner of the internet. Maybe you are living on a dime or you have a passion for frugality. All are welcome here; we hope you get some help and a ray of hope.

Connie Baum

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