| Daisy |
Today's households seem to rush from one thing to another. From school
to some activity and then to another activity, and if there are more
than 3 children involved in this, mother spends most of her time
driving! So this is not a criticism, believe me, but an observation,
and a helpful suggestion to get the entire family fed without the cook
becoming completely demented!
If the mother is not working (oh wow, if that were so!) then morning
time twice a week can be devoted to bulk cooking for freezing or
refrigeration. If the careguver in the household - and it may NOT be
the mother of course - has a morning with some domestic spare time,
then the same applies.
One of the easiest - and money-stretching - meals I know of is the old
meatball (or hamburger, or bolognese) recipe. Recently (and I am a
grandmother!) I decided to do this to help out one of my daughters who
lives this sort of very stressed life. She got four days meals for 5
out of the result. The family are not big eaters, and two of the
younger children eat small child portions. As a family they
concentrate on protein and fresh vegetables as opposed to anything
deep fried, and always accompany a meal like this one with a fresh
green salad.
For those who are interested this is what I did:
800g very lean ground beef
500g lean ground pork meat
2 eggs
1 cup dried breadcrumbs
3 tbps finely grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp tomato paste (optional)
2 large onions finely minced
All ingredients were combined by hand in a large bowl. You could use
a large food processor of course. Part of the mixture was
shallow-fried in extra-virgin olive oil as meat balls and set aside.
Some of the mixture was made into hamburger patties and the remainder
was combined with a fresh tomato salsa as a bolognese.
Another option is to cook portions of the mixture in the shape of
small hamburger patties and pour over brown onion sauce and reheat as
a meal to be eaten either with couscous or mashed potato.
This was an economical way to feed 5 people for 3 days. The portions
were of average size - but this is a subjective view. Some people
eat much larger meal portions than others, but in this day and age of
weight consciousness, the smaller the helping the better. The
addition of a fresh salad made a difference. If it is winter, then a
large bowl of either fresh green beans, broccoli or spinach will do
the trick also. Should I mention brussels sprouts? I love them,
but none of the others do!
I'd like some feedback if people try this and find it successful.
Cheers
Daisy
Carthage demands an explanation for this insolence!
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| ~patches~ |
Daisy wrote:
> Today's households seem to rush from one thing to another. From school
> to some activity and then to another activity, and if there are more
> than 3 children involved in this, mother spends most of her time
> driving! So this is not a criticism, believe me, but an observation,
> and a helpful suggestion to get the entire family fed without the cook
> becoming completely demented!
<snip>
Believe me I can make most pennies squeak when it comes to food. DH
finds it rather humourous but never laughs when the final grocery talley
comes in for the month. I'm averaging $70 for two of us & the kids who
shop at home ;) Here's my tips for saving time & money in the kitchen.
- make your own from scratch & that includes convenience mixes like hot
chocolate, specialty coffees, noodle mixes - a lot online so there's no
end to the possibilities
- grow your own if at all possible & for most even container gardening
is possible
- once a month cooking or bulk cooking so you have ready meals - my
personal second favourite way to save money in the kitchen
- do your own homepreserving BUT only if that is a feasible option for
you AND never can something you won't eat
- reduce your meat serving sizes & focus more on veggies
- omit dessert - it's over rated anyway & really not very good for you
- buy anything you use often in bulk always!
- learn to cook with what's on hand, those extra stops cost both time &
money
I likely have a lot more that I just do without thinking. Today I
making turkey stock to be canned. That should give me about 5 litres of
stock. I haven't decided on dinner yet - maybe creamed turkey with
quick rolls or maybe turkey quesidellias (sp). Typical Monday happening
as it happens & using up left overs & getting kitchen back in order so
left overs look pretty good & laundry & now I really tired just thinking
about it all.
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| Boron Elgar |
On Mon, 17 Oct 2005 13:05:27 -0400, ~patches~
<noones_home@thisaddress.com> wrote:
>Daisy wrote:
>
>> Today's households seem to rush from one thing to another. From school
>> to some activity and then to another activity, and if there are more
>> than 3 children involved in this, mother spends most of her time
>> driving! So this is not a criticism, believe me, but an observation,
>> and a helpful suggestion to get the entire family fed without the cook
>> becoming completely demented!
><snip>
>Believe me I can make most pennies squeak when it comes to food. DH
>finds it rather humourous but never laughs when the final grocery talley
>comes in for the month. I'm averaging $70 for two of us & the kids who
>shop at home ;) Here's my tips for saving time & money in the kitchen.
Thanks for the hints, but they by no means save much in the way of
"time," at least for me.
I do a lot of veggie gardening, bake all our own bread, etc, roast the
coffee, grind the flour, etc, but I also have a job outside the home.
There is just so much I will do that cuts into the time I have left to
spend with my kids and husband.
Convenience does not have to mean junk food, but I am not above
tossing a steak on the grill and ripping open a bag of packaged greens
and zapping some frozen veggies. Nothing unhealthy in it and there are
many days when the time is a lot more valuable than the money. My
freezer is well stocked from bulk shopping.
Boron
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| ~patches~ |
Boron Elgar wrote:
> On Mon, 17 Oct 2005 13:05:27 -0400, ~patches~
> <noones_home@thisaddress.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Daisy wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Today's households seem to rush from one thing to another. From school
>>>to some activity and then to another activity, and if there are more
>>>than 3 children involved in this, mother spends most of her time
>>>driving! So this is not a criticism, believe me, but an observation,
>>>and a helpful suggestion to get the entire family fed without the cook
>>>becoming completely demented!
>>
>><snip>
>>Believe me I can make most pennies squeak when it comes to food. DH
>>finds it rather humourous but never laughs when the final grocery talley
>>comes in for the month. I'm averaging $70 for two of us & the kids who
>>shop at home ;) Here's my tips for saving time & money in the kitchen.
>
>
> Thanks for the hints, but they by no means save much in the way of
> "time," at least for me.
To each their own & whatever works.
>
> I do a lot of veggie gardening, bake all our own bread, etc, roast the
> coffee, grind the flour, etc, but I also have a job outside the home.
> There is just so much I will do that cuts into the time I have left to
> spend with my kids and husband.
I have a job outside the home too.
>
> Convenience does not have to mean junk food, but I am not above
> tossing a steak on the grill and ripping open a bag of packaged greens
> and zapping some frozen veggies. Nothing unhealthy in it and there are
> many days when the time is a lot more valuable than the money. My
> freezer is well stocked from bulk shopping.
Agreed. I just choose to make my own convenience foods not full of
salt, sugar, & preservatives. It works for us. The only real
difference is I preserve my own but the results are the same except for
the preservatives & I would rather spend my time doing anything but
shopping ;)
>
> Boron
>
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| Boron Elgar |
On Mon, 17 Oct 2005 13:26:01 -0400, ~patches~
<noones_home@thisaddress.com> wrote:
>Boron Elgar wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 17 Oct 2005 13:05:27 -0400, ~patches~
>> <noones_home@thisaddress.com> wrote:
>>>Believe me I can make most pennies squeak when it comes to food. DH
>>>finds it rather humourous but never laughs when the final grocery talley
>>>comes in for the month. I'm averaging $70 for two of us & the kids who
>>>shop at home ;) Here's my tips for saving time & money in the kitchen.
>>
>>
>> Thanks for the hints, but they by no means save much in the way of
>> "time," at least for me.
>
>To each their own & whatever works.
Indeed. There are many avid cooks on this group. Some cook for the
pleasure, some for the quality, some for the challenge, some for
health and some for any of those and other reasons, too.
>>
>> I do a lot of veggie gardening, bake all our own bread, etc, roast the
>> coffee, grind the flour, etc, but I also have a job outside the home.
>> There is just so much I will do that cuts into the time I have left to
>> spend with my kids and husband.
>
>I have a job outside the home too.
Goodie for you!
>>
>> Convenience does not have to mean junk food, but I am not above
>> tossing a steak on the grill and ripping open a bag of packaged greens
>> and zapping some frozen veggies. Nothing unhealthy in it and there are
>> many days when the time is a lot more valuable than the money. My
>> freezer is well stocked from bulk shopping.
>
>Agreed. I just choose to make my own convenience foods not full of
>salt, sugar, & preservatives. It works for us. The only real
>difference is I preserve my own but the results are the same except for
>the preservatives & I would rather spend my time doing anything but
>shopping ;)
Salt and sugar are fine for those who are not affected by either and
are certainly popular judging by the recipes that get posted around
here. Some preservatives are not harmful at all and others are
beneficial, of course.
You might be surprised, but TWIAVBP.
Boron
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