|
You're also (hopefully) not using the entire jar of olives, entire thing of cheese, etc. you mentioned the leftover sausage. You probably have leftovers of everything except crushed tomato and possibly garlic. That's where meal planning comes into play. Plus, you should already have a bunch of cans of crushed tomato from that time it was on sale  .To make things less rigid with meal planning and to allow for my schedule to change, I plan out 5 meals for weekdays and only assign them tentative days. If I buy asparagus, then yeah that meal's happening early in the week. If something calls for sweet potatoes or no fresh produce, that can be later. This means we have options every day (fewer as the days go on). Yesterday I made empanadas, and there was extra filling that can be a burrito later this week for a lunch. Tomorrow is either soup or stir fry, depending on the weather. The night before I make the soup I'll have to cook chickpeas, so I'll make falafel with the extra for lunches when I run out of deli meat for wraps tomorrow. It's also really helpful to have a member of your house who can cook Chopped-style. Given a list of ingredients that we have or need to be used before they go bad, my husband can cook an awesome meal. If you don't have this ability, learn it or find someone who does have it.
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2014 22:10
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 18, 2024 05:21 |
|
|
I definitely agree with everyone saying that you should plan out your meals and use items that have multiple servings in multiple places. I've been making up large (750 g of flour, 600 or more g of water) batches of dough that gets chucked in the fridge, and I pull it out and chop off a hunk for pizza dough, another hunk to fry up a flatbread to go with soup, chuck the rest in a loaf pan for bread, etc. If I baked it all at once, that bread would go stale and get chucked after a few days. Knowing I have that around, though, enables me to make all sorts of stuff on the fly, and the dough itself costs me maybe fifty cents a batch. (I bought the expensive yeast like a dope.) I would also say that planning out your meals for the week lets you make your list intelligently. Maybe you know one place has cheap meats and grains but their produce goes bad super fast, so you only pick up meats and grains there. Maybe there's another where nuts and dried fruits and peanut butter and other shelf-stable stuff is cheap so you go there to stock up on that stuff. And then there's the place that has the crazycheap produce that you have to use right away, and the other place with the reasonble produce that keeps forever, and this place is having a crazy fantastic sale on the really good pasta that you love so let's go there and pick up like 10 boxes of the stuff. Planning lets you figure out what 2 places to stop at for shopping this week in order to get the best bang for your buck instead of relying on one-stop shopping places that sucker you in by having EVERYTHING at about 20% more than it costs anywhere else.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2014 22:28
|
|
|
Can you describe your fridge-chucking method? I've never gotten as good as I've wanted to at freezing bread and soups tend to be late-in-the-week meals and I need frozen or somehow stored dough to make rolls. Tips?
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2014 22:33
|
|
|
detectivemonkey posted:Can you describe your fridge-chucking method? I've never gotten as good as I've wanted to at freezing bread and soups tend to be late-in-the-week meals and I need frozen or somehow stored dough to make rolls. Tips? Making a nice batch of no-knead dough will allow you to hack off a chunk and make it into just about anything, and it'll keep in the fridge for a week (and only get better over time). Add about 350-400g water to a pound of flour and a pinch of salt and yeast, sit it on the counter for 8 or 12 hours, and stick it in the fridge.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2014 23:43
|
|
|
SymmetryrtemmyS posted:Making a nice batch of no-knead dough will allow you to hack off a chunk and make it into just about anything, and it'll keep in the fridge for a week (and only get better over time). Add about 350-400g water to a pound of flour and a pinch of salt and yeast, sit it on the counter for 8 or 12 hours, and stick it in the fridge. Awesome, sounds like a perfect Sunday task.
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2014 23:57
|
|
|
Leper Residue posted:Oh yeah, the channel is awesome. I love watching that little old lady talking about the depression and making the food. But seriously, Dandelion greens are pretty good.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2014 02:52
|
|
|
Baking is so much fun! If you want to get slightly more involved, a sourdough starter is a fun project (also saves money on yeast). There is yeast all around you and on everything, you just need to harvest it. I like using a rye starter as it is super easy to work with, I don't need to throw away large volumes of flour (seriously, I keep the whole thing in a mason jar in the fridge), and smells wonderful. This site has great instructions on how to get one going. All you need is flour, water, and time.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2014 03:01
|
|
|
Breaky posted:Buying a couple of chicken breasts for a quick dinner, maybe there is a 'family pack' or bulk size available. Don't be afraid to shop sales and freeze parts of what you get as well. All of these things and what people above have mentioned will save you money. chicken tacos from one breast (4 servings) chicken chili from one thigh (4 servings) some kind of chicken based salad like a chicken Caesar or an ancho chicken salad from the other breast (4 servings) half of a family snack (two chickens worth of wings and tenders) (2 servings) dinner for three from a thigh and two drumsticks (three servings) Obviously these recipes require more ingredients than just the chicken, but I would guess that these meals would run me a total of $35 including sides. Since I'm not the budget bytes girl I'm probably wrong, but I rounded up so hopefully I am on the high side. That's 17 of the 63 servings I have to provide each week. If I bought the chicken pieces individually the day I needed them, I would spend an extra $7-$8, and not get the bonus meal for my dog or the wing/tender snack.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2014 03:55
|
|
|
adorai posted:You also get the liver, heart, and gizzard (I fry these for my dog)  quote:
You are broken.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2014 05:35
|
|
|
detectivemonkey posted:Can you describe your fridge-chucking method? I've never gotten as good as I've wanted to at freezing bread and soups tend to be late-in-the-week meals and I need frozen or somehow stored dough to make rolls. Tips? Other people seem to have addressed what they do, but here's my method for posterity. The only detail I will mention is that I live in Denver so I'm at high altitude, and water boils at a lower temp, so baking takes a bit longer for me than it would for someone at sea level. Also, the freezer never gets involved, though I hear it could--I typically use it up too fast. 750 g of flour, 300 of white and 350 of white whole wheat (if you go all white, you will probably have better results dropping the water slightly, not sure by how much) one packet (about 5-10 g) of dry yeast 10 g salt Mix all those together, then add 600-650 g of warm water--not hot enough for tea, but definitely very warm. With the water in, I throw it under my kitchenaid with the dough hook for 5 minutes, then scrape down the sides and bottom to make sure all the flour makes it into the dough. I let it knead for another 5 or 10 minutes while I work on something else--cleaning the kitchen, prepping other stuff for the meal, whatever. If I intend to use it the same day, I cover the mix with some oil, parchment paper, and a dish cloth and let it rise for 1.5-2 hours, then hack off what I want and chuck the rest of the dough, floured, in a container. It'll be sticky and tough to handle in that state, but if you flour or oil your hands and surfaces you'll be fine. When I pick the container I have to remember that it will increase in size in the fridge as well. When I want to use the fridged dough, it depends on the application. Pizza you can stretch and top and throw in the oven right away, ditto for flatbread made in a pan on the stove, but anything you'd want to let go through a second rise like bread you will need to let come up to room temp first. I hack off what I want, shape it (with freezing cold hands) and then let it proof for at least 2 hours so it can warm up and then actually proof. My dough typically lasts for a week or two in the fridge. It can dry out and get a darker-colored leathery crust to it, but just knead that back in and it's fine. I've honestly never had it go bad, I use it up too quickly. Nicol Bolas fucked around with this message at 05:56 on Oct 8, 2014 |
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2014 05:50
|
|
|
Nicol Bolas posted:...bread would go stale and get chucked after a few days... But French toast, bread pudding, bread crumbs, croutons, rusks for dipping in peanut butter while hiking, toasts for onion soup, bread sauce, the most delicious and vital ingredient in ribollita, leftover thick ribollita fried into little fritters, and chunks of dried out bread as dog treats. Stale bread is just an excuse to make other cool stuff, don't toss it  E: Stuffing! How could I leave stuffing out of the list?
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2014 06:21
|
|
|
Mr. Wiggles posted:
It's crazy to throw the liver/heart to the dog, so much you can do with them.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2014 06:52
|
|
|
Best food I ever ate was the liver from a turkey last thanksgiving. Heritage, local (not one of mine, got it at the FFA raffle), quickly sauteed on butter and eaten by itself.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2014 07:08
|
|
|
Butch Cassidy posted:But French toast, bread pudding, bread crumbs, croutons, rusks for dipping in peanut butter while hiking, toasts for onion soup, bread sauce, the most delicious and vital ingredient in ribollita, leftover thick ribollita fried into little fritters, and chunks of dried out bread as dog treats. Stale bread is just an excuse to make other cool stuff, don't toss it I'm a basic bread crumbs kinda girl myself with my stale bread, but 1. didn't want to overload an already-involved post and 2. when this bread goes stale it goes STAAAAALE. I tend to store it wrapped in a tea towel or paper or on the cutting board instead of in anything airtight so the crust doesn't get soggy and gross, but when it goes stale in something airtight there is mold and when it goes stale while out the crust on the heel is so hard I hurt myself trying to cut through it. Which, yeah, I do turn into bread crumbs. Gotta say, though, that's why I've stopped baking full-size loaves and started doing smaller stuff (flatbread, mini pizzas, baby foccacia, rolls) with the dough. That way it never goes stale, it's just always fresh beautiful bread every time.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2014 16:13
|
|
|
I just slice mine and stick it in the freezer, since I usually eat bread in toast form anyway. I need to start storing batches of dough in the fridge though. It'd make it a lot harder to decide that baking is too much time and effort.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2014 16:33
|
|
|
Esme posted:I just slice mine and stick it in the freezer, since I usually eat bread in toast form anyway. I need to start storing batches of dough in the fridge though. It'd make it a lot harder to decide that baking is too much time and effort. Yeah, I just am a bread snob and I'm not a huge fan of the toughness that freezing introduces. So I've got the ratios and stuff down, I've gotten at least some of how to handle a high hydration dough down--I think my move to the next level of breadbaking is to actually cultivate my own sourdough starter.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2014 16:47
|
|
|
Nicol Bolas posted:Other people seem to have addressed what they do, but here's my method for posterity. The only detail I will mention is that I live in Denver so I'm at high altitude, and water boils at a lower temp, so baking takes a bit longer for me than it would for someone at sea level. Also, the freezer never gets involved, though I hear it could--I typically use it up too fast. Thank you so much, this is an awesome post. I'm not on a super tight food budget, but this thread is extremely helpful for ways to eat good, healthy meals even with a tight schedule. Part of my meal planning is to try to balance work, school, and gym when possible. I typically spend a few hours on Sunday preparing as much as possible, and I definitely recommend doing that. Especially if one money sink is eating out when you're too busy or home too late to cook.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2014 17:04
|
|
|
Frozen bread is good for bread pudding if nothing else.
|
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2014 17:21
|
|
|
Adult Sword Owner posted:That's $30 but it makes at least 6 servings if you make it all. 3 servings. Which is good because three meals is my limit for eating something in a row. Half the time I will give the third serving to my mom for lunch. adorai posted:You should never buy individual chicken parts. 15 minutes of youtube videos will teach you to break down a chicken. The first few times you do it it may take 15 minutes each, but after that it's a 5 minute affair. For the same price as two fresh boneless, skinless chicken breasts you can get two breasts (boneless with skin on), two tenders, two drumsticks, two wings, and two thighs. You also get the liver, heart, and gizzard (I fry these for my dog) and the carcass (I pitch mine, but some people make stock). For a family of three, this is the protein for many meals. I would get at least the following: It always seems cheaper to buy the parts. Boneless skinless breasts are like $2/lb and they are way, way bigger than the ones that come on a 4-5lb chicken. Livers and hearts are deeeelicious.
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2014 18:13
|
|
|
detectivemonkey posted:Thank you so much, this is an awesome post. Glad to help! Also, crucial--I find that a loaf tends to take about an hour to cook in a 375-400 degree oven where I am (I cook to 205F internal temp), but sea level results will vary. I do my pizza doughs like this stretched very very very thin in a 500+ degree oven and they come out in 10 minutes. In a pan, I find that flatbreads cook in an oiled pan over medium heat in about 4 minutes per side, but if you form them into a smaller, thicker disk and do them over low heat, you can get an english muffin in 15 minutes or so--though I do turn the english muffin once the first side is set in order to prevent burning. Very tasty and fast if you need a bun for an egg sandwich or a burger right away! edit: seriously guys make english muffins, homemade english muffins blow store bought out of the fuckin' water. Nicol Bolas fucked around with this message at 23:06 on Oct 8, 2014 |
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2014 21:08
|
|
|
Mr. Wiggles posted:
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2014 01:59
|
|
|
So what are some good things to do with the chicken innards? I tried sauteing what I think was the liver once and ended up just giving it to my cat cause I couldn't stand it. He liked it. Also, requesting recipes for chicken necks, cow hearts, and pig feet especially the pig feet. They are all crazy cheap.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2014 07:46
|
|
|
Leper Residue posted:So what are some good things to do with the chicken innards? I tried sauteing what I think was the liver once and ended up just giving it to my cat cause I couldn't stand it. He liked it. Chicken gizzards and livers can be used for (wonderfully cheap, filling and tasty) dirty rice. Dice 'em fine, brown, sautee some onion/celery/bell pepper in there, add rice and stock and let it all cook down. It was one of my grandmother's go to recipes.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2014 14:08
|
|
|
Fried gizzards are the bomb. KFC used to sell them. It's a shame they don't anymore.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2014 14:23
|
|
Leper Residue posted:So what are some good things to do with the chicken innards? I tried sauteing what I think was the liver once and ended up just giving it to my cat cause I couldn't stand it. He liked it. If nothing else, pig feet are good for making stock with.
|
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2014 17:59
|
|
|
Nicol Bolas posted:you can get an english muffin in 15 minutes or so--though I do turn the english muffin once the first side is set in order to prevent burning. Very tasty and fast if you need a bun for an egg sandwich or a burger right away! Home made English muffins are probably my favorite home bread item- pretty easy to make for incredible payoff.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2014 18:20
|
|
|
Breaky posted:If nothing else, pig feet are good for making stock with. Chicken necks too. Beef hearts are just a lean muscle, you can sear it to medium rare and slice it or braise it if you prefer.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2014 18:22
|
|
|
Beef hearts are perfect to put on kebabs.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2014 19:02
|
|
|
Veritek83 posted:Home made English muffins are probably my favorite home bread item- pretty easy to make for incredible payoff. gently caress yeah. I stole Alton Brown's tip and I sprinkle both sides with oats rather than cornmeal. Very very tasty. And they cost like fifty cents, including oil, for six huge fresh delicious muffins. What are you paying at the store, three fifty? two fifty? A buck for the store brand on special? Get outta here with that noise. Make your own muffins. Make your own muffins. MAKE YOUR OWN ENGLISH MUFFINS.
|
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2014 21:16
|
|
|
Once you've made your own English Muffins, you can then make your own hollandaise sauce, and make delicious eggs benedict as a reward for making English Muffins.
|
|
#
?
Oct 10, 2014 01:38
|
|
|
English muffin recipe please. e: or wait, is it posted above? Same dough recipe for pizza and bread and english muffins?
|
|
#
?
Oct 10, 2014 01:46
|
|
|
^^^ Alton Brown's recipe has served me fine: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/english-muffins-recipe.html It isn't quite bread dough (although English muffin bread is a glorious thing if you tweak things a tad), is too loose for pizza and the milk may scorch in a hotterthanfuckingballs oven, and is pretty loose and more of a batter than a dough. You can make English-muffin-shaped mini bread loaves using a salt/flour/water/yeast bread dough that will be a good thing, but English muffins need milk to work its magic with the crumb, sugar to round things out, and a very high hydration to get the texture down and ready to fork open  The Lord Bude posted:Once you've made your own English Muffins, you can then make your own hollandaise sauce, and make delicious eggs benedict as a reward for making English Muffins. This makes for a busy kitchen in the morning but is totally worth it.
|
|
#
?
Oct 10, 2014 05:20
|
|
|
I use the River Cottage Bread Handbook recipe. 4c bread flour 1.5 tsp instant yeast 2 tsp fine salt 1 1/3 c warm water glug of sunflower oil- I usually just use whatever oil I have around Semolina flour Mix the dough(everything but the semolina flour), knead, let it rise at least once. Split the dough into 9(ish) rounds and let them rise again. Get a heavy skillet going over medium heat. I can fit about 3 in my cast iron at a time. Generally it's 10-15 minutes flipping them every couple of minutes. By and large, making bread at home has saved me a ton of money and with a handful of exceptions has been way tastier and enjoyable than store bought bread. I just need to try a good rye or pumpernickel recipe and then I won't ever have to buy bread at the grocery store.
|
|
#
?
Oct 10, 2014 06:53
|
|
|
The Lord Bude posted:Once you've made your own English Muffins, you can then make your own hollandaise sauce, and make delicious eggs benedict as a reward for making English Muffins.
|
|
#
?
Oct 10, 2014 14:26
|
|
|
feelz good man posted:And then you'll be smoking your own salmon or bacon, raising your own chickens for eggs, getting fresh butter from local farmers, etc. Well the eggs and the butter is reasonable, but the rest is too much effort for my taste.
|
|
#
?
Oct 10, 2014 14:49
|
|
|
The Lord Bude posted:Well the eggs and the butter is reasonable, but the rest is too much effort for my taste.
|
|
#
?
Oct 10, 2014 14:55
|
|
|
feelz good man posted:Smoking is literally just starting a barbecue with the coals further away from the food. It's the king of poorfoods It would probably be cheaper to just buy bacon.
|
|
#
?
Oct 10, 2014 15:03
|
|
|
There's a thread on making your own bacon and other cured meats. The result is way superior to store bought. Also smoking meat is super simple. You can do it with a friggin cardboard box and metal pan. 12 hours of smoking transforms some cuts into melt in your mouth.
|
|
#
?
Oct 10, 2014 15:28
|
|
|
Adult Sword Owner posted:There's a thread on making your own bacon and other cured meats. The result is way superior to store bought. I'm pretty sure my dietician hates you now. When I haven't lost any weight this fortnight I'm going to blame the bad man on the internet who put smoked meat in my head.
|
|
#
?
Oct 10, 2014 15:34
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 18, 2024 05:21 |
|
|
If your dietician is telling you NOT to eat meat I'd get a new one. Just my opinion though. You can smoke things other than meat FYI.
|
|
#
?
Oct 10, 2014 15:36
|
|