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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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Sugar, Anyone? Food Stamps Cooking Club

July 24th, 2012

Sugar bowls and cream pitchers have a charm all their own!

Mother Connie has a “thing” about dishes of every kind.  It matters not whether it’s the latest Paula Deen pattern or the antique collections found in curved-glass front china cabinets.  I think it’s a genetic ‘disorder,’ because my mother, her mother and sisters all adored dishes of every description.

The most notable family collection of glassware wound up in what my mom and her baby sister referred to as “The No-No Barrel.”  My grandmother had spent a king’s ransom on dishes and vases and such like over her lifetime and when she passed on Mom and Berta were the gleeful recipients.  But only so much of these items can be displayed and used.  Mom hit on the idea of  storing the pretties packed in straw in a wooden barrel.  The barrel was accessible to both of them.  When one had a birthday, the other would present her with a “gift” from the “No No Barrel”.  This gave each of them immeasurable pleasure for decades!

Something interesting happened yesterday concerning dishes; actually,  it inspired this post.  Mother Connie happened on to a Flea Market.  A young 20-something woman approached, squealing with delight.  In each hand she had a glass creation that was cut glass.  “OOOOOooooh,” she gushed, “look at these adorable cups!“  She continued, “They have handles on both sides!  I wonder if they are for little kids?”

I offered that I had some like them at home and she seemed delighted.  I then explained they were sugar bowls.

Twenty-something was puzzled.  “What do you use them for?”  she inquired.

“Uh, sugar…”

Bless her heart.  It is not her fault that she missed that as she grew up.  My guess is that she had a mother and a grandmother and a bunch of aunties who were making every effort to keep body and soul together.  No doubt they were working one or two jobs and eating on the run.  They may have had paper plates or they may have had paper bags at the dinner table, or they may have eaten in front of the television set.

People do what works for them.  My mom would never have even considered serving a meal without a “properly set” table.  It simply would never have occurred to her to NOT set the table.  We would NEVER have eaten in the living room, let alone in front of a TV set!  But my mom was a home maker.  That was her job; that’s what she did 24/7 for 365 days a year.  She did not have to be the daddy, too.  She did not have to clock in to a job away from home.  She did not have to go to a drive through to pick up dinner.  She cooked.   She made everything from scratch.  Some of the food she cooked and served was also grown in her vegetable garden.  And she always set the table.

The Food Stamps Cooking Club understands that not everyone cooks and we hope to inspire new Members, people in their 20′s or people in their 50′s and everyone else to learn to cook nutritious, pretty meals on a tight food budget.  Whether or not you set the table or have a sugar bowl is up to YOU.

We are not alone in this effort.  The great blogger community is loaded with helpful people who want to share their experiences and ideas with food and home care.  For example, Living On a Dime is a blog that touts all sorts of shortcuts and ideas.  *My personal fave is their piece about RAGS, of all things!   CT On a Budget ,  a blog done well by a homemaker with a brood of youngsters, who is generous with her recipes, cost savings, and shopping and planning tips.  Saving Dinner emphasizes food nutrition and well being, making cooking easy and fun.  Creative Savv has loads of gardening and cooking notions and replies to comments that are left on her blog.  There is a newcomer who has a cute blog with all sorts of ideas, too.  It is called Poor to Rich A Day at a Time.  Anotherof my favorite go-to blogs is Chef Wanna Bee.  He has interesting recipes and cooking tools to drool over.

The bloggers mentioned  above appreciate comments, too…you could start by commenting HERE.  grin

Do you use an EBT card from SNAP or WIC?  Are you frugal to the bone?  Do you have goods from a food pantry, food bank or someone’s garden?  Are there goods in your pantry from food commodities?  We cater to all of the above.  Not only that,we make every effort to have fun.  Whatever isn’t fun,  isn’t the least bit interesting!

All righty, then.  Mother Connie has to fill the sugar bowl and set the table for lunch!  grin

Connie Baum

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

 

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Posted in Message from Mother Connie

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Rice Pudding at Food Stamps Cooking Club!

June 30th, 2012

Old fashioned rice pudding makes a cool summertime breakfast, tasty hot weather dessert and is easy and inexpensive to prepare.  Not only that, your gang is going to get their appetites taken care of with no complaints!

 

Do you have fond memories of things your family ate on a regular basis?  When you eat ice cream, for example, are you transported back to your 5th birthday?  If you smell freshly baked bread, do you think of your grandmother or a favorite neighbor who turned out delicious products that tantalized your taste buds?

Rice pudding does that for me.  Mom’s recipe; my favorite childhood story book; cooking with my own children…memories of all these things create comfort in my life.  No doubt your family had traditions that trigger a trip down memory lane for you.

It’s all Carol’s fault.  grin  She mentioned it and that took me on a search to find out how people make rice pudding these days.  There are a zillion variations.  I’m staying true to my mother’s way of doing it.  I only wish Carol and I were close enough geographically to trade dishes to taste test one anothers’ creations!  One thing my research showed me is that OLDER recipes yield smaller servings.  It makes sense to me, given the obesity problem we have in the good old USA to offer the older version…You will see that Mom’s recipe was not up to 2012 portions!  Another bonus is that in this oppressive heat, there’s no need to crank up the oven!

This is offered as a dessert but it makes a wonderful summertime breakfast!  I know this from personal experience.

Rice Pudding, Harriet’s Way

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/3  cup sugar

Dash salt

1/2  cup cold milk

1  1/2  cups milk,  scalded

1  teaspoon vanilla

1  cup cooked brown rice  *By now you know that the Kitchen Police won’t cuff you for using white rice.

METHOD:

Mix cornstarch, sugar, and salt.  Combine with cold milk.  Gradually add hot milk.  Cook in double boiler, stirring til thick; cover; coke 15 to 20minutes.  Add vanilla.  Gently fold in the rice til well mixed.  Add a few plumped raisins  *if your family will tolerate them.  Spoon into custard cups, sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg over the top and place in the refrigerator to chill.

Yield:  6 servings   This recipe may be doubled very easily.

SIDEBAR:  If you do not have a double boiler, don’t panic.  Just use a skillet.  Put some water into it and put your saucepan inside the skillet.  If you are rushed for time, just pour the whole business into a bowl and sprinkle the spices over the top of that.  Let your family spoon out their own servings. Regarding plumped raisins, just put some boiling water over raisins in a dish and allow them to sit until they cool.  Drain the liquid and add to the pudding.   END SIDEBAR

This should be a slam dunk for those of you who are at the end of the month and at the end of your provisions, as well.  If you hold an EBT card from WIC or SNAP this should help you to  hold your food budget at bay.  Maybe you are living on a dime or are frequenting your local food pantry.  It could be that you use food commodities.  You might just be at your wits’ end, making every effort to feed your family within your means and make something they will enjoy for dessert.  In any case, we hope we are helpful to you.

We want to give a shout out to all those who have got our heart going pitty-pat by joining the Club, receiving a series of messages about cooking.  We also hope those messages have value for you.

Oh, did we mention how much we love COMMENTS?

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 Breakfast, Cooking, Recipes

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Fast Food-Food Stamps Cooking Club Style

May 23rd, 2011

 

Better than resaurant food? YOU CAN BANK ON IT!

Another great gift from Mikemax appeared in our Inbox:

What you do when you don’t have time to cook, or aren’t feeling well, can have a huge impact on your grocery bill. At least 3 of our members TODAY are in exactly that boat.

Mother Connie and Carol M are both recovering from surgery. I have to be gone all day today, come home briefly, and leave again. Reasons like these—not to mention kids’ activities—are a prime reason we often succumb to takeout.

I’m not a fan of takeout. If I’m going to spend for restaurant food, I want to be served and have someone clean up afterward. And it’s expensive. Even a trip through a fast food drive-through will cost more, and take longer, than a steak dinner cooked at home. Which would you rather have?

I’m eating out of the bottom of my freezer this month. That means I’m eating the good stuff and the soup bones…there’s nothing left in between, LOL. Tonight, it’s the good stuff.

This morning I spent 5 minutes prepping a bone-in pork loin roast and figuring out how to set my oven so it will come on at 3:30 p.m. and automatically turn off at 5ish. I scrubbed some potatoes and put them into the oven to bake along with the roast.  I didn’t peel them so they wouldn’t turn black.   At dinnertime, I’ll heat up a canned or frozen veggie-or maybe make a salad, if I’ve got the stuff-and put the bowl of leftover applesauce on the table.

That roast, just under 3 lbs., was $1.98 lb. and cost $5.56. It will produce enough meat for two meals for my family of 3 adults. Dinner tomorrow—an equally busy day–will either be roast pork sandwiches or pork noodles made with Top Ramen, green onions and sliced hard boiled eggs—just like the Chinese restaurants used to make.

When I find a good deal on steak, I buy it and freeze it. Used to be, I could occasionally afford T-bones or rib steak on sale, and I’d keep around a few for nights when I couldn’t, or didn’t want, to cook. Prices have gone so high, I’m now buying boneless top sirloin, when I can find it for $4 lb. or less. With a baked potato and salad it’s cheaper than the dollar menu at the fast food joint. Faster, too…and nobody at my house ever complains about a steak dinner.

Now I’m going to turn this over to YOU. I’m curious what Connie is cooking as she recovers from cataract surgery this week. I already know what Carol fixed last night, because I read her blog, but maybe she will repeat here. She’s down to the use of one hand, and will be for awhile. What do YOU cook when cooking doesn’t seem to be an option? How do you handle nights when you’ve got to take 3 kids to a Little League game and there is no time to eat, let alone cook?

Nights like these can make or break your food budget. Let’s share ideas on how we handle them and help each other stay on track.

PS/You can find directions for the Timed Bake feature on your oven in the instruction book that came with your stove. With mine, I first set the length of time I want to cook, then I set what time I want it to come on, and finally I turn the oven dial to the desired temperature. Also, with a big piece of meat—like the pork roast—you can partially thaw it and let it finish thawing before the oven comes on. I’ve put completely frozen meatloaves in the oven in the morning and let them thaw until late afternoon, when the oven came on.  Much faster and safer, too.

~Mikemax

Good GRIEF, Mikemax!  You’ve got me drooling!  What have I been cooking?  Actually, when you live in a small town and your life has “issues”  food arrives at your doorstep!  *EG: instead of having eye surgery you wind up in an ER, making every effort to avoid having a stroke.  Or, if you have a paper route and your wife is in the hospital you have TEAMS of people delivering those papers.

So cooking has not been much of a priority for the past number of days.  When Mother Connie is back on top of her game, there will be recipes posted from the goodies that have been bestowed upon us!  We are so blessed.

We  also have been blessed recently to have an influx of  new Club Members, as well!  The newbies have found our opt in box in the upper right hand corner of the blog and the website so they have offered up their email addies in order to receive our series of cooking tips.  YAY!  And we have received lovely messages at foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com.  YIPPEE!

If you know of anyone who avails themselves of the EBT card supplied by SNAP or WIC or if you know folks who use Angel Food Ministries foodstuffs or food commodities or have things from a Food Pantry or use Farmers Market Coupons, feel free to share this blog with them.  They may have great ideas none of us has thought of yet and they might share!  Hector Pector!  They might just be like Mikemax and Carol and me-FRUGAL to the core!  They will love what we are doing here.

Let’s all cheer for Mikemax:  All together, now, boys n girls:  HIP HIP HOORAY for MIKEMAX!

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, Message from Mother Connie, Uncategorized

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Freezer Meals at Food Stamps Cooking Club

April 11th, 2011

 

Filling your freezer may be easier than you might imagine!

Are you living on a dime?  Do you yearn to turn OFF the TV, turn ON mealtime conversation, in the quest to do your part toward saving dinner?

If you use SNAP or WIC’s EBT cards or food commodities, food pantry food or Angel Food Ministries food, you may find the following information helpful.  Perhaps you are just plain old fashioned frugal; in any case-we hope to offer you ideas you can take to the bank!

Leanne Ely sent out a message earlier today that hit my hot button.  I thought about it as I prepared our noon meal and with her ideas in mind here is what I did:

I sliced a couple of good sized onions and caramelized the thin rings in some oil.  I sprinkled some salt and pepper over them as they cooked.  Then I laid 4 thin slices of beef liver over the soft onions and drizzled chicken broth over the whole works .  I covered the skillet and slid it into the oven, which was set at 300 degrees.  That parked there for about 90 minutes and smelled divine!

While that did its thing I made a white sauce with a chunk of butter, a spoonful of corn starch and a splash of milk, adding water and more milk to get the consistency we like.  When it began to bubble I added a frozen package of spinach I got ON SALE and allowed it to thaw right in the gravy.  I seasoned it well.

As it cooked, I remembered the potatoes I had baked for Sunday dinner.  I chopped two very small potatoes and dropped them into the gravy.

We could never eat that much food at one sitting-even a meal so tasty as that!-so I was delighted to put our leftovers into flat plastic freezer bags.  We now have a very nutritious, really quick, super easy, PAID FOR meal, waiting in the freezer for us to reheat.  Simple?  You bet.

Leanne thinks along the same lines.  Here is what she had to say this morning;

Secrets to Preparing Delicious Freezer Meals

by Leanne Ely, C.N.C

A few years ago (quite a few years ago, actually), a new cooking trend was born – Once A Month Cooking – OAMC for short. The whole idea was to spend a day cooking, freeze what you make, they reheat it as needed; sort of DIY Stouffers concept.

Great idea, soggy delivery. The proponents of this type of cooking said it only took a day to make a month’s worth of meals and you had “great” dinners that you could reheat anytime. The problem was that most of these dinners took on the watery characteristics of reheated casseroles and the flavor of the food was as lukewarm as their presentation. The other issue is time – a whole day for heaven’s sake! Who can literally take a day off from life to do this?

In the early 2000′s, a new version of OAMC was born and the result was dinner assembly franchises popping up like ground hogs in the spring. Everywhere you turned in suburbia you could find several types of these storefronts.

The idea of these places goes like this: come into their store, spend two hours or so assembling 12 to 15 meals from their already chopped veggies and pre-prepared ingredients, so all you have to do is put them together raw, label and freeze for cooking at a later day, thus removing the OAMC twice-baked casserole deal. The problem is it doesn’t come cheap.

So what’s a time stretched harried homemaker to do? Do it yourself, of course! There is a way to do this. Here’s how:

Find meals that can be assembled in their raw state, defrosted successfully, then cooked freshly. A good example of this is meatloaf. All you have to do is make your meatloaf mixture, shape it, then put it in a freezer zipper bag, mark the bag and date it, then on the day you want to use it, defrost it and bake it. You will never know that your meatloaf was previously frozen!

Here is a recipe that we have on our very first Twenty for the Freezer, a downloadable menu with 20 recipes that you assemble all at once, freeze and cook later as needed. When you have a freezer full of meals like this to choose from, you will say good-bye to the drive thru forever!

In a 1 gallon plastic freezer bag, mix and blend well together:

Mega Marvelous Meatloaf
Serves 4

2/3 cup dried stuffing mix
1 egg
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 pound extra-lean ground beef
1 1/3 teaspoons garlic powder
2/3 teaspoon thyme
1/3 cup ketchup
2/3 teaspoon honey
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste

Seal the bag and blend the mixture together by squeezing and kneading the bag. Unseal the bag, starting at the bottom of the bag, roll the mixture to force out any air then seal the bag again. Insert this bag into a gallon sized plastic freezer bag and place a copy of the recipe into the 2nd bag as well and seal it. Place your label on the bag or write the name and date on the bag and place in the freezer.  ~Leanne Ely, C. N. C”

In the interest of full disclosure, I ordered Leanne’s freezer meals menu.  I am very pleased with it and it is full of wonderful recipes, ideas and tips for not a lot of money.  Leanne and the Food Stamps Cooking Club share the philosophy of helping people eat well with little money.

Oh!  I’d be remiss if I did not mention the CONTEST they are having at Saving Dinner.  It’s all explained on their site in a video starring Leanne herself!  And as you may have suspected, today’s blog post is sponsored by The Dinner Diva herself, Leanne Ely, whose mission in life is Saving Dinner!

We love mail!  Send us your thoughts at foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com.  Thanks, everyone!

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 Cooking, Guest Blog, Tips

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Food Stamps Cooking Club: OLE`!

April 8th, 2011

 

OLE`! Anita has shared a turkey taco soup recipe! Can you say, “YUMMY”? And “Thank you, Anita”?

Our little town gathers every Thursday through Lent to worship and have lunch.  This week the Methodist ladies served a chicken noodle or chili soup in deep bowls, accompanied by sandwiches that literally melted in our mouths!  Everyone at our table was raving and we agreed that the weather almost demanded soup for lunch!

At our house we eat soup year around and we’ve even had it for breakfast. WE HEART SOUP.  Anita, one of our faithful and contributing Club Members has shared a soup recipe I think could easily become a year around favorite.  It’s delish; it’s cost effective; it’s comfort food at its finest and it is an easy thing to make!  That is a winner, for sure!

Here is Anita’s offering: We present it with our thanks!

Turkey Taco Soup recipe


Things you need to get:

2 lbs ground Turkey
4 cup of chicken broth
1 to 2 can(s) of Rotel : canned tomatoes
1 can of Kidney beans(undrained)
1 can of Pinto beans(undrained)
1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of or frozen corn (1 cup)
1/2 cup of diced onion(sauteed with turkey)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic power
a package of Taco Seasoning
Fritos or tortilla chips
Sour cream
Cheese

You would need to brown the turkey with onions…with salt, pepper and garlic pepper. Add chicken broth, beans, corns, Rotel, tomato sauce. Stir and add taco seasoning. Check and taste how much you want it… add a bit more salt and pepper. Let it simmer for a bit before you serve.

When ready, serve with fritos, cheese and sour cream! Voila!

I personally think it tastes better than ground beef and also you don’t taste the grease from beef. We really like it!! Also chicken broth adds a lot of flavor as well. I would rather to use chicken broth over ranch mix. ;)   ~Anita

 

Mother Connie would like to add that the Food Police will not invade your kitchen if you do not use that particular brand of tomatoes. People like Carol and Rainy, for example, will want to use the tomatoes they grew and canned on their own.  And, as you know, turkey and chicken are quite interchangeable.  If you use chicken in a turkey recipe, no one will turn you in to the Kitchen Police, so you are free to use whatever you have on hand.  grin

People who are at the mercy of the food pantry or use food commodities; folks who have EBT cards for WIC or SNAP will love this frugal meal.  Users of Angel Food Ministries can work this into their menus quite easily, too.  And those of us who just like to save the big bucks on our food budgets will appreciate having this soup to serve to those we love any time of year.   Maybe we will even have it for breakfast a time or two!

Today’s post is sponsored by the good folks at ToothSoap.  We hope you can pop in on them and give them the once over.  They are nice people; be sure to let them know that Mother Connie sent you their way.

Thank you to all the folks who have recently joined the Club!  We are having way too much fun sharing low cost ideas for feeding our families health supporting meals with little muss or fuss or cost!  Let us hear from you by sending us a message at foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com , won’t you please?

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 Cooking, Recipes

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Food Stamps Cooking Club: No-Pressure Cookery?

March 12th, 2011

 

If you are pressured about getting dinner on the table, you might like Mikemax's ideas for using a pressure cooker!

It makes no difference whether you have a trust fund for your grocery budget or you are living on a dime, staying within the parameters of  your EBT card for SNAP or WIC.  Even if you have goods from a food pantry, use food commodities or Angel Food Ministries…you still have to put a meal on the table night after night after night.  Most of us have to do it after a tough and tiring day at work; some of us have little people underfoot as we do so.

Being the faithful Club Member among MANY faithful club members that she is, Mikemax, formerly known as Maxine, has come to our rescue with just the remedy we are ready to have!  Here’s what Mikemax has to say in Part 2 of her latest generous offering:

 

A microwave isn’t the only way to cook fast. Pressure cookers were the original fast cookers, and they work as well today as they did 75 years ago. Better, in fact—now they come with pressure relief valves, which means you’d really have to work at it to blow one up.

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”—Franklin D. Roosevelt.

That’s a line from his first inaugural address, but he could have been writing the instructions for Eleanor’s pressure cooker!


“Don’t worry—be happy”—Bobby McFerrin.

I inherited my first pressure cooker, a circa-1948 Presto Model 60, from my mother. After my husband lost it,- Don’t ask! -I bought a Mirro at Kmart about 10 years ago for $16. The cheapies only cook at 10 lbs. pressure, but that works fine for almost everything.

Within the last year, I found a Model 60 in pristine condition at a thrift store for $4.50. I couldn’t resist! It’s a little bigger than the Mirro and cooks at 5, 10 and 15 lbs. pressure. Woo-hoo!

With a pressure cooker, you can make many homemade soups in only 10 to 15 minutes. Chili and stews in 15 minutes. Chicken and dumplings in less than 30 minutes. Pot roast in 45 minutes. You can use it to cook meats, rice, vegetables and desserts. And, of course, dry beans cook best in a pressure cooker, and cook time is only 10-20 minutes (depends on variety) after soaking.

If you need an instruction booklet, go online. Don’t worry about the exact model—there isn’t much difference between brands and all cook the same way. Try the Presto website.

Whether you are cooking in a Crock Pot or a pressure cooker, the thing to remember is that meat and veggies don’t necessarily cook at the same rate. If you are making pot roast, for example, you’ll probably be happier if you cook the meat until it is tender, then add the veggies and cook until done.

Just a reminder–save time for tomorrow’s dinner by making at least twice as much salad as you intend to eat tonight. Add dressing and croutons only to the amount you are serving tonight. Cover the remaining salad, refrigerate and it’s all ready for another day.

The less I have to cook in the hour before dinner, the better we eat!“

~mikemax, formerly known as Maxine”

*PS/If you need an instruction booklet, go online. Don’t worry about the exact model—there isn’t much difference between brands and all cook the same way.    Here’s a website with a lot of information, including cooking times:

http://fastcooking.ca/pressure_cookers/cooking_times_pressure_cooker.php

*Mother Connie here: NO ONE HERE benefits if you click on the above link and a purchase results.  We are more interested in your getting information than we are in taking money from you!


 

 

Connie Baum

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

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Posted in Club Member Comment, Cooking, Guest Blog, Guest Post, Tips

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Food Stamps Cooking Club: Plum Delicious?

February 17th, 2011

Stirred custard with plums

This plum pudding looks and tastes exactly like my childhood! Even the tablecloth is one my mother used!

What persuades us that “bigger is better”  and “more is better than enough”?

These questions came up because I’ve been cooking from my mom’s old cookbook, the TNT Betty Crocker Cook Book circa 1950-something.  The recipes for various dishes are considerably smaller than recipes in today’s world.

No wonder obesity is such an issue…but, I digress.

Someone asked me what to do with dried plums.  They make great lunchbox snacks, that’s for sure.  And you can “stew” them by letting them soften in water that’s brought to a boil and let them steep just like tea.

My mother used to do that to dried plums.  Then she would strain the liquid and save it for breakfast juice to be drunk the next morning.  Sometimes she would use dried plums WITH pits; Dad liked to chew on them! :)

I remember Mom making custard to pour over them, too.  She would often make baked custard but that has a texture that is very different from stirred custard.  Baked custard is firm; stirred custard is soft and goes well with fruits or as a filling for layered cakes.

Here is something straight out of my childhood you will enjoy.  Bear in mind that it makes enough for 4 modest servings.  I might have doubled the recipe but my double boiler would have been OVER full, had I fallen to my temptation!

HARRIET’S STIRRED CUSTARD

4 eggs, slightly beaten

2/3 cups sugar + 1 teaspoon

1  teaspoon flour  *I rounded my spoonful; the Kitchen Police did not storm the room…

2  1/2  cups scalded milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

2  teaspoons vanilla

Combine the eggs and sugar.  Add the flour.  Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly.  *I used a whisk.

Stir constantly as the mixture cooks.  You want the water in the double boiler to be HOT but you don’t want it to boil!  As soon as the custard is thick enough to coat a spoon it is ready for the salt and vanilla.  Chill in individual bowls with plums or plumped dried cherries or raisins.  This yields 4 delicious servings.

*If you want to have just plain custard, the Kitchen Police will not object and neither will those who share your table!  grin

This recipe is perfect for users of WIC or SNAP; it will be valuable for those who have food commodities or have food from a food pantry because it is simple and very inexpensive to make.  It is nourishing and it would surely classify it as a comfort food!

Have you had the time to cruise over to Living On a Dime or Saving Dinner yet?  Both are offering some interesting product sales if you are interested in saving money on your food and household expenses.

You might also like to jet over to Rainy’s blog to thank her for the interview she put up there for us!  She, like you, GETS the value of the Food Stamps Cooking Club and was eager to promote it!

Many of you have been promoting us on your own by encouraging those in your circle to submit names and email addresses in order to receive our series of cooking tips and occasional email messages.  We thank you for this.

We are equally grateful for messages that come to our inbox: foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com hint/hint   grin

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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Food Stamps Cooking Club: Breakfast is Served?

January 3rd, 2011

Breakfast can be easy and interesting but still be under budget!

Bless Maxine’s buttons!  She is just full of great ideas and how-to information about how to make delicious and cost effective meals from scratch with a minimum of muss and fuss.  You might think it’s ALL ABOUT breakfast but breakfast can be “ordered” any time of the day or night!

Here is here latest offering, given with our sincere thanks:

“Pancakes or waffles, syrup and poached eggs–we’re cooking breakfast from scratch today.  Maybe we’re even having breakfast for dinner.

You’re not going to get drummed out of the frugal corps if you use pancake mix. But you really should try making pancakes and waffles from the ingredients in your cupboard. It’s quick, easy and cheap…and sooooooo good. Even if you only make them when you’re out of mix, knowing how to make pancakes and waffles from scratch is a useful skill.

Making your own pancake syrup is a snap, too. It’s a lot cheaper than even the cheapest store brands, and believe me…it’s better. A lot better. The only ingredient that you might not have in your kitchen is maple flavoring.  Crescent Mapleine is one brand; a bottle costs about the same as a bottle of pancake syrup, and it lasts a long time.

The recipe for pancakes and waffles is from Donna McKenna’s $30 Week Grocery Budget booklet, which she self-published about 20 years ago. The recipe for syrup is straight off the Mapleine label, with my own addition of vanilla.

PANCAKES and WAFFLES
2 cups all-purpose flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
1-3/4 cups milk
1/3 cup oil or melted margarine
Combine dry ingredients.  Add liquid ingredients and stir just until blended.

For pancakes: heat griddle over medium heat until a drop of water “dances” when dropped on it.  If using an electric frying pan, set heat at 350 degrees.   Lightly grease with oil. Spoon batter onto griddle and cook until the bubbles on top burst but don’t fill back in. Flip pancake to cook other side.  Adjust heat if pancake is too dark at this point.  Continue cooking until second side is browned. Serve immediately.

For waffles: heat waffle iron and spray grids with nonstick spray. Spoon batter over grids, close lid, and cook until done. Makes 4 waffles.

1/2 recipe–1 cup flour, 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar, one egg, 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons milk, scant 3 tablespoons oil or melted margarine.


HOMEMADE PANCAKE SYRUP
1 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
½ teaspoon maple flavoring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Bring water to a boil and dissolve the sugar in it. Boil one minute. Stir in maple flavoring and vanilla extract. How easy is that!?

Pancakes and waffles are great with eggs…and we all need a little protein. Eggs are probably the cheapest protein you can buy.

Do you know how to make a perfect poached egg? You don’t need any special equipment, but there’s a secret—and the secret is vinegar!

Fill a frying pan with enough water to cover the eggs. Add a blub -say, a tablespoon-of vinegar and bring to a boil.  Carefully crack the eggs into the water.  My home ec teacher taught us to crack the eggs into a saucer first, but who really bothers to do this?  Adjust the temperature to maintain a high simmer/low boil. For eggs with a firm white and soft yolk, set the timer for 3 minutes 15 seconds. When done, remove eggs from pan and place on a plate. Pour any accumulated water off plate and serve.

The vinegar is what causes the egg to congeal and not run all over the place–and you won’t taste it. I promise!

~Maxine

Oh, my golly, Maxine.  Our waffle iron is in STORAGE, of all places!  What were we THINKING?  I guess we weren’t…

Let’s hope everyone who uses food commodities or food pantries gets to see this, so they can really make use of their goods.  For those who use EBT cards for WIC or SNAP, this will be ideal.  If people cruise by here because they are frugal or because they want to squeeze as much value as possible from their food budgets they will appreciate knowing these things, too.

Here’s hoping people who have not yet done so will enter their name and email address into the box in the upper right hand corner.  This will entitle them to the series of cooking tips we have for them plus a very infrequent message from time to time.  We never want to overload our members; we only like to keep them informed about things we think might impact them.

Keep those “cards and letters” coming, kids!  We LOVE LOVE LOVE getting your emails at foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com  and if you should leave a comment for us, be assured that we turn cartwheels on the dining room table with each comment.  Spam?  NOT SO MUCH.

Well, let’s get out into the kitchen and crank up the stove so we can smell the perfume of waffles and breakfast all through the house.  YUM YUM YUM!

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/Visitors to this blog are more than welcome to stop by our sponsors as well.  They are even welcome on our sister sites: The Healthy and Wealthy You or Mother Connie Sez , just to name a couple.

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Food Stamps Cooking Club: Satisfaction Guaranteed for Holiday Prep?

November 12th, 2010

If you are concerned about costs associated with the upcoming holidays, Tawra and Jill have come to your rescue with satisfaction GUARANTEED!

Do the upcoming holidays have you sweating bullets? They might, if you depend on public assistance like SNAP or WIC for your food budget.  Those of you who use Angel Food Ministries bundles will be collecting November’s foodstuffs soon…and even if you visit a food pantry or use food commodities, you are going to need all the suggestions you can gather to make those food dollars s-t-r-e-t-c-h and still be able to enjoy the holiday season!

The good folks at Living On a Dime have taken note of our little club and they have offered the following for your consideration:

Holiday “To Do” List
by Jill Cooper

The best way to relieve stress at the Holidays is not with a bubble bath-although they are fun-but by being organized. Even though I’m not normally a big “list” person, at Christmas I not only write a list but I write enough lists to fill a book, making up for my lack of lists the rest of the year ;-) .

We wanted to create a cute calendar for readers that would list what you should do on each day, but every household is so different it was hard to put together something that would tell everyone when to do what and we didn’t want to make anyone feel locked into a particular plan. It can almost be more stressful trying to follow someone else’s plan than to have no plan at all.

So we came up with a compromise. It’s a list of some general things that need to be done at Christmas. If you are attached to the calendar idea, take a calendar or day planner and, using this list, write down the day you want to get something done. For example on December 1, “Put up inside decorations.”

If it is easier, simply hang the list by the calendar and then just mark things off as you do them. This is just a guide with our own hints and ideas. You can add to or take away from it as necessary.

The key to a low stress holiday season is to remember that the more you spread things out, the easier it will be. Doing just a few things each day is much easier than waiting for the last minute “Holiday Squeeze” and it won’t make you look like you accidentally fell into the clothes dryer.

  • Make your list of all of the people who you plan to buy gifts, including their sizes, things they would like and how much you can spend.
  • Make your list of the people you are sending Christmas cards to and write the cards or at least get the envelopes addressed. You can then keep a few cards with you to write in during those “waiting minutes” when you’re at the doctor, picking the kids up from school or on your break at work.
  • Get those sewing and craft projects done now! Don’t wait until Christmas Eve.
  • Decide on what cookies and candies you want to make. Pull out the recipes now.
  • Decide on what you are going to have for holiday dinners. Pull out the recipes.
  • Many types of cookies freeze well. Mix up the dough several weeks ahead and freeze. That way all you have to do later is bake them.
  • For cookies that you can’t freeze, measure all the dry ingredients and put them in a plastic bag. I often do this three months early. Be sure to label the bag so you remember what is in it.
  • If you make your own pie crusts, make them ahead of time and freeze until you need them.
  • Several months ahead of time, put a bag or container in the freezer and throw in those unused heels of bread or slices of dry bread to use for dressing.
  • If you make cornbread dressing, make up you dressing in early November and freeze.
  • Deep clean the house.
  • Set up a wrapping table or collect your wrapping things all together in one area so you can quickly and easily pull everything out to use. Wrap gifts as you buy them, not all at once at the last minute.
  • Make a list of linens and dishes you will need for meals.
  • Put up outside decorations.

Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are frugal living experts although our club members are experts at frugal living, too! They are the authors of the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. Dining On A Dime will help you save money on groceries and get out of debt, by cooking quick and simple homemade meals. For free tips & recipes please do visit Jill and Tawra at Living on a Dime and tell them Mother Connie sent you.

As you know, there is a series of tips at no cost to you by submitting your name and email address in the upper right hand corner of this very page.  We are happy to add new members every day and we look forward to hearing from each of you!

Send your thoughts our way: foodstampscookingclub@gmail.com or leave your comment below this post.  WE LOVE MAIL!

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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