Saturday, November 26, 2011

Thanksgiving Leftovers - Part 1 - A Bone to Pick

TortillaSoup-1-2
Photo credit: cooking-spree.com 

One of my last posts was also about leftovers, a mostly failed attempt at incorporating the morning's oatmeal into a batch of cookies.  When that didn't work I tuned the batter into muffins and that was the key to my success, trying something different.  So, this year, if Grandma's leftover recipes aren't doing it for you, try something new.  And no offense to Grandma, she's one of my favorite cooks.

After feeding fifteen of us this year, we have the usual suspects as leftovers; turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes.  The thing is, right after Thanksgiving, I don't feel like doing lots of cooking, so all of these recipes must be low maintenance.  Aside from the typical line-up of turkey sandwiches, turkey casserole, or just straight up reheating everything, here are some great recipes you can try.  Some of them are great for my vegetarian friend, some will work for the gluten-free folks, all of them are great for stretching your holiday-week food budget.

Let's start at the top - Turkey

Note: If you're a vegetarian, you may want to skip this part, it's not pretty.

"Are you gonna throw those bones away?" my husband asks our hostess after enjoying a great dinner of broiled chicken and vegetables.

"Yeah, what else would I do with them?" she asked.

"Well, you make soup.  You throw those bones into a pot and make chicken stock, then you can turn that into chicken and dumplings or anything you want."

"I'm not going to do that, but you're welcome to take them."  He was amazed that she felt the effort to throw the chicken into a stock pot was more than it was worth.  It seems to me we left that meal with a bag of bones in tow.  Again, waste not, want not.  It's coming to be a mantra around here.

Another note: I know this recipe looks super involved.  It's really not. 

Turkey Tortilla Soup
Part 1: Submerge and simmer in 2 quarts of water any "spare" parts you retrieved from the turkey before baking (neck, giblets)
Part 2: 1 leftover turkey, demeated (is that even a word?)
1 bunch celery, cut bottom off and throw stalks into the pot
2 large onions, halved but not peeled (the peel turns the soup a rich brown)
10 garlic cloves, don't bother peeling these either
2 Tbsp season salt or Mrs. Dash
salt and pepper to taste
Part 3: soup veggies and turkey meat
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1 can black beans (if desired)
Part 4: 3 cups cooked rice
fresh chopped tomatoes, peppers, onions - or use a can of seasoned tomatoes like Rotel
cilantro, avocados chopped and set aside
1 cup shredded cheese
1-2 cups crushed corn tortilla chips

Part 1 of this soup begins before the turkey even gets into the oven by removing the "extra" parts from the bird and putting them in a pot with all of the above ingredients (except the turkey bones and meat, obviously). I add about two quarts of water, bring it to a boil and then let it simmer for the day while the turkey is baking and the festivities are underway. If you don't do it that way, don't worry, just move on.

Part 2 After dinner is over and dishes are done we turn our attention to the turkey carcass and strip as much meat as we can from the thing.  I know, sounds disgusting.  It is serious hunter-gatherer work, and not for the faint of heart.  When we've carved and pulled as much meat away as we can get, we bag it up for later use and put the whole pile of bones into a stock pot with the Part 1 items.  Then we add a bunch of celery, some onions halved but not peeled, a handful of garlic, salt and pepper.  We cover it all with water, set it on a high heat until it starts to boil, then turn it down and let it simmer for several hours.   This part is super easy, no baby-sitting or watching the pot.  Just let it do its thing. This can also be done the next day if it's late and you need to go to bed.

Part 3 Once your stock is ready, (at least 4 hours later) pour it through a strainer into a large bowl.  With a fork, pull off any remaining meat you can get, and retrieve any garlic or onion pieces you may want (they should be out of their skins now).  You should have LOTS of stock and could freeze half of it for later and use half for now.  Once you've divided it up, pour your stock back into the pot (at least 6 cups) and add any chopped veggies (carrots, potatoes, anything else) you want, as well as the turkey meat, beans and spices.  The veggies should only need 20 minutes on a medium boil to cook.  When they are tender your soup is done.

Part 4 Serve soup piping hot in the following fashion - Lay down hot cooked rice on the bottom of a soup bowl.  follow that with a sprinkle of cheese and a few generous ladles of soup.  Now add all the fresh cut veggies and finally top with corn tortilla chips.  This is NOT your Grandma's turkey soup.  It's SO savory and tasty you will want to have it every time you have leftover poultry bones to grapple with.

Question: What do you do with your leftover turkey?
Tune in next time for potato croquettes, stuffing fritatta and sweet potato muffins.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Turkey Tortilla Soup

TortillaSoup-1-2
Photo credit: cooking-spree.com


Turkey Tortilla Soup
Part 1: Submerge and simmer in 2 quarts of water any "spare" parts you retrieved from the turkey before baking (neck, giblets)

Part 2: 1 leftover turkey, demeated (is that even a word?)
1 bunch celery, cut bottom off and throw stalks into the pot
2 large onions, halved but not peeled (the peel turns the soup a rich brown)
10 garlic cloves, don't bother peeling these either
2 Tbsp season salt or Mrs. Dash
salt and pepper to taste

Part 3: soup veggies and turkey meat
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1 can black beans (if desired)
Part 4: 3 cups cooked rice
fresh chopped tomatoes, peppers, onions - or use a can of seasoned tomatoes like Rotel
cilantro, avocados chopped and set aside
1 cup shredded cheese
1-2 cups crushed corn tortilla chips.

Part 1 of this soup begins before the turkey even gets into the oven by removing the "extra" parts from the bird and putting them in a pot with all of the above ingredients (except the turkey bones and meat, obviously). I add about two quarts of water, bring it to a boil and then let it simmer for the day while the turkey is baking and the festivities are underway. If you don't do it that way, don't worry, just move on.
Part 2 After dinner is over and dishes are done we turn our attention to the turkey carcass and strip as much meat as we can from the thing. I know, sounds disgusting. It is serious hunter-gatherer work, and not for the faint of heart. When we've carved and pulled as much meat away as we can get, we bag it up for later use and put the whole pile of bones into a stock pot with the Part 1 items. Then we add a bunch of celery, some onions halved but not peeled, a handful of garlic, salt and pepper. We cover it all with water, set it on a high heat until it starts to boil, then turn it down and let it simmer for several hours. This part is super easy, no baby-sitting or watching the pot. Just let it do its thing. This can also be done the next day if it's late and you need to go to bed.
Part 3 Once your stock is ready, (at least 4 hours later) pour it through a strainer into a large bowl. With a fork, pull off any remaining meat you can get, and retrieve any garlic or onion pieces you may want (they should be out of their skins now). You should have LOTS of stock and could freeze half of it for later and use half for now. Once you've divided it up, pour your stock back into the pot (at least 6 cups) and add any chopped veggies (carrots, potatoes, anything else) you want, as well as the turkey meat, beans and spices. The veggies should only need 20 minutes on a medium boil to cook. When they are tender your soup is done.
Part 4 Serve soup piping hot in the following fashion - Lay down hot cooked rice on the bottom of a soup bowl. follow that with a sprinkle of cheese and a few generous ladles of soup. Now add all the fresh cut veggies and finally top with corn tortilla chips. This is NOT your Grandma's turkey soup. It's SO savory and tasty you will want to have it every time you have leftover poultry bones to grapple with.

Why Giving Matters

This is an article by a Catholic economist, sociologist and author Arthur C. Brooks that inspired me a couple of years ago.  It is about why giving matters and I actually first saw it as a forum address at BYU.  You can listen to the audio here while you are doing little Holiday chores today.  I guarantee you'll be inspired.  And, despite what everyone in the Occupy Movements may say, Americans are the biggest givers in the world, beating out the next closest prosperous, giving nation by a margin of  more than 3 to one, even when those stats are corrected for income differences. 

Here are some main points in brief:
  1. Many of the most wealthy people who give, don't do it because they are wealthy.  They are wealthy because they gave first.
  2. Americans give more than the entire national income of Sweden.
  3. 75% of American families give every year
  4. Utah is the most charitable state in the nation, a fact we are not "proud" of, because that would be wrong.  But, we are pleased, right?
  5. People who give to charity are 43% more likely to say they are happy than those who do not.
  6. People who donate blood are 50% more likely to say they are happy.
  7. Giving does not make people poorer, diminish resources or happen because it is a luxury of the rich.
  8. The more government tries to step in to give to the poor and needy, the less people are inclined to help in those same causes.
  9. Providing opportunities for giving to those around you is the highest form of giving.
  10. Giving is a core competency of successful citizenship and a happy life. We need to think of creative ways to teach the importance of this principle.
Go read it or listen and feel grateful to be part of such an amazing movement.

Inventory

In the spirit of full disclosure, in an effort to get organized, and in fulfillment of a promise I made, here is a cursory list of what I've got to work with beyond my cash allotment in a month.  It's a lot. Here's how it fits into the "Live On What You Give" experiment. 

We accumulated this stuff over many years, giving consistently all the time, living on it as we go, replenishing here and there.  For years we've given to the level that we gathered food storage.  All that food is not just for us, we share all along the way.  Now, we are going for a new level of giving and setting our cash for food at the same amount as the cash we give to meet the needs of people around us.  And, because of the habits we established to this point we can.

So, to be clear, this experiment isn't about how little cash we can live on with nothing else.  It's about living on the same amount of cash we are willing to give away.  Anyway, we've always been happy to share all this food, however, my big "little" brother often reminds me of the need for firearms to protect our stash.  The thing is, food is fleeting and guns are part of  a different type of experiment altogether.

Freezer
1 turkey
2 roasts
15 lbs. boneless skinless chicken
15 lbs frozen veggies
5 lbs. french fries
3 lbs. onion rings
3 pastry crusts
2 doz frozen cookies
several ready-made main dishes like eggrolls, taquitos and burritos

Pantry and Cold Storage
year supply of dry milk, flour, beans, rice, sugar, oats, wheat, potato pearls, dried spinach
20 lbs pasta ( I always feel more secure when I have closer to 100 lbs., so I'm running low)
2 doz cans pasta sauce (waiting to be doctored up)
4 doz cans broth
4 doz cans tomato sauce
Lots and lots of spices
20 lbs salt
40 lbs Steven's hot chocolate mix
2 lbs Powdered Parmesan
1 doz cans of meat (I know, sounds delicious, huh)
1 doz #10 cans of various dried veggies
1/2 doz cans dried fruits
45 lbs. barley
45 lbs. popcorn
20 lbs. banana chips
6 gallons juice
4 gallons vinegar
3 gallons oil
4 doz cans corn and beans
2 doz cans chili

Fridge and Garage Storage (also known as the second fridge in the fall and winter)
25 pounds fresh produce
3 gallons milk
1 gallon egg nog
10 lbs. assorted cheeses
2 lbs sour cream
3 lbs cream cheese
4 dozen eggs
More sauces and condiments than I can count

What is in your food storage?

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Day 2 - Lots-O-Leftovers

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, the need to be in too many places at once, and the desire to clear out the fridge, I've decided that low-prep leftovers are in order all week, except for the big day itself.

I'm proud to post that the roast I made Sunday actually made it through three meals, just like the olden days when we had much smaller children.  Of course, Bren has been gone doing a big musical production at school and Caleb has a touch of the stomach flu, so I know it's not a fair comparison to what we usually do.  Still, here's what the dinner menu looks like so far:
  • the first day we ate a roast - with carrots, potatoes and onions
  • yesterday it was shredded beef tacos - with cheese, sour cream and spinach salsa
  • tonight we had cajun beef stew over rice - with the broth and veggies I had set aside from Sunday.
And, each dish was different enough that no one even balked at leftovers.  Yay!

Morning Madness and Leftover Oatmeal

Mornings at my house have such great potential.  I get up before everyone, make a hot breakfast, wake everyone, and wait....Some days it's an idyllic scene.  All the kids and their Dad show up in their jammies, or ready for the day, blankets in tow.  The fire is going, hot chocolate is served in little cups with lids and straws to prevent the sleepy spills that are inevitable when 4 out of 6 of us are drinking with our eyes closed.  Usually there's also eggs, breakfast potatoes, hot cereal, toast or fruit (ONE of the above).  We pray, read a few verses of scripture, the biggest of the kids leaves.  All is right at the dawn of the day.

Then there are days like today, when madness is more a reference to my frustration than to the chaos of getting four kids and a husband out the door in the morning.

"Brennan, you are going to miss the bus.  Breakfast is getting cold and EVERYONE is waiting for you."
I shout through the bathroom door for the third time.

"Well, for some reason, my alarm didn't go off," he answers back. I won't go into the details of the rest of the conversation. He makes it down in time for a quick nod to heaven and dashes out the door.  "Sorry, Mom.  No time for breakfast.  Love you guys." Slam.  I don't think he meant that as an insult.

Now I'm left with two sleeping kids and three of us eating the steel cut oats that took 40 minutes to prepare.  There's a trick to it, and they are hardy, but not hard to make, you just have to watch your heat or they will boil over, no matter how big your pan.   I think there is a life metaphor there.  Anyway,   I'll give details on that business in a separate post.  Needless to say, with one of our biggest eater gone, there were lots of leftovers.

Google what to do with leftover oatmeal and one of the first recipes you come to is for Leftover Oatmeal Cookies.  I made these.  They were not great.  When I tasted them what I thought was this, "These poor little ugly cookies really just want to be muffins."  So, I add some extra sugar, a little more cinnamon, vanilla and a cup of milk to my remaining batter and pour it into muffin tins.  They turned out delicious.  How do I know?  Because when Bren tried them he said, "Mm." 

Here are some other reactions, "Can I have another one, Mom?" Caleb asked.

"Yeah, go for it."

Four bites later, "Can I have another one?" he asks again.

"Last one for now," I say.

When the girls are eating I ask, "So, Hannah, you like those muffins?"

"Yes, can I have another one?"

"Uh huh.  How about you KC, are they good?" I ask.

"Yeah, they're so good," she says, then with a slightly suspicious tone. "Why?"

"Because I made them with leftover oatmeal from this morning.  What do you think."

"I think you shouldn't tell anyone that until after they've tried them, cause that's just disgusting to think about."

"Can I quote you on that?"

"Yes, as long as you get it right."

I hope I did.  When Don came home he saw the cookies first.

"What are these?" he asked picking one up.

"Those are not as good as the muffins."

He disregarded what I said thinking I was being modest or picky.  He took a big bite and said, "Your crazy.  These are great.  I'm glad you guys don't like them because I'm going to eat all the rest of these."

He never even made it to the muffins.

So, here's the recipe on both items, in case you want to try them.  This is as best as I can record it, considering I used a third of the batter to make yucky (in my opinion) cookies.

Leftover Oatmeal Cookies
2 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 c. sugar
2/3 c. butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. cooked steel cut oats

Sift dry ingredients together. Add butter, sugar and eggs and beat until creamy (about 2 minutes). Stir in oatmeal. Drop from teaspoon onto greased baking sheets.

Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 10minutes.
Yield: 4 dozen.

Leftover Oatmeal Muffins
2 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2 c. sugar
2/3 c. butter
2 eggs
1 c. milk
1 1/2 c. cooked steel cut oats

Sift dry ingredients together. Add butter, sugar and eggs and beat until creamy (about 2 minutes). Stir in oatmeal. Drop from teaspoon onto greased baking sheets.

Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 15minutes.
Yield: 2 Dozen +

Monday, November 21, 2011

Month 2 - Day 1

Today I took our cash out of the bank,  $250.  I left $50 in the bank to cover our Bountiful Baskets for the next month.  I went to Costco and raided the dairy shelves.  I like to call that place the Hundred Dollar Store, as in the antithesis to the Dollar Store, because it's tough to get out of there without giving up at least a hundred dollars.  Thankfully, today, I did it for $67.

So, now I have $183 in cash, and a lot of food in my house.  Saturday's $15 Basket o' Bounty provided us with about 15 lbs of fresh produce.  Add to that a well stocked pantry and a freezer full of food and you won't be worried about us this Holiday Season. 

Tonight's dinner was simple and delicious.  We ate red meat two days in a row, which rarely happens for two reasons:
  1. We don't generally have red meat in the house because it is more expensive and less healthy than other meats, and
  2. When we do have it, we tend to eat it ALL gone in one meal.
However, when I went to donate blood last week I was DENIED because my hemoglobin was low.  Because I want to try again tomorrow, the phlebotomist recommended red meat, spinach and a few other key foods to beef up my red blood cell count.  Thankfully, I happened to have a large roast in the freezer.  And, yesterday I was smart about stretching the meal.

I'm sure lots of you have already stumbled upon the concept of portioning out certain foods before you bring it to the table, but I hadn't.  Plus, we have company almost every Sunday and we generally eat most of what is prepared.  But, as I was looking at this big piece of meat, and knowing it was just the six of us, it occurred to me that if I filled one serving plate, and put the rest aside, no one would really notice.  When I brought the plate to the table, no one did notice and everyone ate their fill.  I even had a little left over on the plate to add to the other I had set aside.

So, tonight's meal was shredded beef tacos with fresh spinach salsa.  Take that Mr. Blood Draw Man.  I better pass that darn hemoglobin test tomorrow or it's going to really make me mad.

Here's the recipe on the salsa.  I figure everyone who wants to know already knows how to make a roast in a crock pot, and if not, there are entire websites devoted to that sort of advice so I'll spare all my vegetarian friends the gory details about that.  Here's a feel-good veggie recipe instead.  Also, in the winter when tomatoes from the store taste disgusting, I omit them and use spinach as the main bulk in this salsa.

Fresh Spinach Salsa

1/2 medium onion, finely diced
3 roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 jalepeno, finely diced
2 large handfuls spinach, finely chopped
2 Tbs. lime juice
1 tsp salt

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Count Your Blessings



It’s the Sabbath and all is quiet in my house. My husband, Don, is long gone for a full day of service and all the kids are still peacefully sleeping in their beds. I have one hour to write. At the very beginning of this round of experimentation, one friend commented that he knew this plan would “change our lives.” Well, I have to say honestly, that I am a pretty stubborn soul, and real change is hard for me. So, I’m still waiting to see the life-changing impact in myself. But, we did it.  This month we lived on what we gave, and there are a number of small and simple blessings, as well as major interventions, which I count as miracles as a direct result of our experiment, especially the last one on the list to follow. Here are highlights from my list:

A Ride – Don has a degenerative eye disease.  He is legally blind, and seven years ago he lost his drivers license because of it. Since then, we have witnessed many miracles relating specifically to transportation. Don’t get me wrong. Aside from driving a car, he is probably one of the most mobile and independent blind guys you’ll ever meet. He rides miles and miles on his bike, runs marathons and is more athletic than most men I know. He just can’t drive. This August he began a new job, far away. He had a ride to work from the beginning, but coming home was another story. Most days Bren and I would go get him. Bren’s 15, driving on a permit, and thrilled to be on the road. I, however, always felt torn between getting my husband home and meeting all the afterschool and early evening needs of the kids. The drive was beautiful but took at least an hour and a half round trip. The day we began this experiment, the very day we agreed to take it on, a new ride presented itself and he now enjoys door-to-door service to and from work. I am SO grateful for co-workers who care and I hope the extra gas money blesses them as much as the ride blesses us.

A Flat Tire in the Driveway – After a weekend of camping as a family in the middle of nowhere, Don and I got up early to go to a mountain resort where he had to give a presentation. Thankfully, we were up and out the door 20 minutes earlier than we needed to be. As I pulled out of the drive we could feel that something wasn’t right. I turned around and pulled back in to find a flat tire. The miracle is that I had driven an easy fifty miles back and forth down a deserted dirt road over the weekend and this flat waited for our car to be in our driveway before it gave us any problems.

Don was anxious to get up the mountain to his presentation, “Well, maybe it’s time for you to learn to drive Bren’s car.”

Alarm arose in me, “Are you serious? I know I need to learn to drive a stick, but I promise you, now is not the time. We will not get there.”
He was serious, “Mariah, you can do it.”
I held fast, “I know I can, but not now. You cannot miss this presentation because your wife could not pull it together under the pressure of a manual transmission and a deadline. Please, let’s change the tire. We have plenty of time.”

Not waiting for his response, I said a quick prayer, jumped out of the driver’s seat, opened the back and went for the spare tire. He took his jacket off, got the jack and went to work. In heals and a skirt I brought him the spare, on his knees in his suit he put it in place. In under twenty minutes we had the job done. We said a prayer of thanks and enjoyed a beautiful fall drive up the canyon. He walked in to his convention just as they were getting ready to announce him.

Sickness and Health – This month several sicknesses have come and gone through our house. And, while we have good medical coverage, we hate to go to the doctor. Between waiting to be seen, paying co-pays and filling prescriptions, the whole undertaking cn be quite costly, even with decent insurance. No one had to go to the doctor and, though some sicknesses lingered longer than I prefer, everyone is well and whole again.

Gifts from Grandma’s Farm – One day we came home to find a freezer basket full of ground venison (when it’s ground, you mix it with a little beef and it is great in tacos, marinara sauce, chili and other highly seasoned dishes). Grandma and Grandpa had also brought a box full of potatoes, apples and onions.

Gifts from Heba – Our honorary Egyptian family member shares so much with us. From recipes to her favorite foods from Costco, she has helped a lot. She is amazed by the abundance we enjoy in the US and wants to partake of it all. She gets antsy if we have fewer than four gallons of milk or five dozen eggs in the fridge. I am overwhelmed by her generosity and her desire to always see the fridge full of the right stuff.

Inspiration - I’ve had several small epiphanies on how to keep my family close this season when we are all going so many disparate directions. I'll elaborate on them all another time if anyone is interested. They are:
  • The Thankful Things Jar
  • Meal Time Helpers
  • Candle Time
  • Short and Sweet Traditions
I came from a home rich with weekly and seasonal family tradition. I married into a family where tradition isn’t in the details of WHAT we do when we get together, their tradition is just BEING together. So, in this home I’ve made with my husband, I often feel like the primary guardian of all things sentimental. What can I say, left to my own foolish machinations I overly-romanticize scenes of hearth and home and am inclined to perpetuate them whenever possible. And, it’s not that Don isn’t supportive and creative when it comes to making family memories, he absolutely is. But this year, I’m thrilled to watch my older daughter jump on the Nostalgia BandWagon with me, drink deep from a cup of cheer and catch the sap before it starts pouring to thick. She’s my new check for overdoing it.

I count it a rich blessing to have another someone to share the work and fun of family traditions with. KC made a goal this season to spend ten hours in the kitchen with me learning the ins and outs of bringing holiday, and everyday, meals to the table. From menu planning, budgeting, shopping, and preparation she plans to be my partner in the high and holy work of nourishing our family at the dinner table. Wahoo! I told you I was going to get sappy.

Grateful Girls and Boys – On Hannah’s birthday, after all the gifts were given, cupcakes were devoured and everyone was in bed for the night, I found a note from Hannah on my bed. It summarized her grateful feelings of the day:
“To My Family. I am so glad to be in this family. I love you. Love – Hannah.”

This from the girl of great expectations that can rarely be met to the level of her dreams or fully realized as she imagined them. For her, this token of gratitude was huge. No wishes that things had been different, no talk of what she wanted and didn’t receive, no mention of anything lacking. Her note epitomizes the spirit in my house, among all of us this month and I am grateful for that feeling above all else.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

End of Round One

Okay, we are at the end of round one.  I draw new fund out on Monday.  It's Saturday night and we have $8.50 left.  No shopping on Sunday.  As a family, we went one month on $291.50.  According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities a family our size can get up to $952/month in food support if their need is sufficient.  I think the government has different priorities than we do.  After reading this article about living on a food-stamp budget, I actually feel REALLY great.  The author of that experiment was living on $44/week.  Another blogger spent $15 week.  We did it on $12.50/week per person.  That feels like an accomplishment.

Several people have asked me if we are doing this of necessity, and the answer is tricky.  No, we are not cash strapped to the point that we can't spend beyond $300 a month on groceries.  But, yes, we are determined to accomplish a few significant goals that make this sort of self-imposed squeeze necessary.  They are -
  • Feed another family on the funds we spend for food each month
  • Show ourselves and our kids that it can be done
  • Get out of debt
I've learned a few little lessons with this experiment so far.  They are:
  1. Food storage is key - some might say this actually inflates the numbers I'm working with, but I would argue that.  Most of the food in my cold storage was purchased at least a year ago with only periodic replenishment.  Plus, I say we've got three Boy Scouts and three clever girls in this house and "Be Prepared" is one of our most important mottos.
  2. There are lots of ways to make preparation of "slow foods"quicker and easier.  Cutting and freezing onions, making soups and sauces ahead of time and freezing or refrigerating them, and having pastry and pizza crusts ready to go and in the freezer until we need them slashes prep time significantly.
  3. Staying out of the store is key – This week, at the end of my self-imposed limit of funds I have had several hankerings to go to the store, “just to get a few things.” Most of the things I wanted were dairy/fat foods; heavy cream, sour cream, cream cheese, mayo, to name a few. I’m not sure about the theme. I don’t think I was feeling super deprived, I just ran out of all of my favorite fats at the same time. However, I knew going in for a even those few items would probably push me over my limit, and once I was ten bucks over, why stop there? I’m like an addict, so staying away was my best strategy in the end.
A few things I hope to do better next month are:
  • Keep more accurate track – day to day – of exactly what money I’m spending, where and when, so we can all follow the funds from the cash envelope to the table.
  • Master the menu – show the range of cuisine we consume beyond the predictable beans, rice and pasta.
  • Record recipes – Right now I have two kids working on goals that center on improving their skills in the kitchen. It’s sad for them that their mom relies more on intuition than written recipes. I intend to record and share more recipes this month.
Anything else you’d like me to show better? Leave a comment here or on facebook. Tomorrow I’ll post the blessings that have come this month from attempting this experiment.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Sizzling Summer Squash

This recipe is brought to you by my first experience with Bountiful Baskets and a long-standing request for more ideas on how to use powdered parmesan in recipes.

Of course, we have to begin with back story. I have to say, that when it comes to parmesan, romano and other hard Italian cheeses, some people might call us snobs. I prefer connoisseurs. Or, you could call us purists. Snob just sounds so harsh.

A few years ago, we hosted a cooking class in our home and taught a crowd of women how to make pasta from scratch with several sauces besides. Brennan, our oldest, is a local legend for his famous alfredo, in which he uses heavy cream, butter and the best pecorino romano we can get - from Costco.  When one of our guests asked him, "So, can we just use something like powdered parmesan?" He wrinkled his nose, shook his head and said, "Why would you use that when a hunk of pecorino romano is the same price and it tastes WAY better.”

I think he was 12 at the time. And, he was right. Costco and other specialty stores have great prices on fresh hard cheeses. Additionally, hard cheeses still in their wedge last a LONG time in the fridge. But, not everyone can get to Costco, or wants to grate their own every time they need it. And, sometimes all you may have on hand is powdered parmesan. Well, no shame in that, and actually, there is a lot you can do with it. So, stick with me and I’ll give you a great recipe you’ll want to try as soon as you can.

On Saturday we got our first Basket o’ Bounty (see the link if you are still wondering what this is) and it was full of great stuff for $15. On the veggie side we got potatoes, onions, celery, yams and summer squash. For fruits we got a little gem case of huge blackberries, 5 kiwi, a bag of apples, 2 pounds of grapes, 2 persimmons (I don’t know what to do with those yet), 4 grapefruit and a bunch of bananas. It was all in good shape.

The summer squash was the one thing I thought my kids might be picky about. I decided if I cooked it right, they’d love it. As I pondered what “cooking it right” would look like for them I thought about the grilled veggies we’ve enjoyed at a local Brazilian grill. I fired up the barbecue, tossed the squash in a mixture of olive oil, minced garlic, powdered parmesan, salt and pepper.

It was a huge hit. They came off the grill sizzling with savory crumbs of cheese crusted to them. When I brought them to the table, this is what happened:

“You guys are gonna love these. They turned out so good. They are spicy and salty and the cheese makes an awesome coating.” I serve them all a few.

First Heba, our honorary family member from Egypt says, “Perfect. They are perfect.” I’m always pleased when Heba likes something because she’s an excellent cook and her opinion is highly valued.

Next, my husband, Don, “These are so delicious. It’s like eating a piece of meat. How did you do that?”

KC responds, “Well, it’s ‘cause she grilled it on our grill and we have so many charred meat remnants on it, of course it tastes like meat.” I shoot her a quick look, because the last thing I want is for Heba, an observant Muslim, to worry about is what kind of meat may be contaminating our veggies. That would NOT be Halal,
Heba only eats meat that is slaughtered and prayed over in a certain way.

Don picks up on my concern right away, “No, I scrub that thing off after every time we use it. There are no meat bits on these.” Nice save, partner. And the gospel truth.

Caleb, however, is inspired by the “meat” theme, and takes it to a new level “Yeah, these taste like you could make an awesome burger out of them.”

Brennan is out late acting as assistant stage manager on a big production at his school. When I pick him up, I have a warm plate of food in the car with me. He unwraps it and wordlessly devours the entire meal. When he is done he says, “Thanks, Mom. That was really good.” He usually has more to say about his food, but it was 11pm, he’s been up since 5:45am hasn’t eaten since lunch, so I take it as a high compliment.

The littlest among us takes one look and says. “I am not eating that. Please pass the rice.” She missed out.

Sizzling Summer Squash
2 medium summer squash, cut in ½ inch coins
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons powdered parmesan
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
Toss together in a large bowl.  Place on a plate and be sure the parmesan coating is even on both sides of the squash. Grill over medium-high heat until golden all around, maybe 5-7 minutes per side.  Keep an eye on them.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Grocery Shopping the Ghetto

A good friend of mine recently presented me with an offer I couldn’t refuse. She had inside information on an amazing discount grocery store in Salt Lake, and in the spirit of sharing, took me with her on a tour of the place.

“Have you ever been to NPS?” she asked. “It’s my yogurt super store.”

“No. I’ve never even heard of it.”

“What? We’ve got to go there.” She was clearly, and deservedly, excited to be the source of information on a vital new hotspot for my grocery shopping adventures. “How much money do you have?” was her follow up question.

I fessed up about the newly separated black and white of my finances, “Fifty bucks as soon as I return my unopened food processor. I was going to do that today because I need a few things. When do you wanna go?”

We haggled over our schedules and then discovered that there is no time like the present, so we got in my car and headed out. Costco actually gave me $55 for my returned merchandise and I was good to go. We drove the 25 miles or so to get to this super store and I felt like I was in familiar territory.

A number of years ago we mentored a family of refugees from Somalia. Their first apartment in the states was located in the neighborhood where we ended up. Also, the Arabic store that sells Halal meats is just down the road, and I’ve been there a few times since Heba has come to stay with us. If I didn’t know the area I may have been a little concerned, at first glance you might put it on the ghetto end of the economic development spectrum.

“I feel bad bringing you here when you have such limited funds,” she said.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll just keep close track and we’ll leave before I hit my limit.” I’m not worried, I thought smugly, I know how to add.

We pulled in, got out, and went in. Our first stop was in the Dollar Clearance section of the store. We both found a killer deal on gift items that I will not go into further detail until after the holidays, but suffice it to say, we got some crazy vintage stuff for $1. Unbelievable.

Then we went to the grocery clearance section where I got salad dressing, barbeque sauce and spice packets all for under 20 cents apiece. The prices of these items were slashed because they were past their expiration date, but I’m the queen of maximizing the longevity of a “best by” date and was undaunted.

Next we found bottles of imported balsamic vinegar for 69 cents. Um, does vinegar go bad? No. I got individual Greek yogurts 4 for a dollar. Three pounds of onion rings for $1.50, five pounds of French fries for $2.50, thirty-six white bread dough rolls for $2.50. It was amazing. I bought a case of 30 cheddar popcorn snack bags for our play practice contribution to the treat tote. Those were 10 cents each. Roma tomatoes in perfectly good condition were 49 cents a pound. My favorite find, only because I’d been thinking of it just that morning, were the mega-mix-packs of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing that make a gallon of dressing each. 79 cents is what I paid for those babies, I got 4 of them.

After I found some dollar cereals and dollar loaves of bread and 69 cent specialty cheese spreads, my ability to add got all muddled and alarms started going off in my head.

“Hey, let’s go,” I said abruptly as we were perusing the frozen bakery section, full of all sorts of pre-made, deeply discounted bakery delights. There were frozen, unfrosted sheet cakes in all varieties. Cupcakes and cake pops, pies, cream puffs and innumerable other dainties. “I think I met my max,” I said as I felt my head swim with the effort of trying to keep track of all that I put in my cart.

“So, did you just hit $50?” she asked?

“Yeah, I think so. I think we’d just better go.”

I walked to the cashier with some trepidation and unloaded my cart onto the conveyor belt. I held back my most expensive items (which were $2.50) to the last. But, it was in vain. All in all, I got out of there with a basket full of groceries and some fun gift items for $30. I still had 25 bucks in my pocket. It was awesome. Thank you, Carolyn, for a great adventure and grocery blessings.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

A New Family Favorite - Sabanekh

Photo from: http://theactorsdiet.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/ahhhh/
Our Sabanekh turns out just a bit more red/brown than this.


People have asked what we are eating on this here experiment of ours, wondering if rice and beans are our main staples, or maybe ramen noodles.  Well, actually, I have a recipe that incorporates some of those elements, but is far from the "poor people food" we're used to.  See what you think and I promise, next month, to give a better play-by-play of each meal.

Today KC and I made a big pot of Egyptian Spinach Sauce, a hearty, new family favorite. This is a recipe we learned from our favorite resident Egyptian, Heba.  She's living with us for the school year and teaches Arabic at our school.  I was introduced to this dish a few days after she moved in.  It was our first real culinary expedition together, and it ended so beautifully, my whole family frequently requests this awesome one dish wonder.

"Heba, do you know any recipes for spinach?" I asked as I peered in shame at the bunch of spinach in the fridge on the brink of going bad.  I felt ashamed because, since Heba moved in, I realize how much food we still waste, even though we try to be diligent and careful.  Egyptians waste nothing. 

"Yes.  I have one." She reported.  Then she got a gleam in her eye, "It is called Sabanekh and I think you will like it."  Just so you know, Sabanekh is easy for her to say, but not me.

I had made several of our favorites for Heba previous to this, and she had gotten to know the spices and variety we enjoy in our cooking, but this was her first time to show me something new and she was excited. 

"It's very quick and I think you have everything.  You have tomato paste?" she asked.

"Yes."

"You have vegetarian soup stuff, what is this called?  The water from the soup?" she mimes ladeling broth from a bowl of soup and bringing it to her lips.

"You mean broth?"

"Yes, broth."

"The only vegetarian soup stuff I have is some seasoning packets from ramen.  Will that work?"  Everything we make together starts out vegetarian because all of her meat has to be Halal, which is a Muslim form of Kosher.  Heba eats plenty of meat, but it has all been slaughtered in a specific way, prayed over and purchased in a Halal market.

"Yes, that will work." 

Heba smiled and went to work, so excited to bring us one of the great Egyptian comfort dishes.  It takes about an hour, tops, to prepare, and truly it is the soul food of Pharaohs.

Sabanekh – Egyptian Spinach and Rice
This recipe comes is borrowed from egyptianfoods.org, with some adaptations. 

Ingredients
1 bunch fresh spinach (cut into small strips)
3 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped fine
2-3 bouillon cubes (or ramen packets)
3 tablespoon tomato paste
1 T coriander
1 T cumin
1/2 tsp. hot chili powder (cayenne is great)
3 cups water
salt
pepper

Directions

Wash spinach well and cut into small sized strips. I usually take a few leaves, and slice them together into strips, leave the stem, not problem. (This technique is called a chiffonade. It does not have to be perfect, you just want to get them into longer, smaller strips.) Set aside.

In a large pot or stirfry pan add chopped onion, garlic and butter and sauté until soft.

Add spinach, tomato paste, bouillon, spices, and stir around until well coated.  This is actually such a rich sauce that you can hide all kinds of pureed veggies in it, I espescially like carrots and zucchini.

Add 2-3 cups of broth. (You can add or decrease broth, depending on how thick you’d like it to be, check while cooking and add more or less broth. End result should be thick, but watery enough to be like a thick sauce — hope that makes sense.).

Bring to a boil, and simmer for 20- 30 minutes on low heat.

Serve next to (or on top of) rice or browned fideo noodles and with pita bread for scooping.

Treat Jar

It was the end of the afternoon on Wednesday, the kids and I shared a snack in the living room and talked about our current state of affairs.
“So, we used our last three dollars of the grocery money I set aside for the month. We spent it on our pop yesterday afternoon.”

“Well, thank goodness for the treat jar.” Brennan, the oldest, says. “We probably have at least twenty bucks in there.”

“And, with the new system of putting money in the jar when we don’t do what you asked us to do, when you asked us to do it, is going to add A LOT.” This comes from Caleb the ten year old.

“I hope not. You guys are never just disobedient by telling us ‘No, I won’t do that,’ but I hope you can get better at not blowing us off so much when we have to ask you multiple times to do something.”

“I had to put a quarter in yesterday,” says Hannah, the youngest. “I waited until the second time you asked me to come to the table and I had to pay.”

“The thing is, guys, we’re almost always willing to negotiate, ‘just another minute while I finish what I’m doing,’ but you all have gotten to where we don’t even have that conversation, you just wait until you are ready, rather than coming when I ask you.”

“Yeah, I had to give $2 on Monday, $1.25 to the jar yesterday, and I haven't put any in today. I think Monday was an all time high.”

“Well, considering it’s costing you a quarter for each time you don’t respond when you’re asked to do something, it does seem pretty high, but you are getting better.”

“True, but that day you were standing over me, ‘KC, please do your chore. Oh, you didn’t get up, that’s 25 cents."

"Yeah and you just laid there on the couch."

" 'KC, you need to do your chore. Oh, you're still laying there. Okay, now it’s 50 cents.’ "

"And you were laughing like it was a funny joke, but you still didn't get up."

"You got all the way up to a dollar before I got to it.” She’s right, I stood there like a taxi ticker, hiking up the price every time I had to ask her. I don’t generally set my kids up to fail, but this has been an interesting new plan, and it has gotten quick results.

“Anyway, even today has been better than yesterday for all of you. Do you think it’s in keeping with the spirit of our experiment to use that money for whatever we need in order to get by until the end of the month? “ I ask.

Brennan gives an emphatic, “Yes! Don’t you always tell us about when you guys were broke and you’d go searching for change so you could buy a diet Coke?”

“True,” I said.

KC turns the conversation. “And, did you match what we gave, too?”

“No. But I think I might.”

“I think you should. It’s not a ton of money, but even ten or fifteen bucks will go a long way at this point, right. Especially if we mostly just need milk and stuff. Plus, did you take that food processor back?”

“Not yet, but what do you think?”

“What are you going to get for it?” Brennan asks.

“Something around fifty dollars.”

“Fifty dollars! Take it back. We’ll be fine. We can totally make it 10 days on fifty dollars.”

I love these kids. All the little gray areas I was grappling with separated quickly into black and white at their counsel. Good enough for me.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Cheating

So, I spent my last $3 cash after school yesterday. I bought a 32 oz. caffeine free Diet Coke for me and a 44 oz. Dr. Pepper for the kids to share. Those purchases weren't food, strictly speaking, but I used my grocery money anyway. I know it wasn't the best use of 3 bucks, but Monday's can be rough and we really needed the boost. 
I still have 2 weeks to go and there are a few factors I'm considering as I rifle through my wallet, all but empty except for a bunch of receipts showing me the paper trail of where I've been.  I think I may be breaching the integrity of my experiment, but I'd love to know what you think.
  1. Maybe I should take the kids up on their offer and match to our grocery budget what they gave to charity this month.  That would give me another $15.
  2. The jar of cash and change that gets collected from the laundry and other instances where kids owe me because they are late could support our soda habit for the duration.
  3. A couple of weeks ago I bought a really nice food processor from Costco.  My old one, that I got 14 years ago died after a long useful life, an I figured the new purchase would help me a lot in my food prep.  However, I got it home, started this experiment and never took it out of the box.  Somewhere in the back of my mind I kept thinking I might need the 50 bucks.  It's a bute and I hate to take it back, but if I do and I get the $50 to use on groceries, is that cheating? 
Cuisinart Custom Pro 11-cup Stainless Steel Food Processor 
Let me know what you think.  In the mean time, I'm grateful to report that I left $30 of grocery money in the bank so I could start the Bountiful Baskets program online, and I should get my first basket on Saturday.  I'm so excited. Also, I'm going to take inventory of what we have on hand and post it here.  Maybe that will help us all make a more informed decision on how to proceed, and whether we need  to "cheat", or not.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Birthday Traditions - An Epic Post

I survived feeding and entertaining 16 young party guests and a neighborhood of boys yesterday. One down, three to go. All of my kids have Holiday season birthdays. It’s fantastic! I only say that with slight sarcasm because, the truth is, when they were all born in November and December I was thrilled. Now that they all have so much going on, on top of the regular holiday stuff, this time of year leaves me overwhelmed and exhausted, a lot. In fact, as much as I love the Holiday’s, I tend to turn in to Ebenezer Scrooge when things get added to our calendar. I think that’s why every fourth quarter for the last few years finds me trying to simplify my life in a really complicated way. Like when I decided these things:
  1. Seeing if we could go more than a month without entering a grocery store, thus having to make everything we eat from scratch.
  2. Buying nothing new for a whole holiday season. We saved money and the gifts we gave were simpler, but it took lots of thrift store hunting and handcrafting to fit the bill for birthdays and Christmas that year.
  3. Cutting our grocery budget in half, just to see what we can do with what we give away. I’m not sure that this actually simplifies anything, but it seemed like an interesting experiment to try.
So, the birthday party. All of my youngest daughter's girl friends from her Sunday School class, two families of siblings, and two friends from school came to help celebrate her big day. Plus, we invited the whole neighborhood out for cupcakes. Not everyone came, but we did end up with about 10 little boys and their moms from various parts of our street. Some of the best parts of the party were:
  • I released myself from the notion of having a themed party . We just had a treasure hunt, played a bunch of fun games like charades and balloon stomp, and experimented with dry-ice in bowls of hot soapy water (it’s fascinating, you should try it sometime .
  • I didn’t buy any pricey party favors. The day after Halloween, Hannah and I went to the candy story and found lots of cute Halloween themed specialty candies seriously discounted. We bought what we needed and only spent $3 for all 16 of our party participants.
It was a great time, and I stayed in a very small budget. Between the balloons, the dry ice and the candy I only spent ten bucks. We ate snacks we already had (popcorn and fruit from Grandma and Grandpa’s trees) and cupcakes from food storage cake mixes. Good, cheap, fun.

So, what does this kind of craziness have to do with Live On What You Give? Well, beginning last year we started a tradition of birthday service. The idea is that our birthday is a pretty big thing to be grateful for, and maybe there are things that we can do to show our appreciation.

Past Birthday Service projects have typically been simple, take a meal to a family with a sick mom, donate blood, shovel a neighbor’s driveway, help clean our church. The key is that whatever we do, we serve together. Sharing a meal - some of us help with the cooking and some of us help with the delivery. Donating blood –one of us donates, some of us are support team and some of us stay behind with the younger kids, preparing dinner and making things nice for the donor’s return. You get the idea.

For yesterday’s service, we decided to invite all of the neighborhood children for birthday treats. So, early in the morning Hannah and I got up and made 4 dozen cupcakes in two flavors, devil’s food and vanilla (we turned those purple). The day was CRAZY, I had a presentation to prepare, a class to teach, a husband to pick up in Salt Lake, and carpool to run. There was no time for icing all of those cupcakes. But, inspiration comes often when you needed most, so here’s what we did...

“Okay, Hannah and I made these cupcakes to share with everyone.” I told them as I put all 48 of them in front of them on the table.

Wide eyes quickly counted how many cupcakes there could be.

“But, wait,” one little girl said. “How come there’s no icing on them?”

“Well, we thought we’d let you guys in on that fun.” I feel like Tom Sawyer tricking all of his friends into paying him for the chance to whitewash his fence.

“We each take 3 cupcakes. One is for you to eat and two are to give away. If there are enough left in the end, everyone can eat another cupcake.” I instructed.

“This is part of my birthday service. You guys get to help me ice all of these cupcakes.”

“Wait, we’re giving them away?” All the little girls shared looks of confusion.

Then, one girl asked, “So, we’re sharing these with neighbor kids? It’s like a service, right?”

Exactly. As all of the other girls began to understood they went to work . I don’t think I’ve ever seen a happy group of cupcake decorators.

When the neighbors didn’t seem to be coming on time, they all started to get anxious that the love and effort they had put into those cupcakes would have been in vain.

“No one’s coming. What should we do?” Hannah asked, concern in her voice.

“Take the trays of cupcakes and go outside. I promise you will find plenty of kids to give them to.”

“You mean we can just go and give them all away?” a little girl asked.

“Yep. And I know those kids are going to love all your hard work.” I said.

There was a collective cheer as they pulled trays of cupcakes off the table and headed for the door. When they got there, they found a bunch of kids and moms ready to be served. It was awesome. I think it is one of the best birthday parties we’ve ever thrown.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Where We Stand Today

The Live On What You Give Experiment is running from October 20 through January 20th.  I draw cash for groceries and other food purchases on the 20th of each month.  The amount of cash we allow ourselves is set and equal to the amount of cash we donate to help individuals and families in need right in our own area.  You can read more about where our cash contributions go, here and here.

For this particular experiment I did not stock up.  I did not inventory what I had and decide what I might need in order to make it to the end of the month.  I also didn't plan any contingencies for camping, Halloween, or birthday parties (we have one tomorrow). Those all had to fall into the budget.  So, here's where we stand.

We went camping with cousins and I scrounged up all the granola bars and snack items I could find in our food storage.  I also brought hot chocolate, cereal, paper cups, bowls and spoons, all from food storage.  We bought french bread and soda on sale and made other meal contributions from our garden.  It was amazing, because in the past I remember spending upwards of $50 for a simple over night camping trip.  This time we pretty much only brought what we had.

For Halloween, I bought the big bag-o-candy.  I considered taking it back since we were going to our friends' neighborhood, but we ended up with a few of our own trick-or-treaters before we left, so the candy stays.  I hope I can make it last through the holidays. 

Earlier in the day Don had a party at work.  Food storage and garden items came in handy for the seven+ layer dip he brought.  We had beans, el pato hot sauce, and olives from the pantry.  Our garden was prolific with onions, peppers and tomatoes this year.  Only three items came recently from the store: cheese, sour cream and cilantro.

Before trick-or-treating, we had a big chili party with our friends.  There were three families and three pots of chili.  I found a white chili recipe on allrecipes and made it my own, using canned turkey instead of chicken breasts and only 2 cans of beans instead of 5 (who uses that many beans?).  I also added one cup of cream.  The cream and the cheese were the only items that did not come from food storage.  It was delicious and we ate most of it.
White Chili II Recipe

So, I have made a handful of trips to the store in the last 10 days and am left with less than $100 to get us through to November 20, when I can draw cash again. It may not sound that hard, but we are foodies, and there are six of us. I have to say, that in order to make it, I think I'm going to have to implement "No More Grocery Shopping" again and stay out of the store.  Costco is like a death trap in this experiment. 

I'll update again soon to give details on where we are.